2021 has been a year of big ups and downs for the crypto market, and the topic has proven to be more relevant than ever before. If you are already interested in the market or are just starting out, the last 12 months will be a very interesting read on developments in the world of digital currencies.
With 2021 coming to an end and 2022 just days away, GMR will give us an overview of some of the most important news that has happened in the industry over the past 12 months.
Record highs for cryptocurrencies
Some of the best-known cryptocurrencies have hit record highs in recent months. The price of bitcoin doubled between July and November 2021, surpassing $68,500 for the first time ever. This represented an increase of more than 350% over the past year.
Similarly, Ethereum also hit record highs, surpassing $4,800 for the first time. This brought the total market close to $3 trillion, more than the combined value of the world's 12 largest banks.
Solana and Cardano are also up 21% and 16% respectively in recent weeks.
Banks are going digital
Banks are becoming more active investors in the market today than ever before. Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon, Citibank, UBS and BNP Paribas are among the top five banks investing in cryptocurrency and blockchain companies.
In fact, 55% of the world's top 100 banks now invest directly or indirectly in digital currency companies and projects.
Ilon Musk's influence
Over the years, Ilon Musk has published a tweet, and immediately there has been a major change in the market. After founding PayPal, Musk gradually became more involved in the cryptocurrency discussion.
In 2020, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, although by May 2021 the company announced that it would no longer accept bitcoins as payment. Both announcements had a huge impact on Bitcoin's value.
More recently, in December this year, Tesla will now accept Dogecoin for sale as a trial, causing Dogecoin prices to jump by up to 25%. For example, Dogecoin is now being used to its maximum to play in cryptocasinos. And we even identified the best dogecoin casinos to help those who are interested.
Crypto hacks
As with any new technology, the crypto industry has not been without its problems. In 2021, there were more than 30 hacking and fraud incidents, the last of which resulted in $150 million being stolen from BitMart. Two hackers were able to use a stolen private key to open two hot wallets and withdraw funds, though BitMart pledged to compensate the victims.
The Poly Network hack in the summer also resulted in more than $600 million worth of tokens, but they were all eventually recovered in one of the strangest twists of 2021.
China and El Salvador at opposite ends of the scale
In 2021, China declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal and banned cryptocurrency mining. Chinese authorities have shut down computer farms that mine bitcoins. While many have suggested why this is happening, it seems that it may have something to do with the fact that China plans to become carbon neutral by 2060, which means limiting the energy used to mine cryptocurrency and support such a network.
It has also been suggested that China is currently testing its own state-backed digital currency, the digital Chinese yuan.
El Salvador, on the other hand, recently announced that bitcoin will become legal tender. They are planning the first "Bitcoin City" to be funded by cryptocurrency, and plan to raise $1 billion in bitcoin bonds. Construction is due to start in 2022 and the city will have no taxes other than VAT .
Since this is all happening in a very short period of time, it is incredibly interesting to see what the next 12 months will bring.
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