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This Year in Crypto: Bitcoin Booms; Big Money Moves In
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This Year in Crypto: Bitcoin Booms; Big Money Moves In

With major expansion and development across all verticals, 2021 has been a momentous year for cryptocurrencies. Much has advanced among existing verticals alongside the rise of novel solutions, projects, and initiatives, that together contributed towards the mainstream adoption and acceptance of digital currencies, as well as the underlying blockchain technology.

Here’s a quick recap of the most notable events of 2021 across different areas of the cryptoverse.

Bitcoin Continues to Dominate the Market

The value of BTC (BTC-USD) has more than doubled in 2021. Based on the historical data, BTC was valued at $28,803.59 on January 1st, 2021, before the legacy crypto reached its all-time high of $68,789.63 on November 10th, 2021. Overall, BTC has exhibited impressive performance, rising by almost 70% this year and helping drive the aggregate crypto capitalization above $3 trillion.

Besides for the price gains, acceptance has also broadened. El Salvador began accepting BTC as legal tender, adding more momentum to its mainstream adoption. Moreover, several leading brands, sports personalities, influencers, politicians, and artists have embraced the seminal coin, positioning it as the number one cryptocurrency by market cap (just shy of $1 trillion and growing).

Crypto Marketing Goes Mainstream

2021 was “truly” the year of cryptocurrency’s greatest public visibility to date. The increased mainstream awareness of crypto was partly driven by marketing initiatives launched by prominent crypto brands. Underscoring the momentum, Coinbase signed a cryptocurrency sponsorship deal with the NBA (National Basketball Association). As part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary, Coinbase will leverage just about all the NBA’s platforms, including the WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League, and USA Basketball, to promote digital currencies even further.

Besides for Coinbase, Crypto.com also went all-in on promotions. The year’s headline was the platform’s multi-million-dollar campaign featuring Matt Damon. Additionally, Crypto.com has heavily invested in high-profile sports leagues like the NHL, NBA, and F1 Racing. The platform also became the exclusive partner of the first official UFC NFTs and landed a naming rights deal for the Staples Center in Los Angeles, renaming it the Crypto.com Arena for the next 20 years.

Not to be left out of the spotlight, crypto exchange FTX Trading Ltd. closed a $900 million Series B funding round from over 60 investors and venture capital firms, bringing its valuation to $18 billion. This new funding round aims to help FTX grow its global presence and accelerate user acquisition. Already, the company has inked numerous visible deals, including the Golden State Warriors international rights sponsorship, a Mercedes F1 racing partnership, naming rights for the Miami Heat’s home arena, and sponsorship of esports organization TSM to the tune of $210 million over ten years. 

(Potential) Ethereum Killers Emerge as New Powerhouses

While Ethereum (ETH-USD) still dominates decentralized finance (DeFi), high transaction costs and low scalability allowed other blockchains to prove their potential. One of the biggest highlights of 2021 was the Kusama and Polkadot parachain slot auctions. 

Dozens of next-generation projects bid for the limited slots, backed by their respective communities. Participating projects raised the total value locked in Kusama to more than $74 million and that of Polkadot to more than $458 million and counting. At the same time, Polkadot (DOT) secured a position in the top-ten list, with a market cap of more than $28 billion. The DOT token also reached its all-time high of $55 in November 2021, marking 257% growth year-to-date (YTD).

Likewise, another Ethereum competitor, Cardano, also took center stage this year. ADA, Cardano’s native token, has recorded more than 750% growth this year, commanding a market cap of $48 billion and counting. This year, the Cardano team also released several major runtime upgrades, the latest being the Alonzo Hard Fork, which brought the smart contract capability onto the Cardano mainnet, pitching it in direct competition with Ethereum and Solana.

Another layer-1 chain, Solana, recorded stratospheric growth this year. Following Ethereum’s hurdles, Solana quickly became the go-to option for DeFi Dapps and protocols, helping the SOL token register a 10,276.78% growth over the year. Solana’s market cap crossed the $55 billion mark, helping it edge past players like Avalanche, Cardano, and Ripple to secure the fifth position in the top-ten crypto by market cap list. Compared to the SOL token’s value of $1.51 in 2020, the SOL token registered its all-time high of $260.06 in November.

Stablecoins Became a Key Component of the Cryptoverse

Despite increasing regulatory concern and market volatility, stablecoins have held their ground, registering impressive growth in usage and capitalization throughout the year.

Tether (USDT) secured the fourth rank in the top-ten cryptocurrencies, with a capitalization of more than $78 billion. Another prominent stablecoin, USDC, also rose through the ranks to establish itself on the eighth slot in the list after crossing the $42 billion mark. 

Likewise, the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin, too, experienced a promising run throughout the year, expanding its capitalization from just $182 million at the start of the year to over $10 billion at present. Accordingly, UST has joined the most-used stablecoins alongside USDT, USDC, and BUSD – all centralized stablecoins.

Memecoins Took Center Stage

Even though the crypto ecosystem witnessed an influx of hundreds of coins, a handful of them gained significant traction. Backed by the CEO of Tesla (TSLA), Elon Musk, memecoins like DOGE shattered all expectations this year.

Dogecoin (DOGE) was among the top-ten cryptocurrencies for most of the year, registering growth of 3195.94% year-to-date as Elon Musk’s fascination with the coin helped propel its status. Its capitalization almost briefly touched $100 billion before retreating, after the memecoin reached its all-time high of $0.7376. 

Likewise, another memecoin, SHIBA INU (SHIB), exploded in popularity, reaching a market cap of almost $20 billion, as it inches closer to DOGE. FLOKI INU (FLOKI) also gained significant momentum this year, reaching its own all-time high in November.

NFTs Win Big

This year, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were among the most valuable digital assets. Trading volume in the NFT space reached an all-time high of $2.5 billion in the first six months of 2021, shattering all previous records. The NFT market cap shot through the roof in 2021, crossing $60 billion. The annual report on NFTs by DappRadar indicates that in 2021, the NFT space generated over $23 billion in trading volume. 

Leading brands, sports personalities, actors, influencers, and content creators joined the NFT bandwagon, helping the marketplace grow beyond imagination. CryptoPunks, Beeple, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Human One were among the top-grossing NFTS of 2021, collectively generating more than $150 million in sales. It is estimated that the NFT transaction volume reached $10.7 billion in value during the third quarter of 2021, continuing its upward trend from the second half of the year.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, Reuben Jackson did not have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article represents the views and opinion of the writer only, and not the views or opinion of TipRanks or its affiliates  Read full disclaimer >

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