It cannot be denied that 2021 witnessed a significant boom, unexpected growth, and most importantly, acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the mainstream world.
There have been many notable events this year, and these events hint how the future of cryptocurrencies will be like. For example, the NFTs gained a lot more importance and craze. Bitcoin broke $68,000, and the many new cryptocurrencies also made a place in the market.
2021 has been a year full of exciting cryptocurrency events. Let’s have a look back.
Notable Cryptocurrency events of 2021
Events heavily influence the cryptocurrency market. In recent years, some reputable platforms have gone beyond investment services for many other products, such as non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized finance (Defi).
This year was nothing but a game-changer for the cryptocurrency market. It has opened new doors for people, and the growth in this sector can be expected to rise to even more incredible highs in 2022.
Let’s look back.
Bitcoin hit new highs.
As mentioned earlier, bitcoin performed excellently in the year 2021. Its value exceeded over 65000 USD in February 2021. Hence, it can be expected that the value of Bitcoin can exceed $100,000 in the coming year.
However, you must note that it is still highly volatile despite the new astounding highs that bitcoin has hit.
The Blockchain Life 2021
Blockchain Life 2021, known as one of the largest blockchain, cryptocurrency, and mining events worldwide. It brings together global industry leaders and blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
This 4-day blockchain conference is one of the Middle East’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency events. It also provides a top-notch interdisciplinary platform for cryptocurrency researchers and professionals to discuss the latest innovations, trends, and solutions to real-world problems in the blockchain space.
This event was attended by many people with great enthusiasm this year. Hence one can infer that cryptocurrencies have made a better impact this year.
Dogecoin performed unexpectedly
In 2013, two engineers created Dogecoin as a joke. Billy Markus, an IBM software developer, and Jackson Palmer, an Adobe software engineer, had never met before they successfully combined two of 2013’s most significant trends: Bitcoin and “doge.” The outcome is Dogecoin.
DOGE (Dogecoin) is an open-source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. It’s a snarky meme coin as well as an altcoin. Dogecoin’s logo is a Shiba Inu dog.
The digital currency based on memes, the Dogecoin, gained unexpected popularity and became one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in 2021. With Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk and rapper Snoop Dogg sending out a flurry of tweets over the weekend, scaled up the value of this meme-based currency. Who would have that money that started as a joke would do so well in 2021?
Binance Ban in the UK
Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, has been barred from functioning in the United Kingdom by the country’s markets regulator, the latest hint of a global crackdown on the crypto sector.
Even though Binance is not a regulated exchange and does not follow the laws of the game, large traders have long stated that “it is too big a participant in the market for anything to happen to it.”
On the other hand, recent events have proved the inverse. The continuation of the exchange’s prohibition in Europe, as well as the introduction of mandatory KYC, proved that we have finally passed the Wild West stage and entered the regulated world (although imperfectly).
Accidental sale of Bored Ape NFT
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is part of 10,000 digital art pieces, limited edition, each with slight variations. The value of this NFT was supposed to be 100 times higher. However, the holder of Bored Ape 3,547 made a “fat-fingered” typing mistake when selling the item for sale online.
An automated account immediately purchased the NFT, and it was resold for around $250,000.
Such errors are usually easily corrected in traditional financial transactions if the facilitating bank is notified as soon as feasible.
However, such a sale is typically irrevocable in the unregulated crypto-trading market.
The Dogecoin killer
Shiba Inu, or SHIB, is a decentralized cryptocurrency that was developed by an anonymous person or group known only as ‘Ryoshi’ in August 2020. It was made to mock the dogecoin cryptocurrency.
It’s named after the same type of dog that serves as Dogecoin’s mascot, has been dubbed the “Dogecoin killer,” and has followed a meme-like path over the past year.
The Shiba Inu Coin is unique in that it serves a utility.
The coin was created on the Ethereum network and had its own native decentralized exchange with all of the usual features, such as token exchange with the SHIB token, governance with the BONE token, staking with the LEASH token Shiba Inu non-fungible tokens known as Shiboshis.
Its performance affected Dogecoin considerably, and SHIB became very popular just a year after its launch. It is evident how unpredictably rewarding the cryptocurrency market is.
The Beeple NFT
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are one-of-a-kind files that live on a blockchain and can be used to prove ownership of a work of digital art.
More than anybody else, Mike Winkelmann (Beeple) has been at the forefront of the technology’s rapid rise in recent weeks.
Christie’s sold a JPG file of a collection of his artworks for $69.3 million-plus fees in an online auction. The price set a new high for a digitally created piece, surpassing previous auction marks for actual paintings by museum-renowned artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Georges Seurat, and Francisco Goya.
Summing Up
The future of the cryptocurrency market is affected considerably by past events. Hence, the inexplicable events that have happened in the year 2021 will indeed bring more value to the cryptocurrency market.
The craze for NFTs has hit a new high after the Beeple artwork sold for prices higher than one could have ever imagined. Likewise, SHIB’s performance and value were unpredictably excellent.
All the events mentioned above succinctly capture the cryptocurrency market in 2021. Now that you are well informed about these events don’t forget to remember the takeaways they offer.