There are only a few days left until the New Year! On the occasion of the upcoming New Year holidays, we can’t thank you, our regular readers, enough for all the support you showed us this year. May this amazing time bring peace and harmony into your homes! 🎄❄️
Today, let’s recall the most exciting and important events that happened in the crypto world in 2021!
NFT Boom
In the spring of 2021, the concept of NFT (non-fungible tokens) went beyond the crypto world. Then at Christie’s auction, the painting by the artist Beeple’ The First 5000 Days’ in the form of NFT was bought for $69 million. This is a record cost for digital artwork to this day.
Read next: Top 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold Online
Along with the growing popularity of NFT tokens, there are more questions from a legal point of view. For example, about the ownership of copyrights or the protection of the buyer’s rights. In addition, several cases of copying NFTs were recorded, which in itself is hard to imagine since this technology focuses precisely on the uniqueness of tokens.
NFT is now also an integral part of modern Play to Earn games. Top NFT games combine entertainment and economics and allow players to receive additional income, realize their creative potential, and monetize it. The genre variety is enormous! Day by day, developers prove that NFTs are useful in hundreds of fields and can be used almost everywhere.
Projects of this kind usually follow a Play to Earn model, where users can earn rewards and incentives for their in-game activity. This feature, in turn, attracts new users to the platform.
Whatever criticism comes towards NFT, by the end of 2021, football clubs, game developers, fashion brands, artists, directors, and musicians are issuing their unique tokens.
PayPal Accepted Payments with Cryptocurrency
One of the largest payment systems, PayPal, has allowed its customers in the United States and Britain to pay for goods and services with cryptocurrency. Transactions can be carried out with Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
The owners of these cryptocurrencies can automatically convert them to fiat money at the time of purchase.
Read next: Major Companies That Actually Accept Bitcoin Payments Today
China Banned Cryptocurrencies and Mining
In May, the Chinese authorities banned financial companies and payment systems from providing any services related to cryptocurrency. Against the backdrop of a strict ban, the value of bitcoin has almost halved.
Following this, the largest mining companies BTC.TOP and HashCow suspended their activity in the country. Miners began to sell equipment and move to other countries.
Beijing consistently continued tough on the industry, and in the autumn, PBOC denounced any cryptocurrency transactions as illegal. This news also affected cryptocurrency rates, but not as dramatically as in the spring (prices fell by about 5%).
Read next: What Is the Current Value of Bitcoin: Could BTC Price Drop to Zero 2021?
Bitcoin Became the National Currency for the First Time
In September 2021, bitcoin became an official means of payment for the first time in history. This decision was made in El Salvador.
However, the country immediately faced challenges because of this. First, users had difficulties with the official Chivo wallet app. Its full release came a few days after bitcoin became the legal tender.
Secondly, there were not so many crypto enthusiasts in El Salvador. Residents of the country repeatedly showed up at rallies against the authorities’ decision. During one of them, protesters burned down a crypto ATM.
Bitcoin and Ether All-Time Highs
In the fall of 2021, the two largest cryptocurrencies hit their all-time highs.
On November 9, the bitcoin rate at the moment exceeded $68K. Together with the first cryptocurrency, the price record was set by Ethereum — $4.86K.
Metaverses
Another concept that caused quite a stir in 2021 is the metaverse. Much of the reason for this popularity is the renaming Facebook to Meta and the company’s plans to launch the metaverse. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for the future of the metaverse:
We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, we’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are.
The metaverse is a virtual space where people can interact with each other and with digital items through their avatars. The main difference between the metaverses and online games is their endless continuous existence. Due to the popularity of the metaverse concept, the demand for GameFi projects and NFTs has grown significantly.
Conclusion
The expiring year turned out to be rich in major events that had happened in the cryptocurrency world. And although the largest coins, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), end the year with constantly decreasing prices, 2021 will definitely be remembered by traders and crypto enthusiasts!
What are your predictions for the coming year? Will it be full of much more exciting crypto events? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
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