So the year 2021 was a hectic year in the crypto market.
Numerous things happened, from the break-out of Bitcoin to government crackdowns in China.
Many crypto enthusiasts are now anxious to see how cryptocurrency fares in 2022. Even with the uncertainty of how deep the bear market will go, there is still plenty of progress to note.
A Look-Back into the Year 2021
Crypto has seen massive changes in market capitalization, but it has also become significantly more complicated for investors.
The early days were simple. You familiarize yourself with the cryptocurrency with the help of credible sources such as the bitcoin evolution review, go ahead buy Bitcoin, and hold that for several years as a long-term investment.
Today, however, you have to be much more discerning in your assets.
In May 2021, there were over 10,115 alt coins on the market, and in the short nine months since then, too many new coins have come on the market.
As of now, there are 17,536 alt cryptos currently listed on CMC with a total valuation of over $1 billion.
The list is growing each day, as new ICO's (Initial Coin Offerings) raise hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in an initial coin offering.
When it comes to Bitcoin itself, the changes in price were impressive, even though most investors are looking back to 2021 with disappointment: The blow-off top type of price action only happened in dog money and similar alt coins in 2021.
Still, over the past few years, Bitcoin has seen its price increase by more than 10x. In November 2020, the coin traded at around $15,233 per coin. Today, it is trading at around 40,000.00 USD per coin.
Some coins have seen more significant growth over this period than others. Bitcoin has seen much higher growth, but some coins have done better than Bitcoin. These currencies are currently trading at much higher levels than a year ago. Some of these coins may become more significant investments in the future as we see more ICO's (Initial Coin Offerings) raise sums of money above $50 or even $100 million.
Cryptocurrency Adoption in Businesses
There is no doubt that the crypto technology is becoming a more and more popular tool as time goes on. You can tell this by the number of businesses accepting crypto coins as payment. The number of companies that accept Bitcoin has increased vastly since its inception in 2009.
This number is only growing as more and more companies realize the potential of accepting crypto payments. Amid growing sanctions and political measures even in countries like Canada, this growth is not likely to stagnate.
Cryptocurrency and the Future of Gaming
Cryptocurrency has spread far and wide beyond the borders of online gambling.
Even before the rise of NFTs, it has also become a significant player in the gaming market.
Every week, over 30,000 users use cryptocurrency for gaming. This growth is because many gamers want to take advantage of the advantages that crypto offers when making payments.
It is much more efficient, secure, and cheaper than credit cards. It might come as a shock to some people because cryptocurrency has long been associated with gambling and illegal activities on the Internet.
Summing Up
There is no doubt that crypto has made significant progress in the last year compared to 2020.
Crypto has seen overall growth in market capitalization and adoption in businesses all over the globe. Of course, several coins have taken advantage of these opportunities better than others.
The market is still very young, and numerous coins have not seen their time to shine yet.
However, there are plenty of new ideas and technology solutions that are coming out of the woodwork each day with the hopes of making history.
Overall, it's looking like cryptocurrencies will continue to grow as a technology and solution if not as a price speculation tool during the rest of this calendar year.