Top Nine Crypto Market Developments of 2021

Highlights

• By the end Bitcoin’s crash, which lasted until late July, Bitcoin had lost more than half its value to fall below US$30,000
• Ethereum’s overall performance has been very positive despite woes pertaining to delays to its upgrade, dubbed Ethereum 2.0
• If you needed an example of the absurdity of the crypto market, look no further than the success of Dogecoin

What a year! Cryptocurrency has provided investors with plenty of ups and downs this year, extending far beyond just Bitcoin. With the highs and lows, one thing has remained constant throughout 2021: the market’s unpredictability. Here are nine of the major market movements this year.

• Bitcoin Surge January – April 

The beginning months of 2021 were a haven for Bitcoin investors as the digital currency went from strength to strength.

Although the previous year had seen the public’s awareness of crypto rise, 2021 was to be the year in which crypto truly came into its own.

Bitcoin’s price from January to April more than doubled from a tad under US$30,000 to its then record price of US$63,500 in mid-April.

• Mid Year Crypto Crash

 As they say, what goes up must come down and, boy oh boy, did Bitcoin take a deep dive.

Two things were blamed at the time. The first was, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk’s decision to cease accepting Bitcoin as legal tender for their electric vehicles. Musk’s decision, as he conveyed via Twitter, was largely influenced by the revelation of Bitcoin’s excessive use of energy for the mining of its coins.

The other factor blamed for the mid-year crash was the Chinese government’s crackdown on crypto trading and crypto mining.

By the end of the crash, which lasted until late July, Bitcoin had lost more than half its value to below US$30,000.

• Ethereum’s Closing the Gap

 Ethereum’s overall performance has been very positive despite woes pertaining to delays to its upgrade, dubbed Ethereum 2.0.

Ethereum’s market cap was approximately one eighth the size of Bitcoin’s at the start of the year. Today, Ethereum’s market cap is almost half that of Bitcoin’s, a clear sign of the market’s recognition of Ethereum’s blockchain use-case value. 

• Solana’s Rise To Prominence 

While Ethereum’s stock grew throughout 2021, there’s no doubt the platform’s upgrade delays hurt its usership over the course of the year. Due to Ethereum’s scalability issues on an old blockchain with high traffic, investors sought newer alternatives. Solana offered users a similar platform to Ethereum but with faster and cheaper transaction times.

The rapid influx of users saw Solana’s price skyrocket from US$1.83 in January to its current price of US$176.88.

This equates to an extraordinary year-to-date growth of 9,500% and makes Solana’s the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.

• Dogecoin’s Rise

If you needed an example of the absurdity of the crypto market, look no further than the success of Dogecoin – a crypto created as a joke to satirise Bitcoin. This so-called joke has risen to the twelfth largest cryptocurrency with a year-to-date growth of nearly 3,000%.  

Much of Dogecoin’s popularity has been due to its backing by famous celebrities, namely Elon Musk, whose tweets touting the token have resulted in marked increases in its value throughout 2021.

• Metaverse Surge

 The latter part of 2021 saw the market’s attention turn to the metaverse. For the uninitiated, the metaverse is a digital virtual space where users can interact wherever they are in the world.

Following Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of his own Metaverse in November, platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox took off. Decentraland’s year-to-date growth is nearly 4,000% while Sandbox’s growth is an astounding 16,000%.

• Bitcoin’s Comeback and Fall Off

Following Bitcoin’s mid-year crash which saw the coin drop to below US$30,000, the crypto saw a resurgence which began in late June and lasted until November.

In that time, the market experienced a similar trajectory to the surge it had experienced in the beginning months of 2021. This time, though, it experienced a new high of US$68,500.

However, since then the market has fallen off somewhat due to regulatory concerns in the US.

• Axie Infinity Goes Crazy

With the rise in NFTs, the blockchain-gaming space has benefited immensely with one of the biggest benefactors being Axie Infinity.

In this game players collect and battle digital NFT creatures called Axies. Some of these Axies have sold for up to US$1 million.

Axie Infinity’s year-to-date growth is a touch above 16,500%.

• Gala Wins The Year To Date Growth

Sticking with blockchain gaming the biggest mover this year has been Gala Games, which has grown more than a massive 46,000%.

Gala’s purpose is to make the best the world has to offer in blockchain gaming and has exploded in value this year and promises huge potential heading into 2022. Source

Bottom Line

There’s been a lot going on in the market this year but if there’s one thing which has defined the overall movement, it’s been volatility.

The market continues to be highly unpredictable, which can arguably be seen as a hinderance to its goal of worldwide adoption.

In any event, there has not been a full moment throughout this year. It will be interesting to see what the next year holds for the world of crypto.