The year 2021 is coming to a shut, and if there’s one technique to checklist how the cryptocurrency industry fared within the past 12 months, it would possibly well per chance per chance be momentous enhance.
Important cryptocurrencies shattered outdated data, adoption grew, original sectors sprouted and novel blockchain exercise cases made well-known breakthroughs.
The Market Insight’s most up-to-date edition remembers the events lined in past considerations to boot to deep-dive issues in Cointelegraph Research’s industry stories.
DeFi and Altcoins
Two of the tip gainers of 2021 occupy been Solana (SOL) and Terra (LUNA). SOL received 9,500%, while LUNA received 13,000%. Important investments and ecosystem enhance catalyzed the massive gains for the 2 tokens. One would possibly well well per chance furthermore argue that the two being billed as attainable “Ethereum killers” had a segment in contributing to their big rallies.
In the decentralized finance (DeFi) scene, the 2 tokens take a seat amongst the tip 5 in total tag locked (TVL). Solana is at No. 5 with $11.45 billion, and LUNA has goal no longer too lengthy within the past surpassed Binance Coin (BNB) for the No. 2 location with $18.9 billion, based on Defi Llama. Furthermore, the rising ecosystems of Solana and Terra deserve a deeper look, which is why they’re the topic of Cointelegraph Research’s upcoming stories.
Competitors has positively increased for Ethereum. Its TVL allotment became once 97% in January nonetheless is for the time being all the vogue down to 62.54%, per Defi Llama. The next half of constructing for the sector comes into inquire in 2022, especially since the enhance of DeFi this year has been so grand that authorities occupy switched from denying the industry to grappling with ways to deal with it.
The DeFi market capitalization remains a runt half of the final cryptocurrency market cap, on the other hand it underwent the same enhance trajectory. Some factor in that integration with legacy banking shall be in actual fact one of the main focuses for DeFi in 2022.
NFTs
Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, chanced on their breakout year in 2021 despite present since 2014. The broad majority of sales came within the past 12 months, surpassing $14 billion in December. Digital artwork collections and digital collectibles dominate 91% of these sales volumes, which is certainly one of basically the most well-known data revealed in this checklist.
The sales within the main half of the year occupy been pushed essentially by particular person artists becoming a member of the situation with their respective collections and some high-profile sales, while the 2d half brought in extra mainstream brands.
As an instance, Coca-Cola auctioned a wearable bubble jacket pores and skin in Decentraland, and Visa bought its first NFT. Such participation from these brands enabled the NFT market to return into corpulent bloom. The checklist furthermore revealed that basically the most worthwhile NFT series in 2021 became once “CryptoPunks.” A “CryptoPunk” NFT supplies a better all-time moderate return on funding when put next to NFTs on assorted well-liked collections, similar to “CryptoKitties” and “Bored Ape Yacht Club.”
NFTs occupy furthermore disrupted the gaming industry and develop into key to fully realizing the idea that of metaverses through their blockchain properties. Alternatively, some critics doubt that the parabolic surge in 2021 will play out in 2022, especially with extra regulatory scrutiny.
Nonetheless, this year’s quantity of project capital investments funneled into NFT companies is beyond spacious. NFT funding in 2021 is already at $2.1 billion as of Q3, yet virtually 40% of VC deal actions involve only a single firm in Andreessen Horowitz, according to PitchBook. Subsequently, as sales and past-time for NFTs continue to develop, it would possibly well per chance per chance be complex for companies with a thirst for high enhance attainable to withstand NFTs.
Regulation
2021 has been innovative within the cryptocurrency regulatory front. The 117th United States Congress has launched 35 funds that kind out cryptocurrency legislation, blockchain protection and central monetary institution digital currencies. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed his views that cryptocurrency will not be any longer a well-known menace to the U.S. monetary market’s balance. Alternatively, a probable dialogue that would possibly well well per chance seep into subsequent year is the legislation on stablecoins.
The President’s Working Community on Monetary Markets has stated in a checklist that stablecoins is known as a precious substitute fee likelihood nonetheless are “enviornment to appropriate oversight.” Currently, there don’t appear to be any rules on stablecoins, at the same time as their market capitalization passed $162 billion as of this writing, nonetheless a bill proposed by Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis is known as a step in that direction.
Lummis plans to introduce a comprehensive bill in 2022 that can present regulatory clarity on stablecoins, book regulators round asset classes and offer consumer protections. Cryptocurrency legislation will be a talking point in 2022 and would possibly well well furthermore be a subject topic that the Cointelegraph Research crew will be inspecting additional.
GameFi
It is a long way virtually certain that all people within the situation concurs that Axie Infinity revolutionized gaming. The play-to-form model became once a large hit, as it added exact earnings attainable to taking half in video games. Recordsdata shows how play-to-form decentralized applications (DApps) dominated the latter half of 2021 in phrases of linked, habitual, vigorous pockets addresses. And since September, gaming tokens similar to The Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), Enjin (ENJ), Illuvium (ILV) and Extremely (UOS) occupy even beat out Bitcoin in gains, as revealed in this article’s outdated map back.
The gaming sector took the helm from DeFi that seen basically the most addresses linked within the main seven months of the year. The two DApp categories birthed a brand original sector, GameFi, which is believed to be the next logical step in blockchain constructing. Crypto-based games already allow users to occupy care for a watch on over their in-game assets by plan of NFTs, nonetheless the substances of DeFi would possibly well well per chance elevate it to 1 more level. Incorporating DeFi would indicate that substances similar to staking would possibly well well per chance be accessible to users the place they’ll form hobby in their tokens.
But, the sector is gathered in its early stages, nonetheless its allure lies within its attractiveness to users who would possibly well well no longer necessarily be cryptocurrency holders. Attracting such users would possibly well well per chance additional contribute to extra cryptocurrency adoption, which is ready to doubtless be its focal point for GameFi in 2022.
Adoption
With the dispositions in 2021, cryptocurrencies occupy been ready to captivate a mighty broader viewers when put next to the year forward of. In genuine the 2d quarter, world adoption has grown 880% since 2020, Chainalysis data shows. And basically the most well-known events talked about above are doubtless contributing components to cryptocurrencies going extra mainstream. The NFT project capital actions stated earlier checklist only 7% of the $30 billion poured into crypto-connected investments in 2021.
But despite the unpleasant enhance, cryptocurrency ownership remains quite low. TripleA estimates the enviornment cryptocurrency ownership fee to be at an moderate of three.9%. Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela are the tip countries, with on the least 10% of their population owning cryptocurrencies.
The low ownership charges indicate grand room for enhance, which is why a CAGR of 60.8% from 2021 to 2026 for the cryptocurrency market would possibly well well occupy some merit. This year, the tag of the cryptocurrency market has already grown from $364.5 billion final year to extra than $2.5 trillion — a 586% surge. And within the arriving year, the original sectors in GameFi and per chance assets connected to Web3 would possibly well well be ready to be original avenues for continued enhance.
Tokenization of certain securities would possibly well well per chance furthermore happen on a mighty better scale, and it is even predicted to be the norm by 2030. Furthermore, the prevalence of cryptocurrencies for funds would possibly well well per chance furthermore be one more location with untapped attainable, which is ready to be explored additional in one more upcoming checklist.
Predicting what sectors in 2022 are poised for the same leap forward that NFTs had this year would possibly well well per chance be complex, if no longer, no longer attainable. Alternatively, stories that reasonably inspect and scramble in-depth about certain issues would present a better strategy of figuring out the nuances of a explicit sector.
Cointelegraph’s Market Insights Newsletter shares our files on the fundamentals that switch the digital asset market. The newsletter dives into basically the most up-to-date data on social media sentiment, on-chain metrics and derivatives.
We furthermore evaluation the industry’s most well-known data, at the side of mergers and acquisitions, changes within the regulatory panorama, and endeavor blockchain integrations. Test in now to be the main to win these insights. All past editions of Market Insights are furthermore accessible on Cointelegraph.com.
