{"id":388097,"date":"2021-12-31T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/"},"modified":"2021-12-31T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T19:00:00","slug":"cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/","title":{"rendered":"# Cointelegraph Consulting: Crypto events of 2021 in retrospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e4a03da9f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e4a03da9f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/#DeFi_and_Altcoins\" >DeFi and Altcoins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/#NFTs\" >NFTs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/#Regulation\" >Regulation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/#GameFi\" >GameFi<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\/#Adoption\" >Adoption<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># Cointelegraph Consulting: Crypto events of 2021 in retrospect  <\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-128018ef>The year 2021 is coming to a close, and if there\u2019s one way to describe how the cryptocurrency industry fared in the past 12 months, it would be momentous growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Major cryptocurrencies shattered previous records, adoption grew, new sectors sprouted, and novel blockchain use cases made significant breakthroughs.<\/p>\n<p>The Market Insight\u2019s latest edition recalls the events covered in past issues as well as deep-dive topics in Cointelegraph Research\u2019s industry reports.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"DeFi_and_Altcoins\"><\/span>DeFi and Altcoins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Two of the top gainers of 2021 were Solana (SOL) and Terra (LUNA). SOL gained 9,500%, while LUNA gained 13,000%. Significant investments and ecosystem growth catalyzed the immense gains for the two tokens. One could also argue that the two being billed as potential \u201cEthereum killers\u201d had a part in contributing to their massive rallies.<\/p>\n<p>In the decentralized finance (DeFi) scene, the two tokens sit among the top five in total value locked (TVL). Solana is at number five with $11.45 billion, and LUNA has recently surpassed Binance Coin (BNB) for the number two spot with $18.9 billion, according to Defi Llama. Moreover, the emerging ecosystems of Solana and Terra deserve a deeper look, which is why they are the subject of Cointelegraph Research\u2019s upcoming reports.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2021-12\/aafff5a3-332f-4a34-bfb6-76a92976d848.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>DeFi followed a similar growth trajectory as the broader crypto market in 2021.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Competition has undoubtedly increased for Ethereum. Its TVL share was 97% in January but is currently down to 62.54%, per Defi Llama. The next phase of development for the sector comes into question in 2022, especially since the growth of DeFi this year has been so substantial that authorities have switched from denying the industry to gr<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ling with ways to deal with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The DeFi market capitalization remains a small fraction of the overall cryptocurrency market cap, but it underwent the same growth trajectory. Some believe that integration with legacy banking could be one of the main focuses for DeFi in 2022. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"NFTs\"><\/span>NFTs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, found their breakout year in 2021 despite existing since 2014. The bulk of sales came in the past 12 months, surpassing $14 billion in December. Digital art collections and digital collectibles dominate 91% of these sales volumes, which is one of the key data revealed in this <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nonfungible.com\/market\/history\">report<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The sales in the first half of the year were driven primarily by individual artists joining the space with their respective collections and some high-profile sales, while the second half brought in more mainstream brands. <\/p>\n<p>For instance, Coca-Cola auctioned a wearable bubble jacket skin in Decentraland, and Visa purchased its first NFT. Such participation from these brands enabled the NFT market to come into full bloom. The report also revealed that the most profitable NFT collection in 2021 was \u201cCryptoPunks.\u201d A \u201cCryptoPunk\u201d NFT offers a better all-time average return on investment compared to NFTs on other popular collections, such as \u201cCryptoKitties\u201d and \u201cBored Ape Yacht Club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"consulting_newsletter\"><\/template><\/p>\n<p>NFTs have also disrupted the gaming industry and become key to fully realizing the concept of metaverses through their blockchain properties. However, some critics doubt that the parabolic surge in 2021 will play out in 2022, especially with more regulatory scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, this year\u2019s amount of venture capital investments funneled into NFT companies is beyond sizable. NFT funding in 2021 is already at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbinsights.com\/research\/state-of-blockchain-spotlight-nfts\/\">$2.1 billion<\/a> as of Q3, yet nearly 40% of VC deal activities involve only a single firm in Andreessen Horowitz, according to PitchBook. Therefore, as sales and interest for NFTs continue to grow, it may be difficult for firms with a thirst for high growth potential to resist NFTs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Regulation\"><\/span>Regulation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>2021 has been progressive in the cryptocurrency regulatory front. The 117th United States Congress has introduced 35 bills that focus on cryptocurrency regulation, blockchain policy and central bank digital currencies. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed his views about cryptocurrency as not a significant threat to the U.S. financial market\u2019s stability. However, a likely discussion that could seep into next year is the regulation on stablecoins. <\/p>\n<p>The President\u2019s Working Group on Financial Markets has stated in a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0454\">report<\/a> that stablecoins could be a beneficial alternative payment option but are \u201csubject to appropriate oversight.\u201d Currently, there are no regulations on stablecoins, even as their market capitalization passed $162 billion as of this writing, but a bill proposed by Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis could be a step in that direction. <\/p>\n<p>Lummis plans to introduce a comprehensive bill in 2022 that will provide regulatory clarity on stablecoins, guide regulators around asset classes, and offer consumer protections. Cryptocurrency regulation will be a talking point in 2022 and will also be a topic that the Cointelegraph Research team will be examining further.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"GameFi\"><\/span>GameFi<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It is almost certain that everyone in the space agrees that Axie Infinity revolutionized gaming. The play-to-earn model was a massive hit, as it added real income potential to playing video <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s. Data shows how play-to-earn decentralized applications (DApp) dominated the latter half of 2021 in terms of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dappradar.com\/blog\/2021-dapp-industry-report\">connected<\/a>, unique, active wallet addresses. And since September, gaming tokens such as The Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), Enjin (ENJ), Illuvium (ILV), and Ultra (UOS) have even beat out Bitcoin in gains, as revealed in this <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>letter\u2019s previous issue.<\/p>\n<p>The gaming sector took the helm from DeFi that saw the most addresses connected in the first seven months of the year. The two DApp categories birthed a new sector, GameFi, which is believed to be the next logical step in blockchain development. Crypto-based games already enable users to have control over their in-game assets via NFTs, but the elements of DeFi could take it to another level. Incorporating DeFi would mean that features such as staking would be available to users where they can earn interest in their tokens.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, the sector is still in its early stages, but its appeal lies within its attractiveness to users who may not necessarily be cryptocurrency holders. Attracting such users could further contribute to more cryptocurrency adoption, which will likely be its focal point for GameFi in 2022.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Adoption\"><\/span>Adoption<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With the developments in 2021, cryptocurrencies were able to captivate a much broader audience compared to the year before. In just the second quarter, global adoption has grown 880% since 2020, Chainalysis data shows. And the key events mentioned above are likely contributing factors to cryptocurrencies going more mainstream. The NFT venture capital activities stated earlier represent only 7% of the $30 billion <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-12-19\/ftx-moonpay-axie-lead-crypto-firms-attracting-record-30-billion-in-2021?srnd=markets-vp\">poured<\/a> into crypto-related investments in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>But despite the apparent growth, cryptocurrency ownership remains relatively low. <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trip<\/a>leA estimates the global cryptocurrency ownership rate to be at an average of 3.9%. Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela are the top countries with at least 10% of their population owning cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2021-12\/ab5fe18e-788f-45a7-b501-f8715c4b4c12.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Despite growing adoption, cryptocurrency ownership remains relatively low worldwide.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The low ownership rates imply substantial room for growth, which is why a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2021\/09\/27\/2303514\/28124\/en\/Global-Cryptocurrency-Market-2021-to-2026-Industry-Trends-Share-Size-Growth-Opportunity-and-Forecasts.html\">CAGR of 60.8%<\/a> from 2021 to 2026 for the cryptocurrency market may have some merit. This year, the value of the cryptocurrency market has already grown from $364.5 billion last year to more than $2.5 trillion \u2014 a 586% surge. And in the coming year, the new sectors in GameFi and perhaps assets related to Web3 could possibly be new avenues for continued growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tokenization of certain securities could also happen on a much larger scale, and it is even predicted to be the norm by 2030. Furthermore, the prevalence of cryptocurrencies for payments could also be another area with untapped potential, which will be explored further in another upcoming report.<\/p>\n<p>Predicting what sectors in 2022 are poised for the same breakthrough that NFTs had this year would be difficult, if not, impossible. However, reports that carefully study and go in-depth about certain topics would offer a better way of understanding the nuances of a specific sector.<\/p>\n<p><em>Cointelegraph\u2019s Market Insights Newsletter shares our knowledge on the fundamentals that move the digital asset market. The newsletter dives into the latest data on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> sentiment, on-chain metrics and derivatives.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We also review the industry\u2019s most important news, including mergers and acquisitions, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. Sign up now to be the first to receive these insights. All past editions of Market Insights are also available on Cointelegraph.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/cointelegraph-consulting-crypto-events-of-2021-in-retrospect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Cointelegraph Consulting: Crypto events of 2021 in retrospect &#8221; The year 2021 is coming to a close, and if there\u2019s one way to describe how the cryptocurrency industry fared in the past 12 months, it would be momentous growth.\u00a0 Major cryptocurrencies shattered previous records, adoption grew, new sectors sprouted, and novel blockchain use cases&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":388098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMTIvMGQxMjdkNzEtNDcxNC00OTNlLWI1ZTgtMjM1MzUxMDI3MjM0LmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74862,74858,75952,74868,95118,93542],"class_list":["post-388097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitcoin-regulation","tag-cointelegraph-consulting","tag-defi","tag-nft","tag-web3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}