2021 has been a year packed with action for the crypto space. Bitcoin faced a solid run, with its value rising by nearly 70%. It took the market capitalization of the crypto space to more than $3 trillion briefly. Ethereum along with other latest altcoins also witnessed a good amount of growth with strong gains that were even better than BTC in several cases. So keeping the crypto space of 2021 in mind, let us have a look at some of the greatest crypto trends.
At this time, NFTs (non fungible tokens) became highly accessible to mainstream artists and retail investors. Another part of the digital currency space known as Metaverse gained much fame. 2021 witnessed some record land deals in the space of metaverse. Facebook changed its name to Meta and is building its infrastructure towards creating a virtual world altogether.
Top Crypto Trends This Year You Must Know
Crypto investors are now eagerly looking forward to what is there in 2022 for the crypto space. The strong market trends that started in 2021 are predicted to prevail in the upcoming years, and the crypto space is also anticipated to witness an increase in the number of market participants. And the investors are expected to see these crypto trends 2022.
More Emphasis Will Be Given On Crypto Regulations
The first and most important crypto trend in regulation. Regulators throughout the globe spent 2021 evaluating the impact of digital currency on the economy. Central banks from many nations, that includes India, warned about the risks to financial stability from the crypto space. From the adoption of bitcoin by El Salvador as a legal tender to ban on crypto-related activities in China to the announcement of a crypto regulation bill in India that will soon include a ban on all private digital currencies, the year 2021 witnessed a lot of regulatory action. The trend is predicted to prevail in 2022. It may also witness the introduction of CBDC (central bank digital currency).
Increase In Institutional Investment In Crypto Markets
This year, the crypto industry has attracted huge investments from well-known entities and financial groups. Investors that include venture capital funds invested nearly $30 billion into the industry in this year, as per reports. The amount of institutional investors present in the crypto space is likely to rise in the next year. With Facebook and Microsoft going big on the metaverse ideas and big brands like Adidas and Nike making an entry into the space, the crypto arena is likely to witness many more investments in the upcoming year. The DeFi (decentralized finance) market is also expected to witness a lot of actions. Banks too, have begun to notice the potential of cryptos and are looking to add aid to the crypto market. Newer loan products pegged by digital currencies are being rolled out by big banks such as Goldman Sachs.
Bitcoin Is Predicted To Stay Under Pressure
Bitcoin is predicted to end this year at a little below $50,000, but that will happen after making a fresh high of close to $70,000 in November. It had begun the year at nearly $29,000. After the huge gains clocked this, investors predict bearish crypto trends in the legacy digital currency in the year 2022.
According to Carol Alexander, who is a professor of finance at Sussex University, said in an interview that she expects BTC to the tank to as low as $10,000 in the upcoming year, virtually cleaning out all of its gains in the last year and a half. She thinks BTC “has no fundamental value” and caters as more of a “toy” than an element of investment.
However, there are also other experts who believe the BTC rally will soon start, and this time, this crypto will easily crack the mark of $100,000. So if you are wondering about the crypto to buy, then you can consider Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polkadot, and also Cardano.
The Growth Of The NFT Space Likely To Continue
NFTs have aided creators and artists get access to decentralized funding opportunities. As a result, they receive more freedom in financing their work. Being created on blockchain technology, NFTs are quite safe and they help to authenticate the ownership of the virtual asset. Thanks to such advantages, NFTs are quite famous among creators and artists. Hence, the crypto space is predicted to witness a rise in the valuation of the NFT industry.
Web 3.0 May Enter In The Mainstream
Web 3.0, which is the third version of the internet, is in operation. In Web 3.0, people get to fund their website without relying on big corporations that own servers and also charge hefty fees. There are many other benefits of Web 3.0 like being able to individualize the internet and ignoring the occurrence of a single point failure. The rising acceptance of Web 3.0 will have a positive effect on digital currencies such as Livepeer, Ethereum, and Helium among many other cryptos that are connected to the third version of the internet.
First Spot B bitcoin ETF Likely To Launch
This is indeed the next big crypto prediction to consider. The Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF) of ProShares that was launched in the US in 2021 only offers access to BTC futures and not the digital currency itself. However, it has proven to be expensive for retail investors. Vijay Ayyar, who is the Vice President of corporate development and global expansion at cryptocurrency exchange Luno pointed out to in an interview that,
“The Bitcoin Futures ETF that launched this year has been widely regarded as not very retail-friendly given the high costs involved of rolling over contracts which amount to around 5-10 percent.”
Investors now wish to witness the launch of the first-ever spot BTC ETF that will offer direct access to the digital currencies. These crypto trends 2022 can take the crypto space by storm.
The Bottom Line
All the crypto trends that have been mentioned above are based on some premises and evaluation of the 2021 market. Therefore older trends have an important role in enabling these crypto predictions and forecasts. If all these predictions come through the next year, 2022 will be a great year for the crypto market.
