2021 has been a turbulent but fruitful year for cryptocurrencies. The market cap of cryptocurrencies has grown from less than $800 billion to around $2.2 trillion now, with some assets enjoying considerable returns in terms of price and users. For example, according to an official website of exchange, from December 2020 to April 2021, the price of Bitcoin more than tripled to $60,000. Additionally, the continued boom in DeFi applications and NFTs suggests that more gains are likely in the coming year.
With the development of cryptocurrencies for more than ten years, the value of Bitcoin has long since changed.
At the beginning of 2022, an old crypto-asset exchange announced on January 18, “As one of the earliest Crypto Exchanges in the world, through this renaming, we can see that we are no longer a simple cryptocurrency exchange, but It is an ecological builder that gradually develops into an encrypted economy.”
What are the critical crypto trends we need to watch as 2022 begins?
Bitcoin price continues to fluctuate
Bitcoin is by far the most prominent cryptocurrency globally, and Bitcoin miner mining is still one of the important ways for miners to obtain Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin’s performance in 2021 has been erratic, hitting an all-time high above $60,000 in April, plummeting below $30,000 in July, hitting an all-time high of nearly $70,000 in November, and then falling well below the $50,000 current level of the dollar.
This volatility could continue into 2022 and beyond, given that the crypto market is not yet fully mature.
Bitcoin’s volatility is one of the reasons why many seasoned traders love it, and its volatility provides an arbitrage opportunity. But that’s also why many asset managers advise caution and tell clients to allocate only 5% of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies. Instead, investors should prepare for Bitcoin’s pump and dump.
What cryptocurrency bulls expect is that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will continue to fluctuate in the short term. Still, their value will steadily increase in the long-term despite periodic sharp pullbacks. Therefore, investors need to be patient and not bother with temporary ups and downs.
Bitcoin ATMs multiply
The invisible nature of cryptocurrencies has long been a disadvantage; many people cannot see Bitcoin as real money because they cannot see or touch it. But now that the installation of Bitcoin ATMs is slowly becoming a reality worldwide, people will be able to see digital assets as an investment tool at their fingertips.
Bitcoin ATMs have been growing steadily since 2015 and are hitting a new high in 2021. According to Coin ATM Radar, there are more than 33,000 Bitcoin ATMs around the world today.
Bitcoin ATMs allow people to buy BTC with a credit or debit card. This makes cryptocurrencies very accessible to both enthusiasts and novices. In addition, Bitcoin ATMs can practically eliminate the need for crypto brokers as people can easily use them for crypto transactions.
Approval of Crypto ETFs
When the first Bitcoin futures ETF BITO was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, its first-day trading volume reached nearly $1 billion. This confirms investor interest in crypto products that can be bought and traded on regular exchanges.
But BITO does not hold any bitcoin, which is also a way for retail investors to get exposure to bitcoin futures rather than actual BTC. It is not a “spot” ETF. The SEC has received numerous applications for ETFs based on the current price of cryptocurrencies but never approved them. However, based on BITO’s performance and investors’ confidence in it, a Bitcoin spot ETF looks likely to pass quickly in 2022, which could bring in a slew of new retail investors.