What happened in 2021?

This year was definitely a turning point for the once niche cryptocurrency market: countless major global headlines featured buzzwords like NFTs, Metaverse, blockchain technology, and Bitcoin ETF.
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Moreover, once unthinkable events, such as El Salvador adapting Bitcoin as legal tender also took the world by storm, naturally attracting the attention of millions who never heard about crypto before. While this article focuses on everything Bitcoin and altcoins, visit our blog later this week for detailed posts about NFTs and the Metaverse—trust us, you’ll want to know these terms in 2022.

Bitcoin’s Performance

The biggest cryptocurrency experienced unprecedented ups and downs but still managed to close the year with a healthy, almost 50% gain year over year. For a seasoned crypto investor, this figure could sound a bit lackluster, however, it is considered great when compared to traditional assets, like stocks, or precious metals.

Altcoins' 2021

Altcoins–any other cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin–also performed like never before. With the meme coin-craze led by Dogecoin (DOGE), 2021 was off to a wild start, but things were just getting started. Top players, like Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), and XRP registered incredible profits, reaching well into multiple hundred percentage points in the green. Despite a major dip in the summer, most of the altcoins reclaimed their lost value and finished the year with a home run. It was not all positive, though–2021 also brought the renaissance of scammers. The number of malicious coins and fake projects started to escalate into serious security issues, and many lost funds. To combat this toxic trend, coinpass offers only the major, trustworthy crypto tokens, all within a fully compliant, regulated environment designed for security.

The Crypto Market’s Performance

The first months couldn’t have been better for BTC, as the whole crypto market went on to complete one of the greatest bull runs in history, amassing outstanding gains by the end of April. Unfortunately for many, by that time it seemed the party was over: during the upcoming three months, the market–Bitcoin included–lost almost all positive percentages and slid back to levels similar to the end of 2020.
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What makes the crypto market so unique is that it can turn around even after such a devastating down term–and so it did. From August, almost all assets obtained immense gains throughout the year, hitting all-time highs (ATH) and breaking records every second day. Sadly, nobody can tell if this uptrend will continue in 2022, but one thing is certain: after a year like 2021, nothing is impossible.

Summary

2021 tested even the toughest investors’ emotions with a tremendously volatile crypto market, but despite hitting rock bottom mid-year, both Bitcoin and the majority of altcoins bounced back and registered one of the most successful years in history. The only thing left to do is see what 2022 has to offer–we have a feeling it’ll live up to the expectations instated by last year.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3