The year 2021 has been a breakthrough year for the cryptocurrency market, thanks to the favor it found with governments and other financial institutions. Bitcoin (BTC), in particular, hit all-time highs. The enormous growth in the cryptocurrency market is also attributed to its penetration across major companies, with higher levels of regulation and enforcement further contributing to the popularity it garnered in the current year.
“The major reason that made people to involve with cryptocurrencies is the profit potential that they promise. And those who have invested in them at low price levels have already made a fortune out of it. However, ‘caution’ remains the key word when dealing in cryptocurrencies,” advices expert Mark Tencaten.
Since the market appears upbeat about the further growth in the cryptocurrency industry, here are some market trends about cryptocurrency that may show up in the year 2022 as well.
Expected Cryptocurrency Market Trends In 2022
If we go by the current marketing trends, cryptocurrency makes for a compelling case of a growing sector. The data from CoinMarketCap lists over 13,000 existing cryptocurrencies, with total market capitalisation of all crypto assets exceeding the highest $2tn in September this year, a 10-times increase since early 2020.
In the 2020 annual report of Tesla filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company declared a hefty investment $1.5bn in BTC. Similarly, PayPal, in October 2020, announced to launch a new service that would allow customers to buy, hold and sell the digital currency directly from their PayPal accounts.
Similarly, a report by Allied Market Research on crypto market predicts the global crypto market to hit $4.94bn by 2030, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% between 2021 and 2030.
Bitcoin Led the Way
Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of bitcoin (BTC), has introduced the cryptocurrency as a mode of peer-to-peer direct electronic cash transfer without the need of a financial institution. But, as the time passed by, businesses started to accept cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a legal tender, which resulted in the increased viability and utility of such digital currencies.
The biggest success for BTC came on September 7, 2021 when El Salvador became the first country in the world to officially declare BTC as a legal currency. Now, it would be interesting to see if more countries jump on to the bandwagon of BTC or other cryptocurrency.
Moreover, the installation of Bitcoin automated teller machines (ATMs) also appears to be a landmark for the crypto sector. The data from Coin ATM Radar suggests that 27,983 BTC ATMs were in place across major cities in the US as of November 22, 2021.
Introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)
Touted as the tomorrow’s money, many countries worldwide are in process of developing their own CBDCs would be a parallel adoption to bitcoin. A CBDC is a digital form of money that both the public and financial institutions can hold, depending on the model they are adopting.
The market analysis from cryptocurrency expert Mark Tencaten suggests that CBDCs are all set to become a big thing in 2022. “The huge growth potential of CBDCs is attributed to their direct links to central banks, as well as their usefulness in reducing domestic and cross-border intermediaries and significantly improving the efficiency of retail payments,” says Mark Tencaten.
Currently, many central banks including Swedish-based Riksbank are exploring the possibilities of issuing a digital alternative or complement to cash. In the view of all these developments over the last couple of years, cryptocurrency enthusiasts like Mark Tencaten are looking forward to 2022 that is expected to the golden year for the crypto trade.
It could be the year when countries all over the world would look to launch and experiment with their own versions of Central Bank Digital Currencies.
Comments