👀 The Year At A Glance (Part I)
Lots and lots happened this year and we're here to make sure you're all caught up!
Can you believe that 2021 is over already? Yet another year went by in the lockdown for a lot of us. But trust us there was a lot of action in the world of finance! So we want to make sure you're up to date with everything that went on.
There’s a lot to cover, so we’ll be breaking down this discussion into two parts.
And today we’re going to talk about the developments that were on the tips of every tongue: crypto, NFTs, and the metaverse.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies were in vogue this year. Not just individuals, but also governments hopped on the trend. El Salvador went so far as to make Bitcoin legal tender and planning a $1 billion Bitcoin city. Whereas India and many others want to strictly regulate and maybe even ban cryptos.
But unbothered by all of this many investors are just treating cryptocurrencies as a get-rich-quick scheme. So, many are betting on meme coins. These cryptos are named so because the major driving force behind them is, you guessed it, memes.Â
Many of these coins are initially dirt cheap but end up giving insane returns. For instance, the Shiba Inu coin has grown 53,241,775% this year! Insane, right?
But before you resolve to go all in on meme coins in the new year, know that most of these coins are driven by pure hype. There is nothing fundamental behind their rally. In fact, most investors treat them as pump and dump assets. and many turn out to be scams.
If you’re still considering investing in them, read our detailed analysis here.Â
And if you’re interested in reading more about crypto, here are a few articles we recommend:
P.S. Just a reminder, we have launched our 2022 calendar to bring some more hope and cheer straight to your desks.
Metaverse and NFTs
As we entered 2021, we were introduced to the successors of cryptocurrencies: Non-fungible tokens. Like cryptos, these tokens are minted on the blockchain. But unlikeÂ
crypto, they are unique. They are sort of like digital artworks that you can buy, sell, and trade online. Or you can also use them in NFT-based games. Their demand grew so much that over $2.5 billion worth of NFTs had been sold in the first six months of the year. But after Facebook, sorry Meta, announced that it is entering the metaverse, sales have increased much much more, reaching $12 billion!
But what have NFTs got to do with the metaverse?
Well, the metaverse is a 3D digital space that you can explore through VR or AR technology. It promises to take our world to the digital realm. And in this digital world, our assets will also be digital a.k.a NFTs.Â
Many existing metaverses are leveraging the power of NFTs to help people earn. Yes, this new tech can make your lifelong dream of earning money while playing come true.Â
These games allow you to win, trade, and sell NFTs, some of which are worth hundreds and thousands of dollars.
If you want to learn more about how these games work, you can read our detailed analysis here.
And that’s not all. With nations like South Korea and Barbados entering the metaverse, NFTs are only set to get more important.
But not all of them. Even right now, research suggests that most NFTs are worthless. However, there’s always scope for improvement. Many interesting use cases are being developed to fully unlock the potential of NFTs.
For instance, luxury fashion houses are creating NFTs of fashion accessories and clothing so we can dress our avatars in the metaverse.
And if you’re not into the metaverse, there are other real-world applications of NFTs. The NBA team Dallas Mavericks are considering replacing regular tickets with NFTs. This will eliminate any and all ticket-related scams.
Plus, every time their ticket is resold, the team will get royalties.Â
And if you’re interested in more NFT use cases, you can explore them here.
If you want to learn more about cryptos and the blockchain, you can access our entire crypto repository here.
We’ll be discussing other major developments of the year tomorrow.
Until then. ReadOn.
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