2021, the year of crypto mainstream adoption? An overview.
And why you should make this your new year resolution
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It is the time of the year where we all start looking back and reflecting on the past 12 months, getting nostalgic, while also gaining weight celebrating our favorite holidays.
It is also the time of the year where we start planning about the year to come, and with this, our new year resolutions.
Sharing the sentiment, I think it’s the right moment to look back together at 2021 and gain some perspective of how far we’ve come. At the same time, if you are indeed planning next year’s resolution, you should really make crypto part of it. Why? Well, when I first wrote about why I’m bullish on crypto, I tried to explain why it’s the future. Fast forward to now, guess what… the future is here already.
2021 has been an exceptional year for crypto. Actions speak louder than words though, so let me walk you through some of the crypto mainstream adoption highlights!
I’ll focus on sharing strategic actions from different
non-crypto native institutions as well as key players that are critical in driving trends*.
Hopefully, this will give you some solid perspective why we’ve reached a point of no way back.
*Disclaimer: This is definitely not an exhaustive list of everything that happened this year.
1. Government Adoption
El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
This is probably one of the biggest wins for the crypto community this year. As of September 7th, 2021, El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, airdropping $30 worth of BTC to all its citizens.
El Salvador continues to purchase BTC aggressively, and as the first sovereign nation that took this bold step, they are certainly leading the way among other countries that are evaluating this leap, particularly in the rest of Latin America (click here to understand why crypto adoption is so high in Latam).
Moreover, president Nayib Bukele announced the launch of Bitcoin City.
Cities in the US are adopting their own version of city coin.
In a nutshell, US cities are partnering up with CityCoins, an open-source protocol that enables municipal citizens to mint new tokens in their personal computers, getting 70% of the mining reward, while the remaining 30% goes to fund the city.
Cities are positioning themselves as crypto innovation hubs to remain competitive, and even though it’s still at a nascent stage with further utilities to be defined as we go, it shows clear signs of city mayors embracing crypto.
Miami is the first of the cities to launch its “MiamiCoin (MIA)”, with a full endorsement of Francis Suarez, the city’s mayor.
New York City (NYC) has then followed the move, with Austin being the third city to launch its city coin.
Regulators are giving the green light for crypto ETFs
Canada is the country to launch the world’s first Bitcoin ETF, and currently has various options, including leading asset management such as Fidelity Bitcoin ETF.
Brazil is leading the way with its Stock Exchange listing the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America.
Australia’s regulators approved spot ETFs of both BTC and ETH.
Around 80 countries are researching, developing, or launching their own CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)
CBDCs are the digital versions of government-issued money.
These are centralized currencies (meaning still controlled by the authorities), with the attributes provided by blockchains, allowing fast and affordable global payments.
This is against the decentralization ethos that the crypto community is working for, but it is a clear sign that certain governments understand the benefits provided by this technology and the fact that the world is inevitably going digital.
2. Investors & Key References
These are the group of people with the most extensive track records in successfully building their companies and growing their wealth. A key factor that contributed to their achievement is their ability to visualize the potential of emerging opportunities and get involved at the right time.
There are quite a few who are part big supporters of crypto. No surprises here. Some examples are:
Microstrategy announced during August 2020 the adoption of Bitcoin as the primary reserve asset.
This is the first of many publicly traded company to make the move. Fast forward 1+ year, under the leadership of Michael Saylor, the company continues to purchase BTC aggressively.
Venture Capitals are pouring an immense amount of money into the crypto space, with a16z leading the way. Seems like
$30 billions have been invested into crypto startups this year alone.
Yeap, billions.Gary V is another one of the respected investors and entrepreneurs who highly endorses crypto, launching his first NFT collection back in May this year.
Raoul Pal is another huge crypto bull who is very vocal about it.
Elon Musk, with his controversies, is also one of the leading influences in this space.
3. Celebrities
Celebrities play a big role in the mass adoption journey we’ve embarked on this year. They might not necessarily be creating or partnering up with crypto companies, but their adoption and/or investment in crypto is endorsement enough to raise awareness and drive trends among their large fan bases.
Well, they are all voicing characters in the animated show Stoner Cat. This is a particular show though, and you can only watch it by buying an NFT.
Some of the other celebrities that are into crypto and publicly endorsing it are…
Snoop Dogg, Henry Gold, Reese Witherspoon, Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, to name a few… The list is quite long.
4. Sport Leagues
Sports is another area where our passion for the teams and athletes we support can translate into some pretty intense emotions and actions. Some of the most dedicated fans in the world are found here.
European Football Leagues
Over 20 teams have partnered up with Socios to launch their team-specific token as well as NFTs for fans engagement.
Crypto companies have also done some amazing work here, such as the strategic partnership between PSG and exchange platform crypto.com.
Speaking of PSG, as an Argentian, I cannot continue without bringing up Lionel Messi, who is another strong crypto advocate. His contract with PSG stated that part of his salary is paid out in crypto.
US NBA Top Shot has introduced the NFT craze into the Basketball fan base, allowing fans to purchase some of the top moments in NBA history.
Formula 1 has also announced crypto.com as the inaugural global partner of the new Sprint series for 2021, with promising plans for the development of exclusive NFTs.
5. Financial or fintech companies:
Visa plays a critical role in crypto’s mass adoption
Let’s have a look at what they’ve been doing…
Visa’s statement was loud and clear with the headline: “Visa jumps into the NFT craze, buying a CryptoPunk”.
Then, it started building on Ethereum as part of its Universal Payments Channel.
Now, they announced their partnership with 60 crypto platforms to launch card programs to make it easier for consumers to convert and spend digital currencies.
And lastly (for now, at the time of this article), Visa launched its crypto consulting services to help clients navigate the crypto world.
They are certainly not the only ones…
You can now buy, sell and hold crypto on Paypal.
You can also buy crypto on Venmo.
Mastercard also partnered up with crypto companies to launch crypto-funded payment cards.
Stripe is trying to catch up and is looking to hire a crypto team.
6. Tech companies
Facebook rebranding into Meta is a bold move. It’s an open embrace towards a Web3 future, but also, it’s a necessity to stay ahead of the metaverse revolution.
Twitter is also making some interesting moves. Besides the fact that former CEO Jack Dorsey is a huge Bitcoin bull, they are also hiring a team to focus on decentralizing the platform.
Shopify enabled crypto payments through a partnership with Binance.
TikTok also rolled out a key partnership with Audius, a decentralized music streaming platform. Think of it as the Web 3 version of Spotify.
7. Traditional Companies
Adidas launched its first NFT collection on Ethereum, making over $23 million already.
Nike went a step further and acquired a virtual sneakers and crypto collectible startup RTFKT. Check out the video below, pretty cool no?
Disney, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc are all companies that are getting themselves involved in crypto and NFTs.
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The list goes on… However, this article is becoming too long, so I’ll stop here.
Hopefully, the point I’m trying to make is coming across.
Final Thoughts
I’m a practical person. Ignore the noise and speculation, and look at the action.
Take a moment and think about:
the amount of time and resources these institutions and companies have poured into analyzing and understanding crypto and the macro situation of the world.
after all these careful consideration, the final strategic decision reached is to steer the direction towards one that fully embraces crypto.
The initial adoption of leading institutions, celebrities, and some of the smartest companies and people in the world have started in 2020, and the results have been reflected in 2021 all year long.
It’s safe to say that crypto officially entered the mainstream, and is here to stay.
Those who haven’t started yet will try to catch up so they are not left behind.
This is where the world is moving towards. It will be slow at first, and then it will be sudden.
It is almost irresponsible not to take some time to learn and understand what this is all about. The sooner you join, the more you can benefit from it.
So if you are not yet familiar with crypto, I do invite you to make this part of your new year resolution.
Unsure how to start? have a look at our cohort-based program here, and come join our community!
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Sneak peek… Coming up next: my last article of this year will be a summary of the trends for 2022. Don’t miss out!
Thanks for making it this far. If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to click like!