2021 has been an eventful and important year for cryptocurrency assets. Bitcoin and Ethereum hit multiple new highs and major institutional buy-ins took place. Besides, the general public interest has grown significantly and extended beyond the traditional scope of investors. It wouldn’t be wrong to claim that the popularity of crypto assets is just getting started.
With the cryptocurrency revolution becoming unprecedentedly bigger in 2021, the potential and possibilities are expected to be even bigger in 2022. So, what lies ahead for this increasingly popular technology and investment asset category? The most important question for existing and potential investors is the coins they should look out for.
Promising Digital Tokens
The crypto market cap has already touched $3 trillion. While there are thousands of digital coins, most crypto enthusiasts are expected to invest in the top 20 popular and most traded options in 2022.
The digital currencies expected to gain the most investments in the year are expected to be the following:
- Bitcoin: The original cryptocurrency has a growing crop of strong competition. It is expected to continue to dominate the market and stay at the top.
- Ethereum: This altcoin is expected to retain its value and achieve greater growth percentages than Bitcoin.
- Algorand: This is a new altcoin and has some interesting features that seem to support its long-term growth.
- Algorand: This blockchain platform has a planned out multi-stage development program to become a self-sustained decentralized system. The use of peer review before releasing any updates brings with it the promise of increased quality.
- Polkadot: This altcoin is based on the functionality of enabling data exchange across different blockchains. It addresses a major drawback that affects most cryptos in the market.
- Aave: Based on the concept of lending and borrowing to generate income, Aave seems to have developed a concept that offers more consistent returns compared to other crypto assets.
Cryptos That Could Potentially Crash
Many altcoins entered the market and seemed to follow the footprint of Bitcoin. Then emerged the crop of stablecoins that are linked to fiat currencies or other sources to support their values. Then there are the meme coins.
Meme coins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu find their origins in online memes and are expected to have it rough in 2022. While Dogecoin recorded over 3,000% growth, it has been falling for many months now. It is expected to follow this pathway in the new year.
Shiba Inu, a closely related meme coin, saw a great year in 2021. It received all the buzz it required to gain in growth and market capitalization and even outperformed Dogecoin at one time. It will again need the help of its community and celebrities to grow in 2022 and deliver returns to investors.
Key Areas to Watch Out For
There are certain key areas where cryptos are expected to gain steam in 2022.
Bitcoin Gaining Greater Acceptance as a Payment Mode
Bitcoin is expected to gain a greater level of acceptance in 2022, even as a form of payment. According to studies, there are 5 factors that make Bitcoin so popular with individuals:
- Trust in the benefits of blockchain in gaming
- Perceived risk related to the investment
- Word of mouth – both online and offline
- High-quality platforms available for transactions
- High expectations from the coin’s performance
There has been a dramatic surge in the number of trading platforms where people can exchange fiat currency for cryptos. There have also been major infrastructure investments in the existing platforms. These factors have contributed to the expansion of access to crypto markets and driven greater interest from institutional investors.
Increased NFT Activity
NFT sales soared in 2021. NFTs began as a method of formalizing digital art ownership. Now they are also used for formalizing other types of digital assets including digital real estate. NFT sales are touching new records. Recently, Sotheby’s raised over $17 million and then created its NFT-only marketplace known as Metaverse to enable the sales of digital artworks. With the emergence of new NFT applications, this ecosystem is expected to experience significant growth in 2022.
While it is expected that these developments will shape the cryptocurrency market in 2022, there is also the looming factor of potential government regulations. China, on one hand, has fully completely banned cryptos while India has plans of creating new guidelines to make the most of blockchain technology while not supporting cryptos.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Crypto News Stories of 2021
