Looking back at 2021: The 10 most important events in the crypto industry Wu said the year-end review (1)

The tide comes and goes, over and over again, we bid farewell to 2021 and welcome 2022.

Wu said the author   |   Colin Wu

Editor of this issue   |   Colin Wu

1    Bitcoin hits record high, US CPI near 40-year high

As the US fully opened the floodgates, the price of Bitcoin hit a record high of $69,000 on November 10. The US unadjusted CPI annual rate in November was 6.8%, a record high since June 1982. As China may cut interest rates and the US will raise interest rates, the global monetary situation in 2022 is extremely complicated.

Wu said in depth: The impact of the US monetary policy shift on cryptocurrencies

  2      China’s mining purge and Huobi delisting

From a global perspective, China has completely cleared Bitcoin mining and trading. Huobi, the largest exchange in the Chinese region, announced the clearing of all Chinese users. Although this is not unexpected, it is still the most important news event of the year. This means a complete transfer of the mining industry, and also means that China has further withdrawn from the stage of the world's encryption industry, and Chinese encryption practitioners have migrated to the world. This has also stimulated the United States' support for the industry from another perspective.

Going overseas, waiting, or transforming? Where will China's miners go after June 19?

Huobi starts clearing out tens of millions of Chinese users and makes major internal structural adjustments

  3      El Salvador declares Bitcoin legal tender

Although it is only a small country in South America, El Salvador surprisingly announced that Bitcoin has become legal tender, and continued to buy on dips when the whole world was not optimistic. New ways of playing such as Bitcoin City, Bitcoin Bonds, and geothermal mining have emerged one after another. Where El Salvador's great experiment is going is one of the most important focuses of this year and in the future.

El Salvador's great experiment + Taproot upgrade: Can Bitcoin's dying payment attribute be revived?

  4      Coinbase successfully listed, Bitcoin futures ETF approved

In April, Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, was successfully listed in the traditional capital market. Although the market value often fluctuates violently with the fluctuations of Bitcoin, it is also the most important landmark event that means the crypto industry has entered the traditional financial and public vision. A similar landmark event is the approval of the Bitcoin futures ETF.

Comment: Three major impacts of Coinbase's listing: prolonged bull market, listing boom and project compliance

Analysis of the first Bitcoin futures ETF in the United States: characteristics, risks, impact and future

  5      Musk Tesla and MEME

Musk, the world's richest man, entered the crypto industry like an elephant in the kitchen. Tesla first bought a huge amount of Bitcoin and announced that it would support Bitcoin payments. Then it suddenly stopped supporting it for environmental reasons, and Musk also turned away from Bitcoin and only supported Dogecoin. Musk's support for Dogecoin triggered the subsequent MEME craze.

The multiple impacts of Musk's defection: Bitcoin has lost its most important supporter

  6      Ethereum EIP-1559 upgrade successful

After the successful upgrade of Ethereum EIP-1559, the price of Ethereum reached a record high. Ethereum's price increased nearly five times in one year, while Bitcoin's price increased less than one time. However, 1559 did not alleviate the problem of expensive Ethereum Gas. Fortunately, 1559 was not significantly delayed, which also gave the outside world confidence in the more important Ethereum 2.0 next year.

Wu's in-depth talk: 7 major changes after Ethereum 1559 upgrade: Who can achieve it and who will fail

  7      New public chain outbreak

New public chains such as Solana, Terra, Avalanche, and Polygon have exploded this year, with increases of 10,690%, 14,353%, 3,002%, and 11,034% respectively. In addition to the huge wealth effect, each has its own characteristics and advantages, challenging the Ethereum ecosystem.

What is the secret of the success of the new public chain avalanche protocol AVAX? Can TVL and price continue to rise?

  8      Punk Revival Ape Madness

CryptoPunks and BAYC led the NFT craze, making avatar NFT an effective business model. The more important significance of NFT is that it is the first time that the crypto industry has fully broken through the circle and integrated with traditional society and popular culture.

Dialogue with Cryptopunks early investors: I have claimed more than 50 rare species for free, which may be worth 12,000 ETH

  9      The rise of Axie and blockchain games

From DeFi, NFT, to Gamefi, the rise of Axie has triggered the popularity of Gamefi. If NFT is a noble game, then Gamefi represented by Axie is the countryside surrounding the city, and it has a huge community base. At the end of 2021, Gamefi's financing amount has become the largest part of the crypto field. But at the same time, some local dog chain games have collapsed. In 2022, a large number of regular game troops will enter the market, and there are many interesting variables in where Gamefi will go.

In-depth: GameFi blockchain game boom has benefited BSC the most, but is P2E sustainable?

  10      Polynetwork hack

Polynetwork became the largest theft case in the history of cryptocurrencies. Fortunately, the hacker finally compromised and returned all the money. But on the other hand, whether it is against DeFi protocols or centralized exchanges, theft cases are endless. Only a few can be recovered, and most of them become hackers' cash machines. A large number of security incidents seem to have no good solutions to deal with hackers for the time being, casting a negative shadow on the industry.

Understand the PolyNetwork 600 million coin theft case in one article. The largest amount in DeFi history. The full review of the whole process had early signs.