Despite the economic havoc in 2020, the year remains one of the biggest years in Bitcoin’s short history. The COVID-19-related market crash in March was quickly mitigated, and Bitcoin managed to attain levels close to its 2017 all-time high.
The reason behind 2020’s massive price surge is the recognition that Bitcoin received from Wall Street, as well as the onboarding of some of the world’s largest institutional investors.
However, experts are predicting 2021 to be even bigger for the crypto sector, as a vast array of development and new currency releases are set for next year. One of the much-anticipated crypto-related events is the launch of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency. Also, 2021 is set to bring a series of crypto regulations in the United States.
John LaForge, who is Head of real asset strategy at Wells Fargo, noted in an investment report that "over the past 12 years, [bitcoin and cryptocurrencies] have risen from literally nothing to $560 billion in market capitalization."
"Fads don’t typically last 12 years. There are good reasons for this—the reasons that every investor should hear. As we roll into 2021, we’ll be discussing the digital asset space more — its upside and downside,” LaForge added, pointing out to Bitcoin’s 170% year-to-date (YTD) price gain, comparing crypto investing to the gold rush from the 1850s, which involved mainly speculations rather than real investing.
Meanwhile, with mainstream payment giants like Square and PayPal entering the crypto space at the end of 2020, their involvement would show its real effect in 2021.
Pierce Crosby, general manager at financial data company TradingView, stated that "2021 really centers around continual improvements in continuity between traditional markets and crypto markets."
According to Crosby, volatility took “center stage”, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency suffered from severe price swings amid the Coronavirus market crash, when Bitcoin fell to around $4,000, before sharply rebouncing.
Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency to date, managed to record a tri-fold price increase in the past 12 months, mainly due to the boom of decentralized finance (DeFi), which runs on top of Ethereum’s blockchain.
"From the trading perspective, most of the year's focus has been on yield and structured products, we've seen a huge wave of futures products and options products come to market, and it's likely more will follow soon," Crosby said.