The points below are voiced by Harsh Agrawal, founder of the CoinSutra education platform. Harsh is a frequent speaker at various blockchain events, and his thoughts were published by Decrypt.

Content

  • 1 More regulation in the cryptocurrency niche
  • 2 The rise of cryptocurrencies
  • 3 Concern for the environment on the part of miners
  • 4 Notable volatility in Bitcoin price
  • 5 Adoption of Bitcoin ETFs

More regulation in the cryptocurrency niche

Since the Bitcoin blockchain began, the crypto industry has evolved in a decentralised manner until global financial regulators started paying attention to it a few years ago. In 2022, regulators will have an even greater impact on crypto-assets, according to an expert.

Crypto investors are hoping for a more moderate approach in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Treasury Department offices are pushing for new regulations to control crypto.

These might include stricter tax laws and even the inclusion of crypto investments in citizens’ retirement plans. If regulators manage to reach an understanding on the topic of the cryptocurrency industry, it will pay dividends for both the government and individual investors, who will be more secure in the field of law.

The rise of cryptocurrencies

The intangible nature of cryptocurrencies has been working against them for quite some time on some issues. Many people don’t see bitcoins as real money because the coins “can’t be touched”. But now, with the massive installation of new crypto machines around the world, BTC is becoming increasingly popular and understandable to the public.

Growth in the number of crypto machines

The number of crypto machines has been growing steadily since 2015 and has reached a new high in 2021. According to Coin ATM Radar, there are more than 33,000 such devices in the world today. Essentially, they allow people to buy BTC with cash and bank cards, meaning that even investors far removed from the crypto industry can make their first Bitcoin investment right on the street outside a crypto machine. Given the success of digital assets in the past year, crypto-machine companies will only increase their operations.

It should be noted that crypto machines have too high commissions, so they are usually used only by newcomers. Exchanges, P2P platforms and other platforms are much more profitable in this regard.

The mining industry’s concern for the environment

Critics of Bitcoin have repeatedly claimed that mining cryptocurrencies is extremely detrimental to the environment. The logic here is simple – the energy consumption of the BTC network is constantly increasing due to the increasing capacity of miners’ devices, with the electricity being generated mostly at the expense of environmentally harmful power plants.

Bitcoin network energy consumption

However, this thesis applies only to Bitcoin so far – many popular altcoins like Solana or Avalanche are based on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm, which consumes comparatively small amount of electricity. In addition, the second most capitalised coin, Etherium, is also due to switch to PoS this year, so the overall power consumption of the crypto industry is unlikely to grow at a rapid pace in 2022.

Notable Bitcoin price volatility

Bitcoin showed high volatility in 2021, setting a record high in April above $64,000 before falling to under $30,000 in July. Another wave of growth followed, with the price of the major cryptocurrency changing by tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of months.

Bitcoin exchange rate in 2021

Volatility is likely to continue in 2022 and beyond. The whole point is that the cryptocurrency market is not yet fully “mature”. Consequently, traders will have chances to make a good fortune on the ups and downs of BTC. And that’s just Bitcoin after all – altcoins tend to show even more volatility and the ability to grow.

The adoption of Bitcoin ETFs

When the first Bitcoin ETF under the ticker BITO appeared on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, it reached almost a billion dollars in trading on its first day. This was an immediate confirmation of investors’ interest in cryptocurrency products that they can buy and trade on conventional exchanges.

But BITO has one nuance – this ETF is based on the price formation of the main cryptocurrency through derivative products on it in the form of futures. A spot ETF, that is, one that would be based on normal market prices of a cryptocurrency, has not yet been approved by the SEC. It is likely that 2022 will be the year when we can witness this development, which should significantly increase the interest of individual traditional investors in BTC.


Apparently, 2022 will be just as interesting a year for the cryptocurrency industry as previous years. And it's not just about forecasts about the growth of the main coin to $100K, which we have already had a chance to get acquainted with. First of all, it is the popularization of digital assets, NFT tokens and other integral parts of the Web3 industry that is attracting attention here. Apparently, this trend is already destined to become a full-fledged companion of the world in the future.

And what trends are on your mind? Share your predictions in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. There we will talk about other topics related to the world of decentralized assets.