Crypto August 2021 Recap

Time flies and August is pretty much gone. In a more accelerated way, we have been witness the evolution of the crypto world. Regulations, stratospheric valuations of NFTs, rapid fall of Bitcoin dominance, accelerated development of "metaverse" technologies, and adoption of cryptocurrencies in oppressed countries.

👩🏽‍⚖️ Crypto Regulations

The “Infrastructure Bill” has left an indelible mark in the crypto market. The bill imposes a drastic increase in government surveillance capabilities for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry. This is just the beginning of many regulations that we will see being introduced to tame the space. But not all rules and regulations are necessarily negative. Many are essential for a technology or innovation to operate and grow safely with the necessary support and protection, but obviously, a lot of regulation hinders growth and innovation.

⚽ NFTs for the WNBA and LA LIGA

Dappers Labs, one of the pioneers and leaders of the NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) marketplace, and creators of Cryptokitties, hellodapper, NBATopShot, and FlowBlockchain among others, announced that they will start the commercialization of NFTs of the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association), as well as NFTs for “La Liga” the European soccer tournament. I think that this expansion, especially thanks to "La Liga," is going to create an exponential adoption for the NFT market. This soccer tournament attracts an annual audience that exceeds 2.8 billion viewers. This figure means that around 22% of the global population watches at least a match in this tournament and supports one of the participating teams.

This leads us to think that, seeing the acceptance of this technology that allows us to collect digital art and that is changing the way we owned things, we will continue to see an exponential growth in the NFT market. Even for those not very verse in crypto.

📉 Bitcoin's dominance falls?

Bitcoin's dominance has fallen dramatically over the past 12 months. At the end of August 2020, Bitcoin dominated the crypto market with 64% of total transactions, as today we see that it has about 43% of the total market share. To illustrate its decline, I remember that 5 years ago, when I started my adventure in the crypto world, the dominance of BTC sometimes reached 90%, figured which we will never see again. This means that we are in a more diverse market where other cryptocurrencies have appreciated in value and importance and investors are putting their money there as well. Personally, I think this diversification is beneficial for this techno-economic space.

The number of crypto investors has doubled over the last year. Out of these new investors, more than 70% are between the ages of 18 and 24 and 78% are men. I have colleagues and friends with children, who have heard their children say that:

“Bitcoin is a crypto for old people, and that they and their friends are interested in Dogecoin, Shiba inu coin and other protocols that fit more with their ideas and preferences."

Therefore, it is obvious to think that the dominance of Bitcoin will continue to decline, but be careful, this does not mean that its value will fall, Large institutions with deep pockets and governments usually start by investing in BTC.

This just means that most of the young people who are entering the crypto space, prefer, well, more crypto that is more hip and cool.

🌍 Facebook “Metaverse,” Novi Wallet, & Libra Coin (now Diem)

Mark Zuckerberg, in a press conference, commented that he sees the future of his companies in the Metaverse. These digital worlds are environments where humans interact socially and economically as icons, through a software in cyberspace that acts as a metaphor for the real world, but without the physical limitations imposed there.

In the words of Neal Stephenson, author of Snow Crash, book where we first heard about the metaverse:

"my idea when I found that some existing words such as virtual reality were simply too clumsy to use."

Facebook is already creating its own metaverse. This digital realm will be related to Diem, the cryptocurrency that they have been developing as a stable crypto, pegged to the dollar and projected to be launched as a pilot at the end of 2021. In order to receive, save, and send Diems, users will have to use their “ Novi Wallet,”which most likely will be not be compatible with Bitcoin, but will have many accept many other alt-coins and ERC20 tokens.

₿ BTC price

The price of the largest crypto asset has remained between $ 42k and $ 50k, a resistance barrier that has not been able to overcome forcefully. On August 23rd it reached $ 50,200.00 but fell below it in less than 24 hours. The infrastructure law, which contains a clause with the goal to tighten regulations for crypto miners and crypto platforms, has had an impact on the price, additionally, we believe to be in a correction period, in which many investors sell to make secure a profit and others are in the shores examining the market before entering or deciding to keep waiting for a better opportunity.

🛡️Governments and Oppressor Groups will have the challenge of trying to stop the great avalanche of crypto-economic advancement.

In Cuba, a country that for several decades has been paralyzed due to an economic embargo and other factors, is seeing a fairly accelerated technological and economic revival. The Caribbean island has skipped the adoption of desktops and laptops, and now we see a large number of cell phones operating. Cuba has always enjoyed a well-educated and innovative population, consequently Cubans have been able to take advantage of cellular technology and are rapidly adopting the use of cryptocurrencies to circumvent the economic restrictions imposed by their government. In Afghanistan, for example, a country ravaged by the Taliban violence and a war spanning more than 20 years, has seen centralized companies like Western Union stop operations and not allowing remittances. Something alarming, especially in these days of greater need for financial flow for the residents of that nation. The good news is that Afghans have been using Bitcoin networks to meet their economic needs and receive or send money.

Bitcoin and crypto have been and will continue to be the best option for the unbanked or underbanked, those who live in rural areas with limited access to financial institution, and all those who seek independence from centralized institutions that rule over our finances. These oppressive governments are, in a way, promoting the acceleration and growth of technologies that will free us from their clutches.