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RIYAD: 2021 was a banner year for cryptocurrency, which saw the market value of digital coins briefly exceed $ 3 trillion (SR11.3 trillion) in November.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value and the second largest cryptocurrency, the ether, has also hit all-time highs. While altcoins and memes-inspired Dogecoin have gained traction.

Other digital assets, such as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have sold for millions of dollars alongside fine art at major auction houses. A digital collage by American artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for $ 69.3 million in March.

In addition to art, DTVs for use in video games to purchase digital land or other items have gained in value.

And El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender in September, in a move that saw the government provide digital wallets giving every citizen $ 30 in Bitcoin.

Blockchain-based applications, including decentralized finance, or DeFi, have captured the interest of retail and institutional investors, driving the growth of Web3, which is the decentralized version of the Internet based on blockchain technology that powers businesses. NFT and underlying cryptocurrencies.

All of this helped push cryptocurrency into the mainstream in 2021.

Here are the 2021 crypto highlights.

Most Popular Cryptocurrencies

Receiving an average of 1,100,000 Google searches per month, Bitcoin was the most googled cryptocurrency in the UK in 2021, according to a new study.

Research by Bacancy, a software company, added that Dogecoin is the second most searched digital coin in the UK with a monthly average of 596,000 Google searches over the past year.

Ethereum, the blockchain-based software platform for receiving and sending value globally, ranks third with 378,000 searches.

With 189,000 searches per month, the Shiba Inu token, another dog-themed digital coin, was in fourth place.

Cardano is the fifth most searched, with 187,000, followed by XRP in sixth place with 185,000 monthly searches and in seventh place is Ripple with 83,000 Google searches in 2021.

Meanwhile, Dogecoin overtook Bitcoin in popularity in the United States in 2021 as it is the most sought-after cryptocurrency in the country’s 23 states, according to research.

This survey was conducted by financial adviser The Advisor Coach to establish the cryptocurrency every American might want to invest in based on research.

Analysis of Google Trends data revealed that Dogecoin had the most states interested in investing in the digital coin with a total of 23 states, including Illinois, Florida, Hawaii, and New Jersey. The rise in interest can be partly attributed to the approval of US billionaire Elon Musk who said in December that his electric car maker Tesla would accept Dogecoin as a form of payment.

Bitcoin was the second most popular with 10 states seeking cryptocurrency investment opportunities, including Connecticut, Alaska, Mississippi, and New Hampshire.

A total of eight states have inquired about Ethereum, the third highest in research, with states like Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, and Ohio showing interest.

Who exploits

Most of the Bitcoin mining took place in China, according to Internet Protocol, or IP addresses, which used the mathematical functions needed to find the digital coin.

In 2021, the world’s major Bitcoin mining pools were all from China, with five pools responsible for more than half of the cryptocurrency’s total hash, or mathematical mining functions.

This is probably related to energy prices around the world, as the cost of electricity in Germany is more than 10 times the price in China. Successful mining for Bitcoin uses banks of powerful computers that use a lot of energy.

Digital coin mining companies have bought a lot of equipment this year, which has caused the price of some mining accessories to increase by about 10% per week in 2021, according to Statista.

However, on the dark side of currency, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service revealed in November that $ 3.5 billion in cryptocurrency was seized last year.

This represents 93% of all funds seized by the criminal investigation unit in 2021.

The agency plans to confiscate billions of additional dollars in cryptocurrency next year.

“I expect the trend of crypto foreclosures to continue as we move forward into fiscal 2022. We are seeing crypto involved in a number of our crimes as we move forward,” the chief said. of IRS Criminal Investigations, Jim Lee.