Cryptocurrency. If you hadn’t heard of it before 2021, you will have almost certainly heard of it this year. It has made huge headlines in the news for a number of reasons, and with more people learning about it, it’s just going to keep growing and growing. And we’re gonna take a quick look at why that is. So without further delay, here are 5 reasons why 2021 is going to be the year of the cryptocurrency.
- It’s drawing in big investors
There are two ways of getting into cryptocurrency, you can either mine for it with computer hardware. This is basically where your computer is used to process data, and the more it does, the more crypto you can earn. The second way is by purchasing cryptocurrencies; much like stocks and shares, their values fluctuate, so people try to buy low, sell high.
But, some people may have missed the early days, and so have bought into cryptocurrencies later on. But because so many people are doing it, the price just keeps rising and rising. And there are big players now backing cryptocurrencies. For example, Elon Musk’s Tesla bought $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and it caused the value of BTC to skyrocket to heights no one had ever expected. Most recently it hit $60,000 in value for the first time. And when you have investors like that, you can only see more big names getting involved and the price continuing to rise.
- More businesses are accepting it as payment
We used to barter, then currency was created and we started buying and selling things with money. Now, more businesses than ever are accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.One of the biggest industries that accept them is the gambling industry, with top sportsbooks that accept bitcoin trying to accommodate the ever changing climate around world currencies.
This can be both a good thing and bad thing for businesses, because if someone paid in crypto back in the days where 1 BTC was only worth $1, if you kept hold of it, that single BTC is now worth $60,000. So you can sit on it and make money without needing to do anything. But if you spent the same now, the value could drop overnight and be worth half what it was the previous day as markets can be volatile. Still, it’s a risk many businesses are willing to take.
- Hardware should be more easily available
The main hardware people use to mine BTC and other cryptocurrencies is a Graphics Card (GPU). Now the latest models released late last year very much had a similar issue that the new-generation video game consoles had. There was more demand than supply. You’ve then got people buying them and selling them on for a big profit because they’re so hard to get hold of. This has also driven the prices up of older GPUs too.
However, this year, manufacturers should step up their game. Which means if they can meet demand, prices will fall back down to market value, and more people should be able to get them. Which means it becomes more cost effective to buy them for Crypto-mining because you’re more likely to make profit over a shorter period of time.
- It is becoming more secure
Many cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, which is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. This is constantly evolving to make it more and more difficult for people to get access to your funds. So unlike how someone could mug you on the street and take your cash and potentially use your card contactlessly until you cancel it, you won’t be able to do this with crypto. In fact, it’s so secure, if you forget your login details for your crypto wallet, you could lose everything yourself. So make sure you make a note of everything your wallet gives you.
- More and more people are learning about cryptocurrencies
With knowledge comes power. And more and more people are learning about this new found currency, and as they do, they’re beginning to mine for it and invest in it. The more people who learn about it and get involved, the more cryptos will pop up, and the higher the values of them will become. And maybe one day, we’ll even see actual Governments acknowledging crypto as official currencies, although they believe the values to be too volatile right now, but who knows what will happen in the future.
There you have it
So there we are, 5 reasons why we think 2021 is the year of the cryptocurrency. Think we’re wrong about any of it? Maybe there are other reasons you think it’ll take off? Whatever your opinion, let us know in the comments below, or on our social channels as we’d love to hear from you.