Source: Adobe/22Imagesstudio Here is what happened in the Cryptoworld in the last quarter of this year:
Total crypto market capitalization in Q4 Source: CoinGecko.com October
We started the final quarter of the year with bitcoin (BTC) becoming a more favored investment at the expense of ethereum (ETH) . Further, the flagship cryptocurrency saw an influx of USD 69m over the first week of October, which gave it enough momentum to break the USD 55,000 resistance and return to USD 1trn market capitalization. At the same time, Bitcoin Lightning Network was growing faster than the available public statistics.
Ethereum developers came up with an abstract date for the Ethereum 2.0 update, projecting that it could happen in May or June 2022. ETH also tested a new all-time high ahead of its Altair hard fork , the first mainnet upgrade to the beacon chain.
Polkadot (DOT) team said that parachains – blockchains that connect to the Polkadot Relay Chain – were ready to be deployed .
A global investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) – dubbed the Pandora Papers – exposed how the world elite was using offshore structures and trusts in tax havens to conceal their wealth.
Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that bitcoin had the “right to exist” . While Moscow assured investors that it would not follow Beijing’s regulatory move, it said it could banish exchanges overseas .
Local officials from Russia and Pakistan too were trying to come up with an appropriate framework for crypto assets.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that economic leaders should fight back against crypto by issuing their own central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ). It also said that a peak in inflation was expected during the final months of 2021, but that central banks should not tighten monetary policy.
Speaking of CBDCs, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari announced the launch of the country’s digital currency – eNaira .
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) warned that countries should work to prevent ‘regulatory arbitrage’ for stablecoins , while the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) argued that the financial system was in ‘an age of disruption’ .
A leading Salvadoran engineering academic claimed that volcano-powered Bitcoin mining could be ruinous for the nation’s economy , arguing that the government spent USD 4,672 worth of public funds to mine just USD 269 in BTC.
Meanwhile, President Nayib Bukele blasted critics as the BTC price boomed. Some citizens were resorting to “identity theft” though in a bid to obtain USD 30 worth of BTC through El Salvador’s official wallet Chivo .
Then, El Salvador’s president announced that the government had bought the dip after overleveraged traders had caused a half a billion liquidation spree that had led to the flagship cryptocurrency dropping by 6%.
In South Korea, the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Kim Jeong-Gak said that decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) regulations were coming . Meanwhile, South Korean lawmakers were inundating parliament with crypto tax delay bills .
Courtesy of China’s crackdown on BTC mining, the US became the largest Bitcoin mining hub , followed by Kazakhstan and Russia, researchers at Cambridge University found.
The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler ruled out the possibility of enacting a China-style crypto crackdown , saying that it “would be up to Congress.”
The SEC eventually approved the first-ever bitcoin futures-backed exchange-traded funds (ETF) , fuelling new bitcoin and ethereum highs .
Meanwhile, US top politicians were mulling a controversial unrealized gains tax bill . The Australian Senate’s Select Committee released its final report which included a set of recommendations for crypto and digital asset regulation . In an official ruling, a US Judge wrote that the court should be allowed to hear the “meaningful perspective” of XRP holders, inviting six XRP holders to get their day in court in the Ripple -SEC battle. At the same time, the regulatory body served up Circle with a subpoena. Facebook took another step towards the metaverse , announcing a partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase . Then the social media giant changed its corporate name to Meta . The American retail behemoth Walmart started its Bitcoin ATM pilot at 200 of its stores . The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation started working on a roadmap for banks to engage with crypto assets . Payments giant Mastercard announced a partnership with crypto platform Bakkt in a bid to integrate global bitcoin payments into its network . MoneyGram , an American cross-border […]
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