Bitcoin has become infamous for the tremendous amount of energy required to mine it. Bitcoin mining consumes 91 terawatts of electricity annually—more than what the entire country of Finland uses in a year. The process of Bitcoin mining also generates a large amount of heat that has been conventionally released into the atmosphere.
Cryptocurrencies are known to be very volatile. There are days when you can easily double or triple your investment, but there are also days when you lose everything in a second. Since the crypto market is still unregulated, it’s a cinch for traders to rig prices and influence the market in their favor.
NFTs, digital collectibles with transferable ownership, have been steadily gaining popularity and value this year. Yet, locked on the blockchain network, NFT trades are oftentimes untraceable. In the third quarter of 2021, sales volume had surged to US$10.7 billion, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to market tracker DappRader.
021 has been a great year for cryptocurrencies. In fact, the crypto market is expected to grow from US$1.6 billion to US$2.2 billion by 2026. The tremendous growth potential of crypto has inspired many to dive into the business. The typical way to go about getting into the crypto business would be to buy some of it.
As of November 2021, the cryptocurrency market is worth more than US$3 trillion, and the non-fungible token (NFT) market is worth more than US$7 billion. As cryptocurrency and NFTs continue to gain prominence, it has become crucial to understand various aspects of the two to make the most out of their surging prices and popularity.
What do Jay Z, Logan Paul and the financial services company Visa have in common? (besides the fact that all three have a lot of money, of course!) All three own some Cryptopunks. Cryptopunks are rapidly becoming extremely popular in the non-fungible token (NFT) space.
On November 10, 2021, the U.S. passed a US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The bill, or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will ramp up government spending on public infrastructure like roads, bridges as well as water and broadband. The law was passed with a bipartisan vote of 69 to 30.
This has been the year of the non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Memes, games, art and many more items raked in thousands of dollars in the form of NFTs. It was only a matter of time before celebrities caught on and boarded this money-making bandwagon. Their token of choice? Themselves.
A digital token piggybacking on the Netflix-hit dystopian series Squid Game has lost all its value after being revealed to be an apparent scam.
The People’s Bank of China said in September this year that “all virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities”, including services by overseas cryptocurrency exchanges to Chinese residents through the Internet.
Imagine that you and your partners come up with an excellent business idea. After drafting a thorough plan, all you need is the money to execute it. For that, you can set up a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO. To join the organization, people buy tokens, gaining part ownership of your company while investing in it.
Decentralized financing (DeFi) is a blockchain-based financial system that does not rely on traditional financial institutions like banks. Decentralized financing platforms allow users to trade cryptocurrencies and make available other financial services, like borrowing and lending. In 2021, DeFi industry has grown to US$80 billion, with an expected ten-fold growth by 2022.
Imagine being paid generously for playing video games. Sounds like a dream—or an overly ambitious American movie—doesn’t it? Well, it’s reality for those following the rise of NFTs or non-fungible tokens. According to the Chief Executive of video game company Electronic Arts (EA), Andrew Wilson, collectible NFTs are “an important part of the future of [the gaming] industry”.
The doge meme and the cryptocurrencies associated with it have been gaining popularity all through 2021, and you have business magnate Elon Musk to thank for it—from spending the first half of 2021 tweeting about Dogecoin to outrightly admitting that he doesn’t have any Shiba Inu.
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have been taking over the digital world in 2021. The sales volume of NFTs reached US$2.5 billion in the first quarter of this year. Their popularity is evident with NFT memes like side-eyeing Chloe going for US$76,377.50.
As of September 2021, Bitcoin’s market capitalization was US$782.65 billion. The cryptocurrency has been gaining massive ground, with over 2,300 US businesses accepting it as a form of payment and Paypal launching crypto services in their U.K. app. However, in spite of the surge in Bitcoin adoption, the currency isn’t quite as safe as one might think it is.
