My Crypto 2021 Year in Review

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If we turn back time to January 2021 and make predictions about the coming year (or look over the ones made then), we see little resemblance to what really happened throughout the year about to close.

That's one reason why, when I set my primary goals for 2022 on Hive, I only set two (somewhat complementary to each other), and preferred to not go into other more specific targets. You never know what unexpected changes we'll have throughout the year to come, and we will need to be flexible.

Crypto sphere is still at the stage when developments can change the landscape practically over night. And that's a good thing for the early adopters and the potential of incredible returns compared to the traditional markets, not particularly great for predictability. The latter will come as the space matures. But let's not wish for that too soon.

Anyway, 2021 was under the sign of two major developments soaring in popularity: decentralized finance (defi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). To some degree decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), but they are more likely to boom in 2022.

At the beginning of the year, I knew about NFTs and used them for years practically, mainly in Splinterlands and its third-party markets, but I didn't expect the craziness that followed. Especially not with the NFTs without a real usability.

About defi as a thing of its own (and not as a feature like interest on Hive or dlease), I might've heard of the early Ethereum defi platforms at the beginning of the year, but I definitely didn't see the wave coming.

My real introduction to defi platforms, came with Cub Finance. Did anyone see Cub Finance coming at the beginning of 2021? Other than Khal I mean. And it was released in March, in its initial form.

Most of us believed 2021 will be a bull market year. The only question was: will it resemble 2017 or 2013?

Well, a bull year it was. But it resembled none of them.

At the beginning of 2021, bitcoin was 29374$, already at ATH after a great Q4 2020. Many expected it to explode towards the EOY 2021 to unprecedented levels. I believed that too at first, but later I realized that won't happen as institutions get more involved.

Let's take a look at Hive. It began the year at 0.118 USD. Yes, that's right, 11 cents. It will likely close it at over 1.5 USD. That's over x12! And it had an ATH of 3.41 USD this year, but let's skip the details. I believe Hive holders are more than happy!

But it's more than the price evolution. HBD finally got some attention after being ignored for a long time during the previous blockchain time. And results show immediately, even if more improvements would likely increase the benefits many times over.

Curation is now fairer with the changes introduced in the latest hard fork. And we'll be able to delegate resource credits after the next hard fork. To name just a few elements.

At the same time, many things happened in the ecosystem. We have a new sidechain: DLUX. Outposts and diesel pools were released from the Hive-Engine team. And many others, some of them listed here.

SPK Network, Ragnarok and Project Blank are probably the most expected projects of the Hive ecosystem for 2022 that we know of at this time. Also land expansion for Splinterlands!

Since the word came about Splinterlands, did anyone have at least a hint it will explode during 2021? I'm telling you: NO! Even the founders and team were caught by surprise and barely kept it in one piece as the growth went exponential. But they did it!

Splinterlands exponential growth was by far my biggest surprise in 2021. Not because I wasn't confident in the project (quite the opposite), but because it came as a storm and not on a new game feature. It was because of SPS, the governance token, which resides on BSC. And yet, the game runs on Hive. That's why I strongly believe Hive needs better ties with other ecosystems. Splinterlands helps with that. So does LeoFinance. But it's only a start.

So, the year is about to end, huh? (unless it already ended in your area)

I wish you a Happy New Year and Resounding Successes in 2022!

happynewyear.jpg

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta



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8 comments
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You never know what unexpected changes we'll have throughout the year to come, and we will need to be flexible.

That is what I have said in my post about my plans for 2022. There's always something new we haven't thought about it and don't want to miss out.

Happy New Year my friend, let's have a wonderful year, full of good surprises!

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

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Happy New Year Erika! I think we will have our share of good surprises. Thanks for dropping by.

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My real introduction to defi platforms, came with Cub Finance. Did anyone see Cub Finance coming at the beginning of 2021? Other than Khal I mean. And it was released in March, in its initial form.

Oh, I remember well that date... I was waiting for to CUBDefi launch for weeks, delaying our Liotes start because of that as we couldn't compete with them... And they did it on the same day as we... lol... But, it went well for both... :)

Tbh, from my point of view, that was the biggest thing in the last year (I mean CUBDefi), even bigger than SL... I know that many will say that's impossible, but I think that a lot of good things will come from the LEO Finance team that will change the image of DeFi and HIVE in general... They have inspired the H-E team to launch diesel pools!

I like how DeFi is mutating and evolving into a very serious financial product and not just token speculation... Can't wait to see what new tweaks we will see in 2022!

Happy New Year!

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Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure LeoFinance team through their off-ecosystem ventures helped Hive. Even put it on the map for some groups of people perhaps. As did SL after SPS. After CubFinance emerged and seeing the success it had, I believe that put a fire on the H-E team to work on diesel pools even harder, even if they might've had them on their roadmap before (or not).

HBD and interest on savings, diesel pools and DLUX, HAF and the future 2nd layer smart contracts platform Blocktrades was talking about, and of course SPK Network, they'll all contribute to making a round and adaptable ecosystem. If we add in gaming for fun, adoption and earning opportunities, Hive becomes an interesting place to be around, regardless of one's interest, and definitely for more than its initial purpose - blogging.

Happy New Year! :)

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I have to research more about DLUX... I have to admit that I have no clue about it and it looks that they are doing a great job...

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