Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

NFTs and SNL: Crypto keeps burrowing into the mainstream

NFTs and SNL: Crypto keeps burrowing into the mainstream

It was another crazy year in the crypto world, but traders didn’t seem to mind. Millions of new investors decided to try their hand at cryptocurrencies in 2021.

Crypto has been many things in its short history. 2021 was the year it became part of the mainstream.

Elon Musk tweeted about it, often. It was parodied on "Saturday Night Live." Collins Dictionary dubbed "NFT," the acronym for nonfungible tokens, its word of the year.

Institutional investors looked for ways to get in, and the first bitcoin ETF started trading. Individual traders bought crypto on their phones when they weren’t snapping up GameStop Corp.

About 16% of the U.S. population holds or has held cryptocurrencies, according to Pew Research Center. In 2015, Pew found that only 1% of Americans held or had held cryptocurrencies. The number of people holding cryptocurrencies globally doubled this year to about 220 million, according to crypto.com.

NFT CryptoArt display in art gallery. 3D generated image. Images on the walls are my own and are 3D generated as well.


Crypto prices remained as volatile as ever. From January to April, the price of bitcoin doubled. From April to July, it fell more than 50%. It doubled again a few months later, hitting a record of nearly $70,000 in November. It is now trading around $50,000, still up some 70% from its price of roughly $29,000 at the start of the year.

Representation of cryptocurrency Binance Coin, the native token of the cryptocurrency exchange, is seen in this illustration.


In percentage terms, bitcoin’s gains actually represent one of its weaker years. In 2020, the digital currency rose more than 300%. In dollar terms, however, 2021 was by far the cryptocurrency’s biggest year.

The total value of cryptocurrencies more than tripled at its peak this year, rising to as high as $2.98 trillion from less than $1 trillion in January, according to CoinMarketCap. (It has fallen to about $2.4 trillion recently.)

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
×