A Look at the Ups and Downs of Crypto in 2021
January: #Bitcoin
Bitcoin price: $37,000
The year in crypto got off to a rousing start in January when Elon Musk attached the "#Bitcoin" moniker to his Twitter bio. This seemingly innocuous notation was enough to spike the price of Bitcoin by a whopping 20%, moving more than 15% up in a single hour. Musk accompanied the hashtag with another of his signature cryptic tweets, "In retrospect, it was inevitable," adding further speculation as to what Musk's plans were.
February: Tesla Buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin
March: Bitcoin Hits $64,000
From September 2020 to March 2021, Bitcoin ran nearly straight up, from about $10,000 to just over $60,000 for the first time. That marked a gain of nearly 1,000% over the prior year, giving the cryptocurrency a valuation of over $1 trillion. Market pundits pointed to stimulus-fueled speculation and institutional buying as part of the reason for the crypto's surge.
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April: Coinbase Goes Public
Cryptocurrencies got a significant boost in April when crypto exchange Coinbase Global went public at a valuation of nearly $100 billion. No less a publication than the New York Times dubbed the event a "Coming-Out Party" for cryptocurrency, as Coinbase promised to operate profitably and make crypto transactions easier, a sign of growing acceptance of the industry as a whole.
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April: Dogecoin Gains Notable Support
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that began as a joke, but it gained real financial momentum in April when heavy hitters Elon Musk and Mark Cuban both tweeted support for the coin. In 24 hours, the price of the formerly obscure crypto jumped 20%. While Musk whimsically dubbed himself "The Dogefather" before his appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Cuban actually called Doge "...the one coin that people actually use for transactions."
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May: Bitcoin Plunges 30% in a Day, 40% in a Week
June: China Renews Crackdown on Crypto
June: El Salvador Accepts Bitcoin as Currency
September: Bitcoin Sells Off Below $41,000
The sharp selloff in Bitcoin of over 10% in September was due to a number of factors, including traders adopting a so-called "risk-off" mentality due to global equity declines in the seasonally weak month of September. However, China also reiterated and strengthened its stance against cryptocurrency, driving the price of Bitcoin down as much as 8.9% in a single day, down below $41,000. However, that set the cryptocurrency up for its record run to an all-time high of $68,950 in November 2021.
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November: Bitcoin Loses 20% in a 8 Days
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: A Look at the Ups and Downs of Crypto in 2021