In the world of bitcoin, people who accumulate many units of this cryptocurrency are known as whales.
The cryptocurrency market has grown tremendously in the first six months of 2021, with an increase in virtual currency transactions of 881%. And with this, a lot of ways to earn Bitcoin for free have emerge.
Much of this rise has occurred in emerging countries in Asia and Africa.
While in the United States the exchange of cryptocurrencies has stagnated, according to the report Geography of cryptocurrencies of 2021 of the American consultancy Chainalysis.
No member of the European Union appears in the top 20 positions in this study.
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Increase in cryptocurrency transactions
The countries where cryptocurrency activity has grown the most in the first months of 2021 were Vietnam, India, and Pakistan, while the United States fell from sixth to eighth place compared to last year’s report, and China, which has taken strong measures against cryptocurrencies recently, fell from fourth to thirteenth place.
The equivalent of some 14,000 million dollars passed through digital wallets linked to illegal activities in 2021, against 7,800 million in 2020 according to some statistics.
In addition, virtual currency transactions in 154 countries focused on exchanges between individuals who buy cryptocurrencies for investment and savings purposes.
Instead of focusing on large speculative transactions The intention is to adopt the use of cryptocurrencies among the common people.
The increase in transactions in emerging countries, mainly, is because their citizens use virtual currencies as a method to preserve their savings since they are states in which the currency devaluation is constant.
Bitcoin as a haven and alternative to traditional investments
They were also used to send and receive remittances; many of the banks usually limit the amount of national currency that residents can take out of the country, intending to stop the devaluation.
Faced with this situation, many people still need to send money to their families and are leveraging Bitcoin.
Average bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees increased by almost 200% month-to-month during 2021.
Bitcoin miners made around $ 13.7 million
Overall mining earnings in April were $ 291 million, an increase of almost 30% compared to March.
It should be noted that Whale Alert, a platform that specializes in documenting and recording cryptocurrency transfers, has detected three massive cryptocurrency transfers worth more than the US $ 2.2 billion.
These transfers were considered one of the largest bitcoin exchange operations recently.
In the detail of the three operations, a total of 15,072 bitcoins were monitored for a value of US $ 776 million, while in the second transaction 15,073 bitcoins were transferred, valued at the US $ 765 million, and the third transfer was for an amount of 14,124 bitcoins sold for $ 717 million.
A handful of factors have lined up in favor of bitcoin
On the one hand, it was thought that China’s repressive measures on cryptocurrency transactions had caused a drop; this was only momentary as it has been overshadowed by more optimistic news.
Bank of America has rated the asset class too large for investors to ignore and is optimistic about the launch of US Bancorp’s bitcoin custody services to institutional investors.
In the face of rising inflation, bitcoin could act as a good hedge amid rising prices for everything from energy to food.
In this recently completed 2021, great interest was observed in different digital assets, both from retail and institutional clients, where Ethereum continued to increase its popularity and consolidate its position as the second cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
An estimated 300 million traded in financial systems with cryptocurrencies, being relatively distributed according to their popularity as follows: Bitcoin (70%), Ether (15%), Bitcoin Cash (8%), and Litecoin (7%).
Conclusion
Every time we find a more consolidated and emerging market, although there is a high rate of fear of new investments that are not supported by the traditional financial system.
Cryptocurrencies have crossed a threshold that can no longer be ignored.
The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies is reaching a point that could make governments and central banks uncomfortable.
The voices calling for regulation of this market are growing among politicians, authorities, central bankers, and economists.
This regulation is intended to protect investors who trade cryptocurrencies, but above all to preserve the monopoly on the control of the money that public authorities enjoy today. The use of bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies is spreading
More and more people or companies are looking in cryptos and their networks for new forms of payment, financing, or even making contracts through the Ethereum network, famous for its usefulness for smart contracts.
