Rohan MathawanIn December last year, Bitcoin hit an all-time high. Many industry analysts and interested parties have been curious to know whether the momentum will continue into the new year and if the retail crowd is likely to renew their interest in the industry or whether institutional investors will continue their domination or not. Taking the events of last year into consideration, here are some of the adjusted trends that cryptocurrency is expected to see this year despite the possibilities being endless.
Continued Interest from Institutional Investors
The investment of institutional firms into Bitcoin was the leading headline in cryptocurrency last year. Both large and small companies opted to move significant percentages of their assets over to bitcoin, including big names such as Square, Mass Mutual, and MicroStrategy. Judging by the announcements that have been made thus far, it seems that big companies are only getting started. While the entrance of these institutions was unprecedented last year, 2021 is going to be the real test of whether it was a smart investment or not. Depending on the outcome, cryptocurrency can expect to see a new wave of institutional investments this year.
Sovereign Wealth Funds Could Invest
The next big step for bitcoin is the potential investments of sovereign governments and wealth funds publically investing in Bitcoin this year. While the average investor could choose to invest with Bitcoin Champion, the Norwegian Oil Fund currently owns close to 600 BTC, albeit indirectly, through its stake of 1,51% in MicroStrategy. It is expected that this coming year will bring a wave of public and open investments into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from government entities such as the Oil Fund. Considering the mainstream respectability that institutional investors created by their adoption of Bitcoin, the sky is the limit should a sovereign wealth choose to take advantage of the obvious financial benefits of backing cryptocurrencies. It is expected that the new US administration will make adjustments to cryptocurrency and its trading. However, digital currency’s growth has proven to be unstoppable despite former president, Donald Trump’s, clear disdain for Bitcoin.
Media Attention
The bull that was experienced last year December certainly had experts and interested parties in cryptocurrency talking and discussing notes. However, the comparison between the media attention that was received this time around and the coverage that the industry received in 2017 shows that the events of 2020 were lacking. The main reason for this is that the bull that took place last year was driven by the increase of select institutional investors. This resulted in crypto news headlines finding themselves in the lesser-spotted pages of the business section. Mainstream media, however, placed its focus on other prevalent issues such as an ongoing global pandemic and contentious elections. That being said, there are signs that change is in the air. The record-breaking high that cryptocurrency reached in December has brought about positive news coverage in major publications. Should the Bitcoin price continue to rise, as is suspected, it is likely to drive yet another round of positive headlines that could cement cryptocurrency’s future in the media.