This isn’t the first crypto bull run. This is the fourth market cycle since the Bitcoin Genesis Block in January 2009; each preceding one, without fail, has led to unprecedented growth and development in terms of market capitalization, infrastructure, and most importantly of all, new participants. 

In that sense, this bull cycle is no different from the last. The rush of new investors has led prices to hit new all-time highs that seemed utter fantasy months ago. In 2017, the parabolic price action that attracted so much media attention was fueled by retail traders and crypto-focused funds. The real big fish – the blue-chips and the billion-dollar hedge funds – sat on the sidelines, unsure over whether bitcoin really could be an investable asset.

Fast forward to today and those same big fish are the ones now ploughing billions of dollars into the crypto market. Investors like Stanley Druckenmiller, Paul Tudor Jones and Christopher Wood have added bitcoin to their portfolios. Square, MicroStrategy and MassMutual have each allocated millions into bitcoin while CME group will soon introduce ETH futures built on CF Benchmarks crypto indices. PayPal has made bitcoin available to their hundreds of millions of users worldwide; BlackRock, Citibank and JP Morgan, institutions with trillions of dollars on their balance sheets, have expressed interest in doing the same. 

What’s most fascinating about this run is how Kraken volumes have reached new all-time highs but, according to Google Analytics, public interest in bitcoin is nearly half of what it was at the previous high. To this point, it appears this run is mostly being driven by institutions and that individual investors are playing catch up. 

“This time is different” is a market cliche proven wrong on countless occasions. But following 2020, a year of pandemics, unprecedented monetary policy and fiscal stimulus, this time really is different. 

With its fixed supply, many believe bitcoin is digital gold. An allocation into bitcoin can protect the value of households and businesses’ hard-earned savings, as well as a hedge against the possibility of out of control inflation. Since March 2020, nearly 4 trillion U.S. dollars have entered circulation, increasing total money supply by more than 20%. 

Thanks to the hard work entities such as Kraken have devoted to educating investors, more people than ever are now using cryptocurrencies to help navigate through these trying and unpredictable times. Access has improved remarkably, compared to three years ago. Kraken’s new retail app — available in over 100 European countries and launching soon in the U.S. — provides anyone with the ability to buy cryptocurrency in just a few clicks from their phones. 

The stage is set for cryptocurrencies to become an investable asset complete with a valid value proposition underpinning it. This is the time to invest in your future. Whether it is diversification of assets, holding custody over your money or hedging against uncertainty, the time is now.

Source: https://blog.kraken.com/post/7470/this-bull-market-is-different/

The Blockchain Game Alliance was formed by a group of companies looking to boost the adoption of blockchain technology in the gaming industry, and it is sponsored by companies like Ubisoft, AMD, ARK.io, Maker, and Algorand.

The organization will be running an online open forum discussion on January 15th about the status of the NTF space and its future in 2021.

The gamification of cryptocurrency investment strategies like yield farming represented a step forward for NFT’s, which promise to be a big player in the crypto ecosystem in 2021.

The Blockchain Game Alliance is Discussing the Latest Trends

The alliance believes that NFTs will play an important role in the game industry in the future and has invited 4 experts to talk about it by using a central question: “Which applications will generate interest and bring innovation in 2021?”.

The guest speakers will be Twobadour Paanar, Joël Hubert, Patrick Barile, Patrick Barile, Patrick Barile, and Alex Gausman, all of them with deep knowledge of the blockchain ecosystem.

Those interested in participating in the open forum will b able to do so via the Livestream on Friday 15th at 4 pm CET on the Alliance’s YouTube channel.

Gaming as the Gate to Blockchain’s Mass Adoption

One of the most important requirements for the mass adoption of any new technology is users not realizing they are using it while benefiting from everything it has to offer.

This level of integration and ease of use is what has made technologies like the internet, streaming, telecommunications, and computing such an essential part of daily life.

Videogame trends like the growing F2P business model incentive users to acquire in-game assets such as skins, weapons, loot boxes, characters, etc, by playing the game to earn them or by buying them.

However, these assets are limited to the developer’s ecosystem and can be taken from the player or modified at any time, making them feel more like borrowed assets.

This has made Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) one of the most popular applications of blockchain technology in the gaming industry, for games entirely built using blockchain and platforms looking to create gaming ecosystems alike.

NFTs are Becoming More Popular

The use of NFTs brings clear advantages for players not only by providing them with ownership over their assets but by allowing developers to create more complex universes in which games can interact with each other.

Most importantly, this happens without the player having to know what an NFT or blockchain is or is required to jump through hoops.

The reason why the gaming industry has such a potential to drive blockchain and crypto mass adoption over other industries is its sheer size, being bigger than all other entertainment industries combined, and the tech-savvy nature of most of its users.

2020: A Great Year for NFTs and Crypto

2020 will be a year to remember for decades to come as a year full of events that affected people on a global scale.

It will also be a year for crypto and blockchain enthusiasts to remember due to the bull run that took place by the end of the year, the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and NFT boom, and innovation in multiple niches.

In the words of Ilya Abugov, DappRadar’s project manager: “There is more hype around NFTs right now. To some extent, it’s an extension of the DeFi excitement.”

Projects like MEME and Aavegotchi showed the world the potential of NFTs to do more than just work as collectibles by merging them with DeFi yield farming, while markets like Rarible and Opensea attracted thousands of users and investors around the world.

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Source: https://blockonomi.com/blockchain-game-alliance-will-host-nft-open-forum-to-boost-adoption/

Source: https://coinnounce.com/grayscale-dissolves-xrp-trust-as-ripple-continues-to-face-legal-troubles/