Chances are you are reading this because you got interested in Bitcoin and blockchain tech after BTC’s massive growth during the first days of January 2021. It went over $40,000 USD and now all the eyes are on it once again with everyone wanting to purchase Bitcoin.
Perhaps you’ve already bought bitcoin and/or cryptocurrencies in the past, but you decided to quit after the 2018 crash. In this case, our guide will be a good way to come back, to get you up to date on what’s going on in the industry.
However, before you invest and get involved, we invite you to read this introductory guide. You will learn everything you need to know about blockchain in 2021 and how it’s going to change our world as we know it.
What Is Blockchain and Has It Changed in 2021?
Blockchain is like a database but with an entirely different storage structure that makes it unique. It collects information in blocks but they have a limited memory capacity, and when full, they are chained to the previous filled block forming a chain of data.
What makes it special is that, once a block is full, the information cannot be edited. It becomes a permanent and unalterable part of the blockchain’s timeline. Furthermore, each new block receives a precise timestamp when they enter the blockchain.
The concept of blockchain remains the same in 2021, and each cryptocurrency has its own blockchain. For example, ETH has its own blockchain, and the same goes for ICX, NEO, and of course, Bitcoin.
Now that the concept is clear, let’s explore the different blockchain trends that will mold this industry.
DeFi to Disrupt Financial Intermediaries
With the actual devaluation of the US dollar as well as FIAT currencies in general, people are looking for alternatives to preserve the value of their wealth, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have become attractive options. But the financial system has several other problems like corruption, fees, lack of privacy, slow transactions, and middlemen.
This is why DeFi – Decentralized Finance – projects on the blockchain are gaining momentum in 2021 because they are the solution for getting rid of financial intermediaries, hence, enabling finances at a peer-to-peer level and allowing you to enjoy private, incorruptible, and fast transactions.
What makes DeFi projects different from standard blockchains like Ethereum is that they use special smart contracts for financial services. Here we can find projects like Chainlink, which is built on Ethereum and used as an ERC-20 token, or even protocols built on ETH like UNI. Then we have Polkadot, which is a blockchain built using the concept of parachains, which enables it to process transactions much faster than ETH, and hence, its value might eventually surpass the ETH price.
With a market cap of over $28B in 2021 and many pumps in DeFi tokens and coins, you can see why they’re going to disrupt the market this year, and we are sure that projects such as LINK and Polkadot will experience big pumps during the predicted alt season of 2021.
Blockchain Is Becoming More Pragmatic
Blockchain tech is an incredible tool – but several projects lack proper tokens, protocols, decentralized consensus, and smart contracts, and in addition, sometimes they focus on ethereal purposes rather than pragmatic and realistic and this cannot continue in 2021.
The COVID-19 crisis is getting blockchain projects to focus on solving real-life problems, for example, in preventing corruption by installing total transparency. During this crisis, governments are spending millions and even billions of dollars, and by using the blockchain to store all the transactions, any type of corruption or misuse would become available to the public.
Another example is hospitals, which are using the IBM blockchain to source COVID-19 supplies. In addition, they’re looking forward to implementing blockchain to share and store medical records in an incorruptible way.
As you can see, blockchain projects are pushing for practical and effective ways to help the world, and this is going to pump their growth even more.
The New Digital World Needs Blockchain Technology
This pandemic also has accelerated the digitalization of many businesses, companies, and institutions, and hence, the new world needs blockchain more than ever before. If you don’t believe us, you should know that 25% of Forbes Global 2000 companies will begin using blockchain tech as their foundation for digital trust.
With the current influx of institutional money, we can only expect the market capitalization to grow even more because more companies are in the need of using blockchain applications. Be it for finances with Polkadot or any other type of token, protocol, or coin, the world is adopting blockchain.
Conclusion
This year is going to be decisive on how blockchain will change businesses and our world in general. Adoption has become easier and we are seeing institutional investors pouring money into BTC and cryptocurrencies, which amplifies the power that is pumping blockchain tech.