Bitcoin.com monthly recap for December 2021

Bitcoin.com monthly recap for December 2021

Here's a look at the feature upgrades we made in December, as well as a rundown of the biggest news of the month.

Bitcoin.com Wallet upgrades

✅ Shared wallets

With Shared Wallets' multi-person authentication, you can better protect your cryptoassets, ensure access to your assets in case of an emergency, safely introduce your kids to crypto, and more. Get a comprehensive list of use cases here.

✅ Revamped swaps

Trade between cryptos in seconds, and without ever leaving the Bitcoin.com Wallet.

✅ FlexUSD

FlexUSD is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin. Simply hold it to automatically earn compounding interest payments with 10-20% APY. Swap into flexUSD in the Bitcoin.com Wallet in seconds.

Other upgrades

Exchange.bitcoin.com

Trade 40+ cryptoassets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), ShibaInu (SHIB), and more. Gain access to 30+ derivatives products with up to 100x leverage. Earn yield through FlexUSD and the AMM+.

Announcements

Bitcoin.com proud sponsors of Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez

We are excited to sponsor 43–0 boxer Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez. We have the same mindset: you must risk failure to achieve greatness. Congratulations to Ramirez who, after defeating Yunieski Gonzalez on December 18 by TKO, now has a shot at the WBO light heavyweight title fight against Dmitry Bivol.

News

December started out with a significant drawdown for bitcoin. From December 1 to December 4 the price of bitcoin plummeted 28.9%, including a gut wrenching 2 hour period on December 4 where the price dropped roughly $10,000, indicating a cascade of long liquidations. Price has continued to "crab" between $52k and $45.5k ever since.

Here's a recap of some of the biggest stories in December:

Price action took center stage in the first days of December, largely overshadowing all other news. Where Bitcoin leads, the rest of the market follows. Bitcoin slid below the $50K zone to a low of $43,972 per unit before climbing back to $47K. Meanwhile, the broader crypto economy was down more than 16%.

Large web2 companies are investing or pivoting towards web3 blockchain-related products. After resigning as Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey's payment company, Square Inc., announced that it was rebranding to Block Inc. Amazon has backed a blockchain-based trading card market.

The great Chinese exodus continues. Chinese government crackdowns on crypto mining operations spread to the furthest reaches of China. In addition to bitcoin mining operations leaving China, it appears other important pieces of infrastructure are leaving too. Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global declared its intention to exit the Chinese market this month. Berkshire's Charlie Munger agrees with China's crypto ban.

Governments around the world weighed in on crypto. India's Cabinet indicated they are no longer planning to ban cryptocurrency, instead favoring regulation of crypto assets. Australia is also set to regulate the crypto sector as part of payments reform. A paper on CDBCs published by the European Central Bank (ECB) and a successful cross-border CBDC trial between France and Switzerland, suggests the EU is getting closer to implementing a CBDC. Japan proposed restricting stablecoin issuers to banks and wire transfer companies.

US regulators and policymakers continue to focus on crypto, while the US dollar experiences the fastest rising inflation in close to 40 years. US treasury Secretary Yellen spoke about the possibility of a US CBDC, saying she had yet to form an opinion. Senator Warren said, "DeFi is the most dangerous part of crypto," urging regulators to clamp down on DeFi, "before it's too late." However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell dismissed cryptocurrencies as a financial stability concern.

In contrast to record high inflation in the US, on December 12, the same day as the 11th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto's official departure, 90% of the 21 million bitcoins that will ever exist were mined into circulation. This puts Bitcoin's current inflation rate per annum at around 1.88%.

Despite bearish sentiment roiling the crypto markets, investment in metaverse narrative projects continues unabated. Nike acquired NFT startup RTFK Studios. Addidas partnered with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and comic series Punks Comic, declaring the metaverse as one of the most "exciting" developments in the digital realm. Animoca also partnered with BAYC to launch a play-to-earn game. Virtual metaverse plots are outpacing top NFT collection sales. Solana Ventures in partnership with Forte and Griffin Gaming opened a $150 million web3 fund. Legendary basketball player, Michael Jordan and his son Jeffrey Jordan revealed a Solana-based platform featuring NFTs.

For a more experiential take on the metaverse, we sent Chinese author Neomi on adventures through various metaverse projects. So far Neomi has romped through Decentraland and danced to Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5 in The Sandbox.