Crypto Meets its 2022 highs

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the broader crypto market have been hovering around 2022 highs after beginning with a shaky start. What were the factors which made the overall crypto market surge once again? There are many factors that enhanced the crypto markets – an increase in the rate of adoption by both individual traders and Wall Street, an increase in crypto aid to Ukraine, fear of a rapid increase in inflation, and last but not the least, the regulator and elected officials giving more clarity regarding the crypto trade.

• As per several polls conducted, they all point to the growing number of American investors investing in crypto. As per a Quinnipiac University poll, around 43% of Americans believe that in the long run, crypto will become a dominant economic force. As per the NBC survey, one in every five Americans has either invested or been treated in crypto. Besides this, there are other factors that contribute to crypto activities. One in every four millennials is investing in crypto to fund their retirement goals as per the survey. On the other hand, approximately 40% of investors see digital assets as a method to protect themselves from inflation (you must have noticed that U.S. inflation has increased to another 40-year high.)
• Client demand for crypto services has prompted some of Wall Street’s largest corporate giants to respond. Polled clients anticipate raising their crypto holdings in the coming year. The asset management behemoth is “studying digital currencies, stablecoins, and the underlying technology” as a result of client demand. It’s also a worldwide phenomenon: large multinational banks have started offering crypto-trading services everywhere from Australia to Israel.
• President Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrency regulation in the United States earlier this year, and officials have begun sketching out a framework. Senators from both parties, led by Wyoming Republican Cynthia Lummis and New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, have begun working on a “broad-based regulatory framework for how this business should potentially be controlled in the future”. There have been benefits from crypto, and that innovation in the payment system may be a good thing.
• Many important legislators throughout the world are working to clarify cryptocurrency regulations. The UK disclosed a strategy to become a “global leader” in the field, with the Treasury even intending to mint its own NFT, in an incredibly crypto-forward display. Last month, the European Parliament dismissed a plan to outlaw Bitcoin mining, but last week, the body voted to come down hard on anonymous crypto transactions, which industry experts fear could impede innovation and violate privacy.

If we take into account all the storylines, a picture of a maturing industry manifests, thus proving that investors, regulators, and Wall Street are proving cryptos’ worth. Meanwhile achieving major milestones, the two giants within the cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are preparing to celebrate. Over 90% of BTC is currently in circulation, with 19 million BTC mined out of a maximum supply of 21 million coins this week. And as Ethereum prepares for its imminent “Merge” upgrade, which will transition the network from a mining-based blockchain to the faster and more efficient “proof of stake” blockchain known as ETH2, the network has experienced a significant increase in search interest as well as a strong price increase.