Konstantin Richter, CEO, and Founder of Blockdaemon predicts that in 2021 institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies will continue to rise, altcoins rising in 2021 are here to stay, and DeFi will enter a maturation phase.
The institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies has been one of the dominant trends of the market in 2020. More institutions and liquidity providers are rapidly entering the space and the investments in Bitcoin appear to be strong. This trend is likely to continue, and increase momentum in 2021, with announcements by the likes of PayPal offering crypto payments in 2021 and the capacity to purchase crypto directly, more users will have access to experiment with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, while Bitcoin, as the original and largest cryptocurrency, continues to be the main driver of both retail and institutional adoption, major institutional players, such as PayPal, entering the crypto markets have not limited their strategy to the adoption of Bitcoin alone. This approach would seem to indicate that a number of both emerging and established altcoins, alongside the big two of Bitcoin and Ethereum are here to stay.
Altcoins rising in 2021 are here to stay
Looking forward to 2021, I expect to see the current macroeconomic environment play a significant role in investments in crypto markets. Regulation has significantly evolved and existing banks are allowed to custody crypto. One particular area of interest will be whether the DeFi space can follow the lead of the crypto market and attract greater institutional investment. While DeFi is still in its nascent phase, there are growing signs that it is already beginning to enter a phase of maturation, with an initial hype phase cooling off. Institutional adoption of cryptocurrency has proven to be a significant driver for adoption by retail users. If DeFi can mature and manage to attract similar mainstream investment, there are likely to be huge opportunities for early adopters of the technology in the coming year.
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