Cryptocurrency has had an underwhelming start to 2022, with 2021's bull market taking a turn that sent Bitcoin down to $38,500 in January. Despite a couple wild swings, it keeps returning to approximately that same price - now 3 months in to the year and it's $38,450 at the time of publishing.
While 2022 on a micro scale has been a battle of fear and confidence between crypto bulls and bears, the macro investor will be happy with the headlines emerging throughout February. Every day, there appears to be a more positive attitude toward cryptocurrency among big companies, institutions, and countries.
Within every country, there are development conversations and plans being drawn on how to integrate, adopt, make use of, and ultimately benefit from the coming adoption and demand of Bitcoin by the public. In comparison to other successful developing technologies, Bitcoin’s positivity and acceptance is snowballing at a rapid pace. Countries that already embrace crypto are moving fast to stay ahead of the curve, while countries that still have a legal grey area over crypto are starting to have their heads turned, making some cautious moves in attempt to keep a hand in the game.
I could spend all day listing new daily headlines, that show a major swing in momentum towards cryptocurrency by countries, states, institutions, companies, and key people/investors. However, let's take examples from the big guns in 2022 so far;
- Russia recently warned of a crypto ban but looked to have pulled a U-turn, making new policy to integrate and benefit from crypto.
- India has strongly opposed crypto and still has bans in place. They have now announced a bill to tax crypto gains, allowing a huge population to use the blockchain legally.
- Turkey’s crypto bans seems to be nearing an end as they see such a high demand for blockchain use amid an inflation crisis. They too are exploring ways to tax, legalise, and make use of crypto themselves.
Current countries that have a ban, tight regulation, or heavy legal restrictions on crypto are:
COUNTRY | POPULATION:
China - 1.4Billion
India - 1.3Billion
Indonesia - 273m
Russia - 145m
Egypt - 100m
Vietnam - 97m
Turkey - 84m
Iran - 83m
Columbia - 50m
Algeria - 43m
Iraq - 40m
Nepal - 29m
Bolivia - 11m
Macedonia - 2m
Kosovo - 1.8m
Total 3,658,000,000
Combined, we discover 45% of the world's population has heavily restricted or no access to cryptocurrency markets...
Even in countries where crypto has been embraced so far, political pressures are guiding people toward crypto as a store of value and wealth preservation.
More and more people are beginning to recognize the value of hedging some of their wealth in ironically safer assets such as cryptocurrency in the face of uncertainty in places such as Ukraine and certain areas of Canada.
Citizens are pressuring politicians and forcing them to get educated on crypto - warning that if bans are imposed, they can expect to lose the next election.
Just last week in the European Parliament it initially appeared that a bill that would have banned mining of some cryptocurrencies known for using high amounts of electricity was going to pass. Until members offices and inboxes began being flooded by voters advising they re-think their position.
Will 2022 pan out to be the year of Adoption?
Regardless of price in the next day, week, or month, this snowballing momentum will continue to grow in favor of cryptocurrencies as the abovementioned organizations continue the race to get ahead of the game. What happens when the above 45% have crypto assets readily available?
I believe we will see the above list continue to have their heads turned in fear of falling behind of blockchain tech, and for this reason, 2022 will be the year to kickstart mass adoption of crypto.
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Written By Guest Author
Contact: @ Twitter
Disclaimer: Not Financial Advice
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