In a short time, cryptocurrencies have risen to prominence as a promising new asset class. In 2012, Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currency markets were in their infancy, but they’ve since expanded into a multibillion-dollar business.
In the fall of 2021, the total value of the cryptocurrency market hit $3 trillion. Early cryptocurrency investors became extraordinarily wealthy due to the market’s abrupt price explosion and rapid evolution.
Consequently, there is intense competition to identify and fund the next big cryptocurrency.
Investing in technologies that connect the digital blockchain area with society may prove more rewarding than predicting which cryptocurrency will become the next Bitcoin or Ethereum now that the world has been driven farther into the digital sphere by the COVID-19 pandemic (ETH).
Nevertheless, there is no shortage of creative businesses working to close the gap. In this article, we will explore some options on which cryptocurrency stocks to buy in 2022
The two leading semiconductor companies in the world for designing graphics processing units are Nvidia and AMD, although neither company deals with cryptocurrency directly (GPUs).
In addition to their traditional use in greater video game graphics, GPUs are increasingly widely used in data centers, AI, and the generation of crypto assets.
GPUs are ideal for the massive computing capacity needed for cryptography and blockchain development.
Nvidia and AMD saw their share prices rise in 2018 due to the rising value of cryptocurrencies, which prompted miners (those who use computers to generate new digital assets) to rush to buy GPUs.
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is still a crucial component of crypto asset production and administration. In early 2021, Nvidia introduced a new family of chips designed for cryptocurrency mining.
It’s no secret that both Nvidia & AMD are looking to make strategic acquisitions to strengthen their already dominant positions in the chip industry.
In recent times, Nvidia has attempted to acquire ARM Holdings. This company licenses chip architecture design for data centers and smartphones, while AMD has sought to develop Xilinx, the market leader in field-programmable chips.
While Nvidia’s ARM transaction fell through, AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx was finalized in February of that year.
However, Nvidia and AMD are already at the forefront of creating new technologies like blockchain ledgers, and they stand to continue expanding their market share even without the acquisitions.
Parent company Facebook, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), once sought to create a new virtual currency Diem (formerly Libra).
Diem was designed to be an open-source, decentralized, and decentralized financial payment and infrastructure platform that could be used by almost one-third of the world’s population that does not have a bank account.
The project had some difficulties, such as the departure of prominent consortium members, including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal.
In addition, government regulators were skeptical of Diem because of the lack of oversight around bitcoin then, so Meta sold Diem to Silvergate Capital for nearly $190-200 million in stock and cash.
Despite the change in ownership, development on the project is continuing; Meta is debating breaking into the cryptocurrency industry.
In April 2021, leading cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase Global went public on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol “COIN.” The company’s platform is widely used to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc., to trade over 150-160 alternative cryptocurrencies.
The amount of new users signing up for the Coinbase platform is directly proportional to the rise in cryptocurrency prices. Each time an order is placed on Coinbase to purchase or sell cryptocurrency, a small transaction fee is earned by Coinbase.
However, the company hopes to be more than a marketplace. Furthermore, it has established a cloud service for businesses to use and store digital currencies. In addition, it supports a debit card that lets users spend directly from their digital wallets.
Coinbase has two groundbreaking features. The first is making asset loans more widely available to consumers, formerly exclusive service to high-net-worth individuals. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be used as collateral for low-interest loans that users can use to pay necessary bills.
Investors using cryptocurrency as collateral can take care of pressing concerns without selling their holdings and risking the loss of any compounding interest.
The second breakthrough is the growing number of governments and financial organizations using Coinbase’s blockchain analytics.
The organization can utilize the data to track suspicious transactions & wallet addresses because blockchains typically use a public ledger.
Imagine that hackers have broken into a person’s computer and are now demanding Bitcoin as a ransom to regain access to the system.
In that instance, Coinbase would be able to cross-reference the stolen wallet address with its massive database of client identification information (KYC). Greater trust in the crypto ecosystem could result from this if law enforcement can track down the source of illicit payments and bring those responsible to justice.
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