Cryptocurrencies have capped off an astonishing year that saw record growth propel their assets to more than $2 trillion. Cryptocurrencies have become mainstream. From so-called meme coins like Dogecoin to blockchains like Ethereum, the cryptocurrency market has taken off like a rocket ship this year, and the momentum is only expected to continue into 2022.

When one wants to observe just how fast crypto grew this year, the two most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are two good places to start. Bitcoin and Ethereum grew 61% and 438% ,respectively, with the total price of Ethereum rising by more than half within one year. The massive price movement on both Bitcoin and Ethereum this year has led to a surge in wider interest, moving cryptocurrency from the shadows into the mainstream very quickly.

Driven partly by younger Americans and an increasing curiousity among all Americans to invest in crypto, some of the most notable U.S. retailers are joining the trend.

Major corporations rushed to accept crypto as a form of payment in 2021, with companies like AT&T, PayPal, Starbucks, AMC Theatres, and more recently, WhatsApp, accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Crypto has also broken into the luxury real estate market, as the largest known cryptocurrency real estate deal took place in May, with a Miami penthouse selling for the equivalent of $22.5 million in cryptocurrency.

Crypto is expanding into the sports world as well, as Nike acquired “crypto collectibles” as part of its new RTFKT brand, a company that allows users to create “virtual sneakers.” The fact that major corporations are diving into the world of crypto shows the movement’s staying power.

One cryptocurrency developer sees the future as very bright for crypto. Hossein Azari, CEO of the crypto startup cmorq, believes the momentum we saw in 2021 will only accelerate in the coming years. “Crypto will be adopted by billions of people. 6.4 billion out of 7.9 billion in world who have smartphones. More people will adopt crypto. It will take time, but it will happen one way or the other. We are confident this will happen in the next 5-10 years.”

Additionally, Azari stresses that crypto has the potential to offer a more inclusive financial system than the current, centralized dollar backed one that countries use. “We want to build a financial system that reacts to what billions of people want. Our banking system around the world has a limited scope, while Google is used by billions of more people than those that have access to banks. Our financial system is so behind because the current system has not used technologies in 40-50 years. That’s where crypto comes in. The inclusion of many people being included into economic activity that were never included before, such as those who are unbanked, evens the financial playing field.”

Azari is not the only figure in the crypto world who foresees an exciting future. The newly hired Chief People Officer (CPO) at prominent cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, Pranesh Anthapur, is also bullish, particularly as it relates to the future jobs market. Working previously for companies like Yahoo, Nutanix and Uber, Anthapur’s move to Kraken arguably shows the drawing power of careers in crypto, as a recent New York Times article highlighted.

Anthapur tells Newsmax Finance: “I think we’re going to see a much broader share of the crypto jobs market made up of professions that you wouldn’t immediately associate with the cryptocurrency space. Like the internet 20 years ago, we’ll increasingly see new entrants spot ways to leverage the technology that older players simply didn’t spot or even consider. The types of backgrounds that will make up the crypto jobs market of the future will be much broader than they are today.” 

Kraken is a part of the growing trend of companies offering to pay their executives' salaries in Bitcoin, as everyone from Kraken employees to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez are offering to accept salary not in U.S. Dollars, but in Bitcoin. From Ethereum’s meteoric growth to retailers accepting crypto as a payment, to a Bitcoin mining boom in upstate New York, 2021 truly was a watershed year for cryptocurrency. It is easy to see why analysts are so excited for where crypto will be headed in 2022.