It was a rough year for bitcoin–and cryptocurrencies in general. Here’s a look at how we got here.
Stablecoins peg their values to various fiat currencies or assets, such as gold. Most often pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar, stablecoins give users a way to sell into an asset carrying the same value as a national currency, but one that can still be transacted and stored in a crypto-esque fashion within the ecosystem.

US consumer prices rise at fastest pace in three decadesBill Ackman tries to win neighbours’ support for divisive glass penthouseDaily falls in England’s Covid cases on longest run since February‘Nein Danke’: the resistance to Covid-19 vaccines in German-speaking EuropeUS and China pledge co-operation over ‘existential’ climate crisis
Cryptocurrency markets move according to supply and demand. However, as they are decentralised, they tend to remain free from many of the economic and political concerns that affect traditional currencies. While there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrencies, the following factors can have a significant impact on their prices: Supply: the total number of coins and the rate at which they are released, destroyed or lost Market capitalisation: the value of all the coins in existence and how users perceive this to be developing Press: the way the cryptocurrency is portrayed in the media and how much coverage it is getting Integration: the extent to which the cryptocurrency easily integrates into existing infrastructure such as e-commerce payment systems Key events: major events such as regulatory updates, security breaches and economic setbacks