The Year in Review

Ethereum's transition to Proof-of-Stake this year is expected to cut energy use by 99%.

unders, hackers and investors who helped advance the open economy; politicians and regulators who are laying the groundwork for the industry or threatening to restrain it; CEOs in DeFi adjacent industries who, with their global influence, shape the space; artists and community builders who are pushing crypto further into mainstream culture.

DAOs are poised to become a dominant new structure in DeFi in 2022.

DeFi will draw closer to interoperability in 2022, potentially reshaping blockchain technology.

Regulating crypto is shaping up to be a major story in 2022.

Layer 2s are expected to drive efficiency across DeFi in 2022.

There were many WTF moments in DeFi this year. Here's some choice debacles.

There were loads of funny and telling DeFi memes in 2021 — here's some of the most ubiquitous.

When El Salvador President Nayib Bukele pushed through adoption og Bitcoin as legal tender a major test of crypto economics ensued.

One of the biggest stories if 2021 was the mobilization of the crypto industry in Washington after losing a battle over taxes.

Airdrops emerged as one of the juiciest trends for Defiers in 2021.

Big Story 2021: This article is part of our Year in Review series. This year, the crypto market got a Bitcoin ETF, finally.  Well, sort of. Crypto got an exchange traded fund (ETF) that followed Bitcoin futures, which went live on Oct. 19. So Bitcoin is officially available on the public markets — if you squint. …

DeFi incentives and rewards were a major plotline in 2021.

The rise of play-to-earn gaming was one of the biggest stories of 2021.

This article is part of our Year in Review series. It’s known: 2021 was the year of the NFT.  Million dollar sales of CryptoPunks went from news to a seemingly weekly occurrence. Bored Apes Yacht Club launched in spring at a 0.08 ETH mint price, and now sits at a floor price of over 50…

No one really knows what it is, and prior "versions" have foundered. But the metaverse was one of the biggest stories of the year.

Layers 2s had a banner year in DeFi but their TVL still lags.

These five things were the biggest hassles in DeFi in 2021.

The arrival of EIP 1559, Ethereum's big upgrade, changed the supply-and-demand calculus for the smart contract giant.

The contest between Layer 1s versus Ethereum and Layer 2s was a big story in 2021.

A bear market seems imminent in crypto. But it may not be a foregone conclusion given Ethereum's upcoming projects.

DeFi was a steady story in a mad year in the crypto markets.