That’s a wrap for 2020 👋 Here are some crypto highlights from the year.

Hello FlipGang!

The Weekly Flip Thru — the newsletter that breaks down everything you need to know about crypto each week. We make the complex simple and the simple insightful!

This week: As we wrap up 2020, we’re celebrating how far CoinFlip and cryptocurrency have come over a tumultuous year with this special edition of our Weekly Flip Thru.

CoinFlip Wrapped

In January 2020, CoinFlip had only 441 active ATMs. Today, we have grown our network by over 300% to almost 1,400. And we continue to install higher volumes of our kiosks than ever before. This increase of nearly 900 Bitcoin ATMs has allowed us to expand crypto adoption across the US allowing more people to be involved in the cryptocurrency boom and are proud to have the best and most transparent rate in the marketplace.

At the beginning of this year, CoinFlip had 17 employees (including the founders). Since then, we have expanded to over 150 employees. CoinFlip is lucky to have experienced such tremendous growth during a challenging year.

As we continue to expand in 2021, look out for new positions!

Bitcoin Wrapped

On December 30, 2020, Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $28,979. As of today, Bitcoin has a market value of more than $535 billion. Over the course of the year, Bitcoin’s value has increased by more than 289%.

Before 2020, Bitcoin’s all-time high was $19,783, a record set in 2017. Bitcoin managed to burst through that barrier in November. This remarkable success comes after the value of BTC dropped below $4,000 in March. Bitcoin has had a wild ride this year, and as we look to 2021, we’re preparing to take off to the moon.

To learn more about Bitcoin in preparation for 2021, check out our blog post Cryptocurrency Explained: How Bitcoin Works.

COVID-19 and Crypto

To some degree, Bitcoin’s success in 2020 is tied to the COVID-19 crisis, which profoundly impacted global financial markets. This year alone, the US’s total money supply has gone from $4 trillion to more than $6.5 trillion from coronavirus related stimulus bills. Thanks to the new stimulus bill passed on December 28, there will be an additional $1 trillion printed in early 2021.

Increasing the money supply like this has a significant impact on the dollar’s purchasing power through inflation. Many notable investors have turned to Bitcoin as a hedge against this inflation due to its scarcity and liquidity.

Of those significant investors are big corporations, which store more than 1.15 million BTC, or $30 billion, in their treasuries. We’ve talked about the increase in institutional investors a lot in this newsletter, but to wrap it up, here are some of the biggest names in the Bitcoin game this year:

• Microstrategy — this US-based business intelligence firm now holds over 70,000 BTC — or $1.8 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.
• Grayscale — this digital currency investment firm has more than 572,644 BTC in its Bitcoin trust, worth more than $15.5 billion.
• Galaxy Digital — an investment firm with 16,651 BTC on its balance sheet, worth more than $452 million.
• Stone Ridge Holdings Group — an investment management company with 10,889 BTC, worth around $295 million.
• Square — the payment processing company with the crypto-friendly leg CashApp has 4,709 BTC worth more than $127 million.

Altcoins Wrapped

While 2020 has been the year of Bitcoin, it isn’t the only cryptocurrency that has experienced growth. In total, the crypto market is worth more than $732.48 billion. Here are three major altcoin success stories:

• The price of Ethereum rallied to $737 on December 28, marking a 473% increase for the year.
• Litecoin picked up momentum and broke resistance, hitting $136 on December 27. That means an increase of over 219% during 2020.
• Chainlink had a great year, increasing its value by 569.5%. One LINK token is now worth $12.55, up from $1.79 in January.

Crypto in Politics

New Regulations — Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury, introduced new regulations surrounding private crypto wallets in late December. The proposed rules require those with private wallets to submit identifying information when sending or receiving more than $3,000 in a transaction. The proposed regulation also requires crypto exchanges to report customers’ personal information that makes a total of more than $10,000 in transactions in one day. Many see this move as a step towards financial exclusion because many United States lack access to traditional banking because they don’t have a permanent address or ID cards.

Bitcoin Wins a Seat in the Senate — In 2020, Wyoming elected the first-ever bitcoin owner to the Senate, Cynthia Lummis. Senator-elect Lummis hopes to open the eyes of her colleagues in Washington to the benefits of Bitcoin. In an interview for the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Lummis stated, “If we reach the point where we have overspent so much, that things start crashing down, the black swan event occurs… there is a backstop available to every government in the world, and that backstop is Bitcoin.”

The Biden Administration Confirms a Blockchain Advocate for Treasury Secretary — Joe Biden confirmed former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as his pick for Treasury Secretary nominee. Yellen has been quite vocal about Bitcoin in the past, even acknowledging that she was not a fan in 2018. However, Yellen has stated she approves of blockchain technology. Now that Bitcoin markets have changed dramatically, her viewpoint on crypto may have changed.

Cheers to a new year!

Thank you so much for helping us be the #1 Crypto ATM company in the United States. We are incredibly excited for 2021 and being a part of the future of Bitcoin. While there are many in the crypto ATMs out there, no one has better or more transparent rates than CoinFlip. We feel this is the start of something big. We are steadfast in our mission to give you and many others financial sovereignty and access to Wall Street returns from Main Street.

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