2021-Present: Mainstream Adoption and Ongoing Evolution

a. Mass Adoption:

• In 2021, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw significant price increases, and cryptocurrencies garnered mainstream attention. El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, and major corporations like Tesla began accepting Bitcoin for transactions.
• Traditional financial institutions, such as PayPal, Square, and Visa, began offering cryptocurrency services, and large hedge funds and institutional investors started incorporating digital assets into their portfolios.

b. Regulation and Government Responses:

• Governments around the world continued to examine how to regulate cryptocurrencies. Some, like China, intensified their crackdown on crypto mining and trading, while others, like the U.S., sought to develop a regulatory framework.
• Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) gained traction, with countries like China launching pilot programs for a digital yuan.

c. The Shift Toward Web3:

• The Web3 movement, which envisions a decentralized internet powered by blockchain technology, gained momentum. Companies, developers, and investors began focusing on building decentralized applications (DApps), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized storage solutions.