To say that 2021 has been an eventful year for the cryptocurrency industry would be an understatement. Whether it was Bitcoin (BTC) experiencing a new ATH (all-time high) price or going through a massive crash thanks to the ban  by China&rsquos government, to the groundbreaking achievement by El Salvador as it became the first country in history to make BTC legal tender , to &lsquomeme&rsquo cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) bulldozing their way up the charts in the crypto market, to the still ongoing craze surrounding both NFTs and the metaverse , it is fair to assume that 2021 had many noteworthy developments, to say the least. With that being said, many in the cryptocurrency community have already begun speculating  on what to expect for the industry as 2022 begins, and whether the year will be filled with substantial profits or crushing losses, or perhaps a mixture of both. The main highlights of what to expect Even if it is not as exciting as 2021, the new year shall in all likelihood witness significant changes including but not limited to the debut of Ethereum 2.0 and the further development regarding the metaverse. Furthermore, as the sector matures, there will be lots of funds which will be accumulated to finance the continuous creation of new and innovative ideas, as well as plenty of possibilities to become increasingly involved with DeFi. There are also significant real-world elements that will most likely continue to impact the sector, ranging from U.S interest rates to record-breaking inflation to different COVID variations. Moreover, as far as price action goes, it can often prove difficult to accurately predict the price of any given cryptocurrency simply because there are so many other uncontrollable factors like the recent introduction of the Omicron COVID variant (which disrupted  both the crypto and the stock markets). We can therefore anticipate the cryptocurrency market to still experience relative volatility and be largely flat for at least a considerable amount of time this year. On that note, a major downturn on the scale of 2018  is unlikely, but if 2021 is anything to go by, then it is far better to expect the unexpected anyway. One aspect that some may be happy to hear though is that unlike 2021, celebrities such as Elon Musk will most likely not have the same level of impact in terms of affecting the cryptocurrency market as they did in 2021. Perhaps the most famous example of this was when the Tesla CEO managed to bring DOGE  into the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization through sheer hype, endorsement and popularity, which also saw the canine-themed token&rsquos price surge to reach a new ATH. Now though, many investors and traders would most likely prefer to do their own research rather than base their portfolios on the advice of someone else or whatever is trending, which is always good to see. More regulations Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly likely that many governments would much rather prefer regulating cryptocurrencies rather than imposing a blanket ban, as had been recently discussed by Senator Cynthia Lummins  who is also one of the key advocates for the cryptocurrency industry. Stablecoins such as USDT will also most likely end up being more regulated in the near future. Ultimately, nobody knows exactly what is going to happen in 2022. Most of the recent developments have been positive however, with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor continuing to buy more BTC , the U.S government being more open to talking with industry leaders  rather than opposing them, and the skyrocketing potential of the metaverse and the P2E (Play To Earn) concept all pointing toward a beneficial year for the sector indeed.
