According to estimates by Chainalysis, the total gains of crypto investors around the world stood at $163 billion in 2021. This amount is 400% higher than the one earned in 2020, analysts at Business Insider reckoned. Investors hit the jackpot last year amid a stunning rally of the two most popular crypto assets, bitcoin and ethereum.
Each of the leading cryptocurrencies hit historic highs in November 2021. Bitcoin surged to $69,044.44 per token and ethereum conquered a peak at $4,878.26.
Crypto investors boosted profits last year by 400% from 2022, benefiting from highly volatile BTC and ETH prices. American investors gained the fattest profit of $47 billion. It considerably exceeds the crypto profits of their colleagues from the UK, Germany, Japan, and China. British investors were able to make just $8.2 billion in the crypto market.
Experts at Chainanalysis reported that bitcoin as the most traded crypto jumped by 60% on average in 2021. BTC traded at $46,300 on average last year. However, ethereum outpaced this impressive growth. ETH logged an explosive rally of 400% last year, having settled at about $3,650.
Notably, ethereum surpassed bitcoin in terms of profits gained on a global scale. Profits generated through ETH trading came in at $76.3 billion versus $74.7 billion earned by BTC traders.