Hello and welcome to Luno's first annual crypto awards
we would have had a big gala but it's COVID.
This is where we celebrate the best, the brightest
and the dumbest moments in a year of Bitcoin.
What did you expect?
we kicked off things with the brink of World War III
finished with your UFOs
That's not to mention the global pandemic
that destroyed life as we know it.
If 2020 was a TV series,
critics would have been calling it "hard to follow"
but at least things are simpler in crypto
That's right, the only way was up for crypto this year
From the heighs of the halving in March
to a new, all time high last month,
it was happening
and you all played a massive part.
So thanks for making it such an amazing year
within the space.
So without further ado, let's dive into the awards.
Bull of the Year
Well, there are a lot of contenders in this category
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey
to billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones.
So let's take a closer at some of them.
You would buy, say bitcoin.
I bought $175 million worth of Bitcoin in,
three days, 72 hours
Between 55 and 70 million people own Bitcoin.
Well really, if you're buying Bitcoin
your bet is that numbers going to go
to 120 million or 200 million.
I'm such a huge believer in Bitcoin.
I'm even toying with the idea of
selling my gold to buy Bitcoin.
More Bitcoin.
Wow.
My view I'm very bullish, very excited.
And as our friend Raoul Paul likes to say irresponsibly long
Bitcoin will one day be the global
reserve currency of the world.
I think this decade will be the decade of crypto.
If Bitcoin ever reaches one trillion
that's still 10% the size of gold
could reach 10% of gold's market cap, I think so.
And the winner is, Microstrategy CEO, Michael Saylor.
Yeah, there was only ever gonna be
one winner this year, Megan,
the NASDAQ listed business intelligence, John,
was buying up all the crypto he could in 2020.
It started in August,
when Microstrategy announced they bought 21,000 BTC worth
of approximately $250 million.
Wow, and they just kept on buying
like a bull in a china shop.
They currently own approximately 40,000 Bitcoin
and they're borrowing another $650 million to buy more.
Microstrategy kick-started with
institutional investment that many in the space
have been waiting for.
Their moves are being widely credited
for the renewed interest in the space
and bringing hype and helping us hit the all time high.
Saylor himself has been a consistent source
of bullish optimism on Twitter and in interviews
telling anyone who listens how great Bitcoin is.
Big up Mikey, keep it going to 2021
Bitcoin is hope.
Whale of the Year
This was another category with a lot of contenders.
Microstrategy was buying, Square got more than
$50 million worth of Bitcoin
Props to smaller players like Mode too for having
the foresight to convert their cash reserves into bitcoin.
Goodbye melting ice cube and hello bright future.
The winner is, however drumroll.
CEO of Grayscale's Parent company DCG, Barry Silbert,
has tweeted joking a number of times about the apparent race
between Grayscale and Microstrategy
for who can buy more bitcoin.
Amazingly, Grayscale investments recently surpassed
over $10 billion in crypto under management.
Safe some for us Baza.
About $9 billion are held in the Grayscale Bitcoin trust
which now holds than 500,000 bitcoins.
Most Indecisive Project of the Year.
Will they? Won't they?
This special award goes to the project least likely
to make up its mind.
And the winner is...
Of course it's Libra,
Has to be
Has to be, of course or Diem
I mean, after launching last year,
they spent a lot of 2020 trying to make it clear
that they're not Facebook,
and they're gonna appease the regulators.
They did change the name to Diem.
Now the agreement to be launching in January 2021
with something that looks very, very different
to what they originally set out to build.
They're definitely launching though.
And while it might only be a dollar stablecoin
it's still backed by some huge companies with massive reach
Well, I definitely wouldn't bet against them.
And I also wouldn't bet against another rebrand
to Zuck Buck.
I'm looking forward to watching it unfold.
Mass Adoption Move of the Year.
This year might be all about institutional investment
but there's still a lot going on for retail.
And this award goes to the company,
making things happen this year
Without further ado that Megan who is that?
The winner is PayPal
Wow, PayPal launched its crypto service,
for all of its US customers back in October
Now, all eligible PayPal account holders
in the US can buy and sell crypto directly on the platform.
This opens up crypto to its massive user base
which includes 28 million merchants who can accept bitcoin
and over 350 million customers, you can spend it with them.
Yes, you cam buy a coffee with your bitcoin.
And they've already expanded their offering
after unprecedented demand
and they're likely to expand by next year,
congrats PayPal, lets see where it goes from here.
Trend of the Year
The winner is and can only be
It's DeFi
DeFi was threatening to blow up in 2019.
And this year it came good on its threats
becoming to 2020, what ICO was to 2017.
The DeFi industry exploded in 2020, with
the total value locked in DeFi growing from $690 million
on the 1st of January
to a staggering $11 billion as of November.
With Ethereum 2.0 due out soon
it could be another Luno trophy sitting
on DeFi's mantelpiece in 2021.
Wow, I wouldn't bet against it.
Oops of the Year.
There is unfortunately
still a lot of dumb around Bitcoin.
And they are so vocal about it
The award this year, though, it goes
to a man who's been wrong about bitcoin so many times
this is less of a yearly award
and more of a lifetime achievement award.
Yeah
That's right.
It's Peter Schiff.
I don't know
The gold bug didn't stop making
stupid predictions in 2020.
First, he lost access to his Bitcoin wallet.
Then he predicted Bitcoin/USD would keep crashing
accidentally calling the bottom in the process.
And Bitcoin has soared almost 400% since his tweet.
So Meg, how many times will Shiff be wrong next year?
Will people keep writing bitcoin's obituaries
only to be proved wrong?
I don't know, but what I do know is,
that's all from us for this year.
What was your highlight of 2020?
Was it India reversing its ban on crypto trading?
Was it bitcoin hitting a new all-time high?
or was it just leaving the house to get coffee?
And what about next year?
What are your predictions for 2021?
Give us a shout in the comments to let us know
remember to like and subscribe.
Go on, treat yourself.
And from everyone at LunoTV happy holidays.
And as always...