Looking back on the past year, cryptocurrency had quite the record breaking 2021…

Even though crypto had slowly been breaking its way into the mainstream for a few years now, 2021 saw record after record broken within the space. 

In 2021 alone, venture capital funds dropped a record-breaking $30 billion into crypto investments! 

That just about quadruples the previous record of $8 billion, and it still feels like we’re only scratching the surface.

Read below for more on that and everything I have my eye on this week…

1. Crypto Capital: Venture Capital invested $30 Billion into Crypto in 2021

Like I was saying above, venture capital funds are hot on crypto right now. 

And we’re seeing the effects of this through crypto companies like Sky Mavis, DapperLabs, and MoonPay. All of which netted multi-billion valuations this year, according to a Bloomberg report.

This is no doubt thanks to investors looking to fund pretty much anything and everything crypto-related.

And a good chunk of that $30 billion invested came from US venture capital funds, about $7.2 billion. 

2. Climate Tech Funding Up 210%

Cryptocurrency wasn’t the only industry that saw a boost in investments this year. 

Growing concerns over climate change have started to push a wave of investment into climate tech.

Since 2013, over $222 billion has been invested in climate tech worldwide, and more than 39% of that was invested in the second half of 2020 and first half of 2021.

And there is no shortage of climate tech startups for investors to get behind. 

Since 2013 over 3,000 climate-tech startups in a variety of fields have occupied the space.

3. Out With the Old, In With the New 

There are thousands of diesel powered school buses still in use today.

And with the rising popularity of electric vehicles, it makes sense that we start to replace the gas guzzling bus system with a fleet of new EV buses. 

But instead of scrapping the old buses, these two companies are planning on renovating them.

EV maker SEA Electric and school-bus dealer Midwest Transit Equipment have joined forces to make a push on the electrification of school buses. 

The two companies are planning to convert 10,000 existing school buses to battery power over the next five years.

4. Would You Buy a Pair of Virtual Shoes? 

It might sound like a silly question, who would pay real money for virtual apparel? 

But you might be surprised to find out that many people would… 

Nike certainly thinks so, recently purchasing virtual shoemaker RTFKT in order to help sell shoes in the metaverse. 

Formed in 2020, RTFKT also makes NFT collectibles and memes, according to its website.

"This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike's digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture," says Nike CEO John Donahoe.

5. Meta Shifts the Blame

Meta, formerly Facebook, has caught a ton of flak over the years for its policies and actions regarding the spread of misinformation. 

And now, according to Andrew Bosworth, a top executive at Meta, Individual users should shoulder the responsibility for the spread of misinformation. 

He argues that Facebook’s algorithms are merely "exposing the desires of humanity itself, for better or for worse."

Bosworth is set to take over as Meta's CTO next year.

To a bright future,

Ray Blanco
Chief Technology Expert, Technology Profits Daily
AskRay@StPaulResearch.com