As the year comes to a close, it's time to ask ourselves: What are the Hottest Stories of 2021?

This has been an unquestionably historic year for Web3, and massive events happened both in and outside of the space. From NFTs to the Infrastructure Bill, we narrowed down this year into 20 overarching themes and narratives.

What will take the #1 spot? Spoiler: it's not Ryan's Tiny Turtle.

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Topics Covered:

0:00 Intro

6:30 20 | New All Time Highs

8:33 19 | GME & Memestonks

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-stock-short-seller-squeeze-losses-reddit-traders-citron-gme-2021-1 

11:17 18 | Michael Saylor & Tesla

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/microstrategy-buys-414m-more-bitcoin-in-q4/ 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/tesla-buys-1point5-billion-in-bitcoin.html 

12:58 17 | Rise of Layer 2s

https://l2beat.com/ 

14:54 16 | DeFi over CeFi

https://twitter.com/haydenzadams/status/1361356927226310668?s=20 

https://twitter.com/AntonioMJuliano/status/1442234625120608256?s=20 

17:03 15 | China Ban

https://youtu.be/Cz14dpWxgKk 

20:12 14 | El Salvador

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034838909/bitcoin-el-salvador-legal-tender-official-currency-cryptocurrency 

22:25 13 | Beeple $69M Sale

https://www.businessinsider.com/art-auction-nft-beeple-top-selling-most-expensive-sale-millions-2021-3 

25:01 12 | Punks, Apes, and PFPs

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/116715/collection-of-bored-ape-nfts-break-sothebys-estimates-with-3-days-to-go 

https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/sealed-cryptopunks-five-punks-on-paper 

29:28 11 | Axie Infinity

https://twitter.com/Psycheout86/status/1423719170315800581?s=20 

32:00 10 | OpenSea Sales Volume

https://beincrypto.com/opensea-crosses-10-billion-in-all-time-sales-volumes/ 

36:50 9 | Coinbase IPO

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/100235/coinbase-direct-listing-april-nasdaq 

40:15 8 | Gary Gensler

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/101595/us-senate-confirms-gary-gensler-as-joe-bidens-sec-commissioner 

44:25 7 | Constitution DAO

https://www.theverge.com/22820563/constitution-meme-47-million-crypto-crowdfunding-blockchain-ethereum-constitution 

47:20 6 | EIP-1559

https://blockworks.co/eip-1559-is-live-thanks-to-ethereums-london-hard-fork/ 

50:20 5 | Ultra Sound Money

https://ultrasound.money/ 

53:50 4 | Gas Fees

https://twitter.com/drakefjustin/status/1392556085941350400?s=20 

57:03 3 | Alt Layer 1s

https://defillama.com/chains 

1:00:12 2 | Infrastructure Bill

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/112877/white-house-says-crypto-tax-enforcement-will-help-pay-for-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal 

https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1421150344051048451 

1:04:45 1 | Inflation

https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact/status/1414948397233082372?s=20 

https://twitter.com/biancoresearch/status/1469722686939140101?s=20 

1:09:40 Honorable Mentions

1:14:20 Closing & Disclaimers

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Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.

Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here:

https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures