In 2021, the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries experienced explosive growth, especially in their decentralized finance (DeFi), and nonfungible tokens (NFT) segments.

The year was also marked by continued price volatility, baffling behavior from China, a grand experiment in Central America, escalating institutional interest, and the rise of some faster smart-contract networks — all of which is reflected in this year’s list of industry “winners and losers.”

Kazakhstan

Coinbase (NASDAQ:)

Nayib Bukele/El Salvador

Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple

Sam Bankman Fried/FTX

OpenSea

ProShares ETF

China

Meta (Diem)

Central Bank of Nigeria

Virgil Griffth

Iron Finance (TITAN).