There's a really good chance history was made in 2017. At the beginning of the year, the combined value of every single cryptocurrency added up to just $17.7 billion. However, by the end of the year, the aggregate market cap of all virtual currencies had ballooned to around $615 billion. That's an increase in value of nearly 3,400%, and it may very well represent the single greatest year we've ever seen from an asset class.
Here's what drove an incredible year for digital currencies
A number of factors were responsible for sending cryptocurrencies to new heights. The most obvious of these catalysts was the emergence of blockchain technology. Blockchain is the digital, distributed, and decentralized ledger that underlies cryptocurrencies and is responsible for recording all transactions.