This article was updated on 1 December 2021 to reflect new entrants and prices.
Cryptocurrencies have gone from an obscure part of finance to centre-stage over the last year. In the space of a year, bitcoin has exploded from trading at $29,405 on 1 January 2021 to hitting all-time highs of over $68,990.90 in November and now trading at around $57,000 as of 1 December.