The world of cryptocurrencies is now recognized by the Guinness World Records (GWR), which has added Bitcoin to its new "Cryptomania" category, recognizing the top cryptocurrency as the first decentralized currency.

GWR has been cataloging record-breaking feats and achievements since 1955, and 2022 was the first year that developments in the crypto sector made it into the record books. Several other notable advances in the blockchain space have also been added, including cryptocurrency adoption, fan tokens, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Bitcoin has been recognized not only as the first decentralized currency, but also as the most valuable cryptocurrency due to its market capitalization of $816.69 billion, which was registered on March 24, 2022.

The nonfungible token (NFT) project CryptoPunks was also recognized by GWR as the most "expensive NFT collectible" after CryptoPunk was bought by entrepreneur Deepak Thapliya on February 12 this year for $23.7 million, or 8,000 Ether.

El Salvador was also recognized as the first country to accept bitcoin as legal tender last June.

Last week, the world's leading crypto exchange, Binance, announced that it had broken the Guinness World Record after being recognized for hosting the largest cryptocurrency class ever, attended by 289 people on October 7 at Blockchain Land Nuevo Leon.

And in early September, Merriam-Webster added the words "altcoin" and "metaverse" to its reference pages. "Bitcoin" was previously added in 2016, while "cryptocurrency," "initial coin offering" and "blockchain" were added in 2018.