WinzenT / Getty Images
- After a rough 2021 in crypto, experts shared their predictions for the sector next year with Insider.
- Among them: Expect a battle for the metaverse, the first billion dollar hack, and the use of bots to buy NFT.
- The cryptoeconomy will surpass $ 7.5 trillion in 2022, and most of the jobs will be partly in the metaverse, were others.
Events in the crypto space are moving at a mile a minute, and next year is expected to keep pace as large companies control their turf, blockchains refine their technology, and easier entry points allow. the entrance of the newcomers.
Consider what happened in 2021: El Salvador adopted the major cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender. Retail investors jumped in. China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining. Facebook bet on the metaverse, which has Wall Street seeing dollar signs.
Digital currencies are now on the way to becoming part of mainstream finance. The US approved the first bitcoin futures ETF, while crypto leaders urged regulators to provide clearer rules for the $ 3 trillion industry.
That flurry of events, which occurred while the pandemic was unfolding, generated a whirlwind of excitement among investors. To find out what drivers to expect, Insider asked industry experts to forecast what’s next for cryptocurrencies.
Here are the top 13 predictions for the crypto sector in 2022:
1. The price of Ethereum will increase at a much faster rate than that of bitcoin, due to the passage to the proof of stake. – Tom Higgins, CEO of Asset Management Platform Gold-i.
2. Bitcoin may gain an edge against stocks in 2022. – Mike McGlone, chief crypto analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
3. A Fortune 500 crypto company that has walked away first will state that its official headquarters is in one of the competing metaverses. – Brandon Arvanaghi, CEO of cryptocurrency startup Meow.
4. The metaverse will become the new interface for people to interact with the web and with each other. – Justin Banon, co-founder of the decentralized network Boson Protocol.
5. Expect a battle between the crypto native metaverse and those released by games and corporate entities like Meta. – Brock Pierce, president of the Bitcoin Foundation.
6. The market capitalization of the cryptoeconomy will rise from a peak of $ 3 trillion in 2021 to more than $ 7.5 trillion sometime in 2022. – Rohit Talwar, CEO of research and analysis company Fast Future.
7. Next year will see the world’s first billion dollar hack as DeFi activity continues to increase. – Benjamin Whitby, who oversees regulatory affairs at cross-chain protocol Qredo, on decentralized finance.
8. At least 25 countries will use a central bank digital currency by the end of 2022. Either their own or one issued by another country, such as China’s digital yuan. – Talwar from Fast Future.
9. Investors will use bots to make purchases during NFT minting events, which could exclude less sophisticated users. – Ethan McMahon, economist at blockchain data platform Chainalysis, on non-fungible tokens.
10. Most people will do day-to-day work partially in the metaverse. – Shane Molidor, chief revenue officer for digital asset finance platform AscendEx.
eleven. Banks will search cryptocurrencies for fraud trends. – Chris Stephens, Head of Fraud and Security Analysis at Identification Platform Callsign.
12. Initial game offers will become popular. Expect larger organizations like GameStop and Epic to start making plays sometime in 2022. – Nick Saponaro, co-founder and CEO of the decentralized payments ecosystem Divi Project.
13. If countries take a hostile stance, adoption will be much slower. – Witek Radomski, co-founder and CTO of blockchain platform Enjin.
Read more: If you’re a millennial or Gen Z crypto investor, it’s time to diversify, according to the chief investment officer of a $ 260 billion company. It breaks down 6 “less fashionable” assets that offer uncorrelated returns.