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5 predictions for 2022—Bitcoin may crash or pop, and DAOs will gain ground
At the start of 2022, we bring you a series of episodes that pull together the five most interesting predictions we found in multiple areas in tech. Today, we look at blockchains, crypto and Web3, after a year in which these all saw unprecedented advancement. Experts can’t agree on whether Bitcoin will nosedive or surge to never before highs in 2022. On the whole, though, all things digitally decentralised will get a lot more attention this year.
1. Bitcoin could crash to $10,000 or pop to $100,000
Bitcoin, which rose to a record $69,000 in November, is headed for a crash, some experts say. Bitcoin “has no fundamental value” and is more of a “toy,” according to Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, as CNBC reports.
Currently, at around $50,000, it could plummet to as low as $10,000 in 2022, Alexander told CNBC. Crypto believers disagree. Antoni Trenchev, a managing partner of crypto lender Nexo, expects volatility to stay but also that Bitcoin will surge to $100,000, according to Bloomberg.
2. The metaverse will grow and an NFT economy with it
Driven by Meta aka Facebook, but also by metaverse startups and consumer mega-brands like Nike, the world of digital avatars will grow in 2022. And with it, an economy around NFTs or non-fungible tokens will grow—evolving from purchases of digital art to digital anything.
“The possibilities of NFTs are endless since they can be used to log ownership of any unique asset,” Alex Atallah, co-founder of OpenSea, says in a Cnet report. “We're already seeing early use-cases of NFTs being used as event tickets, software licenses, fan club memberships, or otherwise tied to interactive experiences,” he says.
3. Stablecoins will gain ground
“People should start paying attention to trends in stablecoins both as a medium of payments and as a dollar digital currency,” Rachel Mayer, a vice president of product at fintech company Circle told Cnet. Use cases like cross-border payments, aid relief and instant settlement payments will further gain acceptance in 2022, Mayer said.
In the US, “stablecoins will become increasingly regulated, only allowed to hold nominally risk-free assets, if they want to connect to regulated, legal institutions,” Lyn Alden, an investment strategy advisor, said on Twitter, which was picked up in a blogpost by crypto company Coindesk.
4. A Web3 app store will happen
One noteworthy phenomenon around the underlying decentralised protocols or blockchains and crypto is being called Web3, or the next version of the worldwide web itself, which enthusiasts dream will be a completely decentralised internet.
And with Web3, will come the need for a Web3 app marketplace. “The race is on to be the app store for crypto,” Philip Gradwell, chief economist at Chainalysis, says in the Bloomberg report mentioned above. Just as people love online platforms on today’s internet, Web3 will see its own platforms, Gradwell says in the report.
5. DAOs will get more attention
The bigger picture for crypto and blockchain enthusiasts is freedom from centralised institutional control of any form. And one powerful representation of that idea is the decentralised autonomous organisation or DAO.
DAOs are now blooming far outside the crypto world, according to Coindesk. In the US, they include a DAO intent on buying a National Basketball Association basketball team, one that wants to restore ocean health to one dedicated to increasing the wealth of women, and even one that wanted to buy a copy of the US Constitution. 2022 will see more of them, and around the world.
Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds
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By One Thing Today in Tech
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At the start of 2022, we bring you a series of episodes that pull together the five most interesting predictions we found in multiple areas in tech. Today, we look at blockchains, crypto and Web3, after a year in which these all saw unprecedented advancement. Experts can’t agree on whether Bitcoin will nosedive or surge to never before highs in 2022. On the whole, though, all things digitally decentralised will get a lot more attention this year.
1. Bitcoin could crash to $10,000 or pop to $100,000
Bitcoin, which rose to a record $69,000 in November, is headed for a crash, some experts say. Bitcoin “has no fundamental value” and is more of a “toy,” according to Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, as CNBC reports.
Currently, at around $50,000, it could plummet to as low as $10,000 in 2022, Alexander told CNBC. Crypto believers disagree. Antoni Trenchev, a managing partner of crypto lender Nexo, expects volatility to stay but also that Bitcoin will surge to $100,000, according to Bloomberg.
2. The metaverse will grow and an NFT economy with it
Driven by Meta aka Facebook, but also by metaverse startups and consumer mega-brands like Nike, the world of digital avatars will grow in 2022. And with it, an economy around NFTs or non-fungible tokens will grow—evolving from purchases of digital art to digital anything.
“The possibilities of NFTs are endless since they can be used to log ownership of any unique asset,” Alex Atallah, co-founder of OpenSea, says in a Cnet report. “We're already seeing early use-cases of NFTs being used as event tickets, software licenses, fan club memberships, or otherwise tied to interactive experiences,” he says.
3. Stablecoins will gain ground
“People should start paying attention to trends in stablecoins both as a medium of payments and as a dollar digital currency,” Rachel Mayer, a vice president of product at fintech company Circle told Cnet. Use cases like cross-border payments, aid relief and instant settlement payments will further gain acceptance in 2022, Mayer said.
In the US, “stablecoins will become increasingly regulated, only allowed to hold nominally risk-free assets, if they want to connect to regulated, legal institutions,” Lyn Alden, an investment strategy advisor, said on Twitter, which was picked up in a blogpost by crypto company Coindesk.
4. A Web3 app store will happen
One noteworthy phenomenon around the underlying decentralised protocols or blockchains and crypto is being called Web3, or the next version of the worldwide web itself, which enthusiasts dream will be a completely decentralised internet.
And with Web3, will come the need for a Web3 app marketplace. “The race is on to be the app store for crypto,” Philip Gradwell, chief economist at Chainalysis, says in the Bloomberg report mentioned above. Just as people love online platforms on today’s internet, Web3 will see its own platforms, Gradwell says in the report.
5. DAOs will get more attention
The bigger picture for crypto and blockchain enthusiasts is freedom from centralised institutional control of any form. And one powerful representation of that idea is the decentralised autonomous organisation or DAO.
DAOs are now blooming far outside the crypto world, according to Coindesk. In the US, they include a DAO intent on buying a National Basketball Association basketball team, one that wants to restore ocean health to one dedicated to increasing the wealth of women, and even one that wanted to buy a copy of the US Constitution. 2022 will see more of them, and around the world.
Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds