Your weekly Crypto, NFT & Metaverse readings 🚀

Vol 22–27th December 2021–2nd January 2022

First of all, Happy New Year! I wish everyone a healthy and successful 2022. This post is a bit different than the usual market wrap-ups. There are many 2022 prediction reports, articles and blog posts out there. I curated for you the most common themes from mainstream media below so you can get a bit of a feeling what the public thinks will happen this year. It includes optimistic opinions as well as pessimistic ones. This does not by any means reflect my personal opinion (some I agree with, some I don’t). I will create my own 2022 thesis in the next days and share it with you.

Stablecoins replace ‘dollarization’

Source from 📰 Coindesk

In the old days, countries whose currencies collapsed would dollarize — they’d import dollar bills and start using that as money. Ten years from now, that will be a relic. Countries will dollarize using permissionless stablecoins, and central banks around the world will ultimately fear crypto-dollarization as a check against runaway inflation.

Shiba Inu-themed meme coins will implode

Source from 📰 Motley Fool

Meme coins Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and Floki Inu will implode. Social media hype has made all three of these Shiba Inu-inspired coins hot commodities throughout 2021.

ETH 2.0 arrives

Source from 📰 Coindesk

It has been planned for years, but Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake will finally take a definitive step forward next year as the new PoS Beacon Chain merges with the current PoW chain. That implies a degree of risk, and big advantages to the transition may not arrive until 2023, when the new Ethereum will begin introducing sharding.

Crypto crash

Source from 📰 CNBC

Some experts believe bitcoin is due for a sharp decline in the coming months. The cryptocurrency surged to a record high of almost $69,000 in November. It’s now sitting below $50,000, down almost 30% from its peak. Wall Street wisdom defines bear markets as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs, but it’s worth noting bitcoin is notorious for its volatility. Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, said she expects bitcoin to tank to as low as $10,000 in 2022, virtually wiping out all of its gains in the past year and a half.

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Bitcoin will hit 100k

Source from 📰 Forbes

This might seem like a relatively conservative estimate for the price of bitcoin in some circles, but it is worth noting that during 2021 the price of bitcoin did exhibit some of its historical volatility, ranging from lows around $30,000 to all-time-highs of nearly $70,000. Setting aside market volatility, and seeking to remain as objective as possible, the case for $100,000 bitcoin seems to have support points.

Crypto payments are here to stay

Source from 📰 Forbes

With the adoption of cryptoasset payments by major organizations such as PayPal Visa, and Mastercard during 2021, the trend toward cryptoassets being used for transactional purposes seems to be a permanent one. The technology underpinning the exiting aspects and applications in the marketplace — from decentralized finance to NFTs, has been proven to work time and again.

New regulation

Source from 📰 Nasdaq

Something that would make approaching cryptocurrency easier for financial advisors is more regulation — and experts are expecting we’ll see that, too. Financial regulators will issue a batch of new regulations and enforcement actions, which will cause frustration but should eventually drive crypto further into the mainstream, says Patrick Haggerty, director at Klaros Group, a financial services advisory and investment firm.

More women will become crypto investors

Source from 📰 Nasdaq

The average cryptocurrency owner is a 38-year-old male making approximately $111,000 a year, but that’s due to change, according to Gemini’s 2021 State of the U.S. Crypto Report. Nearly two-thirds of U.S adults are crypto-curious — as in, they don’t own crypto but are interested in learning more or holding digital assets soon — and 53% of those people are women. Currently, just 26% of current crypto holders are women, the study found.

Major retailers will begin accepting crypto

Source from 📰 Nasdaq

This year, we saw more companies join the growing list of businesses that have begun accepting crypto as a form of payment. The movie theater chain AMC, for example, announced it would start accepting ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin in addition to bitcoin for ticket purchases. Meanwhile, retailers like Amazon and Walmart are hiring blockchain and crypto experts to develop their digital currency strategies. 2022 could be the year when paying with crypto becomes real, says Sung Choi, vice president of business development at Coinme

Bitcoin mining’s big sort

Source from 📰 Yahoo

Arcane Research predicts that we’ll see more bitcoin mining bans next year in countries with weak grids or low energy supplies, “while other energy-rich jurisdictions will embrace the industry.”

China to launch digital currency

Source from 📰 Arabnews

China is planning to launch its CBDC, the e-CNY, in time for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, and more than 140 million Chinese residents already have an e-CNY wallet, while $97 billion has been transacted in the digital currency through various pilot programs. Major central banks around the world will be watching closely.