The blockchain and crypto industry keeps on growing at a great. New trends in the market inevitably keep on emerging. The blockchain industry doesn’t exist in isolation, and it impacts every industry, vertical, or sector that it decentralizes. It is more than digital currencies, NFTs, DeFi, metaverse, or blockchain games.
Given the rise of the cryptocurrency and NFT market in 2021 and the upcoming web3 era of the internet, 2022 is being touted as one of the biggest years for blockchain technology. With investment expenditure on blockchain technologies expected to reach $11.7 billion, it is an exciting time in the tech world to see where the technology is headed to.
Here is a list of some of the trends in the blockchain market that are bound to blow up in 2022.
Eco-Friendly Blockchain
Crypto mining takes up a lot of energy, and its carbon footprint is harmful to the environment, with the annual emissions from Bitcoin mining being calculated to be around 57 million tons of carbon dioxide.
Cryptocurrencies like Wax & Cardano are the ‘green’ alternatives to popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin & Ethereum. Compared to the existing cryptos in the market, these eco-friendly coins consume way less energy. Ethereum will soon shift to the eco-friendly Proof-of-Stake consensus, which will reduce its energy intake by up to 99%.
As blockchain takes center stage in the emerging technology stage, concerns over its extensive energy usage are also raised. More and more blockchains and cryptocurrency platforms are working to make their networks and processes less energy-driven or based on renewable energy sources.
The Rise and Rise of the Metaverse
The concept of virtual worlds has been nothing more than a figment of our creative imagination until lately. Only recently, through the rapid advancement of technology, has the concept been brought to actual reality in the form of the metaverse. The metaverse provides a shared virtual environment that allows users to have an interactive experience.
Participants can use their digital avatars to interact with each other in the metaverse and also get to use the features of the metaverse, such as digital events, buying digital plots, and creating their own avatars within the metaverse. This universe also includes interactive games which users can play, obtain collectibles, and earn monetary rewards.
NFTs Beyond the 2021 Craze
The NFT trend has already been growing rapidly since last year, but the market is predicted to keep on growing to new heights in the coming years. NFT markets are expected to move $800 billion worth of value in the next two years. The creative aspect is here to stay, but concepts like the metaverse change the game for how NFTs are perceived.
Through the metaverse, users are able to mint, buy, sell and trade a wide range of NFTs, from artworks to digital plots that users can own and so much more. Metaverse platforms also use the NFT technology to sell passes for digital events to ensure the ownership of these passes that are being sold. NFTs are also finding use cases in digital marketing, real estate, IP rights, fractional ownership of property, user identity, etc.
The growth of Central Banks Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
With the concept of digital currencies and a decentralized digital space getting even greater acceptance around the world, governments are coming up with the concept of national digital cryptocurrencies, specific to each country, called Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
These digital currencies would come under the authorization central banks of the country. The concept of CBDC is being developed with the objective that these digital currencies can be actively used for transactions by citizens and the preexisting physical currencies.
Conversely, a few countries, Nigeria and China, have opted to issue their CBDCs while banning cryptocurrency transactions.
The growth of DeFi
DeFi models have continued to grow since 2021, with some major advancements being seen with the concept of ‘DeFi 2.0’ being introduced last year. This brought major projects to light, such as Olympus DAO, Rari, and Tokemak, all holding their own unique features.
Defi will continue to witness rapid growth, development, and innovation in 2022 and years ahead for the benefits of freedom, ease, security, and speed of financial transactions. The major focus in the DeFi environment will also be shifted toward enhancing the security of DeFi programs to prevent hackers and scammers from invading the system. The trend is more conspicuous, as new technologies enable developers to create new ideas and improve liquidity models for perusal on the web3 internet, the digital economy is slowly approaching.
The fast-paced advancements in the blockchain and crypto world are hard to keep pace with as the market keeps evolving and is ever in flux. What we are sure about is that blockchain tech is here to stay, and its allied tech — cryptos, NFTs, Defi, metaverse, etc. — will form the foundations of the self-sovereign web3 era.
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