2022 was quite a rough year for the cryptocurrency industry, but a lot of good came out of it as well. 2023 has the potential to be one of the best years yet for the crypto industry, as businesses get their chance to shine in an industry that experienced a lot of negative coverage last year. In today’s blog, we’ve compiled the top five trends that you should be paying attention to this year as the landscape continues to change.
Countries releasing CBDCs
CBDCs (or Central Bank Digital Currencies) are gaining popularity around the globe as more than 100 countries are either researching, developing, or currently running their country’s version of a “digital dollar”. Countries like Nigeria and the Bahamas have already launched their programs, and larger countries such as China, India, and Russia have begun testing their own pilot CBDCs as well. Since global cryptocurrency adoption has been increasing, countries have noticed the competition within the digital currency space and have recognized the potential for their own. However, CBDCs remain controversial in the cryptocurrency community since transactions can still be tracked by a central authority.
Increased Regulation of the Cryptocurrency Industry
It’s no doubt that multiple huge bankruptcies in the crypto industry drew the attention of the United States government this year. FTX, Voyager, and Celsius all are still in bankruptcy proceedings and many customers are still wondering if they’ll ever get their funds back. As a result, increased regulation of the cryptocurrency space is sure to come in 2023. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission is asking select companies to disclose their exposure to the cryptocurrency industry, and if that exposure could impact the businesses’ operations if the market experienced significant movement or if partners went bankrupt because of the latter. And in light of the ongoing FTX saga, US regulators are still working to establish a new framework for cryptocurrency regulation going forward in order to protect consumers from bad actors in the space.
Increased Global Crypto Adoption
Even though 2022 may have been a rough year for the markets, it didn’t stop global crypto adoption. Many countries made major announcements in terms of crypto adoption or regulation. Former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro passed a bill legalizing cryptocurrency as a method of payment within the country. Although the new law doesn’t make cryptocurrency legal tender, it’s still good to see Brazil taking a positive stance on crypto. In El Salvador, president Nayib Bukele is still pushing forward to make the country the leading global Bitcoin hub. The government plans to raise over $1 billion through Bitcoin bonds and build a so-called “Bitcoin city”, but there are no current updates on the program at this time. Tourism in El Salvador continues to boom, as tourism has increased over 30% since 2021 when Bitcoin was declared legal tender. It’s exciting to see what countries do with their adoption of cryptocurrency, and regulation will continue to come as more people use it in their daily lives.
Consolidation of Competitors
The explosion of growth within the crypto industry in 2021 saw large crypto companies hiring thousands, signing expensive deals for sponsorships, and more. The arrival of 2022’s bear market brought quite a few of those large companies down as many over-hired and could not sustain the downturn in the markets. Now that those companies have come and gone, it’s a fresh new scene, ripe for consolidation in many ways. In 2023, it’s likely that we will see multiple mergers and acquisitions in the crypto industry. One example is Binance purchasing now-bankrupt Voyager’s cryptocurrency assets for over $1 Billion in late 2022. In the Bitcoin ATM space, RockItCoin acquired Tao Bitcoin in October of 2022. With many players in the space looking to regroup after a rough year, the landscape is sure to shift.
Increased Crypto Gaming Development
The popularity of NFT gaming has increased greatly over the last year, with games like Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained that have hundreds of thousands of players in their network. It’s only a matter of time before larger game studios develop their own games that utilize NFTs to incentivize players. However, the play-to-earn model of many NFT games has to be changed in order to curb major “farming” activity that occurs. It’ll be interesting to see how the play-to-earn model changes and if any large-scale studios step into the space in 2023!
At RockItCoin, we’re looking forward to the next year of serving our customers with our nationwide network of over 1,900 Bitcoin ATMs and mobile app! We always strive to make it easy for anyone to purchase crypto, whether they’re a beginner or an expert. Stay tuned to RockItCoin’s social channels and newsletter for any exciting announcements and updates in the future!