Crypto 2022 Recap: Bankruptcy and Contagion, Bitcoin Bear, MiCA, Ethereum Consolidation…
Cascading bankruptcies, strengthened regulations, uninteresting NFT, Binance advantage, falling values, Connect Ethereum and serial hacks. Let’s go back a eventful year for crypto.
sector crypto follows cycles. 2022 certainly falls under the so-called episode bear market, even winter. This new period began at the end of 2021 and has been extended ever since critical episodes triggered and aggravated by major bankruptcies.
These industry failures are, for many, the result bad experiences previous. Invisible or hidden during bull market, were disastrous when values fell. These shipwrecks are a transformation deep into this ecosystem.
Terra, 3AC, Celsius … predictable claims?
Crypto winter has been fatal to many leading market players, too much exposure. This is especially so Three Arrow Capital, was overturned by the court in June. With the fall of 3AC, there are others dominoes which will fall later, sooner or later, from which The digital journey (July) or BlockFi (November).
The trigger for this series of bankruptciesit is undoubtedly the collapse of the ecosystem Terra. Its algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD – the third largest stablecoin on the market at the time – did not survive the winter, quickly losing ground against the dollar and taking LUNA with it. Promises of 10 and 20% returns from these tokens have not been proven. Tens of billions of dollars went up in smoke, huge losses for retail investors and entities such as Galaxy Digital.
However bankruptcies in the chain not only as a result of the sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices. They also reflect a lack of risk management and bad practices. This is especially emphasized by Celsi and FTX.
FTX, a giant with feet of clay
Unexpected collapse FTX It was the culmination of an already exhausting year for digital coin holders. stock exchange founded by Sam Bankman Fried filed for bankruptcy in November and may have more than a million creditors.
The former crypto star is currently awaiting trial. In particular, he is accused of fraud and money laundering and faces a heavy prison sentence.
At the beginning of the year, it was valued at more than 30 billion dollars. FTX showed itself as the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume. Its sister company, Alameda Research, meanwhile, was one of the leading market makers in the cryptocurrency space. His defeat a decrease in liquidityIt was aggravated by the losses suffered by other market makers after the bankruptcy of FTX.
Binance: growing dominance, but controversial
With 80% market share on traded assets, Binance dominates the market. And the collapse of the rival FTX with the CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) contributed greatly by publicly announcing that it would sell all of its FTTs, only underlining this dominance.
Dominant also aims to be on the stock market stablecoins. Starting in September, USDC, TUSD and USDP are automatically converted BUSDown sign.
But to accept the role White knightthe crypto stock market business must forget and demonstrate the liberties taken by regulation. transparency. In this respect, Binance is still far from establishing its dominance by leading by example. And in a strong climate disobediencethe company will have to post a bond and rather than proof of reservations in a controversial way – the way the Tomb removed itself.
MiCA: European crypto regulation as an example
After long discussions and compromisesEurope finally managed to find common ground in the regulatory framework for crypto-assets. Thus, at the end of June, a temporary agreement was signed between the French presidency and the European institutions. MiCA rules. Finalization will take place in a few months. in October, Council of Europe voted positively for the final version of the text.
Credit: Shutterstock
However, not all tokens are regulated by MiCA. It’s really out of scope for now NFT and DeFi. However, the European Commission is now interested in overseeing decentralized finance. Since July European Central Bank It encouraged EU states to wait for the entry into force of the MCA and to adapt their legislation. And after the bankruptcy of FTX, the central banks raise their voice.
Ethereum revolutionizes PoS with The Merge
This is one of the biggest sagas of 2022: the Ethereum merger or Merger. Two chains ceased to exist together, one PoW and another PoS. Indeed, in capitalization, the second blockchain network has moved into the mechanism Proof-of-stake In September. It differs from Bitcoin, which remains in Proof-of-work today.
By accepting PoS, Ethereum raises questions about the level decentralization, the network has nevertheless made significant progress on the environmental front. And a blockchain founded by a young developer Vitalik Buterin It still has recent updates including The Scourge or The Purge.
Credit: Shutterstock
Ronin: the most devastating hack
More than $600 million. was a blow to Roninpublisher Sky is the popular Ethereum sidechain of MavisAxie Infinity. The network is a victim of 2022 piracy on the scale. Cybercriminals seized 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC. The worst hack was recorded this year, but not the only one.
2022 turned out to be one of the worst years – if not the worst in the history of cryptocurrencies. This is especially true of hacks that have a large number of them Challenge. The infographic above includes the best hacks that marked the year. The most important ones appear in red – see full size image.
2 Year Time Leap for Bitcoin
That’s a two-year jump back bitcoin price in 2022. Today and for weeks now, the price of the first cryptocurrency is hovering around $16,000.
BTC Price in 2022 – Source: CoinGecko
Last year, Bitcoin He was collecting records, almost climbing 70,000 dollars. A year later, the trend changed radically. BTC experienced several recession episodes in 2022, and the last one after the bankruptcy of FTX in mid-November.
Since its All-Time High in November 2021, the token has lost approx 70% of its value. In comparison, some altcoins such as Solana (SOL) are losing more than 95%.
The correlation Between Bitcoin and traditional stock markets has strengthened this year, making the upheavals of the queen of cryptocurrencies more predictable. It has long been considered an asset that can act as a safe haven.” digital gold now behaves more like a asset at risk.
The end of the NFT hype
Along with falling cryptocurrency prices value of non-tradable tokens of course decreases. the NFT market After last spring’s successful land sale, it really cooled down Yuga Labsthe startup behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collection.
Total volume of NFT markets – Source: Dune
Although most speculators gave up after falling prices and enthusiasm, major brands and continued to explore opportunities offered by companies NFT This year.
Web2 likes giants Meta (formerly Facebook), Twitter, and Shopify have integrated these tokens into their platforms. Starbucks recently launched an NFT-based loyalty program. Warner Bros, LG, Netflix or even Samsung are also interested.
Including many sports brands NikeLacoste, Adidas, Puma and Decathlon will also enter this space in 2022. Even luxury homes GucciLouis Vuitton and Prada offered token collections this year.
In France, the Casino group has conducted various experiments in this field. For experts NFT it’s an opportunity for brands to build their digital independence.
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