Retrospective: what did 2022 bring to the crypto industry?
It’s always interesting to look back and remember significant events of the outgoing year. We decided to make a retrospective look at the cryptocurrency market in 2022.
Making plans for the year ahead is an outstanding and helpful practice. And looking back on the past allows us to make a retrospective analysis of our mistakes and avoid stepping on the same rake. It is also equally important to assess the achievements and accomplishments and check whether the forecasts have come true.
January
- Samsung created smart TVs with access to NFT marketplaces.
Models MICRO LED, Neo QLED, and The Frame received a platform for finding, buying, and selling digital works of art. The manufacturer declared support for several popular NFT marketplaces. Using the Smart Calibration function, the user could adjust the TV settings so that the NFT token is correctly depicted depending on the format.
- Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino launched an auction with his non-fungible token (NFT) collection, based on the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
The auction went in 7 stages on Secret Network January 17-31, despite an earlier lawsuit filed by Miramax, which accused Tarantino of copyright infringement.
- Bitcoin fell from $48K to $33K. ↓
February
- Donations being funneled to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to fight the aggressor country Russia reached $7 million in crypto.
The Ministry of Digital Development calculated and reported on the assistance provided. The primary donations were made in BTC, ETH, and USDT.
- One of the largest Ethereum mining pools, FlexPool, cut all services to Russian IP addresses.
Ethereum was still on the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, so the owners of equipment located on the aggressor country's territory had to either switch to a new pool or start working through a VPN. Eh, if only all mining pools would take such a step synchronously and simultaneously.
- Bitcoin climbed to $45.8K but fell again to $34.3K. ↓
March
- Goldman Sachs became the first major US bank to trade crypto over the counter, to buying a non-deliverable Bitcoin option (NDO)
It was already the second attempt of the well-known investment bank to touch the “magic world of crypto” through the mediation of Galaxy Digital. Last year, the same thing happened to futures. If Goldman Sachs were looking to once again hype the topic of crypto and “openness to new technologies”, a cooler decision would be to take a few billion in US dollars to the spot market and trade. This PR step would definitely leave everyone speechless…
- Thailand banned cryptocurrency payments.
In that case, the problem seemed to be purely medical. China constantly brings some infections to Thailand. Either the coronavirus pandemic or the regulatory frenzy. Still neighbors. At one time, the People's Bank of China banned crypto, and after a while, the overwhelming ban virus spread to neighboring Thailand. All that local regulators have achieved was the migration of Thai local crypto exchanges to foreign ones. Whether it has changed anything for Thailand is still a big question.
- Bitcoin rose insignificantly from $37.15K to $48.2K. ↑
April
- Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash decided to block addresses under sanctions.
Attackers' crypto wallets were planned to be traced using the Chainalysis oracle. It can provide real-time scanning results of addresses subject to government sanctions. Well, we can state the fact that another project caved in under pressure from regulators. It did not add to the popularity of Tornado Cash.
- The National Bank of Ukraine banned buying crypto for fiat hryvnia.
The NBU decided to limit quasi-cash transactions for individuals. This decision allegedly aimed to stop the unproductive outflow of capital. But it didn't lead to anything. Users of virtual assets and exchange service providers are more familiar with modern technologies than specialists in the government, so this ban pleased only civil servants and went completely unnoticed by the crypto industry.
- The Bitcoin price decreased from $47.45K to $37.7K. ↓
Маy
- El Salvador announced its plans to build Bitcoin City
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, continued to promote a new project – Bitcoin City, which, according to the concept, should be located next to a volcano. It was planned that bitcoin mining would be powered by the geothermal energy of the volcano. Construction was scheduled for this year, but the work is yet to begin. Bukele turned out to be, unfortunately, more of a dreamer than a reformer. It is another example of “think before you speak”. High-profile crypto startups have so far remained only projects “on paper”.
- The bankruptcy of Luna and the “death” of the stablecoin Terra USD (UST)
It is the first high-profile crash this year and, unfortunately, not the last. This event set the tone for a bearish trend that didn't turn bullish until the end of the year.
- Bitcoin fell from $40k to $26.65k due to the collapse of Luna and UST. ↓
June
- The class-action lawsuit from Keith Johnson against Elon Musk for fraud and Dogecoin price manipulation
It is not the first and not the last lawsuit against Elon. His guilt was never proven, and as a result, he once again came out unscathed…
- WhiteBIT opened a branch in Australia.
According to Statista, one in five Australians owns a cryptocurrency. Given the high level of crypto adoption among the population, as well as the positive business climate, opening a branch in Australia was a logical step for WhiteBIT CEO Vladimir Nosov after expanding its presence in Europe.
- Bitcoin fell from $31.76K to $17.63K. ↓
July
- Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and crypto lending startup Celsius went bankrupt
After ten years in the market, a cryptocurrency hedge fund collapsed due to “sharp fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market” and financial difficulties within the company. The crypto lending platform failed to maintain a sufficient level of liquidity to ensure normal activities. These two projects were unprepared for a protracted downtrend and overrated their strength and left the market…
- Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com expanded the list of payment instruments with Google Pay.
This step allowed more than 100 million users to buy cryptocurrencies conveniently. The Gemini, Coinbase, Bakkt, and Nexo exchanges have done the same before.
- The Bitcoin price rose from $18.72K to $24.67K. ↑
August
- Europe’s largest crypto exchange issued its token.
The utility token of the WhiteBIT exchange has been deployed on the Ethereum (ERC20) and Tron (TRC20) blockchains under the WBT ticker. The token became a full-fledged infrastructure asset, which began to be used in all WhiteBIT products. The exchange also plans to migrate to its blockchain subsequently.
- PayPal started supporting cryptocurrencies.
The PayPal mobile app has features for buying, selling, and transferring cryptocurrencies. According to the company, users can now use their digital assets, just like fiat funds.
- Bitcoin fell from $25.21K to $19.52K. ↓
September
- Ethereum transitioned from Proof-of-Work (Proof-of-Work) to Proof-of-Stake (Proof-of-Stake)
The network did not suspend its operations for a minute, and the migration, called The Merge, took place almost seamlessly and imperceptibly for users. Ethereum 2.0 has become a reality. A highly anticipated event had finally happened.
The three-day Web3 hackathon was held from 6 to 9 September at the UNIT.City innovation park in Kyiv. The event was organized by the blockchain charity fund Unchain, the Ukraine DAO, the Atlantis World metaverse, and activists of the Web3 community. The biggest surprise was the appearance of Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
- Bitcoin continued its fall – now from $22.8K to $18.14K. ↓
October
- BNY Mellon launched Digital Asset Custody Platform
The world's leading custodian Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, is ready to cooperate with the owners of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ethereum storage platforms officially launched in the US. Work on the creation of a specialized cryptocurrency platform began in 2021.
- The police created their metaverse.
Now the virtual space exists not only for gamers. Interpol will use Metaverse technology to learn how to defeat cyber criminals. The International Police Metaverse was presented at the session of the Interpol General Assembly in India.
- The BTC price increased from $18.12K to $21.07K. ↑
November
The annual Web Summit, a global technology conference that Politico called “the world's premier tech conference,” was held in Lisbon, Portugal.
A Coindesk report found that a significant portion of Alameda Research's assets consisted of the FTX internal tokens (FTT). Alameda Research was a subsidiary of FTX, both owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, who personally managed the exchange and controlled the fund's activities. This news set off a flywheel of irreversible events, resulting in the bankruptcy of one of the largest exchanges, FTX, and the liquidation of Alameda Research. It was followed by the bankruptcies of other companies associated with FTX and Alameda Research.
- Bitcoin significantly lost in price, falling from $21.5K to $15.5K. ↓
December
- Banks Credit Suisse, Pictet, and Vontobel tokenized their products.
Swiss banks have issued tokenized financial instruments on the Ethereum blockchain testnet. Digital investment products are traded on the FINMA-regulated BX Swiss exchange.
- Standard Chartered forecast for 2023
The chief strategist at Standard Chartered tried to predict the future of markets and crypto in 2023. Analysts at the London-based transnational banking group Standard Chartered believe that the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange and the possible collapse of other crypto platforms form a pessimistic scenario for the cryptocurrency market, which can only intensify in 2023.
- Bitcoin is flat at the level of $16.3 – $18.4K. ↓↑
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