By all accounts, 2022 has been a brutal year in the crypto markets, finally dominated, as we approach year-end, by the arrest in the Bahamas of the Founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, leading to speculation about his prospects after he is extradited to the United States.
Prices are down heavily, and confidence is devastated, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is a year to forget and one that will go down in the crypto history books as having been relentlessly bleak.
However, if we imagine looking back from a few years down the line, might it be possible that not all of the recollections are negative, and could there be some specks of light that will also gain recognition?
Crypto in Context
When observers comment on crypto downturns, they sometimes tend to take events out of context, as though crypto were isolated from the wider world. In reality, though, when looking back at the stormy conditions of 2022, it should be evident that crypto was experiencing its implosions against a backdrop of widespread turmoil.
We have been collectively shaken by the after-effects of global covid responses: China is still not close to reasserting a semblance of normality; there is an ongoing war on the eastern edges of Europe; and intense political and cultural conflicts have become the domestic norm in many places.
In other words, crypto would stand out as unusual if it had not, throughout 2022, been navigating some extreme turbulence. Within this context, it becomes easier to identify relatively positive developments.
Check out the recent iFX EXPO International 2022 session on “How Social Trading Will Drive Mass Adoption in Crypto – iFX EXPO International 2022”
Ethereum and The Merge
Perhaps the most celebrated crypto event of the year was the successful Ethereum merge, which transitioned the network from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
This was a genuine landmark for Ethereum, from a technical point-of-view but also psychologically. The Merge had been postponed multiple times, and there were commentators who wondered if it would ever be realized.
Achieving completion of the switch to proof-of-stake meant that attention could then be refocused on scaling, Layer 2 solutions, and the ultimate point of the exercise, building, innovation and developer…
