After studying this year’s happenings on cryptocurrency, when new crypto applications like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) emerged and bitcoins made progress in acceptance when platforms such as Microsoft and Expedia started accepting them, analysts have forecasted 3 cryptocurrency trends to look out for in 2022.
- Bitcoin becomes mainstream
Researchers have had a difficult time figuring out what motivates people to use Bitcoin. According to a recent study, there are five primary criteria that influence whether or not someone will use Bitcoin:
- Have faith in the system.
- Bitcoin’s performance is expected to perform well.
- The transactional quality of the online platforms provided
- Word of mouth on the internet
- The investment’s perceived riskiness
For starters, there’s more activity in online groups like Twitter and Reddit, where even crypto newbies can share information with seasoned investors to get advice on price predictions and trading tactics.
There has also been an explosion of new crypto-exchanges — or trading platforms where one may exchange fiat cash for crypto — as well as significant investments in existing exchanges’ technological infrastructure. Institutional investors are becoming more interested in crypto markets as a result of these infrastructure expenditures.
2. Regulatory scrutiny and institutional involvement
Institutional entities such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s lending arm, have taken a stand on cryptocurrency in the previous year.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) released a 100 million euro digital bond on the Ethereum blockchain in April. The offering also included Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander, and Société Générale. Institutional adoption has been identified as a tipping point for mainstream crypto adoption, and it appears we’re on our way there.
In 2022, the expanded availability of points of sale that take Bitcoin as a form of payment, as well as institutional investment in the field, will almost certainly lead to broader adoption of Bitcoin as a form of payment.
3. NFT activity increases
The year 2021 heralded a new era in NFT sales. In the same way that a tangible canvas can provide proof of ownership of a Vincent van Gogh painting, an NFT can provide proof of ownership of digital art.
NFTs were originally created to legalise the ownership of digital art, but they have subsequently grown to cover other sorts of digital property, such as digital real estate.
NFT sales are breaking records, with a recent one at Sotheby’s raising $17.1 million. As a result, the auction house developed Metaverse, a non-financial-transactions-only platform for the selling of digital works.
In 2022, as new NFT applications emerge, this market will most certainly continue to expand.
