Introduction
The year 2022 will go down as one of the most eventful years in crypto and finance history. As the new year begins, let's take a look back at 365 days of news in three minutes:
Trends :
At the beginning of 2022, the MiCa law was introduced to regulate crypto asset markets on a European level. Will this lead to a more global adoption of cryptocurrencies? As the debates progress, these assets will become increasingly framed and regulated, reducing a little bit the completely uncontrolled aspect of these currencies, but at the same time allowing the States to not flee them but adopt them so that everyone can easily hold and use them as real currencies.
A few months later in May, the Terra ecosystem and UST go through their famous crisis. This crisis begins with the algorithmic stablecoin UST unscrewing from its correlation with US dollars, causing a panic and the collapse of its stablecoin and the LUNA token. According to CoinmarketCap, both LUNA and UST were among the top 10 cryptos in terms of capitalization in 2022, following the market's downward spiral.
A few weeks later, linked of course to the consequences of Terra's crisis, Celsius freezes withdrawals from its platform due to a liquidity crisis. Due to the panic, many customers withdraw their funds, resulting in a significant fall in the value of the CEL token. Due to the market's continued decline, CeFi1.0 is not a viable option
Binance and Mastercard announce an unprecedented partnership between their respective environments between August and September. The purpose of which could lead to broader access and use of these digital assets. At the same time, BlackRock and other investment funds are becoming increasingly involved in crypto development.
Ethereum deploys The Merge in September. Perhaps the greatest technological achievement since the birth of cryptocurrencies. The update was a total success, you can find more information in this thread. Changing the consensus used by the network transforms the future of the blockchain, we wrote a blog about it [insert link].
To close the year, the market closed with a negative value due to the unfortunate fall of FTX. From rumors launched by the CEO of Binance, doubts about FTX's solvency are increasingly debated, and investors are panicking. The conclusion is clear: Sam Bankman used the funds of his clients for his personal benefit. There is no longer a place for CeFi2.0 in the ecosystem, and it is time for transparent platforms to replace it.
The year has also seen several States acting in favor of crypto-assets, some allowing tax payments in crypto, like Argentina or Colorado! In other countries, laws have been passed to make them legal as means of payment in their own right, and Brazil is a perfect example.
Conclusion
Although the crises seem to be linked, the crypto market seems to be maturing, not to mention that despite the rough times, the financial/political giants are working to regulate crypto so that it can be more accessible and give it legitimacy as a payment method (note that individuals from establishments now accept certain cryptos, such as in Lugano in Switzerland where certain restaurants and McDonald's are now accepting).
During downturns, creating a strong environment takes precedence over hype and making noise no matter what's behind it. To become pillars of this new financial model, only projects with high added value survive and develop.
