Industry News & Trends: January 2022

Industry News & Trends: January 2022

Kicking off the year of 2022, the month of January possesses a high level of importance as it not only symbolizes a new beginning, but also leaves the first impression for the following 11 months – and what a month it has been. Continuing our tradition at Mozik of covering what goes on in the industry every so often, with this article we bring you all the important highlights and events of 2022’s month of January.

The Market

We can’t cover January without talking about the market crash that took place during the middle of the month. While BTC had a rough few months at the end of last year, almost no one foresaw it reaching lows of $33.5K in the later stages. Along this dip, Bitcoin brought the entire market down with it, as the global cryptocurrency market cap went from $2.25T to $1.70T – a 550 Billion dollar decrease.

NFTs suffered from this event as well, but thankfully to a lesser extent. The global NFT market cap fell by around 18%, and trading volume by 39%. Surprisingly, total sales went up by a whopping 30%; which, considering the circumstances, is an impressive feat. This data provides a silver lining to NFTs, and further strengthens the idea that NFTs – while related to crypto – can be a separate market that is less dependent on the traditional crypto markets.

El Salvador Doubles Down on Bitcoin

Following the crash, the president of El Salvador announced the purchase of a further 410 Bitcoins acquired by the South American country. When advised by the IMF to reverse their decisions on Bitcoin, essentially urging them to drop Bitcoin as legal tender, the president publicly refused by tweeting out a meme.

These series of events are important as they highlight how a country is committed to using the technology and fundamentals of decentralized blockchain to advance, in spite of all the obstacles, criticisms and scrutiny that lay in their way. Around 70% of El Salvadorans are unbanked, going to show how important crypto and DeFi is for the average person in a developing nation.

Intel Joins the Mining Race

It was recently revealed that tech giant and chipset manufacturer Intel will be entering the ASIC mining market with their own hardware – the “Bonanza” chip. Details on the hardware are scarce but according to sources it will be an energy-efficient machine, and it seems that there are orders placed for the product already.

If true, this could be a game-changer for the crypto market as a whole. For one, more competition in the mining market encourages innovation, which ultimately leads to better, more efficient machines. Such advancements improve network conditions, and more importantly, optimize energy usage – a frequent anti-crypto talking point that undermines one of the most important pieces of tech we currently possess.

DAOs Begin to Rise

DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) have begun to pick up interest recently as various groups are gathering and pooling resources to accomplish noteworthy – or at the very least newsworthy – feats. From a DAO that bought a copy of an unreleased movie concept for Dune for over $2 million, to one that wants to buy Blockbuster, to one that wants to buy the US constitution… there is no shortage of interesting, mind-boggling and intriguing goals that various DAOs have established.

Regardless of what one may think about these sometimes humorous ambitions, there is no doubt that DAOs possess a huge potential for effectively, securely and trustlessly utilizing a group’s resources to achieve a common goal. With the power of smart contracts and governance, almost anyone can participate with an ease of mind, and witness the power of unity enabled by the blockchain.

Crypto.com Gets Hacked

One of the biggest exchanges in the world – Crypto.com – suffered a serious attack this month that affected over 400 users. During the event withdrawals were suspended from hot wallets until the issue was fixed. A few days later, the exchange not only announced that it had reimbursed all the victims, but that it was also introducing a worldwide account protection programme, protecting victims of unauthorized transactions of up to USD$250,000.

In a time when centralization is under scrutiny and fears of hacks and theft of digital assets are widespread, the swift actions and professional handling displayed by Crypto.com is crucial to strengthen the trust not only in exchanges, but also in cryptocurrency as a whole.

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