2022 has seen crypto adoption hit major milestones and advancements ahead of the Miami Bitcoin Conference. This includes everything from regulations to infrastructure to stakeholders to deals and sponsorships. In this article, I dissect what I think is the major adoption factors that will accelerate crypto adoption in 2022.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – JUNE 04: MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention, … [+]
The licensing on Binance in Dubai is perhaps one of the most exciting factors that may contribute to faster crypto adoption in the middle east. This was followed by the hosting of Binance Blockchain week 2022 in Dubai which run from March 28 to 30. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, had been banned by many jurisdictions. However, the newly acquired license in Dubai could establish ground for exchange regulation and licensing framework for use by other countries.
On March 14, the EU parliament rejected a critical crypto bill that sought to limit the use of proof-of-work (POW) consensus mechanisms in the Eurozone. The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted 30-23 to remove the provision from a draft of the proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, the EU’s comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. This means that, under the proposed regulatory framework, Bitcoin and other digital assets will continue to use POW. When fully implemented, the framework has the potential to accelerate the development and adoption of cryptocurrency in the Eurozone.
In the first quarter of 2022, crypto app downloads broke the 100 million mark for the first time ever. Crypto app downloads has been accelerating rapidly with 64% growth in 2020 and 400% growth in 2021, according to US news site Axios. There are a number of factors that are contributing to the rise of crypto app downloads. This ranges from higher media coverage, advertising in sports, and social media trends.
Crypto.com is one of the leading firms that has recently made multi-million dollar investments in sports deals, thereby increasing the global reach and engagement of crypto projects. Binance, Tezos, FTX, Chiliz, and Coinbase are arguably the most influential crypto firms in sports deals and sponsorships. During Super Bowl LVI in February, crypto firms funded the top ads, giving rise to the trending term Crypto Bowl, which had over 100 million live viewers. This may have influenced the large spike in crypto app downloads.
Crypto deals with sports teams and leagues grew over 100% in 2021 and are expected to reach $5 billion by 2026. Last week, Chiliz launched Chiliz Chain 2.0 testnet “Scoville”, a layer one blockchain for the sports and entertainment industries which will allow sports teams and organizations to launch fan tokens, NFTs, play to earn games, fantasy league tokens, and other DeFi products. With over 130 partnerships with major sports organizations, this new infrastructure layer could speed up the crypto reach and engagements to global sports fans.
In terms of infrastructure, Lightning Labs is perhaps the most potent news that may accelerate crypto adoption in 2022. On Tuesday, the company announced that it is launching Taro, a new Taproot-powered protocol for issuing tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. This new development allows developers to build assets such as stable coins and NFTs on the Lightning layer in conjunction with the Bitcoin network.
Taro will accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin’s Lightning network, which solves the scalability and transaction fee issues that have plagued Bitcoin in the past. This broadens the reach of the Lightning Network as a whole, attracting more users to the network and resulting in increased volume and liquidity in bitcoin, according to a recent article by the Bitcoin Magazine.
Crypto adoption is becoming more mainstream, with 40% of US respondents aged 18 to 35 planning to use cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services in the coming year, according to a recent Checkout.com survey. This is due to increased awareness of cryptocurrency projects and how to use their apps. Furthermore, global merchants accepting cryptocurrency is becoming a major trend, which may accelerate global adoption.
According to a recent Hartford Steam Boiler survey, 36% of SMEs in the United States now accept Bitcoin as payment for goods and services. Furthermore, global customers can use cryptocurrency to make purchases from merchants who accept PayPal
Disclosure: I own bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rufaskamau/2022/04/06/quarter-1-crypto-adoption-milestones-ahead-of-the-miami-bitcoin-conference-2022/