Highlights in Web3
*cues the arrest of Bahamas-flavored Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who stole close to $10 billion in FTX customer’s funds*
2022 was an unpredictable year for Web3 crypto traders, degens, and founders. A HUGE kudos to all of us for surviving yet another crypto winter! As of Sep-22, Nansen’s Trends & Indexes dashboard shows 8.22 million ETH (an estimated 9.9 billion USD) has been traded across 2.46 million unique wallets.
We know it has been challenging and uncertain for many of you, and we are here to support you however we can. Whether you are celebrating successes or facing challenges, our team at Mintable stands by you.
Here’s a quick look at 2022’s turn of crypto events:
- February — Most Expensive NFT of the Year Sold: 100% of Clock NFT proceeds – close to 52.7M – went to Wau Holland Foundation to fund Assange’s defense – the editor and publisher of WikiLeaks.
- May to December — The Great Crypto Platform Avalanches (in no particular order of destruction):
- Terraform Labs (May)
- Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital (June)
- Celsius (May to July)
- BlockFi (Nov-Dec)
- FTX (Nov-Dec)
- September — ETH Merge: The Merge was joining the original execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet that has existed since Genesis) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminated the need for energy-intensive mining and enabled the network to be secured using staked ETH.
- October – Elon Musk Frees The Bird (Twitter), and Blur.io goes live
2023: Building on Brand Loyalty, DeFi, and the Metaverse
Despite the bear market in the crypto and NFT space, experts believe 2023 will provide opportunities to build new infrastructure to prepare for the next bull run.
Brand loyalty and DeFi would drive NFTs in 2023, and the former would gradually become more significant for branding in the metaverse. According to Forrester’s predictions, smart brands will follow the likes of Louis Vuitton and Starbucks in 2023, using NFTs to enable access to exclusive customer experiences and perks.
With the adoption and rise of platforms such as Decentraland and Sandbox, the open metaverse remains the preferred platform as we head into 2023.
Mintable’s Milestones in 2022
- April: Launched Mintology, an industry-changing, gas-free minting service on Ethereum 🌎
- June: Collaborated with Mastercard to give out ~500 pizzas at NFTNYC 🍕
- September: Connected with Web3’s top builders and pioneers at Token2049 🤝
- November: Successfully launches NFT Minting on the XRP Ledger to support creators 🧬
Goodbye 2022, HELLO 2023!! 🥳
What remains in the space are passionate pioneers and builders developing and growing the Web3 industry, and we can’t wait to see what the blockchain future holds. A BIG THANK YOU for your support and for helping make our NFT marketplace a vibrant and thriving place for creators, traders, and collectors. We are excited about the new year and have planned some exciting events and collaborations. We hope you will join us on this journey!