Incoming Narratives & Trends for 2022 (Part 1)

GameFi and the metaverse segment dominated the second half of 2021 but a few other emerging trends and narrative will soon hog the limelight.

Crypto is Now Mainstream

The major shift that 2021 brought about to the crypto industry is institutional adoption. Data from intelligence reports show that institutions that used to distance themselves from cryptos have shifted their stance. 

The world is still reeling from the pandemic and the havoc that it has wrecked. This accelerated the growth and the adoption of crypto assets. Many industries suffered the effects of the pandemic and had to reinvent themselves or risk being made irrelevant. 

Bitcoin ($BTC) cemented its role as the ultimate store of value, slowly eating into the market capitalization of gold. Gold remains the trusted investment hedge for ‘old money’ but millennials are already warming up to Bitcoin and other crypto-assets. 

Like any other emerging and novel technology, there is no precedent. This emerging market will be largely driven by narratives and trends. The players in the market have changed and the market psychology will also change accordingly. 

1. Web 3.0

Web 3.0 completes the ethos of a decentralized, autonomous and community-owned web that is robust and functional. Chris Dixon wrote characterized Web 3.0 as: 

“Web3 is the internet owned by the builders and users, orchestrated with tokens.” 

Source: Web 3.0 will be a common theme that will exist in almost all crypto-based projects

Creators will have more autonomy over their content and be compensated according to a fixed protocol. Centralized platforms such as Meta (formerly known as Facebook) will have lesser relevance. Web 3.0 will power most of the narratives in the crypto space such as the metaverse theme, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Token (NFT), and Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).  

Smart contract based platforms will dominate the Web 3.0 race through Decentralized Applications (DApps). Ethereum ($ETH) will be the forerunner with Solana ($SOL), Avalanche ($AVAX) and Polygon ($MATIC) jostling for the second place. 

2. Untapped Gaming Industry 

No industry will be spared in the crypto revolution as crypto disrupts every industry. A few industries remain untapped and will likely promise bountiful gains for early investors and backers. One of these industries is the gambling industry. 

Online casinos using custom tokens instead of fiat are not revolutionary. The metaverse will provide easy access to many punters and the gaming experience will not be any less exciting.   

Licensed casinos can operate in the metaverse and accept cryptocurrencies from its customers. This is a $265 billion industry in 2019. Forbes estimates the net worth of the illegal gambling industry in the United States alone to be approximately $150 billion. 

Source: Regulating the gaming industry will bring revenue and prevent illicit gambling sites from propagating

One of the major concerns that punters have is the transparency of the gaming result and Chainlink’s VRF solves this. Jurisdictions that embrace this revolution can profit from gaming taxes and prevent illicit gambling operations. 

Projects that will benefit are, Chainlink ($LINK), WINkLink ($WIN) and DeRace ($DERC).

3. Metaverse Projects 

Brick and mortar businesses are on the decline. Nike and Adidas are two big traditional brands to jump into the metaverse bandwagon and will likely do well in this space for a few reasons. It is scalable, costs effective, good risk-reward ratio and it resonates with its customer base. 

Source: Traditional brands are now tapping into the metaverse 

Nike is establishing its metaverse presence through Nikeland on Roblox. Adidas has partnered with notable names like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Punks Comic to launch its metaverse campaign. 

The metaverse will create a whole new ecosystem whereby users can socialize. Virtual real estate, gaming, DeFi, and NFT will be the immediate beneficiaries of a metaverse boom. In the metaverse, owning expensive NFTs will be a way of flaunting wealth. 

The main projects that will benefit from the metaverse narrative are Decentraland ($MANA), Sandbox ($SAND), Gala Games ($GALA), and Render Token ($RNDR).

…to be continued in Part 2

Don’t forget to download the BSC News mobile application on iOS and Android to keep up with all the latest news for Binance Smart Chain and crypto! Check out the DeFi Direct Linktree for all the access links!

Source : bsc.news

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *