The 2022 year has seen cryptocurrencies face a series of stinging disappointments, casting doubt on their future prospects and whether the technology has the capacity to effect meaningful financial change.
The TerraUSD, an algorithmic stablecoin, stumbled last year, causing the crypto market to lose trillions in value. November saw the collapse of FTX, one of the most prominent crypto exchanges. The industry’s total market capitalization has also plummeted from a high of close to $3 trillion to its current CoinMarketCap figure of around $800 billion.
Congress is increasingly hostile to cryptocurrency, with calls to ban it entirely or severely restrict its use.
However, Nicole Valentine, the Director of Fintech at The Milken Institute’s Center For Financial Markets, a nonpartisan think-tank, believes that crypto still carries cultural currency. In an interview, she stated: “I think there will still be dinner table conversations about crypto. People are still fearful of missing out. We need to ask ourselves some questions about the development and growth of this industry, but I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon, nor is it losing its cultural value.”
