If you’ve been following the crypto market in recent days, you’d think that it is the end of the world. Everyone has been talking about the non-stop market dip that began in May which has shown little signs of stopping.
There have been memes and stories of investors losing a significant portion of their investments during this period and some experts have begun singing songs of doom. Crypto sceptics have come out with their knives sharpened and there’s a lot of negativity in the market.
However, if you look beyond the noise, you’ll notice some trends that have emerged. Trends like the rising adoption of bitcoin and the growth of crypto-based concepts. Read along as we explore five things no one seems to be talking about.
We’re currently in a transition stage in the bear market
According to crypto expert Jason Yanowitz, we’re currently in the transition phase of the bearish market. This is a critical phase where prices drop rapidly potentially leading to calls from the mainstream media and sceptics against cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, there could be developments where crypto companies are forced to make drastic decisions to protect their income flow. A great example is that Celsius, one of the biggest crypto lending platforms, announced this week that it had paused transactions on its platform due to extreme market conditions. Following the announcement, there was panic in the crypto market and the value of its token, CEL, dipped by more than 70%.
It’ll be unsurprising to see more crypto companies taking the Celsius approach in the coming days and this could be a recurring theme during this phase.
Despite these events, Bitcoin is still trading above the $20,000 mark that was previously thought to be impossible in the last dip. This is a good sign that the crypto market is still holding firm despite the negative sentiments.
Crypto prices are known for their high volatility and this phase could quickly be followed by a bull market. As with previous years, only time will tell.
Bitcoin adoption is increasing
Despite the steady decrease in the value of bitcoin in recent weeks, its popularity has continued to increase. As of June 2022 more than 81 million people have created unique bitcoin wallets on blockchain.com, a site that allows people to buy crypto. That’s about 72% more than a year earlier and this shows that more people are joining the bitcoin train.
Countries are also getting onboard with the Central African Republic becoming the second country in the world — after El Salvador — — to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. This means that millions of people can now access bitcoin.
As you may know, Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency and usually controls the market. The increase in the number of bitcoin wallets suggests that more people are looking beyond the dip in their decision to adopt the leading cryptocurrency.
Looking at previous records, the crypto market usually rebounds after a market dip and this is no exception. You can read a detailed analysis of the current market dip from a previous newsletter release.
NFTs continue to have a major impact in different sectors
NFTs or non-fungible tokens are blockchain-based digital assets that are designed to represent unique assets. What makes NFTs special is that they can be used in different sectors and have been deployed in arts, sports, gaming and more.
So far, NFT collectors have transacted over $37 billion worth of NFTs in 2022 placing it on pace to beat the total of $40 billion transactions from 2021. The development of new NFT blockchains like Solana and Avalanche has increased the options for investors despite the crypto dip.
Unsurprisingly, several fortune 500 institutions have begun to make moves in the NFT space in recent weeks. Last week, Mastercard — the financial services giant — announced a strategic partnership with several NFT platforms including Mintable, Nifty Gateway and Candy Digital to bring card payments to their ecosystem.
The English Premier League, arguably the most popular football league, also filed a series of trademark applications for the use of its brand name logo for non-fungible tokens (NFT). This move according to experts is strategic and indicates that the organization could be launching an NFT platform soon.
NFTs are also crucial in new crypto concepts like Play-2-Earn (P2E) — where you get paid for playing games and Move-2-Earn (M2E) — a concept that pays you to exercise and take part in physical activities.
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Big brands are entering the metaverse
The metaverse is an interesting concept that has blossomed in the blockchain industry. It is a virtual world that allows you to control an avatar and take part in different activities. Metaverse platforms like Decentraland and The Sandbox have recorded millions of dollars in virtual land sales and this has attracted the attention of brands and institutions.
Popular U.S. rapper Kanye West made the news when he filed a series of trademark patents for NFTs and the metaverse. This was surprising to many as he had earlier stated in February that he was not interested in NFTs or crypto.
Furthermore, Budweiser, the popular beer brand recently partnered with Zed Run, an NFT horse racing game where you breed horses to win real money, while shoe giant Nike also revealed that nearly 7 million people have visited its metaverse store ‘’Nikeland” since it launched last November.
Facebook and Microsoft have already announced plans to develop their metaverse and this will only attract more people to this unique concept. At the moment the crypto space is ahead of the trend and the current market dip has not had an adverse effect.
After the dip comes the gift
The crypto market is more than a decade old and we’ve learnt a thing or two about dips. Significant dips are usually followed by major bullish rallies and new trends in the market. For example, the biggest crypto dip which occurred in 2018 resulted in what we call the ‘’crypto winter’’.
This was a period when the price of all the major crypto assets was down. Bitcoin fell from $20,000 to around $3,000 while Ethereum traded for less than $200. Many people left crypto during this time as they believed that there was no way it could recover.
However, the dip was a significant phase as there wasa shift from just trading and holding to building sustainable products. More exchanges began to spring up making it easy for users globally to purchase crypto and decentralized finance began to take shape.
The success of decentralized finance in offering traditional financial services with better yields gradually attracted new users which stimulated the subsequent bullish run in 2020. The current situation is not as bad as what was experienced in 2018 but the similarities remain.
The crypto sector is gradually getting attention from institutions looking to build sustainable products on the blockchain. Twitter founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey recently revealed that his team was working on creating web5.0 — a decentralized internet built on the bitcoin blockchain.
This development has the potential to transform the web and place cryptocurrency in mainstream applications.
Conclusion
The crypto industry continues to evolve despite the price dips. So beyond the noise and gloom, it is easy to see why there’s quiet optimism about the future. The consistent growth and expansion of blockchain concepts like DeFi, NFTs and Play-2-Earn provide the building blocks of a sustainable ecosystem.
Also, don’t forget that the best way to learn crypto is to stay informed and share knowledge with those around you. Therefore we recommend joining the Breach community to get the best experience with crypto-curious friends.
