Think over the past 12 months. It felt as though you could become wealthy by creating a non-fungible token (NFT) out of your left nostril, that bitcoin traded at approximately $50,000, and that you couldn’t watch sports without seeing cryptocurrency advertising.
Who could have foreseen Celsius Network and Voyager Digital’s demise at the time? Or that Matt Damon would turn into a joke about the cryptocurrency market? Or would Sam Bankman-Fried, the star kid of space, change from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader?

All of this serves to establish that there are no crystal balls. Predictions are frequently off. Trends can shift suddenly. But then again, maybe looking ahead to the cryptocurrency market in 2023 is just what we need to clear our palates after the FTX-flavored sadness of the previous two months.

Jamie Burke, CEO and founder of Outlier Ventures, says,

“When we move into 2023, what happens with crypto investment in Q1 will be key as to whether we stay in a sustained bear market.”

On the one hand, he says that “we have seen a record number of applications in our most recent cohorts for 2022,” indicating that “the strength of the venture market has remained, with billions of financing still flooding into the area and large amounts of capital waiting to be deployed.”

Burke does acknowledge, however, that “the venture landscape is undoubtedly changing” and that “fund managers going into 2023 are preserving capital” as opposed to the “spray and pray” approach of the bull run. Many investors, according to his forecast, will “double down on existing, less risky investments from later-stage companies already exhibiting growth,” in the next year.

UK Treasury has released proposals for regulating crypto-exchanges, lending activities, and how digital assets are stored, describing crypto assets as having “a range of potential benefits, as well as posing risks to the consumer”.

#digital #blockchain https://t.co/Pj0j3dbin8

— Brian McGleenon (@BMcGleenon) February 1, 2023

Regarding what that would imply for the entire area? We’ve gathered forecasts from knowledgeable professionals in the field, from the optimistic to the pessimistic. Epic struggles over legislation are discussed in The Future of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in 2023.

What expected twists and turns could be in the cryptocurrency market in 2023?

1. Battles over regulations

Nobody can predict the exact result, but 2023 may mark the year when the battles over regulations finally reach their pinnacle. According to Laura Shin, host of the “Unchained” podcast, “there will be harsh crypto regulation presented and an epic battle by the community to combat the elements of it that endanger decentralisation.”

2. Web3 platforms are still expanding.

Alex Zhang, the de facto leader of Friends with Benefits DAO, forecasts that “larger macro downturn market conditions should hopefully drive crypto initiatives away from speculation and more towards utility—one big utility category simply being meaningful, entertaining, social experiences.” He anticipates a rise in “interoperable identification, on-chain social graphs, and crypto-abstracted social experiences,” as well as “more meaningful Web3 social platforms and protocols.” And here’s a less upbeat perspective.

Also, read – Top 3 Experts Examine The Effects Of NFT On Cryptocurrency Investors

3. More losses, bleeding, and agony.

The co-host of the podcast “Crypto Critics’ Corner,” Cas Piancey, asserts that “the contagion isn’t anywhere near over.” Companies, banks, and funds, according to Piancey, “desperately hope the market gets past the FTX and Alameda collapse or simply focuses on their misconduct,” but regardless of how one feels about it, “you can’t wish away a credit crunch and exposure to poor counterparties.” Because the contagion is too extensive and challenging for us all to estimate, we will witness the closure of funds and the failure of companies we didn’t anticipate.

4. The widespread acceptance of bitcoin.

When we spoke, Alex Gladstein, the Human Rights Foundation’s chief strategy officer, had just returned from a bitcoin conference in Ghana. Gladstein says, “I was blown away. “I was astounded by the sheer quantity of bitcoin leaders and entrepreneurs from so many nations.” People from rural Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and conflict zones were among those he encountered. They are all simply constructing on bitcoin. He asserts that “global adoption is certainly the number one story for next year” since it is “really spectacular.”

5. A focus on things besides blockchain, bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies.

Real Bedford will win the league, Peter McCormack, the mega-bull on bitcoin and host of the podcast “What Bitcoin Did,” said when asked for his 2023 predictions. Although this is obviously a joke (McCormack bought the team in 2021), there may be some truth to it: For many in the industry, switching your attention to anything else during crypto winter is beneficial and even healthy.

6. Web3 becomes trendy.

In terms of Web3 adoption, “Fashion will continue to lead the way,” predicts Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer at Journey. “Web3 personalities and consumer and luxury businesses who want to investigate new business models and customer touchpoints will continue to collaborate,” says the report. “With the rise of generative AI, we might see blockchain play a big role in assisting us in discerning between content made by AI and content created by humans,” says bonus prediction from Hackl.

7. Don’t write NFTs off.

Burke predicts that one of the first industries to rebound in 2022 will be NFT funding because of its continued desire for high-risk. The large NFT investments from major Web2 businesses [Starbucks and Disney] and throughout Web3 started to emerge over the course of the previous year, and they continue into 2023. Brands will keep swarming to NFTs.

8. DAOs and gaming both keep expanding.

Burke expresses a similar amount of optimism regarding the gaming industry, predicting that “important Web3 game titles that have been in development for quite some time, including Big Time, Star Atlas, and Ember Sword, will finally see the light of day in 2023, either as full-fledged games or more playable demos.”
What about autonomous decentralised organisations (DAO)? According to Burke, “Although it may appear that the industry has been forced to halt due to the current bear market, the growth of new DAOs has risen enormously, with each month in 2022 producing more new DAOs than all of 2021 saw.”

9. The significant interactions “disaggregate.”

“Exchange stack gets divided down into different entities, much like in [conventional finance]; we see custody, brokerage, and exchange/price discovery.” Another FTX cannot occur as a result, according to the managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, Haseeb Qureshi. Then Qureshi makes a related prediction: “Incumbents consolidate when trust is low. People are less likely to trust smaller and weaker businesses. Therefore, Coinbase, Binance, and Uniswap will likely increase their market share overall. Network effects become more powerful.

10. The space regroups

Sandra Ro, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council, instructs her audience to “read the room and analyse the damage” before offering some guidance for the industry as a whole: “Regroup with humility, rebuild with integrity, restore trust, and rise again.”