2023 could be the year of decentralized trading platforms and more advanced Cross-chain applications.
Original title: " Forkast Forecasts 2023 "
Composition: Frokcast
Compile: SevenUpDAO
NFT will gain more utility and become the cornerstone of Web3.
With highly anticipated blockchain games hitting store shelves in 2023, we could see the next opportunity to attract a new generation of crypto users.
After the FTX crash, as cryptocurrency investors turn to self-custody, people will understand the true value of Bitcoin, not just hype and price speculation.
With the FTX debacle triggering tighter regulation, Caroline Bowler of BTC Markets believes that cryptocurrencies can go mainstream within the next 18 months.
2023 could be the year of decentralized exchanges and more advanced Cross-chain applications.
Gary Liu, founder of Artifact Labs: NFT has become the cornerstone of Web 3.0
The most exciting thing in 2023 will be the invention of new applications of blockchain technology, including NFTs.
There will be many innovations in the future. What we must realize is that NFT is not just a new digital asset class. Frankly, they are the cornerstone of Web3. So during this time, you're going to see builders, entrepreneurs and investors pour money and energy into the pipeline, into the infrastructure that will allow Web3 to scale in the future.
We will invent different types of applications for NFTs. They're not just pictures where you throw money at it and hope it adds value over time. Rather than being a speculative asset, it will actually be the Lego bricks that will eventually assemble to become the next version of the decentralized internet.
Institutions will protect their intellectual property through NFT
Fundamentally, NFTs are the way to create and protect IP in the digital world, and that's where their fundamental innovation lies. When we look back at history, we realize that there are too many IPs that should be protected in this way and can be useful in Web3. I predict that in the next few years, more and more historical organizations, cultural institutions and brands will realize intellectual property protection in the real world. Of course, everyone does, and now we need to protect our IP in the digital world. Before blockchain technology and NFTs, there really wasn't a good way to do this. So I do hope that more and more of this historical IP will be transferred into the Web3 world and into NFTs.
New series of NFTs will need more intrinsic value to survive
The market is now saturated. We've seen a lot of blue-chip NFTs, and then there are tons of others. Especially in a down market, it turns out that everything else can't really hold value... so I think we're going to evolve into a world where NFTs have to actually have utility. They have to be more valuable than just a bunch of people saying it's valuable. The asset itself or the underlying asset it represents must have intrinsic value. This will drive NFT innovation.
Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu: Games will drive mass adoption of cryptocurrencies
Gaming is going to get faster than this year, even though it already dominates this year. The reason is because of the quality of the games that come out now...a good game takes years to make, so games that started making in previous years start appearing and coming out this year.
We'll see a wave of high-quality games flooding the market, which will lead to more mass adoption. So this will go into full effect sometime in 2023, possibly extending into 2024. So we should expect literally hundreds of millions of users to enter the field as a result.
Metaverse Comeback
For example, when people post products and sell stuff on The Sandbox, they generate revenue. Metrics in the metaverse are now not just your trading volume, but also employment. How many people are actively engaged in economic capacity? All of this is basically developing in a very exciting way. We're setting the frame for what could be a very strong 2023.
Metaverse and Blockchain Interoperability Gain More Attention
Just like there will be many metaverses, there will be more and more interoperability between chains. We can also see today that chains that decide to take a less interoperable approach actually get smaller. They haven't really managed to go beyond. Everyone is talking about interoperability now because they realize that without it, they can't grow. It's a bit like a nation state, if you don't join the WTO, you can't develop either. You have to be able to trade items between each other, basically sharing the value and expanding the overall market.
Four years ago, there were still attempts at would-be rulers. If you remember the story from a few years ago was "Ethereum Killer". And right now, I don't think anyone is talking about being an "Ethereum Killer". Everyone is talking about plugging into Ethereum.
Sandbank founder Brian: Investors will recognize the true value of Bitcoin
The Lightning Network and Bitcoin usage are growing faster in developing countries, and the people of South Korea admit that this is the reason for the faster Bitcoin price increase. Not only because of its deflationary properties, but also because of its usefulness. Global demand for Bitcoin is moving out of South Korea. So people have realized that it is very important to keep assets in their own hands, using hardware, wallets or personal wallets. They know what Bitcoin is really worth, they're learning about it and they're working on it. Fiat currencies and all these altcoins that come out of thin air, it's going to break at some point. Maybe Bitcoin or some other major altcoin is able to survive the next decade.
Cryptocurrency investors turn to self-custody
Korea doesn't have that many long-term holders...I don't see that many people using hardware wallets or personal wallets, even in software form. But since the FTX incident, more and more people are using and buying hardware wallets.
In the past four or five years, I haven't seen this kind of reaction from Korean investors. When Terra-Luna happened, nothing like this happened. So yes, people are very careful about protecting their assets. They withdraw their assets from exchanges and use these hardware wallets to keep them securely in their hands.
2023 could bring more functional blockchain applications beyond financial innovation
I see many startups still interested in the future of blockchain technology. They want to use the bitcoin or ethereum network to build a new kind of business that helps innovate people's everyday lives, not just in finance... I still hope that the CEOs of these startups will innovate. They will appear when the market is booming again. There will be more focus on these people and what they are doing to innovate the entire crypto industry. I don't know if it will take a year or two, but maybe when the Fed cuts rates again next year.
BTC Markets founder Bowler: Mainstream adoption will increase in the next 18 months
There is already a dynamic at work for change. When we look at some of the data on our exchange, we see that especially the older crowd, the people over 65 years old, their size and investment scale is even much larger than the people in their 30s and 40s, That's an expected investor pool...we'll probably see new investors cool off in the first 3 to 6 months of 2023. But I do think we're going to see this become mainstream for a few months over the next 12 to 18 years.
FTX debacle will result in a stricter regulatory framework
We expect to see some pretty strict regulation coming out. From an industry perspective, our concern is that we don't want to see regulators crossing the line. This is an advantage for those jurisdictions that already have regulations in place. Here I am thinking of Singapore. What I'm thinking of here is the EU - they know what they're dealing with. They know what to expect. Of course, Europe's approach to making room for innovation is not an attempt to police innovation from the economy. This approach will likely serve many advanced economies well, certainly as an industry. That's the approach we're hoping to get ratified in Australia.
Centralized exchanges will still have a place
I'm very bullish on centralized exchanges, and not just because I'm the CEO of one. Instead, I look at human history and human behavior. There's a reason banks exist and not keep money under your pillow. And that behavior, that human desire not to have to focus or worry about self-custody, is here to stay in the short term anyway. So if you look at the next one to three years, maybe five years from now, I think DeFi (decentralized finance) is fantastic, it's definitely a model that we're going to see a certain percentage of people turn to.
I'm really excited about the opportunities that exist in that space. However, not everyone wants to practice self-custody. Not everyone wants to take this step on their own. They look to others to manage their finances. In fact, that's why we have financial advisors...so it's going to be a matter of consumer choice or investor choice.
Cosmos Founder Buchman: After FTX Crash, Decentralized Exchanges Will Gain Prominence
The FTX debacle furthers the builders' thesis that we need decentralized, trustless, verifiable solutions, and these irresponsible, opaque centralized exchanges are clearly prone to fraud, mixing user funds, and Abuse of their trust, somehow, needs to come to an end. We need more use of these decentralized, verifiable solutions.
DeFi will be more integrated with real-world payment systems
There are some underlying DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols that really work. There seems to be an opportunity to build on top of this integrations that support real-world commerce. Instead of decentralized finance leveraging real world payment systems, we are driving a particular approach we call Collaborative Finance, supporting real world obligation networks and trade credit economies that can help SMEs with their Liquidity needs And realize the potential of blockchain technology as a payment solution, not just a vehicle for all this speculation.
Advanced Cross-chain applications will be launched on IBC
The inter-blockchain communication protocol IBC is a general communication protocol. Token bridging is just one application on IBC, but we're starting to see other applications being launched and adopted. These include ways to share security on an Interchain, where security from one blockchain can be used on another, or for more advanced control from one blockchain to another. So one blockchain can control another account... we will see a growth of more advanced applications based on IBC in 2023, people may start to understand that this is not just token bridging, this is general Cross-chain communication .
