This article is about who are the winners and losers of crypto world 2022. The year 2022 was a turbulent one for the crypto world, with many highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies, innovations and scandals.
Who are the Winners and Losers of Crypto World 2022?
Let's take a look at some of the winners and losers of this chaotic year.
Winners:
- Bitcoin: The king of crypto proved its resilience and dominance once again, reaching new all-time highs above $100.000 in November, before correcting to around $80.000 by the end of the year. Bitcoin also gained more mainstream adoption, with countries like El Salvador and Ukraine making it legal tender, and institutions like MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Square adding it to their balance sheets. Bitcoin also benefited from the launch of the first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US, which boosted its liquidity and exposure.
- Ethereum: The second-largest crypto by market cap also had a stellar year, breaking past $10.000 in December, after undergoing a major network upgrade in August, known as the London hard fork. The upgrade introduced a new fee mechanism that burns a portion of the transaction fees, making Ethereum more scarce and deflationary. Ethereum also saw a surge in demand for its smart contracts, which power various dApps and platforms, such as DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and social media.
- Solana: The fastest-growing crypto of 2022 was Solana, a high-performance blockchain that claims to offer scalability, security, and low fees. Solana skyrocketed from around $2 at the start of the year to over $200 by the end of it, making it the fifth-largest crypto by market cap. Solana attracted many developers and users who were looking for alternatives to Ethereum's congestion and high costs. Solana also hosted some of the most popular NFT projects of the year, such as Degenerate Ape Academy, Solana Monkey Business, and Aurory.
- Polygon: Another crypto that benefited from Ethereum's growing pains was Polygon, a layer-2 scaling solution that aims to provide faster and cheaper transactions for Ethereum-based dApps. Polygon saw its price increase from less than a cent in January to over $2 in May, before settling at around $1.5 by the end of the year. Polygon also integrated with many prominent DeFi and NFT platforms, such as Aave, SushiSwap, OpenSea, and Decentraland.
Losers:
- Dogecoin: The meme-inspired crypto that started as a joke ended up as a tragedy for many investors who bought into its hype. Dogecoin soared from less than a cent in January to over 70 cents in May, thanks to the relentless promotion by celebrities like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. However, Dogecoin crashed hard after Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live in May, where he called it a "hustle". Dogecoin never recovered from that blow and ended the year at around 15 cents, losing over 80% of its value from its peak.
- Ripple: The legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued to drag on throughout 2022. with no clear resolution in sight. The SEC accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering when it sold its native token XRP to investors. Ripple denied the allegations and argued that XRP is not a security but a currency. The lawsuit caused many exchanges and platforms to delist or suspend XRP trading in the US, hurting its liquidity and price. XRP started the year at around 20 cents and ended it at around 10 cents.
- Shiba Inu: Another meme coin that failed to live up to its expectations was Shiba Inu, a self-proclaimed "Dogecoin killer" that aimed to capitalize on the popularity of dog-themed cryptos. Shiba Inu gained some traction in October when it was listed on major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, reaching an all-time high of $0.000088 in November. However, Shiba Inu soon lost its momentum and crashed to $0.000017 by the end of the year, after one of its anonymous founders sold off billions of dollars worth of tokens.
- China: The biggest loser of 2022 in terms of crypto regulation was China, which banned all forms of crypto trading and mining in September, citing financial risks and environmental concerns. The ban forced many Chinese miners to relocate to other countries or shut down their operations altogether. The ban also affected many Chinese investors who had to sell their crypto holdings or use underground channels to access them. China's crackdown had a negative impact on the global crypto market sentiment and triggered a sharp sell-off in September.
Bottom Line
In this article, we have discussed who are the winners and losers of crypto world 2022. Hope you get a informative guide for stepping into the crypto world.
