These are The Top Crypto Trends in 2022 To Watch Out For

The crypto market had a stellar year in 2021. We saw new projects that swept the industry, delivering gains of 100x and even more. But the start of 2022 hasn’t been that good. After the market shed a lot of value in January, increasing geopolitical tensions in Europe are making it harder for any meaningful recovery to come.

But the key is to look at this from a long-term point of view. Certain trends in 2022 will be worth looking at and we will highlight some of them below. We will analyze these trends in terms of the various categories within the blockchain ecosystem. This will give you an idea of some of the things to look out for and of course some of the key projects out there.

Trends in Decentralized Finance

The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space saw incredible growth last year. The industry remains relatively young as well and opens to rapid innovations that could change how finance is structured and delivered. As of March 2022, the total value locked in DeFi stood at around $41 billion.  In 2022, we expect this figure to increase.

Also, the industry is going to see more liquidity mining or yield farming protocols come into play. There will also be increased emphasis on cross-chain certain trends in 2022 will cross-chain technologies. Ethereum has been the main chain for DeFi in recent years.

This is likely to change as overreliance on Ethereum will start to ease. Layer 2 solutions are likely to drive growth in DeFi in 2022 and beyond. We are also likely to see the integration of stablecoins into DeFi, especially in global payment ecosystems.

Promising DeFi Projects to Watch

In the middle of these 2022 trends, there will also be a few DeFi projects that will be worth your attention as an investor. Here they are:

• Oasis Network  – Oasis Network is a highly scalable and privacy-focused smart contract platform that hopes to expand DeFi adoption world wide. The platform also gives users the ability to tokenize data.
• Near Protocol – This project hopes to expand the creator economy by providing innovative tools to that effect. Near offers high speeds, scalability, and aims to limit the barriers of adoption for web 3.0.
• Compound Finance – As staking or yield farming grows in the DeFi ecosystem, Compound Finance will be a key player here.
• 1Sol – 1sol is a cross-chain liquidity aggregator that looks to increase cross-chain interoperability in DEXs.
• Serum DEX – Derivatives trading in DeFi will also start to see increased DEX participation and Serum is one to watch here.
• Synthetix – Like Serum DEX, Synthetix is a liquidity protocol designed to support derivatives trading across a multitude of both DeFi and CeFi assets.

Bridge, Cross Chain & Multi-chain

Blockchain interoperability has always been the biggest challenge to the scaling of the blockchain sector. But we are starting to see more cross-chain solutions to address this. In 2022, we are going to see the maturity of cross-chain technology.

Also, some of these technologies will become much more user-friendly and easier to use for the average person. Emphasis on multiple chains will also be higher. So, instead of having bridges or cross-chain projects that operate across two chains only, we will see the integration of dozens of chains.

Promising Cross Chain Projects to Watch

As with DeFi, there are also several cross-chain projects that you will need to keep an eye on. Here are some notable ones:

• Cosmos – Cosmos has often described itself as the mother of cross-chain interoperability. The network is hoping to create a powerful network of interconnected blockchains.
• Polkadot – Polkadot offers what it calls true interoperability across various chains. It is highly scalable, energy efficient, and cost effective as well.
• Ren – Ren is a versatile project that provides liquidity and interoperability across a wide range of multiple blockchains.
• AnySwap – Anyswap is a bridge that integrates layer 1 and layer 2 platforms. It’s a lower cap project right now so there is a lot of potentials.
• The Synapse Protocol – The protocol also facilitates the integration of layer 1 and layer 2 chains but it’s a bit under the radar.

The Metaverse

When Facebook announced last year that it will be building a metaverse, there was a lot of hype. 2022 will see more metaverse projects come into the limelight while existing ones like Sandbox will grow further.

Also, watch out for authentic brand integrations. We are likely to see real-life brands like NASCAR creating immersive metaverse experiences for users. Virtual real estate is also going to be huge in 2022. There is also going to be an explosion of the creator economy within the metaverse.

Promising Metaverse Projects to Note

Since the metaverse space is a relatively newer industry, a lot of projects are still in their infancy. But here are some that should be on your radar:

• Decentraland – As digital real estate booms in 2022, platforms like Decentraland will be at the center of this sharp growth.
• High Street – This project focuses on building digital communities with an array of NFT powered in-game items, including virtual real estate. It aims to bring major brands into the virtual world as well.
• Star Atlas – This grand strategy play-to-earn game is built on Solana and promises to create the ultimate metaverse experience for users.
• Illuvium – Another immersive metaverse play-to-earn game that integrates staking and NFTs as part of the rewards.
• Sandbox – We have seen a lot of institutional money flowing into Sandbox this year. This puts it in pole position for impeccable growth in the coming 12 months.

Non-Fungible Token (NFTs)

2021 was the year of NFTs. These tokens received wide-scale media coverage and became highly integrated into the broader crypto market. We expect this to change in 2022. While NFTs will still be powered by legacy blockchain technologies, they will develop and become independent of the headwinds or tailwinds associated with the crypto market.

We will also see increased integration of NFTs into play-to-earn games online. Increased utility for NFTs is also expected to grow, especially around real estate. Keep an eye for the close integration of NFTs and the metaverse as well. These two areas are likely to drive much of the growth we see in crypto in 2022.

Promising NFT Crypto Projects in 2022.

As noted above, the NFT space is in its infancy stages and as such, most projects are integrated into play-to-earn games online. But here are notable projects that you can consider:

• Cereal Club NFT – This project hopes to create a community around NFTs including a network of buyers and sellers around the world.
• Meta Triads – This project integrates NFTs into fashion and brings more utility to these tokens that we have not seen before.
• Troverse – Troverse hopes to offer both play-to-earn opportunities and NFT collectibles as well with a dedicated marketplace to trade.
• Gala Games – This project is looking to create a decentralized ecosystem of NFT powered play-to-earn games through its chain.
• Rice Day – A simple play-to-earn game that offers integrated NFTs marketplaces. This is still an upcoming project that is well under the radar as well.
• Tik Tok Top Moments – Social media app Tik Tok is teaming up with famous creators to offer Tik Tok Top moments, an NFT collection that will be available on Immutable X.

GameFi

GameFi, which is an essential play-to-earn, is an emerging new sector in the decentralized ecosystem. 2021 saw big hits in this area including projects like Axie Infinity and others.  In 2022, we are going to see more integrations of traditional gaming into GameFi.

Watch out for institutional money as well flowing into these projects. While most GameFI projects have been powered by Ethereum, other chains like Polygon and Solana will play a bigger role.

Promising GameFI projects

• Project Seed – Project Seed is a revolutionary new project that aims to create the ultimate ecosystem for the creation and deployment of blockchain games in the future.
• Mytheria – This gaming token integrates the creator community and NFTs to create a holistic user experience.
• Heroes of Mavia – This play-to-earn strategy  game comes with NFT integration. It is hoping to give users an exciting game play with evolving in game features.
• League of Kingdoms – Another MMO play-to-earn strategy game that allows users to buy and sell NFTs and virtual real estate within an exciting meta universe.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO)

DAO is in itself a trend in crypto but it has been cutting a niche for itself as a subsector in DeFi. DAO projects are expected to deepen utility in DeFi this year. We are also likely going to see increased DAO integrations within the NFT space.

DAO platforms are going to accelerate NFT trades this year. In fact, we have seen DAO projects raise a lot of money to fund ventures in NFTs.

Promising DAO Projects

DAO projects vary a lot but we have seen a few that stand out quite impressively. The following is a list to watch:

• Maker DAO – This project powers the decentralized stablecoin Dai and is one of the most promising DAO projects right now. It has also created a network of investors who have been responsible for several successful projects as well.
• Delta Theta – This peer-to-peer decentralized exchange offers cross-chain interoperability within Ethereum, BSC, and polygon. The platform is dedicated to derivatives including crypto options.
• Lossless – This project is designed to help avert crypto fraud and even return stolen funds to owners. It’s security crypto and when you consider the many hacks we have seen in DeFi last year, its utility is very interesting.
• BeetsDAO – This project is focused on collecting music-related NFTs and creating a network where people can buy and sell them.
• BitDAO – This initiative was created to find and invest in some of the most exciting DeFi projects out there.
• Dora Factory – The project aims to offer DAO as a service, a versatile new idea that could make DAOs scalable and more adoptable in the future.

Web 3 and Social 

The web 3 movement is looking to use decentralized blockchain technology to completely transform the internet as we know it. Big tech firms, including Twitter and Google are already looking at Web3 as a big trend in the future.

Also, the rise of web 3 is likely to coincide with the growth of blockchain social. This is basically social media on the decentralized ecosystem.

Key trends to watch out for this year include increased funding for new web 3 and social projects. In fact, companies like Binance have already set aside hundreds of millions of dollars to fund such projects. It is also likely that we will see increased media coverage of the web 3 movement.

Top Web 3 and Social Projects

• IOTA – IOTA is a blockchain project that aims to power the internet of things in a more cost efficient and carbon friendly way.
• Basic Attention Token – BAT is the native token for the Brave browser, a privacy focused and censorship resistant internet browser that could be crucial in the Web 3 revolution.
• Holo – This project dubs itself as the Airbnb for cloud hosting. It simply allows anyone to transform their computing resources into cloud resources and earn an income by leasing them to people or businesses on the web.
• Flux – Flux aims to provide the tools developers need to create and deploy web 3 apps and projects across various chains.
• Filecoin – The need for decentralized data storage in a web 3 universe will be huge. Filecoin is a leader in this and could get bigger with increased adoption of the web 3 concept.
• Sapien Network – This project brings social media on the blockchain with NFT and metaverse integration as well. It aims to create exciting digital communities and economies.

Finding the next big crypto project is not always simple. But if you follow the trends, you can pick out a few new and exciting coins to make money. While the trends above are going to dominate the market, always keep your eyes open for emerging new stuff as well.

* We hope this information will help you in your investment process, but this is not investment advice. Every investment carries risk, especially in this industry, so DYOR before making a decision.