What Defined 2022?

• Crypto Winter Set In Early

Cryptocurrencies, which were buoyant in 2021, lost their charm in 2022. From $67,000 in November 2021, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is down to $16,000. Other coins are also down massively from their peaks of pre-Crypto Winter

• Withdrawals Halted

In June 2022, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, paused Bitcoin withdrawals due to network congestion. They suggested the use of BTC-BNB or BTC-ETH trading pairs to exchange their Bitcoin and withdraw until they fix the problem. Apart from these, several other major crypto exchanges, such as CoinDCX, CoinswitchKuber, WazirX, Bitbns, and Unocoin halted their deposits and withdrawals for some time in 2022. Most of them, however, lifted the restrictions later

• Binance-WazirX Brouhaha

When the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started a crackdown on WazirX, and froze its accounts in August, Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Binance, which had reportedly acquired WazirX in 2019, sought to distance himself. In a series of tweets, Zhao said that Binance does not own any equity in Zanmai Labs, which co-operated WazirX. What followed was a war of words between Zhao and WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty

• FTX Collapse

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX recently ran into serious problems after a liquidity crisis hit the business, which forced Binance to cancel its purchase deal with the exchange. Its CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried has resigned

• The Fall of Terra

Terra (LUNA) plunged 99.57 per cent between May 6 and 12, from $83.04 to $0.01503, respectively. It’s at $0.000158, currently. The Luna coin crash happened because of its connection to TerraUSD (UST), which saw huge liquidation on May 7, 2022

• Brain Drain or Safe Haven?

Several crypto exchange CEOs, such as Nischal Shetty of WazirX, have moved out of India. US-based crypto exchange Coinbase came to India and went back after the UPI controversy. Questions are now being raised on whether it is brain drain or exchanges exercising caution

Tidings For 2023

• Progress On Crypto Regulation

With RBI launching the pilot of CBDCs and the government hinting at a global framework, a regulation for cryptocurrencies may be introduced in 2023, especially with India presiding over G20

• Rise Of Web 3.0

Wider adoption of Web 3.0 is likely by enterprises and even industries, such as banking and insurance