2022 was quite an eventful year. We got to witness the start of a global COVID-pandemic recovery, which was halted by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict leading to a severe food and energy crisis. Lionel Messi finally attained the much-awaited World Cup while Argentina kept battling 92% annual inflation. Global economic slowdown and recession triggered mass job layoffs even in major powerhouses, fuelled by an 8.8% inflation as per IMF reports. However, from an investment perspective, the longstanding “crypto winter” is arguably the most stark reveal of the year, dropping over $1.4 trillion in market capitalization from the beginning. Leading crypto assets Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped over 70% from their peak values during the 2021 year-end. The arrival of 2023 has crypto investors and enthusiasts apprehensive about how crypto will fare in this year. This article comprises some of the top crypto predictions, market trends, and potential upcoming winners.
Also Read: 5 Important Crypto Regulatory Developments in 2023
Contrary to the general perspective, crypto analysts believe that the digital assets market will recover in 2023, even after taking the FTX crash into consideration. The consensus stems from the historical crypto performances, in addition to the rapid Web 3.0 development. The metaverse and decentralized Web 3.0 technology will feature prominently in the further evolution of the ongoing digital transformation of existing business operations and infrastructure.
Also Read: 7 Blockchain & Crypto Predictions for 2023
The EU will enforce the MiCA bill after completing the voting process in February 2023. The effects, as per experts, will be comprehensively felt after a year and a half. In combination with other global laws attempting to regulate crypto and standardize trading frameworks, the KYC-AML compliance enforcing bill will also help in bringing market stability among digital assets. The SEC-Grayscale litigation will advance further during the first quarter of 2023. Crypto trading activities, in contrast to previous years, will occur but with a cautious and conservative approach. Long-term investors with adequate patience will benefit in the long run.
Moving forward to the popular crypto predictions, we find that:
If we compare and analyze the crypto market cycle with Bitcoin, it is clear that the digital assets market is moving in proportion with the 4-year BTC cycle- with typical alternation between bullish surges and bear-market corrections. 2021 was bullish while 2022 was bearish. Thus, 2023 is likely to be bullish.
The current crypto decline, as per experts, will recede by the end of this year according to experts. This will raise the valuations of cryptocurrencies, which will drive further investment, according to market research analysts.
Historical market trends reflect that the bull run succeeds a bear phaser. There exists no indication that the market will display exceptional patterns. The panic and fear are unfounded among investors, especially long-term investors with high perseverance, grit, and the ability to capitalize on opportunities.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market dominance tends to rise and fall on the basis of a 4-year cycle when it completes the halving of mining. Bitcoin has always recovered during economic crises in the past.
In addition to forecasting the future utilizing previously acquired market data, we must also keep in mind that the underlying blockchain technology will bring forward new innovations, with Web 3.0 and crypto decentralization propelling accelerating crypto transactions without involving intermediaries in the process. Investing in new Web 3.0 projects is a great way to increase their asset allocation if proper research is conducted.
The world’s first cryptocurrency is currently trading past $16700, dropping from $69,000 in 2021. Newer digital assets with better scalability, speed and environment-friendly mechanisms are currently existing. However, experts agree that the leading market share means that there will still be significant growth in terms of value for Bitcoin. In fact, analysts project a year end-value of approximately $35,000 for Bitcoin in 2023.
The valuations of Bitcoin and Ethereum have always shared a close correlation. The rise in one’s market price drove the other upwards, and vice versa. However, Ethereum surpasses Bitcoin in terms of practical utility as well as transaction speed. ETH(current price: $1216) has been consistently clocking over 1 million transactions daily for over 2 years and is the prevalent choice for developing decentralized applications(dApps). Analysts indicate that Ethereum, after shifting from Proof-of-Work to Proof-Of-State, will surpass Bitcoin’s market value. Conservative estimates put ETH value at $1700 by 2023 year-end. Some experts are more optimistic and forecast a 100% rise, hovering around the $2500 mark by the end of the year.
Algorand gained a lot of traction as FIFA’s official blockchain platform and is currently a highly promising platform focusing on dApp development and decentralized finance(DeFi). The blockchain platform claims to have a throughput speed of 6000 transactions per second and almost instant validation. The developers behind the project acknowledged the need for interoperability and designed its L1 blockchain as a functional bridge between separate blockchain products. Boasting a Pure Proof of Stake(PPoS) mechanism that prioritizes security without compromising on decentralization or scalability, ALGO will surpass $0.70 by the end of 2023, from a current price of $0.17.
Avalanche has gained significant relevance among blockchain developers for its blazing network speed, with abilities to process over 4500 TPS and dApp development utility. The network is also compatible with EVM(Ethereum Virtual Machine)- the software used by developers to create dApps, and operates with much lower operating costs in comparison to Ethereum. While its $96.1 million dApp revenue is a tiny fraction of Ethereum’s gigantic $3.8 billion revenue structure, analysts predict Avalanche will at least triple its valuation from its current $11.16 valuation.
Stellar XLM token is another great opportunity for crypto investors to double their investment within a year. The blockchain-powered payment network has multiple advantages over other payment-based networks, including the capacity of completing cross-border transactions in less than 5 seconds. Transaction processing charges in the Stellar network are so low that a person can conduct over 1.4 million transactions before incurring a fee of $1. The throughput speed of the Stellar network exceeds 1000 TPS. Stellar is currently priced at $ 0.073 and is expected to reach over $0.17 by the end of the year.
Built upon a popular trading card game, Calvaria is a promising crypto project built by expert blockchain developers inspired by titles like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. Calvaria features a blockchain platform and delivers unique rewards through fair tournaments. Currently, at the final pre-sale phase, the RIA token is highly sought after by crypto enthusiasts and game collectors alike.
The upcoming C+ Charge project is built. With the aim to promote environment-friendly sustainable practices. Thereafter, the democratization of the carbon credit domain, powered by blockchain. It is an ESG-aided sustainable project in the EV(Electric Vehicles) segment. The project is constructing a platform to reward EV owners for charging and using their cars, with carbon credits. The on-chain and off-chain platforms will also feature a unified payment system for EV stations.
Metaverse and Play-to-Earn games are quite trending big-time. The fitness project FightOut fuses the metaverse with real-world physical activities. Thereafter, in a fun game design and offers rewards to players for completing fitness-based objectives. While it uses the Move-to-Earn model, FightOut offers several additional features, including options to track strength and conditioning, HIIT, meditation, boxing, yoga, and others. Users can also access and utilize unique and non-transferable Soulbound NFTs. Investors can currently obtain a 50% bonus by investing in the FGHT token.
The current crypto landscape has investors wary of investing in digital assets. However, experts believe the ongoing bear phase will be ending soon and will be followed by another bull phase. Like all other asset classes, differentiation and diversification are key.