Blockchain trends on the rise in 2022

NFTs, DeFi, and the metaverse—which are arguably the biggest blockchain trends yet—have all sprung up in just the last two years. Sure, most people have heard about Bitcoin, but fewer people own it and even fewer understand it. Now though, NFTs have stomped onto the scene in the last year, and in just the last couple of months, the metaverse is on everyone’s radar with Facebook’s name change. 

These two trends have gained cultural cachet and investor buy-in in a way even Elon’s favorite Doge coin hasn’t been able to. 

Some may even say that DeFi had its year in 2020, NFTs in 2021, and perhaps the metaverse will have the spotlight in 2022. But if anyone remembers the internet in the 90s, it didn’t just turn out to be a single-year flash in the pan. It was the foundation for a new world and a new phase of technological advancement. Crypto and blockchain are just getting started. What was unimaginable just a couple of years ago is already reality. 

Here are the new (and continuing) trends to expect this year.

Blockchain trends this year

1 – NFTs

Probably the most well-known blockchain technology in the general public’s consciousness are NFTs. Many people don’t even know that they are connected to crypto or how they use blockchain. For the average person, it’s enough to know that celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Lindsay Lohan, Quentin Tarantino, and just about every brand you can think of are all on board. There’s plenty of FOMO to go around with the hottest of blockchain trends.

2 – Metaverse

Everyone and their dog (who didn’t ask you to leave the TV on while you went out to a Halloween party last October) has heard about the metaverse from Mark Zuckerberg. Of course, Zuck’s Meta never was and still won’t be the whole of the metaverse, but it’s definitely a megaphone for the concept to the entire world. Meanwhile, things like Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Superworld are all building chunks of the metaverse.

3 – DeFi

We had a hot DeFi summer in 2020 and the momentum continued into a parabolic 2021 run with no sign of stopping as we kicked off the new year. While DeFi isn’t as well known by every rando sliding into your DMs as NFTs or the metaverse, it’s in the sights of big investors and financially minded people like Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O’Leary), Mark Cuban, and big institutional investors. Plus, the total value locked is nearing $250 billion.

4 – DAOs

The more you get into the crypto world, the more you will probably hear about DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) in upcoming blockchain trends. While they haven’t yet penetrated the public consciousness, they’re aiming to take on corporate organizational structure by decentralizing and democratizing governance in a real way. From collectively investing, to building new technologies and companies, or simply redefining community structure, DAOs have a bright future if they’re shaped skillfully and with foresight.

5 – Decentralized identity

Privacy and security are some of our biggest concerns as, more and more, we’re living in a modern sci-fi (some would even say dystopian) future. Decentralized identity is looking to solve the problem ASAP. With big tech and big data watching our every move, data breaches left and right, and nearly our entire lives being documented somewhere online, it’s hard not to flinch when you think about it. Mainstreaming personal custody of identifying information will likely soon come to the foreground with things like blockchain domains and other ID tokens.

6 – “Boring” applications

It’s easy to fall down the crypto rabbit hole and begin reading about all the wild and newly imagined possibilities of blockchain that may or may not come to fruition. Crypto culture is visionary and forward-looking, but you don’t have to live in the possibilities of an abstract future to love blockchain. In some senses, blockchain is a pretty boring technology that simply streamlines existing processes. That’s how a lot of people are using it, anyway. Companies and organizations who don’t necessarily get hype when they think of memecoins or DeFi still understand the benefits of blockchain for things like supply chains and bond markets.

7 – Governments FOMO in

While savvy retail investors and even some institutional investors got in the crypto game early, little more than a decade in, governments are starting to FOMO into blockchain trends that are changing the world. From city coins in Miami and New York, to Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, and countries looking into CBDCs, governments are realizing they need to start paying attention. This also probably has implications for regulation…but that’s a whole other article.

Other blockchain headlines you didn’t see coming

Ok, those are the high-level narratives and blockchain trends we can probably expect this year. But, truthfully, no one knows exactly what will happen. Very few people saw crypto coming in the first place, no one saw memecoins coming, and few saw NFTs and DeFi coming. But that’s half the fun of brand new innovations and creating new ideas: it’s up to your imagination. So, let’s imagine some possible headlines none of us could have pReDiCtEd for this coming year…

“Spot ETF approved: suck it, Gensler!”

Currently, the US doesn’t have a Bitcoin spot ETF, just a futures ETF. Everyone thinks it will probably happen eventually, but right now, the crypto villain foiling our dreams is that sneaky old Gary Gensler at the SEC.

“Trump hotel built in the metaverse”

Look, I know that historically Trump has not been a fan of crypto. But listen—he’s also a populist and he has also been known to pivot. If the metaverse is really going to be a thing, why wouldn’t he crown it with one of his infamous famous hotels?

“UN creates Big Brother Coin and implements two mintues’ hate”

Ok, maybe our global elite overlords wouldn’t be quite so on-the-nose with their attempts to implement a global social credit system called “Big Brother Coin,” but can we acknowledge that the way world powers are acting these days puts sovereign people on edge, just a tad?

“Peter Schiff creates a DAO”

Oh, wow. Hell just froze over. But so did Texas at the beginning of 2021 and no one saw that coming. Expect the unexpected is my motto, what about you? *wink*

Is 2022 the year people will actually learn what blockchain is?

There are all kinds of potential blockchain trends that we could talk about for this year, but there’s another question to ask: will people finally learn what blockchain is? 

My answer is: No, but they don’t need to. 

People don’t know how iPhones work—who cares! Usability is the name of the game. As blockchain technology becomes more usable with less friction for the customer, the less overwhelming it will be and the less people will need to understand it. When my grandma can use it, that’s when we know it’s become ubiquitous.