While the 2022 bear market grazed off the excitement around the budding crypto sub-ecosystems such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse remains well-positioned for long-term disruption. Considering the myriad consumer and business-centric use cases the metaverse could cater to, a McKinsey & Company report highlights the technology’s potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030. For the Metaverse to reach its full potential, the report highlighted the need for four technology enablers — devices (AR/VR, sensors, haptics, and peripherals), interoperability and open standards, facilitating platforms and development tools. However, the success of Metaverse is weighed by a …

2022 will go down as a challenging year for the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, but the adversity faced has been strewn with plenty of positives for the decentralized application (Dapp) ecosystem. DappRadar has released its yearly report on the industry, focusing on challenges faced alongside notable technological achievements and an increasing number of active daily users. Cointelegraph highlights the main takeaways from the DApp industry in 2022, which are pertinent, considering macro factors like inflationary concerns in major economies, the collapse of industry-specific projects like Terra/Luna and FTX as well as market woes across the board. Perhaps most telling is …

More than 350 fraudulent cryptocurrency tokens were created per day this year, defrauding millions of investors, according to blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs. From the start of the year to Dec. 1, 117,629 “scam tokens” were deployed according to Solidus’ 2022 “Rug Pull Report.” That’s a 41% increase from the nearly 83,400 scam tokens Solidus detected in 2021. It marks the largest year on record for fraudulent tokens since the firm began monitoring in Sep. 2020. The report cited the BNB Chain as harboring the greatest number of scam tokens, claiming 12% of all BEP-20 tokens are scams. The …

As borders open up following prolonged COVID-induced travel restrictions, the Metaverse, one of the latest sub-crypto ecosystems, is set to help travelers decide on the destinations they want to experience in person, reveals a new survey conducted by Booking.com personally. Popular online travel agency Booking.com surveyed 24,179 respondents across 32 countries, which revealed travelers’ strong interest in virtually exploring destinations as they decide on their itinerary. Out of the lot, people most likely to try out travel experiences in the metaverse were Gen Z (45%) and Millennials (43%). Nearly half, or 43% of the respondents, confirmed their will to use …

Over the last year the crypto, and greater Web3 industry has seen a rollercoaster of loss, growth and innovation - and the data shows. In the latest industry report from cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, "Global Crypto Industry Overview and Trends", trends and stats were pulled from the industry on everything from nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, to centralized exchange (CEX) usage and regulations. Despite the turmoil of major events like the FTX collapse, LUNA’s implosion, and 3AC bankruptcy, the industry still accounted for approximately 320 million crypto users worldwide in the last year. While the total amount of investment and …

A United States banking industry regulator warned banks of the “emerging risks” of cryptocurrencies saying the sector should take a “cautious approach” and seek permission in some cases when engaging with crypto or crypto firms. Citing “dislocations” in the crypto market over 2022 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) highlighted what it said were “several key risks” of crypto in its Dec. 8 Semiannual Risk Perspective for Fall 2022 report. Its three main concerns are that “stablecoins may be unstable,” the crypto industry lacks mature risk management practices and has a high risk of contagion due to …

While some countries like Nigeria are aggressively pushing the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a new report summarized why a number of private stakeholders are against the idea of a CBDC. The report dubbed “The State of CBDCs in 2022,” published by blockchain insights firm Blockdata, dove into the most significant CBDC developments within the past year. It also pinpointed some of the key reasons why some private companies are against CBDCs. Citing stablecoin issuer Circle’s stance on CBDCs, the report highlighted that digital currency issuance may be better if left to the private sector and were left …

Israel's chief economist has laid out a list of recommendations as to how policymakers should tackle digital asset laws in the country in order to safely drive up crypto adoption. In a 109-page report submitted to the Minister of Finance on Nov. 28, Shira Greenberg, Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, called for a more comprehensive regulatory framework that would bring trading platforms and crypto issuers in line and would expand the powers given to its financial regulators. Greenberg recommended Israel should improve investor certainty and protection by imposing stricter licensing requirements on trading platforms and issuers of cryptocurrencies, …

Bitcoin (BTC) has topped the crypto charts in a survey from down under. According to 2,000 Australians surveyed by the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI), Bitcoin is number one for brand recognition, ownership and overall sentiment. Bitcoin with the most brand awareness, and by a long shot. https://t.co/LqhYPXe3p8 — Stephan Livera (@stephanlivera) November 28, 2022 In the report, while 92% of Australians have heard of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin enjoys the highest levels of brand awareness. Accordingly, 90.80% of respondents had heard about Bitcoin. Stephan Livera, a popular Bitcoin podcaster from Australia, shed light on the figures. Livera told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoin continues …

A crypto wallet belonging to the shutdown crypto exchange BTC-e has just moved 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC), currently worth over $165 million, to various exchanges, personal wallets, and other sources on Nov. 23. A Nov. 23 Chainalysis report suggested while this withdrawal is the largest made by BTC-e since April 2018, BTC-e and WEX — an exchange which is thought to be BTC-e’s successor — both sent small amounts of BTC to Russian electronic payments service Webmoney on Oct. 26 before making a test payment on Nov. 11, then transferring out a further 100 BTC on Nov. 21. Of the total …

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis has compared the fall of Mt. Gox to FTX to determine how FTX’s bankruptcy will impact the ecosystem. It concluded that FTX was a relatively smaller part of the crypto industry than Mt. Gox was at the time and that the industry should bounce back stronger than ever. In a Nov. 23 Twitter thread, Chainalysis’ research lead Eric Jardine began his comparison by first looking at the market share of the two firms, finding that Mt. Gox averaged 46% of all exchange inflows in the year leading up to its collapse in 2014, compared to FTX’s …

Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific has warned of “substantial doubt” they will be able to continue operations over the next 12 months given financial uncertainty. In its quarterly report filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 22, the firm indicated it had accrued a net loss of $434.8 million over the third quarter of 2022. After net losses of $862 million in the second quarter, its total net losses for 2022 are sitting at $1.71 billion. The company suggested in order to continue its operations through to November 2023, it will require additional liquidity, adding …