Blockchain technology is one of the most interesting innovations right now. Because of its distributed and encrypted database concept, it has the potential to tackle a range of difficulties connected to internet trust and security and has grabbed people's interest in its possible application.
Most likely, the global blockchain market will develop at a CAGR of more than 69% between 2019 and 2025.
The key features of safe and transparent data exchange provided by blockchain technology provide convincing reasons for its development in a variety of application situations. However, with each New Year, the blockchain environment faces major modifications. Will the year 2022 bring fresh opportunities for blockchain growth or new challenges?
Here are some of the top trends that may have a significant influence on the world of blockchain in 2022.
Emerging Blockchain Technology Trends
Let us look at some of the emerging trends.
Rise of Metaverse
What role does the metaverse play in blockchain developments?
Famous ones in tech & innovation, such as Facebook, Microsoft, Epic Games, and many more, are actively interested in the metaverse. The Metaverse is the next universe of Facebook, where users will be able to have 'immersive' experiences with new technologies such as blockchain, augmented reality, virtual reality, and so on. The Metaverse would be incomplete if blockchain technology was not used since everything would be kept in a centralized network.
Digital assets such as NFTs will define ownership in the Metaverse, and cryptocurrencies will drive the new digital economy. However, Twitter, which has 192 million daily active users, is trying to integrate cryptocurrencies into the site with features such as Bitcoin tipping for creators.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Surprisingly, the idea of NFTs has recently discovered some potential applications in the field of music. Many well-known musicians, including Grimes, Kings of Leon, and Shawn Mendes, have released NFTs of their songs. However, the promise of NFTs, like that of blockchain, extends far beyond the initial use cases that attract attention. Distillers William Grant and Son, for example, marketed bottles of 46-year-old Glenfiddich whisky with NFTs to authenticate the origin of each barrel.
Another major use case for NFTsthat is mentioned in blockchain predictions for 2022 is NFTs in gaming. The use of NFTs in gaming is seen in popular play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity. The NFT games allow users to "mint" their own NFT assets, known as Axies, and enter them into competitions. With roughly 300,000 active gamers on Axie Infinity, it definitely demonstrates how NFTs can be more than simply digital art. You may also be interested to know that during the epidemic in the Philippines, jobless people utilized Axie Infinity to trade NFTs and earn money for everyday needs.
Blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS)
Due to various advances in the blockchain environment, BaaS has emerged as an increasing adoption among corporate companies. Enterprises' demand for Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS), a third-party building and administration of cloud-based networks for companies in the industry of developing blockchain applications, is steadily increasing and will continue in 2022. Microsoft, Amazon, and R3 are all major participants in this field.
BaaS enables its clients to enhance cloud-based solutions to build hosts and enable them to operate related functions on the blockchain and their applications without having to overcome technical difficulties or operational overhead, as well as without having to invest in additional infrastructure developments or a lack of skills. BaaS providers enable clients to concentrate solely on their main business and blockchain operations.
Blockchain-IOT-5G integration
The year has seen an increase in the integration of blockchain with other technologies such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, among others. Organizations are also becoming more interested in using blockchain for IoT or Internet of Things applications.
The IoT industry is rapidly expanding, and this trend is likely to boost in 2022, owing to the recent deployment of the 5G network. Today, the predicted potential of the 5G IoT industry is constrained by a highly disrupted IoT environment.
Blockchain technology looks to be the most appropriate and effective approach to address the different 5G IoT problems. Due to the automatic encrypted and irreversible nature of blockchain, it has the potential to help solve numerous challenges related to security and scalability. In 2022, several experiments and early use cases in this sector are likely to be announced.
The Defi Market will boom
Decentralized banking is rapidly emerging as a transparent and permission-less means for people to connect directly with each other. This year, the value of DeFi's assets surpassed $180 billion, and this figure is expected to climb further in 2022.
As there is a growing demand to duplicate physical object attributes such as innovation and possession evidence, we will see the DeFi business expand as well as the entrance of more dedicated DeFi apps.
Future legislation, as well as raising awareness that crypto is here to stay, may lead to more integration between standard or centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized money over time (DeFi).
Decentralized Autonomous Organization
More decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, will be introduced in 2022 and beyond to address the anticipated governance challenges at DeFi organizations.
DeFi companies' decision-making, or governance, is frequently intended to be decentralized (from the fees they pay to the things they provide). At the start of DeFi, a single person or a small group of people may be driving a decentralized program. However, when the DeFi initiative gathers traction, they frequently attempt to step back, effectively ceding power to the community that utilizes it.
This transformation is estimated to take the shape of a decentralized autonomous organization more and more (DAO). Their laws and regulations are encoded in computer code via smart contracts, and they may issue governance tokens, which offer coin holders a role in decision-making.
Conclusion
It's clear, that blockchain is one of the most sophisticated digital technologies available today. In comparison to traditional networks, it provides enhanced security, transparency, data immutability, and accessibility. While blockchain has been crucial in pushing numerous improvements across several sectors, it is continuously evolving.
As a result, focusing on blockchain developments is critical for exploring the complexities of the blockchain world. Blockchain characteristics clearly demonstrate its ability to serve as a prospective technological intervention. At the same time, blockchain trends in 2022 highlight how the technology evolves with each passing year.