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WEB3 AND THE “CREATOR ECONOMY”
Cryptos came for financials first. And despite the current drastic downturn, the technology will continue to transform finance in fundamental ways.
But the “crypto mindset” is empowering a generation of creatives as well as the cypher punks who originally coded and participated in the underground ecosystems that bubbled up into the mainstream, in 2017, and definitively, in 2021.
That history is detailed in an excellent new article at Cointelegraph, “The creator economy: How we arrived there and why we need its Web3 upgrade.”
Author Julie Plavnik says several key factors will drive Web3, all precipitated by technological innovation based on a crypto mindset:
- Eliminating intermediary platforms between creators and their fans.
- Creator’s owning 100 percent of their data, brand and work.
- Transparency of business processes and money-making.
- Stimulating authentic creativity instead of ad-driven content production.
Understanding how crypto networks can dispense with intermediary players, is hard for many to grasp. But it’s a key aspect of why the technology is so empowering for participants, as well as how it creates economic efficiencies.
Despite the current climate, investment is still pouring into the sector. For example, this past week, Multicoin Capital announced a 430 million dollar “Venture Fund III.”
Its focus is on the creator economy, DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) and consumer-facing goods.
The full “Creator Economy” article can be read here.
ETHEREUM UPGRADE TO PROOF OF STAKE HAS A DATE
The 19th of September, 2022.
That’s the working date for the much anticipated “Ethereum 2.0” major upgrade, which will move the blockchain network from a proof-of-work consensus method, to proof-of-stake.
The announcement of a date sent Ethereum to a double-digit surge over the weekend.
The change is expected to bring energy and transaction scalability improvements that could give a boost not only to the first crypto network that employed “Smart Contract” technology, but the crypto sector in general.
According to some estimates, the current limit of about 15 transactions per second on the network will scale to thousands (theoretically, up to 100 thousand per second).
Transaction costs, which have been high on Ethereum compared to some competitors, will be reduced.
Staking on Ethereum—locking up a certain amount of tokens, which must be done for the right to validate transactions and earn rewards—could bring 10 to 15 percent annual returns following the upgrade, CoinDesk reported.
Security enhancements will also entail.
Ethereum has been undertaking incremental upgrades on the way to the “2.0” goal, including several last year.
“I do believe that we will see a positive reaction in the markets post-merge later this year,” said crypto influencer Hashoshi in a recent episode of his podcast “Crypto Over Coffee,” Time reported in June about the upgrade.
Hashoshi added:
“The positive momentum will be for those projects that are building on top of Ethereum such as Polygon, Arbitrum … among many others.”
Blockchains which compete very directly with Ethereum, such as Solana and Polkadot, might face new pressure by the event, Hashoshi said.
BLOCKCHAIN USE WILL GROW TEN-FOLD BY 2028, SAYS RESEARCH FIRM
The Global Blockchain Market will be worth almost 120 billion by 2028, compared to 4.56 billion in 2021.
That’s according to an analysis by ResearchandMarkets.com.
Titled “Global Blockchain Market, By Component, By Type, By Application, & By Region – Forecast and Analysis 2022 – 2028,” the report said growth will result from several factors, including widespread use of blockchain payment solutions, digital identities, and the utility of Smart Contract technology.
The report noted that blockchain technology is being increasingly implemented in sectors including Banking and Financial Services, healthcare, media and entertainment and others.
According to the report:
“Over the forecast period, market growth is also expected to be driven by increased strategic initiatives in the decentralized financial domain. For example, Square, a payment company, said in July 2021 that it is developing a DeFi business using bitcoin. Thus, such activities are likely to aid the industry growth during the forecast period…”
The analysis by ResearchandMarkets.com emphasized that a regulatory framework conducive to cryptocurrency based blockchain innovations would figure significantly into wider adoption. It said lack of clarity represented a restraint on the growth potential:
“An uncertain regulatory and compliance environment is one of the major factors that hinder market growth. Some governments have outlawed the use of initial coin offerings (ICOs). One of the most difficult aspects of modernizing transaction systems is regulatory acceptance; which is hindering market growth. With the rapid advancement of technology, regulatory agencies must evaluate what gaps exist in current regulations and how they affect total technological applications.”
The full report is only available for purchase to entities seeking business intelligence, though a summary assessment was given via press release.
WORLD LEADERS IN CRYPTO? U.S AND GERMANY
Major investments by mainstream financial institutions and conducive regulatory environments are helping Germany and the U.S. lead in crypto use and adoption in the 2nd quarter of 2022.
That’s according to analytics company Coincub, as reported by Cointelegraph.com.
Germany’s tax law, which nixes capital gains on cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum as long as they’re held for longer than a year, has made crypto investment more attractive.
The U.S. moved up from third to share the top rank. Coincub said that president Joe Biden’s executive order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, issued in March 2022, provided a positive signal to institutional investors.
Switzerland and Singapore ranked 3rd and 4th on Coincub’s list, and Australia followed.
The analytic rankings include quantitative information, such as crypto trading or mining numbers, and qualitative information, including government regulations, and institutional attitudes toward the sector.