From an outside perspective, 2022 has been a rollercoaster ride for crypto. The market reached a total valuation of $3 trillion during the bull market
From an outside perspective, 2022 has been a rollercoaster ride for crypto. The market reached a total valuation of $3 trillion during the bull market of 2021, only to scale back to its current level of around $810 billion. While this poor performance can be partly attributed to the pervading macroeconomic environment — compounded by rising inflation rates and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, among other factors — one cannot deny the role that the recent slew of insolvencies has had on the sector.
That said, below is a list of arguably the most notable heroes and villains who have undeniably impacted this rapidly evolving industry over the past year.
The heroes
Changpeng Zhao
At a time when some of the biggest players in crypto crumbled, Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” ensured that his Binance crypto exchange held its own, even playing a role in the collapse of its closest rival, FTX.
CZ has refused to tie down the crypto exchange to the regulatory framework of one country or several. As a result, governments across the globe aren’t too big on Binance’s approach and repeatedly pressure the exchange with regulatory requests. However, despite the continued stress, Binance has grown in influence and stature. Amid a harsh crypto winter when staff layoffs were commonplace, CZ claims to have not made any major layoffs, with the exchange even looking to hire more people in the near term.
Full disclosure: Binance never shorted FTT. We still have a bag of as we stopped selling FTT after SBF called me. Very expensive call. https://t.co/3A6wyFPGlm
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 14, 2022
Lastly, CZ’s digital presence has grown over the past year, with a worldwide Twitter following of more than 8 million. Moreover, the Canadian entrepreneur recently announced that he has invested a whopping $500 million in Twitter.
Brian Armstrong
It’s been an up-and-down year for Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, with the firm laying off several employees while experiencing a significant drop in its stock price. However, despite the setbacks, he has continued to keep his chin up. All through the year, Armstrong has been a vocal critic of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its chairman, Gary Gensler, claiming the SEC has stifled innovation by forcing crypto entities to adhere to extreme reporting requirements. He was also critical of the sanctions of Tornado Cash’s smart contract addresses by the United States Department of Treasury, pledging to fund a lawsuit to annul the government’s actions.
Armstrong’s commitment to decentralization and transparency was once again on full display earlier this year when he announced that Coinbase would rather halt its Ether (ETH) staking services than censor sanctioned Ethereum transactions.
Senators Cyntia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand
While some lawmakers remain oblivious toward the crypto market, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand have taken the time to understand the true financial and social potential of this rapidly maturing technology.
Earlier this year, the pro-crypto duo tabled a bill called the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act, proposing a comprehensive framework for the governance of digital currencies. The bill was put forth in response to the SEC’s lack of clarity in the space and segregates cryptocurrencies into three categories: commodities, securities and ancillary assets.
The bill notes that cryptocurrencies categorized as commodities should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with the SEC responsible for securities and ancillary assets.
Representative Tom Emmer
Representative Tom Emmer is another voice who relayed strong support for the crypto industry this past year. Recently, the politician pointed to SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s crypto oversight strategy, calling it “indiscriminate and inconsistent.” Moreover, he revealed that since January, he has been approached by the heads of several prominent crypto entities who have complained to him that Gensler’s reporting requirements are onerous and unfair, calling them unnecessary and biased against the crypto market.
Probably a good time to re-up my bipartisan Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act.
The bill asserts that blockchain entities that never custody consumer funds are not money transmitters… providing necessary legal certainty to ensure the future of crypto reflects American values.
— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) December 14, 2022
In a recent tweet, Emmer called for Gensler to testify before Congress and explain his criticized regulatory approach. He also added that “He [Gensler] declined to provide Congress with the information requested in the letter, which would’ve informed Congress of the apparent inconsistencies in Gensler’s approach that caused him to miss Terra/Luna, Celsius, Voyager, and FTX.”
The entire Ethereum core development team
After years of delays, Ethereum’s highly anticipated transition to a…
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