It’s no secret that the crypto market was gripped by bearish pressure for the entirety of 2022. However, amid all the volatility and chaos, many posit
It’s no secret that the crypto market was gripped by bearish pressure for the entirety of 2022. However, amid all the volatility and chaos, many positive news stories appeared as well — especially regarding the global adoption of digital assets and crypto-related technologies in general.
Looking back at 2022, here are some key adoption-related events that helped drive the industry last year.
Polygon accrues 200 million addresses despite challenging 2022
Even though an air of financial uncertainty has shrouded the crypto market since the end of 2021, Polygon — a layer-2 scaling solution running alongside the Ethereum blockchain, allowing for speedy transactions and low fees — continued to witness a lot of growth in 2022. To this point, the network’s unique address count recently surpassed the 200 million mark, reaching a new all-time high of 205,420,908 on Dec. 31.
Additionally, the Polygon ecosystem saw its unique address count surge by a whopping 8,783,568 between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, suggesting that over the last month of 2022 alone, an average of 283,340 new Polygon-related network addresses came into existence daily. Moreover, it bears mentioning that the number of transactions taking place within the network has continued to hover around the 3 million mark.
Lastly, the proof-of-stake project recently announced the release of its final testnet, an improved iteration of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Major brands continue to enter the Web3 arena
The nonfungible token (NFT) market and the metaverse industry have continued to pique the interest of several fashion and luxury brands. For example, in October, Rolex — a popular watch matchmaker with a global presence — filed for multiple NFT-related trademarks in addition to one for a cryptocurrency exchange. Popular sporting goods giants such as Reebok, Nike and Adidas also made similar moves.
Nike launched a metaverse venture called .Swoosh, a Web3-enabled platform where customers can buy and sell virtual products. The platform will reportedly initially look at community building while hosting the launch of the company’s first virtual collection — comprising footwear, apparel and accessories — sometime during January 2023. Upon its launch, the platform will only allow the use of cash, not digital currencies, with all transactions recorded on the Polygon blockchain.
Adidas released a new line of virtual gear last year along with a picture-for-proof dressing tool allowing avatars from compatible partner collections, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, to be dressed up with their gear. Reebok filed numerous trademark applications in the United States for a wide range of virtual apparel, including footwear, headwear and sports equipment.
Lastly, luxury car manufacturer BMW announced that it, too, had decided to enter the metaverse fray by applying for a trademark for its logo that will be used in relation to its upcoming virtual vehicles, digital retail and other related services.
Total volume of staked Ether continues to grow
Throughout 2022, the total volume of Ether (ETH) locked within the Ethereum ecosystem has continued to climb steadily. Between February and June, the amount of staked ETH rose from just over 9 million to nearly 13 million. As seen from the chart below, the trend plateaued between June and September, only to muster steam once again around mid-September, just before Ethereum’s much-awaited transition to proof-of-stake.
Within the context of the Ethereum network, staking refers to the act of depositing 32 ETH into the network, which allows individuals to accrue validator rights and affords them the ability to earn additional ETH. As a validator, users must perform several duties, such as storing data, processing transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain to help protect the network for all participants.
Meta integrates support for NFTs
Earlier in May, social media behemoth Instagram revealed its testing program for sharing NFTs for select users across the United States. At the time, a representative for the firm stated that it would create more monetization opportunities for influencers on the platform while introducing NFTs to a larger customer base. A few months later, in August, Instagram decided to expand its NFT operations to over 100 countries across Africa, North America and Asia.
Meta also announced that it would integrate support for third-party projects, including Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet, while extending its NFT offerings to its other core social media platform, Facebook. In November, Instagram’s development team announced that it was testing the ability to mint and sell NFTs with a select group of digital creators. The feature will go live on the Polygon network, with creators and collectors not having to shell out any gas fees initially.
Starbucks’ blockchain-based loyalty…
cointelegraph.com