BeInCrypto Predictions For 2023 – Boom or Bust?

Who could have imagined a year ago the tempestuous events that crypto witnessed in 2022? 

From the collapse of the Terra network in May to the implosion of the FTX exchange in Nov, the storm also scooped up lender BlockFi and hedge fund Three Arrows along the way, dumping them at the steps of the bankruptcy courts.

But what does 2023 have in store? Is the contagion over, or can we expect more fallout? Here, the BeInCrypto team give their assessment of what to expect this year.

Crypto Regulations on the Horizon?

Nicholas Pongratz, writer:

• 2023 could potentially be a breakout year for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), as customers tire of centralized exchange (CEX) scandals.
• Consequently, more consumers will become aware of DEX features, like smart contracts.
• Greater institutional integration of decentralized finance (DeFi) characteristics into traditional financial markets.
• DeFi will also play a greater role in creating digital identities, though non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and wallets.
• Total value locked on DeFi protocols will rise back to at least $125 billion.
• Having risen in profile over the past year, pig butchering crypto scams will likely increase.
• Similar to last year’s trend, most stolen cryptocurrency will be acquired through DeFi.
• Increasing crime on the metaverse could draw greater attention from authorities.
• Congress will finally pass relatively comprehensive cryptocurrency regulations.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) will reach more of an understanding in regulating crypto.

NFTs With Utility Will Grow

Jay Speakman, writer:

• Bitcoin drops to $12,000, Michael Saylor buys more and will be removed as chairman of MicroStrategy by the board.
• Crypto exchange Gemini will go bankrupt.
• Despite a continued bear market, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – especially those with utility – will rise in 2023.
• Regulation is needed in order for crypto to achieve mainstream adoption – it will finally happen in 2023.
• Charles Hoskinson will step aside and the Cardano Foundation will bring in someone with experience in sales and marketing. Cardano’s price will continue to languish.
• DCG (Digital Currency Group) will be sued by Gemini as according to Gemini owners the Winklevoss twins, the two entities are “beyond commingled.” DCG owes Genesis $575, which is due in May 2023. 
• What will become known as the “Great Shakeout” will occur in 2023 with hundreds of scam projects finally being exposed and giving the broader crypto market a much-needed boost. It will still be in bear territory, but this will be seen as a positive sign by retail and institutional investors
• The National Football League will partner with Socios (Chiliz) to build a series of NFT trading cards that will feature individual NFL players as well as great moments in league history.
• Chainlink, the blockchain Web3 integrator, will see an increase in price as blockchain adoption and the need for related services grows in 2023.
• Solana will go under. It is down 95% from its all-time high and projects are fleeing the blockchain for Polygon or Ethereum. Constant outages and the FTX contagion will prove too much to overcome.

Solana Has Its Day in the Sun

Harsh Notariya, news writer:

• Bitcoin will test the $30,000 resistance.
• More capitulation will follow.
• More altcoins will be deemed securities.
• A pilot regulatory framework for crypto will be discussed by some of the world’s major economies.
• A new project with a solid use case will rise in popularity.
• Sam Bankman-Fried will remain at liberty. 
• Crypto hacks will exceed the $3 billion mark of 2022.
• More countries will hire blockchain experts for their cybersecurity.
• The DeFi total value locked will exceed $100 billion.
• Solana will come back stronger (more projects, more TVL, more developers)

Contagion Continues

Josh Adams, features writer:

• Bitcoin dominance will fall relative to Ethereum.
• The European Union will U-turn on leaked plans to ban privacy coins.
• DeFi exploits will fall again in 2023.
• Sam Bankman-Fried will receive multiple life sentences for alleged crimes committed at FTX.
• The EU will try again to ban proof-of-work, and fail.
• Solana price will rise above $70.
• The crypto contagion will continue, bringing down more large funds and projects.
• The hardware/cold wallet market will see substantial growth as crypto holders continue to distrust centralized exchanges.
• The crypto market, in general, will see improvements but will not see any all-time highs on the top 20 coins.
• Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs, will slip up, get caught, and be extradited back to South Korea.

Ripple Will Win SEC Action

Martin Young, DeFi reporter:

• Liquid staking will take off (primarily Ethereum).
• Artificial intelligence (AI) blockchain platforms and tokens will emerge.
• Blockchain gaming (GameFi) and tokens will keep growing.
• Metaverse popularity will return but NFTs may be slower to pick up.
• Crypto markets will remain relatively flat until the second half of the year (basically similar to 2019).
• Regulations will be rolled out in the U.S.
• Institutions will slowly return once regulations are established.
• There will be one or two more bankruptcies/contagions but none as bad as FTX.
• Binance will survive relatively unscathed.
• Ripple will win against the SEC.

More Countries Accept Bitcoin as Legal Tender

Rahul Nambiampurath, English journalist:

• Bitcoin will cross the $30k mark.
• Ethereum will cross $5,000 by the second half of the year.
• XRP to cross $1.50.
• Soulbound tokens will see more use cases.
• At least two more countries will adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
• Web3-based social media platforms will become more dominant.
• The U.S. will still be working on regulations.
• One or more Bitcoin spot ETFs will be approved.
• The metaverse fad will die down.
• More platforms will embrace human-readable domain names. Alphanumeric wallet addresses will be a thing of the past.

LUNA Fails to Moon

Valdrin Tahiri, senior technical analyst:

• Bitcoin will reach $30,000 (but will close the year below).
• Ethereum will get close to flipping Bitcoin but will not do so.
• FTT will go below $1.
• LUNA will go below $1.
• The Bitcoin dominance (BTCD) will fall to an all-time low.
• NFTs fail to perform as well as in 2021/2022.
• Three DeFi coins are in the top 10.
• Bored Apes are no longer the number one NFT.
• Axie Infinity is still the top play-to-earn game.
• Do Kwon goes to jail.