According to the vice president of research at The Block Larry Cermak, investor interest in existing crypto projects will continue in 2022, and exchange operators and data providers will benefit the most. He said:
“If there is already an established exchange or established data business and it just needs a little bit of cash to raise, they’re never going to have issues.”
He thinks the focus in the coming year will be on second-layer protocols, enabling faster and cheaper transactions on top of blockchains. The key to this will be the existence of decentralized applications, immediately created for L2 solutions.
In spite of the declining interest in NFTs, Cermak believes the market will continue to grow and become more thoughtful in the next wave. He added:
“I think, you know, maybe some of the profile NFTs are not going to be as hot next year. But I think some of the more creative ones and in-game assets of proper games… I think we’re going to see some of that next year.”
Regarding the development of The Block’s research business, Cermak has noted Tesla’s purchase of Bitcoin was the catalyst for customer interest in it. Many traditional companies, which did not even subsequently invest in crypto, became interested in the topic. He said:
“We have to know what bitcoin is. We have to learn a little bit about how this ecosystem works. We have to know more about DeFi, more about L2’s.”
After buying BTC, Tesla sold part of its assets. The company has also suspended accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment for its electric vehicles. Later, the company CEO Elon Musk announced the sale of corporate merchandise for Dogecoin.
