Cryptocurrency has become an integral part of the global financial ecosystem, and as the blockchain space evolves, new niches, applications, and derivative technologies will continue to emerge over time. Every year, one of these concepts becomes the dominant narrative within the entire space.
For instance, 2020 will be remembered as the year of decentralized finance (DeFi). As the rest of the world battled the economic fallout of the covid pandemic, DeFi enthusiasts were pushing alternative economies and earning opportunities surrounding DeFi protocols, including lending and borrowing of stablecoins, yield farming, and decentralized savings.
For most of the year, the term “DeFi” overshadowed the discussion. It gained traction in February when the sector’s Total Volume Locked (TVL) reached $1 billion for the first time. Close to $13 billion was locked up in DeFi protocols as the year ended, increasing more than 2,000% since January.
In 2021, a new narrative emerged. 2021 was the year of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). From CEOs to celebrities from all walks of life, everybody couldn’t stop talking about them. Although NFTs have been in existence since 2014, it wasn’t until 2021 that this revolutionary technology became widespread, disrupting the art world and other businesses.
Several NFT collections sold for millions of dollars worth of Ethereum, and influential people everywhere were snagging up these JPEGs. We also started to see a transition of the NFT model from ordinary JPEGS to JPEGs with utility. Popular NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) granted its members access to an elite club with special perks.
This year, the term “Metaverse” has monopolized the IT and crypto media landscape since the Facebook makeover. According to tech experts, this is the next generation of the internet, which would allow users to interact and experience several lives (through avatars) in a virtual environment.
Everyone is talking about how to invest in the metaverse or acquire human talent to help develop this niche. The metaverse is a massive concept that will comprise various technologies, many of which are still in their nascent stage of development. Due to these infrastructure limitations, it is unlikely the metaverse will grow fast enough to become a fully functional industry anytime soon.
So what will dominate the crypto headlines in 2023?
All signs point to tokenization.
Tokenization involves replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive data in the form of tokens that act as a placeholder for the original data.
While it sounds like a basic concept, tokenization has a plethora of use cases, one obviously being data security. It helps protects sensitive data of social security numbers, credit card, or bank account information, making it an invaluable tool for the Payment Card Industry (PCI).
Tokenization works with all types of data regardless of age, uses fewer resources, and has a lower chance of failure compared to other encryption methods. Tokenization is also compatible with legacy systems; this opens up new areas of utility.
For instance, tokenizing assets within the real estate industry will democratize real estate and open up access to small-scale investors. This is the approach that innovative blockchain platforms like Genius Assets, Stobox, and Konkrete have adopted that will drive the tokenization narrative in 2023.
Genius Assets is building a platform that will allow crypto enthusiasts and investors to transition from speculative assets to more substantial investments like real estate, sports, and art. They’ve created a Fragmented Ownership protocol where they tokenize the assets within their own marketplace and ecosystem.
This approach lowers the barrier of entry, allowing anyone to partake in these industries once cut off from the masses. The Genius Assets platform is backed by tokens that represent real assets regulated by a financial institution. Genius Assets tokenizes property value and list them on its platform. Willing participants can access these tokenized properties and invest in them right from their smartphones.
With the unpredictability of the crypto market and the recent bearish outlook of the entire space, investors will be on the hunt for more concrete earning prospects. Genius Assets’ passive income opportunities through its Fragmentation Ownership system will help onboard these investors and push the tokenization narrative for the year 2023.
