TechFlow news — On December 28, FTX CEO SBF shared his thoughts on the development of the crypto industry in 2022 via Twitter. Details are as follows:
What should the crypto industry do as a sector? Well, let's look at where we are now and where we want to go. The crypto industry already has:
1. A solid user base: approximately 200 million crypto users worldwide;
2. Smart contracts: I believe smart contracts are highly significant for the crypto industry. They are the primary reason that has moved crypto beyond digital gold into Web3, metaverse, DeFi, and more;
3. Potential use cases: remittances, payments, value storage, NFTs in the metaverse, information transmission, social media, tokenized assets, decentralized finance, etc.;
4. Scaling solutions: new L1s, L2s, Lightning Network, rollups, etc. Current scaling solutions can support up to 50,000 transactions per second;
5. Significant attention: the total market capitalization of the crypto industry is currently around $2.5 trillion—slightly less than Apple or Microsoft—but public interest is undoubtedly higher.
Overall, the crypto industry has made solid progress over the past few years. But what’s still missing?
1. Regulation: There is considerable tension between the crypto industry and regulators, with frustration on both sides. Regulatory processes for token issuance, platform registration, and stablecoins across multiple jurisdictions remain unclear, making it difficult for the crypto industry to move forward safely and for institutional participants to get involved. Additionally, many regulators find it very challenging to work with crypto companies;
2. Blockchain scaling is still insufficient. While current solutions can handle 50,000 transactions per second, widespread industry adoption typically requires handling millions of transactions per second.
So, looking ahead to 2022, what should the crypto industry focus on?
1. Regulation: The industry should collaborate with regulators to enable liquidity flows into the U.S., Europe, and other jurisdictions;
2. Stablecoins: Establish a stablecoin framework based on reporting, transparency, and audits to ensure adequate reserves back stablecoins;
3. Open financial networks: Ensure open financial networks continue to grow rather than being limited to existing banks;
4. Standardized market oversight: Create consistent standards for crypto spot, futures, and other products within a unified regulatory regime;
5. Institutional frameworks: Build systems for disclosure, registration, and anti-fraud measures around token issuance, providing consumer protection and regulatory clarity so both consumers and institutions can easily interact with the digital asset ecosystem.
I am highly optimistic that the crypto industry can achieve these goals in the coming years. In terms of use cases, the biggest barrier today is network effects. For crypto payments to work effectively, both buyers and sellers need to support crypto, and building this network is progressing slowly. Similarly, blockchain-based social media and content feeds face the same challenge. Leveraging the existing user base of video games could be a good approach—we already have billions of gamers and an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars. We need to create an outstanding game and integrate NFTs in a way that genuinely enhances the gaming experience. At the same time, the network must continue to scale. Some say blockchain transaction speeds are already fast, but that's not true—we simply don’t support millions of transactions per second yet.
The crypto ecosystem needs to better manage several concrete issues in 2022, and each one matters.
