10 Predictions for the Future of Crypto in 2023

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What does the next year hold for crypto? We’ve rounded up predictions from smart people in the space – from the bullish to the skeptical.

The exact outcome is anyone’s guess, but 2023 could be the year where the clashes over regulation finally reach their climax. “There’s going to be harsh crypto regulation proposed and an epic battle by the community to fight the parts of it that threaten decentralization,” says Laura Shin, host of the “Unchained” podcast.

“Larger macro downturn market conditions should hopefully shift crypto projects away from speculation and more towards utility – one major utility category simply being meaningful, fun, social experiences,” predicts Alex Zhang, the de facto head of Friends with Benefits DAO. He expects this to translate to “more meaningful Web3 social platforms and protocols,” and foresees growth in “interoperable identity, on-chain social graphs, and crypto-abstracted social experiences.”

3. More bleeding, more losses, more pain.

“The contagion isn’t anywhere close to over,” says Cas Piancey, co-host of the “Crypto Critics’ Corner” podcast. Piancey says that “companies, banks and funds are desperately hoping the market moves past the FTX and Alameda collapse or strictly focuses on their malfeasance,” but whether people like it or not, “you can’t wish away a credit crunch and exposure to bad counterparties. We will see the closure of funds and the faltering of companies we didn’t expect – mostly simply due to the fact that the contagion is too vast and too difficult for us all to quantify.”

When I spoke with Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer of Human Rights Foundation, he had just returned from a bitcoin conference in Ghana. “I was blown away,” says Gladstein. “I was staggered by the number of bitcoin entrepreneurs and leaders from so many different countries.” He met people from rural Cameroon, from Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Somalia, from conflict zones. “They’re all just building on bitcoin. It’s legitimately amazing,” he says, which is why he believes that “global adoption is probably the number one story for next year.”

5. Maybe a focus on life outside of crypto/bitcoin/blockchain.

When asked for his 2023 predictions, the bitcoin mega-bull Peter McCormack, host of “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, replied simply, “Real Bedford will win the league.” Obviously this is a cheeky joke (McCormack 

), but this might contain the kernel of a deeper truth: For many in the space, during crypto winter, it’s useful – even healthy – to focus on other interests.

“Fashion will continue to lead the way when it comes to Web3 adoption,” says Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer at Journey. “We will see further collaborations between Web3 personalities and consumer and luxury brands that want to explore new commerce models and customer touchpoints.” Hackl’s bonus prediction: “With the rise of generative AI, we might see blockchain play a significant role in helping us to distinguish between content created by AI and content created by humans.”

“The sustained high-risk appetite in NFT-funding in 2022 is a strong indicator that it will be one of the first sectors to recover next year,” says Burke. “Throughout the past year, we were already beginning to see major NFT investments from major Web2 brands [Starbucks and Disney] and across Web3. … This shows no sign of stopping in 2023. Brands will continue to flock to NFTs.”

Burke is similarly bullish on gaming, as “prominent Web3 game titles that have been in development for quite some time including Big Time, Star Atlas, Ember Sword, will finally see the light of day in 2023, either as full-fledged games or more playable demos.”

As for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)? “Although it may seem that the current bear market has forced the industry to hit pause, the growth of new DAOs has accelerated exponentially, with each month in 2022 producing more new DAOs than 2021 witnessed altogether,” says Burke.

9. The big exchanges become “disaggregated.”

“Exchange stack gets disaggregated – we see custody, brokerage and exchange/price discovery get broken out into different players, just like in [traditional finance]. This makes it impossible for another FTX to happen,” says Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital.

Then Qureshi offers a parallel prediction: “When trust is low, incumbents consolidate. Coinbase, Binance, Uniswap will likely gain market share in aggregate, as people are less likely to trust smaller and weaker players. Network effects get stronger.”

“Read the room and assess the damage,” says Sandra Ro, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council, who then gives a bit of advice for the space at large: “Regroup with humility, rebuild with integrity, regain trust, rise again.”

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