Crypto Report 2022: Crypto Overview & Trends

In 2022, the cryptocurrency market underwent a winter season marked by significant fluctuations. However, the market remains in a state of constant innovation and development. In collaboration with CoinWire, TK Ventures has succinctly summarized the market conditions throughout the past year and provided readers with the most important insights into the market.

Our Crypto Report 2022 offers a comprehensive analysis of the crypto market, focusing on well-visualized data-driven insights and global investor perspectives, including an overview of the current state of the cryptocurrency market, a detailed analysis of market trends, and information on the fundraising status of various projects. This report results from extensive research conducted by a team of over 10 members and surveys of over 10,000 participants.

Our in-depth 121-page report covers 10 topics within the cryptocurrency market:

1. Market Overview & Notable Events
2. Fundraising Overview
3. Layer 1 Overview
4. Layer 2 Solutions
5. DeFi Statistics
6. NFTs
7. Web3 Gaming Overview
8. Web3 Gaming Transition
9. Web3 Awareness
10. AML, KYC & Regulations

Here are our top 12 key findings: 

#1. 66% of asked crypto investors have faith in Binance and their along ecosystem.

#2. In terms of fundraising in 2022, Web3 is the category that has the most conducted deals (33%) while most of the money (25%) is invested in Infrastructure.

#3. Fake covers for projects to rug pull are believed to be the leading causes of most hacks, according to 31% of investors.

#4. The terrible year 2022 has ended with the fact that most Blockchain Platforms have evaporated up to 90% of their value.

$5. BNB Chain and Polygon are believed to achieve mass adoption in the next year with 57% and 46.8% of total investors’ choices, respectively.

#6. Three out of five investors felt uncomfortable DeFi security risks & complications.

#7. 59% of investors believe that stablecoin is a gateway and a must for crypto, despite the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin.

#8. In the last five years, not Meta but Microsoft has made the biggest attempt to dominate the metaverse via patents (158 patents, July 2022).

#9. Risk of speculation is believed to be the main reason why traditional gaming companies reject blockchain and NFT, according to 78% of investors.

#10. Worldwide investors expressed continual confusion about Web3 in 52% of cases, with American investors expressing the greatest confusion.

#11. 51.4% of investors think Web3 is mostly hype, in which American crypto users take the majority.

#12. Asian crypto investors are more concerned about “Tracking for crypto behavior” than European ones.

For more detail about the top key findings above, please explore our full Crypto 2022 Report.

I. State of the Market

• After the FTX Crash, Hot Wallets is the most used method to store funds of Investors with 53.6% crypto investors’ responses.
• Metamask and Trust Wallets are the most trusted Wallets to store funds, with 63,6% and 50,6% responses consecutively.
• BNB Chain is the most trusted blockchain in terms of storing funds on DeFi protocols with 63% responses.
• The number of rounds and the amount raised in 2022 is ~48% higher than this amount in 2021 Web3 is the category has the most deals (33%) while most of the money (25%) is invested in Infrastructure

• 50.4% of Investors have been a victim of Crypto Hacks & Exploits in 2022
• Fake covers for projects to rug pull are believed to be the main causes for most of the hacks, believed by investors with more than 1 year of experience while investors with less experience believe that they are due to technological faults and loopholes.

• 64% of Investors think the market is reaching its bottom, however, 43% among them still stay safe & keep the majority of their portfolio in stablecoin.

• 48.9% of investors agree that the crypto market is increasingly influenced by traditional finance & macroeconomics.
• Most of investors (53.6%) agree that The crypto market will be recognized by financial institutions & governments in the future.

II. Blockchain Platform 

• The terrible year 2022 has ended with the fact that most Blockchain Platforms have evaporated 20 – 90% of their value.

• Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon are the blockchain platforms most used by investors while making payments, skin in the game, and storing assets.
• BNB Chain and Polygon are believed to achieve mass adoption in the next year with 57% and 46.8%, respectively.

• Sui is the New Blockchain platform that people are most interested in (35.4%)

• Layer-2 development organizations have already raised ~1.25b so far in 2022.
• Compared to Ethereum Layer-1 transactions, Layer-2 transactions reduce fees by 80%–95%.
• Arbitrum, Optimism, Starknet, and zkSync are also highly regarded Layer 2 scaling solutions.

III. State of DeFi 

• Three out of five investors felt uncomfortable with DeFi security risks & complication.
• Surprisingly, only 13% of DeFi Users are skeptical about DeFi regulation of the government in the future.

• In 2022, Ethereum, BNB, and Tron are the leading blockchains in terms of TVL.
• 58% of the respondents believe regulation and funding will push DeFi to mass adoption
• 59% investors believe that stablecoin is a gateway and a must for crypto, despite the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin
• Revenue of DeFi has plummeted 55% to $9.19B
• DeFi’s revenue is focused primarily on the Ethereum ecosystem, led by Uniswap with about $700 million in revenue

IV. NFT & Web3 Gaming

• NFT Market Value has jumped 122 times to $12.2 billion since 2020
• Although a gloomy market and traders are leaving, total NFT holders increase from 1.5M to 3.7M (Rising ~ 250%).
• 4/5 NFT users still have faith in the future of NFT even with the significant decline in 2022
• Yuga Labs dominated the NFT collection, taking all three top 3 positions, generating over $3.5B worth of trading.

• America is the most innovative continent to adopt the new technology – Metaverse into daily life.

• People believe Metaverse will reshape social lifestyle with a new approach to entertainment and social activities (69% and 65% respectively total choices)
• In the last 5 years, not Meta but Microsoft has made the biggest attempt to dominate the metaverse via patents (158 patents, July 2022).

• The majority of worldwide investors (78%) believe “Play-To-Earn” is the most common term for Web3 games, which is one of the biggest factors preventing Web3 Gaming transition
• Risk of speculation is believed to be the main reason why traditional gaming companies reject blockchain and NFT, according to 78% of investors
• 67% of worldwide investors anticipate that traditional game publishers will be highly interested in Web3 gaming in the future.

V. Web3 Evolution

• 89% of worldwide investors have often heard or heard a lot about Web3 
• Worldwide investors expressed continual confusion about Web3 in 52% of cases, with American investors expressing the greatest level of confusion.
• 51.4% of investors think Web3 is mostly hype, in which American crypto users take the majority.

• Russia, Ukraine, China, USA are the top countries by value sent to or received from drug-focused darknet markets.
• Asia and North America are currently the havens for money laundering and the biggest countries in that region are taking the cake.

• “Scam” is the biggest activity over the years, often accounting for 50%+ of all other criminal activities.
• Sanctions, Scam and Stolen funds tend to use DeFi more than other activities.

• Loss of personal information is the biggest concern associated with KYC.
• Surveyors in Asia concern “Tracking for crypto behavior” more than surveyors in Europe.
• Regulation is at the center of the need to find a common voice between crypto and governments.
• More than 60% of investors participating in the survey want to apply regulation to the web3 industry.

This report is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or cryptocurrency. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization.

The crypto market is highly volatile and subject to rapid changes. The performance of any particular security or cryptocurrency in the past is not indicative of future results. The value of any investment can go up or down depending on market conditions. Investors should conduct their own research and seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.