2022 was one rollercoaster of a year 😮💨. Investors came in excited about coin prices after 2021’s performance, and while many factors eventually affected the market, there were a lot of interesting things that happened nonetheless.
We’ve gathered the biggest headlines of the year in this roundup. So, let’s see what – and who – really stood out in 2022 👀.
January – Twitter Welcomes NFTs 🐦
To kick off the year, Twitter dropped a sweet banger – support for NFT profile pictures 📸. The new feature capped off Twitter’s massive 2021, where they became more pro-crypto than ever. Now, Twitter Blue subscribers can set their NFTs as profile pictures ✅.
February – Crypto’s Role in Helping Ukraine 🇺🇦
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the entire world basically stopped. But, crypto didn’t 💪. In less than a month since the conflict started, Ukraine raised over $100 million in crypto donations 💰. Investors, crypto companies, and more stepped up big to help the Ukrainians, and the donations have kept on coming. Now, let’s just hope this war ends soon.
March – ApeCoin Rocks the Entire Market 🦧
After raising $450 million from investors in March, the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection launched ApeCoin (APE) 🪙. APE is the primary token for the entire Ape ecosystem. The ecosystem’s developers are now working on a full metaverse where all their NFTs and products will feature 🌐.
April – MicroStrategy Buys More Bitcoin 🚀
Even with the bear market, MicroStrategy has continued its Bitcoin shopping spree. In April, the company made its biggest Bitcoin purchase of the year, splashing over $200 million on BTC 👏. Today, MicroStrategy is the bIggest public Bitcoin holder, with over 132,000 BTC in its wallets 🤯.
May – The LUNA Crash 📉
LUNA operates UST – one of the most popular stablecoins at the time. The entire ecosystem was worth over $40 billion at its peak, and the LUNA token was one of the most valuable coins 🤩. But, after UST lost its equality to $1 – and because of several other factors – LUNA’s entire ecosystem crashed, causing a massive market downturn 😔.
Want to read more on LUNA? We have a full explainer of what happened here.
June – NFTs Come to Instagram 🤳
In June, Meta (formerly Facebook) announced that they would launch NFT support for Instagram Stories 🙂. Meta has been moving quickly to adopt NFTs and the metaverse for a while now. With this new move, Instagram’s users would be able to show off their sweet NFTs on their Stories.
July – Tesla Sells Its BTC 🚘
After holding over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin for over a year, Tesla eventually sold most of its coins in July 👀. At the time, Tesla needed to raise money quickly, and selling Bitcoin was the best way to go ⚡. So, it’s actually a good argument for Bitcoin – it is very liquid, and you never have to wait for long to get value for your money.
August – Solana Enters the Fashion Space 👠
After becoming one of the biggest companies in crypto, Solana Labs decided to step into the fashion space. In August, they opened Solana Spaces – a store in New York where customers can buy Solana-branded merch 👔. With Solana Spaces and the upcoming Solana Saga smartphone, 2023 is sure to be an exciting one for these guys 🤔.
September – The Ethereum Merge 🛠️
The Ethereum Merge was one of the year’s most important events, with the Ethereum blockchain switching from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) ⚙️. It’s been pretty successful so far, although it hasn’t quite been enough to give ETH the push it needs.
You can read more about the Merge here.
October – The Dogefather Buys Twitter 🐶
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and most popular Dogecoin fan, finally completed his takeover of Twitter for $44 billion in October ✌️. Elon’s takeover of Twitter was pretty huge for the market. Coin prices started to rise after the news was announced, and Dogecoin went as high as 100% in the first week 📈.
November – The FTX Collapse 💣
In November, reports surfaced that FTX – one of the biggest exchanges in crypto – had lost billions in customer funds that it lent to Alameda Research 😱. Many of the exchange’s customers ran to withdraw their funds, and FTX went bankrupt in a few days 😔.
December – Ripple’s Case Rounds Up 🧑⚖️
After going back and forth for two years, Ripple Labs made its final submission in its case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 🙅♂️.
A federal lawyer believes that the judgment in the case could come by March 2023. So, fingers crossed 🤞.
All Set for 2023!
We survived another year, everyone! And through the ups and downs, crypto is still here 💪.
Rounding out the year is one of the most exciting things ever, and we’re psyched that we get to end 2022 on a high note – because you’re still with us 🙂.
We can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for us, but we’re pretty hyped about it nonetheless.
Happy New Year, Quidaxians! 🥂
