The blockchain space is rapidly expanding, with novel innovations being developed regularly.
Satoshi Nakamoto created the blockchain as the foundation for Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency. It has since evolved into a decentralized, transparent, and immutable database that houses decentralized finance protocols, NFT projects, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, metaverses, and many other things.
Today, the use cases associated with this technology far outnumber the original concept of Bitcoin’s creator.
Private organizations also utilize blockchain in their operations but only limit access to those within the organization.
This article examines some exciting blockchain trends topping the headlines in 2022.
Top Blockchain Trends of 2022
Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)
The Blockchain as a Service concept is similar to the Software as a Service (SaaS) feature in that third parties provide cloud infrastructure and management to organizations interested in leveraging blockchain technology.
With blockchain technology’s benefits, various organizations are trying to incorporate it into their architecture. Organizations can easily integrate the technology using BaaS services, which manage the blockchain’s backend.
BaaS companies develop and manage complex technological aspects for various organizations that want to use blockchain. Businesses can employ the services of BaaS providers instead of building a blockchain from scratch.
Blockchain as a Service entails the building, hosting, and management of blockchain projects.
BaaS services are in high demand in 2022 because they reduce the complexity that organizations face when using blockchain.
Second, the level of security is increased, while the cost of accessing blockchain is significantly reduced.
Microsoft recently entered into a strategic partnership with ConsenSys to “offer Ethereum Blockchain as a Service (EBaaS) on Microsoft Azure so Enterprise clients and developers can have a single click cloud-based blockchain developer environment.”
GameFi
The GameFi industry has witnessed tremendous growth in 2022.
It is a hybrid of blockchain gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Blockchain gaming typically involves people playing various blockchain-based games.
With the introduction of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games, the line between gaming and DeFi has become increasingly blurred.
This year has witnessed an increase in Play-to-Earn games that offer earning opportunities to players. Gaming Guilds such as IndiGG are being developed in various communities, allowing holders of idle in-game assets to earn returns.
Some GameFi platforms allow holders of gaming NFTs to stake, lend, or use them as collateral.
Some protocols incorporate DeFi incentives into games to reward users who provide liquidity.
Merging of NFT and Decentralized Finance
The amalgamation of NFT and DeFi is a new trend that has emerged in 2022.
Previously, NFTs were thought to be only a means of storing digital content such as songs, movies, arts, in-game assets, and so on.
Individuals bought NFTs to use in their native ecosystems, to speculate with, or sell. This appears to be changing with the merger of the NFT and DeFi spaces.
There are new ways to use NFTs, such as staking, renting, and using NFTs as collateral for loans, among other things.
Soul-bound Tokens
Soul-bound Token is a type of NFT co-developed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.
Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) are tokens designed to act as a resume for their holders.
The main difference between SBTs and regular NFTs is that SBT holders cannot sell their unique tokens. They can’t transfer ownership of the SBT to another user. It serves as a resume, a means of identification, and a repository of the owner’s accomplishments, and it can be used across multiple platforms.
Holders of the SBT can seamlessly prove their identity and access multiple platforms. This technology is still in the theoretical stage.
Increased blockchain interoperability
When blockchain was in its early stages, users were not irked by the requirement to use exchanges before they could access tokens from different blockchains.
As the popularity of blockchain grows, so does the demand for blockchain interoperability.
Developers want to be able to easily migrate their decentralized apps and smart contracts from one chain to another.
Traders want to be able to easily transfer tokens from one chain to another.
Users now prefer decentralized apps based on multiple networks.
A new generation of blockchains, particularly Ethereum, is now compatible with other chains.
Some new chains include cross-chain bridges, while independent developers build bridges to connect older blockchains to other networks.
Although this technology is novel, Vitalik Buterin believes its drawbacks outweigh its advantages.
The Ethereum co-founder believes that the security flaws associated with cross-chain bridges are discouraging.
Kadan Stadelmann, the Chief Technology Officer of Atomic Swap blockchain, Komodo, suggested a possible solution to Buterin’s concerns.
“What we ultimately need is true decentralization. For example, instead of relying on one or two trusted bridges that have a single point of failure, it would be better to work towards a future where we have numerous bridges that are secure, trustless, and censorship-resistant.”
Real World Use Cases for NFTs
The NFT world has evolved from people holding these unique tokens for speculation or to store value to a stage where developers are developing real-world use cases for their clients.
Some NFT platforms allow users to monetize their content through NFTs.
Content creators on Argo, for example, can mint their video content into NFTs and sell them to their fans.
The ATTA Protocol is another example of an NFT platform with real-life use cases. It is creating a “new generation of the content ecosystem where occupational and professional content creators can realize their ideas, new directors and new content can receive more exposure, and copyrights can be better protected.”
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
New DAOs are created regularly to accomplish various goals. The rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) could be attributed to the lack of a centralized authority determining what happens in an ecosystem.
Blockchain technology has capitalized on the concept of decentralization to drive adoption.
Individuals want to be in charge of organizations to which they belong and make decisions when necessary.
Individuals from all over the world have used this vehicle to form organizations that oversee business operations.
Yield Guild Games, for example, is a DAO that oversees the management of in-game assets while also creating earning opportunities for investors, scholars or gamers, scholarship managers, regular members, and so on.
Holders of the native tokens can participate in the governance process. They can vote on proposed changes and submit proposals.
In 2022, new DAOs are being created to solve different issues, achieving the aims of traditional firms without the bureaucracy seen in them.
Some DAOs may use analyzed investment opportunities to increase the wealth of their members.
The primary goal of some DAOs is for members to network and interact with one another.
Sustainable Blockchains
In 2022, the European Union (EU) debated a potential policy to ban the usage of Proof-of-Work blockchains.
The debate elicited a range of reactions, but it concluded with the EU rejecting the proposed rule to ban Bitcoin. Instead, the EU decided that developing new regulations would be preferable to ensure a sustainable mining process.
Sustainable blockchains are being developed in 2022, and there are plans to convert older blockchains that use the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a more sustainable validation system.
For example, during the “Merge,” Ethereum will transition from PoW to a more sustainable consensus mechanism known as Proof-of-Stake.
New chains with long-term consensus mechanisms are being developed, such as Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS), Proof of Authority, CoinEx Smart Chain’s CPoS, and many others.
The majority of new sustainable blockchains are based on the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism or a variant of it.
In Conclusion,
- New blockchain trends are expected to alter the technology’s outlook in 2022.
- The Blockchain as a Service concept is similar to the Software as a Service (SaaS) feature in that third parties provide cloud infrastructure and management to organizations interested in leveraging blockchain technology.
- GameFi is a hybrid of blockchain gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi).
- Soul-bound Token (SBT) is a type of NFT co-developed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.
- Cross-chain functionality is expected to grow tremendously in 2022.
- Sustainable blockchains are being developed in 2022, and there are plans to convert older blockchains that use the PoW consensus mechanism to a more sustainable validation system.
If you would like to read more articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
