The year 2022 was evil but it's a good thing in the end

As I write this article, it is December 20, 2022. A few days ago, France lost against Argentina during the World Cup in Qatar. Even if the team fought well, this failure echoes – with relevance – with the bitter observation that we can make of this year.

Well, the transition isn't perfect, I grant you that, but what I wanted to say is that while watching the football match, I couldn't help but make allegories with what we were experiencing in "the world of cryptos" to use an expression that is almost obsolete today.

This year, in fact, has ultimately been nothing more than a fight (with a catastrophic outcome, of course) between opposing forces. There are (in my opinion) those who seek in a (truly) humanist approach that "cryptocurrencies" benefit the greatest number and that they are used for rather ethical purposes. On the other side, there are those who only see it as a means of enriching themselves personally and who create companies for the sole purpose of selling their tokens.

It’s a very Manichean vision, I grant you. For the purposes of this article, we will settle for this dichotomy of worlds.

The goal here, above all, is to make a kind of positive assessment (yes, yes) of the thunderous year that we have experienced and to try to take stock of the lessons that we can learn.

What are the hasty conclusions that we can make?

Well, if we take a first-level assessment, the conclusions can be very dramatic. A stablecoin is stable in name only. A 30 year old guy who creates an exchange can become a billionaire in 3 years and screw it up in 3 days. Hackers have gorged themselves like never before with millions stolen from DeFi protocols. Most of the tokens launched in 2022 lost all value and the teams made do with what was in the fund.

The big players in traditional finance are finding a new way to do business without having to reveal their identities. Anyone can create so-called " Web3 " businesses and hide their identity because, after all, we don't know Satoshi Nakamoto's identity. NFTs make us believe they are technological innovations when they are nothing more than digital lottery scratch cards. Science communicators pose as kind-hearted professors when they are only there to "promote" their affiliate links to dubious projects.

Yes, I know, it hurts...However, I pushed the point deliberately but I think we also have to look at things as they are.

Deep down, even in this chaos, there are still positive things. I'm not saying that because I've read books on personal development that have told me that I absolutely have to see the glass as full rather than half empty. No, seriously, I think there are some really good things in this dark chaos.

Now let's see the positive things that are there despite everything

The first big positive thing that we see in this year 2022 is that in the end "bad buzz is a buzz" as they say. Basically, even if we talked a lot about cryptocurrencies from a negative point of view, the fact remains that we talked a lot about them...

So yes, it was especially during the bull run of 2021 that there was the best advertising and the best attractiveness for newcomers, certainly. However, the fact that the major media (mainstream in particular) mention cryptocurrencies (even in a negative sense), always indirectly creates better visibility for this technology. Likewise, this makes cryptoassets as important as other assets. It’s not nothing, eh 😉

It's been 14 years since Bitcoin was born, but the fact remains that we are still at the beginning of mass adoption. Thus, this year 2022 is also the year (and especially since the fall of FTX) where governments around the world can no longer ignore the interest shown by users (especially the youngest) in cryptocurrencies.

Is legislation expected?

I know what you're thinking: "Oh, but this bad publicity will push governments to legislate more strictly on cryptocurrencies." Yes, that seems to be what's happening. Some senators in the US are even working on laws to ban certain cryptocurrencies. The goal is to avoid future scandals or the industry being taken over by shady figures like Sam Bankman Fried.

And what we can expect is that other countries will want to follow the American path. We've seen that in Europe, and particularly in France, legislation on cryptocurrencies is likely to become stricter.

Yes, I am not Madame Irma but politicians want to limit the risks and protect victims of scams as best as possible. Can we really blame them? Yes and no, but let’s go further in our reasoning.

Is legislation against cryptocurrencies really to be feared? I'm asking you this seriously.

I mean, if we don't do anything, little crooks, thugs, poor guys with no morals will continue to ruin the ecosystem. We will see more and more crypto influencers making 2-minute videos on TikTok, garnering millions of views for yet another bogus project. Is this what we want? Is this all we deserve?

No and I imagine you agree with me. Good legislation may be necessary and it is even essential in certain uses.

We can't continue to fuel the endless greed of the key players and entrepreneurs in the crypto industry. Remember that frenzy surrounding the 20% stake in the UST token on the Anchor protocol? Keep in mind that this protocol had a far greater impact on the market crash than you might think. Greed and the lack of knowledge among the so-called "experts" led to the collapse of TerraUSD … Yes, let me remind you: the bloodbath began the day after the UST crash…

There comes a time when you have to recognize your wrongs and face the truth: Many are guilty and have even favored this degeneration, because of the visibility they have. How many people have advocated pure scams? How many people have been "pushed" to invest with "analyses" from "experts"? This is likely to continue because these people protect themselves with "I told you to do your own research". Yes, there you go... The excuse is ready: it's the investors' fault.

So, this lack of laws benefits vagrants and does not protect victims. With this in mind, yes, regulation seems necessary.

However, I will stop you right away on one point: I am talking here about the need to legislate cryptocurrencies but I am not talking about Bitcoin.

Let me explain.

Why can Bitcoin emerge bigger and stronger?

While crypto and Bitcoin are often used interchangeably, in this legal context, I'm specifically referring to cryptocurrencies. In other words, I'm talking about companies created by entrepreneurs who generate tokens or cryptocurrencies for commercial purposes. Bitcoin has nothing to do with this type of project or cryptocurrency.

Moreover, if I express myself more clearly, I would even say that this year 2022 was the year where Bitcoin showed to what extent it stands out from other cryptocurrencies. Call them altcoins or whatever you want, but Bitcoin doesn't have the same goals or technical foundations at all. Bitcoin is different in every way.

Thus, legal regulation of cryptocurrencies would not affect (in theory) Bitcoin, which remains above any control, even state control…

And it seems crypto users have just noticed. Ultimately, Bitcoin was drowned out during the bull run years by the arrival of ever more ambitious and "revolutionary" projects. Promises of quick profits have never been so widely promoted by this whole army of new popularizers, who have become masters of the " shilling ."

Of course, Bitcoin looked very bland compared to all the projects that had relied on formidable marketing masters: giveaways, sponsored videos, advertising, airdrops: everything was there to attract customers. Even people who had never invested in the stock market or who were never interested in personal finance suddenly started buying cryptos.

It's so easy to " invest in cryptocurrencies " these days, you might say… So, they jumped headfirst into what are called " shitcoins, " but that's part of the experience. Perhaps today they'll realize that Bitcoin is different?

I hope so, anyway…

Final word on this blessed year…

So, I have already said everything to conclude without repeating myself. I still dare to rephrase it: this year has been a good year for Bitcoin. It is the cryptocurrency which lost the least in the end and which even strengthened. Yes, while everyone was chattering about the FTX scandal, Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador declared that he would buy a bitcoin every day. This tells you how much confidence in Bitcoin is still so great….

Alongside record-breaking fundraising and countless giveaways, innovations on the Bitcoin network are constantly increasing, such as the Lightning Network , which allows for instant and virtually free microtransactions. Bitcoiners continue to build and improve the ecosystem, despite the current turmoil and last year's hangover …

Note: As I was publishing this article, I had just received an email from Ray Youssef, the founder of Paxful . He explains that he has decided to remove ETH from the platform for various reasons. The main reason being that it would be more beneficial for users to focus more on Bitcoin than on other altcoins…

Finally, I would like to point out that in this post I do not want to put on blinders and only consider Bitcoin. No, I am not a radical maxi and decentralized finance has brought great innovations. Besides, this is how I would end with this positive assessment of the year 2022. To remind you that great ideas, daring and absolutely disruptive projects have appeared. We cannot decently deny it.

Let's just hope that a healthier education is provided to newcomers. Let's also hope that the ecosystem takes advantage of this great purge to focus on serious crypto projects that can make the world a better place.

Because, yes, it is possible and it is up to us to make it a reality.

Let's hope 2023 is better, and there's a good chance it will be. That won't be difficult, you might say…

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If you disagree with my conclusion or have any comments, feel free to continue the discussion on Twitter if you wish ( @zonebitcoinco ).