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<\/p>\nDespite an eventful year fraught with crypto collapses and price drops, Steven Goulden, a senior research analyst at crypto trading firm Cumberland has pointed to several \u201cgreen shoots\u201d to break the surface in crypto in 2023. <\/p>\n
In a 14-page \u201cYear in Review\u201d report released on Dec. 24, Goulden said he saw four \u201cemerging narratives\u201d in 2023 that will lead to \u201csignificant progress\u201d for crypto over the next six to 24 months. <\/p>\n
These include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) becoming a \u201cgo-to method\u201d of tokenizing a brand’s intellectual property (IP), Web3 apps and games becoming \u201cgenuinely popular,\u201d while Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) could become more commonly used as a nation\u2019s reserve asset.<\/p>\n
Goulden argued that while NFTs have until this point, been \u201clargely been confined to the art space,\u201d he believes the next step for NFTs will lie in the marrying of NFTs and a brand\u2019s intellectual property. <\/p>\n
The analyst noted that many non-Web3 companies are already making \u201csignificant progress\u201d to monetize IP and improve customer engagement using NFTs.<\/p>\n
Among those include Starkbucks partnership with Polygon to generate NFTs for Starbucks customers, and Nike\u2019s launch of Swoosh, which enables users to design customized sneaker NFTs. <\/p>\n
\u201cListening to these companies talk about Web3 initiatives, it\u2019s clear they see digital engagement with customers and fans as a new aspect of the retail experience,\u201d said Goulden. <\/p>\n
He also noted that \u201cselling NFTs to retail users has the potential to generate material, high-margin revenue.\u201d Nike is a textbook example of that, having generated $200 million from digital sneakers alone. The analyst expects Polygon\u2019s MATIC, LooksRare\u2019s LOOK and 0xmon\u2019s XMON token to lead the way on this front. <\/p>\n
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The Cumberland analyst also said that NFTs will become a \u201cgo-to method of tokenizing IP\u201d, sharing that there is around $80 trillion of intangible assets that exists on corporate balance sheets today. <\/p>\n
Goulden also sees the adoption of Web3 platforms providing \u201creal world utility\u201d starting to gain traction in 2023, acknowledging it has been \u201cextremely challenging\u201d to disrupt Web2 monopolies thus far: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that it takes time to build and bootstrap projects like these, and so we anticipate material traction is probably 12+ months out, with serious user adoption probably 2-5 years away.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Some \u201cgenuinely useful real world\u201d platforms that Goulden highlighted included IT recruitment platform Braintrust, Internet of Things protocol Helium, GPU rendering service Render, global mapping project Hivemapper and ride sharing app Teleport. <\/p>\n
Web3 games to attract \u201cserious\u201d gamers<\/h3>\n
The analyst was also optimistic about the Web3 gaming market, noting that there is around three billion gamers in the world, 200 million of which are \u201cserious\u201d \u2014 representing $200-300 billion in total addressable market. <\/p>\n
\u201c[…] yet these users usually don\u2019t own in-game items and have little control or governance over these gaming ecosystems,\u201d said Goulden. <\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>5 cryptocurrencies to keep an eye on in 2023 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Goulden says the play-to-earn aspects of blockchain-based gaming will lead to significant profitability for developers but added that because it takes \u201caround 2-3 years to build a triple A (highest-quality blockbuster) game,\u201d we probably won\u2019t see a \u201cWeb3 game that becomes a star\u201d until 2023 or 2024.<\/p>\n
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BTC and ETH as reserve asset<\/h3>\n
Finally, the research analyst suggested that close attention should be placed on BTC and ETH\u2019s potential role as a reserve asset, particularly for nations focused on exports. <\/p>\n
Goulden said many high-export nations around the world may choose to stock up its reserves with alternative assets such as cryptocurrency instead of U.S. treasury bills as a means to depress their own currencies against the U.S. Dollar.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven a small central bank allocation to BTC or ETH would be material and would likely lead to other exporting states following suit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n