The Evolution of Web3 and the Year Crypto Got Serious

Join senior executives in San Francisco on July 11-12 to learn how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Find out more

The passing year can very well be considered decisive with regard to the evolution of cryptocurrencies and Web3 in general. Numerous events around the world, some tragic, have brought digital assets into the purview of financial regulators like never before, prompting many to conclude that the sector has finally “got serious” this year.

At the same time, mass adoption of cryptocurrencies continues unabated among regular users and institutions, and this trend will only grow in 2023 and beyond.

Hard-learned lessons

The main event that has affected crypto – and the whole world – over the past year is undoubtedly the war in Ukraine. When it started, governments around the world realized that it was possible to send millions of dollars worth of digital assets to a country to buy weapons - without any oversight. While the Western world agreed that this was acceptable in the case of Ukraine, it appeared to policy makers that the same could be done for any terrorist organization.

As a result, the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst) and the FBI began hiring tech specialists en masse to mitigate the risk of Russia circumventing sanctions via crypto.

Event

Transform 2023

Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where senior executives will discuss how they've integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls.

Register now

This is where Western law enforcement began to focus more on regulation.

In turn, and in what was the second biggest event for crypto, came the Queen's Speech in the UK, which set out the government's plans to introduce legislation to reduce economic crime and help crypto businesses grow. As a result, the European Parliament introduced a legal framework for crypto assets in the EU in March 2022 to "enhance the benefits and reduce the threats" of crypto. Additionally, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it will focus on cryptocurrencies in the future, developing plans to enact its own regulations.

While heated debates about crypto regulation have been going on for years, we now know that regulators favor defending new technologies while ensuring consumer protection and the suppression of criminal elements. This represents a watershed moment for crypto – when the industry grew.

Crypto technology must "go away"

As for the next step, when it comes to the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, we really need the technology to “go away”. In other words, it shouldn't be visible to regular retail users, nor should they need a degree in