We’re midway through 2022.. It begs the question… Is defi dead?

iBG Finance
4 min readJul 26, 2022
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

2022 has been a complete rollercoaster! The conversation we were having about crypto at the start of the year… and the conversation we are having right now in August… are completely different.

I don't know if you remember crypto’s glory days… At the beginning of 2020, the world was on fire. The global economy was in shambles from the once in a life time black-swan event, and traditional markets were bearish. People were losing their jobs, their homes, and their life savings. One asset class stood out however, and quickly rebounded much faster than any other! That was of course, cryptocurrencies…. and it got the world’s attention real fast.

In the midst of all the chaos, Bitcoin surged to $20,000 and then proceeded to double in value to $40,000 and then an all-time-high at $60,000! Crypto was on everyone’s mind and the industry was growing at an exponential rate.

That was the best bull run I’ve ever seen for crypto.

Fast forward 2 years later… the pandemic began to ease up… people were going back to work, travel started getting back to normal, (albeit at a slower rate than expected).

Then, against a much-needed global reset, quantitative tightening, and an already turbulent backdrop of global inflationary pressures, the attack on Ukraine by Russia disrupted the world economy and supply chains severely. Oil and food imports were affected.

This, in turn, led to a sharp decline in the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum… and the domino effect followed suit with the rest of the crypto market. The world economy took a turn for the worse, and tech stocks and cryptocurrency markets entered a bear market!

Fast forward to today, and the industry is in a very different place. The total value of all cryptocurrencies has dropped by over 60% since January and Bitcoin has fallen back below $20,000.

So, what happened? Are crypto and DeFi dead?

The answer is complicated.

On one hand, the hype around DeFi has definitely died down and the prices of many assets have corrected significantly.

On the other hand, the DeFi industry is still very much alive and growing. New projects are being launched every day and there is still a lot of excitement around the space, amongst those who are still building.

So, what does the future hold? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure, the DeFi industry is still in its early stages and there is a lot of room for growth.

So, don’t count it out just yet.

In fact, it’s very much alive and well. The current market conditions may have put a damper on things, but the underlying technology and infrastructure are still very much intact and continue to grow.

And never forget this golden piece of advice! Price action does not indicate fundamental flaws in technology.

With that said, it’s important to remember that Defi is still in its early stages, and there will undoubtedly be ups and downs along the way… just like the internet breakthrough in the 90s!

So, while things may be looking a bit bleak at the moment, it’s important to keep perspective and remain optimistic about the future of Defi.

Photo by Ales Nesetril on Unsplash

Over the past few months, we’ve seen a number of Defi projects launch and gain traction. MakerDAO, for example, has been growing steadily and now has a market cap of over $600 million. Compound Finance has also been gaining traction, with a recent surge in users and a market cap of over $200 million.

These are just a few examples of the many Defi projects that are currently active and growing. While the current market conditions may have put a damper on things, it’s important to remember that Defi is still in its early stages and there will undoubtedly be ups and downs along the way. So, while things may be looking a bit bleak at the moment, it’s important to keep perspective and remain optimistic about the future of Defi.

With events such as Paris Metaverse, Eth Denver, Eth Dubai, there are loads of opportunities in the space where the developers actively building in the space continue to flourish.

Also, in the current market, as prices have corrected lower from ATHs, it gives more opportunity for investors to get involved without having to worry about the high cost of entry! Remove the white noise, focus on the actual building!

There are many exciting things happening in the Defi space, and we believe that it has a bright future ahead. So, while the current market conditions may be challenging, we remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for Defi and believe that it will continue to grow and thrive in the months and years to come.

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