- Activate Consulting expects crypto and NFTs to undergo significant growth in the near future, becoming mainstream by 2022.
- The firm speculated that the number of consumers trading crypto will double in the next 12 months.
- “We believe that every technology and media company will need an NFT strategy,” the firm said.
The leading management consulting firm Activate Consulting expects crypto and NFTs to undergo significant growth in the near future, becoming mainstream by 2022.
In the 2022 Activate Tech & Media Outlook, an annual report that predicts key trends in technology, the firm speculated that the number of consumers trading crypto will double in the next 12 months, claiming that cryptocurrencies will likely disrupt industries that rely on transferring value as the internet did for transferring information.
“Cryptocurrencies drive down the cost of transferring value, just as the internet did with information,” the company said, implying that crypto can disrupt legacy finance institutions.
However, consumers currently use crypto-assets for trading rather than payments and other use cases, which might limit crypto adoption, the firm noted. Other barriers to crypto adoption include fears of safety, volatility, a lack of understanding, and a lack of regulatory framework. Despite these, Activate predicts the number of crypto traders to double in the next year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies that account for more than 60% of the crypto market cap, might persist to remain dominant. However, the report noted that innovation will come from altcoins that focus on solving a range of problems such as faster and lower-cost payments and environmental concerns.
“Traditional financial institutions entering crypto have fueled recent growth, there is more growth to be unlocked once there is greater certainty about US and international government regulation,” the report said.
Companies Continue to Adopt NFTs
Activate also offered its view on NFTs in the report, declaring that these assets will find their way into a broader set of industries. The firm said that every technology and media company will need to embrace digital collectibles and develop an NFT strategy, stating:
As more consumer time migrates to digital experiences and interest grows in the metaverse, we believe that every technology and media company will need an NFT strategy.
The market for NFTs experienced exponential growth in 2021. As reported by FullyCrypto, NFT sales picked up steam in late July, even convincing payments giant Visa to spend over $150,000 on a pixelated digital image.
NFT sales volume for the entirety of 2020 was around $94 million, per DappRadar. However, that figure shot up to around $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021, $1.3 billion in the second quarter, and a staggering $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
Despite this, Activate asserted that the NFT market is still in its infancy, noting that merely 25% of US adults are familiar with the market.
