2022 has been paramount for the development of the crypto space. Within this year alone, crypto users have been exposed to the downfall of one of the largest stablecoin projects in existence (Terra Luna), the mass implosion of rebasing DAO projects, the FTX exchange scandal, as well as the record-shattering hacks and exploits of cross-chain protocols. As we go into 2023, it is important to address the problems of 2022 so that yesterday’s failures don’t become tomorrow’s catastrophe.
While the markets have struggled to maintain an optimistic outlook in 2022, projects that are deadset on transforming the space for the better have kept their sights on the future by focusing on development and innovation.
2022 — The Year of Cross-chain Hacks
Despite the mass media focus on the Terra Luna and FTX insolvencies, cross-chain exploits have fiercely threatened the crypto space by leaving users in a state of extreme fear, uncertainty, and doubt as they’ve been responsible for the largest exploits in crypto by dollar value. In fact, cross-chain exploits have racked up over $1.5 billion in losses, amounting to over 57% of the total losses in the Web3 space in 2022.¹
Looking at 2018 and My Thoughts on Wanchain Going Into 2023
With the calamities of 2022 now in the past, 2023 gives the crypto space an opportunity to right the wrongs of last year and set our sights on new possibilities and potential. While this new year of discovery offers us a breath of fresh air, we must also be wary of the possible market conditions that may be lurking ahead of us. With the current macro environment, many “experts” and crypto personalities alike have so far been both hinting or screaming about how 2023 will go down as the next major bear year. For those who may not yet be familiar, crypto markets typically follow cyclical phases meaning they will have prolonged periods of bullish and bearish price action and sentiment. In the last bear cycle of 2018, we saw Bitcoin go from twenty thousand dollars per coin to under four thousand dollars. Altcoins also took a drastic hit as many saw eighty to ninety percent corrections. With today’s economic climate and overall sentiment, it’s important to prepare for a similar if not worse bear market situation to take place.
While the threat of a looming bear market is enough to scare even the most seasoned investors, true crypto veterans know that some of the best innovations have taken place during bear markets. If the threat of a 2023 bear market scares you, just remember — 2018 was the genesis of some of crypto’s biggest projects and narratives like Uniswap and the DeFi movement. What previous bear markets have taught us overall is that projects that allocate resources wisely and focus on research and development are the ones most likely to survive bear markets and flourish when the bull cycle returns. Luckily, OGs like Wanchain are no strangers to bear markets. Back in the darkest depths of the 2018 bear cycle, Wanchain successfully released one of the first decentralized bridges between its own native blockchain and the Ethereum network. This innovation made Wanchain one of the first protocols to “demonstrate the viability of cross-chain transactions” during a time when the full capabilities of cross-chain technology were still partially theoretical.²
As many altcoin projects were faltering or desperately using the last of their funds on marketing to garner renewed relevance, Wanchain was one of the few projects that focused on development and successfully fought through the brutal crypto winter of 2018 and survived.
It is no surprise that 2022 was one of the best years for Wanchain, at year’s end, the Wanchain network was able to close out the year with support for 19 different blockchain networks and 45 different assets making it one of the largest and most successful cross-chain platforms in existence! Despite the omen of future economic strife, Wanchain shows no signs of slowing down and it has the experience to show for it. In 2023, the crypto space can look forward to new cross-chain bridges, new support for assets across different blockchains, and overall new and improved innovations and capabilities in the world of cross-chain technology, all led by Wanchain!
What is Wanchain?
Wanchain is a fully EVM-compatible, decentralized blockchain interoperability solution harnessing the latest in blockchain decentralization, interconnectivity, and scalability for commercial, public, personal, and state use. Wanchain works to drive blockchain adoption through interoperability, security, and transparency by having a next-generation blockchain as its foundation equipped with fully decentralized cross-chain bridges that interconnect many of the different existing and future blockchain networks.
