A look back at 2022 & what 2023 could hold in store for Stake & our community
What does the year ahead have in store for Stake and our community? It’s been a year of extraordinary growth for Stake, against the backdrop of a tough climate for any holding assets in crypto and more generally for the global economy.
We’ve all experienced an extremely rough year with the likes of mass inflation, supply chain issues, war in Europe and extreme uncertainty surrounding global markets (still) in the wake of a global pandemic continuing to plague society. Spending power has been hugely affected as we all continue coming to terms with higher prices and worsening economic conditions.
However, I think things are now moving in the right direction so let’s not dwell purely on negatives for now!
Online life wouldn’t be what it is without a dose of drama, constant change, surprise partnerships and developments. We’ve seen continued innovation despite the tough climate, particularly on the online gambling and live streaming front. It has been great to see the Stake community continue to rally around such developments including support for new coins, game offerings, partnerships and more.
So then… 2023. I’m not in the business of making predictions, but let me have a go.
I hope the crypto market recovers based on last year and that regulators work with and not against the phenomenon in much the same way as when it comes to online gambling sites like ours. I don’t think leading coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum will reach the heights that they did in 2020 or 2021 but I certainly expect to see them recover slightly. That’s not investment advice!
It would not be surprising to see some traditional casino websites moving towards cryptocurrencies as they try to compete with guys like us. More power to them — competition drives innovation and is great for the community. I hope that with more casinos entering the crypto space, more of the regulators start to engage with crypto and more licences become available. I’m always here and happy to chat to anyone at a regulator who wants to know how it all works.
I also think that 2023 can be the year where blockchain gaming really takes a giant leap forward. We have seen renewed investment and interest in this despite the crypto winter, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see more game developers take note of the potential that blockchain-based gaming has.
When it comes to e-sports, I reckon the sector is going to continue its immense growth and that engagement when it comes to gambling will mimic ‘traditional’ sports in that people will start viewing the two in the same light. I believe that the vast online audience when it comes to gaming and e-sports will continue translating into physical audiences. Last year’s League of Legends World Championship Final in San Francisco for instance saw over 20,000 people come to watch it live in-person with major celebrity appearances and performances.
As for our operations, 2023 is going to be a big year, with new partnerships, even more games, updates and more, all designed to maximise customer enjoyment. I also think it will be a big year for live casino offerings like we have on Stake. This is something we’ve continued to see increase in popularity over recent months.
Finally, I believe the younger generation are going to feel more empowered than ever to become more actively involved with building online communities. Whether that’s around crypto or around the games they love, user-built communities have gone from a subculture to the mainstream, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll all build next.
I don’t mind taking a moment to celebrate Stake’s continued user growth, cryptocurrency support and launch of new games and partnerships. I hope that achievements like these can continue manifesting this year with our players reaping the rewards of renewed game investment, giveaways, new crypto support and more!
In 2022, we of course launched a massive partnership with the one and only Drake, a long-time player of Stake and big crypto advocate as well as partnering with one of the Premier League’s most well-established clubs, Everton FC and further building on other sporting partnerships with from the world of UFC to cricket.
We saw a monumental 65+ billion bets on Stake throughout the year (that’s over 2,000 bets every second), millions of dollars given away to our fans by the likes of Drake, Kevin from finance inundated with requests to ‘drop monthlies’, further cryptocurrency support on our platform, a host of new games for users and more.
Here’s an awesome stat that all of us at Stake are incredibly proud of. In December, Stake was responsible for over 5% of global Bitcoin transactions, over 12% of all Dogecoin transactions and over 15% of all Litecoin transactions. Pretty epic right? I’d love to further increase this momentum this year and see just how far we can continue climbing.
2022 was a challenging year for everyone for an array of reasons. I hope that things can only get better this year and am excited, optimistic and ready for what lies ahead.
