Source: news.google.com
It was a difficult year for cryptocurrencies, 2022, which is probably the understatement of the moment. But Lisa Teh and Andrew Grech, two founders of the Australian company Web3, can see a positive path in 2023.
‘Fortune favors the bold’
– Lisa Teh, co-founder of marketing agency Web3 Mooning.
Hello lisa. Thanks for chatting. What insights or learnings have you gained as a Web3 trader and/or investor in the crazy year that was 2022?
You have to be really comfortable with uncertainty! Ha ha! It was a roller coaster of a year and this industry is certainly not for the faint hearted.
It’s also one where there’s no playbook, minimal regulation, and a lack of understanding with the masses, which means you have to be willing to be patient, willing to educate, and not afraid to make mistakes.
How do you repair “crypto”? What do you think needs to happen for market momentum and confidence to return?
There is a microscope in crypto as people still don’t understand it. This means that every bad incident is amplified, giving many non-believers endless ammunition to continue to discredit you, eg FTX.
To date, crypto has been predominantly used for trading, so it is mostly for speculative purposes. What would help mass adoption is to see more mainstream acceptance by big B2C brands.
However, we are already seeing big companies like Starbucks and Gucci accept crypto as a form of payment, and this is likely to increase in 2023. Albeit at a potentially slow pace post-FTX, thanks Sam.
Governments must also step in and help regulate the industry. This will give consumers and companies more confidence to start investing in it as a means of payment or to trade.
1. By the end of 2023, almost no one will use the term NFT. Instead, they will use terms like digital collectibles, digital certificates, and digital membership.
— Lisa Teh 🇦🇺 (@lisateh_) December 12, 2022
What do you think the crypto industry should prepare for in 2023?
The market still has a long way to go to recover. It would be great to see some success stories, not just people who have been scammed in the market!
I think we’re still going to see a lot of venture capitalists continue to invest in Web3 technology, just a little more conservatively. There will be a real focus on seeing whether or not the founders have run businesses before. This space is still so new that you really need business experience to give yourself the best chance of succeeding in such a childish and tumultuous landscape.
However, fortune favors the bold, and history has shown that some of the world’s greatest companies have been built during bear markets. So now is a great time to invest in building the future of the Internet. This is your chance to not only be a part of history, but to write it.
‘Regulation will lead the narrative’
– Andrew Grech, CEO of crypto spendinga Visa-backed crypto payments startup.
Hi Andrew. What insights and learnings have come to light for you since the surprise that was Crypto 2022?
While 2022 was a challenging year for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, it wasn’t necessarily a bad year overall. This is highlighted by the FTX crash in November. While that has been bad for cryptocurrencies, the blame should not be placed on cryptocurrencies, rather the blame should lie with FTX.
Crypto has still operated smoothly throughout the entire debacle.
However, on a personal level, CryptoSpend had its best year yet, with a significant increase in users, volume, and new product features. This highlights the fact that despite the challenges and setbacks the industry is facing, there are still plenty of opportunities for growth and success in the cryptocurrency space.
How does crypto fix itself? What needs to happen for confidence and market momentum to return?
Crypto will not just fix itself, and there are many things that need to happen for confidence in the market to return.
I think the market momentum will come after increased consumer confidence in platforms that allow them to easily access cryptocurrencies. Regulation is key to this. As it stands, it is all too easy to start a crypto brokerage with little regulatory information.
Specifically, there needs to be more consumer protection measures that are required for a crypto exchange to work. In saying that, there needs to be a balance where the bar for entry isn’t so enormously high that it kills off new innovations in the space, but also doesn’t get in the way of customer security and strong AML/CTF.
What do you think we can expect in 2023 for the crypto industry?
Given how much FTX shocked the public, the US government, and auditors, it’s likely that we’ll see some movement there in regulation that will likely be closely watched here.
Regulation is what will lead the narrative, as customers more than ever are wary of the platforms they use. Unfortunately, however, there have been and will continue to be narratives that are misleading, focusing FTX’s blame on the crypto itself, when in reality, this is just like any other case of fraud.
In terms of price movements, there is no question that we are in a bear market, but there is no telling when or at what point the bottom will be hit. I think a lot of this will depend on how the public perceives cryptocurrencies and an important aspect of that is consumer protection, meaning the regulation of the space.
These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity. The content of this article should not be taken as financial advice.
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