This year was a remarkable year for blockchain and cryptocurrency. New partnerships and innovations, new crypto products and platforms, a bear market for Bitcoin and Ether, and the maturing of a number of blockchain protocols all lead to significant growth over the last 12 months. As well as these important developments, a number of governments and central banks have warmed up to the idea of this sector and some have even taken steps to adopt the technology in their own systems and processes. Some of the world’s biggest companies and financial institutions have also embraced blockchain and digital assets, proving that this trend is not going anywhere.
But what is in store for 2020? Here are some of next year’s most anticipated events that are set to define the blockchain ecosystem over the next 12 months.
Facebook Libra will launch
Social media giant Facebook announced its foray into cryptocurrency with its controversial and much resisted Libra initiative. The expectation is that it will launch in a handful of jurisdictions with limited scope and functionality due to concerns from EU and US regulators.
Bitcoins ETF won’t be approved
Earlier this year, there was a lot of excitement about whether the SEC would approve several of the pending Bitcoin ETF filings. Unfortunately, the SEC rejected them all, citing grounds of risk of manipulation in underlying markets and concerns over legitimacy. This seems unlikely to change in 2020.
Stablecoins will flourish
The concept of tokenizing fiat currencies is one that has gained traction over the last few years and is likely to continue into 2020. We can expect to see an increase in stablecoin adoption, driven from trading on exchanges and we will also see J.P. Morgan and Fnality’s stablecoin project go live.
Regulators will be inspired by Wyoming
The US state of Wyoming has laid out a regulatory framework for digital assets and digital asset banking. By splitting assets into three categories, Wyoming has broken down the differences between virtual currencies and digital securities and deemed them all as intangible personal property. As a result, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona have started developing similar frameworks.
China will launch its own cryptocurrency
In 2019, China announced it would launch its own Central Bank Digital Currency called the DC/EP initiative that is set to launch in 2020. China has already invested billions in the crypto and blockchain, particularly in research and development.
More blockchain businesses will start up
As confidence grows in the blockchain sector and cryptocurrency becomes more widely adopted, the opportunities for blockchain entrepreneurs will continue to increase. More and more jurisdictions are becoming blockchain friendly and offer fiscal and other incentives to those choosing to base their operations there.
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