4 ‘emerging narratives’ in crypto to watch for: Trading firm

Despite an eventful year fraught with crypto collapses and price drops, Steven Goulden, a senior research analyst at crypto trading firm Cumberland has pointed to several “green shoots” to break the surface in crypto in 2023.

In a 14-page “Year in Review” report released on Dec. 24, Goulden said he saw four “emerging narratives” in 2023 that will lead to “significant progress” for crypto over the next six to 24 months.

These include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) becoming a “go-to method” of tokenizing a brand’s intellectual property (IP), Web3 apps and games becoming “genuinely popular,” while Bitcoin

Goulden says the play-to-earn aspects of blockchain-based gaming will lead to significant profitability for developers but added that because it takes “around 2-3 years to build a triple A (highest-quality blockbuster) game,” we probably won’t see a “Web3 game that becomes a star” until 2023 or 2024.

BTC and ETH as reserve asset

Finally, the research analyst suggested that close attention should be placed on BTC and ETH’s potential role as a reserve asset, particularly for nations focused on exports.

Goulden said many high-export nations around the world may choose to stock up its reserves with alternative assets such as cryptocurrency instead of U.S. treasury bills as a means to depress their own currencies against the U.S. Dollar.

“Even a small central bank allocation to BTC or ETH would be material and would likely lead to other exporting states following suit.”