The Main Crypto Rumors for 2022

21 March 13:03

Facebook’s Meta offering crypto services: Facebook’s Meta soon to offer crypto services after company filed for crypto trademarks in Brazil.

Apple joining the metaverse and offering crypto services: Apple has shown interest in developing crypto payments for Apple Pay since 2020, and recently mentioned that it’s investing in metaverse projects.

Walmart joining the metaverse and issuing a token: Walmart filed for seven trademarks in the United States related to offering crypto services, their own digital token, virtual shopping in a metaverse-like platform and their own digital wallet.

Same old rumors: Crypto is gonna crash, crypto is gonna skyrocket, Bitcoin is dying, Bitcoin to hit $100,000. It doesn’t matter where these rumors lead because the investment thesis remains the same and crypto continues to break new records and gather investment inflows in the long run.

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As it happens with all financial markets, the cryptocurrency asset class is also filled with rumors and speculations about what might come next - mostly from an investment inflow perspective. The past years of 2020 and 2021 were filled with institutional adoption, controversy around mining and energy efficiency, regulatory crackdown and acceptance, conferences and much more.

While it is still early 2022, there are a few predictions on the biggest news and developments that might come out this year. With that in mind, this article focuses on the main crypto rumors that are already circling the media as of early February 2022.

Facebook’s Meta offering crypto services

Source: PlayCrazyGame

It’s safe to say that 2022 is off to a bad start for Meta, crypto and non-crypto wise. The company allegedly gave up on its stablecoin project entitled Diem, formerly Libra, and set it up for a development auction. Not only so, but Meta shares dropped a staggerring 26% in a single day after it reported 500 thousand lost users during the last quarterly, the first user loss in the company’s entire 18-year history.

But there’s a major crypto rumor around Meta that seems to be flying under the radar at the moment - in 2022, the company will be allegedly implementing crypto services in their platforms.

In the last week of January, Meta filed for a trademark registration of cryptocurrency services in Brazil. According to the document, translated from Portuguese, Meta seeks to trademark services that involve “design, development and implementation of software for third-party verification services for digital currency transactions, including (but not limited to) transactions involving Bitcoin currency.”

From the looks of things, Meta will soon be offering crypto services - perhaps as payment services across their platforms Facebook, Instagram and most likely WhatsApp which already offers peer-to-peer payment exchange between users. If the rumors are true, then Meta will start off their testing ground in Brazil before moving on to other locations.

Apple joining the metaverse and offering crypto services

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Source: MarketWatch

Apple has shown official interest in cryptocurrencies dating as far back as 2020, when CEO Tim Cook once mentioned during a conference that the company was keeping a close eye on crypto payments and implementing such offers into Apple Pay could be a possibility in the future. Although this could be considered far-fetched for the moment since no other details have been disclosed thus far, it is still in the realm of possibilities as companies like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard have already joined into crypto service offers. If Apple is simply looking to have a stronger client base for payment services, offering crypto options looks like a no-brainer.

There’s also the metaverse aspect of this rumor. In late January, Tim Cook disclosed that Apple is also keeping a close eye in the metaverse and is “investing accordingly.” “We are a company in the business of innovation,” Tim Cook added, ending his details with this sentence.

If both rumors are to become true, Apple may introduce crypto payments and transactions with Apple Pay. The metaverse potential, however, seems more like a few years away. Apple is indeed a company in the business of innovation, but rarely the first to do things. If they are to keep their standards, the corporation will carefully develop metaverse technology before introducing them to the masses (the opposite of what Meta did, basically).

Walmart joining the metaverse and issuing a token

Source: CoinQuora

Similarly to Meta’s trademark registration for crypto services, Walmart seems to be entering the metaverse and crypto market through seven trademarks filed recently in the United States.

The trademarks, documented on December 30th of last year, gives readers some hints as to what’s about to come from the retail giant. Firstly, Walmart registered for “financial services, namely providing a digital currency and a digital token of value for use by members of an online community[...].” While it could just be related to crypto services and Walmart’s own token, the “members of an online community” quote seem to hint at the creation of an interactive, social media-like platform.

The metaverse twist to the application gets even clearer on another trademark filing, where Walmart states that it wants to create “online retail store services featuring virtual merchandise [...]” followed by de_script_ions of pretty much all product types that Walmart already sells.

Since Walmart is interested in their own token, it’s no surprise that they’ll look to develop an original digital wallet too - at least by the looks of their final filing which wants to develop “downloadable software for use in managing portfolios of digital currency.”

If these trademarks come true soon, 2022 will definitely be the year where Walmart dives head-first into the crypto ecosystem.

Crypto winter, crypto bull run, Bitcoin crash, Bitcoin $100,000…

Source: GOA Spotlight

The good old rumors that plague every single year in the crypto market; that we’re entering an investment “winter” or is it a bull run? That Bitcoin is about to hit $100,000 dollars, but wait, is it actually dying?

The reality is that although these rumors are the loudest and more present across mainstream media, it’s nothing more than empty speculation on all ends. To have a solid look at the reality in the crypto asset class, one simply needs to zoom out and see how much the market has grown since its inception on January 2009.

Rumors like these can make investors nervous and bring drastic financial decisions. But the investment thesis remains the same and the fundamentals have not changed; much like 2020 and 2021, 2022 will most likely be a year where digital assets continue to grow with more institutional investment inflows and popular adoption, regardless of the individual values of one crypto or the other.

Author: Gate.io Researcher: Victor Bastos
* This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
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