One of Pantera Capital’s investors, Paul Veradittakit, was brave capable to make predictions for this year successful the tumultuous satellite of crypto. Even though we applaud the courage, we’re going to poke holes successful them. Because this is the Internet and that’s what we bash here. To beryllium clear, the writer went done 2021 biggest trends and extrapolated them into the future. Which is simply a harmless capable technique.
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Considering Pantera defines itself arsenic the “first U.S. organization plus manager focused exclusively connected blockchain,” you cognize Veradittakit didn’t adjacent notation Bitcoin. The pursuing is simply a purely crypto affair. It’s besides worthy noticing that the biggest disapproval that Web3 gets is that it’s funded by task superior and they’re the ones who volition yet payment from it. And, well, that’s conscionable what Pantera is and does.
In immoderate case, let’s research Veradittakit’s ideas and predictions.
Pantera On L2s and Rollups
Surprisingly, the nonfiction starts by throwing Ethereum nether the bus. According to Veradittakit, each the enactment volition beryllium connected L2s. Those grew tremendously successful 2021, and the Pantera capitalist considers them indispensable to Ethereum’s scalability.
“As mainstream adoption of crypto continues to grow, Ethereum’s web congestion volition lone go worse, exacerbating its problems with latency and fees. Rollups are captious to sustaining the maturation of Ethereum by ensuring that compute infrastructure is highly scalable, allowing users to interact with dApps with akin oregon adjacent amended expectations astir usability arsenic with accepted web apps.”
Reading betwixt the lines, this prediction besides says that Ethereum is not going to merchandise immoderate of its web upgrades this year. Which sounds astir right.
Pantera On Non-Ethereum/Bitcoin Chains
This prediction refers to the conflict of the L1s, oregon the expected Ethereum killers. The Pantera capitalist is evidently partial to 1 successful particular:
“Recent enactment successful the Solana community, including the launches of monolithic funds for decentralized societal media and gaming, suggests that the ecosystem volition proceed to turn immensely successful the coming year.”
First of all, you can’t person “decentralized societal media and gaming” successful a centralized level similar Solana. Second, Veradittakit forgets to notation Solana’s changeless method problems and outages. Make of that what you will.
Another inclination the writer mentions are bridges, “which alteration interoperability betwixt vastly antithetic networks,” which helium considers volition “accelerate the maturation of non-Ethereum ecosystems.” Or, to enactment it much bluntly:
“Overall, these advancements successful cross-chain infrastructure volition accelerate the velocity astatine which alternate furniture 1 chains summation traction, fostering the improvement of a genuinely robust, divers multi-chain crypto ecosystem.”
What the Pantera capitalist truly means is that each different L1s volition support leaching connected Ethereum. Which sounds astir right.
SOL terms illustration connected FTX | Source: SOL/USD connected TradingView.comVeradittakit On Composability and Web3
This taxable ties with the erstwhile one. But the Pantera capitalist gets into a precise absorbing topic:
“Decentralized individuality projects, which let users to support full, much precise power implicit idiosyncratic information and reputation, enabling usage cases astir un-collateralized loans, cognize your lawsuit (KYC) rules, and more. In 2022, we’ll spot much projects grow the scope of on-chain ownership, allowing users to person full, functional power implicit their individuality and holdings successful the integer world.”
One thing’s for sure, the satellite needs “a azygous login crossed each services”. No 1 tin grip the fig of passwords we’re expected to remember. This is simply a existent problem. In the article, however, the writer focuses connected Ethereum-based solutions. We would similar to notation that there’s an alternate that uses the Lightning Network. And, you know, that runs implicit a web that’s really decentralized.
Pantera On Expansion of NFTs
This is his slightest arguable take. Veradittakit thinks “NFTs volition proceed to turn immensely successful popularity done the coming year”. He elaborates:
“NFT projects successful 2022 volition amusement substantially much diverseness successful usage cases and volition reconfigure however we interact with and deliberation astir ownership of integer media much broadly.”
However, paraphrasing Vitalik, NFTs person to unrecorded done a carnivore marketplace earlier they tin beryllium considered a success. Is determination going to beryllium a carnivore marketplace successful 2022? Probably not. So, Pantera’s prediction stands.
Veradittakit On Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
This prediction is besides reasonably uncontroversial:
“Given their heightened prominence, I expect to spot DAOs go a mainstream conveyance for online organizing and corporate action, helping individuals crossed the globe get actionably progressive with causes they attraction about.”
And the Pantera capitalist follows it up with this one:
“As DAO operations turn successful complexity, I expect to spot adjacent much projects gathering retired DAO tooling and infrastructure successful 2022.”
More DAOs and tools to negociate them? That sounds astir right.
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Pantera On DeFi Security
This prediction starts with chilling stats:
“More than $610 cardinal were stolen done DeFi exploits successful 2021 (a staggering eightfold summation from $77 cardinal successful 2020), and an further $704 cardinal successful funds were stolen and past aboriginal returned by achromatic chapeau hackers, similar those down the $600 cardinal PolyNetwork exploit.”
Considering 2021 was the twelvemonth of DeFi, this should travel arsenic nary surprise. Criminals travel occurrence and attention. In immoderate case, look astatine those numbers and extrapolate them to what they would beryllium if DeFi achieves mainstream status.
“In 2022, I expect to spot information go a tremendous absorption for DeFi projects, and expect respective much projects motorboat astir amended astute declaration auditing, precise runtime monitoring, and user protections.”
The question present is, is that enough? Or are astute contracts a information hazard by definition? Will anyone beryllium capable to physique an unhackable DeFi protocol? Who volition triumph this race?
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