Happy New Year! As Omicron spreads across the world, housing shortages extend across many nations, and inflation staying like a bad Vegas hangover, but we are not in a brave new world yet. 2022 looks to be a steady reset of our economy and bringing rationality to markets across the world and financial systems. Now to my predictions for 2022…
NFTs Move Beyond Money Laundering, Crypto CircleJerks into Mainstream
NFTs were all the rage in niche circles and the tech media. A CryptoPunk selling for $11.75 million, a Beeple NFT art piece selling for $6.6M and several celebrities dropping coin for Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, such as Jimmy Fallon and Shaq. I assume like the world of fine art, much of the initial millions was money laundering, and soon afterwards it was the insiders of the crypto world making headlines and padding stats.
When I saw such numbers as $10.7 billion of NFTs sold in Q3 2021, I assumed 85% or greater were from these two mentioned categories. In 2022, I believe this will truly shift to the mainstream led by marketplaces such as NBA Topshot. We will also see NFTs divided into at least 3 categories: standalone value (i.e. sports NFTs where an incumbent base already valued digital sports cards), married with offline experiences (i.e. music concerts, entertainment events), and those married with online projects or events (i.e. gaming experiences, crypto projects).
(disclosure: SparkLabs Global invested in Genies, which isn’t directly related to this article but we want to be transparent).
The Beginning of the End for Fake Meats
The past few years, plant-based meat substitutes have been rapidly growing primarily on the premise that they are better for the environment and cows are evil since they can cause up to 6% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Now new science based on seaweed to counter livestock-related methane emissions has strong momentum (disclosure: SparkLabs Cultiv8 invested in FutureFeed, which is one of several efforts in this space).
Some research has found seaweed can cut these emissions by more than 90%. The goal for researchers and companies is to make cows and other livestock net-zero carbon emissions. While this wouldn’t eliminate the need for plant-based meats, it would be a great setback for the industry. Unless some unknown seaweed-eating bacteria is released in the coming years, I believe the prospects for at least beef substitutes looks grim.
3D Printing Finally Hits the Main Stage
The promise of 3D printing has been around for several years. Reminds me of the promise of interactive TV from the 90s where I rode and crashed from that wave to voice as a primary interface from the early 2000s to dozens of other technological promises since. Finally, I believe 3D printing will move from street card shows to the side stages of traveling circuses to Broadway. From building rockets to healthcare to housing, 3D-printing technology will be center stage in 2022.
3D-printed biological materials will become a game-changer in 2022. First with bone materials then more complex organs will available in the years to come, such as muscle tissue, cartilage, and blood vessels.
The housing industry will receive some much-needed help as 3D-printed home technology advances led by Apis Cor, Icon, Mighty Buildings, and others (disclosure: SparkLabs Ventures invested in Mighty Buildings). Faster, cheaper and arguably more durable. 3D-printed homes can take days versus 6-12 months. Additionally, the sustainability advantages of these houses are far above what traditional building processes can provide.
Major Commercial Bank Provides Crypto-related Products
A recent presentation by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (Oct 2021), showed that 83% of retail investors would be interested in earning interest on Bitcoin from a product their bank provided (i.e. savings, CD, money market). What was more interesting to me was that 60% of current crypto investors said they would “definitely” go through their bank if it provided an avenue to invest in cryptocurrencies, and 34% of this group said “maybe”. How can any of the top ten commercial banks ignore this opportunity in 2022? And what is a better hedge for themselves to the over $3.8 trillion of new bills that these banks were involved in since 2008? One of these top ten banks will fire their turbine engines to turn their massive hulls of legacy mainframes, IBM consultants, and layers of bureaucratic processes and seize this turning point in financial history.
What do you think about my predictions? Feedback and discussions are welcomed! Or what do you think will be big in 2022? Have a great coming year!
Bernard Moon is co-founder and Partner at SparkLabs Group, a network of accelerators and venture capital funds.