Need a Source? Crypto/Blockchain End of Year Wrap and 2023 Look Ahead

How to make sense of 2022 and where the industry may be going next

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - 2022 has left its mark on the crypto and blockchain industry. What started as a very promising beginning to the year has changed considerably; most notably with the dramatic fall in prices of digital currencies, and several centralized exchanges seeking insolvency/bankruptcy protection including most recently FTX.

And yet 2022 has simultaneously seen positive developments in this nascent industry. We have witnessed Ethereum's historic technical shift from "Proof of Work" to "Proof of Stake" known as "The Merge" which brings the promise of more environmentally sustainable operational practices. Also, some of the world's largest asset managers, investment banks and payments giants including Black Rock, Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Visa, and MasterCard have all made significant investments in blockchain. MasterCard has 89 blockchain patents granted globally with an additional 285 blockchain applications pending worldwide.

On top of that, the Bank of Canada is launching regulation for digital retail payments while the Canadian federal government announced the launch of a digital currency consultation as part of its November 2022 mini-budget.

There is clear interest in an emerging industry that's experiencing growing pains. Will exchange bankruptcies drive consumers towards self-custody and decentralized finance? How will this all be controlled & regulated? What happens next?

Brian Lock, CFO, Wellfield Technologies Inc – a TSXV-listed decentralized finance (DeFi) company that uses blockchain to create next generation financial solutions is available for interviews and can comment on:

• Where the industry is today and distinguish between crypto as a product (digital currency) vs. blockchain as a solution (financial services on the blockchain)
• Understanding industry trends - expected shifts to "self-custody wallets" as a means of empowering users rather than financial intermediaries
• What "The Merge" means and why it's such an important step in creating the next wave of financial services that will be faster, more transparent and less expensive to use
• What government needs to understand to balance two priorities - safeguarding investors vs. stifling innovation in crypto/blockchain for use in digital retail payments and digital currency development
• How investors are looking at the evolution of blockchain similarly to the internet's growth and dot com era

SOURCE Wellfield Technologies

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