Crypto winter tightened its grip in February, while policy and payments kept moving fast. India put the Digital Rupee on the agenda and paired it with a tough tax regime, China pushed the e-CNY into the spotlight during the Winter Olympics, NFTs kept pulling in serious capital, and Warren Buffett climbed back into the top five richest people globally. 

Here is Drofa Comms’ February 2022 roundup of the signals that mattered across crypto, fintech, and regulation.

The Crypto Lifestyle

FTX expanded to sports and gaming over the past year and is exploring even more opportunities. They are creating a gaming unit to encourage game publishers to embrace cryptocurrency and NFTs. FTX Gaming will enable gaming companies to launch crypto tokens and support NFTs for the 2 billion gamers market. The blockchain technology allows gamers to own the items they have collected while playing. 

According to the Blockchain Game Alliance 2021 Survey and Report, NFT games were responsible for $2.32 billion in revenue, representing 22% of all NFT trading volume during the third quarter of 2021, and there were 754 third quarter wallets linked to gaming in that period. FTX also has hired former model and luxury beauty entrepreneur Lauren Remington Platt to target the $300 billion luxury market. She will be responsible for creating partnerships with luxury and fashion brands.

Fintechs Ups South And Downs North

In the USA, digital bank Chime decided to postpone its IPO for the second semester to release new products. For the IPO, it was expected to have a valuation between $35 billion and $45 billion. Fintech stocks in America have been declining since last year, with known companies such as Block and PayPal reaching as low as 60%, however by mid-February fintech stocks were recovering, with a market cap over $2 billion.

Down to South America, the “Sage of Omaha” Warren Buffett surprised the market after Berkshire sold shares in Visa and MasterCard. He had already invested $500 million in the crypto-friendly Brazilian neobank last year, which has star singer Anitta on the board. This came as a surprise, since he openly declares not to be a fan of cryptocurrencies.

Regulations Are Tapering

India announced the government is creating the “Digital Rupee” and taxing 30% on any income generated from crypto transactions, plus a second tax of 1% at source on all transactions (TDS). That created massive confusion, as users questioned how it could tax and not legalise it.

In the UK, HMRC announced that cryptocurrency should be taxed as “property” and that it needs a new regulation-type process, by changing its guidance for the treatment of crypto assets to include further information on lending and staking in decentralised finance.

China released the Digital Yuan (e-CNY) at the Winter Olympics as an option to pay for goods during the event, taking the global lead on CBDCs. Brazil also presented a bill to regulate cryptos in the country that needs to pass through the Senate and Lower House before the president’s approval. In the USA, the FBI is launching a new Blockchain and virtual assets crime unit, as a measure to prevent financial crimes in the crypto universe.

Over The Edge

Geopolitical tension is affecting markets all over the world. At the beginning of the month, thousands of dollars in crypto were donated to groups supporting Ukraine on the imminence of conflicts with Russia. While investors rush for gold and Swiss franc for secure investments, oil just goes up the charts at the highest point since 2014. Stock markets everywhere are down and the crypto market has lost $200 billion so far.

It Feels Like Summer In The Metaverse

No Mediterranean beaches, Ibiza or Algarve for this summer. The new hotspot is the Metaverse, as everybody who is somebody is going there. Everything is happening in Decentraland: JP Morgan is the first major bank to enter the Metaverse, the first-ever meta-wedding was attended by 2,000 guests, and the Ice Poker Casino made $75 million in only three months, with a daily average of 6,000 users.

Metaverse market size last year was $148.5 billion. According to the PwC forecast, it will reach $476.4 billion in 2025 and $1,542.9 billion in 2030. Time to buy that plot of land before it is too late, if you don’t want to live in Roblox.

Crypto Cosy Winter

This month’s cryptocurrency market capitalisation dipped below $2 trillion, week after week, and better days are expected only for 2024. This is the moment to define who are the bears strong enough to stay and survive, as speculators fled.

It is not a time for hibernation, but to develop new projects and enhance technology, specialists bet. The secret is not to panic and seize the opportunities. Even big banks are saying it is not too late to invest in crypto amidst the cold winter. 

According to a Deutsche Bank survey released this month, even if values were to drop 80%, less than half of investors said they would reduce their investments or exit the market. One thing is for sure, crypto is here to stay through good and hard times.

A Welcoming Tech Oasis

Several tech events are taking place in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), starting with IDC Middle East CIO Summit, followed by MetaWeek and World Blockchain Summit both next month. So it is a great opportunity to remind the region’s appetite for tech. Dubai welcomes fintechs, startups and cryptos with business-friendly regulations and licensing options, besides great funding opportunities.

The NFTs Carnaval

As crypto goes down, NFTs are on a never-ending ascension. Just in the first week of February NFT sales hit $535 million. Bored Ape startup began the month in talks for a funding round that would value it at up to $5 billion.

NFTs Anime Azukis had over $340 million in sales, surpassing Bored Apes and CryptoPunks. Sotheby’s auction of CryptoPunk NFTs was expected to reach $30 million, however, got withdrawn right before the sale. In the UK, the first NFT seizure took place after investigations discovered an attempt to defraud £1.4 million.

Blockchain Bonanza

Intel released its new blockchain chip named BONANZA 1 (BMZ1), at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). The new 3,600W crypto mining machine can perform up to 40 terahashes per second (TH/s) and it is expected to save energy. Among the first customers are Block Inc and cloud mining pool Argo Blockchain. The company is already on the works to release Bonanza Mine 2 (BMZ2) by the end of the year.

Meta Is In The Limbo

Maybe Zuckerberg should have consulted a numerologist as this rebranding is not bringing any luck at all. While the world is moving to the Metaverse, Meta shares went down 26% at the beginning of the month, representing more than $230 billion depreciation in market cap. It was considered the biggest loss of market value in history.

To make things worse, Meta is being accused of deceiving investors in an attempt to handle misinformation on climate change and COVID-19. According to whistleblower complaints filed at SEC, the company is failing on moderating and blocking fake news published on its network.

Conclusion

February’s story was less about one price chart and more about where momentum is shifting. Markets stayed risk-sensitive, yet builders and institutions continued to place bets: metaverse experiments drew attention, NFTs consolidated into a capital magnet, and regulators moved from commentary to concrete frameworks. 

The takeaway for teams operating in fintech and crypto is to expect tougher compliance expectations, sharper investor scrutiny, and faster narrative cycles. 

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