1、The ascent of the crypto economyDigital Economy Compass 2022 Chapter 1May 2022DIGITAL&TRENDS2The ascent of cryptocurrencies has been turbulent,accompanied by many advances andsetbacks.In 2009,the first Bitcoin block was mined;in 2015,Ethereum introduced the firstprogrammable blockchain;in 2018,80%of
2、 the market was erased by a speculativebubble(1).Today with rising offers of Neobroker and Crypto exchanges like Coinbase,everyone can invest,and the topic is on everyones lips.Tremendous advancements have led to the implementation of several novel ideas andfeatures such as smart contracts,which unl
3、ocked a plethora of possibilities and given riseto an entire crypto ecosystem.Despite significant advancements,cryptocurrencies remainhighly controversial due to high volatility,increasing numbers of cyberattacks,and issuesrelated to energy consumption and scalability.In this context,we decided to p
4、ublish the first chapter of the sixth edition of the DigitalEconomy Compass about Cryptocurrencies and numerous related topics such asDecentralized Finance.Several other chapters covering topics like the future of theMetaverse,GamingandeCommercewillbereleasedfurtheronovertheyear.The Digital Economy
5、Compass is published every year by Statista and focuses on findinganswers and new questions along the way with the most relevant and recent data outthere.For all these insights,we have compiled both external data as well as a vast body of ourown,proprietary data.Our own research and market analyses
6、are accessible outside theDigital Economy Compass in even greater depth and bundled into a targeted productfamily.The Statista Market Outlooks provide 700,000+data stats on 2,200+markets,700+reports,and cover 150+countries.The Statista Global Consumer Survey contains datafrom 1,700,000+interviews,co