Five Large and Small Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Projects to Watch in UK and Ireland for 2022

5 Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Projects to Watch

1. Kraken

Exchanges connecting with mainstream finance

Kraken is a California-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011. They are one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe and the 4th largest exchange by volume (currently about €1.35 billion daily volume. Kraken is expanding a team in Dublin, and looking to run their European operations from Dublin.

They have been moving quickly to bridge traditional finance and cryptocurrency, and were granted the first special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter in the United States. As one of the largest exchanges, with one of the best customer service ratings and huge, continuous growth, Kraken’s move could help to make Ireland a hub of cryptocurrency businesses as well as a start-up hub for Europe.

Kraken is considering an IPO in 2022, and would be one of the first large cryptocurrency exchanges to become a publicly listed company (Coinbase, the second-largest exchange, which went public in April 2021). Kraken’s value is estimated to be about $10 billion, and an IPO would be another step in integrating cryptocurrency into the traditional financial system.

Kraken is worth watching because they will be one of the major players that take cryptocurrency and blockchain tech further into mainstream use.

2. Fantom (FTM)

Alternatives for Decentralized Finance

Fantom is a Dublin-based blockchain that enables permissionless, open-source smart contracts. Smart contracts are a type of computer program which automatically carry out tasks or transactions without the need for an intermediary or for 3rd party enforcement. These are frequently used in Decentralised Finance (DeFi) for transactions like loans. Smart contracts can be used to complete complex financial transactions without an intermediary like a bank. That means money can be borrowed and lent, interest earned and charged and complex financial transactions can be initiated without a bank. The largest DeFi platforms like Compound (approx. €17 billion assets) and Aave (approx. €15 billion) are currently on the Ethereum blockchain which is extremely popular due to its utility for a range of projects from finance, storage of private information, business applications and gaming. The popularity of Ethereum has consequently made the network highly congested and costly to use.

Fantom can support nearly instant transactions costing fractions of a penny and has been growing in popularity. They are not the only project in this space: FTM has serious competition from other projects like Solana and Cardano which have similar purposes and have also seen significant growth in the past year, but this Dublin-based company is certainly one to watch.

3. GNTL

Community-based growth and decentralized leadership

GNTL is a small project that started with a community of cryptocurrency miners and mining pools operating since 2018. In March 2021 GNTL launched a privacy-focused coin using the RandomX/ARQ algorithm to benefit from the privacy features from Monero’s RandomX algorithm and the smaller scratchpad from the ArQmA variant that makes the coin more accessible to smaller mining operators and individual miners without specialized equipment.

The core team has a completely decentralized leadership model and organizational structure. They are distributed internationally, but primarily in the UK and USA. GNTL’s community-based approach to rolling out a cryptocurrency is worth paying attention to. Their focus on building an open and inclusive community is an effective way to open up cryptocurrency mining and use of blockchain technology to both new entrants to this sector and tech veterans.

GNTL is a newer coin, and is much smaller than the most popular privacy coins like Monero, ZCash, and Dash. The market cap of GNTL rose to about €100,000 within weeks of its first exchange listing in November 2021 which compares to the largest privacy coins that have much larger market caps (Monero €3.8 billion, ZCash €2.7 billion. A significant amount of collaboration and innovation in community groups in the cryptocurrency space, so projects like GNTL and ArQmA (market cap €530,000) are well worth watching.

4. Argo Blockchain PLC

ESG Cryptocurrency mining

Argo Blockchain PLC is a UK-based and FTSE-listed cryptocurrency mining group with mining infrastructure in Quebec, Canada. They provide cloud-based access to cryptocurrency mining infrastructure: mining as a service.

They are noteworthy because of their focus on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) standards. Their mining operations in Quebec mean that the electricity used is inexpensive and does not rely on fossil fuel consumption.

One of the major criticisms of cryptocurrency mining and Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanisms has been related to the environmental impact of using electricity from burning fossil fuels. In 2020 Argo avoided 14.9 megatonnes of CO2 emissions in 2020 (equivalent to more than 20% of all the CO2 emissions produced by UK households in 2020) and purchased offsets for the remaining emissions of their mining operations. As of July 2021, the company became climate positive, meaning the net effect of all their business activities and carbon offsets reduces the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

With the growing importance of ESG businesses and investing, sustainable and carbon-neutral cryptocurrency mining will be an important space to watch.

5. Digital IDs

Online identification and privacy implications

Digital IDs are not specifically a blockchain project, but they are coming down the pipeline and the companies involved are a growth industry to watch. They have huge potential to affect the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. The UK government has published its’ framework for digital IDs that are intended to provide transferable online identification without physical documentation.

They are a major development, and the way they are rolled out and are likely to affect user registration for any company that are subject to Know Your Customer (USA) or Anti-Money Laundering (UK) legislation and regulation With stronger regulation of cryptocurrencies firms in regulatory pipeline and the UK Financial Conduct Authority requiring all existing and new cryptocurrency companies to register for approval by March 2022, companies that provide digital IDs will see significant growth. And for anyone in the crypto space who values privacy and decentralization, it will be well worth considering the impact this will have on crypto businesses and projects in the coming years.

Digital IDs are not necessarily blockchain projects, but are expanding rapidly in the UK, Ireland and around the world: digital ID companies are a significant growth industry that are likely to impact most online activity, and moving activities that previously required physical identification online.

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