Just like that, we are nearing the end of another eventful year. The year 2022 will forever be imprinted in our minds for all its remarkable events. Granted, it's been a challenging year, but as always, humanity finds a way to see the light and work towards bringing about a better future. The road to success and self-fulfilment is riddled with lessons. It is important for us to learn from these experiences so we can do better as we move forward. That's what 2022 felt like for many in the crypto, media, and entertainment industry. We went through so much this year. A year of reflection has geared us to become more vigilant, efficient, and kinder in preparation for 2023.

The year kicked off with some surprising and shocking events. For instance, the first quarter saw a celebrity slap another celebrity on live TV. We also saw the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Twitter is now owned by Elon Musk. Meanwhile, the world seems to be coming back to pre-covid times. A lot of changes took place this year, some great ones and some that pushed our leaders to make conscious choices. Let's have a look at some of the biggest events that took place this year in the Web3 world and understand why it's important to learn from these incidents.

At the start of 2022, the price of Bitcoin was a little over $46,000. This was a decent time for the crypto industry, but little did we know, a harsh cold winter was heading our way. While many decided to hunker down and bundle up to survive the crypto winter, many let FUD take over. The brutal crypto winter only worsened throughout the year due to certain unexpected events in the industry. To highlight, the one that started it all, the fall of Terra LUNA and UST. The Terra blockchain had a great run up until April 2022 when it reached an ATH of over $110. Soon after, the price dropped and the network crumbled to nothing in a matter of days.

This was the first domino to fall in the crypto arena of 2022. Once Terra fell, it led to a chain reaction of many other crypto companies falling as well. Terra was home to the investments of thousands of crypto users. Therefore, the fall of Terra made a huge dent in the crypto market. Investors and companies lost millions, Terra lost billions. Companies like Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and many others filed for bankruptcy. This in turn led to mass layoffs in the crypto space. Furthermore, the fall of FTX did not help improve the crypto market sentiment. Despite all this, it is important to remember that during these gloomy months, many crypto-based companies still shined bright.

For instance, companies like Ripple and Binance set up more global offices and began to hire more personnel. In fact, Binance even broke records this year. It set the Guinness World Record for the largest crypto class this year. Clearly, global interest in crypto hasn't diminished in the slightest. Rather, it continues to grow! This is because crypto and blockchain are still very new industries. It looks like we are still in a phase of trial and error. In its early days, the crypto space was filled with scams and rugpulls. ICOs were viewed skeptically and scam coins like Squid Game coin could bamboozle naive investors. All these hiccups led to regulators and leaders to buckle down and set up proper guidelines to protect investors across the world.

The year 2022 saw many crypto regulations come in. So far, it seems that a year of reflection has pushed us into redefining and reevaluating what blockchain technology should provide. At first investors were looking to make a quick buck, but now, as we transcend into a higher plane, more and more crypto projects are focusing on utility to empowering users. Besides, 2022 has only been extra harsh for the crypto realm. It has in no way been hard on other Web3 projects. For example, NFT trading volume hit $1.3 billion earlier this year. Meanwhile, metaverse projects have also taken a lead. In March, we had our first-ever Metaverse fashion week. Adding on, Web3 conferences and events have also been on the rise, the latest of which can be seen at the Miami Web3 Summit.

Other huge milestones in 2022 include the long-awaited launch of Ethereum 2.0. After 6 years of waiting for its arrival, Ethereum 2.0 finally made its debut in September. This was definitely a historic moment for the crypto industry. It shows us that progress needs time. This industry is not about making quick profits, it's about building a better future for the world. We are gradually shifting into a decentralized world where 'power to the people' truly holds meaning. We will soon thrive in a space where individuals will make collective decisions for themselves.

Pop comes in with this philosophy at its core. We are a Web3 project that gives our audience value beyond just the monetary kind. Creators have been making content for years and years only for Web2 platforms to benefit from their hard work. In return, creators' content could be wiped out forever without so much as a warning. Pop is here to change that. By using Web3 technology, creators can truly own their work on Pop. We will also be giving hybrid NFTs to every user on the app a personalized NFT. Our limited edition Genesis NFTs will be given to early bird users who'll join the alpha testing phase.

Pop has a lot of plans for our phase two operation. Keep an eye out on our social media and community channels to be the first to hear about it and stay tuned to our blog to learn more about our hybrid Genesis NFTs.