The 2022–2023 period saw several bad actors wiped from the cryptocurrency industry, none bigger than FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried.
The cryptocurrency market took a beating in 2022, falling more than 70% during a time when the industry made headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons — from FTX’s bankruptcy and Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest to the $50 billion collapse of the Terra ecosystem.
The United States also saw inflation hit a 40-year high as the country’s national debt figure continued to rise.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. In September 2022, Ethereum made the long-awaited transition to a proof-of-stake network, and Bitcoin’s hash rate increased threefold throughout the year. The market also rebounded strongly in 2023.