(Kitco News) - The year 2022 has been a bad one for cryptocurrencies, as firms like Celsius, 3AC, and Terraform Labs failed and coins like Ether fell in value by 67 percent. However, the Crypto Winter is likely near its bottom, said Anastasios Papakonstantinou, a startup growth advisor.
"We have seen this bubble that hasn't really deflated, but burst," he said. "I think we're pretty much near the middle of it, so we have maybe another year or so of turmoil and volatility."
Papakonstantinou seemed optimistic that the technologies emerging from the crypto market shakeup would be profitable and beneficial.
"The [previous Crypto Winter] in 2017 really propelled some technical innovation being redone and maybe re-evaluated," he said. "I think we're going to be looking at the same thing here again."
Education and AI
One of the technologies that Papakonstantinou is excited about is the integration of education with artificial intelligence. He is investing and mentoring a "couple" of education startups.
"After twelfth grade students [need to] figure out if they want to go to particular professions or college or university, and which particular skill sets they will need," he said. "AI can provide some insights."
The AI interface takes in existing data, processes it, and suggests to students ideas for their future.
"There is historical data, geographical data, and maybe cultural trends as well, in addition to market trends," said Papakonstantinou. "Obviously, AI is not able to imagine what is going to happen… but figuring out patterns where we, as humans, cannot see them is the added value."
|
| This 'trigger point' caused the protests in China - Pyotr Kurzin |
Green Tech
In the next two to five years, anything "ESG-related" is going to be "huge," said Papakonstantinou.
"In my humble opinion, for the next two to five years, climate tech is going to be huge," he said. "Anything that is an ESG-enabler or ESG-related is going to obviously be huge."
"I think it's a very underdeveloped market, especially in Europe and the United States," he said. "I have various discussions with Saudi Arabia, and they have put a lot of effort and a lot of focus on ESG as well."
To find out how Papakonstantinou thinks a cashless society of the future will operate, watch the video above.
Follow David Lin on Twitter: @davidlin_TV
Follow Kitco News on Twitter: @KitcoNewsNOW
