FOMO will drive crypto adoption in 2022, says BlockFi co-founder

Flori Marquez, co-founder of cryptocurrency custodian BlockFi, said that upward price action, new talent and regulatory clarity will combine to create a bubbling FOMO atmosphere for crypto adoption in 2022. In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Friday, Marquez also shared insights regarding industry growth in 2021.

Marquez suggested that crypto has become “more digestible” for the average consumer than it was back in 2016. She explained that other significant drivers for growth in 2022 will be the wealth of skilled experts coming to work in the crypto industry and regulatory clarity.

The stats she cited set an optimistic foundation for growth in 2022. According to BlockFi research, one in 10 people plan to gift crypto this year while also adding:

“About two-thirds of Americans prefer to talk about crypto versus if you think about five years ago, only 1% of people had ever traded crypto, and 50% of Americans had never heard of crypto five years ago.”

BlockFi’s internal metrics are also indicative of burgeoning adoption. In the first year of its reward card’s operations, 75,000 people signed up. Marquez pointed out that the figure is “absolutely huge because most fintech companies look to see about 10,000 credit cards in their first year.”

More interesting for FOMO in 2022 is the revelation that for the “majority of Blockfi’s clients–when they receive a BTC reward, they’re not selling that for cash.”

Related: Robinhood enables US users to gift crypto for the holidays

These discoveries reflect broader adoption trends across the crypto space, particularly among younger people. A recent CNBC survey revealed that 83% of Millennial millionaires now own crypto. “Hodling” is catching on among BlockFi’s clients, 38% of whom plan to hold, and only 6% plan to reduce their crypto exposure in the coming year.

For Marquez, however, it’s the festive timing of new regulations and new talent coming into the crypto space that is pivotal. She commented that crypto and fintech have been huge attractors to people who are looking to learn something new and expand their careers.

“So I think we’re going to see more talent shifting from other more traditional industries into crypto and the fintech sector. And the last thing that I think we’ll see in 2022 is some regulatory clarity.”

As families come together during the holiday season with Bitcoin’s (BTC) price holding steady above $48,000, a deep-seated, long-awaited FOMO atmosphere could drive both prices and adoption in 2022.