The beginning of 2022 continues to be a good moment for crypto investors, given the turbulent fluctuations of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Some of us may connect the crash to recent statements from the U.S. Fed about introducing new rate hikes and political turmoil in Kazakhstan, which briefly triggered a correction in Bitcoin's hash rate.

Non-fungible token (NFT) trading and blockchain gaming, on the other hand, seem to have held up to the slump. According to reports from DappRadar, NFT transactions have continued to increase despite the cryptocurrency downturn. The report states that "the number of UAWs linked to NFT DApps on Ethereum has grown by 43% since Q3 2021." Money generated from NFT trading has also increased, from $10.7 billion in Q3 2021 to $11.9 billion in the first ten days of 2022. Recent developments in the NFT industry, such as the launch of the LooksRare marketplace, may have contributed to this growth.

The report also states that "blockchain games continue to be widely used," highlighting that it "accounts for 52% of industry usage." Developments in the metaverse, along with the growing success of the play-to-earn model, further strengthen the potential for projects throughout 2022.

The growing interest in blockchain gaming and NFTs during this market slump could be partially attributed to the Chinese audience: in fact, the Asian country recently announced that it will begin developing its own non-crypto NFT industry. According to DappRadar's report, "China is now the country with the largest user base, grown by 166% since November."

Despite the U.S. ranking second in terms of overall traffic, the country is reporting 175,000 new users in the NFT ecosystem - an increase of about 38%. This figure consists in part from growing interest from younger people, as Millennials and Generation Z begin to account for a larger percentage of traffic.

DappRadar reports that "30% of traffic comes from users in this age group, with Millennials up from the 36% recorded last year."