Memes were top asset class of 2022 as madness prevailed

Quick Take

  • Happy HODL’days! The Block scoured Twitter and Reddit for some of the most favorited and upvoted memes of the year.
  • While the #memesphere in 2021 was full of #lasereyes, 2022 was dark in comparison. 

It's been one wild year in Crypto World, and that's probably an understatement. But if you're going to cry, you may as well have a laugh. To help with that, we've scoured Twitter and Reddit for some of the most favorited and upvoted memes of the year.

While the #memesphere in 2021 was full of #lasereyes, 2022 was dark in comparison. Despite the turmoil, the jokes never stopped. Hodlers got to HODL. Here's to buying the dip! 

January

Bitcoin opened the year at $47,733 and quickly started diving, falling 19% over the month. Crypto memers HODLed through and bought the dip, that then kept dipping. They joked about a wild ride ahead. Little did they know ...

February

Bitcoin started out at $38,778 and rose about 11% over the month in a an early year reprieve that would not last. 

March

Bitcoin saw another month of gains, starting out at $44,404 and rising about 2.5%. Bain Capital's crypto team was widely ridiculed after an announcement that hit on International Women's Day.

April

Bitcoin began the month at $46,296 and went on to decline almost 19%. Taxes were due in the U.S., and NFT sales and trading reached the highest weekly levels of the year. 

May

Bitcoin began the month at $38,472 and then fell another 17%. But that wasn't the biggest news. Terra's LUNA token collapsed in what, at the time, seemed like the biggest crypto apocalypse ever. Developers at Terraform Labs thought a version 2.0 might work. Memers knew better.

June

Bitcoin plummeted a massive 33% after opening the month at $29,789. Memers bought the dip, again, as other searched for novel stablecoins. Parents called.


July

Bitcoin opened the month at $19,247 and got a bit of a breather, rising 21% over the month. Hodlers HODLed, despite the FUD.

August

RELATED INDICES

The summer doldrums hit, and even memers seemed to take a bit of a break. Bitcoin opened the month at $23,274 and then fell 14%.

September

Bitcoin started out at $20,146 and declined a modest 3%.

October

Bitcoin gained a solid 6% after opening the month at $19,315. In retrospect, it was the calm before the storm.

November

Things got real after a little scoop from CoinDesk in a wild month that would see the FTX exchange quickly, and spectacularly collapse. Just days before the the company filed for bankruptcy protection, co-founder and now former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried posted a cat meme on Twitter. Memers  joked about what to tell family members over Thanksgiving. Even #lasereyed Tom Brady gave up. Bitcoin started out at $20,481 and fell 16% over the month as all the chaos ensued. 

December 

Things moved fast in another wild month. SBF was arrested in the Bahamas, extradited to the U.S. over fraud charges and then released on bail. Former President Donald Trump briefly distracted everyone from the madness with a new NFT collection. ChatGPT had some advice. Bitcoin opened the month at $16,958 and has declined about 2% the holiday season in full swing. There weren't as many jokes about HODLing or "the dip." Maybe that's finally not funny anymore.

 

Onward to 2023!

Only time will tell where the memes go from here, but we'll leave you with a final one to close out the crazy year on an optimistic note. Happy HODL'days! 

 

Disclaimer: Beginning in 2021, Michael McCaffrey, the former CEO and majority owner of The Block, took a series of loans from founder and former FTX and Alameda CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. McCaffrey resigned from the company in December 2022 after failing to disclose those transactions.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Nathan Crooks is the U.S managing editor at The Block, based in Miami. He was previously at Bloomberg News for 12 years, where he helmed coverage of South Florida after roles as a breaking news editor and bureau chief in Caracas, Venezuela. He's interviewed presidents, government ministers and CEOs, and, besides crypto, has covered major news events on the ground from earthquakes to hurricanes to the Chilean mine rescue in 2018. Nathan, a native of Clarion, Pennsylvania, holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, where he completed a specialist in political science, and an MBA from American University in Washington, D.C.

Editor

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