Weekly Headlines 2023.2 W1
“Traditionally, people have looked to centralized intermediaries or governments to solve this problem, but technology like cryptography, blockchain and zero-knowledge proofs offer new solutions.” – Hester Peirce, commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Weekly News Report:
News
1. Euro stablecoin launched in Finland, claims to be first approved in the EU
– USDC issuer Circle Inc. previously released a euro-backed stablecoin that is regulated in the United States.
2. Sam Bankman-Fried Negotiating Bail Conditions: Court Filing
– Bankman-Fried’s current bail conditions bar contact with current or former employees of FTX and Alameda Research, something that the disgraced founder is alleged to be doing.
3. UK Crypto Industry Celebrates Government’s Planned Exemptions for Crypto Ad Approvals
– But the country’s financial watchdog says it will “take a consistent approach to that taken for other high-risk investments,” when the time comes to set up enforcement rules.
4. Aptos Labs Issues Grant to Blockchain Lab at Cornell University
– The newly launched blockchain built by former Diem developers has issued a $50,000 grant to a Cornell University professor of computer science.
5. Decentralized Social Media Project Nostr’s Damus Gets Listed on Apple App Store
– Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has donated to Nostr and promoted the open protocol that aspires to create a censorship-resistant global social network.
6. Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX had Around $1.4B Cash at 2022-End
– The figure is around 19% higher than the $1.2 billion reported in November when FTX filed for bankruptcy
7. Hong Kong to Require Stablecoin Licensing as Early as This Year
– Algorithmic stablecoins like terraUSD will not be accepted under the planned regulatory regime, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.
Institution
1. Australia introduces classification for crypto assets
– The national regulators identified four major products in the crypto sector. Following the global regulatory race, Australia opened the public consultation on its own taxonomy of crypto assets. The national regulators propose to distinguish four major types of products related to the crypto industry.
2. Crypto Bank Silvergate Shares Move Higher After BlackRock Boosts Stake
– Silvergate stock is down about 90% over the past year thanks to the crypto bear market and its deposit relationship with FTX.
3. ARK Invest Maintains Prediction Bitcoin Price Will Hit $1M by 2030
– A new report by Cathie Wood’s growth-focused fund outlines how bitcoin continues to outperform every other major asset class.
4. Kazakhstan Looks to Tighten Rules for Crypto Exchanges After FTX Collapse
– The Astana Financial Services Authority is seeking market feedback on new rules targeting operational resilience and separation of customer assets.
Market
1. How to improve your coding skills using ChatGPT
– ChatGPT can generate code snippets and solutions to coding problems quickly and efficiently. Here’s how.
2. $20K Bitcoin may return, says analyst as US unemployment hits 54-year low
– Bitcoin buyers may get a chance to “load up” below $22,000 on the back of employment statistics.
3. MicroStrategy Books Impairment Charge of $197.6M on Q4 Bitcoin Holdings
– The business software company reported its fourth-quarter results on Thursday afternoon.
4. Ripple Sold $226M of XRP in Q4; Sees Strong Growth in On-Demand Liquidity Product
– The firm’s on-demand liquidity product has expanded to forty countries.
5. Bitcoin Price Could Reach $45,000 by Christmas 2023: Matrixport
– When bitcoin’s performance is positive in January, the rally tends to continue, the report said.
6. Fed Preview: Powell to Trigger ‘Healthy Pullback’ in Bitcoin, Experts Say
– Financial conditions have loosened to a point where the Fed chair may detail the extent of easing is unwarranted, one observer said, warning of a pullback in risk assets.
7. Bitcoin UTXOs Older Than 5 Years Surged During Bear Market
– UTXO or unspent transaction output is the amount of bitcoin someone is left with after executing a transaction.
8. US gov’t $1.5T debt interest will be equal 3X Bitcoin market cap in 2023
– The U.S. will pay over $1 trillion in debt interest next year, the equivalent of three or more Bitcoin market caps at current prices.
9. Total crypto market cap rises above $1T — data suggests more upside is in store
– Bad news continues to dominate crypto media headlines but Bitcoin and the wider market appear to not care.
NFT
1.NFTs get physical with the world’s first real store opened in Dubai
– ftNFT retail stores offer experiences at the intersection of digital and real-life art.
2. Porsche NFT trading volume nears $5M: Nifty Newsletter, Jan 25–31
– Professionals working in the Web3 space shared various ways and tools that can help users prevent NFT theft.
3. Giant Bitcoin ‘Taproot Wizard’ NFT Minted in Collaboration With Luxor Mining Pool
– Luxor Mining collaborated with independent developer Udi Wertheimer to mint the NFT advertising “Magic Internet JPEGs” in “the largest Bitcoin block ever mined.”
4. OpenSea Releases Suite of New Tools for Creator NFT Drops
– The new experience allows selecting creators to include multi-stage minting phases, allowlist support and personalized landing pages for their NFT releases.
5. Doodles 2 NFT Mint Opens, Dooplicators Price Soars on OpenSea
– The Doodles 2 collection allows users to create custom wearables for their original Doodles avatars on the Flow blockchain.
6. Coinbase NFT Pauses New Collection Drops, Denies Shuttering Marketplace
– Amid rumors swirling on Twitter, the company confirmed it’s temporarily halting drops to focus on “features and tools” for its NFT marketplace.
7. NFT Marketplace Sudoswap Airdrops Tokens to Liquidity Providers and 0xmon Holders
– SUDO holders can vote on on-chain governance proposals, and the tokens are initially non-transferrable.
DeFi
1. Russia’s Sberbank plans to launch DeFi platform on Ethereum
– DeFi systems are able to displace the traditional market of banking services, Sber’s Blockchain Lab product director Konstantin Klimenko said.
2. DeFi enjoys prolific start to 2023: DappRadar report
– DeFi protocols have seen significant growth in total value locked in January, with Lido Finance leading the charge.
3. Decentralized Exchange Dexalot Starts a Hybrid DeFi Subnet
– Dexalot’s users will be able to deposit and withdraw assets via its app on the Avalanche C-chain, and then trade on the Dexalot subnet.
Metaverse
1. Preserving and reinventing music festival legacy in the metaverse
– The metaverse has been used as a means of cultural preservation in the past. Now, the legacy music festival Woodstock is using digital reality to preserve its legacy and reinvent its future.
2. Facebook Parent Meta’s Metaverse Division Lost $13.7B in 2022
– The social media giant reported losing $4.3 billion in the division in the fourth quarter of 2022 on revenues of $727 million.
3. The metaverse is creating a new virtual marketplace for retail brands
– Entrepreneurs have begun leveraging favorable legislation to create new cannabis markets in the metaverse.
Web3
1.Web3 Community NounsDAO Is Creating an NFT Comic Book Series
– The comic book series will build a narrative around the Nouns NFTs, further expanding the project’s intellectual property.
2. EBay Hiring Multiple Web3 Roles Following NFT Marketplace Acquisition
– According to recent LinkedIn job postings, the popular e-commerce site is seeking to bolster its Web3 team to support its NFT marketplace KnownOrigin.
3. Amazon Looking to Hire Web3 Staff for Its Cloud Services
– The biggest infrastructure provider in the world is targeting Web3 for growth.
4. ImmutableX to Launch All-In-One Passport System to Onboard New Gamers Into Web3
– The new tool, scheduled to launch in April 2023, will act as a non-custodial wallet, gamer profile and authentication solution for Web3 gamers.
5. Cool Cats Claws at Mainstream Strategy, Rebrands to Expand Audience Beyond Web3
– The popular NFT collection wants to make its brand mainstream through storytelling, entertainment and partnerships surrounding its beloved Blue Cat character.
DAO
1. Japanese prime minister says DAOs and NFTs help support government’s ‘Cool Japan’ strategy
– Fumio Kishida said there were “various possibilities for using Web3” in Japan and has previously supported blockchain-based initiatives for authorities using digital solutions.
2. Toyota to explore blockchain use cases via DAO hackathon
– The automotive giant is exploring DAO tools and blockchain integration to improve company operations.
February 3, 2023