Weekly Headlines 2023.4 W4
“It takes great virtue to keep anything, whether it’s your reputation, integrity, or Bitcoins.” – Jimmy Song
Weekly News Report:
News
1. What to Expect at Consensus 2023
– April 26-28 conference in Austin run by CoinDesk, Consensus 2023 brings together major figures in crypto, finance, Web3, regulation, entertainment and more.
2. ChatGPT, Midjourney, other AI tools to make their way into EU legislation
– The bill will classify the risk of AI tools and force developers of generative-AI applications to disclose the use of any copyrighted materials.
3. OpenAI’s ChatGPT reenters Italy after obliging transparency demands
– The revocation of the ban in Italy required ChatGPT to reveal its data processing practices and implement age-gating measures, among other legal requirements.
4. Elon Musk introduces Twitter monetization avenues for content creators
– The latest user-centric revamp aims to improve follower engagement and create new revenue streams on the social media platform.
5. Binance Japan Will Start Operations After June
– Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange acquired Sakura Exchange BitCoin in November. Binance is set to begin operations in the Japanese market, according to a notice published on Friday.
6. U.S. House Will Have Crypto Bill in 2 Months: McHenry
– Rep. Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, says his and the Agriculture panel will meet jointly in May as they work on crypto legislation.
7. PayPal to Enable On-Chain Transfers From Venmo Accounts, Including to On-Chain Wallets
– The feature will become available in May, PayPal’s Jose Fernandez da Ponte said during a panel at Consensus 2023.
8. Chinese city public servants to receive digital yuan salaries starting May
– Personnel in public service, public institutions and state-owned units at all levels in the city will be compensated with the digital yuan.
9. MeWe social network with 20M users to integrate with Polkadot parachain
– Social network MeWe will integrate with the Frequency blockchain network, a parachain of Polkadot, according to an April 26 announcement at Consensus 2023. The announcement added that the company will begin moving its users’ accounts over to the network during this quarter.
10. Bahamian Prime Minister Doesn’t Regret FTX
– Philip Davis says the country is “open for business” for legitimate digital-asset companies.
11. Circle Unveils New Method for Moving USDC Between Blockchains
– USDC issuer Circle Internet Financial on Wednesday released a new method to move the major stablecoin between blockchains that it says is faster, safer and cheaper than the “bridges” that are widely used in decentralized finance.
12. Zimbabwe to Introduce Gold-Backed Digital Currency: Report
– The country’s central bank wants people to be able to exchange Zimbabwe dollars for the gold-backed token so that they can hedge against the currency’s volatility.
13. Blockchain features on WEF whitepaper as a tool to fight climate change
– CISA executive Brynly Llyr said that it’s important to consider and research emerging technologies that can help address climate change.
Institution
1. Where crypto can grow: Digital asset regulations around the world
– While many countries have sped up their efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies following a crisis-filled 2022, most still lack a clear framework for the industry to build around.
2. Bitcoin Is Poised to Reclaim Crypto’s Spotlight: Berenberg
– More investors recognize the digital asset as a sensible alternative not only among crypto tokens but also within a global financial context, the firm said.
3. The U.S. Should Lead the Digital Future of Money
– In his speech at CoinDesk’s Consensus festival Wednesday, Chris Giancarlo, the head of the non-profit Digital Dollar Project, said a U.S. central bank digital currency is too important to be left to central bankers to design. Money is a social issue requiring broad-based public engagement.
4. ECB Mulls Decentralized Settlement for Wholesale Financial Markets
– The European Central Bank wants its centralized financial settlement systems to better interact with distributed ledger technology as it seeks to keep pace with technological developments in financial markets.
5. Hong Kong Regulator Reminds Local Banks There Is No Ban on Crypto Firms
– Crypto companies have complained that opening bank accounts in the jurisdiction is difficult.
6. California County approves blockchain-based digital wallet for gov’t services
– Santa Cruz voted to approve the use of a blockchain-based digital wallet for government services and official documentation and is set to begin a pilot program in July 2023.
Market
1. Bye-Bye Bitcoin Bear
– No investor or financial advisor has a crystal ball that can predict the movement of an asset, including bitcoin, with total certainty. But past bitcoin halvings can provide clues on what we could potentially expect.
2. Bitcoin Held on Binance Surges to Record High of 692K BTC: Glassnode
– The tally has increased by more than 50,000 bitcoins in four weeks, reversing the exodus seen late last year.
3. Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Are Profitable for First Time in 11 Months, Blockchain Data Shows
– Bitcoin’s “long-term holder spent output profitability ratio” shows coins moved on-chain that have a lifespan of at least 155 days or higher are being sold for a profit.
4. Jack Dorsey’s Block Snaps Up Bitcoin Mining Chip as Intel Winds Down Production
– The payments company could start selling bitcoin mining hardware as early as next year.
5. Ripple Sold $336M Worth of XRP Tokens in Q1, Reports Strong XRPL Growth
– The firm has continued to sell XRP only in connection with its international transaction product.
6. Bitcoin Use Cases Are Seeing ‘Explosive Growth,’ Trust Machines Says
– “Bitcoin is fun again because there’s a place to build again,” said Muneeb Ali, CEO of Trust Machines and co-founder of Stacks, on StageX at Consensus 2023.
7. Cross-Chain Bridge Stargate’s Volume Soars as Airdrop Hunters Set Sights on LayerZero Token
– Crypto traders are using the Stargate bridge in the hope that they will be eligible for a rumored LayerZero airdrop.
8. Bitcoin’s ‘Estimated Leverage Ratio’ Hits Lowest Point Since December 2021
– The estimated ratio indicates how much leverage is used by traders on average, according to CryptoQuant.
9. Tokenization of Real-World Assets ‘Changes How Value Is Transferred’
– Institutions and fund managers have wanted to tokenize assets for some time, but it’s been a manner of infrastructure catching up.
10. Bitcoin’s Negative Correlation With Dollar Index Strengthens Ahead of U.S. GDP Data
– The 90-day correlation coefficient between bitcoin and the dollar index has slipped to -0.70 from -0.11 four weeks ago.
11. 46% of millennials across major economies own crypto: Bitget research
– The study featured over 255,000 respondents across 26 countries in four age groups.
NFT
1. NFT Collective Proof Is Building a 3D World for Its Moonbirds Community
– The Moonbirds Monaverse on 3D world-building platform Mona will let NFT holders participate in virtual community experiences.
2. Romania Embraces Web3 by Launching National NFT Marketplace
– Romania is entering the realm of NFTs and Web3 with its national NFT marketplace. The country’s National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) wishes to fuel Web3 adoption by launching an in-house NFT trading platform.
DeFi
DeFi Needs More Than ‘Synthetic High-Yield Products’: Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi
– The venture capitalist discusses non-ZIRP monetary policy, rebooting crypto’s market structure and why Ponzi bubbles always burst.
Web3
1. Google Cloud to Help Accelerate Polygon’s Growth Via New Agreement
– Google Cloud is working with Polygon Labs to help developers make it easier to build, launch and grow their Web3 products and dapps on the Ethereum-based layer 2 blockchain.
2. Web3 Music Requires Fresh Ideas to Succeed, Says Warner Music Exec
– The digitally augmented space is a key part of Warner Music Group’s future plans, Chief Digital Officer Oana Ruxandra said at Consensus 2023.
3. Regulation Clarity Will Bring on More Consumer Web3 Users, PepsiCo’s Executive Says
– PepsiCo Head of Next Gen DTC Connections and Innovation Kate Brady talks about the urgency in regulatory clarity in the customer web3 space at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2023 conference.
4. Marvel Studios Founder Says Web3 Has ‘Same Seed’ of His Early Marvel Days
– Marvel Studios’ founding chairman made his first public talk at Consensus 2023 since he sold Marvel to Disney 10 years ago.
5. Web3 Can Be ‘the Trust Layer’ to Counter Issues Raised by AI
– Journey’s Cathy Hackl shares how the Web 3 ecosystem can empower AI during CoinDesk’s Consensus 2023 conference.
6. Blockchain and crypto leaders converged at DAO Tokyo as Japan increases adoption
– Japan has taken strides of late to adopt and integrate decentralized technologies within both government and businesses.
April 29, 2023