Weekly Headlines 2023.5 W1
“The best time to start a necessary journey was when you first heard about it. The next best time is now. Don’t let your pride, envy, or sloth get in the way.” – Jimmy Song
Weekly News Report:
News
1. SUI mainnet goes live as token sees immediate action on Binance, OKX, others
– Major cryptocurrency exchanges around the world are launching trading of the Sui (SUI) token amid the Sui Network’s mainnet launch on May 3.
2. Zimbabwe Central Bank Wants Citizens to Subscribe to Its Gold-Backed Digital Currency
– The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has said the tokens will be issued on May 8.
3. 3% Tax on Crypto Transfers Part of Kenya’s Proposed Budget: Bloomberg
– The nation’s budget will be presented on June 8.
4. Montana governor signs pro-cryptocurrency mining bill into law
– The legislation includes revisions to laws aimed at prohibiting discriminatory electrical rates for mining firms and not allowing taxation for crypto used as a method of payment.
5. FTX Seeks to Claw Back Nearly $4B in Ongoing Bankruptcy Case
– There will be a hearing on May 25 to discuss the motion by the FTX estate.
Institution
1. BNP Paribas Will Link Digital Yuan to Bank Accounts for Promoting CBDC Use: Report
– French bank BNP Paribas (BNP) is promoting the use of China’s digital yuan by linking wallets to bank accounts, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday.
2. French Senate proposal would allow influencers to promote cryptocurrency
– The Senate’s proposal comes just months after the National Assembly floated legislation banning influencer advertising for crypto products and services.
3. Blockchain Association Leaves New York as Federal Regulatory Fight Looms
– The Blockchain Association, a crypto industry advocacy group, is exiting New York as it gears up to fight against federal regulators’ increasingly stringent restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry.
4. Bitcoin Rises as Latest Teetering U.S. Bank Sends Traders to Crypto Haven
– The banking crisis doesn’t appear to be over yet. Shares of PacWest Bancorp (PACW) fell by more than 50% in after-hours action on Wednesday following a Bloomberg report the U.S.-based lender is mulling a range of strategic options.
5. U.S. SEC Changes Its Mind on Officially Labeling Digital Assets
– The SEC took one small step backward in regulating the crypto sector on Wednesday when it erased what would have been its first formal definition of “digital asset” from its latest hedge fund rule.
6. Coinbase Grew Quickly by Working With U.S. Regulators. Will It Expand Even More by Disregarding the SEC?
– After its IPO in 2021, the largest U.S. crypto exchange had reason to think it was in the SEC’s good books. Then came Gary Gensler and now the exchange is going overseas with its new business.
7. Liechtenstein adapts blockchain laws to developing crypto landscape
– Future regulation is intended to ensure uniform regulation for all European countries and covered participants.
Market
1. Ethereum Gas Fee Surges to 12-Month High as PEPE Frenzy Grips Market
– Ethereum is becoming costlier to use as the latest meme coin mania has investors churning millions for a frog-themed token called pepecoin (PEPE).
2. Pepecoin’s Bewildering Rise Turned a Pittance Into an Almost 5,000,000% Meme Coin Profit
– A pseudonymous crypto trader bought trillions of the meme coin three weeks ago on UniSwap for $263, and still holds about $9 million of PEPE after selling several million dollars worth, according to data from blockchain platform Arkham.
3. Coinbase Jumps 17% Post-Earnings; Analysts Praise Results but Worry About Regulatory Uncertainty
– The crypto exchange’s first quarter revenue of $773 million was up 23% from the previous three months and blew past estimates for just $655 million.
4. Bitcoin eyes liquidity above $30K as gold hits new all-time high
– Bitcoin is back above $29,000 as the ongoing U.S. banking crisis sends spot gold higher than ever.
5. Liquid Staking Platform Lido Surpasses 6M Ether Deposits as Shanghai Upgrade Spurs Inflows
– DeFi protocol Lido Finance has surpassed six million ETH deposited on its liquid staking platform amid steady inflows following the Ethereum blockchain’s Shanghai upgrade.
6. Bitcoin’s Frenzy of Activity Pushes Average Transaction Fee Over $7, Nearly 2-Year High
– The average transaction fee on Bitcoin has shot above $7, pushing total fees up nearly fivefold in two weeks, thanks to a surge in Ethereum-style “BRC-20” tokens and NFT-like “inscriptions” on the increasingly popular Ordinals project.
7. Bitcoin, Ether Decouple From Stocks: What’s Next for Crypto After Fed Rate Hike?
– A 14-month monetary tightening cycle that included 10 consecutive interest rate increases by the Fed has taken the federal funds rate to 5.25%, a level considered its probable stopping point.
8. In the ‘Stablecoin Olympics,’ No Winner Will Take All
– The fight involving stablecoins, central bank digital currencies and tokenized deposits will play out across multiple disciplines. No single contender will win them all, says Dea Markova, of Forefront Advisers.
9. ARK Invest grabs another $8M in Coinbase shares
– Despite Coinbase shares tumbling amid its legal battle with the SEC, Cathie Wood is still bullish on the crypto exchange.
10. Number of Stablecoins Held on Exchanges Slips to 2-Year Low
– The number of stablecoins, or dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies, held in addresses tied to centralized exchanges extended its decline to reach the lowest since May 2021 in a sign of increasing investor aversion to risk.
11. PEPE Token Soars to $500M Market Cap as Meme Coin Fever Grips Crypto Traders
– PEPE derivatives will be listed on BitMEX with up to 50x leverage and have rocketed to a $502 million market cap following a 2,100% rise since it was issued last month.
12. Bitcoin ‘Flash Rally’ Briefly Pushed BTC Derivatives Above $56K on Bitfinex
– Bitcoin’s price on Bitfinex’s perpetual swap market momentarily topped $56,000 on Tuesday – well above prevailing levels elsewhere and prices on Bitfinex’s exchange right before or after – amid a flurry of volume amid an absence of liquidity.
13. Justin Sun to Reverse $56M Binance Transfer After CEO Zhao Warns Against Potential SUI Token Grab
– “Binance Launchpool are meant as airdrops for our retail users, not just for a few whales,” Binance CEO Zhao tweeted after Sun transferred $56M in TUSD to Binance.
14. Bitcoin Set New Record of Daily Transactions the Same Day the U.S. Government Quietly Engineered a Bank Buyout
– The events are unconnected, but crypto has a role to play in the wider political realignment questioning the sanctity of central banks and established powers.
15. Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy Books a Much Smaller Bitcoin Impairment Charge
– Amid BTC’s big rally, the company’s impairment loss narrowed to $18.9 million in the first quarter from $197.6 million in the fourth quarter.
NFT
1. NFT Lending Platform Blend Sparks Concerns Over Ecosystem Liquidity
– Blend, the name of NFT marketplace Blur’s new lending platform, allows traders to lease NFTs to bolster liquidity. However, concerns have been raised about its impact on broader NFT markets.
2. Sports Illustrated Launches NFT Ticketing Platform on Polygon
– U.S. sports publication Sports Illustrated is launching an NFT ticketing platform built on the Polygon network, an Ethereum scaling tool.
3. Sotheby’s Launches On-Chain Secondary NFT Marketplace
– Sotheby’s Metaverse will now offer a curated, peer-to-peer marketplace via the Ethereum and Polygon networks.
4. NFT Marketplace Blur Launches Blend, a Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform
– Short for Blur Lending, Blend will allow collectors to buy blue-chip NFTs with a smaller upfront payment, similar to a down payment on a house.
Metaverse
Alibaba Cloud Builds Metaverse Launchpad on Avalanche
– The cloud division of Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba has built a launchpad for businesses to deploy metaverses on the Avalanche blockchain.
DeFi
DeFi Protocol Curve Finance Deploys Native Stablecoin on Ethereum Mainnet
– The deployment marks a major milestone for the public release of Curve’s highly anticipated native stablecoin.
Web3
1. Alibaba Says ‘Open Sesame’ to Web3
– China’s tech behemoth Alibaba announced a metaverse launchpad for brands called Cloudverse built on the Avalanche blockchain, while Sports Illustrated released a non-fungible token ticketing platform on the Polygon network.
2. Blockchain Developer Platform Alchemy Launches Public Support for ZK Rollup Starknet
– The blockchain is the first with native account abstraction that the Web3 developer platform offers, allowing developers to build applications with Alchemy’s infrastructure on Starknet.
3. ‘Shark Tank’ but Make It Crypto: CoinMarketCap Launching Competition TV Show
– “Killer Whale” will allow entrepreneurs to pitch ideas for new Web3 products and projects to a panel of judges.
4. Web3 Gaming Reigns Supreme In Crypto, Raises Over $7 Billion In Record Time
– Web3 gaming has emerged as the hottest sector in the crypto world, raising over $7B in funding over the past 18 months. This is more than any other crypto sector in the industry, highlighting the immense potential and popularity of the gaming sector in the crypto ecosystem.
May 5, 2023