News Headlines (December 7, 2021)
- Chainalysis: After $26.9B in trading, are NFTs poised for a boom or crash?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been on a roll this year, with $26.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency traded on the two popular types of Ethereum smart contracts associated with NFTs, according to an analysis by Chainalysis. So far in 2021, users have sent at least $26.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency to ERC-721 and ERC-1155 “smart contracts,” the two types of Ethereum smart contracts associated with NFT marketplaces and collections. About $16 billion of that money has filtered through OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace by far.
- ETHEREUM IS FALLING! WILL THE CRYPTO MAKE A BREAKTHROUGH IN 2022?
Ethereum is a blockchain model focused on designing all types of applications. With the popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) on the growth path over the past year, scalability has gained momentum. On Saturday, the cryptocurrency has recorded a 10.14% loss, the largest one-day percentage fall since November 26, 2021. When things look very unstable for Ethereum, we explore if the crypto has the opportunity to make a comeback in 2022. Originally, Ethereum was designed in a way that would slow down and become more expensive as its popularity increases. However, ETH has come up with a Layer 2 project that could help the underlying blockchain technology to keep its ground.
- Why Loopring Is Up Over 620% Since the Start of October
Loopring is a layer-2 platform aimed at decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Essentially developers can use its protocol to build new DEXs with lower fees and improved liquidity. Loopring (LRC) was one of the top crypto performers of November, with a price increase of almost 340% for the month. In fact, according to CoinMarketCap data, it’s up over 620% since Oct. 1. Loopring, which is available from most top cryptocurrency exchanges, is one of several cryptos that seek to solve this. It’s a layer-2 protocol that sits on top of Ethereum (or other blockchains) and provides faster — and cheaper — transactions.
- She Was D.C.’s Top Crypto Cop. Now She’s One of Silicon Valley’s Top Crypto Investors.
In June, venture-capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz launched a $2.2 billion crypto fund, staking out an enormous position in a market known as much for its volatility as its innovative potential. For Andreessen Horowitz, the enormous investment is the product of the firm’s evolving approach to crypto, which it first invested in back in 2013. That approach is thanks in no small part to Katie Haun, a partner at Andreessen who co-leads the firm’s crypto fund and before joining Andreessen Horowitz in 2018, Haun was a federal prosecutor who had experience going after gun smugglers, drug cartels, motorcycle gangs, and fraudsters.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/katie-haun-top-crypto-cop-turned-top-crypto-investor.html
- Metaverse: Non-existent yacht sells for $6,50,000 in most expensive NFT deal
A yacht built only of bits and bytes has just sold for a jaw-dropping amount in the meta verse. The four-storeyed yacht, sold by metaverse developer Republic Realm, comes with two helipads (with two non-existent helicopters being sold separately), several lounges, a dance floor, and a jacuzzi. The metaverse — or virtual universe — has been buzzing with activity with record deals in land and other non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the past few days. The Metaflower is an extension of the luxurious Fantasy project, through which many premium assets will be launched over time.
- Coinbase Brought Crypto to Main Street. Now Brian Armstrong Wants to Be Your Banker
Brian Armstrong, as a teenager growing up in the late 1990s, he could play video games and chat and surf on the burgeoning internet. But he was too young to take part in the dot-com startup boom happening all around him, transforming the economy along with how he spent his days and nights. Armstrong sees Coinbase as one of the architects for Web 3.0, a blockchain-based version of the internet that isn’t ruled by dominant tech companies like Facebook/Meta, one where developers are free to create and market apps without having to pay a toll to Apple.
- Armenian artist Narine Arakelian sells her eggs as an NFT
Armenian artist Narine Arakelian, 42, says her first NFT is a painting entitled “Live” – which includes an embedded contract promising one of her eggs to the buyer. Arakelian, who has a 21-year-old son, expects the buyer of her art to use her eggs to create their own children. NFTs are a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger that gives the buyer a public proof of ownership of the data, or in this case art. The artist also clarified “the child will be a child once they are born, not a piece of art.” Art Basel is a for-profit collection of world-leading shows that take place in Basel, Hong Kong and Miami.
- Hype around the metaverse drove NFT tokens up 42% in November, making it the best performing cryptocurrency sector
The metaverse is a catch-all term for virtual worlds, where users in the form of avatars can play games, work, build things, or watch live events. Metaverses that use crypto technology such as Decentraland and The Sandbox have recently boomed in popularity. NFT-linked cryptocurrencies were by far the best performing group of digital assets in November, according to new data from the Kraken exchange, rising 42% as interest in the metaverse surged. The 12 biggest NFT-linked cryptocurrencies rose 42% in November on average, when weighted by size, taking their three-month gain to 171%, Kraken said. Bitcoin fell 7% in November while ether rose 8%, according to Kraken’s data.
- Wikipedia’s first ever edit is being auctioned as an NFT
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is auctioning off a non-fungible token (NFT) of the first edit ever made on the site. An NFT is a piece of digital content linked to the blockchain, the digital database underpinning cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum. Wales typed the words “Hello, World!” after launching Wikipedia on January 15, 2001, and the moment has been immortalized in an NFT that is being sold by Christie’s, the auction house said in a statement. Wales started Wikipedia after initially trying to build Nupedia, a peer-reviewed online encyclopedia written by experts, but the project failed because it took too long to approve edits.
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/jimmy-wales-wikipedia-edit-nft-scli-intl/index.html
- Bitmart Reportedly Loses Nearly $200 Million in Massive Hack
Over the weekend, a hacker reportedly took $196 million from cryptocurrency trading platform Bitmart. According to Coindesk, the theft is “one of the most devastating centralized exchange hacks to date.” Bitmart wrote that the affected ETH hot wallets and BSC hot wallets carry only a small percentage of assets on BitMart, and all other wallets are secure and unharmed. Until further notice, the platform is suspending withdrawals. The cryptocurrency trading platform is suspending withdrawals until further notice.
