News Headlines (January 011 2022)
Crypto Flipsider News – BTC’s Longest 4-Year Losing Streak, Solana Altcoin Rally, Changpeng Zhao Net Worth at $96 Billion, PayPal to Launch Stablecoin, OpenSea Trading Volume at ATH, ETH Gas Fee Spikes, Disney in the Metaverse
- BITCOIN HITS LONGEST LOSING STREAK SINCE 2018 AS KEY SELL-OFF LEVEL APPROACHES
Bitcoin is currently experiencing its worst price slump in nearly four years, having lost nearly 40 per cent of its value in just two months. As of press time bitcoin (BTC) was changing hands around $40,800, down 2.3% over the past 24 hours, based on CoinDesk pricing. Crypto market analysts had warned recently that bitcoin might be prone to a steeper sell-off, though there were some signs late last week that the market might be stabilizing. January tends to be a seasonally weak month for bitcoin, but this year has been especially harsh, with the largest cryptocurrency down 11% so far in 2022.
- Solana price fails to rally as the network experiences degraded performance
Solana network was subjected to severe criticism in response to the recent drop in the altcoin’s performance. The network was hit by a spike in high compute transactions, reducing its capacity to several thousand transactions per second. The incident drove Solana price to freefall, and the altcoin has posted over 37% losses in the past 30 days. FXStreet analysts believe that Solana bears have taken over, which push the altcoin’s could price lower. The analysts had predicted Solana price drop to $150. @ShardiB2, analyst and investor, argued that Solana was oversold before the drop to $140, and the altcoin is still in the same zone.
- New estimates of Binance CEO’s net worth make him the world’s 11th richest person—and that’s before accounting for his crypto holdings
New estimates claim the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao is the world’s richest crypto billionaire, with a net worth rivaling the sums amassed by tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. On Monday, Bloomberg calculated that Zhao’s net worth is $96 billion, which would make him the 11th richest person in the world. On Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Zhao, known as CZ in crypto circles, is now sandwiched between No. 12 Mukesh Ambani, CEO of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, and No. 10 Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle who’s worth an estimated $107 billion.
https://fortune.com/2022/01/10/binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-cz-net-worth-bitcoin-crypto-holdings/
- PayPal Is ‘Exploring’ Launching Its Own Stablecoin
A developer named Steve Moser discovered references to something called “PayPal Coin” within PayPal’s iOS app. Bloomberg asked the company for more details, and PayPal senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte confirmed Moser’s findings. PayPal has slowly extended its reach into the crypto market over the last few years. It started to facilitate the purchase of select cryptocurrencies in late 2020, for example, and in March 2021 it added the “Checkout with Crypto” feature to let users buy things with their digital tokens. A stablecoin differs from other digital currencies in that its value is backed by a specific asset.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/paypal-is-exploring-launching-its-own-stablecoin
- As Bored Ape Yacht Club gains traction, trading volumes for OpenSea NFT skyrocket
According to recent OpenSea statistics, the nonfungible token’s trade volumes on the platform have increased significantly. Despite the revised speculative frenzy on the two Yuga Labs of Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Bored Ape Yacht Club, this quick gain has continued in January. The current record on Monday trading volume on OpeaSea elicits strong comments from notable industry observers. Wu Blockchain, one of these noteworthy experts, crowns the Monday trading value as the highest value for OpenSea. However, with a record of over 700 million trade volume in just four days of January, OpenSea is expected to set a new ATH this month if the current pace of its trading operations continues.
- Sunflower Farmers game is exposing the weak link of crypto networks
Called Sunflower Farmers, the game lets players earn tokens for planting and harvesting crops, and its increased traction has resulted in so much network usage, it pushed transaction prices on the blockchain it runs on, Polygon PoS, to unheard of highs. The decentralised gaming, or GameFi craze was kicked into high gear last year by virtual world of Axie Infinity, where players can earn money by winning battles, selling monsters, and staking or lending their digital assets. As Sunflower shows, the number of games and participants is rising rapidly, as many crypto enthusiasts are also avid gamers, and the idea of combining the two passions appeals to many.
- More Than 14,000 ETH Burned in Last 24 Hours, Here’s Why
Elevated Ethereum gas fees have created conditions in which more than 14,000 ETH coins have been burned in the last 24 hours. The increased burn rate was a result of a sudden popularity spike in NFT projects. In the last 24 hours, there have been more Ether burned than issued by miners, which makes Jan. 9 another deflationary day for Ethereum. Whenever the main network faces elevated fees or congestions, Ethereum usually becomes deflationary. During the most recent NFT popularity spike, Ether transaction fees have raised by more than 150-200%, resulting in significantly increased spending from the network user side.
https://u.today/more-than-14000-eth-burned-in-last-24-hours-heres-why
- Disney patents technology for a theme park metaverse
Disney has been approved for a patent that would create personalized interactive attractions for theme park visitors. The technology would facilitate headset-free augmented reality (AR) attractions at Disney theme parks. The entertainment giant was approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue” patent on Dec. 28, 2021. It was originally filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in July 2020. This is not the first time Disney has indicated its interest in the metaverse. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in November 2021, CEO Bob Chapek said the firm is preparing to blend physical and digital assets in the metaverse.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/disney-patents-technology-for-a-theme-park-metaverse
- Pakistanis lose $100 million to online massive cryptocurrency fraud
In Pakistan, a crypto exchange company Binance Pakistan lured locals to invest in crypto currency, scamming them for a massive fraud worth $100 million (Rs17.7 billion). As per estimates, people sent between $100 and $80,000, making an average of up to $2,400 per person. The money was sent into the Binance wallet after investors would register themselves and transfer money to accounts linked to the application. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken note of the matter and has issued notice to Binance in relation with the scam, which has resulted in the country’s largest scam through cryptocurrency exchange.
- Polkadot More Popular Among Developers, Says New Report
The latest report by Electric Capital, a research firm, shows that Ethereum leads the pack with almost 4,000 open-source developers every month. New developers added over 34,000 lines on the Ethereum network, beating its previous record of 18,400. The report by Electric Capital states that Polkadot is currently the second-biggest blockchain ecosystem behind Ethereum. Moreover, the network is showing far greater development activity than other crypto networks. Surprisingly, Solana lagged behind Polkadot despite the NFT buzz across the globe. Polkadot is currently 1-2k developers behind Ethereum as its auctions and parachains have garnered global traction recently.
