Edition #47 - 30 DEC 2022
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) exploded in 2021, thanks to soaring cryptocurrency prices that encouraged new traders to explore the space. Eye-watering NFT sales, like "Beeple’s Everydays: the First 5000 Days," added to the hype, and traders felt empowered to flip NFTs for profit due to favorable market conditions. Ethereum, which powered most early NFT projects, was thriving and the price of ETH, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, was hovering around $4,000 just a year ago.
Fast forward to today and the environment has changed completely.
gaming developments
PUBG looks to collaborate with Banger for NFT integration;
Axie Infinity announces the first alpha release of Axie Infinity Homeland, letting players develop their land in Lunacia;
Activision Blizzard COO Daniel Alegre takes over as CEO of Yuga Labs.
metaverses & Adoption
Daily crypto trading falls below $10 billion for the first time since 2020;
Crypto investment product AUM down 55% in 2022;
An overview of the metaverse in 2022;
Trump NFTs crater with daily sales down 98% from peak;
3Commas CEO confirms API key leak following warning from Binance’s CZ;
Alameda wallets become active days after SBF bail, community mulls foul play;
China’s first national NFT marketplace to launch next week;
Bahamas regulator temporarily seizes FTX unit’s assets worth over $3.5 billion.
defi
Uniswap reports 68 million transactions, 3 million unique wallets and over $620 billion in trading volume over 2022;
DeFi blockchain behind cardano’s new Djed stablecoin announces successful hard fork and updated fees;
BitDAO’s bit token rises 20% ahead of $100 million buyback plan, which is expected to pass;
Midas, an investment firm focused on DeFi yields, is shutting down citing excessive losses;
TerraCVita to launch Terra Luna Classic DEX in Q1 2023;
Rubic DEX aggregator hack leads to $1.4 million of user funds stolen;
BitKeep confirms cyber attack, loses over $9 million in digital currencies;
1inch upgrades to offer gasless customer swaps with Fusion;
More than $19 billion in BTC, ETH and stablecoins left exchanges since the onset of FTX’s collapse;
DEX Trader Joe is live on Arbitrum amid trend to move to multiple chains.
funding rounds
Decentralized credibility scoring platform Finxeed announces $10 million strategic investment from DBank (Chain Bank Group);
Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain sells its flagship mining facility Helios to Galaxy Digital in a $65 million deal, secures $35 million loan from Galaxy;
GameFi project Flappy Moonbird completed a $6 million Series A financed by LinkVC.
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