PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- BTC ($42,027): -11% / -11%
- ETH ($3,171): -17% / -15%
- XRP ($0.76): -11% / -10%
- UNI ($16): -11% / -7%
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.0T): -12% / -11%
- BTC Dominance: 40%
- ETH Dominance: 19%

STABLECOIN MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- Tether ($78B): +0% / +0%
- USDC ($44B): +3% / +3%

NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

- NFT marketplace OpenSea raised a $300 million Series C at a $13 billion valuation led by Coatue and Paradigm. Link. OpenSea is also purchasing Dharma Labs for up to $130 million in an all-stock deal. Dharma Labs is a crypto lending protocol. Link. 

- NFT data platform CryptoSlam raised a $9 million Seed round from investors including Animoca Brands, Sound Ventures, and Mark Cuban. Link. 

- OpenSea recorded more than $243 million worth of ETH trading volume, its third highest of all time. Link. 

- Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has generated over $1 billion in total sales to date. Link. 

- PayPal is exploring issuing its own USD stablecoin, potentially called PayPal Coin. PayPal gave no indication on how far along it was in development. Link.  

- Former a16z crypto partner Katie Haun is raising nearly $900 million for her new venture firm, KRH. Haun is raising two funds, including a $300 million early-stage fund and another $600 million fund that will invest in larger companies and tokens. Link.  

- Samsung Electronics said its new smart TVs launching later this year will allow users to purchase NFTs. Link. Samsung also opened a virtual version of its physical store in Decentraland. Link. 

- Chainalysis reports that illicit activities like cybercrime, money laundering, and terrorist financing made up only 0.15% of all crypto transactions in 2021. The dollar amount of crime-related crypto transactions hit a record high of $14 billion though in 2021, up 79% since 2020, indicating a significant increase in crypto's popularity. Link. 

- Genie has generated over $125 million worth of trading volume to date through its platform which allows collectors to purchase up to 60 NFTs at once from multiple marketplaces in a single transaction. Link. 

- GameStop is launching a division to develop a marketplace for NFTs and establish crypto partnerships. The video game retailer's shares grew 27% on the news. Link. 

- Rapper Nas is selling partial rights to two of his songs via Royal, an investment platform that allows anyone to participate in royalty revenue alongside artists. The sale begins on Jan 11, where users can invest in Nas' music by buying LDAs, or "limited digital assets", backed by streaming royalty rights. Link. 

- Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that supporting crypto payments was the most requested product in 2022. Link. 

- Quentin Tarantino is holding a public NFT auction of his Pulp Fiction screenplay despite an outstanding lawsuit from producer Miramax. Six chapters of the Pulp Fiction script will be auctioned between 1/17 and 1/31 on the Secret Network. Link. 

- Coinbase employees and shareholders sold over $330 million worth of COIN shares in the last 3 months. December saw COIN share price drop from $315 to $252 and the stock is currently trading at $232. Link. 

- Crypto payments firm MoonPay purchased a Zombie CryptoPunk for 900 ETH (roughly $3 million). It's the 12th largest sale of a CryptoPunk ever. Link. 

- Stablecoin issuer Tether froze over $1 million worth of USDT and blacklisted an account on its platform. Link. 

- Metaversal, an investment firm and venture studio focused on NFTs, raised a $50 million Series A from CoinFund. Link. 

- Smart picture frame Meural is integrating with Metamask, and will allow users to display select NFTs from their wallet. Link. 

- Serum #69 from the Bored Ape Yacht Club sold for 1,542 ETH (roughly $5.9 million) making it the largest sale of a serum ever. Link.