PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- BTC ($56,188): -3% / +94%
- ETH ($1,707): -5% / +131%
- XRP ($0.55): +9% / +150%
- UNI ($28): -13% / +477%
- Crypto Market Cap ($1.8T): -1% / +131% 
- BTC Dominance: 59%

STABLECOIN MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- Tether ($40B): +3% / +94%
- USDC ($10.7B): +8% / +176%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

- Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis raised $100 million at more than a $2 billion valuation, in a round led by Paradigm with participation from Marc Benioff, Addition, and Ribbit. Link. 

- Tesla is now accepting bitcoin as payment from customers for its vehicles. Link. 

- NFT marketplace OpenSea announced it had secured $23 million in Series A funding led by A16z. Their marketplace has grown over 100x in the past six months. Link. 

- Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sold his first ever tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million. The tweet, which reads 'just setting up my twttr', dates back to March 2006 and was sold through a platform called Valuables, a website for auctioning authenticated tweets created by the startup Cent. Link. 

- TIME Magazine sold three of its issue covers for 81 ETH, or about $131,000, on NFT marketplace SuperRare. TIME is also reportedly hiring a new CFO and would prefer someone familiar with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Link. 

- An NFT auction for a New York Times column sold for 350 ETH, or almost $560,000. The column was put up for sale by NYT writer Kevin Roose with proceeds going to Neediest Cases Fund, a fund that supports social causes in New York and elsewhere. Link. 

- Crypto rewards startup Lolli announced it had raised $5 million in funding from investors including Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, and Night Media. Link. 

- Crypto company Circle announced Circle Infrastructure, a way for NFT storefronts to offer traditional or crypto payment options to create a seamless user experience. Circle's new offering will enable NFT marketplaces to accept credit cards and they plan to offer storage and custody services, as well as treasury and yield services enabling returns of up to 8%. Link. 

- Layer-two scaling solution StarkWare raised a $75 million Series B round from investors including Paradigm, Pantera and Sequoia. StarkWare has formed deals with projects DiversiFi and dYdX, and is also working on solutions for NFTs for cost-effective mass minting. Link. 

- Fidelity has filed for approval of a new Bitcoin ETF, which would allow retail investors to bet on the price of Bitcoin without needing to buy or store the cryptocurrency themselves. It would be registered as the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. Link. 

- Ex Coinbase employee Soups Rajan has founded a company called Sardine to combat fraudulent activity in crypto. Sardine has raised $4.6 million in its seed funding round. Link. 

- Decentralized exchange SushiSwap has an estimated 47 million tokens ($880 million) that are set to be released at the end of March. Users are concerned that if these tokens are dumped, the project's token - which only has a $2.3 billion market cap - could be crushed. Link. 

- China's central bank digital currency will provide backup for major retail payment services like AliPay and WeChat Pay as its key objective. Link. 

- Bank of New York Mellon is investing in Fireblocks, a platform that allows banks, exchanges, fintech companies, and other financial institutions to store, move and issue crypto assets. Fireblocks has raised $133 million in its Series C funding from investors including Ribbit Capital, Coatue, and SVB. Link. 

- Crypto firm Blockchain.com raised $300 million in Series C funding at a $5.2 billion valuation, in a round led by DST Global, Lightspeed, and Vy Capital. The firm currently offers crypto wallets as well as trading and other services for retail and institutional investors. The firm has over 31 million verified users in over 200 countries. Link. 

- Avanti Financial raised $37 million in its Series A financing to fund its launch of a crypto bank. Link. 

- Filecoin, the native token for Protocol Labs's new decentralized file-sharing protocol, surged in pricing this week to become a top 20 cryptocurrency. The surge came after Filecoin started integrating with Chainlink, an oracle service, which enabled Filecoin to automate their storage systems and easily link Filecoin networks with other smart contracts. Link. 

- Digital artist Beeple received $53 million from Christie's auction house after his NFT sold for $69 million. Link.