PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- BTC ($18,791):  -13% / -60%
- ETH ($1,300):  -26% / -65%
- XRP ($0.34):  -3% / -59%
- UNI ($5.27):  -18% / -69%
- Crypto Market Cap ($909B):  -14% / -59%
- BTC Dominance: 40%
- ETH Dominance: 18% 

STABLECOIN MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- Tether ($68B): 0% / -13%
- USDC ($50B): -3% / +18%

NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

- The Ethereum Merge took place, bringing the protocol to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Network electricity use by the network fell by 99% with the transition. Link. Link.

- The Ethereum Foundation estimates that the Merge will lower global energy consumption by 0.2%, making it one of the single largest decarbonization efforts in history. Link. Vitalik Tweet. 

- ETH fell 7% in the 24 hours after the Merge. Bitcoin fell 2%. Link. Link. Link. 

- SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that Ethereum's recent move to proof-of-stake, where coin holders earn network fees for validating the network, could fall under securities rules. Link. Link.

- US inflation came in higher than expected for August, causing a sell-off in both the crypto and traditional markets. With inflation at 8.3%, analysts expect the Fed will raise interest rates by 75 basis points next week (though a 100 basis point increase hasn't been ruled out either). Link. 

- South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Terra founder Do Kwon for capital markets violations. Prosecutors say Do Kwon is on the run and have asked Interpol to issue a red notice, which restricts cross border travels and allows global law enforcement to arrest individuals. Link. Link. Link. 

- The Treasury Department released 3 reports in response to Biden's executive order on digital assets in March, which directed federal agencies to analyze the sector. The 3 reports largely recommend the government assessing crypto risks, keep up enforcement actions, and push forward with work on a digital dollar (without recommending the US should have one). The Treasury is working on more reports, including one to assess risks in DeFi due in February, and another for NFTs due in July. Link. Link. Reports.

- Amazon is one of five companies chosen by the ECB to develop a prototype for a digital euro. All 5 of the companies are focusing on a specific digital use case. Link.  

- New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is considering buying NFTs with some of the $70 million of proceeds it anticipates generating in an upcoming auction. Purchasing NFTs would be a part of the museum's ongoing digital strategy. Link. 

- A new lawsuit from the SEC suggests that the agency believes Ethereum falls under US jurisdiction. The lawsuit notes that the US runs more validator nodes than any other geography, and thus has jurisdiction. Link. Tweet.

- Users can request an OFAC license to withdraw funds from Tornado Cash. OFAC placed sanctions against Tornado Cash last month freezing withdrawals, on allegations that North Korean hackers used it to launder funds. Link.

- Charles Schwab, Citadel, and Fidelity are launching a crypto exchanged called EDX Markets. Link. Press Release.

- Ethermine, the world's largest ETH mining firm, shut down its servers after the Merge and has launched a staking pool service. Link

- Institutions using DeFi protocol Compound can now use bitcoin or ethereum as collateral for US dollar or USDC loans. Compound Treasury clients will be able to borrow up to 90% of their collateral's value at a fixed 6% APR. Link. Blog Post. 

- Fidelity is considering letting its 34.4 million individual brokerage customers trade bitcoin directly from their accounts. Bitcoin trading is currently only available to hedge funds and institutional investors on the platform. Link.

- NFT collection Doodle's raised $54 million at a $704 million valuation, in a round led by Seven Seven Six. Link. Link. 

- Yuga Labs hired its first chief gaming officer from mobile gaming studio Scopely. Link.

- Epic Games listed its first NFT game, Blankos Block Party. Developed by Mythical Games, Blankos is a free-to-play multiplayer party game centered collectible digital toys called Blankos, which are NFTs that can be bought, upgraded and sold within the game. Last year, Epic Games competitor Valve said it would not publish games that use NFTs or cryptocurrencies on its Steam marketplace. Link. Link. Link. 

- The price of stETH, a derivative of ETH created by Lido, almost hit parity with ETH following the successful Merge. stETH reached 0.99ETH, up from 0.95ETH one week ago, and the smallest price spread between stETH and ETH in 4 months. Lido is the largest ETH liquid staking service provider. Investors cannot unlock and withdraw staked ETH until another software update, the Shanghai upgrade, takes place. Until then, Lido gives investors a liquid version of their deposited ETH called stETH, which can be redeemed for ETH once the Shanghai upgrade occurs. Link. 

- Ethereum PoW, an Ethereum fork that continues to run on proof-of-work, experienced significant issues post-Merge. Users were unable to access links or connect their wallets to the network. Link. Link. 

- The CFTC has begun preparing to be the primary regulator for cryptocurrencies, in anticipation of upcoming legislation from the Senate. The SEC would remain the regulator for security tokens. Link. 

- Tribe DAO-- the entity created from a token merger between Rari Capital and Fei Protocol -- confirmed it would repay victims of the Rari hack earlier this year. The DAO has been dealing with repercussions from the hack for months, and recently announced it would be dissolving. Link. 

- NFT renting platform Rentable shut down after failing to find product market fit. Link. 

- NFT collections CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club surged in sales after the Ethereum Merge, despite ETH prices falling. Link. 

- The SEC and Ripple both filed motions for summary judgment, arguing that a judge overseeing the case has enough information to make a ruling without moving the case forward to a trial. The SEC is alleging that Ripple sold unregistered securities when they issued $1.3 billion worth of XRP tokens in 2013. Link. 

- Binance may no longer  attempt to purchase defunct crypto lender Voyager's assets in an upcoming bankruptcy auction, due to fears the US government would reject the transaction over national security concerns. Binance is based in China and Voyager's users were typically US-based. Link. 

- Crypto service provider Infura plans to decentralize its Web3 API services with its own protocol early next year. Infura lets its roughly 350,000 developers to easily connect dapps to the Ethereum blockchain without having to run a full node. Link. Link. 

- Craig Wright testified that he couldn't provide cryptographic proof of being Satoshi Nakamoto because he destroyed the hard drive containing the private keys to Satoshi's wallets. Link. 

- Coinbase users will now be able to view "crypto sentiment scores" for members of Congress and register to vote directly from the Coinbase app. Link. Tweet.

- Thailand has banned crypto firms from offering staking and lending services that pay returns to depositors. Link. 

- Ethereum Classic saw its hash rate soar to a record high after the Merge, as Ethereum miners moved over to the proof-of-work network. Link. Link. 

- MetaMask is using MoonPay to integrate with the Brazilian government’s payment system Pix, and will allow users to make crypto purchases with Brazilian reals. Link. 

- Crypto startup Ownera raised a $20 million Series A from investors like JPMorgan and LRC Group. Ownera is building infrastructure to connect the tokenized platforms and trading interfaces being launched by traditional finance companies. Link. Press Release.