PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($60,435): -1% / +108%
- ETH ($4,030): +6% / +446%
- XRP ($1.08): -4% / +390%
- UNI ($25.83): -2% / +424%
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.5T): +2% / +229%
- BTC Dominance: 45%
- ETH Dominance: 19%
STABLECOIN MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Tether ($70B): +1% / +232%
- USDC ($33B): -1% / +739%
NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The price of Bitcoin briefly hit a new all-time high above $66,000. The previous all-time high of $64,900 happened in mid-April of this year. Global crypto market cap also hit an all-time high of $2.7 trillion. Link.
- ProShares' bitcoin futures ETF listed on the NYSE this week and saw volumes near $1 billion on its first trading day. ProShares is the first to offer a crypto ETF product in the US. Link.
- Self-described Ethereum Layer 2 Polygon now has more than 3,000 apps on its chain, up from just 30 last year. 38% of new apps deployed are being built on both Polygon and Ethereum, versus 62% deployed exclusively on Polygon. Link.
- Crypto exchange FTX raised $420.69 million at a $25 billion valuation, just months after raising more than $900 million at an $18 billion valuation. Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Sequoia participated. Link.
- Parallel, an NFT sci-fi card game, raised $50M at a $500M valuation led by Paradigm. The platform has done over $105 million in transaction volume since it launched in August. Link.
- Walmart shoppers will now be able to purchase bitcoin at Coinstar machines inside its stores. Coinme is powering the crypto offering. Link.
- Five democratic senators called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg to shutdown Diem and Novi. The letter comes after Facebook's crypto wallet Novi said it was launching a "small pilot" with the Paxos stablecoin in the US and Guatemala. Novi wants to offer free p2p payments using its wallet. Link. Link.
- Sports-focused NFT firm Candy Digital raised $100 million Series A at a $1.5 billion valuation, co-led by Insight Partners and Softbank Vision Fund 2. Candy Digital launched June 1 and is developing an ecosystem for fans to buy, share, and trade officially licensed MLB NFTs on Ethereum sidechain Palm. Link.
- Coinbase shares rose more than 30% since its low in late September, trading above $300/share. The rally comes after over 1 million users signed up for Coinbase's upcoming NFT marketplace. Link.
- Tesla took an impairment charge of $51 million on its bitcoin holdings in Q3. It currently holds over $1.25 billion in bitcoin. Link.
- The New York Attorney General sent cease and desist letters to crypto lending firms, Nexo and Celsius. Both companies provide high yield loans on crypto assets. Link. Link.
- Bored Ape #8585 sold for a record-breaking 696.969 ETH ($2.7 million). 3 Bored Ape NFTs have sold for over $1 million in the last 20 days. Link. Bored Ape.
- Over 1 million customers are on the waitlist for Robinhood's crypto wallet, which is expected to roll out in early 2022. Link.
- PleasrDAO purchased Wu-Tang Clan's rare "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" album for $4 million from the federal government, which had seized the album after pharma exec Martin Shkreli was convicted of fraud in 2017. Shkreli first purchased the album for $2 million in 2015. Link. PleasrDAO Blog Post.
- Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis bought bitcoin for its balance sheet via NYDIG as part of a new long-term investment strategy. Link.
- FATF, the global AML watchdog, is publishing crypto guidance this week. The guidance pertains to licensing and registration of virtual asset providers (VASPs), p2p transactions, stablecoins, and KYC compliance. Link.
- The Associated Press is partnering with blockchain oracle network Chainlink to bring its financial data, sports data, and race call data to blockchain apps. Developers can implement AP's data and info through AP's Chainlink node. Link.
- Fintech company Current is working with Bison Trails, the blockchain infrastructure company acquired by Coinbase, to bring DeFi features to its 3 million users. Link.
- Mojito, the startup supporting Sotheby's Metaverse, raised $20 million at $100 million valuation from Future Perfect Ventures. Mojito helps its users sell NFTs from their own storefronts or websites. Link.
- US customers of Revolut can now trade up to $200,000 in crypto each month without paying any commission fees on trades. Previously the limit was $200 a month. Link.
- Coinbase is now the exclusive cryptocurrency sponsor for the NBA and WNBA. Link.
- Coinbase spent almost $800k on lobbying efforts in Q3, its first time spending on lobbying since 2015 when it spent a total of $55k that whole year. Link.
- The Economist is auctioning the DeFi-themed cover of its 9/18 issue as an NFT on Foundation. Link.
- Brazilians bought over $4.25 billion of cryptocurrencies in 2021, and now hold roughly $40 billion in cryptocurrencies compared to only $16 billion held in US stocks. Link.
- Binance burned nearly 1.4 million BNB tokens (worth about $640 million) in its largest-ever burn. Binance has burned 16.6% of the BNB supply to date. Link.
- 17% of Ethereum addresses have purchased 80% of Ethereum-based NFTs since April. This statistic includes marketplaces and clearinghouses like OpenSea and Nifty Gateway though. Link.
- Two US banks have signed up to offer bitcoin trading to clients through Q2's Digital Banking Platform. By early 2022 customers of 450 banks and credit unions in the US will be able to use their bank's desktop or mobile banking app to buy, sell, or hold bitcoin. Link.
- Reddit is hiring people for what could become a new platform for NFTs and digital goods. It is looking for someone to design, build and ship backend services for millions of users to create, buy, sell and use NFT-backed digital goods. Link. Job Posting.