Market Update (Week 44, 1/11/2021 – 7/11/2021)

Price index up, volume and volatility indices down. New York’s and Miami’s mayors accept their paychecks in bitcoin.

Key Takeaways

• Miami and New York mayors accept paychecks in bitcoin. This shows that bitcoin is attracting a wide range of interest, even from prominent politicians.
• China CBDC’s active wallet hits 140 million registered users. The users completed transactions totalling around 62 billion yuan ($9.7 billion), according to a senior Chinese central bank official.
• Facebook and Microsoft dive into the metaverse. Facebook rebranded its company name into ‘Meta’, while Microsoft announced the launch of a metaverse-inspired feature for its Teams app called Mesh.
• The general price index increased by +5.42%,while the volume and volatility indices decreased -9.85% and -46.37%, respectively.
• Crypto.com collaborates with esports host Twitch Rivals for global crypto outreach.

Highlights

• Indian crypto regulation is planned for February: report
• NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers will accept part of $22M salary in Bitcoin
• Crypto.com is the #1 app in the Google Play Store in the US
• $3 billion in ETH burned since EIP 1559 activation
• Cryptocurrency investments in India cross $10 billion, show no signs of stopping
• Burger King serves up free crypto with meal purchases
• SoftBank leads US$93 million investment in NFT gaming firm the Sandbox
• Miami Mayor to take full paycheck in Bitcoin
• CME Group plots launch of Micro Ether Futures
• Thailand’s oldest bank SCB acquires 51% stake in crypto exchange Bitkub
• US congressmen sent SEC letter advocating for Spot Bitcoin ETF
• BTS agency to sell NFT photo cards, developing video game
• China embraces Digital Yuan as active wallets hit 140 million, PBoC says
• Google invests $1B in CME Group along with 10-year cloud deal

Check the latest prices on crypto.com/price.

Notable events

The Polkadot (DOT) network has started the process of running its first parachain auctions. (ref)

The value of smart contracts dependent on data from Chainlink’s (LINK) oracle networks has climbed to $75 billion. (ref)

The first non-custodial decentralised exchange built on the Cardano (ADA) blockchain by Ravendex. (ref)

Stellar (XLM) to do a staged rollout of AMMs, to go live soon, post validator approval. (ref)

Tezos (XTZ), an energy-efficient open-source blockchain, will present an NFT art experience at Art Basel Miami Beach this December, as an official partner for Art Basel Miami Beach 2021. (ref)

Notable events

The total value locked (TVL) on the Maker (MKR) protocol reached a record $17.98 billion. This makes Maker the second-ranked DeFi protocol by TVL. (ref)

Across Protocol, a fast and cheap L2 to L1 bridge, will launch live on the mainnet on 9 Nov 2021. Across uses Universal Market Access’s (UMA) Optimistic Oracle to insure transactions. (ref)

Thousands of Redditors upvoted posts from late last week that claimed Loopring (LRC) is behind GameStop’s upcoming NFT efforts. (ref)

Notable events

SoftBank leads $93M investment in NFT gaming firm The Sandbox (SAND). (ref)

Illuvium (ILV), a game built on the Ethereum blockchain, releases its first gameplay trailer. (ref)

A Shiba Inu (SHIB) whale made a move on their holdings of 40 trillion SHIB, which was worth roughly $2.8 billion at the time. (ref)