Two trending coin categories to watch are meme and AI coins. Artificial intelligence (AI) was the best-performing coin category in overall market cap change last week.
And while meme coins experienced a small contraction last week, they have been one of the dominating narratives in the last two months, reflected in the surge in trading volume — up 779% compared to January.
Market Spotlight
Note: Market prices captured in US$ at the time of reading. Explore more on Crypto.com/Price.
News Snaps
More Bitcoiners Than Ever HODL
Data shows that the percentage of Bitcoin that has not moved in at least a year has reached a record high of 68%. In other words, over two-thirds of all bitcoins in circulation are being held by traders who are not fazed by the price fluctuations.
Hong Kong Prepares for Retail Crypto
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has announced its initial plans to offer retail investors access to licensed crypto trading platforms through a new and comprehensive virtual asset regulatory framework.
eHong Kong Dollar Pilot Program Begins
Additionally, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) began the pilot program for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), called the e-HKD. The program will explore potential use cases in six categories, including full-fledged and programmable payments, tokenized deposits, settlement of Web3 transactions and tokenized assets, and offline payments.
Staked Ether Surges
Following the Shanghai Upgrade on April 12, interest in staking Ether to earn passive yield has surged — with more than 4.4 million new additional coins being deposited into staking contracts.
Visa x Ethereum
Visa is experimenting on Ethereum’s Goerli testnet with smart contracts aimed at transaction-free payments with the help of account abstraction. The aim of these contracts is to simplify user interaction with the Ethereum network by eliminating the need for end-users to hold ETH for gas fees.
Tether Ups BTC
Tether said it will allocate up to about 15% of realized profits to purchase BTC for its stablecoin reserves. The company also reported US$1.48 billion in net profit for Q1 2023 and US$1.5 billion in BTC holdings.
What’s Ahead
Litecoin Mining Reward Halving
While still a few months out, the LTC mining reward halving event is on the horizon, expected to come into effect in August 2023.
Keep an eye on Litecoin halving with this countdown.
Research & Insights
Monthly Feature Article | NFTs in the Bitcoin Ecosystem
Bitcoin non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have recently gained considerable popularity and traction since the launch of the Ordinals protocol in January 2023, which has made it possible to mint NFTs directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
Key Takeaways:
- Traditionally, it is more difficult to mint NFTs on Bitcoin compared to other blockchains like Ethereum. This is due to the limited smart contract functionality on Bitcoin, as well as the lack of a token standard for NFTs.
- Now, there are two ways to realize NFTs on Bitcoin — Ordinals and Stamps:
- The Ordinals protocol assigns each satoshi a sequential number so it can be inscribed with data, such as pictures, text, or videos, through a Bitcoin transaction. Inscriptions can be up to 4 MB in size.
- Bitcoin Stamps stores image data directly within unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). This makes the image data impossible to prune from a full node, which helps in preserving the data immutably.
Read more in the full report, exclusive to our Private members: NFTs in the Bitcoin Ecosystem. Learn more about becoming a Private member here.
NFT Spotlight
Exploring the people and places of an alternative world — from exclusive clubs to foreign customs — award-winning artist Damien Cifelli goes deep into ‘The World of Tarogramma’, which drops this coming Monday, May 29. Created with traditional techniques like drawing, oil painting, and sculpture, each NFT tells the story of Tarogramma, in which NFT collectors become fictional archaeologists who own artifacts of this hidden world.
This drop features 🪂 NFT airdrops, and early access for holders of previously released Damien Cifelli collections starts 60 minutes before the scheduled drop time.
Tarogramma is a hidden place that explorers have been searching for centuries; it is believed by some to be an inaccessible, forgotten city; others to be the afterlife; and many to be completely fictional.
Become a fictional archaeologist in The World of Tarogramma here. For explorers of Damien Cifelli’s full collection, come right this way.
Product Picks
7 New Tokens on Target Price Orders
SUI, BEAT, SPA, RONIN, PEPE, and more have just been added to Target Price Orders in the Crypto.com App. With Target Price Orders, you can now automate orders at your preferred price without having to monitor the market. Set your Target Price Orders now.
Metaverse Trading Competition
In this week’s Trading Competition on the Crypto.com Exchange, users stand to win up to US$1,000 of USDC by simply trading at least US$50 of Metaverse tokens. With seven eligible tokens in APE, ICP, THETA, ZIL, MANA, AXS, and STX, there are plenty of options for users to trade and win. Click here for more information.
Crypto Level Up
What Are the Differences Between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic?
Ethereum and Ethereum Classic may have similar-sounding names, but these two blockchains differ across a number of areas.
Tokens
ETH is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, and ETC is the native token of Ethereum Classic. ETH is the second-largest cryptocurrency, having a market cap of approximately US$221 billion. ETC’s market cap is around US$2.5 billion.
Token Supply
ETH does not have a fixed supply, but ETC is limited to 210 million tokens in total.
Consensus Mechanism
Ethereum currently uses the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, whereas Ethereum Classic has opted to stick with Proof of Work (PoW).
Philosophy
Ethereum Classic follows the principle of ‘Code Is Law’. As for Ethereum, its philosophy can be referred to as ‘social slashing’.
Here’s How Else Ethereum and Ethereum Classic Differ.
#CryptoIRL
Yes, please. Here’s hoping @Blazeus9, with the sleek Crypto.com Ruby Steel Visa Card, takes us next time. 🍻
Hashtag #CryptoIRL with your Crypto.com Visa Card on your social profiles to get featured! Your 15 minutes of fame in the #CROFam awaits you!
Decoder
Open-Source
Open-source is a term used to describe a publicly accessible software program that users are free to inspect, modify, and share.
This approach permits a user to inspect, duplicate, and modify the software without restrictions. It is also commonly applied in the crypto industry, as it promotes and embraces an open exchange of information, collaborative participation, transparency, and community-based development.
Examples of open-source crypto projects include Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV), which are modified versions of the original Bitcoin (BTC).
This Week in Crypto History
10,000 BTC for Two Pizzas
May 22, 2023, marked the 13th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day — recognizing one of the most renowned examples of Bitcoin used for retail commerce. A purchase of two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in 2010 was made by software developer Laszlo Hanyecz, worth approximately US$41 at the time.
Today, the value of 10,000 BTC would be worth around US$270 million. That being said, Hanyecz never regretted the purchase, although no one currently knows what happened to the BTC he sold. Some speculate that the buyer eventually sold it after holding it for a little while, whereas others suspect they lost the BTC’s private keys.
That’s it for this week’s Snapshot. Want more? Head over to our Insta feed for bite-size crypto lessons.
