Snapshot 105

New Crypto.com Singapore license approved, landmark crypto agreement MiCA is signed, groundwork for JPY stablecoins laid

Did you know that Crypto.com users in the U.S. can now shop at more than 150+ top brands, including Apple, Nike, Walmart, Ray-Ban, GameStop, and more, while paying with their crypto through the Crypto.com App? The new One-Time Card feature is available in the Crypto.com App to U.S. users, and coming to more markets soon.
Meme coins are valued by many for their famed volatility, which can offer great trading opportunities for skilled traders. Our latest Research report looked into the peaks, valleys, and trends of meme coins.

We found that meme coins can have a meteoric rise in price during the run-up phase, followed by a descent that is just as rapid. However, meme coins with a larger market cap, such as DOGE, tend to be more resilient, with prices generally taking more days to decline. For more trends, check out the full report: The Evolution of Memes and What Makes Them Successful.

Market Spotlight

Note: Market prices captured in US$ at the time of reading. Explore more on Crypto‌.com/Price.

News Snaps

License Milestone for Singapore
Crypto.com announced it has received its Major Payment Institution (MPI) license for Digital Payment Token (DPT) services from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. With the MPI license and in-principle approval in June 2022, Crypto.com is now fully approved to offer DPT services to retail customers in Singapore. 

Crypto Insurance Start-Up Gets AI-Powered Investment

OpenAI CEO and Worldcoin founder Sam Altman co-led a US$19 million investment in crypto life insurance start-up Meanwhile, which is positioning itself as the first and only life insurer to offer products entirely denominated in crypto.

Enhanced Access to Liquidity on Crypto.com Exchange with CoinRoutes

Crypto.com announced it has integrated with CoinRoutes, a leading provider of smart order routing and execution services, to increase access to liquidity for its clients. 

MiCA Signed ✒️

The European Union formally signed its landmark Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation into law, taking the bloc closer to becoming the first major jurisdiction in the world with tailored rules for the sector. 

Stable Yen Groundwork Laid

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced its stablecoin issuance platform ‘Progmat Coin’ will soon be used by banks in Japan to launch Japanese yen-pegged stablecoins on several public blockchains.

Telekom Turns Validator

Germany’s Deutsche Telekom is set to become a validator for Ethereum Layer-2 scaling platform Polygon, becoming one of 100 validators providing staking and validation services for the network and Polygon’s Supernets solution.

What’s Ahead

Four major industry events are on the calendar for the second half of 2023:

Research & Insights

Monthly Feature Article | Alpha Navigator

This monthly feature compiles crypto trading trends and market influences into one comprehensive report.

Here are this month’s highlights:

• Risk assets generally dipped in May, although US equities bucked the trend on the back of the tech sector. As 2023 nears the halfway mark, crypto remains the best-performing asset class YTD.

• Markets in June face interest rate decisions from multiple central banks. The Reserve Bank of Australia was first up on June 6, followed in quick succession by the US Federal Reserve (June 14), the European Central Bank (June 15), the Bank of Japan (June 16), the People’s Bank of China (June 20), and the Bank of England (June 22).
• BTC’s one-month correlation with equities turned negative; notably, its longer-term correlations are stronger with gold than with most of the equity indices.

Get more market insights from the Alpha Navigator here.

NFT Spotlight

Romanian digital artist Rosco Adrian offers up Surrealism with ‘MindScape: A Journey into the Inner Mind’, a collection of five pieces highlighting the beautiful inner chaos of how our subconscious works. 

Dropping Friday, June 16, ‘MindScape’ focuses on archetypal symbolism; each artwork serves as a gateway to a realm beyond the tangible, where the boundaries of reality dissolve and the surreal takes flight. This drop features 🪂 NFT airdrops and 🖼️ Metal Print signed by Rosco Adrian.

I use art as a way to bring my dreams and thoughts to life, to escape from and reshape negative emotions, and to clear my mind through the process of creation. In many ways, art has been my salvation and therapy.

Rosco Adrian, on art as salvation

Flow with the rhythm of the mind as it dances along the canvas. Or vibe with Rosco Adrian’s other visual symphonies.

Product Picks

Badges Have Been Airdropped to Crypto.com App Users

Badges is a new addition to the Missions feature that recognises users’ all-time achievements with special experiences and utilities. Upon acquiring a Badge, you’ll get exclusive access to an in-app experience, such as a personalised home screen or trade confirmation message. You can also share your Badge on social media to show off your achievements. What’s more, you’ll receive a surprise number of Diamonds with each new Badge. Diamonds can be used in the Missions Store to redeem Mystery Boxes containing CRO, exclusive NFTs, merchandise, and more. Check out the blog for more details.

Join the USDC Flash Rewards and Earn High Rewards

Calling all USDC token holders! Join the USDC Flash Rewards campaign, where each user can allocate up to 5,000 USDC! Earn an attractive reward of 7% p.a. on USDC for a 30-day allocation. The promotion ends on June 22, 2023, or when the aggregate campaign cap of 2,500,000 USDC is met. Start earning now!

Crypto Level Up

What Is ERC-20?

ERC-20 is a technical standard for fungible tokens on Ethereum. ‘ERC’ refers to ‘Ethereum Request for Comments’ while ‘20’ is the number assigned to this standard. Discover how ERC-20 tokens work and which ones are popular right now.

What features must ERC-20 tokens have?

An ERC-20 token must at least have the following six features:

1. Total token supply data
2. Data for the token’s balance in an Ethereum wallet
3. Ability to be transferred from one user to another
4. Capability to allow smart contracts to transfer tokens on behalf of the owner
5. Capacity to limit the number of tokens a smart contract can withdraw
6. Ability to grant external addresses permission to spend the token from a balance

Which ERC-20 tokens are popular today?

Close to 500,000 ERC-20 tokens have been created on Ethereum, but the following are some that have the largest market caps today:

1. USDT — A stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, launched in 2014
2. USDC — Another stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, launched in 2018
3. SHIB — A meme coin that dubs itself the ‘Dogecoin Killer’, launched in 2020
4. MATIC — The native token of the Polygon network, launched in 2017
5. CRO — The native token of the Cronos blockchain, launched in 2021

Find Out More About Ethereum’s Most Important Token Standard.

#CryptoIRL

Well, well. We have always wanted to visit Greece — and in a way, now we have, thanks to @joeripeet and the Crypto.com Icy White Visa Card. Another ✅ on the bucket list.

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

Fiat Currency

Fiat money is a form of currency that is backed solely by the government or the central bank that issued it.

Unlike commodities like gold, fiat money does not have intrinsic value. Rather, its value is derived from the supply and demand, as well as the trust in the issuing government. 

Most legal tangible currencies are fiat currencies, including USD, GBP, HKD, SGD, AUD, and EUR. 

For an in-depth discussion on fiat money, read our article What Is Money?

This Week in Crypto History

User Pays Over 10,000 ETH to Transfer Half an Ether

On June 10, 2020, a user transferred 0.55 ETH on the Ethereum blockchain. However, they paid approximately 10,688 ETH in transaction fees to complete this transfer. At the time, this was more than 13 times the recommended transaction fee, which raised eyebrows among cryptocurrency enthusiasts who speculated whether this was a rookie mistake.

That’s it for this week’s Snapshot. Want more? Head over to our Insta feed for bite-size crypto lessons.