Digital Assets Report 54
- Kevin O'leary backed DeFi venture purchases Bitbuy for $162m
- Solana DEX, Serum, has raised $70m out of targetted $100m
- Bitcoin continues downtrend, briefly dips below $40k
- Fed's hawkish comments further push crypto markets down
- Ray Dalio believes governments could outlaw Bitcoin
Business
Kazakhstan internet restoration not enough for crypto miners
Limited restoration of internet access in Kazakhstan is not enough to bring the world crypto mining hub back fully online, according to NetBlocks.
Kevin O’Leary-Backed DeFi Platform WonderFi to Purchase Bitbuy for $162M in Cash, Shares
The deal gives WonderFi one of Canada’s fastest-growing crypto platforms, adding 375,000 registered users.
Sun Hung Kai, SBI, SCB 10X invest in digital asset bank Sygnum’s $90m funding - Ledger Insights - enterprise blockchain
Digital Asset bank Sygnum raised a $90 million Series B at an $800m valuation led by Sun Hung Kai & Co, including SBI, SCB 10X, Animoca, WeMade
NFT sales of $2.73 billion in last month alone
https://www.unlock-bc.com/83438/nft-sales-of-2-73-billion-in-last-month-alone/
TP ICAP Has Started Trading Crypto-Linked Exchange-Traded Products for Clients
While the firm is trading ETPs solely in Europe at present, a U.S. rollout is planned in eight weeks.
Serum Is Raising $100M for DeFi on Solana
Serum, a decentralized exchange on Solana, has raised $70 million out of a targeted $100 million in a token sale funding round.
Ethereum Layer 2 Arbitrum One Hit By Another Outage
Arbitrum One, Ethereum’s most used Layer 2 scaling solution, is down. The last block was processed over four hours ago.
Samsung launches metaverse store in Decentraland
The consumer electronics giant is opening a version of its flagship New York store in Decentraland’s metaverse.
NFT Marketplace OpenSea Valued at $13.3B in $300M Funding Round
The ubiquitous NFT site was valued at $1.5 billion last July.
Markets
Bitcoin Loses $40k, Ether Below $3k As Cryptos Suffer Worst Start To Year... Ever
Bitcoin’s slump appears to be driven more so by short-term traders of the coin than long-term holders...
Bitcoin Snaps 6-Day Losing Streak, Holds Above $40K
The largest cryptocurrency’s price appears to have stabilized after a nearly week-long downdraft that marked one of bitcoin’s worst-ever starts to a year.
Regulations
Bitcoin Blowout: Slide Continues After Hawkish Fed Comments
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, also struggled in the face of tech-stock declines and has slumped 15% since Dec. 27.
Chinese banks roll out digital yuan wallets
Customers of all six state-run Chinese banks can now apply for test versions of the banks’ digital yuan wallets as part of the CBDC pilot
Thailand Passes Crypto Capital Gains Tax Law
Kosovar government halts crypto mining amid power crisis
The report noted that the government made the decision after Kosovo’s power supply fell below the stipulated level, and it began to impose electricity cuts during peak usage periods.
Number of nations that have outlawed Bitcoin has doubled in 3 years | Finbold
Given the rapidly growing crypto market, many policymakers around the world appear torn between embracing Bitcoin or restricting its usage.
Opinions
Mike Novogratz Predicts Bitcoin Will Bottom Out at $38,000
Mike Novogratz is not nervous about the recent Bitcoin price correction
Billionaire Ray Dalio Says Governments Could Outlaw Bitcoin
Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, has said that governments around the world could just boycott the use of Bitcoin. Drawing parallels with historical events, Dalio has said several governments had outlawed gold and silver in previous years.
Readings / Podcasts
How big is crypto? Comparing the market to traditional asset classes
2021 was a record-breaking year for crypto, with the global market cap surpassing $2 trillion for the first time.
Key drivers behind Chainlink’s exponential growth
During the past year, the increasing adoption of Chainlink Data Feeds was accompanied by the network’s release of new computation-based services–leading to a surge in the total number of integrations.