Himmelaufzeit

• Web3 Metaverse NFT trading volume hit a new all-time high in Q1 of 2023, with 147,00 trades generating $311 million in trading volume.
• The Otherside metaverse and MG Land dominated the space, with Otherdeed NFTs registering $222 million in trading volume and one Otherdeed NFT selling for 186 ETH ($2.85 million).
• This surge is due to platforms such as Yuga Labs’ Otherside and Blur’s “airdrop seasons and farming.”

Web3 Metaverse NFT Trading Volume Hits All-Time High

Non-fungible token (NFT) trading increased across virtual worlds in the first quarter of 2023, according to a DappRadar report published Thursday. A total of 147,000 trades generated $311 million in trading volume this past quarter – an all-time high.

Yuga Labs’ Otherside & MG Land Dominate Virtual Land Trading

The report found that virtual land trading was led by platforms such as Yuga Labs’ Otherside and MG Land. Otherdeed NFTs, which are linked to land in the Otherside metaverse, registered $222 million in trading volume in the first quarter – a 237% increase from the previous quarter. One particular sale of an Otherdeed NFT was recorded at 186 ETH (about $2.85 million at the time).

Blur’s “Airdrop Seasons & Farming” Contributing To Uptick

The surge of virtual land trading is also attributed to Blur’s “airdrop seasons and farming.” Earlier this month, Yuga Labs announced the official date of its “Second Trip” for holders of Otherdeed NFTs – likely also contributing to its uptick.

Daniel Alegre: New CEO Of Yuga Labs

Yuga Labs recently welcomed Daniel Alegre as its new CEO back on March 14th 2021 – his first public appearance since assuming the position will be taking place soon!

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Bulletpoints:
• John Knopf, an Emmy Award-nominated photographer, was an early adopter of NFTs.
• He co-founded FOTO, a collective that aims to elevate digital art and train artists to work in Web3.
• Time magazine partnered with FOTO on its own NFT drops in 2021.

John Knopf and FOTO

John Knopf is an Emmy award-nominated landscape photographer who works for National Geographic and was an early adopter of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Together with seven other prominent photographers – Alejandro Cartagena, Ben Strauss, Cath Simard, Dave Krugman, Isaac “Drift” Wright, J.N. Silva and Ravi Vora – Knopf helped found FOTO, a collective geared at training artists to work in Web3. The idea behind this collective is to elevate digital art and create a community where members can exhibit their work at sponsored galleries and events.

The Early Days of Bored Apes

At the beginning of his journey into the world of crypto art and NFTs, Knopf thought he could make a “quick buck”. However, he quickly became enthralled with the potential of distributed networks and what they could do for photography as an art form. Through his involvement with Bored Apes – one of the first crypto art collectives – he saw how much potential there was within the decentralized space to turn an industry into a community. He then decided to take it upon himself to help foster this new movement by co-founding FOTO with his fellow photographers from around the globe.

Time Magazine Partnership

FOTO now boasts hundreds of members from both amateur and professional backgrounds. In 2021, Time magazine partnered with FOTO on its own NFT drops which further elevated digital art as well as furthered conversations about NFTs within mainstream media outlets. This partnership opened up new opportunities for aspiring digital artists to showcase their talents within the crypto space as well as gain more exposure for their artwork beyond just selling them online or through galleries but also having them featured in one of the most influential magazines in the world today.

Web3’s Impact on Photography

Knopf believes that Web3 is all about elevating each other while working together to advance the art form itself which has been great news for photographers who are now able to experiment more freely with their craft than ever before due to blockchain technology being integrated into many aspects of photography such as minting NFTs or taking photos at remote locations that were previously inaccessible due to lack of infrastructure or resources available in those areas.

Conclusion

Overall, John Knopf’s story is inspiring proof that anything is possible when you have determination and drive coupled with creativity and innovation which is exactly what Web3 brings forth – creating opportunities for people like him who want nothing more than share their passion for photography with others while breaking down barriers that once held them back from doing so!

• Rune Christensen, the founder of Ethereum’s MakerDAO, called for a rebranding of the DAI stablecoin to make it more understandable to “normal people”
• Christensen said DAI has bad branding that is hindering its growth and should be changed to include “USD” in the name
• He proposed for MakerDAO to position DAI as a currency users can generate yield with and see it as ‘the safest and most reliable gamified crypto of all’

MakerDAO Founder Calls for Rebranding of DAI Stablecoin

Rune Christensen, the founder of Ethereum’s MakerDAO, said on a call with community members that the DAI stablecoin suffers from bad branding that could be slowing its growth. He suggested rebranding DAI to make it more understandable for “normal people” by including “USD” in its name.

Positioning DAI as Yield Generating Currency

Christensen proposed for MakerDAO to position DAI as a currency users can generate yield with and see it as ‘the safest and most reliable gamified crypto of all’. The rebranding would also come alongside his “Endgame” proposal for MakerDAO, which he admitted few understand.

Impact of Rebranding

The potential rebranding would have an impact on how people perceive both MakerDAO and its flagship token, providing an opportunity to reposition both entities into something more approachable. It could help create a narrative around the token and increase user acquisition.

Reactions From Community Members

Not all attendees were convinced by Christensen’s argument, however. Others argued that introducing new names or symbols wasn’t necessary given steady improvements in blockchain education over time. Nonetheless, many agreed that some measure was needed to get ordinary people involved in using the platform rather than just speculators seeking profit-making opportunities.

Conclusion

Overall, there appears to be broad consensus within MakerDAO’s community that changes need to be made in order for DAI’s success going forward. Whether this will take the form of a complete rebrand or merely improving education about blockchain technology remains unclear at this stage — but either way, it looks like something needs to be done soon if they hope to reach their goal of making crypto accessible for everyone.

• Swing, a cross-chain liquidity protocol, released a new “no-code” product that will reduce the time needed to deploy and update decentralized applications across multiple blockchains.
• The product, Swing Platform, is provided to developers during ETHDenver and offers a key benefit of updating configurations and deploying updates without changing the code.
• Cross-chain applications are becoming more common but are often targeted by hackers and can cost billions in hacks or thefts from cross-chain bridges.

Swing Launches ‘No-Code’ Product to Speed Up App Deployment

Decentralized applications that straddle multiple blockchains are becoming more common. However, the cross-chain “bridges” often used to move digital assets back and forth between the different networks are frequently targeted by hackers. To address this issue, Swing – a cross-chain liquidity protocol – has launched a new “no-code” product designed to reduce the time needed to deploy and update decentralized applications across multiple blockchains.

What Is Swing Platform?

The new product provided by Swing is called Swing Platform. It is being offered to developers during ETHDenver, which is one of the major conferences for Ethereum developers. The key benefit of using this platform is that it allows developers to update configurations and deploy updates without having to change any code at all. This could be especially useful in critical scenarios when it’s necessary for a particular token or bridge to be disabled due to security flaws or other malicious activity from hackers.

Costs Of Hacks On Cross Chain Bridges

Cross chain applications have become increasingly popular as they provide users with a way of transferring digital assets between different networks quickly and easily. Unfortunately, these applications can also be vulnerable when it comes to security breaches or malicious attacks from hackers. According to Chainalysis – a blockchain security firm – these hacks have cost around $2 billion within just the first eight months of 2022 alone.

Benefits Of Using The Swing Platform

The use of the Swing Platform could help speed up response times if there was ever an incident outside of ordinary working hours where nontechnical team members need access in order to take action quickly. Additionally, launching and maintaining such an application can be quite risky for those who don’t necessarily have large teams with lots of resources available at their disposal; however with this platform they would still be able to do so safely with fewer risks involved overall due in part because there won’t be any need for code changes each time an update needs deploying or configuration needs altering..

Conclusion

All things considered, the introduction of this no-code platform from Swing could prove invaluable for those looking into developing decentralized apps across multiple blockchains but don’t necessarily want (or have) the resources available do so safely whilst keeping costs low at least initially until such app gains traction over time in order for them make back their investment/costs incurred accordingly..

Folkvang Suffers Major Loss After FTX Collapse

• Folkvang, a market-neutral Cayman Island-based trading firm, had half of its equity parked on FTX before it collapsed in November.
• At its peak in 2021 Folkvang managed around $400 million in assets, including equity and loans.
• Founder Mike van Rossum stated that the company was able to survive but had to pay out of pocket for lenders due to their high borrowing activity.

FinanceAlameda-Backed Crypto Trader Folkvang Still Standing

Crypto trader Folkvang is still standing despite suffering a big hit from the collapse of FTX exchange in November. The firm, founded by Mike van Rossum and backed by Alameda Research, managed as much as $400 million in 2021 and had half of its equity parked on FTX before it crashed. Despite the losses incurred from the crash, Van Rossum expressed satisfaction at the fact that they were able to survive despite the tough circumstances.

FTX Exchange Collapse Causes Contagious Ripple Effects

The ripple effects of FTX’s demise have been felt across the cryptocurrency industry with many firms feeling the pinch from this contagion effect. The trading firm lost a lot of gains made during 2021 due to halving their equity values following the crash. This highlights some of the risks involved in entering into cryptocurrency markets as seen with other exchanges such as QuadrigaCX who closed down after losing access to millions worth of funds stored away offsite on cold wallets.

Folkvang’s High Volume Trading Activity

At its peak in 2021, Folkvang was doing up to $8 billion worth of volume during single trades which saw them becoming one of FTX’s top volume traders with numerous profits being made along the way. It also has an experienced team with less than 10 quant traders working together while investing both ways between themselves and FTX when it first started out last year.

Risk vs Reward: Balancing Out Cryptocurrency Opportunities

The crypto space is still recovering from what happened at FTX and other industries may have suffered similar fates if not worse than Folkvang did during this time frame. However, Van Rossum notes that there are always risks involved when taking part in such markets but it is possible to balance them out against potential rewards if done correctly like what his company has done so far since then.

• TRU, the governance token of decentralized lending protocol TrueFi, surged 220% on Thursday in an hour.
• The rally appears to come from traders mistakenly connecting TRU with TUSD, a stablecoin that had been issued by TrueFi in the past but now no longer is.
• Binance minted $50 million of TrueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin, sparking speculation among crypto traders about TUSD potentially gaining a larger role in trading on Binance after the regulatory crackdown on the Paxos-issued BUSD.

TRU Token Rallies Over 200% After Binance’s TUSD Mint Sparks Speculation

The rally of TRU, the governance token of decentralized lending protocol TrueFi, appears to come from traders mistakenly connecting it with TUSD, a stablecoin that had been issued by TrueFi in the past but now no longer is. By Krisztian Sandor on Feb 16th 2023 at 6:03 p.m., its price surged 220% within an hour and was trading at around 11 cents at press time.

Background Information

Prior to this rally taking off, Binance minted $50 million of TrueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin according to blockchain data which sparked speculations among crypto traders about its potential gain in trading roles on Binance after the regulatory crackdown on Paxos-issued BUSD.

TrustToken Separates From TrueFi Protocol

TrustToken separated from the TrueFi protocol and was renamed Archblock last year as TrueFi embarked on a road to decentralize its platform while TrustToken sold TUSD to Asia-based conglomerate Techteryx who focused their businesses in traditional real estate, entertainment, environmental and information technology industries.

Binance USD Drama Sets Stage for Stablecoin Market Reshuffling

The drama surrounding Binance USD has set stage for reshuffling of the stablecoin market where attempts are made for other coins like TUSB to take over some of its roles despite not being connected with either TrustToken or TrueFi anymore.

Conclusion

Despite these speculations leading to a surge in prices for TRU tokens as traders believed there was some connection between them and TUSB; they were mistaken because TrustToken has long been separated from both entities leaving only speculation behind this rally before it later pared down again.

• Kraken has agreed to shut down its crypto staking operations in order to settle SEC charges.
• The SEC voted on the settlement during a closed-door commissioner meeting on Thursday.
• Kraken offers a number of services under its staking umbrella, including a crypto-lending product offering up to 24% yield.

Kraken Agrees To Shutter US Crypto-Staking Operations

Kraken, a popular crypto exchange, has agreed to immediately end its cryptocurrency staking-as-a-service platform for U.S. customers and pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges it offered unregistered securities. The SEC voted on the settlement during a closed-door commissioner meeting on Thursday afternoon, and an announcement may come later in the day.

What Services Does Kraken Provide?

Kraken offers a number of services under its staking umbrella, including a crypto-lending product offering up to 24% yield which is also expected to be shut down as part of the settlement with the SEC. The company’s staking service offers customers 20% APY if they choose to stake their cryptocurrencies with them and sends out rewards twice per week according to their website.

SEC Charges Against Kraken

The SEC charged that Kraken offered unregistered securities when running their staking operations for US customers which is against federal law in the United States. This prompted Kraken to agree to shutter these operations in order to settle these charges with the SEC as reported by Bloomberg earlier this week.

Implications For Crypto Regulation

This move by the SEC shows that they are willing and able to enforce regulations related to cryptocurrencies even if it means going after large players like Kraken with hefty fines or forcing them into shutting down certain services entirely. It could be seen as an example of how future enforcement actions will be taken against companies found violating federal regulations regarding cryptocurrencies or other digital assets moving forward.

Conclusion

Kraken has agreed to pay $30 million dollars in fines and shutter its cryptocurrency staking operations for U.S customers as part of settling charges brought up by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This speaks volumes about how serious the agency takes regulation around digital assets in general and could have far reaching implications for other firms operating within this space moving forward.

• Bittrex, a Seattle-based crypto exchange, is laying off more than 80 people due to the new economic environment.
• This follows other exchanges such as Gemini and Coinbase announcing layoffs in the wake of declining prices and collapses of prominent firms.
• CoinDesk estimates that since April more than 29,000 jobs have been lost across the crypto industry.

Bittrex Lays Off More Than 80 People

CEO Richie Lai cited the “new economic environment” as the primary reason for the cuts. By Helene Braun Feb 2, 2023 at 5:03 p.m. UTC Updated Feb 2, 2023 at 5:21 p.m. UTC

Background

Seattle-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is reducing its staff by more than 80 people, the company confirmed Thursday, citing market conditions. In a leaked email on Twitter, Bittrex CEO Richie Lai told employees the team had been working “aggressively” to reduce expenses and increase efficiencies, but were not successful.

Reason For Layoffs

“The market downturn triggered by multiple failures in the crypto ecosystem became an outright collapse by the end of the year,” he wrote. “These events have caused us to reset our strategy and balance our investments with the new economic environment in which we find ourselves.” The reductions affected at least some employees in most departments across Bittrex, a spokesperson told CoinDesk.

Impact On Crypto Industry

Bittrex is one of many crypto exchanges that announced layoffs in the wake of sharp declines in cryptocurrency prices and the collapse of the FTX exchange and other prominent crypto firms. In January, U.S.-based exchange Gemini announced a third round of layoffs, while Coinbase said it would cut 20% of its workforce. CoinDesk estimates that since April more than 29,000 jobs have been lost across the crypto industry, based on media reports and press releases.

Conclusion

The recent news from Bittrex has highlighted how much impact Covid-19 has had on global markets and economies – particularly within industries like cryptocurrencies where businesses are heavily reliant on investor confidence for success or failure

• Rep. French Hill (R-Arkansas) is the chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, which plans to use its stablecoins draft as a model for how it will approach digital asset regulation.
• The subcommittee plans to make stablecoin regulation a top priority, in addition to pursuing a privacy statute federally.
• Rep. Hill said the subcommittee wants to ensure clear oversight among the SEC and CFTC related to digital assets.

The Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, established by the U.S. House of Representatives, is set to tackle a range of issues related to digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Rep. French Hill (R-Arkansas) is the chair of the subcommittee, and he has laid out a clear agenda for the committee’s work.

The first item on the agenda is the regulation of stablecoins. Stablecoins are digital assets that are pegged to a certain asset, such as the U.S. dollar, and are designed to retain their value over time. The subcommittee plans to use its stablecoins draft as a model for how it will approach digital asset regulation moving forward. This is especially important in light of the recent surge in the use of stablecoins for payments, investments, and other financial transactions.

In addition to regulating stablecoins, the subcommittee also plans to pursue a privacy statute federally. This would ensure that individuals’ data is collected and handled responsibly, so that it is not used for malicious purposes or to violate people’s privacy rights.

Finally, Rep. Hill said the subcommittee wants to ensure clear oversight among the SEC and CFTC related to digital assets. He noted that the two agencies have different roles, and it is important to establish which agency will have explicit oversight over the various aspects of digital asset regulation.

Overall, the Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion has a clear agenda to tackle the issues related to digital assets and cryptocurrencies. From regulating stablecoins to ensuring privacy rights to establishing clear oversight between the SEC and CFTC, the subcommittee is set to make a major impact on the digital asset industry.

• Timothy Stranex, co-founder and CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno, departed in December to pursue personal projects.
• He has been replaced by Simon Ince, who joined Luno just under two years ago as its vice president of engineering.
• Luno, which is owned by Digital Currency Group (parent company of CoinDesk), has offices in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Sydney and over 10 million customers worldwide.

Cryptocurrency exchange Luno has seen big changes recently, with the departure of co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO), Timothy Stranex, in December. Stranex had been with the company since its founding 10 years ago with Carel van Wyk, Pieter Heyns and current CEO Marcus Swanepoel.

The firm has now found a replacement for Stranex in the form of Simon Ince, who joined Luno just under two years ago as its vice president of engineering. Ince will now assume the role of CTO, taking on the responsibilities Stranex had in the company.

Luno, whose parent company is Digital Currency Group (also the parent company of CoinDesk), has offices in London, Singapore, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Sydney and is reported to have over 10 million customers worldwide. It provides a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet, enabling users to buy, sell and store digital assets.

Stranex’s departure is the latest in a series of changes for the company, which has been rapidly expanding and improving its services to meet customer needs. With Ince now at the helm as CTO, Luno will likely continue to develop its products and services, allowing customers from all over the world to easily and securely trade digital assets.

At the same time, Luno is also broadening its reach, having just recently added support for buying and selling Ripple (XRP) on its platform. Going forward, it will be interesting to see what other projects and services the firm will develop, as it looks to stay competitive in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency market.