Mind The Block | February Week 2

Mind The Block: Your Weekly Dose of Web3 News and Insights

Mind The Block Headlines This Week

• Bitcoin Breaks $50,000 Milestone
• Genesis Seeks Court Approval for Settlement
• Nigeria Calls for Stricter Crypto Rules
• dYdX Foundation Secures $30M DYDX Tokens
• Zero Knowledge Boosts Web3 Evolution
• Mastercard Unveils NFT Champions League Game
• ImmutableX Hits Two-Year High
• Cardano Smart Contracts

News

• Bitcoin price surged 17.5% over the past seven days, trading above $50,000 for the first time since December 2021.
• US President Joe Biden’s mysterious laser-eyed portrait, featuring a Bitcoin and a Twitter bird, has generated buzz in the cryptosphere.
• Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Grayscale objected to Genesis’ plan to liquidate $1.6 billion in trust shares.
• Solana Mobile has reached 100,000 preorders for its second smartphone, securing $45 million in sales in just over a month.
• OpenEx is launching its Long test network, a digital asset trading platform inspired by the Chinese dragon.
• 78% of global institutional traders have no interest in exposing holdings to digital assets, despite slight growth in pro-crypto firms.
• Aptos Ecosystem Summit attracted a significant number of attendees from 15+ countries, 32 projects, and 50+ investors from 26 firms.
• Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. SEC, has addressed lawmakers about a breach of the SEC’s X account.
• Puffer Finance has reached $850 million in total value locked in its smart contracts since its launch on February 1.

Extras By Mind The Block

• Worldcoin Foundation has awarded $2 million in Wave0 Community Grants to 28 global projects across five continents.
• BAF and Arbitrum have partnered for the first Arbitrum Workshop Session.
• Blockchain technology is close to unlocking $400 billion in global financial innovation by enabling the tokenization.
• Polygon Labs has introduced a type 1 prover, enabling EVM chains to adopt zero-knowledge scaling technology.
• Experts predict Pandoshi’s growth of 10,000% due to its Layer-2 technology, mirroring Polygon’s performance.
• Crypto venture capital landscape saw a 10.8% increase in investment projects, with 113 publicly disclosed projects.
• XRP ETF could potentially unlock the full potential of Ripple’s XRP by boosting utility and investor demand.
• HELLO Labs, creators of Killer Whales, has partnered with Moby Media to boost Web3 awareness.
• Rabbit Swap introduces an innovative cross-chain swap solution to enhance efficiency and benefits of cryptocurrency transactions.

Major Companies Making Moves

• Genesis Global Holdco has filed a motion in the US Bankruptcy Court to approve a settlement with the New York Attorney General’s Office.
• Magic Square has launched a $750,000 reward program for its loyal users.
• The Sui Foundation has partnered with the American University of Sharjah to establish the AUS-Sui Blockchain Academy.
• Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital is considering expanding its operations into Africa.
• Kraken has secured a Netherlands VASP license, allowing it to provide crypto trading and exchange services to retail clients.
• Franklin Templeton has applied for a spot Ethereum ETF, joining other issuers like BlackRock and Fidelity.

Government, SEC & Regulation

• Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has added MEXC to its alert list for suspected fraud.
• Philippines is expected to issue a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) within two years.
• South Korean crypto exchanges that are deemed ‘ineligible’ will face expulsion from the country starting this year.
• Nigeria is urging regulators to tighten crypto regulations to prevent financial crimes.
• Torrevieja, Spain, is aiming to become a pioneer in adopting a ‘crypto-friendly’ digital economy.
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking its cybersecurity obligations seriously, according to SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

• Argentina has the largest purchases and holdings of stablecoins in Latin America over the past six months.
• Russian Central Bank has reported a 16% rise in financial scams in 2023, with almost all scams involving crypto-related elements.
• The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) has announced a plan to enhance supervision of the crypto industry.
• Australian Federal Court Judge Ian McNeil Jackman ruled Block Earner engaged in unlicensed financial services conduct.
• US Treasury Department reports that despite the rise of digital assets for money laundering, cash remains the primary tool for illicit actors.

Raises & Major Investments rounds

• The dYdX Foundation has secured $30 million worth of DYDX tokens from the dYdX chain Chain Community Treasury.
• Web3 platform Analog hasraised $16 million to advance its data accessibility and cross-chain communication plans.
• Filecoin’s Liquid Staker Glif has raised $4.5 million in seed funding to expand its “liquid leasing” setup.
• Pixelmon has raised $8 million in funding and is set to launch on the Ethereum scaling network Immutable zkEVM.
• Kelexo (KLXO) has secured substantial investments from Binance Coin (BNB) and Solana (SOL) holders for 25x gains.

Trends & Narrative

• Ripple Labs’ CEO Adrien Treccani has stepped down after eight years at Metaco, a Swiss-based blockchain custody firm.
• Zero knowledge technology is set to revolutionize the web3 evolution, paving the way for a new era of privacy and scalability.
• Dragonsworld introduces The Dragons project, the world’s first token talisman, blending ancient wisdom and modern innovation.
• Animoca’s CEO, Yat Siu, discusses the growing mass adoption of crypto gaming in the Web3 space.
• Netflix’s Black Mirror has launched a ‘Smile 2 Earn’ app, aiming to bring the dystopian ‘Nosedive’ episode to real life.

NFTs, Gaming, Metaverse

• Mastercard has launched an NFT UEFA Champions League Trivia Game.
• Yuga Labs has faced criticism for botching an NFT mint tied to its Ape-themed metaverse, Otherside.
• The city of Kochi, Japan has signed a deal with Start Lands metaverse to create a virtual Kochi aimed at boosting tourism.
• Dacoco has launched the mobile auto battler Battlefleet Armageddon.

• Treasure, a decentralized gaming ecosystem, plans to launch a Treasure Chain built on Arbitrum, using its existing MAGIC token for gas.
• Decentraland is aiming to lower entry barriers to the metaverse through technical advancements and community engagement.
• Gala Games has launched Rep, a web3 social media platform built on GalaChain.
• Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, an augmented reality headset, has been the company’s biggest new hardware launch in decades.

Onchain Data

• ImmutableX (IMX) has reached a two-year high and climbed into the top 25 after breaking out of a long-term resistance area.
• Cardano has rallied 15% in the past week and is now focused on flipping a critical resistance level, the $0.55 level.
• Avalanche (AVAX), the tenth largest cryptocurrency, has experienced a 5% dip in 24 hours, trading at $38.58.
• Chainlink (LINK) has seen a 12% increase in its market value due to a whale wallet’s aggressive accumulation of $83.6 million.
• Solana’s price prediction shows a 15% increase to $109.56.

• The ERC-404 token standard, which combines ERC-20 tokens and NFTs, has seen its initial hype and price drop.

Educational Guides and Tips from Mind the Block

• Cardano Smart Contracts: What Makes Them Different?
• Profit Rex Review – Scam or Legitimate Trading Platform.
• Bitcoin faucets, developed in 2010, offer players small rewards for completing simple tasks.
• Why can’t I call a contract function on a block before the contract was deployed?
• How to buy Bitcoin with a credit card.

See you in the next edition of the Mind The Block.

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