Mind The Block | January Week 1

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

Mind The Block Headlines This Week

• Bitcoin Crosses $45,000 Milestone
• Bithumb Hunts for Coin Owners
• Nigeria Lifts Crypto Banking Ban
• Grape has Raised $35 Million
• Delysium Launches Lucy AI OS
• AssetClub Adopts RATS Token
• ETH Nears $2.5K Amid Upgrade Hype
• Guide: Navigating Crypto Capital Rotation

News

• Bitcoin has broken through $45,000 for the first time in nearly two years.
• Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and BONK are all meme coins with volatile market values.
• Blast’s total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $1 billion within 40 days of launch, despite criticism and a decline in new depositors.
• More than 20 cryptocurrency projects have scheduled token unlocks for January, releasing over $600 million worth of digital assets.
• Ethereum’s 2024 roadmap focuses on scalability, security, and sustainability improvements.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed shock over the US government’s decision to drop six charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
• The Aleph Zero Foundation has announced the launch of CTRL+Hack+ZK, a hackathon event from January 10th to 31st, 2024.
• Jupiter plans to airdrop its JUP token by the end of January, testing the longevity of the altcoin frenzy.
• Web3 companies Oasys Japan and Astar Network have set up crypto donation channels to raise $83,000 for Japan earthquake relief.
• Canadian crypto trading platform Catalyx has suspended withdrawals and trading activities due to a security breach.

Extras by Mind the Block

• Monday Gwei provides a weekly update on Ethereum news, Layer 2 solutions, funding, and ETH stats.
• Fund issuers have been submitting amendments to their spot bitcoin ETF applications.
• Shiba Inu’s lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, has shared a special message to the community, expressing optimism for 2024.
• AI crypto assets’ market capitalization surged by 540% in under a year, reaching $7 billion.
• A small-cap crypto project built on Kusama (KSM) has risen 188% this week.
• Curve Finance has launched its crvUSD pool on the Arbitrum network.
• Crypto market liquidations reached $225 million in the first day of 2024.
• Playbux, a web3 entertainment platform, is launching a fair community offering (FCO) to raise $150,000 from the public.
• Formula 1 team Sauber has signed a two-year partnership with crypto casino and sports betting platform Stake in 2024.
• Paypal’s new stablecoin, PYUSD saw a 68.8% increase, surpassing Liquid USD (LUSD).
• The Orbit Bridge hack on New Year’s Eve has led to nearly $100 million in crypto theft in December 2023.

Major Companies Making Moves

• South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is launching a campaign to find “dormant” owners of $206 million worth of coins.
• The Avalanche Foundation plans to buy a collection of meme coins under its “Culture Catalyst” program.
• Oasis Network unveils “Eden” upgrade, enhancing performance and privacy.
• Baltimore has signed a $225,000 contract to deploy a blockchain to track home foreclosures and process vacant buildings.
• eToro has partnered with Munich-based fintech Tangany to offer secure and transparent crypto asset custody services.

Government, SEC & Regulation

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may inform spot Bitcoin ETF applicants of approval by January 3.
• India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has requested the blocking of global crypto exchange URLs.
• China has raised concerns over corrupt officials exploiting cold storage cryptocurrency for illicit cross-border transactions.
• Nigeria’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted restrictions on Nigerian banks facilitating cryptocurrency transactions.

• A US federal judge has ruled in favor of the SEC in a Terraform Labs case over unregistered securities.
• US policymakers are voicing concerns over SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s actions, particularly his “regulation by enforcement” approach.
• Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong has warned his followers about deepfake videos promoting cryptocurrency scams.
• Hong Kong proposes accepting and regulating “fiat-referenced stablecoins” (FRS), requiring issuers to obtain a specific local license.
• Indonesian police have shut down ten Bitcoin mining operations and arrested 26 people for nearly $1 million in electricity theft.
• South Korean National Assembly members purchased nearly $50 million worth of cryptocurrency between May 2020 and May 2023.
• Kyrgyzstan’s cryptocurrency mining industry has seen modest growth.
• The Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) released a comprehensive evaluation report for the Digital Turkish Lira Project.

Raises & Major Investments rounds

• Grape has raised $35M, a Layer1 DLT platform that integrates Web3 decentralization with Web2 user-friendly features.

• Hashed, South Korea’s leading crypto venture has invested $28.44 million in blockchain projects this year.
• Canadian Bitcoin miner Hive Digital has closed a private financing round, raising $22 million.
• Humanscape is a blockchain-based patient network that promotes community activities, raising $15.34M in December 2023.
• Decentralized storage platform CESS raised $8 million from 13 venture capital firms to improve data storage methods.

Trends & Narrative

• Dan Tapiero discusses the impact of the Q4 market rally on crypto’s secondary market and the industry’s multi-trillion dollar growth potential.
• Delysium has unveiled Lucy, the operating system for the “YKILY” AI Agent Network.
• Zero-Knowledge (zK) technology is gaining prominence in the crypto industry, addressing scalability and privacy challenges.

NFTs, Gaming, Metaverse

• AssetClub has announced the adoption of BRC20 inscription token RATS as a payment token.
• Avenged Sevenfold is introducing 1 million NFTs in collaboration with Berify and Ticketmaster.
• Web2 games, like Fortnite and GTA6, may create functional versions of the metaverse before crypto nerds.
• Web3 gaming experienced significant growth and adaptation despite the crypto market’s turmoil.
• Blocklords’ Bearslayer Season, set to launch in January 2024, will focus on strategic farming loops and PvE battles.
• Delphi Digital’s report “The Year Ahead for Gaming 2024” highlights the rapid expansion of on-chain crypto gaming infrastructure.
• NFT traders are selling worthless tokens to offset capital gains on their taxes.
• MADA Capital, a UAE-based private investment fund, has partnered with Creta, a massive Web3 metaverse gaming platform.

Onchain Data

• Ethereum (ETH) price nearly broke the $2.5K resistance this week, driven by anticipation of a network upgrade.
• The Mina Protocol (MINA) price has risen8% due to $7 million in funding for its new mining protocol.
• Chainlink (LINK) price has reached a new yearly high of $17.68 after six weeks of consolidation.

• Polkadot’s top parachain protocol, Astar Network (ASTR), has seen a 25% price rally in the past 24 hours, with gains reaching 51.18%.
• Arbitrum (ARB) price broke out from a horizontal resistance area and was validated as support on December 26.

Educational Guides and Tips from Mind the Block

• The US Federal Reserve may face a tricky period if the nonfarm payrolls report doesn’t reflect slowing job growth.
• Crypto trading APIs are essential for automating routine tasks and connecting to various exchanges.
• Crypto Capital Rotation: A How-To Guide On RidingThe Wave Of Inflows.
• Jeremy Hogan, a renowned lawyer in the XRP community, has provided tax advice to digital currency investors.
• Chris Marling’s Hecata build guide for Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader offers a mix of starting skills and abilities for players.

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

Found value in the insights shared here? Check out our YouTube and Twitter, loaded with content meant to educate and entertain.

Follow our Telegram for a sneak peek at alpha; for an even deeper dive, join our Patreon community, where we share exclusive alpha for you to be the ‘early bird.’

Follow us today, and let’s explore Web3 together!