Calm After the Storm

The top 5 stories in crypto and more!

Jul 11, 2022

The last few weeks in crypto have been chaotic. Many of the biggest names in the space have halted withdrawals on their platforms due to solvency issues, Three Arrows Capital has filed for bankruptcy in New York and the whole space has a dark cloud hanging overhead. That cloud represents the remaining assets to be liquidated in any future bankruptcy proceedings from other insolvent players…Anyways, here are the biggest and most interesting stories in crypto this week.

1. Facebook launched an NFT feature on their platform

While the crypto industry has been hurting, large corporations not too exposed to the space continue to make moves. Primarily in relation to NFTs. Quite recently Facebook introduced an NFT section on a select group of influencers’ IG pages. They are now doing the same on Facebook, a select group of creators will have a “Digital Collectibles” tab on their profiles.

2. Singapore is considering further restrictions on retail crypto activity

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (their central bank type entity) is considering further restrictions that aim to limit retail investor involvement in crypto. They are calling it “protection”. This is not the first round of MAS protection, earlier in the year they cracked down on crypto advertising. Now they are taking aim at transacting using crypto and the use of leverage in trading. Binance (the largest exchange) suspended its Singapore operations due to restrictions last year.

3. Rentable NFTs on Ethereum coming are coming soon

Ethereum has a number of token standards.

ERC-20 - The standard for fungible tokens (fungible means one item can be replaced by another identical item, like cash).

ERC-721 - The standard for Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), each token is completely unique

ERC - 4907 - A new proposed token standard that will allow users to borrow/rent out NFTs without having to buy or sell the NFT. The primary use case here will be for blockchain-based games where users can rent out or borrow in-game assets to use for themselves. Or if you need an NFT to access something, you may not wish to buy the full NFT for access, but you could instead rent it temporarily.

4. HTC Launches a Metaverse Phone

HTC Launched the Desire 22 smartphone this week, targeting Web 3.0 usage. The phone comes pre-loaded with digital asset wallets and VR headset pairing.

HTC has a Metaverse “arm” of the company called Viverse, the phone will come with Viverse apps and Vive wallets built in so users can create and manage crypto assets on Ethereum and Polygon. This comes just one week after Solana announced they will launch a flagship Android phone also aimed at Web 3.0, specifically the Solana ecosystem.

5. Reddit Launch NFT Avatars

Reddit is no stranger to crypto, the /r/cryptocurrency subreddit has its own crypto token. The “Moons” token is an Ethereum-based token that lives on one of Ethereum’s testnets. Moons are earned based on Karma (the reddit points system).

Reddit is now launching avatars that will be based on the Polygon network, that being said, these NFTs fall into a “Web 2.5” category where they aren’t used on the blockchain and are purchased using fiat currencies and for a fixed price. Unlike OpenSea which uses an auction-based system to price NFTs.

Here is my Reddit Avatar…

More 3AC Contagion

At the moment there seems to be a neverending stream of news on firms in trouble after the 3AC insolvency, so here are some extra headlines if you want to get stuck in and marvel at the ridiculousness.