She got a lotta Prada, that Dolce & Gabbana
She got a lotta Prada, that Dolce & Gabbana
The top 5 most interesting stories in crypto, and more!
Headline Roundup
Top Gainers this week
Waves (WAVES): $5.73 → $8.38 (+88%)
Helium (HNT): $8.3 → $11.03 (+45%)
Cardano (ADA): $0.55 —> $0.64 (+28.4%)
Top Losers this week
BitDAO (BIT): $0.79 → $0.57 (-24.3%)
Elrond (EGLD): $86.59 → $67.74 (-16.9%)
Luna Classic (LUNC): $0.00014 → $0.000083 (-15.9%)
Data courtesy of CoinGecko and Coin360
Into the Headlines
1. Coinbase goes on a hiring freeze and rescinds some offers
Coinbase is arguably the most well-known name in crypto, and is typically the newbie's first stop in the crypto world when trying to buy crypto assets…It was certainly mine.
Last week they announced they would be freezing all hiring and even in some cases rescinding job offers that were made to candidates. Coinbase has cited a slowing market as the reason behind its cost-cutting measures. It is also worth noting that major banks have also slashed their price targets for COIN (Coinbase Stock). The average target went from $279 in April to now $145. Coin currently trades at $72.93
2. The former OpenSea head arrested for wire fraud and money laundering
OpenSea is currently the largest NFT marketplace, enabling users to buy, sell and explore NFTs.
Former OpenSea Head of Product Nate Chastain was arrested and charged by the
FBI last week. It is alleged that Nate front ran NFT purchases of collections he knows were to be posted on the front page OpenSea. Front running is the act of buying something before the general public has access, typically done when one party has more information. In the finance world, it is very illegal. Once OpenSea found the claims to be legitimate, they fired Nate.
Solana is a layer 1 blockchain that is known for low fees, cheap transactions and only being available from 9-5. I’m joking.
Last week Solana suffered another outage, the second in the last 30 days. Validators were not able to process transactions for a few hours. The fix required validators to restart and things were back to normal shortly after.
4. Prada and Tamzai enter the metaverse
The Sandbox is one of many metaverses you can find in crypto, but it is one of the more popular ones. The Sandbox is essentially a big map made up of squares, users can purchase these squares (pieces of land) and place their logos or whatever they like on them.
Once you own land, you can create your own games within them, and people can then visit your land.
This week the famous spicy noodle restaurant, Tamzai announced they are entering the Sandbox by purchasing a piece of land. They are also releasing a line of NFT avatars that can be purchased. To get on the whitelist for these NFTs, you have to go to a Tamzai shop and ask a waitress. Net proceeds from NFT sales will go to Hong Kong Arts Centre for cultivating local digital artists.
Prada also announced they were teaming up with Adidas on an NFT project. 3 000 participants will be selected. Those selected will be able to upload their own image that will be minted into an NFT. Each NFT will then be used as a tile in an artwork created by the digital artist and creative coder, Zach Lieberman and auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity.
5. New York is trying to ban bitcoin mining
Bitcoin uses a form of cryptographic proof known as Proof of Work, where sophisticated computers essentially solve complicated math problems in order to add transactions to blocks on the bitcoin blockchain. Proof of Work mining is known for being quite energy-intensive and governments are starting to crack down on it.
Lawmakers in New York have put forth a bill that will ban bitcoin mining operations that utilize fossil fuels, it is now on the Govourners desk where they can sign the bill into law. The argument here is one of trying to lower New York’s carbon footprint, that being said, it is likely that miners will simply move elsewhere in the country.
