Bitfinity Weekly: Approved
Welcome to Issue #88 of Bitfinity Weekly for our #BITFINIANS community. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here.
What's in Today's Email?
- Global Crypto News
- This Week in our Blog
- NFT Market Bytes
- Tweet of the Week
- Meme Time
- A Matter of Opinion
Global Crypto News
🥂 Anniversary Surprise: All 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs have been approved by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) this Wednesday, but not without some drama. On Tuesday, just one day before the official announcement, the SEC's X account was hacked and published a tweet falsely announcing the approval. News of the hack resulted in $90 million in liquidations. The real approval announcement led to a modest bump in price and trading action before tapering down into the weekend; incidentally the ETF approval happened on the 15th anniversary of Hal Finney's famous tweet, "Running bitcoin".
🇮🇳 Crypto Crackdown: Apple removed eight crypto exchange platforms from the Indian App store this week, per the request of the Indian government, which has been targeting digital asset companies in the past year. This move follows last month's announcement by the Financial Intelligence Unit India of their plan to block the URLs of major crypto service providers including Binance and Kucoin.
✅ Don't Trust, Verify: Fox Corp. launched a blockchain-based tool for deepfake detection this Tuesday. The tool named, "Verify", was created through Fox's technology arm, Blockchain Creative Labs, in a partnership with Polygon. Verify aims to address the problems of verifying authentic news sources as well as solve other related issues such as protecting content owners "by utilizing smart contracts to set programmatic conditions for access to content".
👋 Hey, That's Us!: Bitfinity announced this week that it has raised $7 million in new funding round led by Polychain and ParaFi Capital. Crypto news site Decrypt interviewed Bitfinity founder Max Chamberlain about how Bitfinity EVM will enhance the utility of Bitcoin, which can be read here.
This Week in our Blog
New to Ordinals? Never fear. In this article we explore some of the most talked-about NFT collections on Bitcoin, from Bitcoin Wizards to Bicoin Frogs:
Hans
The world of Ordinals can be confusing to navigate, especially as it's a still new, evolving ecosystem. Here, we talk about some of the different Ordinal marketplaces and wallets currently in existence so you can stay ahead:
HansNFT Market Bytes
📱 Call Me On My Solphone: Saga phone owners who claimed a Solana Saga Genesis NFT before January 2nd were airdropped a Solana Saga Monke NFT. The Monkes, which were inspired by popular Ordinals project, Node Monkeys, have seen brisk demand this week, reaching a floor price well above the cost of the phone. The Monke airdrop was the latest in a wave of airdrops for the sold out smartphone, which was created specifically for seamless web3 functionality.
🚫 Silenced Hexagons: X (formerly Twitter) removed support for NFT profile pictures on Wednesday, much to the ire of the entire web3 community. The feature, which made NFT owners distinguishable by framing their profile picture in a hexagon shape, was introduced last January. Speculation abounds, with some people suggesting that X-exclusive NFTs may be coming.
🌬️ Up In The Air: Nike's blockchain and digital wearables branch, .Swoosh, published a blog post this Friday that declared their intentions to expand into the video game space this year. However, it is unclear whether or not .Swoosh will be incorporating NFTs in its campaign. .Swoosh makes a distinction between NFTs ("digital collectibles") and "in-game wearables", suggesting that the two categories may not be cross-compatible with each other's utility in the future.
Tweet of the Week
🛠️ Bitfinity has raised $7M to date from phenomenal Web3 investors to foster development of the Bitfinity Network ecosystem - EVM, Wallet, open source dev tooling, and more!! 🧵
— Bitfinity Network (@bitfinitynet) January 13, 2024
🌐 https://t.co/K1gVYZXEo6#BITFINIANS pic.twitter.com/jVEq4LTPrn
Meme Time
A Matter of Opinion
We certainly have a lot to celebrate this week as we witness a historic moment: the Bitcoin ETF approval has finally gone through, after years of hopeful speculation about institutional inflow into crypto.
The approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs represents a pivotal milestone in the path to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. The public perception of cryptocurrency as a 'scam' has softened since the infamous "That's a Scam!" Bitconnect era, but the perceived dangers of crypto is largely due to the fact that it is unregulated. Unlike crypto natives, non-web-native investors prefer to have the reassurances of a government regulated asset.
A more regulated and 'secure' environment for trading is exactly what the Bitcoin ETF approval paves the way for. The implications of this event are profound--as we already know, Ethereum ETFs are next in line to be approved, demonstrating to the world that Bitcoin is not the exception but that cryptocurrency is a legitimate asset class. The lack of regulatory clarity (which has gatekept both retail and traditional finance) will undoubtedly be remedied in the years to come, gradually opening up the doors for other digital assets, such as NFTs.
However, it's essential to approach this new era with a balanced perspective. While the Bitcoin ETF approval is undoubtedly a positive step, challenges and uncertainties still lie ahead. Regulatory scrutiny is not over, with crypto already shaping up to be a hot topic in the 2024 American presidential elections. Not to mention, market dynamics and global economic factors will continue to shape the trajectory of cryptocurrency adoption.
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*Important Disclaimer: While every effort is made on this website to provide accurate information, any opinions expressed or information disseminated do not necessarily reflect the views of Bitfinity itself. The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice.
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