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Crypto: OKX Dominates NFT Market, FTX Reveals Bankruptcy Plan, and More

Fernanda T
Latest News
December 18 2023 12:14PM

Bitcoin and Ether see a drop; Futures liquidations reach $103.5 million

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) and Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) are experiencing drops of -0.1% and -1.75%, respectively, with Bitcoin struggling to gain momentum. Futures liquidations tracked by tokens have reached $103.5 million in the last 12 hours, with the majority being long positions. A decrease in trading volumes is expected due to Christmas. Meanwhile, altcoins like Helium (COIN:HNTUSD) and Stacks (COIN:STXUSD) have recorded gains of 8% and 10.5%, respectively, in the last 24 hours.

AR token from Arweave falls amid hard fork controversy

The native token of Arweave (COIN:ARUSD), a decentralized storage platform, has experienced a drop amid controversies surrounding a potential hard fork. The dispute involves accusations from Arweave’s founder, Sam Williams, against Irys (formerly Bundlr), regarding plans to fork the platform. Williams criticizes Irys’ approach, while Irys alleges censorship by Arweave. Arweave, known for its adoption in NFTs and partnerships with major tech companies, plans to restrict Irys on its gateways.

Tether’s USDT records a discount on centralized exchanges

Tether’s stablecoin (COIN:USDTUSD) has reached its largest discount since July on exchanges like Binance and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), according to Kaiko data. Currently trading at $0.99911, the discount is not observed on Bitfinex, which belongs to the same parent company as Tether. This phenomenon occurs amid Tether’s collaboration with U.S. authorities, sparking debates in the crypto community. With a market capitalization above $90 billion, Tether has frozen 326 wallets at the request of U.S. agencies, including the DOJ and FBI.

Circle launches EURC stablecoin on the Solana blockchain

Circle Internet Financial has announced that its EURC stablecoin, backed by euros, is now available on the Solana blockchain, known for its fast and low-cost transactions. DeFi applications and digital wallets on Solana, such as Jupiter Exchange and Orca, already support EURC, facilitating 24/7 transactions. Circle aims to improve peer-to-peer transfers and remittances in Europe, expanding the presence of EURC, which already operates on blockchains like Ethereum and Stellar.

Recovery in the private credit market on blockchain

The real-world assets (RWA) market based on blockchain, especially private credit, has experienced significant recovery, with a 127% increase in active private loans, reaching $581 million since the beginning of 2023. This growth trend, still below the peak of $1.5 billion last June, highlights a positive shift in blockchain financing, driven by transparency and the efficiency of smart contracts and digital ledgers. The sector also faces challenges, such as the lack of a standardized credit rating system and the recent market crisis.

Record AVAX burn on Avalanche driven by registration transactions

On Avalanche (COIN:AVAXUSD), there was a record burn of 439,000 AVAX, totaling $16.7 million, in the past week. This burn, which reduces the token’s circulating supply, highlights a distinct policy from Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD): while the latter burns only a portion of fees and compensates validators with the rest, Avalanche burns all transaction fees. The increase in burning was mainly due to registration-related transactions, a popular innovation known for its low movement costs and originating as a solution on Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD). These transactions led to an increase in transaction fees on Avalanche, with a peak of 5,000 nAVAX per gas unit. The network processed 61 million of these transactions, supporting over 1,160 collections, reflecting growing adoption and activity on the platform.

Manta Pacific adopts Celestia for blockchain efficiency

Manta Pacific, a layer 2 blockchain, will integrate Celestia to improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs. Using Celestia’s data availability sampling, lightweight nodes can verify data without the need for a complete download. This advancement promises a more economical and secure network environment. In addition to Manta Pacific, other projects like Polygon Labs and Arbitrum are adopting similar solutions. Manta Pacific has reached $18 million in total value locked in two months, with its developers raising $25 million in July.

Ethereum faces security challenges and advances with new specifications

Ethereum, despite being one of the most popular blockchain networks and having 16% of cryptocurrency developers, faces serious security challenges. According to the Beosin report, Ethereum led in losses due to exploits and phishing, resulting in significant financial losses. The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is working to improve security by releasing version 2.0 of the EthTrust specification, “EthTrust Security Levels Specification v2,” addressing recent bugs and vulnerabilities to enhance smart contract security.

FTX presents bankruptcy plan to resolve financial crisis

The estate of FTX, a cryptocurrency company that went bankrupt in 2022, has presented a bankruptcy plan to a Delaware court. The proposal aims to classify and calculate creditor and customer claims based on priority and asset values at the time of bankruptcy. The plan’s goal is to maximize and efficiently distribute value to creditors following the financial collapse of the exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. However, FTX’s amended reorganization plan, presented on December 16th, could result in significant losses for the creditors of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange. The plan proposes to assess creditors’ claims based on cryptocurrency prices on November 11, 2022, the date of FTX’s bankruptcy. Due to the appreciation of cryptocurrencies since then, this means considerable losses in assets like Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) and Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) for creditors, disregarding FTX’s Terms of Service stating users’ ownership of digital assets.

OKX surpasses Blur and OpenSea in NFT trading volume

The OKX NFT Marketplace platform has surpassed Blur and OpenSea in daily trading volume, recording $50.33 million in 24 hours, driven by the trading of Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs. The inclusion of these Bitcoin-based NFTs was a differentiator for OKX, attracting high demand, while Blur and OpenSea have not yet embraced this trend. This advancement highlights the growing interest and market for NFTs on the Bitcoin network, reflecting the dynamics and rapid evolution of the cryptocurrency sector.

Fairshake Super PAC raises $78 million to support pro-crypto politicians

Fairshake, a super political action committee (Super PAC) in the U.S., has raised $78 million to support political candidates favorable to cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the upcoming presidential elections. With support from entities like Andreessen Horowitz and crypto companies like Circle and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Fairshake’s goal is to foster clear and favorable regulation for the blockchain economy amidst intense regulatory debates and proposed restrictions by the SEC.

MetisDAO launches $100 million fund to develop the Metis ecosystem

The MetisDAO Foundation (COIN:METISUSD) has announced the creation of the Metis Ecosystem Development Fund (Metis EDF), with an approximate value of $100 million, to drive the growth of its ecosystem. The fund, which will distribute 4.6 million METIS tokens, will focus on areas such as sequencer mining, NFTs, decentralized finance, and blockchain security. Expected to launch in the first quarter of 2024, the fund aims to decentralize and sustainably grow the Metis ecosystem.

Tap Protocol raises $4.2 million to develop Bitcoin Ordinals

Tap Protocol, focused on developing ordinals on Bitcoin, has raised $4.2 million in a funding round led by Sora Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to expand the use of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) in areas such as DeFi, tokenization, and gamification. Tap Protocol, which already has over 50,000 users, also promises significant announcements soon and aims to decentralize the tracking of metaprotocol ordinals.