The crypto scene was abuzz with activity last week, with Several noteworthy developments are unfolding. One of these trends was dominance of NFTs. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is beginning to position itself as leading global Cryptocurrency Center. Sam Bankman Fried found Himself facing new Shipments seem to be continuous amid FTX saga.
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blur emergence lead to NFT dominance
Last week, Blur, the burgeoning Ethereum-based NFT marketplace, took over The scene, which led to the spread of NFT trades in encryption space. The market has been dominated by NFT trade amount for the past Month. However, this feat went largely unnoticed last week, at run of Its dominance has become particularly evident.
Blur done various including zero- Deals for a fee, customer loyalty incentives, and airdrops to attract great flow of customers to its platform. K resultThe NFT market has surpassed Uniswap and Seaport. appeared as leading gas consumer on blockchain Ethereum. This is due to the large increase in the number of troops in NFT trading amount on Platform.
On February 18, Blur’s trading Volumes went up six-fold higher from OpenSea leading NFT market. This height in trading The activity was mainly driven by two airdrops orchestrated by Blur, which were designed To stimulate customer loyalty list their NFTs on Platform.
As Blur grows in popularity, the NFT scene has taken over the cryptocurrency space last week. a spike in NFT trades have led to an exponential rise in social activity. This became dominant more OpenSea seems to have struggled to regain what it has lost market share. open c announced zero-expenses trading on Feb 18 to attract Client who Earlier moved to Blur.
Coinbase’s “base, introduction” contributes to NFT’s dominance
While Blur and OpenSea battled to maintain the lead, US exchange Coinbase introduced an initiative that contributed to the rise in dominance. of NFTs in encryption space. Last Thursday, Coinbase unveiled Base, a new Layer 2 network on blockchain Ethereum developed in partnership with optimism.
To mark the anniversary of the launch, the exchange has unveiled an NFT pool dubbed “Base, Introduced.” Coinbase partnership with Zora, an NFT minting platform, to allow users with Mint wallet one Free NFT unlocked version for every wallet.
Given that the “basic and advanced” NFT set was free of Official, many users rushed to mint it before the deadline set By Coinbase. at present, over 265,794 NFTs have been minted. Linked smart contracts with NFT and Blur led by Coinbase’s Ethereum total fees to $46 million, a new high annually.
NFT dumps, and emergence of Litecoin order
Amidst the hype surrounding Blur and Coinbase’s NFTs, Litecoin Ordinals has been launched. reports from last On Monday it was revealed that an anonymous GitHub user displaced a original bitcoin arrangement protocol To provide support for blockchain litecoin. the development On the occasion of birth of Litecoin ranking.
since debut of the first- Absolutely NFT, Quantum Compilation by Kevin McCoy, in 2014, growth of NFTs have emerged as a major catalyst for widespread adoption of Cryptocurrencies around the world. in an interview last Week, Andy Lien, President of Paris based studio NFT Factory, confirmed critical role played before digital collectibles in This trend. With NFTs still dominating marketthey greatly affect the crypto industry in general.
Although widespread of NFTs, the previous week also Saw a big sale of digital collectibles. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that a prominent collector had liquidated several Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs. on Blur market.
The collection included 71 BAYCs, 11 MAYCs, and 7 Azuki holdings, and the title in question was associated with Mando, creator of RektGuy. Mando admitted that selling-off was trying to take advantage of on increased liquidity of NFTs and rake in earnings.
A few days later, another prominent collector, Machi Big Brother, sold a staggering 1,010 NFTs for 11,680 ETH. This is a sale-off over 48 hours, has been on record as the most widespread NFT waste ever. On Friday, Nansen technician Andrew Thurman drew attention to the distribution campaign.
Thurman explained that Maci campaign He was designed To take advantage of the continuous camouflage airdrops, which rewards trade activity on NFT market. Great after sale-offMachi Corporation later repurchased 991 NFTs.
Hong Kong Gears up To welcome cryptocurrency
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s efforts to become a prominent cryptocurrency hub in the global The scene is further emphasized last week. Like I mentioned two weeks backadministrative region revealed to her plans To legalize cryptocurrency trading for its citizens. the past The week saw a continuation of these efforts, with Take Hong Kong steps to establish itself as a leader in encryption space.
On Monday, reports revealed that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Authority (SFC) is considering the idea of Allow cryptocurrency investments for small investors. The SFC issued an advisory paper on Subject. Interested parties have until March 31st to submit their comments and feedback. this move It indicates Hong Kong’s commitment to exploring potential of Cryptocurrency and scaling of Crypto investments in the region.
SFC emphasized the importance of Implementation of consumer protection measures, including requirement for appropriate licence of exchanges before they are allowed to serve hong kong residents. Thus, all exchanges are expected acquire License before June 1.
Soon after these reports, there was speculation that Beijing might do so support Hong Kong’s ambition is emerging in the crypto space. According to circulating reports from February 21, the authorities of mainland China frequently visit the Autonomous Administration region to monitor developments in encryption regulations there.
Moreover, like regulatory Aesthetic view in Hong Kong continues to transform into more A favorable area, many cryptocurrency companies are starting to show interest in Penetrate the domestic industry there. Last Monday, Justin Sun revealed that Huobi is looking to buy operating license in Hong Kong and set up a subsidiary within region To serve institutional investors.
sun also Detect that exchange wants move Based from Singapore to Hong Kong. this move part of Hobby strategy to expand it business and benefit from it of the shift regulatory environment for encryption in Hong Kong.
In addition, Gate.io also open plans to secure a licence of proces in Hong Kong amid reports of Hong Kong government6.4 million dollars proposed investment in Web 3.
The United States continues to suppress it on encryption
While hong kong was looking to move to a more friendly environment for Cryptocurrency, the crackdown on the United States on Industry extended to it last week. On February 22, she slapped New York Attorney General Letitia James global CoinEx cryptocurrency exchange with lawsuit for operating within the country without prior registration.
According to AG James, CoinEx provided the services for assets They are considered commodities and securities under state law without registration with special Authorities. James claimed that CoinEx was called on Dec 22 but declined to answer.
in another case of A US federal judge declared the US-based regulator that NBA Top Shot NFTs are securities and should has been registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission. This provision is contrary view that NFTs digital Holdings that are not subject to securities regulations.
the issue of Misclassification of encryption assets As securities by US regulators, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission, it has been a recurring concern in encryption community. This matter has been highlighted by several high-profile cases, including the ongoing litigation between the SEC and Ripple and a case involving the SEC and LBRY.
the room of Digital trade, cryptocurrency trade groupwas paying back against hashtag of encryption assets as securities by US regulators. in an insider case trading shipment against a former Coinbase employee Ishaan Wahi trade The association submitted a friend note arguing that assets in The question was mislabeled as securities.
Furthermore, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire has expressed his opinion that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not the best fit. regulatory body To oversee stablecoins, as they are not private securities within a jurisdiction of A committee. Remember, the SEC issued Wells to Paxos a two-week notice of back and disclosure intentions to sue financial Foundation due to version of in BUSD stablecoin.
Fried pancake faces new shipment
Meanwhile, updates on The FTX bankruptcy case was minimal last week. However, they did throw some good An insight into the situation surrounding a bankrupt crypto empire.
On Monday, the Committee on Unsecured Creditors of Voyager Digital requested a remote Court testimony from former Sam Bankman-Fred, CEO of FTX, as well as A group of Senior executives from FTX and Alameda Research, which are set to take place on February 23rd. The affidavit relates to FTX’s bid for bail out Voyager Digital during its bankruptcy in July last year.
Two days later, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys disputed the subpoena from Voyager’s creditors, arguing that the subpoena was “procedurally flawed” because it had not been delivered. directly To Bankman-Fried however instead for him mother. lawyers also Unnecessary pressure cited on bankman fried, who necessary more time to submit required documents.
but, on Feb 23 new Charges settled on Bankman-Fried on his many political donations. The latest charges allege political contributions totaling dozens of millions of dollars, were illegal. mention that new administration of FTX requested on February 5 that these donations will be refunded.