Cointelegraph: One week of Cointelegraph: The best (and the worst) quotes, adoption highlights, regulation highlights, leading coins predictions, and more - all in one link!
Coming every Saturday, Hodler's Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more - a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Top Stories of the Week
3AC founders reveal ties to Terra founder, blame overconfidence for collapse
After five weeks without contact, Su Zhu & Kyle Davies, founders of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), a defunct cryptocurrency hedge fund, resurfaced through a Bloomberg interview. The two admitted that they had operated the firm with too much confidence as a result if the bull market. They also noted that they were very close with Terra founder Do Kwon and, despite running a major hedge fund, were shocked that the project's extremely risky algorithmic stablecoin went bust. Zhu and Davies said they overlooked several red flags as a result of the kinship.
Mojang Studios bans Minecraft NFT integrations
Minecraft developers Mojang Studios banned nonfungible token (NFT) integrations in their wildly popular flagship game this week. NFTs can be associated with price speculation and exclusion, as well as rug pullings. "To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not permitted to be integrated inside our client and server applications," the firm announced. Crypto-skeptic gamers also urged Epic Games to implement a ban on blockchain technology in its client and server applications. But Epic Games refused to do so.
SEC listing 9 tokens as securities in insider trading case 'could have broad implications' - CFTC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has listed nine crypto assets as securities as part of the insider trading case against former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi. The SEC identified Powerledger, Kromatika (KROM), DFX Financial (DFX), Amp(AMP), Rally/RLY), Rari Governance token (RGT), DerivaDAO (DDX), LCX, XYO and Rally (RLY). These were just nine of a total of 25 different assets that were allegedly used for insider trading.
Experts reveal what Tesla’s $936M sale to Bitcoin means
Following the news that Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin in Q2 for roughly $936 million, experts have remained relatively unfazed. Cointelegraph spoke with Markus Thielen (chief investment officer at IDEG), who said that Tesla likely sold its BTC because it was "seen to be a distraction from their core businesses." Kylie Purcell, a financial consultant site Finder, suggested that many firms are trying to "shore capital in cash currencies" given the current macroeconomic climate. Some Twitter users called it a "nothingburger", suggesting that Tesla's move may not be significant.
Amazon.eth ENS owner ignores 1M USDC buyout on OpenSea
The Amazon.eth ENS domain of an anonymous OpenSea user was sold for 1 million USD Coin on Tuesday. It is a common practice for speculators in order to secure large paydays by registering ENS domains under the names prominent entities. The bid went unanswered, however, and it is unclear why such a large sum of money was ignored. The next largest bid was just 6,300 USDC.
Winners, and losers
Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and XRP (XRP) are at $1,598.64 at the end of the week. According to CoinMarketCap., the total market cap is $1.06 Trillion.
i'm here
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Ethereum Classic (ETC) at 71.03%, Bitcoin Gold (BTG) at 50.95% and Lido DAO (LDO) at 48.60%.
The top three altcoin losers for the week were TerraClassicUSD at 17.08%, Elrond at 5.05%, and Internet Computer at 1.85%.
Cointelegraph's market analysis will provide more information about crypto prices.
When worlds collide: Joining Web3 and crypto from Web2
Block by Block: Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the real-estate market
The risks and benefits of VCs for crypto communities
Australia's world-leading crypto laws are at the crossroads: The inside story
Thailand's Crypto Utopia - '90% of a cult, without all the weird stuff'
Most Memorable Quotations
"All the Ethereum Killers back in the day failed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at any point."
Freddy Zwanzger, Blockdaemon's lead on the Ethereum ecosystem
"Developers should be allowed to choose how to build their games. And you are free whether or not you play them."
Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder at Epic Games
"Don't try and fix fraudsters, Nazis, or terrorists. They will not disappear. They existed before the internet.
Tomer Poran, vice president of business development at ActiveFence
"Crypto revolutionized user experience on the web. We've seen Chrome extensions use it. This will be a game-changer if we can prove it in mobile devices.
Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana
"The Merge upgrade feels like changing the engine mid-flight. We are overhauling all aspects of the consensus algorithm and the execution environment.
Vasily Shapovalov (co-founder of Lido)
"I would not be surprised for Tesla to keep nibbling in Bitcoin once Bitcoin stabilizes. They would have sold 100% otherwise."
Markus Thielen (chief investment officer, IDEG)
Prediction for the Week
Bitcoin may hit $120K in 2023, says trader as BTC price gains 25% in a week
According to a Bitcoin trader who goes under TechDev on Twitter, the price for BTC could reach $120,000 next years. They cited the True Strength Index, (TSI), for BTC as proof. This metric uses a variety of base calculations to determine if an asset is overbought or undersold at a particular price. TechDev says that the asset's price fall since November has been on trend and that if historical patterns continue, BTC could reach a peak of between $80,000 to $120,000 next year.
FUD of the Week
Report: Gemini reduces staff as crypto prices rise: Gemini's report
Gemini, a crypto exchange owned and operated by Tyler Winklevoss (Cambridge and Tyler Winklevoss), reportedly laid off another 7 percent of its employees this week. This was just two months after the firm had laid off 10% of its workers due to the current bear markets. TechCrunch obtained the report from a source close enough to the firm, who stated that Gemini had 68 more employees on its Slack channel in March.
FBI issues warning about fake crypto-apps
This week, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a public warning over fake crypto apps. According to the FBI, the apps have allegedly deceived investors by stealing $42.7 million. The apps were created by cybercriminals using the same branding and logos as legitimate crypto companies to deceive investors. The FBI reported that these fake apps had already been used by 244 victims.