The Friday Focus: Issue 30
Welcome to our Friday newsletter. Stay up to date on the crypto industry with our focused summary from the previous week.
If you haven’t already, hit the button below and subscribe to receive the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.
Weekly happenings
IMF dedicated a significant part of its Global Financial Stability Report to discussing the implications of crypto. Meanwhile, the US sanctions Russian crypto miner BitRiver, and the EU forces Binance to crack down on Russian users.
The first Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were launched in Australia, and the Bahamas will allow citizens to pay taxes with digital assets.
Coinbase continues its relentless global expansion, aiming to acquire Turkey’s largest crypto exchange BtcTurk for $3.2B while also unveiling a new social NFT marketplace.
The bulge brackets seem to have concluded that the crypto industry is there to stay, as Goldman Sachs starts to advise crypto exchange FTX. At the same time, Morgan Stanley says in a report that bitcoin is ‘close to being a currency’ after Strike’s recent wave of partnerships with physical stores.
The massive DeFi hacks continue, with DeFi protocol Beanstalk being hacked for $182M.
Inspired by the success of the Terra USD, Justin Sun will launch an algorithmic stablecoin USDD on Tron, using $10B of crypto as collateral.
Crypto companies continue to soak up capital, as flared gas bitcoin miner Crusoe Energy raises $505M, metaverse game The Sandbox plans to raise $400M at a $4B valuation, and Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX raises $135M at a $2.15B valuation.
Weekend reading
Weekend listening
The Breakdown, with NLW: Why Crypto Matters for Emerging Markets
The Breakdown, with NLW: IMF Financial Stability Report Highlights Crypto
Tales from the Crypt: Sanctions on Russian Bitcoin Miners and the Escalating Energy and Food Crisis