The Friday Focus - Issue 57

Our weekly crypto news summary. Curated by us, for you.

Oct 28, 2022

Weekly happenings

The market has changed from last week with volatility back and liquidation engines running hot again. But do not worry, we're still here to give you the most important news. Here’s our weekly recap, so you can save time and be more effective.

Let’s dive into it!

Top stories

Many traditional companies sharing crypto-related news this week. Google is launching a cloud node engine service for Ethereum, Revolut will add a crypto payment feature, Mastercard working with BitOasis to launch crypto-linked payments cards, and JPMorgan’s Onyx is working on a web3 digital identity solution.

It’s not just easy to be entering the crypto space for the outside world. Facebook owner Meta reported losses of $9.4 billion for its metaverse division in 2022, which shows that buying into a hype can be expensive, to say the least. A16z’s flagship crypto fund has dropped 40% in value this year. Same story goes for Pantera Capital’s early-stage token fund, down over 70% this year.

Even regulators are entering the crypto bubble, with the Norwegian Tax Authority launching an office in the metaverse and Interpol launching the “first-ever Metaverse specifically designed for law enforcement worldwide” - whatever that means.

In other regulatory news, and there are lots this week, Singapore regulators propose banning crypto trading with borrowed money (thanks Three Arrows Capital!), the US has charged Chinese intelligence officers for bribing government employees with bitcoin, EU’s DLT pilot will allow market operators to trade stablecoins before new crypto regulations, and UK lawmakers voted to recognize crypto as regulated financial instruments.

In the US, the CFTC and SEC chairs may disagree over whether ether (ETH) is a security, SEC’s Gensler sees centralization in crypto markets, and other lawmakers are not happy with their ex-employees moving into crypto roles. Feeling the FOMO perhaps?

Mining firm Core Scientific is struggling and will run out of cash by the end of 2022, sending the share price down 75%(!!) yesterday as bankruptcy fears loom. As we covered earlier this year, Core Scientific's financial situation has been questionable for several months.

Crypto exchanges are making headlines, with FTX revealing that they’re working on creating a stablecoin and raising fresh capital, Binance CEO confirming the company’s investor role in Musk’s Twitter takeover and that they’re narrowing down the identity of the hacker that stole $570 million from Binance’s blockchain. Blockchain.com just launched a Visa debit card with cashback in crypto and is reportedly in funding talks at a shrunken valuation.

Lastly, Premier League, the most-watched football league in the world, is in talks about entering NFTs in a $35 million deal with Sorare.

That’s all folks - until next time!

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