This Week In Crypto – 3 September To 9 September 2022

To attract a larger audience, some crypto businesses have turned to football. The Tezos blockchain sponsors Manchester United’s training kits and runs several advertisements during F1 races. On the Algorand blockchain, a programme called FIFA+ Gather has been established to let fans collect World Cup memories. FIFA has collaborated with Algorand, and it has now unveiled this new NFT platform. Chief Business Officer at FIFA Romy Gai said, “Fandom is changing, and football fans around the world engage with the game in new and exciting ways.” According to reports, the NFTs will be made available in November, the month of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Renault Korea Motors, a subsidiary of the automobile company Renault, has partnered with The Sandbox. This will enable the blockchain company to launch a Renault-based metaverse virtual reality experience. Sandbox Korea CEO, Cindy Lee, said “This partnership is an excellent example of a collaboration. The Sandbox can develop without any industrial boundaries. We are able to introduce new types of experiences that combine automobiles and digital assets in The Sandbox.”

A phygital cookbook by Michelin Star chef, Vikas Khanna, was published. 420 pages long and with an NFT to establish ownership, this book is titled Sacred Foods of India. There are only 250 NFTs, which are kept in the Ethereum blockchain. The 108 sacred recipes in the book, which is encased in a box made of maple and walnut, come from 66 Hindu temples, five gurudwaras, five mosques and dargahs, two famous Buddhist monasteries, one Jewish synagogue, and one church. The most expensive cookbook “utsav,” which costs $13000 and is 16 kg, was written by Vikas Khanna too.

Crypto hedge fund TAC pulled $33 million from Curve in sETH (staked Eth). They also removed 200 BTC, $4 million in USD, and $4 million in wrapped ether. After investing $200M in LUNA previously, Three Arrows Capital suffered a significant financial loss. The firm’s holdings were destroyed after the collapse of the coin. In order to qualify for the airdrop of a new token from a fork of the Ethereum Blockchain, the business, which owes $2.4B, may have taken assets out from the pools.

At the offices of an investment banker on September 13, troubled Voyager Digital Holdings will auction off its remaining holdings to the business Moelis & Company LLC. 100,000 creditors owed $1.8 billion to Voyager. Additionally, it is stated that the business only has $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency assets on the crypto platform.

The owner of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), True Names Ltd, is suing the GoDaddy email and hosting service provider. According to True Names, GoDaddy misrepresented the eth.link domain’s expiration and sale to a third party. On Monday, the case was submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

To oversee the bank’s efforts in the cryptocurrency market, the Saudi Arabia Central Bank has recruited AlZahrani, a former MD of Accenture. Saudi Arabia is exploring opportunities to enter the market due to the United Arab Emirates’ position as a major global crypto hub. Dubai, the commercial center of the Gulf, is now home to Binance’s headquarters. To prepare for a possible easing of some crypto-related regulations, Binance has established local teams in Saudi Arabia.

Binance and the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority collaborated and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year, which is a legal document stating the terms of the agreement. Now, Binance and the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) are working together to create a digital economic zone akin to Dubai’s. This would result in the first virtual free zone of West Africa. The objective of the nation, according to NEPZA’s managing director Adesoji Adesugba, is to create such a zone to benefit from the cryptocurrency economy.

A new subscription tier of Netflix is said to be rolling out in Australia. This tier would be cheaper but it would block crypto and gambling ads. Earlier this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta Inc. The ACCC claimed that they were engaging “in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures.” Due to the tightening of regulations in Australia, Netflix refrained crypto and gambling ads in the region.

21Shares has raised $25 million, valuing the company at $2 billion. The corporation oversaw $3 billion worth of assets at its height in November 2021. With an additional £25 million in working cash at its disposal, 21.co can now think about constructing for the future and accelerating expansion. The business is currently Switzerland’s “biggest crypto unicorn,” and it has the war chest to prove it.

The Secretary to the Treasury stated that the government must decide on cryptocurrencies in a statement to the British Parliament. The announcement follows Liz Truss’ recent selection as the country’s new prime minister. In a speech presented by Richard Fuller, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, he claimed the U.K. now had an option to either be a spectator as this technology alters elements of life, or the best site to launch and expand crypto innovations. The latter option was chosen by the government.

The largest bank in Singapore, DBS, said that it will provide cryptocurrency services to 300,000 of its wealthier customers in Asia. The DBS Bank’s brokerage division received a cryptocurrency license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore last year, enabling it to provide institutional and affluent clients with access to its DBS Digital Exchange.

The NBPA and the National Basketball Association have a new contract with Sorare (NBA). The French business will be made an official partner in the NFT National Basketball Fantasy Tournament, giving it access to unique copyrights and patents. “Our partnership with Sorare will give NBA fans an entirely new way to engage with our teams and players,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

By launching their own NFT Marketplace, LG Art Lab, LG Electronics has made a foray into the NFT market. Wallypto, LG’s own cryptocurrency wallet, is also available now. A TV that supports the viewing and trade of NFTs will be made available by Samsung, another major manufacturer of electronics. Due to a cost of less than 0.0001 cents, the electronic makers have partnered with Hedera. Hedera’s network consists of renowned businesses like Google, Tata Communications, Ubisoft, Wipro, and others. “The Hedera network uses significantly less power than any other public ledger, making it an ideal choice”, according to Chris Jo, senior vice president of LG Electronics. “Users can buy, sell and view NFTs without worrying about high energy consumption”.

Sony Music is the latest company in the entertainment industry to adopt NFTs. Sony would be permitted to use the logo for podcast and music creation thanks to the trademark. The Sony Spatial Reality Display (SRD), a tablet that makes use of technologies including augmented reality and 3D improvements, was the target audience for the NFTs.

The total TVL of Ethereum decreased from $37.32 billion to $34.36 billion in August. Its value peaked during 2021, when it had grown to $100.99B. Despite the steep plunge, Ethereum still holds the top spot among DeFi blockchain, while Tron trails behind with a TVL of $5.71B. Their native coin, on the other hand, finally reached $2000 again after months of struggle.

After the Merge, i.e. the transition of Ethereum from PoW to PoS, f2pool announced that it would end Ethereum mining on their infrastructure. F2pool tweeted that the miners would receive their ETH balance after this. Other mining pools are also taking decisions to prepare for the Merge. For example, Hive Blockchain Technologies may mine ETC and ETHPoW instead. The existing miners are contemplating the mining of different cryptos.