The cryptocurrency market has underperformed this week, with the total market cap still below the $1.3 trillion threshold.
Bitcoin remains at around $30k
Bitcoin suffered huge losses last week, dropping below the $30k level for the first time this year. This week, the leading cryptocurrency didn't fare any better. Bitcoin dropped below the $30k level again this week before slightly recovering. At press time, Bitcoin is trading slightly above the $30k psychological level.
The total cryptocurrency market cap remains below $1.3 trillion as the leading cryptocurrencies recorded losses this week.
Terra will soon be Terra Classic
No project has made the news over the last two weeks more than Terra, the project behind the LUNA coin and the UST stablecoin. The project experienced massive failure over the past two weeks, with billions of dollars wiped out from both LUNA and UST.
However, Terraform Labs, the development team behind the project has come up with a revival plan. The new plan involves renaming Terra Terra Classic. Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs, told the Terra community to vote on the new governance proposal #1623 to rename the existing network Terra Classic, LUNA Classic ($LUNC). If approved, this will lead to the birth of a new Terra blockchain.
The revival plan is not going entirely according to plan. Some validators are against Do Kwon’s revival plan for the Terra blockchain, tagging it a dictatorship and it lacks decentralization.
While that is going on, Do Kwon and the Terra team are currently under investigation for the Collapse of the Terra project. Media outlets in South Korea reported that a specialized financial crimes unit has been tasked with investigating the collapse of the Terra blockchain’s main cryptocurrencies while founder Do Kwon faces hefty tax fines. The task force, consisting of prosecutors and employees from the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, will look into the methods Terraform Labs used to attract investors.
A16z will nvest heavily in gaming
The blockchain gaming industry is one of the fastest-growing in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. A16z, one of the leading venture capital funds in the crypto and blockchain space, launched a new $600 million fund earlier this week. This fund will focus on investing in the future of the gaming industry. The new a16z fund, named "Games Fund One" will focus on investing in various different themes within the gaming industry. First, investments will be focused on gaming studios, the a16z team revealed.
Tether is improving the quality of its reserves
Earlier this week, stablecoin issuer Tether revealed that it reduced its commercial paper holdings in the first quarter of this year to improve the quality of its reserves. Tether said it had reduced its commercial paper from $24.2 billion to $19.9 billion during the first quarter of 2022, a 17% decrease. The stablecoin issuer also added U.S. Treasury bills, increasing them to $39.2 billion from $34.5 billion during the previous quarter. Tether said it intends to cut its commercial paper by another 20% in this current quarter.
FTX US launching zero-commission stock trading
FTX.US, the United States arm of leading crypto exchange FTX, announced earlier this week that it has launched zero-commission stock trading. The company said FTX Stocks will be offered through the FTX.US mobile application. The crypto exchange plans to offer trading in hundreds of US-listed companies and exchange-traded funds. FTX.US intends to roll out the feature to its United States customers over the next few months.
Block has evolved beyond a payments company
Block CEO Jack Dorsey told investors that the company has evolved and is now beyond a payments company. Formerly known as Square, Block is expanding its focus into the Bitcoin and broader blockchain ecosystem. Block Finance lead Amrita Ahuja said “We think we've just scratched the surface for further adoption of Bitcoin in the United States and globally. We believe Bitcoin is going to have a profound impact on financial services, particularly as a tool for economic empowerment and as a global currency for the Internet.”
