Crypto News Weekly roundup February 12

This week has seen tons of NFT and metaverse adoption in the crypto industry, along with the market acting sluggish with blooming hopes. We at TheCoinRise are here to summarise it for you.

Major Funding round

Confirming TheCoinRise December’s report that indicated that many venture Capitalists want to invest in the leading Layer-2 scaling solution Polygon; it has raised $450 million in a fundraising round for supporting Web3 development and its future. 

Crypto adoption

This week, the payment processing giant PayPal announced that it has formed a six-membered advisory council of industry experts to serve as advisors on crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies.

The U.S. National Figure Skating organization plans to receive donations in crypto on an online platform operated by Engiven. If the plan gets executed successfully, it will become the first National Governing Body in America to receive digital currency donations.

The European leader in renewable energy management, Norway, has come up with a great idea to use the waste heat generated by Bitcoin mining in drying wood. 

El Salvador, which is known for its heavy Bitcoin adoption, has to face some difficulty regarding the same. American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded the country’s long-term Issuer Default rating from B to CCC. Fitch cited “adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender” and “policy unpredictability” as the reason behind the downgrading.

As per the recent announcement, the professional services network KPMG’s Canadian division has added BTC and ETH to its company’s treasury, indicating the growing crypto popularity in Canada. The firm believes that digital assets are a “maturing asset class.”

Exchange News

FTX US, the leading crypto exchange, which recently secured an ad spot in the Super Bowl, announced that it would give away free Bitcoin to Twitter users on February 13. The quantity of Bitcoin will depend on the time the ad airs on the East Coast.

The exchange giant Coinbase filed for a PAC or political action committee on February 7, ahead of the 2022 midterm election. It seems that the exchange is aiming to promote crypto-forward lawmakers.

Partnerships this week

Bybit, the Singaporean crypto trading platform, has partnered with the digital assets institution Cabital, aiming on-ramp integration of the EUR or euro and GBP or British pound sterling.

Professional Premier League Football Club, Manchester United has joined hands with the Tezos Blockchain to create new Web3.0 experiences for its users. The details of the announcement reveal that Tezos will serve as the official training kit and technology partner for smooth navigation in the Metaverse.

NFT and Metaverse

The U.S. Treasury Department has published a report about the high-value art market, highlighting the possibility for illegal money laundering and terrorist funding in the NFT arena.

The London-based adult content streaming platform and subscription service provider OnlyFans has said that it will integrate NFT support on the profile picture for its users. The feature was first unveiled in December last year and is now available to the public.

The world’s largest streaming giant YouTube has published a blog post that reveals the platform’s proposed ambitions on NFTs. YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, Neal Mohan, said that NFTs have an “incredible potential” that can allow creators to “make money in ways not previously possible.”

Alfa Romeo has added NFT and blockchain technology into its next-gen Sport Utility Vehicle, the Tonale plug-in electric hybrid. The NFT technology is claimed to record crucial details about the SUV for its entire lifetime.

The DeFi lending platform AAVE is launching the Lens Protocol ecosystem on the Polygon Blockchain, challenging centralized social media networking giants like Facebook. The platform offers unique digital identities to its content creators, giving them full control of their identity and data.

The Nasdaq-listed American social game developer Zynga Inc. is launching its NFT based game this year. It is also aiming to expand its new blockchain team from a current 15 or so to anywhere between 70 and 100 by year’s end.

Meme token Shiba Inu, which is hunting to gain recognition and to bring more use cases for its lovers, has entered into the Metaverse space by planning to launch its own Metaverse, currently Codenamed Shiberse.

American fast-food giant McDonald’s is planning to enter the Metaverse space by filing ten trademarks for the virtual world.

Decentraland recently marked its first wedding, the first wedding in Metaverse in the presence of witnesses, Supreme Court Justice officiant Clint Bolick, and 2,000 virtual guests. 

When Valentine’s day is around the corner, a survey revealed that people want their partner to be crypto-aware and crypto-friendly.

Internet media and entertainment company Buzzfeed revealed the identities of two of the four BAYC NFT collection founders, “Gordon Goner” and “Gargamel,” as Greg Solano, a 32-year-old writer and editor, and Wylie Aronow, a 35-year-old originally from Florida, respectively. 

Blockchain gaming protocol Gala Games has planned to invest $5 billion into its NFT expansion plans in the next year.

Regulatory involvement

This Tuesday, Russia officially announced that its government and Central bank have joined hands on regulating cryptocurrency. The two are working on the proposed bill that classifies crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets.

A member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Jason Powell, has proposed a bill that suggests crypto investment to counties, municipalities, and the state.

György Matolcsy, the governor of the Hungarian National Bank, proposed a European Union-wide crypto trading and mining ban. He cited China, which calls for a total crackdown on crypto trading and mining.

The European Commission is planning to propose a bill for the digital euro next year. EC finance chief Mairead McGuinness revealed the EU’s formal consideration of a CBDC bill. If it gets approved, one can expect a CBDC roll-out by 2025.

FBI warns against crypto romance scams

Two days before Valentine’s day, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI has issued a public warning against the growing crypto romance scams in the region, as per the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Intel enters the crypto space with its blockchain accelerators

Intel has marked a solid entry into the crypto space. Raja M. Koduri, the senior vice president of Intel’s accelerated computing systems and graphics group, said that the company is launching energy-efficient crypto mining accelerators later this year, intending to contribute to the growing blockchain technology sector. 

Japan’s LINE to offer native token payments trial

LINE, the renowned Japanese messaging company, announced that from March 16, the company would offer its users the option to pay with the app’s native token at selected online merchants. The trial phase is expected to last through December 26 to text real-world use cases of the native token.

Drake puts $1.26 million in Bitcoin for the upcoming Super Bowl match

American rapper Aubrey Drake Graham, a.k.a Drake, recently revealed that he has invested $1.26 million in Bitcoin on the upcoming Super Bowl battle between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams.

BSV Blockchain partners with Saudi Arabia to Establish Blockchain Academy

The Bitcoin Satoshi Vision or BSV Blockchain Association has joined hands with the Saudi Digital Academy, aiming to establish the region’s first Blockchain Academy.

Google Cloud launches Virtual Machine Threat Detection

Google Cloud has announced the release of the Virtual Machine Threat Detection (VMTD) in its Security Command Center (SCC), aiming to help users who are vulnerable to cryptocurrency mining attacks. The system monitors compute engines in the service and detect risks, including crypto-mining malware.

RSS3 to bring decentralized information processing system

Really Simple Syndication (RSS), the first information distribution protocol with widespread popularity on the internet, is planning to launch RSS3, a decentralized information processing system.

Merkle Standard to get S19 Pro+ Hydro

The privately held crypto miner Merkle Standard will be among the first in the United States to receive the S19 Pro+ Hydro, the newest mining rig by Bitmain. The mining rig uses liquid cooling technology that minimizes power consumption, heat, and noise and assures the machine’s longevity.

3air adopts Ethereum-based SKALE

Africa-focused blockchain internet company 3air has abandoned the Cardano Blockchain and has adopted Ethereum-powered network, SKALE, citing severe talent shortage of Haskell developers.

The company will start working on its development plans immediately after switching to SKALE.

North Korea Missiles Program Funded by Stolen Crypto

North Korea may be economically isolated, but it understands how to secure financing for its nuclear weapons program. According to a UN investigation cited by the BBC, North Korea funds its nuclear program using stolen crypto funds, with millions of dollars already invested.

TheCoinRise will be back with another weekly roundup next Friday.