Crypto Weekly 30/05/2022

HIDDEN GEMS

BEGINNERS GUIDE

CRYPTO Page 32

SCAMMERS SEEKING JOBS Page 08

NEW ROBINHOOD WALLET Page 10

CRYPTO FRAUD ENFORCEMENT Page 11

METAVERSE GENDER NEUTRALITY Page 14

U.S. CRYPTO CRACKDOWN Page 16

LUNA WAS MURDERED! Page 18

Page 34

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Page 37

WEEKLY $2 cryptoweeklymag.com

May 2022 | Volume 28

THE UTILITY OF NFT`S Page 20

CRYPTO WINTERS END? Page 24

USING DEFI WALLETS Page 34

EL SALVADOR'S BTC NIGHTMARE Page 38

THE CRYPTO ART UNDERGROUND Page 40

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CONTENTS $2 cryptoweeklymag.com May 2022 | Volume 28

16

12

07

The United States is Cracking Down on Crypto Companies and Driving them to Bermuda

10

20

08

Scammers Posing as American Job Seekers to Infiltrate Crypto Startups, Recruiters Report

Cross-Chain Web 3.0 Wallet Expands Robinhood's Crypto Offering

11

Enforcement Team for Crypto Fraud Nearly Doubles at SEC

12

Forecaster With a Solid Record on Bitcoin Says BTC Could Reach $100,000 Next Year

14

Gender Neutrality & Metaverse-Are the Virtual Worlds Up To The Challenge?

16

Crypto Crash Likely Won't Reduce Climate Impact, Expert Says

18

Terra Luna Didn't Just Collapse; Luna was Murdered

20

The Utility of NFTs are the Future with "Riches Unknown" Waiting to be Discovered

22

What will Happen to Ethereum if it Becomes Proof-of-Stake?

24

Is Crypto Winter Staying for a While or is this the End?

28

The Crypto Crash is a Test of the Sheer Force of an Industry, Driven by Speculation and Hype

38

Is El Salvador's Bitcoin Fantasy a Nightmare?

40

Crypto Has Inspired a Movement of Eclectic Underground Art

CRYPTOWEEKLY CEO | Nathan Hill

LETTER FROM

THE EDITOR

nathan@cryptoweeklymag.com Publisher | Colin Woolley colin@cryptoweeklymag.com Editor | Robert Stone

Welcome to Crypto Weekly

editor@cryptoweeklymag.com Editorial | Anthony Burton editorial@cryptoweeklymag.com Features | Thomas Stokes tom@cryptoweeklymag.com Advertising | Philip Greenwood philip@cryptoweeklymag.com Design | Dilin Divan dilin@cryptoweeklymag.com

Hello, and a warm welcome to the 28th issue of Crypto Weekly.

Crypto Weekly is the brainchild of the guys at CMC, and I am Rob Stone, Editor, and I hope to bring you an informative read on everything crypto, every week of the year.

Crypto Weekly Magazine is published by the Crypto Marketing Company 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

This space is full of scams and grafts. It perturbs me. There is a possibility that as this whole area develops, the point of the movement will become clearer so that crypto is able to solve the problems of this age that it may be uniquely suited to solve. There's a lot of contorting going on in its current form, a lot of using the word "utility" without defining what that actually means, and a lot of innovating to do. The world is full of humanity and the views they hold will take time to work out how to best benefit from crypto. Unrealized and newly discovered genius, giving birth to the future, is also an innate part of the movement, so there is hope. I have got to be there while it happens.

As usual, a lot of stuff has happened in the last week because the music never stops in the crypto sphere and the time keeps rolling on. I hope you all enjoy what we have brought together for you this week. Please let us know your thoughts, and if you would like to see something featured, please do get in touch.

Editor@CryptoWeeklyMag.com editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Follow Us Stay Connected Robert Stone Editor

cryptoweeklymag

NEWS

7

Crypto Weekly

The United States is Cracking Down on Crypto Companies and Driving them to Bermuda F

or testing new products and growing their businesses, crypto companies are increasingly turning to friendlier and less bureaucratic countries, like Bermuda, as they face increased scrutiny from policymakers in the US. British Guiana was among the first to create a regulatory framework for digital assets -- a puzzle that the US has yet to solve. With only one regulator on the island, the island is more nimble than US agencies that oversee crypto.

Having embraced the industry, plus the fact that local officials have been supportive,

has made it a desirable destination for businesses, especially since countries, such as the US, are ramping up enforcement against crypto firms. Several companies are already under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for offering unregistered securities, and plans were recently announced to increase the number of personnel policing digital assets.

Several Democratic senators, such as Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown, are eager to rein in the market.

President and co-founder of CrossTower Inc., Kristin Boggiano, said, "It's great to have a supportive regulatory relationship."

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Boggiano said companies could test their products in Bermuda and collect data from US regulators. Long Island is where the company's office is located, but its headquarters are in New Jersey.

The process is slower in the US, where there might be multiple agencies, says Bermuda Business Development Agency CEO David Hart. In his words, "Companies are very attracted to what the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the Government leadership bring to the table."

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Through the BMA's "sandbox" program, businesses can collaborate with regulators to test new technologies or business models in a controlled environment. If the idea is successful, companies can graduate to a full license. Bermuda's economy and labor minister Jason Hayward said 14 companies currently hold licenses from the program, including four with test licenses. "With our ecosystem, companies are allowed to operate, and for the most part, that has allowed them to develop their concepts into actual businesses that operate globally."

May 2022 | Volume 28

8

NEWS Crypto Weekly

Scammers Posing as American Job Seekers to Infiltrate Crypto Startups, Recruiters Report T

he US government has warned US companies against hiring scammers posing as American job candidates for Web3 startups to collect cryptocurrency paychecks and spy on their internal operations.

Recruiters have encountered North Korean applicants with impressive resumes - only to discover that they had no experience whatsoever. It is a complicated decision point for the nascent industry, which in many cases promises complete control of one's finances away from watchful eyes and protection from the federal government.

Recruiting practices that can sometimes be shoddy, crypto startups flush with cash, and remote work crazes all combine to make the Web3 market ripe for bad actors.

"This happens all the time in the recruiting industry," Dan Eskow - founder of Talent Partner - told Insider, adding that it "almost looked like these people have no soul."

Scripted Lines, Soul-less Eyes, and Language Barriers Recruiters said that candidates with suspicious resumes and credentials come

May 2022 | Volume 28

from heavy-hitters in the decentralized finance world, such as Parallel Finance or Blockdaemon. Solidity engineers, for example, understand the native language of the Ethereum blockchain and are in high demand at the moment. Cash-strapped Web3 startups actively seek them out.

from Asia. "They're literally reading off a piece of paper, and you can see their eyes - as if they were being trained to say specific sentences," Eskow said, such as: "I've worked in blockchain for three years," "I work for a startup," or "I like startups."

Recruiters started to flag red flags when candidates could not provide any information on the companies listed on their resumes during video interviews.

Eskow said, "You would look at them, and they'd seem like robots." “It's like the creepiest thing." "Job seekers used to avoid turning on their cameras, but they did so after recruiters began asking them to. He then noticed that there were other people in the room. You'll often ask, 'Who's that guy in the background? And they will say something like, 'Oh, well, I'm at my cousin's house, we're all working together,'" Garlock recalled. "It's very common."

Another red flag was a linguistic barrier much different than what tech employers have long encountered when hiring talent

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9

NEWS Crypto Weekly

Cannes Market: Defiine Brings Crypto Finance

Solutions to Indie Films

T

om Malloy, Charlie Shrem, and Shyam S. Sengupta, CEO of Glass House Distribution, are launching Defiine, a new digital finance company, at the Cannes Market. The company will use crypto liquidity pools to leverage assets and IP to provide digital finance to independent films.

According to the partners, investors can stake funds on the assets in order to earn "significant" annual percentage yields. In addition, Defiine says it is collaborating with other companies that have made advances in the field of NFTs and films.

It is also developing a number of other projects, including the upcoming crime drama, Interstate 35, in addition to two completed productions (Ask Me To Dance and Trauma Therapy: Psychosis). In the market, Defiine will

be looking for crypto investors, as well as new projects in advanced stages of development.

Founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and host of the podcast UntoldStories, Malloy is a writer, actor, and producer, as well as the CEO of Trick Candle Productions; Sengupta (Telling Lies, Boondoggle) produces films, television, and interactive media for CinemaWerks Entertainment.

Sengupta notes that integrating crypto and film is on everyone's mind, yet the crypto companies don't seem to have any connections with potential film assets, and the film companies don't have access to crypto gatekeepers. "Defiine bridges the gap." Defiine will host an event in Cannes to coincide with CoinAgenda Europe 2022, which takes place in Monaco next week.

Crypto Oversight Needs Cited by SEC's Gensler Gary Gensler of the SEC told congressional appropriators that crypto investors deserve more protection.

20 more. That leaves the agency outgunned in crypto cases,” and he argues that "the public is not protected."

ouse lawmakers asked SEC Chair Gensler for more funds to deal with crypto oversight. In a speech, Wednesday, Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, told members of the House of Representatives that he wants to do more like a cop on the cryptocurrency beat.

The SEC chairman admitted Wednesday that Bitcoin (BTC) is one of a very small number of likely commodity tokens that would fall under the CFTC's jurisdiction. Still, the vast majority would fall under the SEC's. And any exchange that handles trading in even one of them "should register with us as a national exchange."

Gensler stated, "I wish we could dedicate more resources to this," in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee. "We saw one crypto complex go from $50 billion to zero in three weeks," he told lawmakers in his testimony regarding the need for “investor protection in the crypto industry."

According to him, “The 1,300-member enforcement division consists of just over 50 crypto specialists and has recently added

He said, "We've made it clear publicly, and we've dealt with many of these individual exchanges one-on-one, that you should come in and work with us." He also called out crypto firms for making investment bets against customers and being vulnerable to hackers.

H

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May 2022 | Volume 28

10

NEWS Crypto Weekly

CROSS-CHAIN WEB 3.0 WALLET

EXPANDS ROBINHOOD'S

CRYPTO OFFERING R

obinhood has been in the news again this week, preparing to expand its crypto offering with another wallet service. As a Web 3.0 wallet, it will allow users to link their Robinhood accounts with several blockchain platforms. The company had been quiet in this area for the past few years; Robinhood added crypto in January 2018 and several coins in July. After that, the company didn't do much to upgrade its digital currency platform. 2022 will be a milestone year for Robinhood's crypto unit.

swap crypto. By doing so, they can avoid the foolish transaction fees that come with trading assets. Ethereum's (ETH-USD) Merge upgrade must succeed by the end of summer for this fee-free trading to happen. The wallet will also allow users to move crypto across different blockchain

networks - hence "Web 3.0." The wallet is scheduled to launch by the end of 2022. On the news today, HOOD stock appreciated slightly before falling back to the red.

Shares are currently down approximately 3%. Meanwhile, Robinhood's mailing list allows users to stay updated.

This catalyst has opened up the discussion about Robinhood expanding to new areas after remaining silent for years. In 2021, there were no new products, but 2022 has now opened the floodgates. There are now four currencies on the platform. As well as launching its first-ever crypto wallet, it incorporated the Lightning Network to facilitate faster, cheaper crypto transactions.

Robinhood Web 3.0 Wallet Builds on Recent Wallet Launch Recently, Robinhood announced the launch of its Web 3.0 wallet. This wallet will be non-custodial, meaning neither it nor any third party will hold wallet users' crypto assets. In contrast, users will be in control of their own private keys and will not be bound by the freedom they enjoy with their assets. With no network fees, users will also be able to trade and

May 2022 | Volume 28

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NEWS

11

Crypto Weekly

ENFORCEMENT TEAM FOR

CRYPTO FRAUD NEARLY DOUBLES AT SEC SEC chair Gary Gensler's crackdown on industry abuses will get a boost with the addition of 20 new lawyers and investigators.

B

y almost doubling the size of its team dedicated to cracking down on cryptocurrency market abuses, the SEC is showing its tough stance toward this booming industry. Its crypto enforcement unit will add 20 staffers, including investigative staff attorneys and trial lawyers. As a result of the move, the newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit will have 50 people, beefing up its capacity to police securities law violations, including those related to coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized finance platforms, and non-fungible tokens, among other items, said the agency.

"The United States has the greatest capital markets because investors trust them, and as more investors access the crypto markets, it becomes increasingly important to dedicate more resources to protecting them," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said. Gensler says the new office will enable the agency

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to "police wrongdoing in the crypto markets while identifying disclosure and control issues related to cybersecurity."

Gurbir Grewal, director of the agency's enforcement division, said that retail investors are bearing the brunt of abuses in the space. According to the agency, since the office was established in 2017, more than $2 billion in penalties have been collected. As a result, the industry's total market value has grown more than 40-fold in the past five years, reaching about $1.7 trillion.

Gensler's SEC. Gensler has not backed down. In addition to starting to register and regulate crypto trading platforms, he announced plans to extend the SEC's reach into the crypto market last month. According to his speech on the plans, the agency will work with the CFTC to oversee platforms offering crypto-based securities and commodities, even though policymakers are still discussing how digital assets should be categorized.

Tuesday, the agency's move to beef up its crypto enforcement division drew a rebuke from one of its Republican commissioners.

“Rather than a law enforcement agency, the SEC is a regulatory agency,” Hester Peirce wrote on Twitter. "Why does our division lead enforcement in crypto?"

Many crypto leaders have sharply criticized Gensler's approach to the industry since he was appointed a year ago. He is alleged to have pursued a regulation policy by enforcement, defining wrongdoing after the fact, and then seeking punishment. "I call that enforcement," Gensler replied in a November speech.

Congress has responded by giving greater oversight of the crypto industry to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which they view as more friendly than

May 2022 | Volume 28

12

NEWS Crypto Weekly

FORECASTER WITH A SOLID RECORD ON BITCOIN SAYS BTC COULD REACH

$100,000 NEXT YEAR

S

tocks are bracing for more volatile action as investors continue to review Federal Reserve minutes after Nvidia issued a warning late Wednesday night.

Instead of Wall Street, we're talking about cryptocurrencies and a call from the President of macroeconomic research firm Lamoureux & Co., Yves Lamouret, who made some prescient predictions about the cryptocurrency market. It is predicted that Bitcoin's so-called winter is over for now, and it will reach $100,000 by the end of 2023, which could last until 2025.

"I'm not giving a strong buy signal. I’m just saying yes, you can start buying little by little," Lamouret said in a recent MarketWatch interview. He said that Bitcoin meets most of his criteria for a bear market exit, hovering at $30,000 and down more than 55% from its all-time high of $68,990 in November 2021.

But the gist of his call is based on an eclipselike event expected in 2024 (he predicts

May 2022 | Volume 28

around March) when bitcoin miner rewards will halve. The halving occurs every four years and is intended to limit the number of coins in circulation and support prices. The last one was May 11, 2020. "The primary driving force behind Bitcoin is its supply," he said. "Supply decreases so less comes to the market…which has historically always led to higher prices. I mean, it's out of the story right now."

When bitcoin reaches $100,000, it will attract a new wave of attention. He is a classic market-timer who excels at bitcoin because he buys and sells at the right time. The investment community has been soured on the crypto sector due to the stablecoin fiasco, concerns about further regulation, and a general bearish attitude towards assets like equities, as he said.

"Bitcoin is the king, where institutional money will flow first. Choose the best. Keep it simple. Stick with Bitcoin," he said.

In April, Lamouret backtracked on his advice against chasing Bitcoin but said he had always expected a short-term bear market. He also predicted bitcoin's skyscraper peak in November when it reached that all-time high and predictions that came true in early 2017 and mid2020. Additionally, Bitcoin sentiment is "very low," as seen at other major lows.

Investors, he said, should buy little rather than bet big because there would be no straight road ahead. He said, "It's always the same." The price rises before the halving, then it pauses for a moment, then it rises sharply again," Lamouret said.

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14

FEATURE Crypto Weekly

GENDER NEUTRALITY &

METAVERSE-ARE

THE VIRTUAL WORLDS UP TO THE CHALLENGE? T

echnology has seen an abundance of innovations in the past decade. The emergence of bitcoin, Ethereum, and likeminded blockchains has led to creation of an alternative asset class. There have been debates about the universal acceptance of crypto as a possession. Recently, the stakeholders have started exploring the possibilities of blockchain technology and the adoption of positive aspects and regulations.

Metaverse is considered the brainchild of blockchain technology, and it has been explored with enormous enthusiasm.

Although the concept of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality have existed much before, after the renaming of Facebook as Meta, the evolution of imaginary worlds has been observed closely.

The benefits of metaverse have been reported to outweigh its pitfalls. Still, notable among those drawbacks was the

May 2022 | Volume 28

fact that whether these worlds, which run on the principle of decentralization, can ensure gender neutrality. The pathway forward regarding maintaining the codes of conduct in the virtual worlds often conflicts with the decentralization principle and individual inference. Let's explore gender neutrality and the possible ways by which gender bias can be avoided in the metaverse world.

What Is Gender Neutrality?

Gender Neutrality is the term used to address the human species without categorizing it based on gender.

This is

believed to help eradicate society’s existing outlook about the preset roles that are supposed to be suitable for one gender in favor of the other. Cambridge Dictionary defines gender-neutral as "relating to people and not especially to man and woman.”

An article from the BBC sheds important insight into the use of gender-specific terms, especially in literature. They have been used to define the role of a person. Couples who wanted to introduce their offspring as they rather than their offspring have been reported. The context was purely situational.

Gender Neutrality And Cyber Punks A Bloomberg article coauthored by Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou and Akayla Garder titled "Even In Metaverse Not All Identities are Created Equal" leads the reader to certain ethical dilemmas regarding whether the virtual worlds could truly imbibe the spirit of gender neutrality. The authors cite instances where the punks were sold based on the color shades, A prominent cyrptopuk collector wrote on his Twitter handle about the correlation between prices and color shades of the punks.

This observation makes us think about whether we could do justice to equal opportunities for everyone irrespective of color, shades of skin, gender, and religious bias while maintaining the true spirit of decentralization.

Meghan Mcdowell says, "Digital people and virtual spaces invite

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

15

unlimited options for self-expression. That also means that brands should explore representation more carefully". Brands and themes should be careful about representing their marketplaces, whether digital avatars or collectibles, so that decentralization and freedom of speech don't cross paths with equal opportunities.

What's The Way Ahead?

Gender Neutrality in Metaverse is a topic of debate. Changes shall always be met with turbulence where a healthy balance should be made between decentralization, ethics, and human values.

Metaverse can take forward these lessons learned while creating future virtual systems where everyone can have their identity without prejudices about their gender.

Some of the themes have paved the way by random allocation of digital avatars or collectibles than a matter of choice.

Closing Thoughts Gender Neutrality in the Metaverse is subject that creates an ethical dilemma. While the principle of decentralization prevents us from creating barriers to individual choices and speech, coming days can positively include proposals based on ethical codes and moral values. Let the power of decentralization help us evolve stronger, eliminating the pitfalls in the future to create a truly gender-neutral metaverse.

Author: Bibin Prasannan

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May 2022 | Volume 28

16

FEATURE Crypto Weekly

CRYPTO CRASH LIKELY

WON'T REDUCE CLIMATE

IMPACT, EXPERT SAYS A

recent report has warned that while the market value of digital currencies determines their ecological footprint, the recent crypto crash won't reduce the sector's climate impact any time soon. Energy consumption has barely decreased despite $1tn being wiped off the sector. According to Alex de Vries, a data scientist at the Dutch central bank and founder of Digiconomist, which tracks crypto-sustainability, Bitcoin's environmental impact will not decline unless Bitcoin collapses further.

Cryptocurrencies work by validating their transactions through very large networks of "miners," who use their computers to solve extremely complex math problems for a chance of receiving tokens as a reward.

The process is extremely energy-intensive.

Besides further increasing carbon emissions when the value of a cryptocurrency increases, the computing power dedicated to it does not disappear after the value declines, so the climate impact remains constant.

Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, the cryptocurrency underpinning the NFT boom and the "decentralized finance" sector, have an annual footprint of around 104TWh (equivalent to Kazakhstan, more than all but 34 nations). Compared to all other sovereign nations, but 23, the Bitcoin

May 2022 | Volume 28

network consumes 204 terawatt-hours of energy annually, roughly the same as Thailand's. At the same time, even Dogecoin, a lighthearted spin-off of Bitcoin well-known for its community's positive attitude, uses approximately 4TWh annually.

Despite $1tn being wiped from the crypto sector over the past month, these numbers have barely changed, and other measures of computing power dedicated to "mining" show little change. Electricity usage in major cryptocurrencies is roughly proportional to the token price because that defines how much the reward given to miners is worth.

When Bitcoin went from $8,000 in October 2019 to $60,000 two years later, energy use increased from 73TWh to its current level, as the reward value increased. Currently, Bitcoin rewards successful miners with about $210,000 every 10 minutes, or 6.25 bitcoin.

Even though a rise in cryptocurrency's price leads to an increase in the sector's carbon emissions, a crash such as the one seen in the past month doesn't do the exact opposite. Although the environmental impact is likely to be cut in half, a Bitcoin price of $25,200 is still sufficient to sustain annual electricity consumption of 184TWh. Mining cryptocurrencies involves two main expenses: buying hardware and paying for electricity.

When prices rise, Bitcoin miners purchase new computers - graphics cards for Ethereum, or custom-built mining rigs. Still, once they are set up, they can only be shut down if the electricity alone exceeds the expected earnings.

Cryptocurrency markets continue to be tumultuous, which means the sector may contract further. In a paper published last year in the journal Joule, de Vries calculated that a substantial drop in Bitcoin prices, to $8,000, would reduce mining emissions significantly - and even then, it could consume up to 60TWh of energy annually.

Tether, a stablecoin that functions as a bank, paid out another $1.5bn to depositors withdrawing their money from its coffers on Wednesday morning. Slow-motion bank runs have withdrawn $9 billion in reserves over the past week, more than 10% of its total market cap and more than twice its cash on hand at the start of the year.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, one of the main financial backers of the cryptocurrency sector, said on Tuesday that we might be entering a "crypto winter," echoing a warning from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that prices may be low for some time.

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18

FEATURE Crypto Weekly

TERRA LUNA DIDN'T JUST COLLAPSE; LUNA WAS MURDERED

A

ll crypto-related questions boil down to one thing: What is its purpose, in the end? Crypto is supposed to be unique, i.e., not like other markets - at least if you listen to its boosters. It has felt pretty ordinary and just more of the same old graft and corruption, or mismanagement, we have all become used to lately.

Crypto markets are currently in a tailspin.

During the last few hours, Bitcoin, the kink of crypto, has fallen by more than half of its peak in 2021, resulting in billions of dollars worth of value being lost. A large trading platform

May 2022 | Volume 28

has warned users that their money may not always be safe with coins that are supposed to be "stable." Before the current downturn, much of what was happening was suspect.

Millions of dollars have been stolen in crypto, and stories of scams abound in the sector.

Cryptocurrency proponents' claims, such as that it's a hedge against inflation or digital gold, appear increasingly questionable.

One of the most well-coordinated attacks against a financial system rocked the crypto world to its core just weeks ago, sending the market into a massive dip that is persisting thus far.. The reported attacker made off

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FEATURE

19

Crypto Weekly

with over $800 million in a "concerted attack" on the Terra ecosystem. Perhaps the impact won't be as significant as other past downturns. One could even find solace if it were about gross mismanagement or even a general lack of foresight. The reasons for the failure of many first-time investors have been attributed to several theories. Tether's chief technology officer said during a recent Twitter Space that he believes there was likely an attack on Terra–"even though it's just a conspiracy theory right now. You can always expect someone bigger than you to use your weakness, and we have seen that with Terra," he said.

What about Terra makes the crypto community think it was attacked? With onchain data to support this claim, we know this part is 100% accurate; Earlier this week, an entity (person or group) borrowed 100,000 BTC and exchanged 25% of it for UST. Then the entity dumped the UST and BTC on the market when trading volume was at its lowest.

Critics also point to Terra's algorithmic stablecoin structure and UST's fast growth, along with other factors, as causes of the collapse. Still, some say an attack could have also caused the de-peg because the algorithm was faulty in the first place—a weak link in the chain, so to speak.

According to a recent Twitter thread with more than 9,000 retweets and 31,000 likes, a cryptocurrency wallet dumped $350 million worth of UST to crash the stablecoin below $1 and force the LFG to

sell its Bitcoin reserves to maintain the peg. The claimed attacker had a large short position in Bitcoin and sought to drive down its price, according to the thread. If the attacker sold whale-size UST holdings, it would cause panic, forcing the LFG to sell its Bitcoin to save UST, which would tank its price. According to the thread, the hacker made a profit of over $800 million as things went south. As Outumuro noted, the large withdrawals appeared to have been timed precisely at the moment when Luna was at its most vulnerable. "It lines up."

Despite being on-chain, we cannot yet link these transactions to anyone. After UST and LUNA failed, the former, an algorithmically pegged stablecoin, lost nearly 50% of its value. The unprecedented capitulation caused a panic in the market, with a further decline in other major cryptocurrencies.

Everything just snowballed from there.

No smoking gun has been found, and the accused parties have denied every allegation. There must be a smoking gun.

Luna is reportedly bound to fail because of its code and flawed algorithm. Meanwhile, LUNA remains in recovery, and we hope that it will eventually fully recover. Some have no choice. At least they can rest assured this wasn't an insider job. However, it would be something entirely different if it were an external hit. We'll at least know it was only a security breach and not a backdoor to one of the most widely used protocols in DeFi. Perhaps, when the code is so vulnerable, something must be done to close that option for criminals.

Even though it's just a conspiracy theory right now.

You can always expect someone bigger than you to use your weakness, and we have seen that with Terra"

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May 2022 | Volume 28

20

FEATURE Crypto Weekly

The Utility of NFTs are the Future with

"Riches Unknown" Waiting to be Discovered " The beauty of the Big3 is that there is the technology that exists today to deliver the benefits of token ownership (such as scanning NFT for attendance).

"Very few people realize that membership benefits are based on NFTs"

B

ig3's recent announcement explains why its plan to decentralize ownership of sports teams is different and more exciting than any endeavor before it. Token holders of the Fire tier get premium seats to every game, the option to monetize team IP, voting rights, and the chance to share in the financial upside if the club is sold.

Currently, Ice Cube's 3-on-3 basketball league has announced DeGods (the Solana

May 2022 | Volume 28

blockchain's largest NFT community), Gary Vaynerchuk (creator of VeeFriends), Kevin Rose (founder of Proof Collective, the group behind Moonbirds), and Bill Lee (cofounder of Craft Ventures) are all buying teams. Sunny Deep and Vinny Lingham are partners with Rose.

Ken Howery (co-founder of PayPal) and Snoop Dogg bought a team as well. It may seem odd that groups and individuals betting

on Web3 success are investing in NFTs for their real-world access and assets, but Lee explained that these NFTs with utility are the next frontier. “Ice Cube's real contribution to the Big3 is bringing Web3 technology to the Big3. It is now possible for developers, team owners, sponsors, even fans, to create unique experiences and rewards for holders of the NFT." Even though Lee has long advocated NFTs, last week's crypto sell-off has only reinforced his notion that although "people love speculation, and crypto may just run again," it cannot "be sustainable without utility." While he has shares in OpenSea, the virtual sneaker maker acquired by Nike, and RTFKT, he views them as speculation. "People

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

Many conversations regarding NFT utility relate to sports games or daily fantasy. While Lee recognizes that there is likely room for that kind of application, he says it is still just like crypto v.1. He says, "I think about Web3 in terms of real utility. Things like Big3 where you have access to the games and can influence what the team does." Including voting on an offer to buy out.

New club owners might be betting on Web3. According to Lee, "there is no wager here. Investors are pouring money into many metaverse-related projects, but that's different. Although he did not want to refer to those investments, including his in The Sandbox, as a gamble, Lee believes the metaverse vision people have for Ready Player One will be realized in time. But he acknowledges that it is still "years away." "DAU, or daily active users across the metaverse, is minuscule, nonexistent," he said.

For the access and assets that come with Big3 Fire-tier NFTs, Lee bought them. “I invest in my passions because I want to go to the games,” he said. But he won't be upset if the club secondarily increases

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the use case for Dogecoin and leads to further adoption of the cryptocurrency. As the founder of MyDoge, a "self-custodial wallet" that facilitates Doge transactions, Lee envisions Dogecoin evolving into a digital tipping currency, where fans can reward players and coaches with Doge in exchange for their performance. High gas fees (think: blockchain transaction fees) prevent Bitcoin and Etherium from being used in tipping.

It is likely that the "Doge army" will support the Aliens and Big3. Doge co-founder Billy Marcus is already tweeting about the tie-up and people are already hurling Dogecoins at Big3 and [Ice Cube]. [This all began when Lee sent Ice Cube the tweet]. “It was uncoordinated," Lee said.

“There are enough Aliens in the Doge army to impact the league,” Lee said. "Last year, 60% of Robinhood's quarterly profits, quarterly revenue from cryptocurrency trading, came from Dogecoin [related] ... So, you have a violent Doge army. We wanted to provide something more than just speculation on prices," Lee said.

are going to figure out instead of buying apes and owls that these types of projects are what Web3 can be about." Apes refer to images associated with Bored Ape Yacht Club, and owls refer to the Moonbirds project.

A venture capitalist believes the crypto industry has to go beyond gambling and staking to support the hefty valuations of cryptocurrencies. A space for collecting digital art as well as speculating on its price exists. Unless they offer real use cases such as what the Big3 is offering, you will not be able to sustain multi-billion dollar valuations on platforms like BAYC and Apecoin solely on day trading and yield farming.

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NEWS Crypto Weekly

Ethereum Beacon Chain circulating supply is staked, around 12.6 million ETH, or $26.4 billion. There are about 73,369 stakers on Lido, making it the most popular staking pool on Ethereum, with approximately 4.2 million ETH staked through it.

According to Nansen, Lido, Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance make up 54% of all ETH staking activity on Ethereum's PoS Beacon Chain. Because Lido controls roughly 33% of all ETH staked on Ethereum's PoS blockchain, concerns have been raised about Ethereum's stability and security.

Lido has 22 Ethereum node operators for running the validator node software, even though there are more than 70,000 stakers.

Furthermore, the top 100 holders of LDO, the governance token for the Lido DAO, control 93.1% of the token supply, according to data from Etherscan.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ETHEREUM IF IT BECOMES

PROOF-OF-STAKE? A

ccording to Nansen and Etherscan, Lido is the most popular liquid staking protocol, commanding one-third of all ETH staked on Beacon Chain, Ethereum's proofof-stake blockchain.

The Ethereum blockchain will rely on validators rather than miners to validate transactions. It eventually switches from its current proof-of-work consensus method to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. It is worth roughly $65,800 to stake 32 ETH to run a validator and earn staking rewards at current prices.

(decentralized finance) platforms, including Curve, Aave, and 1inch.

Many stakers are looking forward to this liquidity access because they want to access their staked ETH before the merge.

Otherwise, they won't be able to access their staked ETH (or any rewards they might have earned in the interim) until after the merge, which won't happen until later this year. Currently, just under 26.4% of the

The Ethereum Foundation's Danny Ryan highlighted the issue of Lido's concentration of staked Ether on Twitter. Because Lido controls a significant amount of staked Ether and assumes more than 90% of the liquid staking market, it may be more susceptible to undesirable events, including validator slashing and governance attacks.

However, there were fears that centralized exchanges, such as Coinbase, would take over a majority of staking pools in the wake of Ethereum's decision to switch to proofof-stake. It was created as a replacement for these centralized powerhouses. Having outpaced Coinbase, Kraken and Binance could be seen as a positive sign that the ecosystem will be able to maintain some level of decentralization.

Using Lido, users can stake any amount of ETH on the Beacon Chain to earn staking rewards. Lido eliminates the need for users to deposit 32 ETH to run a validator node, and they are not responsible for managing a staking node themselves.

According to Lido, stakers receive stETH, representing staked Ether in Lido, combining the value of the initial deposit and staking rewards. For additional yield, Lido stakers can deposit their stETH in different DeFi

May 2022 | Volume 28

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in Cryptocurrency!

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NEWS

IS CRYPTO WINTER STAYING FOR A WHILE OR IS THIS 24

Crypto Weekly

?

THE END

A

brief spring has been followed by what could become a long, cold winter.

Is this the beginning of a new season or just a pause? The crypto market has been hammered, with hundreds of coins losing 90% of their value. Although the crypto selloff may not be as great as others in history, it feels worse because the market has grown so large, to trillions of dollars in size. Bitcoin hasn't done as bad among the top cryptocurrencies but is still down a painful 60% from its top.

Since the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a half-point, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have had rough weeks.

Bitcoin (BTC) price sees bulls returning to the scene to pick up the pieces from the scattered BTC price that saw slaughter in the past trading days. BTC price quoting at a lucrative discount has made the asset attractive for cherry-picking traders and investors. We can possibly expect a complete

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recovery of Bitcoin, reclaiming some critical levels along the way as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) continues to grow. Based on the April data, investors now expect the Fed to take aggressive action to curb inflation, which remains close to 40-year highs. This has reduced investor appetite for riskier assets.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported that TerraUSD, a stablecoin tied to $1, has decoupled from its value. The market cap of the largest stablecoin, Tether, also briefly dropped from its $1 peg. There was no doubt that tough times were ahead. The crypto skeptics who suggested the bull market was a bubble ended up at the bottom of a Twitter dogpile.

In December, Yves Lamoureux (aka the "Canadian Whale"), president of macroeconomic research firm Lamoureux & Co., wrote that the crypto market was

about to enter winter. Now, six months later, he's calling for its end. According to Lamoureux, crypto holders are experiencing extreme negative sentiment, just as they did at other bottoms. Bitcoin is famous for its outsized selloffs, several of which have reached 80%. But Lamoureux doesn't believe anything that drastic is required this time to shake out weak hands. In reality, Bitcoin has fallen in two stages: the initial selloff and consolidation, followed by a drop precipitated by the implosion of TerraUSD and Luna. So it wasn't all Bitcoins doing, but a synergistic effect, which may not have been so negative if the Terra debacle never occurred.

Most intelligent people agree that blockchain technology underpinning crypto has revolutionary potential, though we don't really know what it will look like a decade from now. The venture capitalists are counting on it, and they've been

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Crypto Weekly

Crypto assets are notoriously volatile, with large drops of more than 50% routinely recorded. Many crypto believers have become accustomed to declines of this magnitude, so it does not bother them too much.

In fact, they use the declines as an opportunity to buy more. Despite this, many in the crypto community still remember "crypto winter," when prices dropped and remained low, and much innovation stopped. the rankings, and Bitcoin's dominance will keep thinning until it becomes irrelevant.

Bitcoin's development is stagnating. It is a piece of ancient history in technology terms.

Nothing is done to fix its fundamental flaws, which were purposely allowed to happen.

Cult-Like Behavior and Ignorance

making numerous decentralized internet investments and getting tokens in return.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have made fortunes for many people. However, the value of all these assets has plummeted in the last few months. Although Bitcoin fell into two pieces instead of one, it created less downside than a traditional drawdown. "The bear market looks complete," Lamoureux says.

of various factors that do not have to do with utility, user base, adoption, or use case.

In my opinion, BTC will not manage to stay in the first place for too long, though. It could take another few years. Eventually, other cryptocurrencies will reach a higher place in

Censorship and personal attacks ("ad hominem") is widely practiced against those with different opinions. Each decision taken by this group of developers has to be supported with religious devotion and no questioning motives. This is also why the Bitcoin community is often referenced as a "cult." It takes time even for early Bitcoin investors to find out what happened, and while most of them were there just for the investment factor, still there was some kind of emotional attachment.

Bitcoin was about a financial revolution. It was going to become the future money, and

Will Bitcoin Even Last?

It takes too much time to research Bitcoin properly, and most that invest only scratch the surface. Lately, though, it is becoming clear to most that Bitcoin will not last as a market leader forever. As with any other technological achievement, new developments will render the previous obsolete. Progress does not stop. BTC currently holds a leading position, although this is also declining. It is still holding because

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

it was rapidly growing during its first years.

Merchant acceptance and adoption were on the rise until 2013, but there was also a requirement that Bitcoin wasn't matching which led to its decline as a method of transacting.

Bitcoin Scalability Issues and Fees There is a lot of discussion about the scaling debate, but this requires a topic of its own for discussion. As a network increases in size and user base, it requires a mechanism to facilitate this increase without losing speed or becoming too expensive to use.

Bitcoin wasn't properly customized to scale since the beginning, but the results would have been completely different with a few modifications in the code (block size).

In a nutshell, Bitcoin is not able to scale.

It can't scale. Even with the tech of the Lightning network running on its back, it still bogs down. Eventually, the winning side of the block size debate was the one that supported layer-2 solutions. Since the developer group in control changed the narrative (originating from them), Bitcoin is now trying to pass as a "store of value." As a result, Bitcoin "digital gold" was promoted as a new asset similar to gold by the Bitcoin decision process. Where there is a problem, there are also solutions, yet BTC doesn't seem able to overcome the denial

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that exists inside its community. With fees reaching $50 on average, the latest events were met by enthusiasm from Bitcoin Core developers instead of skepticism. Bitcoin has no hope of dominating this industry since it has massively failed to change. The decision process has stalled progress, but the same didn't happen with other cryptocurrencies.

A So-Called Long Term Crypto Winter is Unwarranted Investors wondering why digital assets are not outperforming traditional ones should know that the cryptocurrency ecosystem is an emerging tech asset class. Tokens that support the ecosystem trade like highgrowth, speculative assets. The headwinds affect digital assets like inflation, interest rates, and the threat of a recession. Nothing to fear.

Worries of the whole market dropping forever because of a few issues with stablecoins is nonsense, though the slump probably contributed to recent volatility in Bitcoin. Traditional assets do not back UST, and the loss of its peg shows the durability of the wider stablecoin market because the largest stablecoins maintained their pegs for the most part, except for a slight loss for a very brief time by Tether. The Terra network's collapse was due to its prioritization of UST's adoption over its price stability. Regulation of stablecoins is expected, and increased disclosures for algorithmic stablecoins will be good, but an outright ban is unlikely.

Bitcoin is, without a doubt, an amazing technology. In crypto bear markets of the past, people always wondered if Bitcoin would rebound. It always has, and I believe it still will for years before it finally begins to diminish, if it ever does. People are now wondering how blockchain will evolve in the future. In the future, a bag of crypto will probably be worth much more than it is today.

It is unclear when and by how much, or if Bitcoin will even remain at the top. While cryptocurrencies may have another winter, there will be another bull market, led by some of the best, most promising projects with far more potential than what exists today. The promise is immense, and crypto is here to stay, so HODL!

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

THE CRYPTO CRASH IS A TEST OF THE SHEER FORCE OF AN INDUSTRY, DRIVEN BY SPECULATION AND HYPE Yermack said the crypto economy's total market capitalization is $1.3 trillion, much smaller than what people invest in stocks and real estate. "It's mainly speculation by young people trying to make a quick buck." He said he didn't expect any repercussions for other investments or the large economy.

The Crypto Bubble has Burst During an era of low-interest rates, cryptocurrency fans experienced a fun ride powered by exuberant risk-taking. The roller coaster is now heading downhill. As fear and interest rates spike, investors are dumping their positions and billions of dollars are being wiped out. In just a matter of days, more than $200 billion of stock-market wealth has been destroyed just through crypto. We seem to be experiencing a crypto bubble bursting similar to the dot-com bubble of 2000, when the Nasdaq crashed and reverberated throughout the economy, wiping out retail investors and reducing business investment, until we entered a brief recession. In my opinion, a recession is unlikely if only the crypto bubble pops right now. But it isn't the only, or the most important, thing happening at the moment.

Inflation is Very High This week’s inflation headlines were a bit confusing. Inflation has "eased" according to the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times reports prices are rising at a rate close to a 40-year record. What do you think? They both are right. The rate of price increases is decreasing, but the level of price increases remains high and widespread. Consumers were offered succor several months ago

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FEATURE

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Crypto Weekly

when some economists pointed out that the vast majority of inflation was attributed to a few unusual categories, like used cars.

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Used-car prices are actually declining today as inflation has moved to service industries, such as restaurants and tourism. Gas prices have reached their highest average ever this week. There are many reasons why inflation is bad. TerraUSD, a stable coin backed by

Luna cryptocurrency that behaved like a conventional bank account, crashed.

Luna lost 97 % of its value within 24 hours, apparently destroying the life savings of some investors. The Terra disaster shook the crypto world in general, but the truth is that this world was already in trouble before the disaster. The price of Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, peaked last November and has since declined by more than 50%.

has not seen a similar drop, even though the price dipped to 95 cents early Thursday, worrying investors, before rising to 99 cents several hours later.

The crypto market kept going up by attracting an ever-growing number of investors. Once, crypto was held by a small group of people with the feel of a cult, due to a combination of libertarian ideology and fascination with technology. Cryptocurrency prices rose over time, attracting investors and Wall Street money, in large numbers.

Since the advent of crypto marketing, it has gone mainstream, including endorsements from celebrities like Matt Damon, Kim Kardashian, and Mike Tyson, not to mention political figures like Mayor Eric Adams of New York and Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel, whose platform was "pro-God, pro-family, pro-Bitcoin." Given all this, it's hard to imagine where else there might be to recruit into the crypto investing space.

In just the past seven days, the global crypto market has lost more than a quarter of its value, according to CoinMarketCap. Luna, the sister coin of UST, lost almost all of its value in the past week, resulting in an almost total loss for investors. Interest in cryptocurrency trading overall appears to be decreasing. In the first quarter of this year, active monthly users dropped from 11.4 million in the previous quarter to 9.2 million.

Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, fell below $25,000 at one point, though back to above 30k at the time of this writing. Coinbase shares have fallen by nearly 80% in 2022, making it the worst-performing stock this year. Coinbase is the largest U.S.-based crypto trading platform. Due to its current price being below its 2021 low, investors who bought it as cryptocurrency surged last year, are now losing money. According to Glassnode, the analytics firm, 40% of Bitcoin holders are underwater.

Since December 2020, Ethereum, another widely held cryptocurrency, has tripled in price, but its price is down 60% since its all-time high. Unlike UST, it does not use algorithms like that, which is an unorthodox method that relies on trades to support it rather than assets, which may account for its fall. Tether, the most popular stablecoin,

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The fact that a lot of people who have recently invested in cryptocurrencies - and thus lost a lot of money during the crypto crash - are the kind of people who tend to be influenced by celebrity endorsements is unfortunate. Because of this, they are probably less sophisticated and poorer than average investors and are therefore not prepared to handle recent losses.

Regardless, the value of cryptocurrencies in the future will be determined by their underlying economic uses, which are ... well, that's the thing. In many discussions, crypto supporters are asked what economic role crypto can play that can't be done more easily and cheaply by other means, such as debit cards, Venmo, etc. I have not heard a coherent response, aside from illegal transactions, in which crypto may sometimes offer anonymity. But that is rare because most transactions are quite transparent. Binance was recently able to follow stolen funds after they had been fed through a mixer that is supposed to hide such information.

Other than speculation in crypto markets themselves, cryptocurrency plays little role in economic transactions. In addition, if you answer "give it time," keep in mind that Bitcoin has existed since 2009, which makes it ancient in terms of technology. By now,

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

crypto market downturn is particularly painful for the upstart industry. Industry leaders hope that it will push the technology irreversibly into the financial mainstream just as the technology gains institutional adoption.

Coinbase, for example, has seen institutional investors overtake retail investors. The number of mom-and-pop traders on the platform decreased from 80 percent last year to a third last year, a Morgan Stanley report shows. The number of Wall Street firms also continues to expand. The Goldman Sachs Group traded its first Bitcoin options over the counter in March; BlackRock last month announced it had invested in Circle Internet Financial, a stablecoin company.

surely we would have seen some signs of crypto replacing conventional money as a medium of exchange or payment. Just try paying for groceries with Bitcoin. Almost impossible. Likewise, El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender and heavily promoted and subsidized its use, hoping to make it a true medium of exchange. However, all indications suggest the experiment failed so far. Well, we still have the future.

In recent years, those who question crypto's purpose have been presented with the argument that the sheer size of the industry

- almost $3 trillion in assets at its peak - and the amount of money true believers have made, proves the critics wrong. Can crypto really have become so big without any economic rationale other than speculation?

Is it just a bubble inflated by FOMO, fear of missing out? Could we, the public, really be that gullible and foolish?

Well, maybe the crypto skeptics are wrong.

The decline in crypto prices follows a wider trend by investors to dump risky assets, such as tech stocks, as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to combat inflation. But the

The founder of the nonprofit Healthy Markets Association, Tyler Gellasch, said traditional financial institutions have missed too many years of booming cryptocurrency values to be dissuaded from the crypto market now. “Fraud, volatility, and regulatory uncertainty kept traditional financial firms from participating in the digital asset boom,” he said. Financial institutions have only just started getting involved in digital asset markets after years of missing out. I'm surprised if they do a complete turnaround now because they have committed too many resources trying to figure out how to offer customers something.

According to some academic experts, the volatility in crypto is nothing new. A recent crash, as well as a bigger drop in the last six months, should not be overinterpreted. “We’ve seen this movie before,” said David Yermack, professor of finance and business transformation at New York University's Stern School of Business.

“A big drop occurred in 2014, then a 'crypto winter' followed in 2018, and many smaller drops in between. The market is very volatile.

We might see that again.”

Investor sentiment can change quickly, as we've all seen. Investors do not benefit from heavily regulated investment tools.

Insider trading is not even prohibited in crypto at the moment. Market information can be slowed down by investors, which is an important risk. Longer-term thinking may be more rewarding for those with a greater appetite for risk. The crypto industry has weathered crashes before, so the ongoing sell-off was inevitable. Prices had to fall, and they did. In no way is crypto in trouble.

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HIDDEN GEMS Crypto Weekly

PROJECT 1

estatex.eu

EstateX

EstateX enables the tokenization of real estate through new and highly advanced blockchain solutions. With this, anyone can get into real estate with as little as $100. Using these solutions, EstateX is able to trade real estate security tokens on their secondary market 24/7 without financial, or country, barriers. The advantage of fractional ownership is that it removes entry barriers and lowers entry and exit costs. Previously, non-accredited individuals could not participate in the real estate market due to restrictions and limitations. By using smart contracts, blockchain offers safe, secure, and transparent transactions that are not controlled by humans, preventing human error and wasting time. It is now possible to buy a fraction of a property and enjoy

PROJECT 2

catcoincrypto.me

perpetual returns, without the need to maintain the property.

We all know that the old-fashioned system is in need of an update. And that update seems to be coming; EstateX offers good, realistic solutions to open up this market. Although it seems that the big players and banks don’t like to see this system change, it’s a matter of adapting or giving up for these parties.

Blockchain, which is going to be as big as the rise of the Internet, will bring about this revolution. EstateX is acting smartly and is one of the first parties to offer a new way of investing. The only question that arises isn’t or but when will the big banks, real estate parties and investors join the queue behind EstateX

Catcoin

catcoin_bsc

CatCoin was launched on November 26, 2021 by Miaoshi Nekomoto (Satoshi Nakamoto's Cat) as a community-influenced project with big goals but little funding. Renounced by Miaoshi shortly after launch, CatCoin is now completely owned and run by its amazing community.

Catcoin is a community-influenced project that connects the crypto world with social media. Catcoin is the first crypto-related project to offer a 24/7 live stream on Twitch.tv, allowing the community

May 2022 | Volume 28

estatexeu

estatexofficial

catcoinbsc

to share their thoughts on Catcoin at any time. Catcoin values a friendly and caring community.

Anyone can be a part of the Catfamily. In addition, Catcoin's development is primarily focused on the Catnip project, which will be developed and released by mid-2022 at the latest and implemented into the Metaverse (Catverse) at the request of the community.

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CLICK HERE

www.estatex.eu www.estatex.eu

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BEIGGINERS GUIDE CRYPTO WEEKLY

A Guide to Using

DEFI WALLETS A centralized wallet stores your crypto assets on your behalf. In order to open an account using a centralized wallet, you must verify your identity and complete know-your-customer procedures. Wallet's support team can help you retrieve your password if you ever forget it. With centralized wallets, transactions are processed almost instantly within their ecosystems with no network fees. MetaMask, on the other hand, is not a custodian. MetaMask is an interface that allows you to create and import wallets, as well as manage your crypto assets that are stored on-chain.

Your Identity To recover your password, you will need your 12-word recovery phrase or your private key.

Data breaches are also less likely since no identity proof is required. If you enter your wallet address on explorers like Etherscan,

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you can see your wallet balances. However, you need your recovery phrase to access and spend your crypto assets. All transactions in the DeFi Wallet happen on the blockchain.

The majority of DeFi protocols, or DeFi applications, are built on Ethereum. The

computational effort required to validate and confirm a transaction requires network fees to be paid to the network. These fees are typically paid in the native token of the network.

Ethereum, for instance, requires ETH to send, swap, deposit, and withdraw ERC20 tokens. Gas fees are determined by the blockchain's consensus mechanism, the network traffic, and the complexity of the transaction. Always backup your recovery phrase and keep it safe. By using this method, you will be able to access your crypto assets on any non-custodial wallet.

How DeFi Wallets Came About Bitcoin paved the way for all modern-day

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swapping. Here are some details about each wallet type: Cold Wallets – Using a cold wallet, you can store your holdings offline. Hardware wallets are available from third-party suppliers, such as Trezor and Ledger. Since your private key is stored offline, a cold wallet is considered the safest option since it cannot be accessed without your permission.

Hot Wallets – Hot wallets are DeFi wallets that are always connected to the internet.

A wallet like DeFi Swap is typically available online or through a mobile app. Because they are constantly connected to the internet, hot wallets are not considered as secure as cold wallets, but they tend to be more user-friendly and accessible than hardware wallets.

Best DeFi wallets: What to use?

DeFi wallets come in many varieties.

Funds security is extremely important and should be one of your top priorities.

A wallet's security features should be thoroughly researched. Cryptocurrency wallets contain sensitive information. A good cryptocurrency wallet should be compatible across multiple platforms.

Finally, keep in mind that not all wallets support all coins, and some are designed only to hold one token at a time. If you want to store cryptocurrencies, you must verify that the wallet supports them.

Here are some of the best DeFi wallets:

crypto developments, such as DeFi wallets.

Script, the Bitcoin programming language, was limited, leading developers to explore other means of creating more expansive decentralized applications using blockchain.

Development of wallets has made it possible to integrate with more dApps and decentralized protocols. Wallets from the early days of DeFi were clunky, slow, and simple to use. The First Bitcoin wallet was Bitcoin-Qt, which required downloading the entire blockchain history in order to sync.

Types of DeFi Wallet Accounts You can choose between a 'cold' or a 'hot' wallet even though most DeFi wallets offer services like crypto staking and token

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BEGINNERS GUIDE Crypto Weekly

Trezor - A High-security DeFi Wallet You won't find a better wallet for security than Trezor if you're looking for one of the top DeFi wallets. Trezor offers two hardware wallets - the Trezor Model One and the Trezor Model T. These wallets store your crypto in a cold storage system, making it nearly impossible for cyber-threats to steal your crypto holdings.

Over 1,000 coins can be supported by Trezor wallets, and advanced security protocols ensure the highest level of security. 'Trezor Suite', a desktop and browser application linked to your hardware wallet, is Trezor's strongest feature. With this app, you can buy, sell, and exchange without having to go through another exchange.

MetaMask– Popular DeFi Wallet with 30 Million Active Users Aaron Davis, a developer at ConsenSys, founded MetaMask in 2016. ConsenSys is a blockchain technology company that provides Ethereum token infrastructure. In addition to storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrencies, it allows you to interact with decentralized applications. In addition to Ethereum, Metamask supports all ERC20 tokens, such as USDT, MANA, DAI, and Uniswap. MetaMask can still support specific tokens or blockchains, even if they are not officially supported.

Trust Wallet You can store, send, and receive your crypto assets with Trust Wallet, an open-source, anonymous, and multi-chain cryptocurrency wallet. More than 25M users of this mobile

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DeFi wallet are available on IOS and Android devices. You can view collectible NFTs, track charts, and earn interest on your crypto balances within the app.

besides ETH. There are more than 1,800 coins and tokens supported by Ledger.

In November 2017, Trust Wallet was released, and Binance exchange acquired the company the following year. Various cryptocurrencies can be supported. Binance users do not necessarily store their money in the Trust Wallet if they store their money on their account.

In 2018, Coinbase launched Coinbase Wallet. With the stand-alone app, users can manage their private keys directly on their devices without having to go to a centralized exchange or broker. Thus, you cannot buy or sell crypto with U.S. dollars or fiat currency using Coinbase Wallet directly linked to your bank account.

Ledger Nano - The Industry's Leading Cold Storage Wallet The Ledger Nano X and Nano S are two new devices from Ledger, enabling you to store your cryptocurrencies on a physical device that looks a bit like a USB Drive. The Ledger hardware wallet protects your private keys from being accessed by others. Keyloggers and phishing scams are among the threats it defends against.

Ledger's private keys are so secure that you don't even know them. Rather, they are stored within the device itself and protected by a PIN. The thief would need to possess your Ledger and know or guess your PIN number, or they could attempt to guess your twenty word recovery seed to steal your Ledger.

If you lose your device, you can use the recovery phrase to retrieve your cryptos. In addition, you get access to Ledger Live, which is a platform that enables you to manage your different crypto accounts, such as sending and receiving crypto, exchanging crypto, or even just checking your crypto balances.

Ledger also accepts some other major coins

Coinbase Wallet

By using the Coinbase Wallet, you gain access to a wide range of decentralized innovations.

Various cryptocurrency tokens can be purchased and stored on the Ethereum network, and digital NFTs can also be collected at stores that accept crypto. Users can send and receive crypto to anyone in the world.

The Coinbase Wallet offers a set of features and functionality that is similar to MetaMask and Trust Wallet, but with some differences.

To use the Coinbase Wallet, you do not need a Coinbase account. Trezor, Argent, and Crypto.com DeFi wallets are other good DeFi wallets.

The Best Wallet For You Choosing the right wallet for you really depends on what coins you want to store, and what level of functionality and security you need. Keeping your funds off-exchange and having control over your own private keys already makes your crypto more secure.

Ensure that your seeds are always backed up and stored safely. Keep your devices malware and virus-free, and don't click on junk if you're using a desktop or mobile wallet.

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of the

week

NFT

The Only Setup You Need to Trade Professionally Update by James Sides

James Sides is an experienced and well-respected trader who has been a friend of Crypto Weekly`s Editor for many years. He has a free-to-enter Facebook group if you would like to learn more from him called Crypto Common Sense.

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

IS EL SALVADOR'S BITCOIN FANTASY A NIGHTMARE? T

he country's huge losses in cryptocurrencies have undermined dreams of a Bitcoin City. Bitcoin is described as a frictionless and empowering form of money that liberates users from bank regulations and national governments.

According to skeptics, cryptocurrencies are a tool of kleptocrats and gangsters, environmentally monstrous energy consumption, and a digital Ponzi scheme whose eventual crash will disproportionately affect the poor.

Nayib Bukele's unveiling of images of a Bitcoin-shaped city in El Salvador, funded with a Bitcoin bond, with the currency's logo embedded in the central plaza, may or may not have boosted confidence. El Salvador was to become a mining hub and the first sovereign nation to link with Bitcoin.

Nevertheless, Bukele failed. Citizens of El Salvador don't adopt Bitcoin as the main currency. Instead, they prefer traditional financial methods. In addition, rating agencies consider Bitcoin to be a moneylaundering tool. Cryptocurrency experts believe that El Salvador will be a disaster if Bukele continues to push the Bitcoin project.

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"The government's financial problems are not because of Bitcoin, but they have gotten worse because of Bitcoin," said Ricardo Castaneda, senior economist and country coordinator for El Salvador and Honduras at think tank Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies El Salvador is the first country to use Bitcoin as its official currency under Bukele, the selfdescribed "coolest dictator in the world," A former publicist who wears baseball caps backward. "Our plan is simple," he explained.

"We will create a haven of freedom as the world falls into tyranny."

Though there are plenty of things to worry about in the city's location, has the news that the country has lost 45% of its cryptocurrency investments, and that it scores a CCC from Fitch, taken some shine off the president's vision? Are its bonds perceived as risky as those of war-torn Ukraine? Despite Bukele's talk of freedom, Amnesty International claims that his current state of emergency has resulted in "a perfect storm of human rights violations." The police and military have been rounding up suspected gang members using emergency powers that

have removed the need for arrest warrants.

Families and rights groups have criticized the arrests of many, including minors with no connections to gangs.

This wave of detentions is unprecedented among the 6.5 million people living in the country, which has suffered decades of violent crime caused by powerful gangs like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.

Thirty-one thousand five hundred suspected gangsters have been arrested so far.

The president himself isn't worried a bit about the recent crash. He says he knows the market and that El Salvador has not lost unless it sells. If you have computergenerated images of a fantasy city to distract you, then why worry about any of this?

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FEATURE Crypto Weekly

Crypto Has Inspired a Movement of Eclectic Underground Art Crypto Has Inspired a Movement of Eclectic Underground Art How do these two worlds interact? Love of conceptual, emotions, and the tendency to confuse admirers. We saw cubism in the early 1900s, which gave rise to art movements like surrealism, abstract, impressionism, and pop art. We are entering a new phase where art and crypto are fusing to create hybrid exhibitions.

Crypto-based art sales Radical innovation is the hallmark of modernism in art. In the 20th century, a belief that democracy, capitalism, and technological innovation would advance human society fueled modern art movements. The concept ties in nicely with crypto. Its anti-capitalist features are its ability to decentralize banks and grant equal access to finance.

Creative expression has been greatly influenced by movements such as Fauvism, Futurism, Constructivism, Suprematism, De Stijl, and Vorticism, the British art movement. There is a belief that anyone can create or appreciate good art beneath the esoteric jargon and 'isms.’ Art is not only for the elite and educated segments of society, but it is also the visual expression of new-age revolutionaries. The current market trends are crucial for artists and collectors. It is not surprising that artists use cryptocurrency to buy, sell, and create

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art. Several independent art galleries are jumping on the crypto bandwagon. A portion of Andy Warhol's 1980 "14 Small Electric Chairs" was fractionalized at one London art gallery.

a multi-user collective, used artificial intelligence to create a single work of art from 1,000 submissions.

The Singaporean collector Joe Nash sells some of his Australian art collection through the Visionairs Gallery, which also accepts cryptocurrencies. The Floridabased art gallery Lynx Art Collection now accepts bitcoin payments. Maecenas is one platform that describes itself as being "the world's first open blockchain platform for democratizing fine art access."

Artists are also incorporating crypto into their creations as a subject and inspiration.

Among the new breed of artists using cryptocurrency in the U.K., Aktiv Protesk is based in Manchester. Protesk, known as the Banksy of the cryptocurrency world, relies on bitcoin to sell his art.

An exhibition of cryptocurrency art was held in France to celebrate its birthday.

The "Bitcoin Art (r)Evolution" wanted to showcase "the potential of cryptocurrencies through symbolism and practice," as well as "illustrate the evolution of this digital revolution." Wannabe artists can also submit art in exchange for tokens in this world of art. In 2014, the Scarab Experiment,

The Banksy of Crypto

A popular street artist called Pascal Boyart, also known as Pboy, created a mural during the yellow vest protests in Paris.

It also contains a puzzle containing 0.28 BTC for whoever can solve it. Blockchain technology is rapidly gaining traction in the art world, and the movement is growing.

The art and crypto love-in continues to smolder through oil paintings, sculptures, street art, graffiti, visual and performing arts, or mixed media.

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