Crypto Crowdfunds War

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

• Bitcoin donations to the Ukrainian military are soaring as Russia invades. New data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that over a 12-hour window, nearly $400,000 in bitcoin was donated to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO providing support to Ukraine’s armed forces. Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used to crowdfund war, with the tacit approval of governments.

• Ukraine bolsters use case for crypto as the central bank suspends electronic cash transfers. As Ukraine cracks down on pathways to cash and Moscow unleashes airstrikes and ground troops, some Ukrainians are instead turning to cryptocurrencies. Kuna, a popular Ukrainian crypto exchange, shows that domestic buyers are paying a premium for Tether’s USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar. Read more here.
  
  
• Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi plans to re-enter U.S. market, but with an asset management focus. Several years of tighter crypto regulation in China has given Huobi further impetus to expand into other parts of Asia with Europe and the U.S. next. A step back into the U.S. market could put Huobi in competition with companies like Coinbase. Read more here.
  
  
• Sotheby’s withdraws sale of 104 CryptoPunks at seller’s request. The single-lot of 104 CryptoPunks was withdrawn 23 minutes after the sale was to have gone live at Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday at the request of the consignor. The owner of the NFTs said in a tweet that he has changed his mind about the sale and decided to HODL instead.
  
  
• Crypto companies are tempting top talent away from Big Tech to build ‘Web3’. Crypto companies like Polygon and Circle are hiring top talent from Big Tech firms, enticing them with the pitch of working on the next big thing in tech: Web3. Executives at tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are quitting to take jobs in the buzzy world of crypto.
  
  
• Stablecoins soar in value as everything else in crypto shrinks. The total market capitalization of stablecoins currently stands around US$180 billion, up from roughly US$38 billion a year ago, Coin Metrics data compiled by The Block showed. By comparison, the total crypto universe is largely stagnant over the past year. The surge in market value showed that crypto traders are effectively moving their holdings to cash. Read more here.
  
  
• Wall Street engineers embark on expanding a Bitcoin derivative. SFOX is in talks with large banks and market makers including Jane Street to open a market that facilitates the trading of Bitcoin derivatives. The idea is to use NDF contracts that are typically used for currency markets -- to give banks the wherewithal to expose clients to Bitcoin at a greater scale through a contract, at an agreed-upon price, that settles in cash.
  
  
• Terraform Labs is raising $1 billion to buy Bitcoin. The Bitcoin will be used to ensure Terra's stablecoin TerraUSD will be able to endure some unforeseen outlier event. It announced that it had sold $1 billion in Luna tokens to private investors. It may also purchase altcoins to diversify. Now, should something bad happen to the Terra system, it will have Bitcoin backup to step in and help TerraUSD maintain its peg with the dollar. Read more here.
  
  
• Markets usually bottom about 2-3 weeks after an invasion which we can safely say is February 24, says BowTied Bull. Unless the USA does absolutely nothing, funding is needed for the frictional cost of doing business. If supply chains get worse and we have higher prices for oil, this means the spread needs to come from your assets. Spread out assets to various brokers and cold storage for your crypto. Read more here.
  
  
• The geopolitical conflicts eventually lead to Bitcoin adoption. The hypothetical situation would see Russia and China, who have long publicly stated their intention to get off the US dollar system, decide that the costs of using the current global reserve currency have become too high. They are unlikely to use rubles or renminbis as the new reserve currency. There isn’t enough global buy-in. That's where Bitcoin comes in, says The Pomp.
  
  
• Ethereum whales are betting more than $1.3 Billion on Shiba Inu. Right now, they own more than $1.3 billion of the meme coin, according to WhaleStats, as they count on upcoming catalysts to spark a rebound in its price. They're also diversifying their investments in other tokens. They have nearly $1.4 billion invested in FTX and nearly $920 million in USD Coi, another favorite of Ethereum whales. Read more here.

• Crypto.com coin has a new name: Cronos. This rebranding highlights Cronos' focus on its Cronos chain, which allows developers to launch DeFi applications on top of this network. This recent growth highlights the surging interest in DeFi-compatible blockchain networks. The network's recently launched Cronos chain allows for developers to build DeFi applications on top of Cronos' network, providing more use cases for the CRO token.