Week ending April 9, 2022
As we approach April, it looks like we are leaving the crypto winter well and truly (with a few notable exceptions). Most coins have seen price increases, including Ethereum (+6.3%) and Solana (+27.9%). Under the crypto news, however, bitcoin was an anomaly and saw a slight price drop of 1.3%.
While Solana’s jump was impressive, it’s nothing compared to last week’s big winner. GMT (of the STEPHN protocol) was up an impressive 206.5%, which is the biggest weekly increase we’ve seen in a while. Other big jumps are those of FXS (+84.7%), ZIL (+84.7%) and AAVE (+48.1%).
Still, bitcoin was not the only currency to fall in price last year. ZEC was down 16.7%, APE 14.7% and OKB 8.9%. The coin AXS of the crypto gaming platform Axie Infinity also fell by 2.8% – which is not surprising given the recent attack (more on this soon). More success with these projects next week.
1. Pudgy Penguins NFT Sold
The Pudgy Penguins NFT Collection has finally sold for 750 ETH (about $2.5 million). It’s a much-anticipated deal following the controversial impeachment of the collection’s founding team, who were voted out in January 2022 by the Pudgy Penguins discord group. Entrepreneur Luca Netz was the buyer and will now control the future of the project and the rights to all royalties. Can the new leadership mean a promising future?
2. Fractal Raises $35 Million
Meanwhile, gaming NFT marketplace Fractal has raised $35 million in its latest funding round, and is now in the space with contributions from several big names – including Coinbase Ventures and Solana Labs. It’s a promising start for Twitch co-founder Justin Kan’s new project, which focuses on Solana-based NFTs and also supports peer-to-peer trading.
3. DeFi Lender Inverse Finance and Axie Finity Hacked
It hasn’t been a good week for DeFi lender Inverse Finance, which suffered an exploit that resulted in a $15.6 million dollar loss after an attacker altered token prices so he could take out loans with negligible collateral. To make matters worse, it was the third attack of its kind in the past week.
Axie Finity’s Ronin network fared even worse, losing $625 in an exploit that lasted Tuesday. Some believe it could be the biggest attack of its kind, and it’s a major blow to the gaming protocol, which is often touted as being at the cutting edge of metaverse-related developments. This time, the hacker managed to find a back door and obtain a validator for the Axie DAO, which gave them access. It seems that hackers are getting smarter and blockchain projects need to do more to keep them at bay.
As a result of this attack, Axie Infinity has postponed the launch of the upcoming Origin upgrade, which was supposed to take place in late March or early April. The move is intended to give the team the time they need to review security processes and minimize the possibility of a similar attack happening again. Also in response to the hacking, Binance has suspended deposits and withdrawals to the Ronin network, but it has now started resuming it.
4. Bitcoin ETF Application Denied
The SEC has rejected Ark 21Shares’ application for a spot bitcoin ETF, making it one of several that did not get the offer. Reportedly, the main reason for the rejection is insufficient investor protection and failure to meet the relevant requirements.
5. Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Sells $500 Million in Shares
Riot Blockchain (RIOT), which mines bitcoin, has filed with the SEC to sell up to $500 million of its shares. The project plans to use the money for investments in other projects and business ventures. However, it does not seem to have the intention to sell all shares immediately.
6. Tezos Upgrades
Tezos has undergone an upgrade, changing its consensus algorithm so that it can increase efficiency and offer faster transaction times. This should help the proof-of-work blockchain become more scalable.
This post 6 Big Crypto News – Pudgy Penguins NFT Sold And More
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