Last week in review: President of El Salvador unveils Bitcoin City model

Despite a rocky week for crypto prices, the news was anything but with a deluge of positive adoption stories landing in our inboxes.

Instagram announced its support for NFTs, the President of El Salvador shared his vision for the country’s Bitcoin City and an ex-Facebook executive launched a company dedicated to improving the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Meanwhile, in the world of regulation, U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for stablecoin regulation.

As always, there is never a dull moment in crypto. Here are our picks of last week’s headlines.

Instagram to launch integration for NFTs built on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Flow

What 

Instagram plans to support non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platform from four different blockchains, CoinDesk reported this weekend

Why 

Instagram has more than one billion users, many of whom use the photo and video-sharing platform to promote their art. Instagram revealed its plans for NFT integration on Instagram in March of this year

What next 

The pilot will be launched in the United States amongst a small group of NFT enthusiasts. Meta aims to provide NFT minting capabilities over time

Read the full story here

US Treasury Secretary calls for stablecoin regulation by end of year

What

U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for stablecoin regulation during an annual testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee yesterday

Why 

She argued that digital assets may present risks to the financial system and increased and coordinated regulation attention was necessary

What next

The U.S. Treasury plans to release a report on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and create legislation for stablecoins by the end of the year

Read the full story here

President of El Salvador unveils Bitcoin City model

What 

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele unveils the scale model for the “crypto utopia” that was announced at the Latin Bitcoin Conference in November last year.

Why 

The Bitcoin City is intended to boost El Salvador’s economy and job development, as well as attract foreign investors. 

What next 

President Bukele did not announce any dates for Bitcoin City’s construction or completion, but tweeted that the project was “coming along beautifully”. 

Read the full story here

Ex-Meta executive launches Bitcoin lightning company

What 

David Marcus, a former executive at Facebook Messenger, has announced the creation of his new company, Lightspark

Why

In a Twitter thread, Marcus notes the need for change in payments and financial systems as a key driver for the move

What next

Lightspark will focus on building, exploring and creating value on the Bitcoin Lightning Network

Read the full story here

To catch up on other big stories from last week, be sure to check these headlines:

Australia’s first three crypto ETFs launched today and made $1.3 million

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) Market predicted to grow to $13.6 billion by 2027

IMF calls for greater collaboration between DeFi and financial services in global financial stability report