Last Week in Review: Bitcoin turned 14, and Solana rallies

by Team Luno
· 3 minute read
Mengenal Satuan Satoshi dalam Bitcoin

The highlights from last week’s headline grabbers. All the important news, numbers and events from the crypto industry in easy-to-read, digestible news bites. 

News from the block

Bitcoin turned 14 

  • Tuesday the 3rd of January marked 14 years since Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain. 
  • There have been many ups and downs for the leading cryptocurrency since January 2009, but the technology still works exactly as it was designed to all those years ago. 
  • Check out our Bitcoin 101 article, HERE, where we explain in simple terms what Bitcoin is, how it works, and why it has stood the test of time. 

Solana’s price pulsed by almost 50% in one week thanks to Bonk

  • Solana was among the top gainers last week after daily gains of around 10% and an increase of 48% over a week. 
  • The rally may be due to the launch of Bonk in December, a Solana-based meme coin airdropped to Solana creators, developers and NFT-holders.  
  • Meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes and are often created as a joke by its creators. 

Ethereum upgrade in March will open up staking withdrawals

  • The Shanghai upgrade, scheduled for March, is small fry compared to the Ethereum Merge that happened last year but it will unlock a crucial component of the network since its move to proof-of-stake. 
  • The hard fork will enable users to withdraw staked ether from network staking pools, which has been locked since the Merge. 
  • Read more about the Merge, HERE. 

Mastercard and Polygon want to empower artists with web3 

  • Payments giant Mastercard is launching an incubator in partnership with Polygon to help musicians and other artists connect with fans through web3. 
  • “The core of this program is providing emerging artists with the web3 tools and skills they need to excel and advance their music careers in this digital economy,” Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, explained to TechCrunch. 
  • The incubator will include lessons on minting NFTs, representation in virtual worlds and building a community of fans. 

TL;Did read

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, is an outspoken proponent of the slow and steady approach in launching cryptocurrencies, a view that he’s been criticised for in the past, but safe and steady may just hold merit in current times. Here’s how plans for the Cardano network have unfolded. Read HERE.

Crunching the numbers

1,600% – A new Solana-based memecoin, Bonk, rallied by more than 1,600% in the weeks following its launch in late December last year. The coin also has a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot. 

$82,740 – The floor price of a Bored Ape NFT at the end of 2022, the highest among NFTs. A floor price is the lowest price something can be sold for.

83% – The number of days since Bitcoin’s launch in 2009 that it’s been profitable for investors to hold Bitcoin, according to data by Blockchain.com. The percentage is calculated in relative terms to today’s price. 

6.25 BTC – For each block mined, Bitcoin miners are rewarded 6.25 Bitcoin, worth around $107,000.

The crypto time capsule

Don’t panic. True at $300, true at $17,000. 

Crypto trivia

What is Cardano? 

Perbedaan Cardano dan Ethereum

Hint, it’s similar to Ethereum but also not quite. Read HERE how the two cryptocurrencies differ. 

Worth a listen

Macroeconomist and investment strategist Lyn Alden sits down with Peter McCormack as they look back on 2022 and consider what these events may mean for Bitcoin and the economy in the new year. It’s worth a listen, HERE. 

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