Last Week in Review: Traditional banks are hungry for crypto, and the number of wholecoiners on the up

by Team Luno
· 3 minute read

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

BUIDL despite crypto winter, Morgan Stanley says to crypto industry 

  • Despite the ongoing tough market conditions, the cryptocurrency industry will continue developing and the technology will increasingly be used to trade financial assets. 
  • This was the response from participants in a recent market report by Morgan Stanley. 
  • The bank is unclear on how long current market conditions will last, but the focus remains on building digital asset infrastructure for the future. 

Polygon and CV Labs partnership aims to drive adoption of blockchain in Africa 

  • CV Labs and Polygon, the project behind MATIC, aim to work with African companies, and start discussions with governments in Africa about the benefits of investing in startups and the potential of blockchain technology. 
  • Polygon aims to help African startups gain access to resources and funding, enabling them to scale their businesses. Working with CV Labs, the company wants to enable corporate and government bodies to experiment with blockchain technology.
  • Polygon is a scaling network that helps ease the transaction load on the Ethereum blockchain, and belongs to a group of blockchains called layer-2 solutions or side-chains. Technically, it works much in the same way as Ethereum, but transaction costs are cheaper on Polygon due to its fast processing speeds. 

Tokenisation is the next big thing, says BlackRock CEO

  • Larry Fink, the CEO of investment firm BlackRock, says the next step in the evolution of the securities markets, which include stocks, bonds and ETFs, is the tokenisation of these kinds of assets. 
  • This will allow securities to be traded on blockchains, which means “instantaneous settlement” and “reduced fees,” according to Fink. 
  • Tokenisation means that in future any asset can be traded on a public ledger. 

Brazil says yes to Bitcoin payments 

  • Lawmakers voted in favour of Bitcoin as a means of payment and investment in the country. 
  • The new bill seeks to provide a solid regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry in Brazil. 
  • However, it doesn’t mean that Bitcoin will be made legal tender. 

Goldman Sachs looking to invest in cryptocurrency companies

  • The investment powerhouse is aiming to invest millions of Dollars into cryptocurrency companies. 
  • Big banks see an opportunity to pick up business in this tough market, Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s head of digital assets, told Reuters.
  • Goldman’s interest in the industry is indicative of the bank’s long-term view of cryptocurrencies.  

TL;Did read

Are cryptocurrencies securities or non-securities? It seems even the regulators are unsure about it at this stage, but what does it mean when they say Bitcoin is definitely not one? Let’s DIVE IN. 

Crunching the numbers

950,000 – The number of Bitcoin wallets reportedly holding at least 1 Bitcoin last week, a new all-time high.  

$327.070 billion – Bitcoin’s market cap at the time of writing, accounting for  more than a third of the entire market cap of all cryptocurrencies. 

21,954 – The number of cryptocurrencies currently in existence. 

274,064 – The number of daily Bitcoin transactions last week. 

490,644 – The number of transactions on 14 December 2017, during the crypto boom late that year. 

The crypto time capsule

Then and now. 

Crypto trivia

What is the halving and what does it have to do with the price of Bitcoin? 

Analisis Teknikal untuk Persiapan Trading

Miners, the people and companies that use computers to verify transactions on the Bitcoin network, get rewarded in newly created Bitcoin when they do this successfully. Every four years, this reward amount to miners is halved, hence the name, halving. 

These events have in the past been precursors to massive spikes in Bitcoin’s value.

In the 365 days after the first halving in 2012, Bitcoin’s price climbed by more than 8,000%. In the year following the second halving in 2016, the price jumped 284%. In the year following the last halving in 2020, Bitcoin’s value increased by 559%. 

The next halving event is set for sometime around early 2024. 

Worth a watch 

Why does the price of Bitcoin fluctuate so much? Watch HERE as we dig in.

Did you find this useful?

16
3