This week in coins. Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt. In the first week of the new year, the leading cryptocurrencies are all in the green after a brutal 2022. None of the top 20 cryptocurrencies posted major losses this week. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) both sustained modest appreciation throughout the entire week and are up 2% and 5%,…
Month: January 2023
Using blockchain technology to combat retail theft
The retail industry is one of the most important sectors of the United States economy. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has left the trillion-dollar retail sector vulnerable to in-store theft. Findings from the National Retail Federation’s 2022 Retail Security Survey show that retail losses from stolen goods increased to $94.5 billion in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020. Some retailers…
NFT Marketplace SuperRare Cuts 30% of Staff: ‘We Over-Hired’
SuperRare Labs, the company behind NFT marketplace SuperRare, became the latest crypto player to make job cuts on Friday, announcing it will reduce its staff by 30%. The news came from SuperRare CEO John Crain, who tweeted out a message he sent to employees in Slack. Crain cited aggressive growth and over-hiring as the reasons for the reduction, saying he…
OpenAI will lead to better art and narration in Web3 games — Immutable exec
The creation of smart contracts and Web3 interfaces has led to an entirely new play-to-earn or nonfungible token (NFT) genre of video games. But during the 2021 crypto bull market and subsequent crash of 2022, many of the games in this niche went through incredible ups and downs in terms of player count and transaction volume. Despite this volatility, one…
BTC, ETH Surge to Start the Weekend, Following Friday’s Payrolls – Market Updates Bitcoin News
Bitcoin moved closer to the $17,000 level to start the weekend, as traders continued to react to the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls data. December’s payrolls came in at 223,000, which was better than the 200,000 markets had expected. Ethereum was also higher on Saturday, with prices nearing a three-week high. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) moved closer to the $17,000 level on…
Crypto Miners in Kazakhstan Start Paying Higher Electricity Fees – Mining Bitcoin News
Since the beginning of 2023, cryptocurrency miners operating in Kazakhstan are obliged to pay new fees for the power they need to mint digital coins. A surcharge introduced in 2021 now depends on the price of electricity consumed by bitcoin farms and can be much higher than the original levy. New Year Brings Higher Costs for Companies Mining Crypto in…
Bitcoin price nears 3-week high as trader says sub-7% CPI may see $19K
Bitcoin (BTC) traded nearer $17,000 on Jan. 7 after the end of the year’s first trading week delivered a spike higher. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView All eyes on CPI Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it briefly passed the $17,000 mark the day prior. The pair had seen flash volatility on the back…
Fintechs Accounted for Over 30% of Tracked Kenyan Tech Startups in 2022 — Study – Fintech Bitcoin News
As of November 2022, Kenyan fintechs accounted for 30.2% or 93 out of the 308 tracked tech startups, a Disrupt Africa study recently found. In addition, the study findings show that the fintech sub-sector alone accounted for 3,100 or 27% of the 11,462 people that were employed by tech startups during the same period. Fintechs Solving Fundamental Problems According to…
Metaverse to possibly create $5T in value by 2030: McKinsey report
While the 2022 bear market grazed off the excitement around the budding crypto sub-ecosystems such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse remains well-positioned for long-term disruption. Considering the myriad consumer and business-centric use cases the metaverse could cater to, a McKinsey & Company report highlights the technology’s potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value by 2030. For the…
Web3 Company Animoca Brands Lowers Fundraising Goal to $1 Billion in Q1 2023 – Metaverse Bitcoin News
Animoca Brands, a Web3 gaming-focused company, has announced it is now targeting a raise of $1 billion for a fund directed to inject help for already established blockchain projects. The number is significantly lower than the $2 billion the company announced back in November as an upper limit for this same fund. Animoca Brands Announces Lower Numbers for Web3 and…