Coming every Saturday Hodler’s compendium It will help you keep track of all the important news that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more – a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Top news this week
Ukraine has received $37 million in crypto donations tracked so far
Cointelegraph collected data this week on crypto donations sent to Ukraine’s government, military, and charities amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia. By Monday, total cryptocurrency donations to the Ukrainian government and charities linked to it had reached $37 million.
The “Ukrainian Reserve Fund” backed by local crypto exchange Kuna appeared to be the biggest recipient, taking in roughly $13 million worth of BTC, ETH, USDT, and other assets. Next in line was the Come Back Alive charity, which raised $7.2 million. The group says it is aiding the resistance efforts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Notably, UkraineDAO also sold a tokenized Ukrainian flag for 2,174 ETH ($5.95 million) to support local civil organizations.
South Korea to invest $187 million in national metaverse project
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT put heavy weight behind the metaverse this week, allocating $186.7 million to create a virtual ecosystem to foster digital content and corporate growth within the country.
The metaverse ecosystem is called “Expanded Virtual World” and the funds will be used to expand the virtual industrial growth of cities, education and media. The ministry also said it will organize community-oriented creative activities to generate interest, such as a metaverse developer contest and a hackathon.
“It is important to create a world-class metaverse ecosystem as a starting point to intensively foster a new hyper-connected industry,” said Park Yungyu, head of communication and policy at the ministry in the announcement.
Payment service provider Shift4 acquires The Giving Block for $54 million
On Tuesday, US-based payment solutions provider Shift4 announced the acquisition of The Giving Block in a cash and stock deal worth $54 million. The agreement includes provisions that could generate a total gain of up to $246 million.
The Giving Block platform enables more than 1,300 nonprofits and charities to accept donations in cryptocurrency. According to the group’s annual report, it processed $69.64 million in crypto donations in 2021, with roughly $12.3 million coming from NFT projects.
“Shift4 will further invest in The Giving Block’s successful strategy while also pursuing a $45+ billion integrated cross-selling opportunity by combining crypto donation capabilities with traditional card acceptance,” Shift4 said in a statement. “This represents only a small portion of the $470 billion+ nonprofit addressable markets that Shift4 will be able to uniquely pursue as a result of this acquisition.”
eBay Will Add Crypto Payment Options Soon, Says CEO
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone stated during a recent interview that the e-commerce giant may soon be looking to integrate crypto payments into its marketplace. The CEO also noted the growing popularity of buying and selling NFTs on the platform, but did not disclose any specific plans to increase support for NFT technology.
Iannone said eBay has been considering the idea for a long time as the company continues to explore new payment methods. He went on to hint that there could be a crypto-related announcement during eBay’s upcoming investor day on March 10.
If eBay were to support cryptocurrencies, it would be a second attempt by the company, as it initially attempted to integrate BTC payments in 2014.
OpenSea Updates List of Banned Countries, Sparking Decentralization Debate
Major NFT marketplace OpenSea reportedly began banning Iranian users from its platform this week. The firm justified its decision by alluding to the policy that prohibits people in US-sanctioned territories from using its platform.
Iranian OpenSea users began posting on Twitter on Thursday that their accounts were being deactivated or deleted without notice. An Iranian NFT artist who calls himself “Bornosor” stated on Twitter: “IT IS NOT A gm AT ALL. I woke up to my @opensea business account being deactivated/deleted without warning or explanation.”
An OpenSea spokesperson spoke to Cointelegraph and noted that:
“We have a zero tolerance policy for the use of our services by sanctioned persons or entities and persons located in sanctioned countries. If we find people violating our sanctions policy, we take quick action to ban associated accounts.”
Also this week: Cointelegraph Launches Innovation Circle: A Private Membership Service for Industry Leaders
winners and losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) I sat down $40,617ether (ETH) on $2,667 and XRP on $0.73. The total market capitalization is $1.79 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are UMAs (UMA) at 104.80%, Waves (WAVES) at 98.29% and THORChain (RUNE) to 64.14%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Convex Finance (CLC) at -14.72%, secret (SCRT) at -9.37% and Amp (AMP) at -8.46%.
For more information on cryptocurrency prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph Market Analysis.
most memorable quotes
“Bitcoin demand is so great in Senegal that it doesn’t matter how many trades you make.”
Nouroufounder of Bitcoin Senegal
“Eventually the bot concludes that the best move is to buy as soon as possible and never sell.”
Tiago Vasconcelosfounder of Aceita Bitcoin, regarding the AI Bitcoin trading bot he coded
“Now is a pivotal point in the evolution of #Bitcoin – we are on the verge of mass adoption and I think I can make it happen faster.”
Samson MowCEO of Pixelmatic and former Chief Strategy Officer of Blockstream
“Investors speculate that cryptocurrencies will become increasingly important as trustless, apolitical money at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty, conflict, and capital controls.”
arcane research
“Crypto has been one of the great stories in finance over the course of the last 15 years. And I’ll be clear, I’ve been in the naysayers’ camp for that period of time. But the crypto market today has a market capitalization of around $2 trillion in round numbers, which indicates that I have not been correct on this call.”
ken griffinfounder of citadel
“Everyone with a heartbeat and a phone should be able to transact value around the world.”
Didi Taihuttofather of the bitcoin family
“NFT search volume worldwide fell off a cliff. It reminds me A LOT of the crypto bull market of 2017 and the subsequent bear market of 2018. How long will the disinterest last until it starts to pick up? Or will it?
Andrew Steinwoldmanaging partner of Sfermion
“Ideally there should be a threshold where people earning below a certain level don’t require compliance/verification, because really, if for example that threshold were R5,000/month [$330]what possible harm can a person do with that amount?”
Herman VivierBitcoin founder Ekasi
prediction of the week
Bitcoin Retests $40K As Macro Factors Pile Up To Crush BTC Bulls
Bitcoin once again showed no shortage of price movement this week. The asset bounced from around $38,000 on Sunday to almost $45,500 on Wednesday before falling below $41,000 on Friday, according to Cointelegraph BTC Price Index.
Crypto Ed, a pseudonymous trader on Twitter, succinctly summed up the BTC scene: “Bull above 42, bear below 40k.” Before his bullish/bearish conclusion, Crypto Ed explained his rationale through Bitcoin charts and technical analysis.
Bitcoin price appears to reflect global macro uncertainty as investors continue to assess monetary policy and the conflict in Ukraine.
fud of the week
SEC Investigates NFT Market for Potential Securities Violations: Reports
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), led by crypto skeptic Gary Gensler, is reportedly investigating the creators and markets of NFTs for apparent securities violations.
According to anonymous sources who spoke to Bloomberg, the SEC is working to determine if certain NFTs are being “used to raise money like traditional securities,” and the agency is believed to have sent out subpoenas requesting information about specific NFTs and other token offerings.
With billions of dollars flowing into NFTs over the past 18 months, it was only a matter of time before the SEC started digging deeper into industry compliance standards.
Former ConsenSys Employees Request Audit Alleging ‘Serious Irregularities’
A group claiming to represent 35 former ConsenSys AG (CAG) employees requested an audit Tuesday, under the Swiss Code of Obligations, to investigate “serious irregularities” they allege occurred at CAG in mid-2020.
The group alleged that “critical intellectual property and subsidiaries were illegally transferred” from CAG (also known as Mesh) to an entity called ConsenSys Software Incorporated. They also claimed that the deal was done without the knowledge of minority shareholders and was done specifically to benefit founder Joseph Lubin.
The company responded by issuing a statement suggesting that the complaint came from a single former employee:
“Mesh refutes the allegations underlying the legal action, as well as those contained in the factually inaccurate press release that was written by one of the former employees. […] Mesh hopes to formally refute the allegations in Swiss courts.”
UK Financial Watchdog Is Investigating 50 Rogue Crypto Firms
The UK Financial Conduct Authority announced on Thursday that it is investigating 50 unauthorized crypto firms. The FCA also stated that it has pursued more than 300 cases of unregistered crypto companies in the last six months.
The move is part of a push to crack down on potentially dubious companies involved in scam activity. According to the FCA, UK residents submitted 16,400 inquiries between April and September 2021, which included cryptocurrency-related scams.
The regulator noted that it would implement tools, including “more assertive oversight and enforcement action,” to deter bad actors in the local crypto sector.
The best features of Cointelegraph
Why decentralization is not the ultimate goal of Web3
Decentralizing the Web3 infrastructure is critical to its success, as it gives us back the freedom we are currently paying for with Web2.
What the launch of the FBI crypto task force means for the digital asset space
The consolidation of law enforcement activity sends a clear message to the industry: it is time to comply.
How do you do DAO? Can DAOs scale and other burning questions?
What is a DAO, how do they work and are they the future or a fad?
This post Hodler’s Digest, February 27-March 5.
was published first on https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2022/03/05/crypto-donations-ukraine-37m-ebay-crypto-payments-south-korea-metaverse-hodlers-digest-feb-27-mar-5
