Date: 08/02/2021
“The average Twitter user thinks it’s going to last 3500 years. Nobody’s in a hurry with Bitcoin. We’re thinking that it’s the future of property.” — Michael Saylor
Weekly News Report:
1. Mastercard has announced its latest Start Path global start-up engagement program designed to support fast-growing digital assets, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies. The program aims to make it safer and more accessible for people and institutions to buy, spend, and hold cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Seven start-ups have already joined, including Singapore-based Mintable and STACS, along with GK8, Domain Money, SupraOracles, Taurus, and Uphold.
2. Pantera Capital founder and CEO Dan Morehead said, “China’s six years ahead of the United States in building a blockchain-based payment system.” China’s dominance in the blockchain space may propel America into action in the near future, according to Morehead, whose company is a hedge fund specializing in cryptocurrencies.
3. Payments giant Paypal is hiring more than 100 crypto-related positions as demand for cryptocurrencies grows. Paypal’s CEO recently revealed the company’s expansion plans, stating, “We continue to be really pleased with the momentum we’re seeing on crypto and we’re obviously adding incremental functionality into that.”
4. Australia’s longest-running crypto exchange has launched a card backed by Mastercard allowing users to buy, sell and spend digital assets directly from its platform using local dollars. The CoinJar Card, which marks Australian crypto first under the Mastercard brand, is available either physically or digitally through both Google and Apple Pay integration.
5. Markets for digital collectibles known as NFT have climbed to record highs in trading volume and average prices in the past week, particularly over the weekend. NFT marketplace OpenSea saw record trading volume on Saturday and Sunday as CryptoPunks, ArtBlocks and Bored Ape Yacht Club prices soared.
6. BTC posted its steepest weekly gain in three months last week, and blockchain data hinting at renewed supply-side weakness indicates further advances may be in the offing. The top cryptocurrency by market cap added 12.4% in the seven days through Aug. 1, the most since the final week of April, according to Bitstamp data. It advanced 18.4% in July.
7. A new report on the potential for blockchain identity management solutions to become integrated across sectors has forecast strong growth for its global market, at a compound annual rate of close to 71%. Drawing on an analysis of several existing blockchain identity management market vendors — Accenture, Amazon, Bitfury Group, Civic Technologies and others — the report expects the total global market to grow by $3.58 billion between 2021 and 2025.
8. PayPal reportedly assembling a crypto team in Ireland as Bitcoin adoption grows, further highlighting the company’s ambitions in the rapidly growing digital asset market.
9. Beginning on Aug. 2, 2021, German institutional funds will be able to hold up to 20% of their assets in cryptocurrencies, possibly setting the stage for wider mainstream acceptance of BTC and other crypto assets by the nation’s pension funds.
10. The increasing popularity of play-to-earn and GameFi NFTs is pushing up the number of Binance Smart Chain transactions to record numbers. Gamified (GameFi) Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) projects such as CryptoBlades and My DeFi Pet helped send Binance Smart Chain (BSC) transactions past 11,000,000 in volume.
