Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Scales Past $30,000 As LUNA 2.0 Is Launched

May was a whirlwind of emotions following a significant price correction as top cryptocurrencies were pulled down in a bearish market. With the new month comes improved market sentiments as top cryptocurrencies attempt to find their footing as crypto adoption continues. In this edition of the crypto scoop, we review:

• Price movement among top cryptocurrencies
• LUNA 2.0’s launch amidst allegations
• Crypto initiatives in CAR, Russia and several other countries
• South Korea’s $177 million investment in the metaverse and much more. 

Bitcoin scales past $30,000 as drama buzzes in the crypto space

Top cryptocurrencies are gaining their footing after a severe price correction in May. Bitcoin has effectively broken through the $30,000 resistance,  while Ethereum is still trading below $2,000 at $1,800. According to Glassnode data, more people are looking to buy bitcoin after a steady inflow earlier this week. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF, launched in February, has had its greatest influx this week.

While the crypto space celebrates the price gains, Shiba Inu Founder Ryoshi has walked away from the community deleting all his posts and tweets. Ryoshi, the pseudonymous name of the founder, similar to the satoshi, has often expressed his interest in leaving, noting, “I am a nobody, I am not important. I am just some guy of no consequence tapping at a keyboard, and I am replaceable.” in a recently deleted medium post. 

While the Shiba Inu community mourns the loss of its founder, DOGE Godfather Elon Musk and DOGE co-founder Jackson Palmer have locked horns over Palmer’s claim that he could remove Twitter bots with a simple Python script. Palmer claims, “Elon reached out to me to get hold of that script, and it became apparent very quickly that he didn’t understand coding as well as he made out.” Musk retorted, noting, “My kids wrote better code when they were 12.  You falsely claimed your lame snippet of Python gets rid of bots. Ok, buddy, then share it with the world ….” 

Elon Musk has placed a bid for Twitter, and the DOGE community has raised hopes of DOGE being inculcated into the Twitter space. There are speculations about what the conflict between the two stakeholders might mean for DOGE’s future. 

Terra 2.0 Relaunches Amidst Several Allegations

Terraform Labs co-founder, and CEO Do Kwon confirmed the relaunch of Terra 2.0, the company's new chain that intends to resurrect the Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystems.

Terra's resurrection plan entails hard forking the existing blockchain and reissuing LUNA coins to existing investors.   Although the relaunch was a success, there were minor hiccups. Terra has confirmed that some Luna 2.0 holders received less LUNA than expected due to the airdrop, and the company is working on a solution. After announcing a Binance listing, LUNA 2.0 price jumped about 75%. 

However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, expressed scepticism around the revival in an interview with Cointelegraph. He explained  Many are sceptical. I’m one of those guys. We still need to ensure continuity of people's access to liquidity.  We have to support the revival plan hoping that it may work.

A whistleblower called "Fatman" disclosed an alleged chat log between the project's co-founder, Do Kwon, Terra validators, and infrastructure providers from the Terra blockchain community.   Fatman believes that if the chat record is authentic, it demonstrates that more than 50 people "knew about the [network] halt before it happened." He also reported Terraform Labs laundered about $4.8M through a shell company. FatMan’s allegation has prompted Binance to launch an investigation into these allegations. 

While the claims have yet to be verified, the United Kingdom government has recommended stablecoin safeguards following Terra's collapse. The government proposes amending existing legislation to allow the Bank of England to appoint administrators to oversee failed stablecoin issuers' insolvency plans.“Since the initial commitment to regulate certain types of stablecoins, events in crypto-asset markets have further highlighted the need for appropriate regulation to help mitigate consumer, market integrity and financial stability risks,” the Treasury said in its proposal

Crypto adoption continues in CAR, Russia And India.

The World Bank has expressed its displeasure with the Central African Republic's (CAR) current policy, recognising Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. The World Bank has also stated that it will not help CAR's new crypto hub, known as 'Sango.'

President Faustin-Archange Touadéra responded by stating that not adopting bitcoin was not an option. Bitcoin, he noted, is a new path to a bright future. He continued, “For us, a formal economy is no longer an option. An impenetrable bureaucracy keeps us stuck in systems that don’t give us the opportunity to be successful. Bitcoin opens a new path to a bright future.”

While CAR continues its crypto initiatives, Russia has sped up its CBDC project. Russia has been subjected to stiff sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine a few months ago, which appears to push it toward cryptocurrency adoption. The Russian Central Bank has begun to accelerate the creation of the Digital Russian Rubble.  The Central Bank of Russia now plans to test transactions with the new version of the national fiat in early 2023 rather than 2024, as was previously intended.

India has also begun to make crypto moves as it finalises a consultation paper on cryptocurrency. It is expected that the implementation of the document could bring the country of 14 billion people closer to the international regulatory consensus on digital assets. 

That’s not all! U.S Senate aspirant Timothy Ursich has revealed plans to make Dogecoin a legal tender in California. He explained that he intends to provide complete and adequate support to the crypto industry by advocating for the mass adoption of the new financial technology. He went further to request the help of Elon Musk, DOGE co-founder Bully Markus in his campaign. 

South Korea set to Invest $177 Million Directly in Metaverse 

South Korea's government has confirmed that it will begin investing directly in metaverse projects. According to Lim Hyesook, minister of science and technology and communication technologies, more than $177 million would be invested to jumpstart national jobs and businesses in the metaverse. 

That’s not the only notable NFT initiative this week. Quik, an NFT domain marketplace, has announced that it will allow the creation of several premium extensions, including. Metaverse, VR, and. Chain. According to Quik.com, the launch of these new domain names will enable consumers and projects to obtain highly desirable, memorable addresses. Complete ownership avoids the risk of centralisation or restriction, and these domains can also be used to host websites. The process of minting or purchasing an NFT domain, according to Quik, is both rapid and frictionless. They're held on the Ethereum blockchain, which means centralised organisations like ICANN do not control them.

MoneyGram Announces Collaboration With Stellar to Facilitate Fiat to Stablecoin Transactions

MoneyGram and the Stellar Development Foundation have partnered to offer a service that allows customers to send and convert stablecoins into fiat currency. Users with Stellar wallets will be able to convert their crypto into Circle's USD Coin once the service becomes live (USDC). They can then use the MoneyGram network to withdraw the stablecoin.