Crypto Scoop: The Crypto Blood Bath

There were several gasps as BTC, ETH, and several cryptocurrencies took a nose dive into a sea of red. While we hold our breath as we anticipate the next market moves, here are the highlights of this week’s crypto scoop

• Top cryptocurrencies take a nosedive in red.
• Crypto regulations in Uganda, Bahamas, Shanghai
• Meta announces an NFT feature for Instagram.

Top cryptocurrencies take a nosedive in red.

This week recorded a steep in the prices of major cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BNB, CHAIN, SOL, XRP and several more. BTC dipped as low as $24,000 as investors watched the market plunge into red. Some took it as an avenue to buy the dip, with El Salvador purchasing 500 more bitcoins bringing its total BTC holdings to 2301 bitcoins.

Stablecoins weren’t left out of this startling market shift as popular stablecoin, Tether (USDT), lost its $1 Peg. Algorithmic stablecoin, Terra USD (UST), wasn’t left out of the equation as it also lost its $1 peg. Traders of 

Traders of Terra's LUNA tokens experienced some of the worst weekly losses in recent months, with prices plummeting 99.7% in a week. LUNA has dropped out of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation this week, ranking 81st. Last week, the tokens were worth just under $4 billion, but by Thursday, the market valuation had dropped to $720 million. Due to network congestion, Binance has temporarily halted LUNA and UST withdrawals.

Following the crash of LUNA and UST, TerraForm Labs CEO Do Kwon announced a recovery plan. Do Kwon recommended backing community proposal 1164, which would boost UST's base pool from $50 million to $100 million. Hopefully, that plays out well for LUNA tokens.

Crypto regulations in Uganda, Bahamas, Shanghai

While the Central African Republic has openly welcomed cryptocurrencies, even adopting bitcoin as legal tender, Uganda has taken a hard stance towards them, citing crypto frauds. The Bank of Uganda (BoU) issued a strong warning to all payment service providers, including mobile money operators, saying that enabling crypto transactions will expose Uganda to fraudulent transactions, money laundering, the sale of illicit items, and internet fraud. BOU noted that these mediums had been exploited for crypto scams. 

As a result, certain digital service providers have temporarily suspended crypto transactions. On the other hand, Crypto transactions are not prohibited in Uganda, and with more education and fewer scams, Uganda should become more open to crypto.

Speaking on crypto education, the IMF has urged the Bahamas central bank to develop a regulatory framework for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Sand dollar. The IMF's executive directors "recognised the potential of the Sand Dollar to foster financial inclusion" and urged the Bahamas' Central Bank to "accelerate its education programmes and continue strengthening internal capacity and oversight,"   The consultation marked a change from the IMF's past warnings to numerous nations about the dangers of digital assets adoption.

Despite China's reservations regarding cryptocurrencies, the Shanghai High Court has declared Bitcoin a Virtual Asset With Economic Value Protected by Chinese Law.

Meta announces the integration of an NFT feature to Instagram.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Instagram will begin testing non-fungible token (NFT) integrations this week. "We're starting to build for NFTs across our family of apps, not just in our metaverse and Reality Labs work," Zuckerberg stated. 

Zuckerberg also explained that Facebook would have the same feature soon. Using its Spark AR software, the company claims to be working on three-dimensional, augmented-reality NFTs, which will first be integrated into Instagram stories.

This isn’t the most exciting NFT initiative this week, as Ibiza’s leading nightclub partner, The Night League, has collaborated with NFT collective Party Degenerative to host a series of NFT parties. 

In order to provide added value to the Party Degenerates community, The Night League, a nightlife and entertainment company, will allow access to its nightclubs, exclusive venues, exhibitions, performances, and parties. From May 7th through October 3rd, Party Degenerates members will receive unlimited entry to all events at Ushuaia, Ibiza and H Ibiza, two of the top nightclubs in the world.

Raluca Cherciu, CEO of Party Degenerates, explained, "NFTs can be more than art. They can have real power to connect people digitally and in real life, and we want token holders to experience those meaningful connections, as well as be immersed in the art from the moment they land in Ibiza, " 

While there seems to be a rise in NFT initiatives, NFT prices seem to be on the down low as a CryptoPunk NFT that was purchased initially for over $1 million was sold for less than $140,000. In fact, out of the 10 CryptoPunk funds, eight have been sold for some loss.