Crypto Scoop: XRP Triumphs In A Crypto Bloodbath

With the crypto community still celebrating the Ethereum merge, in this week’s edition of the crypto scoop, we review:

• The price moves of top cryptocurrencies
• Cardano’s Vasil Upgrade Goes Live
• Judge’s directive to Tether
• Red notice issued against Do Kwon
• Pan African exchange Yellow Card’s Series B funding
• Crypto adoption initiatives across the globe
• Football club Liverpool’s NFT initiatives and much more.

Top Cryptocurrencies Drown In A Crypto Blood Bath

While the crypto community expected a bullish run post-merge of Ethereum, the week started on a bearish note. The total crypto market cap again fell below $1 trillion, with several cryptocurrencies losing their monthly highs. BTC, which had rested above $20,000, dipped as low as $19,000, and Ethereum dropped to $1,300. 

The only currency in the top 10 trading in Green this week was Ripple (XRP) which recorded an almost 25% gain. Ripple has in the last month recorded a 41% increase, a glowing green in a sea of red. 

While the crypto market is experiencing a downward turn, Crypto sceptic and CEO of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, compared cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to a decentralized Ponzi scheme. However, Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor has once again asserted his trust in bitcoin by purchasing 301BTC at $6 million. His company, Microstrategy, now holds 130,000BTC, and even though the company is currently running at a loss, Saylor stands steadfast behind crypto. In the last few years, Microstrategy has spent around $4 billion to acquire his BTC stash, which is currently worth $2.5billion. 

While the Ethereum Merge is celebrated as a technical success, the same has not been said about the other network forks designed to keep Ethereum’s Proof of Work network. Ethereum Pow miners were stakeholders in the ETH space, and with ETH on a Proof of Stake network, they have lost their primary source of revenue. 

One of the leading forks, ETHPow, which went live shortly after the ETH merge, portrayed itself as a viable alternative for miners to continue Mining. On the day of the hard fork, it seemed to have garnered public interest but dropped by 68% to $8.01 in less than 24 hours. This has been traced to technical issues that hackers manipulated to profit. It is unclear what this means for the ETHPow. 

Cardano's much anticipated Vasil Upgrade Goes Live

Cardano's Vasil hard fork is the most important update to the blockchain since the addition of smart contract capability last September. The Cardano Vasil update and hard fork went live on Thursday at 9:44 p.m. UTC, providing significant performance and capabilities enhancements to the blockchain.

On Thursday, blockchain company Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) declared the success of the Cardano mainnet hard fork on Twitter, while others saw the hard fork unfold in a live Twitter Spaces with Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson. According to CoinGecko data, the announcement of the successful launch increased the price of Cardano's token ADA by about 4% to $0.46, but it is still down more than 4.5% on the week.

In response to a tweet claiming that ETH staking withdrawals would be delayed beyond the Shanghai upgrade, Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson dubbed Ethereum (ETH) the "Hotel California of Crypto." The song Hotel California is about a prison from which no one ever escapes. While Vitalik Buterin has yet to respond to this affront, he stated that highly decentralised DAOs will be more efficient than companies.

Tether Issued An Order To Produce Legal Documents Proving The Backing of USDT

A U.S. judge in New York ordered Tether to submit financial information linked to the backing of USDT as part of a lawsuit alleging Tether conspired to create the stablecoin as part of a plan to inflate the price of bitcoin (BTC), causing $1.4 trillion in market harm.

Tether is required to prepare "general ledgers, balance sheets, income statements, cash-flow statements, and profit and loss accounts" per the order. It also requires Tether to disclose information regarding its accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex, Poloniex, and Bittrex.

While Tether's counsel sought to have the order to disclose overturned, calling it "incredibly overbroad" and "unduly burdensome," the presiding court disagreed, saying that the "documents Plaintiffs seek are undeniably vital."

South Korea Requests Interpol To Issue Red Notice For Do Kwon

A Red Notice is a request to law authorities worldwide to seek and arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or other legal action. South Korean authorities have requested that Interpol issue a "red notice" against Do Kwon, the co-founder of the now-defunct stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs.

Do Kwon, whose blockchain network crashed in May, was in Singapore, but the Singapore Police Force announced on Saturday that he was no longer present.

Kwon tweeted that he is not on the run, cooperating with authorities, and has "nothing to hide." He also stated, "unless we are friends, have plans to meet, or are involved in a GPS-based Web3 game, you have no business knowing my GPS coordinates."

Following the fall of Terra Luna, a bill has been proposed to ban unregistered algorithmic stablecoins for two years. The proposed legislation under consideration by the House Financial Services Committee criminalises stablecoins issued without proper authorisation. Before any stablecoin plans by non-bank businesses may be lawfully released, the draught stablecoin bill in Congress requires the Federal Reserve System and state banking regulators to approve them.

Crypto Adoption continues in Nigeria, South Africa, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Colorado and Miami.

While year-on-year inflation in Nigeria grew for the seventh consecutive month to 20.52% in August 2022, the month-on-month rate fell from 1.82% to 1.77% during the same period, according to the latest statistics from Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics. With increasing inflation, it's no surprise that Nigeria has reclaimed the lead in Africa in terms of crypto adoption, ranking #11 in the world with a score of 0.521.

Virtual Nation Builders (VNB), a Web3 technology company, recently announced the acquisition of FHM (Pty) Ltd., the South African-based inventor of safcoin, called Africa's first cryptocurrency. VNB praised the merger as an essential move that will serve their respective "customers' digital needs in the Web3 revolution" in a statement.

According to the state's payment system, Colorado citizens can now pay state taxes with cryptocurrency via PayPal. Miami is promoting itself as the world's crypto capital, and in recent years, the Floridian city has been the go-to location for impact summits and conferences. After hosting Bitcoin 2022, CryptoWorldCon, Metaverse Miami, and the North American Bitcoin Conference, The inaugural MiamiWeb3 summit is scheduled for November 28-30, 2022, at the InterContinental Miami hotel.

On September 22, the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) declared the indefinite closure of all banks in the country as depositors became increasingly aggressive in withdrawing their monies. Meanwhile, young Lebanese flocked to cryptocurrency to avoid financial crises, driving usage upward since 2021.

Hong Kong will begin testing digital currency in the coming months. Hong Kong, China's special administrative area, plans to test a digital version of its currency as early as this year in preparation for eventual adoption.

Popular Football Club, Liverpool Pursues NFT Initiatives

Liverpool has expanded its cooperation with Sorare, an NFT fantasy sports firm. According to a statement released Thursday, the Liverpool Football Club is expanding its collaboration with the French blockchain-based sports firm Sorare.

Sorare, whose online fantasy sports game involves selling licenced digital sports cards that players can use to build competing teams, announced a multi-year exclusive collaboration with Liverpool to provide content and experiences for fans.

Flybondi, an Argentine low-cost airline, is incorporating blockchain technology into its operations. The company just announced that it will begin distributing tickets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), extending the options for what users may do with them. Users, for example, will be allowed to sell or transfer tokens to other travellers up to three days before the appropriate trip.

Palazzo Versace Dubai, a five-star hotel, has also begun taking bitcoins as payment for stay, dining, and spa services. Guests can pay their bills with BTC, ETH, and BNB, which will be handled through a crypto payment gateway.

The First Ever Web3 Tournament Scheduled For November in Istanbul

W3E will host the world's first Web3 e-sport event on November 17 at Istanbul Blockchain Week. In addition, W3E will invite top gamers from Europe and Turkey to create teams and compete in a live white knuckle event.

Erhan Korhaliller, the creator and CEO of Istanbul Blockchain Week, remarked on the W3E event, saying, "I am incredibly excited to be leading the team putting on the first ever live Web3 Esports tournament, alongside the first Web3 games. It is a privilege to have our contestants play EV.io, and I couldn't be more proud to welcome the world to what will be a history-making event in this space."