Prepare the pitchforks: the battle for crypto never ends, and the community is preparing for a critical European Parliament regulation vote which could shape the future of digital assets. In the meantime, the metaverse gets its first MetaUniversity. And is Do Kwon set to become the biggest bitcoin whale of all?
All that and much more!
TL;DR
- Do Kwon’s bitcoin plan.
- Market update.
- EU “Travel Rule” regulation vote.
- MetaUniversity.
How will US$3 billion worth of bitcoin protect the UST peg?
There’s no denying the sheer amount of bitcoin that Do Kwon and the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) have been accumulating. But what’s the ultimate purpose? To protect the UST peg, right? Yes, but it goes further. @danku_r explains the accumulation in their recent Twitter thread and the latest governance proposal about how bitcoin will serve as a backdrop for crypto’s largest and most successful algorithmic stablecoin, UST.
Essentially, the bitcoin “functions as a release valve for swelling pressure to exit UST to LUNA on-chain, dampening the reflexivity of the system by reducing the dilution of the LUNA supply during severe contractions”. It means that the “$BTC reserve won´t back UST as a stablecoin. The reserve will act as a market participant which will swallow the supply contraction of UST”.
By doing this, the pressure on LUNA is eased, reducing the likelihood of the dreaded death spiral.
Market update 🌍
Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.32% rising up to US$47,200 during the US session. In a similar fashion to traditional markets, BTC had little action as sidelined investors await the outcome of peace talks in the Ukrainian-Russian war. However, the pause gave a handful of altcoins the chance to climb following a bullish week for crypto-assets.
Source: Trading View
| US markets close | Gain |
| S&P 500 | -0.63% |
| Nasdaq | +0.31% |
| Dow | -0.11% |
| VIX | +2.27% |
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Zilliqa (ZIL) | 0.21 | +111% |
| VeChain (VET) | 0.08 | +24 |
| Synthetix Network (SNX) | 6.86 | +18 |
| Solana (SOL) | 122.71 | +12 |
| Uniswap (UNI) | 12.25 | +11 |
| Avalanche (AVAX) | 101.09 | +10 |
| JUST (JST) | 0.09 | +60 |
| IOST (IOST) | 0.045 | +45 |
| JOE (JOE) | 1.39 | +26 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 47 Neutral (+7) |
| “Crypto” Google Trends | 31 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends | 37 (+3) |
Newswatch 📰
- The next big hurdle for crypto. Today, the EU parliament is preparing to vote on the Transfer of Funds regulation. Considered an infringement on individual rights by opposers, the regulation would make every crypto transaction Travel-Rule eligible. In addition, the proposal would force exchanges to verify crypto transfer recipients of self-hosted wallets and force any transfer of crypto greater than 1,000 euros to exchanges to be reportable. Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, noted:
“This eviscerates all of the EU’s work to be a global leader in privacy law and policy. It also disproportionately punishes crypto holders and erodes individual rights in deeply concerning ways. It’s bad policy. Act now!”
- First credit cards, now Apple Pay. MetaMask mobile v4.3.1 goes live with the integration of Apple Pay, updates in transacting, and support for gasless transactions. The move highlights the recent increasing trend of crypto/fiat on-ramps adoption.
- Reimbursed! Axie Infinity (AXS) parent company, Sky Mavis, states that it plans to reimburse all persons affected in the record-breaking Ronin (RONIN) hack.
- Bitcoin for plasma. OctaPharma launches a pilot program in 32 locations to use bitcoin to pay for plasma donations.
- FTX Ventures. Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) lead a US$135 million investment into LayerZero Labs, the creators of Stargate Finance (STG).
On-chain ⛓
- Hedera Hashgrapth’s HBAR foundation announce the HBAR Foundation Economy fund that will allocate US$155 million to enable “build, use, trade and invest” cases across the ecosystem, and US$60 million for decentralized exchange (DEX) liquidity rewards.
- Abracadabra’s MIM token goes live on Fantom (FTM) through native DEX SpiritSwap (SPIRIT).
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
- First MetaUniversity. Swiss non-profit organization, Re-State Foundation, focused on global responsibility and technological advancement, will launch the world’s first MetaUniversity.
- The world’s wealthiest visual artist, Jeff Koons, announces his primary trek into the NFT space with a new collection of physical sculptures with a corresponding NFT. The sale takes place later this year.
- Shiba Inu (SHIB) unveils the SHIB metaverse consisting of 100,595 plots of “Shiba-inspired” lands, and will integrate SHIB, LEASH, and BONE tokens.
- Payments giant, VISA, premieres its Creator Program, offered to select small music, fashion, and film-related businesses to curate into the world of NFTs in a one-year program.
Banter’s take
Here comes another attack on individual rights and cryptocurrencies in the disguise of protecting citizens. Influenced by the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “Travel Rule”, the EU’s Transfer of Funds regulation is voted on today. In October 2021, FATF released the “Updated Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers” as a guide for governments to regulate crypto, which various countries have utilized as a crypto-assets regulatory framework. The latest EU proposal is not only invasive but could situate blockchain innovation in a chokehold in Europe. Often used as a political tool, the FATF was created in 1989 to combat money laundering but has often been accused as a tool for global elites. So grab the pitchforks again. The crypto community has another regulatory proposal to combat.
