Smart contracts for the digital ruble and integration of the digital tenge with the BNB Chain. Main events of the week

The bitcoin exchange rate has risen by 3,02% over the past seven days. The asset reached the highest values on October 26, when BTC was trading at $21 020, the lowest values were registered on October 21 - $18 650 per coin. As of September 28, 10:00 UTC, bitcoin exchange rate is $20 196 (according to Binance).

The value of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has declined 0,84% over the past seven days to $1505. The native token of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance (BNB) is up 6,53% and is trading at $286,6.

The total capitalization of the crypto market increased from $0,949 trillion to $1,024 trillion for the week, with bitcoin dominating 38%. Ethereum's share is 17,84%.

Cryptocurrency adoption continues

Jane Manchun Wong, a researcher in the development of technology companies, reported that Twitter is developing its own cryptocurrency wallet. There has been no official confirmation or more detailed information about the project yet.

That said, immediately after the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk for $44 billion, the social network announced the function of selling NFTs directly through tweets. The company has agreements with marketplaces Magic Eden, Rarible, Dapper Labs, and Jump.trade. For now, the feature is available to some users in the test group.

According to a study by analytics company Chainalysis, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region became a leader in cryptocurrency adoption. From July 2021 to July 2022, cryptocurrency transactions increased by 48%. Egypt and Saudi Arabia saw the largest increase, 221%, and 195%, respectively. The second place was taken by Latin America with a growth of 40%, followed by North America with a figure of 36%.

The UK authorities approved the inclusion of cryptocurrency assets in the Financial Services and Markets Bill. This involves recognizing crypto assets as regulated financial instruments. The document represents the government's comprehensive economic strategy for the post-British exit from the European Union.

Blockchain.com, a blockchain explorer and crypto wallet service, launched a Visa debit card that allows one to get a 1% cashback in crypto of one’s purchase amount. In this, both fiat and digital assets are available for payment. The crypto card is already available for US residents, and next year users from other countries will be able to order it as well.

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis will issue debit cards for customers in the Middle East and North Africa in cooperation with payment company Mastercard. Physical and virtual cards will appear in 2023 and will be linked to users' exchange accounts.

Buterin's joke and the rise of THE token

On October 20, the new Ethereum-based altcoin THE rose 119 000% after a joke by one of the blockchain's creators, Vitalik Buterin. He wrote that someone should create a project called “THE protocol” to take advantage of how often that article is used in English. Soon after, unknown developers actually launched The Protocol project with the native token THE. The asset went from $0,0000384 to $0,04578 in just a few hours. THE is currently trading at $0,0096826, having lost 13,85% in a day.

a16z's capital decline of 40%

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the capital of the Andreessen Horowitz Venture Fund (a16z) decreased by 40% in the first half of 2022, while other funds recorded a drop of only 10-20%. In Q4 2021, the fund participated in 26 deals with cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. In Q1 and Q2 2022, their number dropped to 17, and in Q3, to 7.

Meanwhile, last year a16z invested in 56 US companies, making it the second-largest venture capital fund. To date, the company has raised more than $7,6 billion in crypto and Web 3.0 startups.

NFT and metaverse news

Apple banned cryptocurrency apps hosted on the App Store marketplace from trading NFTs outside of their own ecosystem. In this case, the commission on the sale is 30%.

Singapore's High Court recognized NFTs as property. The ruling follows a lawsuit over the right to a token from the BAYC collection. The plaintiff used it as collateral for a cryptocurrency loan, and the defendant put the asset up for sale after the funds were not repaid on time. In the end, the court sided with the plaintiff, ruling that NFTs fell within the legal definition of property: this type of asset is different from others and also has an owner who can be recognized by third parties.

Project Azuki held an auction among members of its community, in which 8 rare Golden Skateboard NFTs were sold for a total of $2,5 million. The tokens are an animated image of a golden skateboard and entitle them to receive a physical version of it, with delivery expected in November.

AGIA International will open the sale of villas in the Bahamas as NFTs. Sixty properties will be built on Great Exuma Island, with the creators calling the project “a 100% tokenized resort-style community.” Potential buyers must pay $10 000 to be put on the waiting list.

From the world of mining

Chinese cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer Canaan introduced a new line of ASIC miners. The A13 series includes two models: A1346 with 110 TH/s hashrate and 30 J/TH energy efficiency and A1366 with 130TH/s and 25 J/TH.

The recalculation on October 24 resulted in a 3,44% increase in bitcoin mining difficulty, reaching an all-time high of 36,84 TH. The previous all-time high was on October 10 at 35,61 T. The average hashrate of the network is currently 259,49 EH/s. This figure also renewed its previous record on October 10 at 263,5 EH/s.

Jack Dorsey's Block is looking for heads of mining, communications, and partnerships. The team is developing ASICs for bitcoin mining, as well as installations and related systems, software, and infrastructure, according to the announcement of the head of test center hiring.

Core Scientific (CORZ), the largest bitcoin mining company, stopped paying off its equipment loans. The company representatives said that they are looking for alternative options to raise capital because its resources could be depleted by the end of the year. The company is also considering the option of filing for bankruptcy protection. CORZ shares fell 78% to settle at $0,22.

Russian computer hardware store chain Citylink began the first official sales of cryptocurrency mining equipment in the Russian Federation. The range includes ASIC miners from Bitmain, in particular models Antminer S19, S19J Pro, and S19 Pro. Prices for the devices start at 518 160 rubles.

The Commission for Exceptional Situations of the Republic of Moldova banned cryptocurrency mining in the country to save energy. There is also a complete ban on the importation of mining equipment, including for the citizens of the country. In addition, the law restricts the operation of street lighting, water supply, and heating installations.

Prices for popular video card models in Russia dropped from 500 000 to 100 000 rubles in seven months. One of the main reasons for the price drop was the transition of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency, Ethereum, from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) on September 15, 2022.

Stablecoin and CBDC news

NEAR Protocol blockchain developers stopped supporting their USN algorithmic stablecoin due to collateral issues. As part of the refund program, holders of the asset will be able to exchange it for wrapped USDT stablecoins.

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi also ended support for its own HUSD stablecoin and removed it from the listing. Users' coins will be automatically converted to USDT at a 1:1 ratio. The decision was made “as part of our continuous efforts to promote the healthy development of the blockchain ecosystem.”

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) introduced a prototype of Hong Kong's central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Aurum project includes a wholesale interbank system and a retail e-wallet system. The source code of the project is available to central banks as part of the BIS. The creators also plan to release a CBDC-backed stablecoin.

The MakerDAO community voted to store 1,6 billion USDC on the Coinbase exchange. The organization will receive a 1,5% return on deposited funds. USDC makes up a significant portion of Maker's stablecoin collateral, DAI. Earlier, Maker founder Rune Christensen presented a plan to make DAI more decentralized by decoupling it from assets that could be frozen or confiscated at the request of regulators.

As part of a pilot project to test the digital ruble, Russian citizens will be able to perform new transactions with the asset: enter into smart contracts on the blockchain, make payments, pay for goods offline and recover money if devices are lost. So far, 12 Russian banks have joined the testing. Moscow Credit Bank, Rosselkhozbank, and Lighthouse, a platform for issuing digital financial assets (DFAs), also intend to join the next stage.

Crypto exchange FTX began the development of its own stablecoin. This was disclosed by the head of the platform Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX currently offers margin trading, which allows customers to use stablecoins pegged to the US dollar as collateral. The list includes TrueUSD (TUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Pax Dollar (USDP), Binance USD (BUSD), and HUSD.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan will integrate digital tenge with the BNB Chain network from the Binance exchange. This will bridge the gap between traditional banking services and the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The Central Bank of Kazakhstan began studying the creation of CBDC at the end of 2021. Then the governor of the Central Bank Yerbolat Dossayev said that in the future CBDCs will play a key role in the financial industry.

UAE Central Bank completed testing of central bank digital currencies. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Central Bank of Thailand, the People's Bank of China, and BIS took part in the pilot launch of the mBridge project. Representatives of the UAE regulator noted that the testing “demonstrated faster, cost effective and secure cross-border monetary settlements.”

According to aggregator CoinMarketCap, the market capitalization of USDC from issuer Circle has fallen nearly 20% in the past 30 days, from $49,4 billion to $43,8 billion. The asset has fallen from 4th to 5th place in the overall ranking of cryptocurrencies. Notably, about $5 billion was withdrawn from the project on September 26. The capitalization of USDC peaked in July 2022, reaching $55,9 billion.

Predictions on cryptocurrency rates

Nearly half of professional investors surveyed by Bloomberg expect BTC to continue trading in the $17 600 to $25 000 range through the end of this year, although back in July, investors predicted a drop in the asset's price to $10 000.

Analyst Peter Brandt said that bitcoin will reach a new all-time high in about 32 months, but first it will fall to $13 000. The expert believes that BTC will reach this mark in early 2023, and will not show impressive performance over the next year and a half.

The founder of ARK Invest Cathie Wood assumed that the capitalization of BTC will grow to $4,5 trillion. She came to this conclusion together with economist Arthur Laffer (former advisor to ex-President Ronald Reagan), studying the White Paper of the first cryptocurrency, when its price was only $250.

Analysts at Santiment reported that the Cardano network token (ADA) could see double growth over the next three months. Experts noted that the market value to realized value of the asset (MVRV) is currently at its lowest level since January 2019. The last time MVRV reached this level, ADA's price doubled.

The former head of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, published an essay titled Comeback, in which he said that Hong Kong could become a global center for cryptocurrency development. The legalization of digital assets in this region will be a trigger for the growth of their value.

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