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Rupt Weekly Newsletter

17 December 2022

Phew! It’s been a long year in crypto. While the web3 space never sleeps, we think it’s a good time to look back at some of the historic events that took place this year in that space.

In this two-part series, we’ll start off with mostly good things that happened.

Now the stories of the week!

IN THIS ISSUE

💎 The Merge
💎 Crypto supports Ukraine and Lebanon
💎 Play to earn games might not be dead
💎 Living in the Metaverse
💎 The first African country to adopt Bitcoin as a national currency

Stablecoin issuer Circle cancels plan to go public

Of course, it could have been a flop or a big disaster but it wasn’t.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, successfully passed its third and last public test ahead of a major software update popularly known as the Merge.

This update primarily saw the Ethereum network change its method of transaction validation from proof of work to proof of stake.

Now Ethereum uses less energy to run, and this change is expected to reduce worldwide electricity consumption by 0.2% according to Ethereum researcher Justin Drake.

Over to the other blockchains and cryptocurrency using the energy consuming proof of work transaction validation technique. If Ethereum can do it, you can too.

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Crypto supports Ukraine and Lebanon

Despite all the bad rap it gets, cases like this proves crypto’s utility.

Tens of millions were donated to support the defence of Ukraine, including a $6.5 million sale of an NFT of the nation’s flag. It’s no wonder Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a bill that effectively legalises the cryptocurrency sector in the country.

Foreign and Ukrainian cryptocurrencies exchanges can operate legally in Ukraine but it doesn’t mean cryptocurrencies are now legal tenders in Ukraine.

In the same vein, Lebanon’s national currency, the Lebanese pound, lost over 90% of its value due to the economic mismanagement by the country’s government. So people in the country turned to crypto to escape the rapid loss of their savings and investments.

Cryptocurrencies might be volatile and unregulated but they’re a better alternative to a banking system that people don’t trust to store their money in.

Play to earn games might not be dead

Blockchain gaming and play-to-earn (P2E) saw a breakout in popularity during the crypto bull market of 2021 and early 2022. Play-to-earn games are video games where the player can receive rewards with real-world value.

It also provided an avenue for people in emerging markets like Argentina to earn money, making as high as $1,000 per month.

But a major problem that led to the large-scale decline was a $625 million hack of the Ronin Network (a blockchain built especially for popular P2E game Axie Infinity) which occurred in March 2022. Another issue was the inability to maintain the price of their tokens as waves of new players join.

Are P2E games a scam or just experiencing a bad season due to the bear market?

In a recent survey of more than 1,000 US respondents who play a minimum of one hour of video games per week, 67% of respondents indicated that they would be more likely to play free games if they provided opportunities to earn crypto as a reward.

There’s still room for P2E to make a comeback, perhaps with some modification of its business model or maybe in the next bull market.

Living in the Metaverse

In the past 12 months, the popularity of the Metaverse has soared with many companies making a play into the space through patents or experiments carried out.

A report by crypto asset manager Grayscale estimates the digital world may grow into a $1 trillion business in the near future. Global companies like Adidas, Samsung and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also own pieces of land in the Metaverse.

Why the hype?

Simple, the metaverse is expected to be the next iteration of social media. These companies are looking to get a step ahead of their competitors. According to a recent CNBC report, since Facebook announced its move towards the metaverse, prices of virtual reality plots have shot up by 500% in the last few months. It’s seen as an investment in the next wave of technology.

Many expect the value of digital land and properties in the Metaverse to keep increasing. Asides that, owning a land means they can host events, conferences, and even rent advertising space if the land gets enough traffic.

Read more in our previous newsletter edition on whether it makes sense to buy land in the Metaverse.

The first African country to adopt Bitcoin as a national currency

For almost a year, El Salvador has been in a league of its own as the only country to adopt bitcoin as official currency until in April 2022 when the Central African Republic (CAR) joined.

This means that bitcoin must be accepted as payment alongside the existing currency. The move to make bitcoin a legal tender has received praise from the crypto community, and is hailed as another step toward mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. But it’s also attracting criticisms.

The IMF has commented that Bitcoin is not a cure-all for Africa’s economic woes for CAR, one of the planet’s poorest and most troubled nations, which is locked in a nine-year-old civil conflict.

In related news, Jamaica also officially recognized the “Jam-Dex” central bank digital currency (CBDC) as legal tender, becoming the first country to do so.

As seen Online

Via Unknown

• Institutional Sales Manager Asia (Onsite) – Binance

• Crypto Fundraising Associate (Remote) – ICEO

• Fraud Risk Manager (Onsite) – Binance

• Head Of Marketing (Remote) – Molecule

• Senior Smart Contract Developer (Remote) – Kyber Network

• For more jobs refer to our jobs board page.

What We’re Keeping an Eye On

• No One Is Happier About Sam Bankman-Fried's Downfall Than the Bitcoin People

  
  

• Trump's NFT Rollout Went Exactly as You'd Expect

  
  

• The Most Embarrassing Ways I’ve Lost Eight Billion Dollars

Written by - Daniel Adeyemi &

Victor Ekwealor

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