Weekly Web3 Roundup

The Bitcoin network’s hash rate reached a new all-time high of 234m TH/s on Sunday, as miners move away from Ethereum Proof-of-Work (PoW). Hash rate is a measure of processing power. A higher hash rate means more computational power securing the network.

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According to Ultrasound.money, the supply of ETH has increased by 2299 ETH since The Merge, which is around 49,000 less ETH than if Ethereum remained PoW.

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BTC mining difficulty reaches an all-time high of 233.18 EH/s as ETH miners join the network.

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Validator rewards have increased by 170% post-merge as they become recipients of transaction fees and MEV, instead of miners.

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Ethereum is now running on 99.5% less energy and with a 90% lower inflation rate.

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The transition to PoS is said to have reduced global energy consumption by 0.2%.  

🟣 Starbucks Odyssey is one of the first Web3 programs deployed at scale by a large company. It will allow loyalty program members and employees in the US to earn and purchase NFTs, or digital collectible stamps. These NFTs will have points that unlock “immersive coffee experiences,” ranging from virtual espresso martini-making classes to exclusive events at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries and even trips to Starbucks Hacienda Alsacia coffee farm in Costa Rica.

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🟣 Doodles raised $54m in funding at a $704m valuation — The funding round was led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six. 10T Holdings, Acrew Capital, and FTX Ventures also participated. Doodles hope to scale their growth strategy and monetize their IP through different music, culture, and entertainment opportunities.

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🟣 New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is considering buying NFTs with proceeds from auctioning Picasso, Renoir and Rodin — The MoMA hopes to spur higher attendance by improving the museum’s digital footprint. The digital art may be bought with proceeds from the CBS founder William S. Paley’s art collection, which includes works such as Picasso’s 1919 “Guitar on a Table.” Later this year, Sotheby’s will auction off 29 of Paley’s 81 pieces.

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🟣 The first NFT on Ethereum after “The Transition” to PoS was minted for 36 ETH — The Ethereum network went through its largest upgrade in history, transitioning to a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. The NFT, named “The Transition,” was minted at block height 15537394 for 36 ETH. The image represents a panda face symbolizing the merge.

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🟣 Magic Eden, Solana’s NFT marketplace, defended community backlash against the launch of MetaShield — MetaShield was launched this week to protect royalties on NFTs. The tool allows creators to flag or blur NFTs that have been sold and bypass creator royalties on custom royalty marketplaces. Some commented that no one will mint NFTs if the creators use MetaShield out of fear that they may be punished, and that NFT prices would rise. Others praised the protection of NFT creators. Magic Eden tweeted in support of MetaShield, agreeing that it exists to protect creators.

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🔵 Crypto gaming and NFT firms see a 66% jump in venture funding — Despite overall funding continuing to decrease, gaming and NFT funding rose to $842M in August from July’s $507M.

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🟢 LaLiga to launch a project in the metaverse. LaLiga announced a strategic licensing agreement with tech firm StadioPlus which owns the rights to LaLiga intellectual and industrial property for commercial use within Decentraland. With the agreement, LaLiga hopes to reach a new Gen Z audience. The deal will see the development of LaLiga land parcels in the Vegas City district of Decentraland.

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🟠 The Ethereum “Merge” goes live — In what is rightly being described as one of the biggest events in crypto history, Ethereum has successfully merged to a PoS blockchain. Ethereum will now 99.95% be less energy intensive than when it ran a PoW consensus mechanism. The Merge also decreases the rate of ETH issuance, as ETH is no longer needed to incentivize miners. This will make Ethereum deflationary in times of high demand when more ETH is being burned as gas.

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🟠 Tracking Tornado Cash — Following news of last week’s lawsuit against the US Treasury, the Treasury has released FAQs in response to criticisms surrounding its Tornado Cash sanctions. The FAQs indicate that innocent users with funds stuck inside Tornado Cash mixing pools will be presented with an opportunity to withdraw funds.

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‍🟠 Canada’s Conservative party chooses a new pro-crypto leader — Pierre Poilievre wants to make Canada the blockchain capital of the world and will challenge current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the 2025 election. Trudeau has criticized Poillevre’s stance on cryptocurrencies, calling it “irresponsible leadership.”

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🟠 SEC announces new Office of Crypto Assets — The Office will take over the Disclosure Review Program (DRP)’s efforts to review crypto filings. This will allow the SEC to dedicate more resources to filing review issues relating to crypto assets.

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🟠 CPI data comes in at 8.3% — This reading is up 0.1% from last month, defying hopes for a drop and increasing the likelihood of a large interest rate hike. The data led to a market-wide fall in asset prices.

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🟠 Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, and Fidelity Digital Assets team up to create crypto exchange — EDX markets are backed by high-profile investors including Sequoia, Paradigm, and Virtu Finance. The move is yet another example of financial institutions’ desire to get skin in the game.

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🟠 The Biden administration has released a framework on US crypto regulation — The framework is the product of six months of research by various government agencies. They submitted policy recommendations following Biden’s executive order that was issued in March. The areas of priority include consumer and investor protection; promoting financial stability; countering illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation.

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🟡 Fidelity plans retail crypto offering — The investment giant’s careers page outlines demand for a number of crypto wallet-related roles. The job ads show that the firm is developing a full-service enterprise-grade platform for storing, trading, and servicing digital assets.

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🟡 Investment giant KKR tokenizes part of private equity fund using the Avalanche blockchain — KKR, which has $471B AUM, is working with Securitize Capital to develop a tokenized feeder for its healthcare fund. Tokens will represent an economic interest in the actual fund. The scheme has been introduced as a step toward democratizing access to institutional-quality private equity investments.

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🟡 Former Coinbase employee’s brother pleads guilty to insider trading — In the first ever crypto insider trading case, Nikhil Wahi has admitted to trading based on tips received from his brother. Wahi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

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🟡 Leaked audio from Celsius meeting outlines recovery plan — The plan, code named “Kelvin” (indicating that the plan requires “absolute zero trust”) involves switching the insolvent lender’s focus to custody. A number of employees and creditors are opposed to the idea, with some calling for the removal of CEO Alex Machinsky. Celsius is requesting to sell its stablecoins, valued at $23M, to fund the plan.

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🟡 Binance announces plans to launch Soulbound Tokens — The token, named Binance Account Bound token, will be used as proof of identity for users that have completed KYC.

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🟡 The ECB has selected partners to aid the development of a digital Euro prototype — The ECB has selected Amazon to be responsible for designing payments relating to e-commerce. The ECB began evaluating the pros and cons of a digital Euro in July 2021. Whether it will go ahead is still undecided.