Twitter proceeds with payment platform initiatives,
MetaMask unveils new privacy features
and Cathie Wood stands by her ten-year bitcoin price target
even in the midst of a bear market.
These stories and more this week in crypto.
Hi, I’m Nate Martin from 99Bitcoins.com,
and here’s what’s happened this week in crypto.
Bitcoin closed out January with a 40% spike,
its best month since October 2021.
The total value of cryptocurrency assets
added more than $200 Billion in January alone.
Ethereum also saw its price surge,
but so did the network's gas fees,
with the average fee rising to over $5 per transaction.
Elon Musk appears to be proceeding with plans to integrate
a payment system into Twitter.
Sources quoted by the Financial Times say
Twitter is also seeking regulatory registrations and financial licenses
in several states.
According to the sources
the payment system will initially handle fiat currencies,
with plans to add cryptocurrencies later on.
Leading self-custodial crypto wallet MetaMask,
unveiled several privacy features.
Under the advanced privacy settings,
users can now toggle features that send requests to third-party services
to help with phishing detection and identifying incoming transactions.
The update came as a response to ongoing criticism
regarding its privacy policies
and increased phishing attacks targeting MetaMask users.
Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank
is set to launch a decentralized finance platform
on the Ethereum network
with the aim to displace traditional banking services.
The platform, which is already in its closed beta phase,
is not the first crypto-related venture for Sberbank,
which already has a license to issue and exchange digital assets
and launched Russia's first blockchain ETF.
The British government is proposing
measures to robustly regulate the crypto industry.
Newly proposed measures include
provisions to ensure that customers’ assets are returned
if a business becomes insolvent,
as well as efforts to prevent pump and dump schemes.
The government says the published proposals
will give consumers more confidence
while allowing the crypto sector to thrive.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing in February
to examine financial system protections
from dangers posed by digital assets,
with a focus on the 2022 crypto industry dramas.
The hearing, titled "Crypto Crash:
Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets,"
highlights the urgency of crypto issues and the need for actions.
According to an SEC filing,
Tesla lost $140M from its Bitcoin investments in 2022,
reporting a $204 million impairment charge
against a $64 million gain from converting Bitcoin to fiat currency.
An impairment charge reflects changes in the market value of an asset,
in this case Bitcoin, from the time it was acquired.
Despite the loss,
Tesla still holds over $200 million in Bitcoin,
even after selling 75% of its holdings in July.
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood stood by her thesis
that Bitcoin will hit $500,000 by 2030.
In an interview on CNBC,
she said this is just a bearish case
and added that their base price target is even higher.
Wood said her flagship Ark Innovation ETF, or ARKK,
now offers investors better exposure to companies focused on
long-term innovation than traditional market benchmarks,
saying ARKK is the New Nasdaq.
That’s what’s happened this week in crypto,
see you next week.
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