It’s been a busy week in the world of Web3. We have seen big Web2 companies collaborate with Web3 projects, exploits, SEC investigations and, unfortunately, a continued loss of interest from the mainstream world.

But if you are here, you already know that the Web3 world doesn’t stop operating (literally – look at Bitcoin), but if you didn’t already, take a look at some of the most interesting happenings in Web3 this week!

Let’s dive in!

Market Updates and Conditions

BTC USD 1 Week Chart

At the time of writing (October 13th, 2022) BTC is sitting at roughly $18,430. Today, the inflation numbers come out in the US, so volatility is highly expected on most asset classes. BTC is down from where it sat one week ago (October 7th, 2022), when it hovered around the $19,957 level. Looking at the price on a yearly time scale we can see that one year ago BTC was at $57,401, whereas two years ago it was sitting at $11,426.

Image and data source: coinmarketcap.com

ETH USD 1 Week Chart

At the time of writing (October 13th, 2022) ETH is trading around the $1,221 area.

This is down from one week ago (October 7th, 2022), when it hovered around the $1,351.84 levels.

Looking at ETH’s price on a longer, yearly time scale, we can see that one year ago ETH was trading at $3,606, and merely two years ago it was trading at at a fraction of that, at $381.

Image and data source: coinmarketcap.com

Arweave chart

As the markets take a hit (price-wise), we see the native Arweave token (AR) sitting today at $9.11, roughly the same level as a week ago (Oct 07, 2022) when it was at $9.13. Looking at AR on a longer scale, we see that one year ago it was trading at $53. But then again, two years ago it was almost half the current price, $4.65.

Image and data source: coinmarketcap.com

What’s Happening in Web3?

Web2 X Web3 partnership – FTX and Visa

The crypto exchange FTX has announced its partnership with Visa. The partnership will see the dynamic duo release crypto-utilising debit cards in forty different nations around the world. “Even though values have come down there’s still steady interest in crypto,” says Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu.

FTX 2.0

FTX will also see a major upgrade soon that will take it over to version 2.0. This is set for November the 21st and will feature an improved matching engine amongst other things. 

Google and Coinbase

FTX and Visa weren’t the only ones in the “Web2 meets Web3” spotlight this week! Google has announced a partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase that will allow the tech company to accept crypto payments for its services while utilising Coinbase’s custody service. The joint service will begin in early 2023.

But that’s not all, as Google added one major feature this week that took us by surprise. Now you can query blockchain transactions and contents via addresses directly on Google.

A record number of crypto purchases by Brazilian companies

Brazil’s tax authority has said that more than 12,000 Brazilian companies purchased crypto in August this year, taking their collective holdings to an estimated $2.1 billion worth of crypto.

Solana-based Mango exploit

Mango Markets – a Solana-based DeFi protocol – was struck with a $100m exploit on the 11th of October. The exploiter was able to deplete funds from Mango Markets by manipulating the tokens price through an Oracle’s data feed. Subsequently, they went on to use the holdings to submit a proposal on the Mango Market DAO that would wipe the criminal slate clean for the exploiter if they were to return the funds. 

Oracle hacks are far from uncommon. If you haven’t already seen, RedStone Finance recently released a series exploring and analysing Oracle exploits and hacks that is aimed at helping other Web3 developers better understand history so as to not repeat it.

BNB hard fork

The BNB network has executed a hard fork containing security updates after a $100m cross-chain exploit last week. A governance vote will be held to determine the future of the funds held in the exploiter’s address.

The Graph team announces plans to migrate the entire protocol to Arbitrum.

NFT News

OpenSea

OpenSea has added support for Avalanche NFTs. At the same, OpenSea’s CFO resigned after only ten months in the role.

Formula One

Formula One has filed for eight Web3 trademarks for NFTs and their very own metaverse.

BAYC

The SEC has launched an investigation into the Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs, regarding unregistered offerings.

CNN

CNN to shut down its NFT marketplace. With it, it will also offer 20% refunds.

Damien Hirst’s “The currency”

The English artist, Damien Hirst, burns 1000 physical pieces of art that were tied to NFTS for the NFT project ”The Currency.”

Damien Hirst said on Instagram:

A lot of people think I’m burning millions of dollars of art but I’m not, I’m completing the transformation of these physical artworks into nfts by burning the physical versions, the value of art digital or physical which is hard to define at the best of times will not be lost it will be transferred to the nft as soon as they are burnt…

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