7 Crypto News Shorts: NFL’s Alex Barrett Paid in Bitcoin, Ethereum Continues Transition and More

It’s been another tough week for the crypto market, with bearish sentiment all around and falls continuing.

At the bottom of the pack was the “stablecoin” UST, which fell 56% to $0.06 — nowhere close to the dollar value it should be pegged to.

Close behind were WAVES (down 18.5%),  GRT (down 17.6%), and AR (down 17.5%). Surprisingly, LUNA didn’t make the list of the week’s biggest losers, but that doesn’t mean its value has recovered — its price still fell and stands at less than $0.0001.

There were price falls for most of the biggest cryptocurrencies, but they did better than these big fallers. BTC dropped 3.4%, ETH 5.1%, ADA 9.1%, and SOL 10.7%. However, BNB bucked the trend by rising 2.7%.

On the other end of the spectrum, a few cryptocurrencies enjoyed price increases. KLAY rose 17.2%, KCS 16.9%, and XMR by 9.5%. Anything could happen next week — what are you placing your bets on?

 

Crypto News

1) Ethereum’s Transition to Proof-of-Stake Continues

Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism has been in the works for a while to boost efficiency, but it’s now reaching the final steps.

The protocol is now on track to merge its public testnet, Ropsten, which would allow developers to identify risks or bugs before a complete shift takes place.

Ethereum also offers bounties worth up to $500,000 to developers who successfully find bugs or potential vulnerabilities. 

2) Insiders Buy at Coinbase

One of Coinbase’s co-founders, Fred Ehrsam, has purchased $75 million of his own company’s stock, equating to more than one million shares.

Ehrsam purchased most of these on May 13, and then bought even more a few days later.

The move sees him take advantage of its low value currently, which is due to a mixture of the market trading low as a whole and Coinbase’s poor earnings report.

3) Energy Report Shows China Biggest Miner

Cambridge University published its latest Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) last week, which analyzes bitcoin mining and where it’s happening.

The latest report shows that China had a 22.3% share of all bitcoin mining — a surprising result considering the practice is now illegal in the country.

Following the mining ban, the CBECI reported China’s shares dropped from 34.3% in June 2021 to 0% in July 2021.

Yet activity has now almost returned to its previous point. What gives? Mining had actually continued the entire time, but the miners have now given up on hiding what they’re doing (or rather, where they’re doing it).

4) Mining Banned in Niagara Falls City

China isn’t the only place to struggle with crypto mining.

Niagara Falls (the city) has now banned mining following two problems with mining operations — an explosion at the Blockfusion mining center in upstate New York and resident complaints about a U.S. Bitcoin Corp mine just a few miles away.

The Niagara Falls council is now trying to introduce requirements to stop mining from happening too close to where residents live and to ensure facilities stick to other local laws, such as those concerning electrical services.

5) NFL’s Alex Barrett Paid With Bitcoin

NFL player Alex Barrett is now receiving his entire salary in Bitcoin thanks to Bitwage, a payroll service provider that allows anyone to receive payment this way — even without their employer’s participation.

The San Francisco 49ers player joins a range of other athletes being paid this way, including martial artist Matheus Nicolau and soccer player Alex Crognale. Could this be the future? 

6) DAO Raises $4.5m for NFT Art in LGBTQ Community

A digital art DAO has raised $4.5 million to invest in NFT art from underrepresented groups such as women and the LGBTQ community.

The DAO has various high-profile members, including Gary Vaynerchuk, Sia, Grimes, and Beeple. Its founder, Nadya Tolokonnikova, was also involved in an NFT project that involved raising $6.75 million for Ukraine.

7) Liquidity Provider iZUMi Finance Raises $30m

Meanwhile, the multichain DeFi platform iZUMi Finance, which focuses on liquidity services, raised $30 million by selling bond vouchers and claims on its signature bond.

$20 million of this comes from various institutional investors, including Ivy Ventures and Mirana.

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Disclosure: The author is not a licensed or registered investment adviser or broker/dealer. They are not providing you with individual investment advice. Please consult with a licensed investment professional before you invest your money.

Neither Tim Thomas nor Wealthy Living have positions in the stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, forex, cryptocurrencies, or commodities mentioned.

This post was produced and syndicated by Wealthy Living.

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