Bitcoin continues to fall in December, indicating that traders may be locking in profits before the end of the year. The lack of a Santa bounce in US equities markets suggests that risk-off sentiment remains owing to worry over the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant in many regions of the world.

Even after a dramatic decline in the price of Bitcoin, interest from institutional investors remains muted. “High volume panic capitulations” typically suggest a bottom in Bitcoin, which has yet to occur during the current downturn from the all-time high. This might be a sign that the “genuine” surrender is still on the way. Let’s take a look at what transpired in the crypto world past week.

Could Legacy Brand RadioShack Redefine Itself Through… DeFi?

RadioShack joins the DeFi protocol, which will host the RADIO token. A waitlist is available for early notifications, Discord and Telegram communities are established, and yes – there’s a RadioShack DeFi whitepaper on Github. Oh, and you can still shop online for your technology hardware needs too. RadioShack has announced Polygon, a chain that will look to integrate in it’s ‘Starfish Topology’. The endeavor is being spearheaded by long-time social media personality Tai Lopez and business partner Alex Mehr. It’s a bizarre brand entry from a company image that was basically on life support.

Community Voted, Why Uniswap Will Be Deployed On Polygon

Popular decentralized automated market maker (AMM) Uniswap will deploy its smart contracts on Polygon, the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain. The motion was passed with 72 million votes in favor and 503,009 against which suggests the proposal has wide acceptance within UNI holders. Polygon will explore the possibility to commit around $20 million from their treasury to create liquidity incentives for Uniswap. Aave reached 700,000 active users, a 10x increase when compared to the same metric on EtherLedger and other protocols deployed on Polygon.

To Ban Or Not To Ban? Russia Concerned About Growing Crypto Transactions

Russia’s central bank is attempting to outlaw cryptocurrency investments. Future transactions would be prohibited, but present holders would not be forced to sell their holdings. Cryptocurrency can be used for money laundering and terrorism financing, according to Russia’s Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina. Cryptocurrencies are opaque in that they are frequently used for illegal operations or criminal nature. Andrey Lugovoy, a member of parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, has threatened miners with jail if they connect their equipment to the power grid without permission.

Is MicroStrategy Considering Lending Their Bitcoin To Generate Yield? WHY?

MicroStrategy is considering lending the company’s Bitcoin to a trustworthy counterparty. The company’s CEO has been dropping hints that he intends to do it for a while now. People who borrow BTC usually use it to short Bitcoin, which means they bet against the asset. In a recent episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Saylor talked about Bitcoin being digital property. He compared it to a hotel, where the owner could rent all the empty rooms every day.

Cash App Launches Bitcoin and Stock Gifting Feature For The Holidays

Cash App’s new gifting feature will only be available to users in the United States. Users can gift crypto and stock to their loved ones regardless of whether or not they own any of it themselves. It would be akin to sending cash on the app and just as easy. Cash App is the first payments app to offer crypto and stock gifting services. Users can send crypto or stock using their existing Cash App balances or using a debit card. This is to tap into the younger demographic of users who are more likely to gift crypto instead of conventional gifts.

Metaverse Race Continues: Chinese Internet Giant Baidu Registers Trademark

China’s largest internet company Baidu has registered its metaverse trademark. Chinese enterprises are rushing to register trademarks related to the concept. More than 1,360 Chinese companies have registered to register metaverse-related trademarks as of Sunday. The majority of applications are “pending” or undergoing “substantive examination”. The number of Metaverse users has increased by 10X in just one and a half years.

The metaverse offers a lifelike, immersive virtual world where people can meet, work, and play. Chinese companies are rushing to adopt the concept, but the government has maintained a cautious stance.

Paraguay’s Passes Bill To Regulate Crypto, Targets Mining Companies

Paraguay’s Senate passed a bill on Thursday that aims to regulate cryptocurrency mining and trading. The bill will now be debated in Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies in 2022. In Paraguay, the bill does not make bitcoin legal tender but does seek to regulate the activity. Paraguay aims to take advantage of the Latin American country’s surplus energy. Bitcoin miners might benefit from “thousands of megawatts that Paraguay currently has as surplus”. The bill will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies in 2022, as previously stated.

Tron Foundation Says Goodbye To Founder, But Where Is Justin Sun Going?

Justin Sun has accepted an offer from the Government of Grenada. He will work as the country’s new Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The TRON founder was received by Grenada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oliver Joseph in Grenada earlier this week. Sun Zhengbo, the founder of the TRON Network, has left the Tron Foundation. Sun will exercise his functions at the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The organization itself was apparently dissolved on July 25, 2021. Instead, the entire TRON network is now run by 27 SRs hosted by the community.

Millennial Millionaires Are The Most Bullish On Crypto, Survey Finds

Millennial millionaires are the subset of millionaires most bullish on crypto, a new CNBC survey found. These investors were those who had at least $1 million or more of investible assets. A third of these investors admitted to having at least 75% of their entire wealth in crypto. Cryptocurrencies are the go-to for millennial millionaire investors. Only 6% of those polled said they were planning to reduce their crypto holdings.

While only 4% of baby boomers hold cryptocurrencies, 75% of Gen X investors don’t own any crypto at all. The difference here will affect the way wealth managers cater to their clients.

Polygon’s Blockchain Hard-Forked Without Warning To Closed-Source Genesis. Why?

Polygon hard-forked their blockchain in the middle of the night with no warning to a completely closed-source genesis and still haven’t verified the code or explained what is going on. Co-founder Mihailo Bjelic promised, “A detailed blog post coming, we are finalizing additional security analyses”. Polygon’s Mihailo Bjelic: “We did our best to communicate and explain the importance of this upgrade”. Another Polygon node operator Mikko Ohtamaa blasted the way the company handled the whole thing. He said it was “super unprofessional and confusing for the community”.

Former SEC Chairman, Jay Clayton Says He Believes Strongly In Crypto Technology

Clayton frequently supported Bitcoin as a store of value throughout his time as the SEC’s chairman. The benefits of its efficiency in the financial sector and tokenization are immeasurable. Congress may eventually ban cryptocurrency, but only industries that are related to them. Cryptocurrencies should be allowed, but with adequate regulation, according to Jay Clayton, former chair of the SEC. During Clayton’s tenure, a Bitcoin ETF was not approved, which will now happen in 2021 under Gary Gensler. Since then, the SEC has been chastised for rejecting spot Bitcoin applications and allowing Bitcoin futures.

How Stellar Will Host Ukraine’s CBDC Pilot Test With Tascombank

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has been working with the Ukrainian government on their national Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The partners will test the CBDC’s use cases and its programmable capabilities. These will be leveraged to pay employees at a company and to perform payments to merchants and individuals. The digital hryvnia will use the “moderns software techniques” and alleged scalable and performant benefits from the DCMS. This system will “protect” the user’s data while regulatory bodies still can access “needed” information. The Ukrainian Central Bank and TASCOMBANK have long-term strategies that include innovation supported by blockchain technology and the digital economy.

Will NFTs Kill Traditional Art? Famed Collector Cozomo de’ Medici Makes The Case

Digital magazine and gallery Artnet gave Cozomo de’ Medici the keys to the castle. The notorious NFT collector took over their very popular Twitter account. His thesis is that “the internet killed the yellow pages” and NFTs will replace traditional art. Cozomo de’ Medici’s NFTs allow artists to mint their own art directly to the consumer. “any artist, from anywhere in the world, with no invitation, can mint a drop” The reactions have been mixed, some people don’t buy it, others think he’s a genius.

Artnet NFT 30 was a publicity stunt that worked too well and even journalists still believe. He now owns hundreds of artworks, including coveted examples that the crypto community calls “holy grails”. The estimation is that his whole collection is worth $17M approximately.

Open-Source Oracle DIA announces Integration with Fantom’s Opera Mainnet

DIA makes its data provision available on Fantom’s Opera Mainnet. Integrations will enable use cases such as stablecoins, stakings rewards, lending and borrowing, DEXs, and many more. DIA scrapes information directly from Fantom native markets such as SpookySwap.

New Robinhood Feature Allows Users To Gift Crypto To Family And Friends

Crypto trading app Robinhood has announced a new feature that would allow users to gift cryptocurrencies to their friends and family. Users can choose from a list of seven cryptocurrencies that they want to gift to family and friends and then send the crypto gift to them inside the app. Users can send as little as $1 to their recipient of choice and pay 0% in commission. If the recipient does not redeem the gift, then the crypto is sent back to the sender at no cost.

Interview With CoinEx CEO Haipo Yang on the Advantage of the Platform and the Current State of the Crypto Industry

CoinEx is a leading platform that grants access to crypto enthusiasts to Bitcoin, Ether, DOGE, and other popular digital assets. The platform was founded four years ago and now offers a portfolio of services including spot trading, contract trading, margin trading, and financial service. CoinEx will strictly control project launch and provide more financial derivative services for users. Next, CoinEx will expand our presence in more countries and regions. The rights and interests of investors will be better protected, which means that the SEC’s concern will perish over the long term.

CoinEx has never been hacked for security breaches. New crypto users may find the industry less accessible than they expected in the beginning. Cryptos involve higher learning costs and are more complicated than traditional financial products such as stocks or commodities, according to CoinEx’s CEO. Cryptos will go mainstream as there will be a solution to all these problems as cryptos gain more recognition. As Gen Z grows to be the backbone of the Internet, they are unhappy with Web 2.0 whose data is manipulated by big companies and the traditional financial industry.