On Tuesday, bitcoin fell below $41,000 before rebounding in the afternoon, as US officials said that they had confiscated nearly $3.6 billion in bitcoin linked to the exchange’s 2016 breach. The oldest cryptocurrency was trading at $44,187 at the time of publication, approximately where it was 24 hours earlier, according to the data.

The market buzz on Tuesday, however, was focused on the possible implications of the newest discovery surrounding Bitfinex’s 2016 attack. The US Department of Justice stated on Tuesday that it has seized $3.6 billion in bitcoin-related to the incident. According to the announcement, this is the greatest financial seizure ever made by US law enforcement.

After the news emerged, the UNUS SED LEO token (LEO), a utility token meant to be used on Bitfinex and other trading platforms operated by its parent firm iFinex, gained 40% in only 20 minutes. If Bitfinex finds the stolen bitcoin within 18 months of receiving it, it says it would buy back and destroy any outstanding LEO.

Thus according to data, following a relatively calm week, bitcoin trade activity on major exchanges has progressively climbed this week. Let’s all take a deeper peek into the crypto-universe to see what’s been going on.

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Why Crypto Is Following The 1990 Internet Adoption Curve

The adoption curve of crypto is believed to be in its early stages, and data shows its close similarities with the early stages of internet adoption back in 1990. Only 1% of the world population and 14% of Americans were using the internet by 1995 even though it was invented in 1983. Cryptocurrency adoption rates could be taking a similar road to “other earlier advanced technologies, particularly the internet”. Experts believe that crypto could soon enter “an inflection point of hyper-adoption” like these other technologies, in which cases the rising path has not looked back.

Increased NFT Demand Triggers Tezos Transactions And Smart Contract Activity

The Tezos network has been experiencing growth in its smart contract addresses and adoption for the past 12 months. This is majorly linked to non-fungible tokens as the primary driver for the increase. NFTs maintain a decentralized character by having no interference with third parties. The number of Tezo transactions rose from 10,000 to 50,000 daily 12 months ago. This was after Tezos launched an upgrade that splashes block times in half. The active addresses on the network have reached an all-time high of more than 45,000.

Environmental Debate: New York Crypto Mining Plant Permit Delayed

The decision by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will now come by the end of March. The delay will reportedly help NYSDEC complete its review with public comments. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the environmental footprint of Greenidge Generation’s operation. Crypto mining has had major pushback from many people and environmentalist groups.

New York’s power grid could face challenges in the 2021-2030 period. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing proposals regarding the role of cryptocurrency mining in the New York energy landscape.

Valkyrie Bitcoin Mining ETF “WGMI” Approved For Nasdaq Listing

Crypto asset management firm Valkyrie will have a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on the Nasdaq this week. The new ‘Bitcoin Mining ETF’ will supply exposure to company securities “deriving at least 50% of their revenue or profits” from Bitcoin or crypto mining. Valkyrie Mining’s new Bitcoin exchange traded fund (WGMI) will hold 20% of its net assets in Bitcoin and crypto. The fund will use 77% renewable energy, double the average for publicly-traded companies.

Vitalik Buterin On How To Eliminate Ethereum Network Congestion And High Fees

High fees and congestion on the network have sparked discussions on how it can be eliminated. Vitalik Buterin proposes a new feature called “blob-carrying transactions”. This feature would be connected to both the Beacon block and the consensus nodes that are coming to the network. The blob-carrying transactions could possibly be deployed with the Shangai hard fork. It would provide a solution to mempool issues that continue to rock the network. The minimum increment for mempool replacement would be increased from 1.1x to 2x.

Cryptocurrency Wallet Phantom Marks $1.2 Billion Valuation Amid Recent Funding Round

A good crypto wallet will house your coins and provide adequate security that will be pretty difficult for external invasion. Phantom wallet from the Solana network is one of them. The recent funding round of Phantom raised the market cap of the wallet to $1.2 billion. Phantom released a blog post outlining how the generated funds will be utilized to improve the wallet’s technical capacity. The deployment will enhance multiple blockchain security, boost customers’ experience and assist users in uncovering decentralized applications. Also, it will help in the wallet team’s expansion with more growth in its customer base.

Dave Portnoy Is Now A Bitcoiner, Thinks You’re An Idiot If You Don’t Hold Any

A few days ago, Dave Portnoy returned to Bitcoin with an almost $1.1M buy of 29.5 BTC. He visited Stuart Varney in his “Varney & Co.” show at the FOX Business Network. The born-again Bitcoiner bought in at $36.9K. The value of Bitcoin comes from the network. Varney: Bitcoin’s price “depends entirely on how many people want to buy it and sell it” The characteristics of perfect money wouldn’t exist if someone owned the Bitcoin network.

But, no one does. Day trader Dave Portnoy lost $20,000 from his initial $1,250,000 investment in bitcoin. After being mocked, he doubled down on his stance and tried to get people to focus on the stock market. However, cheers to him for admitting his assessment of the situation was wrong.

Moon – The Lunar Metaverse Launches Revenue Generating NFT Land Sale

The limited collection at the best possible value of 1000 land plots launches today. Players have the opportunity to acquire NFT land plots, develop a new world, drive its economy and uncover the mysteries of the Moon’s dark side. Each HEX can be bought, sold, rented, and developed as players wish by using Moon’s native token.

McDonald’s Marks Local Bitcoin Bottom With Crypto Tweet

The benchmark crypto has been slowly recovering after a violent downside move. Bitcoin trades at $41,486 with an 8% and 9.8% profit in the last 24-hours and 7-days. The crypto trading community has been celebrating the recent Bitcoin price action. The last time Bitcoin saw its yearly lows around $33,000, McDonald’s made the aforementioned Tweet. Experts believe 2022 will be one of BTC’s most important years. The “McDonald’s Pattern” draw on the chart could become legendary if Bitcoin truly hit its final bottom.

What Are The CryptoPunks V1? And, How Can They Disrupt The Market?

They’re called Classic Punks or Wrapped CryptoPunks and have made 307 ETH in sales so far. LarvaLabs, the company behind the collection, disowns the original 10,000 series. There’s another way to destroy a contract, and that’s where the tangled web of contracts comes into play.

Why NFTs Took Over Crypto Trading Volume While Ether Struggled

The NFTs market had one of its best months yet in January with a record trading volume of $6 billion. The popular Bored Ape Yacht Club currently has a floor price of 99.0 ETH, according to OpenSea, and a trading volume of 82,076,32 ETH in the last 30 days. Some believe their soaring trading volumes are due to ‘wash trading’, which is a form of price manipulation where traders buy and sell assets to increase prices. OpenSea’s rival LooksRare reported trading volumes of $2.25 billion at the end of January, 50% that of OpenSea.

El Salvador Chivo Bitcoin Wallet Relaunch To Serve 4 Million Users

El Salvador has become infamous for being the first sovereign nation to accept bitcoin as legal tender. The country had launched its own government-approved bitcoin wallet, Chivo. A $30 bonus was offered on sign-up to encourage El Salvadoran residents to accept the wallet. Users have been experiencing issues like missing funds, system issues, fraudulent transfers, etc. This relaunch will solve a variety of existing issues, as well as add new features to provide a better user experience.

Bitcoin Halving To Bring The Subsequent Crypto Frenzy

The halving is a process that occurs every four years. During the procedure, new token creation slows down to 50%. This means that Bitcoin will substantially increase during this period. The golden period starts six months after the next halving when token creation cuts down by half. Bitcoin is sitting around $38K at this writing, down from $69K in November.

Some people say that the decline is due to less Federal Reserve stimulus prospectively. However, it may have had an effect now because everyone wants stability before investing heavily again.

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