As we draw into April, it seems like we’re well and truly exiting the crypto winter (with a few notable exceptions). Most coins have enjoyed price increases, including Ethereum (up 6.3%) and Solana (up 27.9%). However, amongst the crypto news, bitcoin was an anomaly and experienced a slight price drop of 1.3%.
Although Solana’s jump up was impressive, it’s nothing compared to the big winner of the past week. GMT (of the STEPHN protocol) increased by an impressive 206.5%, which is the biggest weekly rise we’ve seen in a while. Other major jumps include those of FXS (up 84.7%), ZIL (up 84.7%), and AAVE (up 48.1%).
Yet bitcoin wasn’t the only coin to drop in price last year. ZEC dropped by 16.7%, APE by 14.7%, and OKB by 8.9%. The crypto gaming platform Axie Infinity’s coin AXS also fell by 2.8% — which isn’t surprising considering its recent attack (more on this shortly). Better luck next week to these projects.
1. Pudgy Penguins NFT Sold
The Pudgy Penguins NFT collection has finally been sold for 750 ETH (around $2.5 million). It’s a much-awaited deal following the controversial ousting of the collection’s founding team, who were voted out by the Pudgy Penguins discord group in January 2022. Entrepreneur Luca Netz was the buyer, and will now have control over the future of the project and the rights to all royalties. Could the new leadership mark a promising future?
2. Fractal Raises $35 million
Meanwhile, the gaming NFT marketplace Fractal has raised $35 million in its latest funding round, and is now with contributions from various big names in the space — including Coinbase Ventures and Solana Labs. It’s a promising start for Twitch co-founder Justin Kan’s new project, which focuses on Solana-based NFTs and also supports peer-to-peer trading.
3. DeFi Lender Inverse Finance and Axie Finity Hacked
It wasn’t such a good week for the DeFi lender Inverse Finance, which suffered an exploit that resulted in a loss of $15.6 million dollars after an attacker altered token prices so it could take out loans with negligible collateral. To make matters worse, it was the third attack of its kind over the last week.
Axie Finity’s Ronin network fared even worse, losing $625 in an exploit lasting Tuesday. Some believe it could be the biggest attack of its kind, and it’s a major blow for the gaming protocol, which is frequently touted as being on the cutting edge of metaverseelated developments. This time, the hacker managed to find a backdoor and obtain a validator for the Axie DAO, which gave them access. It seems that hackers are getting smarter, and blockchain projects need to do more to keep them at bay.
As a result of this attack, Axie Infinity has delayed the launch of its upcoming Origin upgrade, which was set to take place around the end of March or start of April. The move is designed to give the team the time they need to assess security processes and minimize the possibility of a similar attack happening again. Also in response to the hacking, Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals to the Ronin network, but it has now begun the process of resuming them.
4. Bitcoin ETF Application Rejected
The SEC has rejected Ark 21Shares’ application for a spot bitcoin ETF, making it one of many that has failed to obtain the offering. Allegedly, the biggest reason for the rejection is insufficient protectors for investors and failure to comply with the relevant requirements.
5. Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Sells $500m of Shares
Riot Blockchain (RIOT), which mines bitcoin, has filed with the SEC to sell up to $500 million of its shares. The project plans to use the funds for investments in other projects and business ventures. However, it doesn’t seem to have any intentions to sell all shares immediately.
6. Tezos Upgrades
Tezos has undergone an upgrade, which involves altering its consensus algorithm so that it can boost efficiency and offer faster transaction times. This should help the proof-of-work blockchain to become more scalable.
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.
Tim Thomas has no positions in the stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, forex, cryptocurrencies, or commodities mentioned.
This post was produced by Smart Bitcoin Buyer/ Timothy Thomas Limited and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Originally published at Wealth of Geeks
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