STEAM BANS GAMES’ THAT ALLOW CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND NFT TRADING

October 18, 2021

TL:DR

Good Morning and Happy Monday, everyone! It’s time for our weekly newsletter. As always, we will be telling you about some of the news stories that made headlines this past week and giving you a sneak peek at some of the upcoming events that we think are worth your time. If you like what we do then please don’t forget to forward this newsletter to your friends.

MARKETS

▲ Bitcoin

$62,134.61

+111.53%

▲ Ethereum

$3,866.47

+429.03%

▲ Cardano

$2.15

+1127.55%

▲ Solana

$161.33

+8641.18%

▲ Binance

$472.92

+1145.32%

*Cryptocurrency data as of Sunday at 7:45 PM PST. YTD% Average

Weekly Review

Last week’s market performance

Finally! We’ve made it! Bitcoin breaks the 6-month long bear market, finally pushes above $60,000. WHAT A WEEK FOR CRYPTO-ENTHUSIASTS! Despite opposite expectations, things changed for the greater good this week as all major cryptocurrencies saw a substantial hike in their prices including Polkadot (DOT) which touched a $42 price mark, among a few others.

Technology

Steam bans games’ that allow cryptocurrencies and NFT trading

One of the most recognized online gaming store Steam is all set to ban games that allow trading of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. While the company did not mention the exact reason for their ban since there hasn’t been much offered to the public by the platform however users believe this is rather a tactic used to gain more influence over the blockchain-led technologies.

TRIVIA

In a recent study by blockchain data platform Chainalysis, Vietnam recently ranked as the country with the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate. Which position is India in?

A. 10 B. 7 C. 2 D. 3

Answer Below.

Technology

In a new feature launched, Strike users are now able to get paid in Bitcoin

Amongst the most renowned Bitcoin wallets, Strike has just launched a new feature allowing users to get paid in Bitcoin with the information of their “employer”. The way this works, as described by CEO Jack Mallers: users can simply provide Strike’s information to their employer(s) who will in return convert the denominated percentage into Bitcoin, of course without any fees.

World Policy

The US is now the world’s leader in Bitcoin production

All thanks to the Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrencies, the United States now is the literal world leader in Bitcoin mining! Data was published by Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) this week showing 35.4% world’s computational power used to mine bitcoin is coming from the US which was just 16.8% in April 2021. Crypto-friendly environment and policies, including cheap electricity, are a major reason for the US’s success.

Finance

Bollywood stars helping Indians buy Bitcoin

Coming to India, this week as Indians grapple towards the preparation of Diwali which is a local festival celebrated with zeal. Bollywood stars are all set to promote Bitcoin rather than gold as a shopping choice for the auspicious day. The move is supported by two of the major Indian cryptocurrency exchanges: CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX are educating people on where to invest as a “safe” future investment rather than the traditional gold which has been the choice for centuries.

Coin Market Calendar

Date	Project	Website
10/19	Hero Arena	$HERA
10/20	WonderHero	$WND
10/21	Envelop	$NIFTSY
10/21	Waterfall DeFi	$WTF
10/21	Space SIP	$SIP
10/22	BloXmove	$BLXM
10/26	Chimeras	$CHIM
10/27	DOSE Token	$DOSE
10/28	Ardana	$DANA
10/29	Swash	$SWASH

Connect to our shareable calendar here.

Crime

USD Tether hit with a $41 million fine

One of the most famous stablecoin known as the USD Tether facing criminal charges and a fine of $41 million this week all due to a report that stated USD Tether falsely claimed that it backed each of their digital tokens with an equivalent of a US Dollar. However in reality that was not the case. According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or CFTC, “USD Tether misrepresented to the customers and the market” and for that, it will face a hefty fine.

NFT News

Coinbase is all set to launch its own NFT marketplace right after Binance

Who would’ve thought that the next race between the two wallets will be their NFT marketplaces? Well yet it’s here, and it’s taking the audience with a Boom! Right after Coinbase made the announcement, over 1 million signups were made by the fans just within 24 Hours. The audience is crazy and seems like they were already anticipating Coinbase’s entry into the world of NFTs.

Featured Project

Octane Finance – redefining limit orders

This week’s featured project is Octane Finance, a project that aims at becoming a highly capital efficient & rewarding trading platform that is built upon the open-source’s protocols that helps redefine limit orders and make them smart. In the project’s Q3 roadmap of 2021, the project has been able to fetch over 5000 faucet users that are actively participating and growing thus allowing for the token’s sale at the end of Q3. The project is using an executor engine to separate a section of incentivized executors with the help of the web3 wallet. The purpose is to remove execution dependency on manual intervention. A bot is specifically built to operate a 24 hrs limit orders within the given conditions if those are met. Lastly, with an effective marketing strategy, the project has seen a rise in its followings on Twitter and Telegram.

TRIVIA ANSWER

C. 2

India ranked second in a list of 20 countries with the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate, according to crypto analysis platform Chainalysis. Vietnam secured the first spot, and Pakistan came third.