October 15, 2021 · 3 min read
The Weekly Wrap-Up Friday 15th Oct
The Latest DeFi News - Every Friday
Putin Indicates Tolerance of Cryptocurrency
Putin Describes Crypto’s “Right to Exist” in CNBC Interview
On Thursday (14th Oct), Vladimir Putin stated during an interview with CNBC that cryptocurrency “has the right to exist and can be used as payment”. Up until now, Russia’s central bank had stated that cryptocurrency could not be used for domestic payments due to its high volatility. Putin’s comments would seem to indicate that the Russian government has no intention of banning cryptocurrency as was seen in China just weeks ago. With the Biden administration planning on applying clearer laws to the industry, a trend can be seen amongst international powers in recognising its legitimacy, but ramping up regulation.
Binance to Cease Trading in Chinese Yuan
The Exchange Will No Longer Facilitate Trading In The Currency
On Wednesday (13th Oct), the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that from December 31st onwards, users will no longer be able to trade using Chinese Yuan - with mainland-China users only allowed to withdraw from their accounts. Other cryptocurrency exchanges will likely be taking similar measures soon. The move comes after the central bank of China announced a major crackdown on the trading and mining of cryptocurrency. Binance also halted derivatives trading on the Australian version of the service just weeks ago amidst international investigation of the platform for insider trading.
Coinbase Announce NFT Marketplace
The Exchange Platform Enters the NFT Industry
On Tuesday (12th Oct), Coinbase announced that they will soon be releasing a marketplace for the minting and trading of non-fungible tokens. The marketplace will reportedly also have ‘social features’ such as the ability to follow creators and like their content. Currently, the vast majority of the platform’s revenue comes in the form of fees charged for utilising the exchange. By launching the marketplace, the company presumably seeks to diversify its revenue stream and tap into the recent popularity of NFT trading. It is believed that the platform will become a major competitor to OpenSea - currently the most popular NFT trading platform by trading volume.
Australian Pension Fund Considering Crypto Investment
Queensland Investment Corporation Explores Crypto
On Friday (15th Oct), the fifth largest Australian pension fund - the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) announced that it is considering investment in cryptocurrency. The director of the US$69M fund Stuart Simmons stated that if the decision was made to invest in crypto, it would likely only be a small amount initially due to a lack of regulation in the space. If the fund did move into crypto, the move would be significant. Institutional investors are typically highly risk-averse and the decision would infer institutional-confidence in the growth of cryptocurrency.
NFT Gaming Reaches New Heights
Metaverse Game NFTs Generate $2.3B in 3 Months
A DappRadar report released on Thursday (15th Oct) stated that gaming-related NFT trading had generated $2.32B in the Q3 of 2021 alone. This figure represents roughly 22% of the trading volume of the entire NFT industry. The report also states that nearly half of all unique active blockchain wallets have registered to crypto games - with 754,000 registered in total in Q3. DappRadar has also cited blockchain-based gaming as the main driving force behind the 1.54 million unique active wallets created during Q3 alone.