The Weekly Wrap-Up - Friday 19th November 2021

LA Staples Center Renamed as ‘Crypto.com Arena’

Name-Change Deal Worth $700M

On Wednesday (17th November), it was announced that the Staples Center - home of the LA Lakers would be renamed as the ‘Crypto.com Arena’ on Christmas day this year. Crypto.com reportedly spent $700M for the name-change in an aggressive push for mainstream marketing of the crypto-exchange. Also outlined in the deal was a 3,300 square foot section at the entrance to the stadium which could be used to promote the Crypto.com brand. The move comes just weeks after the company announced a $100M advertising campaign featuring Matt Damon.

London Tube ‘Floki Inu’ Adverts Under Investigation

Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) Investigating the Ad Campaign

The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) is investigating a series of adverts on the London Underground promoting Floki Inu. The adverts which read “Missed DOGE? Get FLOKI”, referring to the accent of DOGE coin, and Floki cryptocurrency named after Elon Musk’s dog. The ASA is reportedly concerned that the ads violate consumer protection laws. However, Floki Inu has stated:

These adverts have been fully cleared and include a clear disclaimer highlighting the volatility of cryptocurrencies.

Portal Announces Partnership with Polygon (MATIC)

Dex Forms Partnership with Layer-2 Scaling Protocol

(Image: Crypto News)

On Wednesday (17th November), decentralised exchange Portal announced a partnership with layer-2 scaling protocol Polygon (MATIC). The partnership aims to allow the Dex to capitalize on Polygon’s scaling solution which currently hosts over 400 platforms, as well as its ability to deploy smart contracts for liquidity provision. Portal also hopes the partnership will expand its spot-trading, options-trading and lending markets to accommodate wBTC/BTC transactions, as well as reduce fees and increase platform speeds.

Crypto Investors Attempt to Buy US Constitution

Bid Lost Despite $47M Raised.

On Thursday (18th, November), a group of crypto investors attempted to purchase a rare copy of the US constitution after raising $47M worth of ETH. The group known as ConstituionDAO lost the bid after another bidder placed a bid of $41M ($6M of the group’s funds had been reserved for ‘proper maintenance’ of the document if the bid had been won). If the bid had been successful, the group intended to create a token called ‘People’ which would have been distributed amongst contributors to the fund and proportionally entitled them to voting rights regarding the location of the document.

2021 DeFi Theft Tops $10B Stolen

More Than $10B Worth of Crypto Stolen This Year Alone

A report by London-based Elliptic has stated that the value of cryptocurrency stolen through hacker exploits and scams in 2021 alone has now topped $10.5B - up from just $1.5B in 2020. The decentralised nature of DeFi often leaves platforms vulnerable to anonymous theft or exploitation. Sometimes the tokens/platforms themselves are also established with malicious intent. Last month, SQUID token based on the popular Netflix series ‘Squid Game’ was revealed to be a ‘rug-pull’ scam, despite claiming to be the native token for an upcoming pay-to-earn game. Its anonymous creators dumped their share and disappeared with more than $3M. The figure for DeFi theft this year will likely catch the eye of financial regulators.