Triaconta Weekly #243

The following topics will be addressed in this weekly:

  • Bundle performance
  • Winners & Losers
  • Market overview

Bundle performance
Bitcoin recorded its best January in 10 years with a monthly rise of 39.6%. For that matter, the best February was also 10 years ago, so hopefully history will repeat itself. In any event, markets reacted enthusiastically to a rate hike of just 0.25% in America, while 0.50% was feared. Bunds all up again and the DeFi bund continues to run out.

Big3:
1 Month: 28.87% | 7D: 2.15% | 24H: -0.66%

Top30:
1 Month: 49.03% | 7D: 4.41% | 24H: -0.47%

Penny:
1 Month: 62.39% | 7D: 4.04% | 24H: -0.13%

DeFi:
1 Month: 69.03% | 7D: 6.87% | 24H: -0.58%

Winners & Losers
DeFi tokens all firmly in the positive. Fantom (+36%) leads again this week and, together with Avalanche (+19%), brings the DeFi bund to a sizeable gain already. Former DeFi token Convex Finance (+30%) may also return in the Bundle this way at the next revision. Metaverse tokens Decentraland (+17%) and Gala (+12%) also continue to do extremely well while ApeCoin (-4%) is a little disappointing, especially after its hefty rise last week.

Market overview

Cardano reached the milestone of 5,000 smart contracts since the September 2021 upgrade made them possible. The number of transactions also increased. The latest development for Cardano is the dollar stablecoin DJED. To avoid problems like Luna/UST, collateral for this stablecoin is always 400-800% more when new DJED coins are issued. The collateral is in ADA, the Cardano blockchain’s own currency, though, and it would be better if there was more diversification with Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example.

Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp) has more than 2 billion users for the first time but makes a loss of almost $14 billion in 2022 due to its decision to go full Metaverse. Despite the loss, Mark Zuckerberg’s company remains a firm believer in Virtual Reality (VR) and the Metaverse as the company’s inescapable future.

Montenegro, a small European country on the Adriatic opposite Italy, has been at the forefront of financial innovation for some time. Real estate transactions in Bitcoin and Ethereum are permitted and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the country’s prime minister spoke at length with Ripple. Together, they will develop a digital central bank currency (CDBC) for the country. The use of the XRP blockchain has great advantages for CDBCs although it is not yet clear exactly what form it will take.

California, with the highest number of car registrations in the US, may soon be able to use Tezos’ (XTC) blockchain technology to verify registrations. Andrew Smith, president of crypto software company Oxhead Alpha sees the partnership with the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) as a perfect opportunity to make an outdated, paper-based system better, faster and cheaper for the state and its residents.

Regulation of crypto is moving up the agenda in all countries. For now, the world is certainly not on the same page. America wants crypto companies to be more compliant with already existing regulations, which should reduce the risks of them suddenly collapsing. In the UK, they also see the risks of crypto loans, for example, but the emphasis is on embracing technological innovation. The government has begun extensive consultation with market participants to come up with new standards for clear and effective regulation. This is similar to the approach taken in Australia. This week, the IMF also revealed that it is working with the G-20 on a paper on crypto assets that should be out by the end of this month.