Frank Holmes
Crypto SWOT: The decentralized exchange PancakeSwap has launched a gaming marketplace
Kitco Commentaries | Opinions, Ideas and Markets Talk
Featuring views and opinions written by market professionals, not staff journalists.
Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Celetstia, rising 158%.
- The decentralized exchange PancakeSwap has launched a gaming marketplace. The new platform lets developers build, launch, and update games with Web3 elements such as cryptocurrency and NFTs, writes Bloomberg.
- Bitcoin was in sight of $38,000 this week, a level last seen in May 2022, amid an ongoing rally spurred by expectations of fresh demand for the token from ETFs, according to Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Gas, down 59%.
- Coinbase Global is one of the most important investors in the world of cryptocurrency. It’s the all-time biggest backer of industry startups in terms of number of deals, according to PitchBook data. However, in recent months, its investing activity has fallen off, writes Bloomberg.
- The head of Dubai’s crypto regulator is poised to depart after less than a year on the job, just as authorities prepare to impose sweeping fines on non-complaint digital-asset firms operating in the Emirate, writes Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- A 30-day correlation coefficient for Bitcoin and MSCI Inc’s gauge of world stocks now sits at -23, the most negative since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. A reading of 1 indicates assets are moving in lockstep, while -1 would show they’re moving in opposite directions, writes Bloomberg.
- CoinShares, one of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency asset managers, has secured the option to acquire exchange-traded funds from competitor Valkyrie, which is preparing a spot Bitcoin fund that’s awaiting regulatory approval, writes Bloomberg.
- Tether Holdings is taking steps to become one of the world’s top Bitcoin miners as the $87 billion stablecoin operator makes a hefty investment in the already highly competitive sector. The company plans to spend about half a billion dollars over the next six months, writes Bloomberg.
Threats
- Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon was sentenced to four months in prison by a Montenegrin court for attempting to travel with a forged passport. The police said he was in possession of multiple passports including a forged Belgium and Costa Rican one, writes Bloomberg.
- Jump Trading Group has parted ways with Wormhole, the crypto project it injected about $320 million in almost two years ago following a massive hack, as the market maker retrenches in the digital-assets space, writes Bloomberg.
- Ethereum layer-2 solution Polygon recently witnessed an extraordinary surge in gas fees. It topped the charts with an increase of over 1,000%. This spike, peaking at $.10, was primarily driven by POLS minting activity, writes Bloomberg.
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