Cryptocurrency News: Swiss City Embraces Crypto

Contents

If you thought the news last week was big, wait until you read our weekly crypto news digest of this week’s events. Lugano (Switzerland) makes Bitcoin, Tether and their own token legal tender (but not really), Ethereum miner revenues flipped Bitcoin, crypto execs turn down blanket ban on Russians. Continue to learn more about these events and other crucial news!

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies this week were thrust up and down by the global economy and sanctions hitting Russia. Despite a jump up to $44 thousand, BTC is back to where it started at ~$39k;
The Russian invasion is still affecting crypto, causing unprecedented donation effort and hearing calls to join the sanctions;
Swiss city of Lugano announced a collaboration with Tether claiming they made USDT, BTC and their own token LGVA legal tender. Venezuela pegged the minimum wage to Petro in an effort to raise it to a liveable level.

Crypto News Digest: February 26-March 5

Bitcoin This Week

The geopolitical situation in the world is unstable, and so is Bitcoin price this week. On February 28, after the news from Ukraine’s frontlines and Russian ruble hitting a record low, BTC flew up by 15% over $44k.
The influx is now correcting to a previous level at $39K, and fears whether will Bitcoin dip again are back at the market.

Latest Bitcoin News

According to the data compiled by The Block Research, Bitcoin miners accrued $1.06 billion of revenue in February. The revenues are back at a 2020 level.

Altcoin News

Meanwhile, Ethereum miners earned $1.19 billion in the same time frame. Like in Bitcoin, most of the rewards came from block subsidy and a small portion of it came from transaction fees.
Dune Analytics shared an interesting tidbit of data about Ethereum news and donations to Ukraine’s government. An influx of donations coincided with the official account mentioning an airdrop, which ultimately was replaced with NFT plans.
The Circle consortium, USDC issuers, have delayed their DeFi product citing regulations. The affected services are the enterprise API for access to Compound and the Circle Yield product.

Business Сryptocurrency News

CME Group, world’s largest futures and options trading platform, will offer Bitcoin and Ethereum micro options on March 28. Micro options apply one-tenth multiplier to the underlying asset, providing a way to trade with smaller risk and entry price.
Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten launched their own NFT marketplace. In addition to digital collectibles for sports, music and anime, they will be offering minting services for intellectual property rights.

Cryptocurrency News on Adoption

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced that the minimum wage in the country will be increased with the help of a national cryptocurrency Petro. The wage will be pegged to the value of Petro, which is now officially $60 but in reality, market data on trading volume and its value varies wildly.
The Swiss city of Lugano made Bitcoin, Tether and LVGA “de facto legal tender” in their jurisdiction. Citizens will be able to pay for taxes and municipal services in these cryptocurrencies, though these payments will be converted into fiat currencies.

Regulation & Politics Cryptocurrency News

The European Union revised the Markets in Crypto-Assets law to exclude the language that would imply ban on proof-of-work and other “environmentally unsustainable” protocols.
Binance and Kraken turned down the requests to freeze accounts of Russian citizens. Jesse Powell, Kraken’s CEO argued that most of the users have no ties to pro-war officials and hold no such views, and Binance officials cited freedom of operations in crypto.

Video of the Week

Benjamin Cowen recorded a new video with a timeless message: manage your risks. He reviews the current situation with Bitcoin and provides practical information.

Cryptocurrency News from Twitter

(thread ahead) In the last few days, we’ve seen some say that Russia could potentially evade sanctions and get around SWIFT using crypto. I outline some of the key arguments refuting this below (and a chart 😄)
— Asheesh Birla (@ashgoblue) February 28, 2022

As more and more businesses exit Russia and introduce sanctions, concerns that the sanctions will be circumvented with crypto are expressed. Here is a thread why the probability of it is low.

Apprently the @opensea Mass Purge of Iranian accounts is not happening based on IP Address and its based solely on Natuonality!
They’ve deleted @ParinHeidari’s account AND delisted her collection with more than 200 ETH of volume. SHE DOESN’T EVEN LIVE IN IRAN! — Bornosor.eth (@Bornosor) March 3, 2022

Centralization and censorship are not exclusive to Web 2.0, unfortunately. Iranian users were banned by IP from OpenSea, following MetaMask, which drew backlash and highlighted the problems with the current state of Web3.

The Pixelmon reveal was unacceptable. This is what our Pixelmon look like in-game. Our NFT art failed to reflect this.
Despite the fud I will not go anywhere. The goal hasn't changed. The funds will still be used to build our game. I will see this project through. pic.twitter.com/ViFzyKhbqL — Syber | Pixelmon (@Syberer) February 26, 2022

Another controversy happened after a highly anticipated NFT game Pixelmon, which attracted $71.4 million initial funding with NFT pre-sales. Users criticized the reveal for haphazard art, stock and stolen assets and for the anonymity of the founder.

Influencer of the Week

Incase some of you didn’t realise, hating on women won’t get you anywhere. You’re just sad
— Maliha |Artist, Author & Activist (@Maliha_z_Art) March 3, 2022

In the spirit of the upcoming International Women’s Day and our Women in Crypto week, we would like to highlight Maliha. She is not only an artist but also a fervent activist, uplifting female voices and rallying for the rights of women worldwide.

This Week on the Market

How is the market this week? At the moment of writing the cryptocurrency news digest, the general stats are:

Total Market Cap: $1,766,639,401,619 (+1.57%);
BTC Dominance: 42.2%.

7d Change in Top Coins

All in all, it looks like a regular week on the markets. At the moment of writing, the weekly change of the top currencies is:

Bitcoin (BTC) $39,233 (↑0.85%);
Ethereum (ETH) $2,664 (↓3.23%);
Binance Coin (BNB) $382 (↑2.69%);
XRP $0.746 (↓1.36%);
Cardano (ADA) $0.878 (↓1.30%);
Solana (SOL) $89.42 (↓1.27%);
Terra (LUNA) $84.28 (↑14.20%);
Avalanche (AVAX) $77.96 (↓1.33%);
Dogecoin (DOGE) $0.124 (↓1.74%);
Polkadot (DOT) $17.09 (↓6.38%).

Gainers of the Week

Which is the best crypto to buy right now?

Universal Market Access Token (UMA) $9.47 (↑92.35%);
Chiliz (CHZ) $0.208 (↑19.10%);
Terra (LUNA) $84.28 (↑14.20%)

Conclusion

Despite the shocks of the last week, cryptocurrency news of this one was mostly bullish. Crypto is gaining massive acceptance on an official level, and diligently working out the current drawbacks. Tune in for our next digest in our blog. Follow ChangeHero on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Telegram for live crypto news and more content.

Key Takeaways