Weekly News 01/12/2021: Bacon Protocol launches its first mortgage NFTs

Banks and Institutions

A framework for digital assets is approved by the European Council

The European Council approved the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), through a 400-page document. MiCA’s goal is to protect consumers and investors from fraud, and regulate cryptocurrency brokers, as well as stablecoin issuers. One of the EU Council decisions is that existing financial institutions will not have to undergo additional requirements to offer crypto services. The European Parliament will now discuss the project in order to turn it into a law.

Existing regulatory frameworks are insufficient for DeFi protocols according to the bank of France

A senior official for France’s central bank said that regulators in Europe need to more directly supervise DeFi. For Denis Beau, first deputy governor of the Banque du France, the priority is to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and then to accelerate on the supervision of DeFi, where the usual regulatory frameworks are constrained by the fact that issuers are not easily identifiable. He also said that a new jurisdiction could be necessary to efficiently regulate these new activities.

US treasury Secretary says some non-custodial entities won’t be subject to regulatory standards

In a response to the Senate, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has clarified that U.S. federal regulations are already in line current crypto guidance. DeFi protocols providing tech-based non-custodial services are excluded from the requirements. But non-custodial entities acting as a natural or legal person with a business interest are subjected to money service business registration.

Ecosystem

Omicron cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high (ATH)

Following the WHO’s naming of the last COVID-19 variant, an obscure cryptocurrency named Omicron that nobody knows has surged to an all-time high (ATH) of $689 Monday morning. This move represents 945% gains since Saturday. This clearly indicates that the current market is more driven by hype and marketing than actual technology.

VC company Borderless Capital launches 1.5 billion dollar crypto fund

The VC company Borderless Capital has just launched a 1.5 billion dollar fund to kickstart crypto projects. One third of this amount will be dedicated to Algorand. The aim is to build the next generation of decentralized applications. Borderless Capital believes that Algorand is currently the most advanced technology for building blockchain applications.

Axie Infinity sells a virtual land slot for 550 ETH

The largest sum ever paid for a virtual real estate happened in the Axie Infinity game : a land plot sold for 550 ETH ($2.3 million). Besides combats between their Axie creatures, players can create their own kingdoms in Axie Infinity and build buildings on their land plots.

Technology

A new Ethereum ASIC miner is coming to the market

InnoSilicon chip maker is shipping the new Ethereum ASIC miner, a long-awaited miner also called A11 Pro, with a performance of 1500 megahashes per second (MH/s). A 3080 RTX card is currently rated at 150 MH/s. In energetic efficiency, the new hardware ASIC is 30% better than the best graphics cards available on the market.

Bacon Protocol launches its first mortgage NFTs

Bacon Protocol wants to transform the residential market by allowing homeowners to mortgage their property as an NFT. Loan takers are selected by an IA, and their conditions and eligibility are determined by the LoanSnap protocol. Seven loans have been approved so far, with interest rates ranging from 1.5% to 3%.

Figures

• Microstrategy keeps buying Bitcoin, this time spending 414 million dollars.
• Decentralized exchanges close november with a volume close to 100 billion USD.
• NFT is the word of the year of the Collins dictionary.
• More than one million ETH has now been burned since EIP 1559.
• NFT sales should end the year at 17.7 billion USD.