Weekly news 24/02/2022: Korea’s largest bank to launch the country’s first crypto investment fund

Banks and Institutions

Korea’s largest bank to launch the country’s first crypto investment fund

Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest bank by net assets has formed a Digital Asset Management Committee with the aim to launch a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) and future products as soon as regulation in the country allows. Along with developing a fund through its proposed virtual currency index, the bank is also looking at the possibility of a hybrid fund that includes crypto alongside traditional assets.

US Senate Proposal Raises Alarm Over El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption

The Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act would require a State Department report on mitigating risks to the U.S. financial system from El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. According to the proponents of the law, "If the United States wishes to combat money laundering and preserve the role of the dollar as a reserve currency of the world, we must tackle this issue head on." El Salvador President Nayib Bukele replied: "OK boomers … You have zero jurisdiction on a sovereign and independent nation."

Mirror Protocol gets in trouble with US authorities

The SEC served Terraform CEO Do Kwon with a subpoena, part of an investigation into whether Terraform Labs had violated US securities laws with its Mirror Protocol, a platform which creates crypto assets for users to buy and sell popular stocks like Microsoft or Tesla. These stocks are normally sold on the NYSE, but with Mirror Protocol, users can buy them on the blockchain.

Ecosystem

Another NFT marketplace, x2y2, begins vampire attack on OpenSea

x2y2 has launched as an alternative to OpenSea and LooksRare, with an emphasis on high staking rewards. The project has launched an airdrop for everyone who used OpenSea before January 2022. In a departure from the LooksRare model, traders on x2y2 will not receive rewards connected to their trading volumes. The only rewards on the platform will come from staking X2Y2. Stakers will earn a portion of the trading fees from the platform. The marketplace charges 2% on all NFT trades.

Luna Foundation raises $1 billion to form bitcoin reserve for UST stablecoin

The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) has raised $1 billion through an over-the-counter sale of LUNA, the native token of the Terra blockchain. Proceeds will go towards establishing a bitcoin-denominated forex reserve for UST, Terra’s biggest stablecoin. It is designed to ensure that the price of the stablecoin remains pegged to that of the dollar during sharp selloffs in crypto markets.

Millions of dollars worth of NFTs were stolen in phishing attack on OpenSea

The hacker has stollen more than $3 million in assets, which includes popular NFTs like Bored Apes, Azuki and CloneX. The incident was a phishing attack and did not originate from OpenSea’s website.

Twitter enables users to give and receive Ethereum tips natively

Users looking to receive ETH tips simply need to enable the platform’s tipping features and add an Ethereum address to the dedicated section of their profile. When it comes to Bitcoin, tips can be sent through the Lightning Network, which sends payment using the Strike app. For now, tips are only available for users on iOS and Android phones.

Artist blows up Lamborghini to make NFTs

An artist called Shl0ms blew up a Lamborghini worth just shy of $250,000. They are now turning the charred parts into a collection of 999 NFTs – to protest crypto’s get-rich-quick culture. In total, Shl0ms has made in the ballpark of $1 million from their NFT art experiments.

Technology

Kazakhstan likely to lose Bitcoin hash rate leadership

Kazakhstan was housing over 18% of the world’s BTC hash rate as of August 2021, following only the United States, driven partly by the massive Chinese miners’ exodus triggered by China’s cryptocurrency crackdown. January reports state that authorities in Kazakhstan were considering removing power subsidies to stabilize the country’s finances. Another reason for Kazakhstan to potentially lose its BTC mining leadership is the country’s reliance on the oil and gas industry.

Intel shows off its energy-efficient ‘Bonanza Mine’ bitcoin miner

Intel revealed the first generation of its miner, touting greater energy efficiency than other offerings on the market. It offers a power rating of 3,600 watts (W) while delivering 40 terahash per second (TH/s) of computing power. While Intel’s offering does not match up with the hashing power of its competitors, the company says the BMZ1 is more energy efficient.

Coinbase rewards researcher $250,000 for discovering critical bug

The bug would allow users to sell one bitcoin on the platform, while owning only one ether or one doge. The implications have been described as "market-nuking" and would possibly have had an impact on the whole market. The white-hat hacker Tree of Alpha who discovered the issue was offered $250,000 as a bounty.

Figures

• Total stablecoin supply hits 180 billion USD
• Tourism in El Salvador is up 30% since Bitcoin adoption
• Record : over 60% of BTC stays unspent for at least one year
• US inflation breaks 40-year record
• Bitcoin difficulty reaches all time high, up 45% in 6 months