Weekly Report 01/17–01/23

9 min readJan 23, 2022

The MEXC Weekly Report is a recap on some of the biggest news in the blockchain world, in the Around the Blockchain Universe segment.

For the week of January 17 to January 23 according to MEXC Global, the hottest news in crypto world are：

Bulgarian Finance Minister: Exploring options to introduce crypto payment mechanism

Bulgaria is exploring options to introduce a crypto payment mechanism, according to Assen Vassilev, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister responsible for EU funds. Vassilev said the government is in discussions with the Bulgarian National Central Bank and industry players to explore crypto payments “in the short to medium term,” Bloomberg reported Friday. However, he added that Bulgaria is unlikely to become a major hub for cryptocurrency miners — many are reportedly considering leaving Kazakhstan due to political turmoil and Internet outages. Prior to the bull market in 2017, the Bulgarian government seized 213,519 bitcoins from an underground criminal network, valued at about $3.5 billion at the time but worth more than $8.2 billion as of press time, making it likely that the Bulgarian government remains one of the largest bitcoin holders in the world. It is unclear whether officials sold or auctioned the cryptocurrency or were continuing to hold the digital assets.

Total DeFi lock-up volume fell to $196.81 billion, down 3.31% in 24 hours

On January 23, according to DeFi Liama, DeFi’s total lock-up volume fell below $200 billion and is now $196.81 billion, a decline of 3.31% in 24 hours.

The Solana development team has released the main network Beta 1.8.14 code, which aims to solve network congestion issues

Solana engineers released the main network beta 1.8.14 on Github on January 23. Version 1.8.14 is designed to mitigate the impact of excessive duplicate transactions on network verifiers. Application cache exhaustion is said to be the main cause of recent beta degradation on Solana’s main network. The development team has addressed this issue in version 1.8.12, while in version 1.8.14 it attempted to reduce the pressure on the validator network caused by excessive duplicate transactions. For now, these features are only available on beta, and the team expects to roll out more improvements over the next 8–12 weeks.

Turkey: Aims to regulate cryptocurrencies, but not ban them

Turkey says it aims to regulate, but not ban, cryptocurrencies, according to market sources. Pulsation previously reported that on December 29, 2021, a Bill in Turkey will bring “order” to the cryptocurrency market. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a law on cryptocurrencies is “ready to go.”

Russia’s central bank has proposed banning the use of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency mining in the country

Russia’s Central bank on Thursday proposed a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency mining in Russia, citing threats to financial stability, citizens’ well-being and sovereignty over monetary policy. The move is the latest in a global crackdown on cryptocurrencies, as governments from Asia to the United States worry that privately run and highly volatile digital currencies could undermine authorities’ control over financial and monetary systems. It recommended that financial institutions be prevented from doing any crypto-related business, and said mechanisms should be put in place to block transactions in which cryptocurrencies are bought and sold in exchange for fiat currencies.

The new Mayor of New York has converted his first salary into cryptocurrency

On January 21, The Block reported that Eric Adams, The new Mayor of New York City, had his first salary converted to BTC and ETH via Coinbase. In November, Eric Adams announced that his first three paychecks under his tenure would be in cryptocurrency.

The Federal Reserve has released a white paper on central bank digital currencies, highlighting privacy and financial stability issues

On January 21, the Federal Reserve released a white paper on the central bank’s digital currency, “Money and Payments: The Dollar in the Digital Transformation Era.” The Fed noted in its press release that, as a discussion paper, it “examined the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).” The Fed believes that the current financial system could be supported through the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but this currency would only work in the current network of private banks, rather than the CBDC that the Fed issues directly to consumers. The Fed’s white paper does not commit to creating a digital dollar, but explains what it needs to focus on as it approaches the issue and seeks public comment on issues such as privacy, financial stability and how to use digital dollars for 120 days. The white paper notes that it does not intend to continue issuing central bank digital currencies without the explicit support of the executive branch and the National Assembly, ideally in the form of specific authorizing laws; Central bank digital currency will complement, not replace, existing digital payment methods. Cybersecurity, preventing financial crime and meeting future demand are also all factors that must be considered before the Fed issues CBDCS

Blizzard and SoftBank of Hong Kong have announced that they will work with N.Stars to build the metaverse

Blizzard and SoftBank have announced a strategic partnership with N.Stars to build a meta-universe, develop premium games, and focus on creating an aggregator platform for NFT animation +GameFi.

Facebook and Instagram will support NFT display, casting and sale

Meta is working on plans to allow Facebook and Instagram to support displaying users’ NFT in their profile interfaces, according to several people familiar with the matter. It will also allow users to create and sell NFT. In December, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the company was “actively exploring NFT,” but gave no details. Novi, Facebook’s wallet app, will support the NFT feature, according to people familiar with the matter.

Gray scale launches crypto asset index in partnership with Bloomberg

January 20, the world’s largest crypto asset management company Grayscale and Bloomberg launched a new index based on crypto assets. The Index is called the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index (BGFOF). The index tracks the stocks of 22 companies related to the crypto industry, covering segments such as crypto trading platforms, asset management, mining and blockchain technology, and is reweighed quarterly. However, the index will not invest directly in digital assets or their derivatives, but rather provide indirect exposure to the stocks of companies related to these crypto industries.

Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority has been asked to block more than 1,600 cryptocurrency websites

Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FIA) has asked the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to ban more than 1,600 cryptocurrency websites. The action comes after the state Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central bank, proposed a total ban on cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the country’s science minister said the government intends to “regulate” cryptocurrencies in the country. FIA director Babur Bakht Qureshi said, “We are currently working on a list of individuals associated with cryptocurrency transactions, adding,” In the near future, action will be taken against individuals promoting cryptocurrency.” The State Bank of Pakistan and the Federal government have decided to ban the use of all cryptocurrencies, according to a report submitted to the Sindh High Court (SHC) on January 13 during a hearing on the case concerning digital currencies, Rhythm previously reported.

Cryptocurrency trading platforms will face more scrutiny from the SEC

Cryptocurrency trading platforms are poised to become the focus of a crackdown by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on digital assets in 2022. On Wednesday, SEC Chairman Robert Gensler expressed hope that trading platforms will take steps in the coming months to come under more direct supervision from financial regulators in Washington.

The total number of USDC addresses of US dollar staboins has exceeded 7 million

On January 19, Glassnode data, a blockchain analysis company, shows that the total number of addresses created by the US dollar stablecoin USDC so far broke through 7 million, and currently stands at 7000137.

Iran’s central bank will pilot a national cryptocurrency

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) plans to launch a national cryptocurrency in a pilot phase in the near future. Mehran Moharamian, CBI’S DEPUTY Governor for IT affairs, said the bank sees cryptocurrencies as a solution to inconsistencies and the diversion of resources, from which many countries have recently started to benefit.

LooksRare’s 7-day trading volume exceeded $3.6 billion, up 1,030.67%

On January 19, according to DappRadar data, NFT trading platform LooksRare trading volume reached $3.69 billion on 7 days, up 1,030.67%. OpenSea’s 7-day trading volume was $1.01 billion, up 3.86%.

Microsoft CEO: Gaming will play a key role in the evolution of the metasverse platform

Microsoft will buy Activision Blizzard for $95 per share in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion. In his statement, Microsoft’s CEO made several references to the meta-universe, saying: “Game is all platforms of today’s most dynamic and exciting entertainment category, and will play a key role in the development of the yuan universe platform. We are the world first-class, community, and the content of the cloud for further investment, in order to usher in a new era of the game, the players and creators in the first place, and made the game safe, inclusive and open to all.”

Animoca Brands announced a nearly $360 million investment, led by Liberty City Ventures

Animoca Brands has raised nearly $360 million in its latest funding round at a $5 billion valuation, according to official sources. Liberty City Ventures led the round. Animoca Brands specializes in investing in NFT and metasomes. It has invested in over 150 NFT related projects, including Axie Infinity, Dapper Labs, NBA Top Shot, and OpenSea, And the meta-cosmic Sandbox.

Morgan Stanley: Central bank policy tightening, crypto market will continue to weaken

Morgan Stanley said in a research note that low interest rates, central bank balance sheet expansion, and government stimulus measures have all been “drivers of cryptocurrency price index gains” in the past two years, according to CoinDesk. The crypto market is now weakening as the Federal Reserve and other central banks look to slow their balance sheet expansion and prepare the market for higher interest rates.

Pai Shield: Multichain vulnerability has been exploited, stolen over 450ETH

Multichain has fixed six Token vulnerabilities affecting WETH, WBNB and other Token vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities appear to have been exploited, and the stolen funds have exceeded 450 ETH. Worth about $1.43 million, at present the stolen money stored address for x4986e9017ea60e7afcd10d844f85c80912c3863c “0”. Rhythm previously reported. Security firm Dedaub reported a critical vulnerability affecting six cross-chain tokens, although the Multichain team has since fixed the vulnerability, according to a Multichain bridge (formerly Anyswap) official post. If you have authorized the six tokens (WETH, PERI, OMT, WBNB, MATIC, and AVAX), you are advised to cancel the authorization as soon as possible. Otherwise, the asset is at risk.

Jpmorgan: NFT is more important to Ethereum than DeFi in terms of future valuation

NFT is the fastest growing segment of the crypto ecosystem, and in terms of driving its future valuation, Ethereum’s share in NFT may be more important than its share in DeFi. At the same time, ethereum’s share of transactions in the NFT space has declined to around 80% from around 95% in early 2021 due to high Gas fees and transaction congestion, the report notes.

OpenSea launches NFT Security Team to enhance NFT security

OpenSea today announced the launch of its NFT Security Team to help users independently navigate the security and complexity of NFT. Current members of the group include Arweave, Blockade, Games, Coinbase, Foundation, Horizon Blockchain Games, Protocol Labs (IPFS), Known Origin, MakersPlace, Manifold, MetaMask, Nifty Gateway, OpenSea, Polygon, Rarible, SuperRare, WalletConnect, Zora. Membership is by invitation, and members will have the opportunity to vote and collectively invite new members. The group will focus on cross-platform security.

Spain’s National Securities Market Commission has imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency promotion activities

On January 17, The Financial Times reported that Spain’s National Securities Market Commission has been granted the power to regulate crypto advertising, in order to impose restrictions on the promotional activities of those involved in cryptocurrencies. The rules are that influencers or channels with more than 100,000 followers in Spain must inform regulators of the content of their encrypted ads at least 10 days in advance. Fines could be as high as €300,000. The Spanish regulator’s new powers came after twitter clashed with Spanish football legend Andres Iniesta in November over paid promotions on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. At the time, the committee told the World Cup winner that it was his duty to inform his followers of the risks of cryptocurrencies.

Singapore’s financial regulator has restricted crypto companies from promoting their services to the public

Singapore’s financial regulator has restricted crypto companies from promoting their services to the public, according to Bloomberg. To curb speculation, crypto service providers can only market their activities on their own websites, mobile apps or official social media accounts, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement on Monday.