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Potential Fed Tightening Driving Short Term Crypto Sentiments: Morgan Stanley

by Blockchain NewsAugust 23, 2022

The digital currency ecosystem has continued to experience volatility, with a declining market capitalization sweeping across the board.

While the combined cryptocurrency market capitalization is down by 1.58% to $1.01 trillion, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading the losses.

Considering the state of the digital currency ecosystem, Morgan Stanley’s analyst, Sheena Shah, revealed in a note to clients on Monday that the nascent crypto market is still very much subjected to the Federal Reserve’s continuous quantitative tightening expectations.

According to Shah, the fact that the stablecoin’s market capitalization has stopped falling is a very positive sign that institutional crypto deleveraging appears to have paused.

“Stablecoin availability is a sign of liquidity within the crypto world and demand for crypto leverage. In early June, Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin, saw its market capitalization fall 20% in about a month, causing the crypto equivalent of quantitative tightening,” Shah said in a note to clients.

“Around the same time, bitcoin fell 45% and traded below $30k. This week marked the first time since April that stablecoin market capitalisation has stopped falling on a monthly basis. The market cap is still down 20% from the peak (12% excluding TerraUSD), but this may be a sign that the extreme institutional deleveraging appears to have paused for now.”

Shah also pointed out that the price of Bitcoin typically weakened in Asian trading hours in June. The Morgan Stanley analyst noted this decline to align with their observation that U.S. treasury yields were rising most during the U.S. hours, a representation of Fed tightening expectations.

“We do not think that bitcoin weakening most during U.S. hours necessarily tells us that it was U.S. investors selling bitcoin as crypto traders could trade 24 hours a day. However, it does suggest that U.S. central bank monetary policy tightening expectations have been an important driver of the crypto bear market this year,” the note reads.

The digital currency ecosystem is expected to react in a very significant swing over the next few months until both the US and the global economy remain steady.

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Nike Leads among Web2 Brands for Highest Revenue Reaped from NFTs

by Blockchain NewsAugust 23, 2022

Fashion brand Nike has topped the list of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) exposed traditional companies that have recorded the highest revenue from digital collectable transactions thus far.

According to data from Dune Analytics, as shared by NFTGators, Nike has raised a cumulative sum of $185.26 million in revenue. The company introduced this figure from a total transaction count of 67,251.

About a year ago, fashion and entertainment brands started embracing NFTs as a new way to connect with their customers and fans worldwide. Many not only acquired blue chip NFTs like the CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), quite a number of brands launched their own NFT collections, further showcasing the interest across the board.

The dive into NFTs now seems to be paying off for these brands as their venture has turned into productivity in no small measure. Per the Dune Analytics data, Dolce & Gabbana ranks second on the list of outfits with NFT exposures, with its revenue coming in at $25.65 million. Jewellery brands Tiffany, Gucci, and Adidas, make up the top five list of brands with high NFT revenues.

The majority of brands that have shown positive interest and commitment to NFTs have seen a remarkable return. This feat shows that Web3.0 is not entirely a waste of investment or interest. A very significant data in the Dune Analytics data is the exposition on the place of royalties earned on their respective NFT collections.

Nike has earned a total of $92.1 million on royalties, indicating that many secondary sales of the respect NFTs have taken place since the collection was launched. Of the top ten profiled brands, Tiffany, Budweiser, Bud Light, and the Pepsi Mic Drop have not recorded any transaction sales. This indicates that the NFTs are either yet to hit the secondary markets or collectors are HODL to sell much later.

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Tagged : Budweiser / LACOSTE / NFT / Nike

Ukraine Ranks Second of Crypto Adopters following Legalization: Report

by Blockchain NewsAugust 23, 2022

Eastern European nation Ukraine has been ranked as the second nation with the overall adoption of digital currencies, following only the United States in a recent survey report released by Merchant Machine.

The report was designed by taking cognizance of such parameters as the total number of crypto owners in the country and the global decentralized finance adoption index. The other parameters include the number of businesses that accept crypto payment, the total number of Automated Teller Machine (ATM), and the monthly search volumes of cryptocurrency terms.

With these parameters, the US ranked number one with an overall crypto score of 7.75; Ukraine’s score was 5.96, while the United Kingdom came in at 5.79. India, Thailand, Russia, France, Netherlands, Vietnam, and Colombia are the top ten countries profiled by the Merchant Machine survey.

It did not come as much of a surprise that Ukraine was ranked top 2. The country has shown a very positive disposition to the digital currency ecosystem with the legalization of cryptocurrencies earlier in the year. Following the invasion of its shores by the Russian army, the country solicited support from the digital currency ecosystem, and there was a massive turn up for the country.

From cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance to protocols like Solana, Polkadot, and Tron, the number of donors to humanitarian aid in Ukraine skyrocketed. The support was massive, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) were donated to the Ukrainian government. The funds accrued through crypto donations were worth more than $100 million.

With Bitcoin and crypto transactions being legal in Ukraine, digital currency exchanges and businesses accepting crypto as payment began to rise. These factors collectively contributed to the high ranking of Ukraine as one of the most notable powerhouses for digital currencies.

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Tagged : Crypto / Donation / MERCHANT MACHINE / News / NFT / Ukraine

Invesco Unveils Metaverse Fund to Tap into £1.4 Trillion Opportunity

by Blockchain NewsAugust 23, 2022

Invesco, a US investment management firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional branch offices in 20 countries, announced on Monday that it has launched a new fund dedicated to metaverse-related equities.

The investment company said with the launch. It focuses on tapping into a “£1.4 trillion revenue opportunity in the metaverse landscape.

The Invesco Metaverse fund will invest in large, medium, and small-cap firms across the US, Asia, and Europe.

Invesco said the fund would pump cash into firms helping to facilitate, create, or benefit from the growth of immersive virtual worlds.

Tony Roberts, who will oversee the fund, stated that the company would look to capitalize on a swelling area of the metaverse economy.

“While the Metaverse’s applications to entertainment are increasingly well-understood, the interconnectivity that it enables will likely have a transformative impact across industries as diverse as healthcare, logistics, education and sport. We will seek to capitalize on these opportunities through a highly selective, valuation-conscious approach,” Roberts elaborated.

According to Invesco, the new fund will back projects across seven major thematic areas, including next-generation operating and computer systems, networks for hyperconnectivity, hardware and devices that provide access to the Metaverse, immersive platforms developed with artificial intelligence, Blockchain, the interchange tools necessary to bring about interoperability, and services and assets that will facilitate the digitization of the real economy.

Invesco believes that businesses have exciting opportunities in all seven subsegments beyond the well-known Metaverse platforms.

Businesses Navigating Metaverse

Metaverse has presented numerous opportunities to brands and consumers alike. Whether it’s large tech players like Microsoft or small startups working to develop metaverse business landscapes, the opportunities presented by interactive, digital worlds are limitless.

The Metaverse is poised to infiltrate every sector in some way in the future, with the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion in annual revenues.

As a result, firms of all shapes and sizes are seen entering the Metaverse in different ways, including the likes of Walmart, Nike, Gap, Verizon, Hulu, PWC, Adidas, Atari and others.

In September last year, Facebook launched a $50 million fund that would help it develop the Metaverse more responsibly.

In April, the HBAR Foundation launched a $250 million Metaverse Fund to integrate Hedera Hashgraph’s Web3 metaverse world for consumer brands.

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Tagged : Finance / Fund / IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL WORLDS / INVESCO / Metaverse