by fnnewz
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction.
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Hello and welcome back to the new and improved TechCrunch Crypto newsletter. This is our fifth edition with, of course, regularly scheduled news snippets, but also some recurring segments and features, so if you like what you see (or don’t), let me know at jacquelyn@techcrunch.com.
This week the roses were red, the violets were blue and the cryptocurrency market was green, for all of you. If you follow me on xYou may have already seen me post this, but if you haven’t, I’m sharing the love here too.
Anyway, let’s get into it. Here’s what you missed this week: US spot bitcoin ETFs turned one month old, the Phantom crypto wallet hit new heights for monthly active users last month, and crypto VC outflows were soft in the fourth quarter of 2023. More below.
Programming note: I’ll be at OOO next week, so there will be no newsletter.
This week on web3
- Crypto Outflows Remain Low, But Investors Remain Unfazed
- Solana-Based DeFi and Airdrops Drive Phantom Crypto Wallet User Base to New Heights
- This gaming startup tries to prove that ‘AI + crypto’ is not a fad
- As Bitcoin Spot ETF Volumes Continue to Rise, Bitwise Asset Management Predicts a High Ceiling for Growth
Analyzing the numbers
This week, the cryptocurrency market looked quite bullish, as the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, bitcoin and ether, rose around 16.5% over the week, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The total crypto market capitalization increased by 14% in a seven-day period to $1.96 trillion.
Earlier this week, Solana also briefly took over as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing the BNB token, which has since regained the position. Solana’s market capitalization is approximately $3 billion behind BNB and its price is up almost 11% on the week.
Our Favorite ‘Crypto Twitter’ Post
Calling out all the developers who didn’t date on Valentine’s Day and tweeting about zero-knowledge recaps… this one, unfortunately, is for you. For those of you who did If you have plans, it may be time to fight back.
Image credits: x (Opens in a new window)
The last pod
Chain Reaction is running a monthly series that delves into different topics and topics in crypto. This month we will focus on NFTs.
For this week's episode, I interviewed Yat Siu, Co-Founder and CEO of Animoca Brands.
Yat co-founded Animoca in 2014 and has since invested in over 400 web3 projects across a variety of sectors such as DeFi, education, infrastructure, blockchain gaming, and the metaverse.
Animoca also has its own NFT collections, blockchain products and games, such as its NFT-based web3 community Mocaverse, blockchain game and NFT collection REVV Racing, and The Sandbox, a decentralized virtual world with over 40 million mobile installations. The company has also worked with other well-known brands and personalities, including Disney, WWE, Power Rangers, The Walking Dead, Formula E and Snoop Dogg.
Yat and I discussed the importance of digital property rights, growing NFT communities, and what makes a project stand out from the rest.
We also dive into:
- NFT Intellectual Property Evolution
- Generate familiarity with the brand
- Asia adopts web3 and NFT
- The global race for adoption
Subscribe to Chain reaction in apple podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up to date with the latest episodes and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
follow the money
- Commerce-Focused Architect Raised $12M Round Led by BlockTower and Tioga Capital
- Fordefi raised $10 million to launch a wallet-as-a-service in a round led by Electric Capital
- Anzen raised $4 million to provide access to real-world asset-backed returns
- Mercure DAO raised $1.5 million for its web3 incubator
- Analog raised $16 million in seed round to build cross-chain infrastructure
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch's own reporting.
What else are we writing?
Do you want to leave the world of web3? Here are some articles on TechCrunch that caught our attention this week.
- Bluesky and Mastodon users are having a fight that could shape the next generation of social media
- Foundry Group to close and not raise another fund
- ChatGPT will now remember (and forget) the things you say to it
- Hackers Discover New Victims of TheTruthSpy Stalkerware: Is Your Android Device Compromised?
- If you're going to market, your GTM slide must be amazing
