Web3 avec Anouk Feb. 27- Mar. 3 , 2023
Welcome to Web3 avec Anouk. I’m Anouk, a crypto enthusiast with a huge passion for the world of Web3 since 2019. Check back in every Friday for my take on the crypto news of the week.
Silvergate Struggles to Stay Afloat
On Wednesday, Silvergate announced the delay of its annual report, raising concerns about the company’s solvency. Silvergate stated that it was currently reviewing if the bank could remain viable as it struggles to get back on its feet after FTX’s bankruptcy. It also added that the company was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
As a result, several crypto companies such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, Paxos and Circle distanced themselves from the bank and stopped accepting payment transfers via the Silvergate network. Coinbase explained in a tweet that the company will be switching from Silvergate to Signature Bank ‘out of an abundance of caution’, in an effort to protect customers.
This is an important move for the crypto industry: Silvergate was a crucial partner to numerous crypto companies, and was widely used to facilitate money transfers between crypto firms for a number of years. While the company struggles to stay afloat, companies in the crypto space will have to find other options and infrastructure solutions to ease their relationships with banks and to transfer money to each other, which has been a much needed feature in the industry.
The NFT Marketplace War
Since 2021 and the NFT boom, OpenSea has been the biggest and most used NFT marketplace; in January 2022, at the top of the bull market, OpenSea registered more than $4.80 billion worth of Ethereum NFT Sales, setting up a new record for the marketplace.
But recently, the NFT landscape started to change and we’ve seen the rise of ‘Blur’, a new marketplace, heating up the competition. Since the beginning of February, Blur surpassed OpenSea in sales volume, with over $1.12 billion in sales, compared to $479 million for OpenSea.
Amidst a rebound in NFT sales, the crypto space is also seeing a shift in creator royalties; both Blur and OpenSea are now enforcing a 0.5% minimum creator royalty, allowing optional creators earnings. These new changes could completely reshape the NFT space and how we think about the creator economy; if NFT creators stop being protected by marketplaces, they will have to find new ways to monetize and showcase their artwork, in order to protect their right to earn royalties.
What’s Up with Ethereum’s Shanghai Hard Fork?
On Thursday, Ethereum developers officially announced the push back of Shanghai hard fork to April, citing their concerns to ensure a smooth transition. According to a tweet by Tim Beiko, a developer at the Ethereum Foundation, the new date will depend on the success of another test, which will be run on March 16.
This highly-anticipated update is expected to bring significant changes to the Ethereum blockchain: for example, it will allow validators that operate the network to withdraw 16 million staked Ethereum and also support the current Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism of the blockchain. We can expect this update to dynamically affect Ethereum and its market price, which plunged this week after the Silvergate debacle.
Thanks for reading! Check in next Friday for the next edition of this new weekly quick take on Web3, crypto and blockchain discussing the week ahead!
