Welcome to the latest Openware Crypto Digest! Let's go over some of the best events that occurred last week throughout the crypto world.
- Bitcoin's Taproot Upgrade Went Live and a Lawsuit Might Finally Reveal Who Satoshi Nakamoto Is.
- Metaverse Grows as Nike Teamed Up with Roblox to Create "Nikeland," and Kucoin Labs Launched a $100 Million Metaverse Fund.
- Cryptocurrency Exchange Gemini Is Seeking to Achieve a Valuation of $7 Billion.
- ADA Finance Won "Best DeFi Project of The Year" at AIBC Summit 2021 in Malta.
- Staples Center to Be Renamed to Crypto.com Arena.
Bitcoin's Taproot Upgrade Went Live and a Lawsuit Might Finally Reveal Who Satoshi Nakamoto Is
The Bitcoin network saw one of its most extensive upgrades within the past four years, known as Taproot, which went live at block 709,632 on 5:15 UTC on Sunday, November 14, 2021.
This update marked a monumental milestone for Bitcoin, given the fact that Taproot has been the first significant upgrade to the network since the launch of the Lightning Network and Segregated Witness (SegWit) upgrades.
Taproot update stands out because it enables greater transaction privacy and efficiency for Bitcoin and unlocks the potential for smart contracts functionality on the network, eliminating intermediaries from the transactions.
A few days before the upgrade went live, on November 10, 2021, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high value of $69,044.77. That said, Bitcoin briefly dipped below $60,000 on November 16, slipping as low as $58,702.
On Friday, November 19, Bitcoin fell to $55,650 as the crypto market correction accelerated.
Furthermore, a lawsuit could potentially reveal who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged inventor of Bitcoin.
Thanks to the Ira Kleiman vs Craig Wright civil trial currently underway in Florida, we could learn who Bitcoin's creator is. Ever since its creation, a person or group of people that go by the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" are seen as the creators of Bitcoin. However, nobody knows who is hiding under that nickname —a person or even a group of people.
That said, filed by the heirs of the deceased David Kleiman, who they claim aided in creating the Bitcoin protocol with the defendant Craig Wright, the lawsuit could prove that Satoshi Nakamoto is potentially a virtual person brought to existence by Mr Kleiman and Mr Wright.
Metaverse Grows as Nike Teams Up with Roblox to Create "Nikeland", and Kucoin Labs Launched a $100 Million Metaverse Fund
Nike is quietly preparing to enter the metaverse. Nike announced on November 18 that they are partnering up with Roblox to create a virtual world dubbed "Nikeland" on the Roblox online gaming platform.
This virtual world is intended to have Nike playgrounds, buildings, fields, and arenas to compete in various mini-games. The exciting aspect is that Nikeland is modeled after the company's real-life headquarters, and initially, it is free to visit.
However, Nike does eventually plan to integrate in-play moments which will emulate global sporting events. That said, other companies have also been making the push towards a Metaverse.
On November 17, KuCoin announced that they are launching the "KuCoin Metaverse Fund." It is intended to be a $100 million fund fully committed to supporting and incubating early-stage blockchain projects in Metaverse — GameFi, NFT, and decentralized infrastructure projects.
This fund will support educational programs that will assist in the growth of the metaverse.
KuCoin will also provide full-scale support and incentive incubation, market investment, business partnerships, market management, and branding.
Cryptocurrency Exchange Gemini Is Seeking to Achieve a Valuation of $7 Billion
According to a Bloomberg report that cites anonymous sources, the New York-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, founded by twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, is seeking to achieve a valuation of $7 billion.
Furthermore, the company plans to conduct a $400 million funding round.
On November 17, 2021, Ethereum developer company ConsenSys raised $200 million, putting their valuation at $3.2 billion.
Additionally, cryptocurrency exchange FTX finished a $900 million funding round in July, after which they raised $420 million more in October and are valued at $25 billion.
Cardano's ADA Finance Won "Best DeFi Project of The Year" at the 2021 AIBC Summit in Malta
ADA Finance, a Cardano and Avalanche-powered DeFi ecosystem, has been announced as the "Best DeFi Project of the Year" award at the 2021 AIBC Summit in Malta.
ADA Finance is a cross-dual-chain DeFi ecosystem that has surpassed serious industry contenders and has taken the highly coveted prize at Europe's premier event for blockchain, A.I., and emerging technology.
It is the first Cardano-based project to win the award, outpacing other impressive projects such as the community-focused DeFi token Safemoon and the PoW/DPoS hybrid consensus ABEYFoundation.
Staples Center to Be Renamed to Crypto.com Arena
Downtown L.A.'s Staples Center will now become Crypto.com Arena in one of the largest naming rights deals in U.S. History.
The deal was struck between the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com and AEG, worth $700 million.
The deal is a 20-year naming rights agreement, and with it, Crypto.com will become the official cryptocurrency platform of the Los Angeles Lakers and the L.A. Kings.
Crypto.com's Arena deal will become official on Christmas Day when one of the NBA's highest-profile regular-season games occur.
There will be a new logo for the building, alongside specific areas within the arena, and even an ample activation space at the building's entrance.
Based on the pre-rendered image of the arena, we can speculate that the deal will also include a new rooftop banner that showcases Crypto.com.
NFA Disclaimer
Please note that we do not provide financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies or tokens is highly speculative, and the market is extremely volatile and largely unregulated. Anyone considering crypto investment activities should be prepared to lose their entire investment. Invest at your own risk!
Thank You for Reading
Make sure to visit Openware Crypto Exchange Foundry to learn more about DeFi and Blockchain technologies, cryptocurrency exchange software solutions, and open-source developer tools for launching next-generation Crypto & Blockchain projects.
Did you like the article? Clap and subscribe to get more stories from open-source blockchain software engineers at Openware!
