Welcome to the latest Openware Crypto Digest! Let’s go over the most significant events of the last week in the crypto industry.
- The Price of Zcash Jumped 20% In a Single Day When the Developers Unveiled Their Transition to Proof-Of-Stake (POS)
- The U.S. Internal Revenue Service Seized $3.5 Billion in Cryptocurrencies Throughout 2021
- The U.S. Banking Regulators Have Plans to Publish Crypto Guidance in 2022
- Adidas Made Its First Crypto Partnerships with Coinbase and the Sandbox
- Celsius Network Series B Expanded to $750 Million
The Price of Zcash Jumped 20% In a Single Day When the Developers Unveiled Their Transition to Proof-Of-Stake (POS)
Zcash (ZEC) managed to surge by 20% within the span of 24 hours, from November 19 to November 20, which was heavily boosted by the hype surrounding the protocol’s transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) as a consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
The token managed to climb to $188 but didn’t stop there. On November 25, the ZEC token climbed up to $298, and it was trading at $242 at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko.
This tremendous boost in value occurred after the cryptocurrency’s leading developer, Electric Coin Company (ECC), announced that it would move the Zcash protocol from PoW to PoS throughout the next three years.
That said, the nonprofit also noted that the upgrade would also limit the ZEC price downward pressure by removing any miners who end up immediately liquidating the token for Bitcoin or FIAT currencies.
PoS as a consensus mechanism essentially allows a person to mine, or in other words, validate a transaction based on the number of underlying tokens they hold and stake. In return for doing so, they receive rewards in the form of yields.
Additionally, ECC’s announcement also indicated that users would be able to stake a portion of their ZEC holdings into a dedicated Zcash smart contract and become validators on the blockchain.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Seized $3.5 Billion in Cryptocurrencies Throughout 2021
According to the U.S.’s Internal Revenue Service, $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency got seized during the fiscal year 2021.
This seizure includes the $1 billion in crypto tied to the darknet market Silk Road.
It represents 93% of all of the funds seized by the Criminal Investigation unit throughout the same period. Additionally, the agency even expects to seize billions of dollars in crypto the following year.
The U.S. Banking Regulators Have Plans to Publish Crypto Guidance in 2022
Federal Bank regulators within the United States stated on Tuesday, November 23, they summarized the results regarding clearer crypto regulations.
According to the joint statement, the regulators, which included the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, identified several areas they felt required public clarification.
In other words, these agencies plan to provide greater clarity on whether certain activities related to cryptocurrency assets conducted by banking organizations are legally permissible and go over the expectations of safety and soundness, consumer protection, and compliance with existing laws and regulations.
Adidas Made Its First Crypto Partnerships with Coinbase and the Sandbox
Adidas established a partnership with Coinbase and the metaverse playground project The Sandbox.
A tweet seemingly confirmed that Adidas would get on board with The Sandbox on November 22.
Adidas will develop “adiVerse” in partnership with The Sandbox Game. Additionally, the sporting goods company has also purchased a chunk of land in the metaverse.
The tweet hyperlinks to a 144-parcel Adidas Originals Space in the Sandbox.
Coinbase has recently pushed its focus towards NFTs, and there’s speculation that the collaboration between Coinbase and Adidas could be rooted in payments to bridge some crypto payment integration to the Adidas shopping ecosystem.
Celsius Network Series B Expanded to $750 Million
Celsius Network’s Series B expanded to $750 million. It is a jump from the $400 million at the $3 billion valuations announced in October.
Blockworks first reported this news on November 24.
They initially closed a $400 million Series B in October, led by WestCap, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).
Celsius also outlined that the new funds will expand into new markets and products offering, alongside building a centralized finance-to-decentralized finance (DeFi) bridging project known as “CelsiusX.”
Mashinsky also noted that since the round was oversubscribed, it showcases an excellent indication of the strength of the Celsius brand as a whole.
Celsius even outlined plans of investing $300 million into scaling their BTC mining operations in North America, which put its total spending in the sector up to $500 million.
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!
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