An initial interpretation of DappRadar numbers on Oct. 11 reported extremely low engagement numbers for Decentraland, one of Web3’s most-hyped metaverses. The numbers shocked the community, as the platform has a current market evaluation of $1.2 billion. Shortly after the initial report broke, both DappRadar and Decentraland verified that the published number of less than 40 unique active wallets (UAW) was not an accurate representation of activity on the network. According to DappRadar's tracker at the time of writing, UAW is just over 600. A DappRadar report following the incident revealed that blockchain games and metaverse projects raised a cumulative …

Hong Kong and Singapore’s wealthy elite appear to be looking at digital assets with fervor, after a new report from KPMG suggesting over 90% of family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) are interested in investing in the digital assets space or have already done so. According to an Oct. 24 report from KPMG China and Aspen Digital titled “Investing in Digital Assets,” as much as 58% of family offices and HNWI of respondents in a recent survey are already investing in digital assets, and 34% “plan to do so.” The survey took the pulse from 30 family offices and HNWIs …

Ethereum’s long-awaited Merge took place in September, shifting it from a legacy proof-of-work (POW) model to the sustainable proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. Many observers expected Ether’s (ETH) price to respond positively as its daily emissions declined 90% with the halt of mining operations. However, the expected price surge never occurred. In fact, Ether has been down by over 7% since the upgrade. So why didn’t the Merge drive up the coin’s price? Post-merge ETH monetary policy Ethereum’s monetary policy was simply to reduce the token’s supply to 1,600 ETH per day. The PoW model, an equivalent of 13,000 ETH were …

On Oct 24, European cryptocurrency investment firm Coinshare published its Digital Asset Fund Flows Report, which revealed that digital asset investment products saw $5 million worth of cumulative outflows last week, in a continuation of what it calls an “apathetic period” that began in September 2022. Most notably, investment product volumes dropped to $758 million during the week, the lowest since October 2020 and far below the weekly average of $7 billion around this time last year when crypto markets were in an uptrend. Data in the report revealed that Bitcoin (BTC) investment products saw minor inflows of $4.6 million, …

The crypto market downturn is proving a difficult storm to weather for both investors and businesses alike in the industry. However, according to new data, this hasn’t stopped women from being bullish on crypto. A new survey conducted by BlockFi, a crypto trading and investment platform, asked women across the United States about their views of and participation in the crypto industry between Sept. 2021 and Mar. 2022. According to the findings one in ten women chose crypto as their first investment, with 17% of that being Millennial women investors and 11% Gen Z. Findings even revealed that of the …

In Japan, the city of Fukuoka is looking towards the future of Web3 in its latest partnership with Astar Japan Labs - the company behind Japan’s leading blockchain, the Astar network. Fukuoka is the country’s second-largest port city and has officially been designated as a National Special Strategic Zone. Now it also plans to become the country’s hub for all things Web3 and crypto. The Astar Japan Labs partnership will allow both entities to work together on new use cases for Web3 technologies. Fukuoka joins more than 45 companies working with Astar, including Microsoft Japan and Amazon Japan. According to …

Crypto platform Freeway has halted some of its services, citing "unprecedented volatility" in the foreign exchange and cryptocurrency markets in “recent times.” In an Oct. 23 post, the platform announced they are halting buys, deposits and will "not be buying Supercharger simulations until our new strategies are implemented." According to the Freeway website, their "Superchargers" product can offer up to 43% annual yield rewards. Users can deposit fiat currencies and crypto, which are placed in regulated brokerage accounts which are leveraged for returns. A centralized platform, Freeway advertises itself as combining the best of traditional finance with the best of …

Contrary to popular belief, a bear market provides ideal conditions for startup founders and developers to work on technological innovations. The absence of market frenzy and speculative investing helps startups to focus on the fundamentals, which are beneficial in the long run. However, bear markets dry up capital sources, and liquidity becomes the proverbial mirage of an oasis in the desert sand. Thus, startups turn toward incubators who become messiahs with their network of angel investors and venture capitalists. As incubators hold the key to funding, they are powerful enough to make or break a crypto startup. And, as Marvel’s …

The global Web3 boom is expected to add $1.1 trillion to the Indian economy over the next decade, supporting the investment-based momentum driven by over 450 in-house startups, including CoinDCX, Polygon and CoinSwitch. A recent study from the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group, highlighted India’s position as a leading global player in the Web3 market owing to several factors spanning a large talent pool, high adoption rate and product development for international markets. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) estimated that “Web3 can add $1.1 trillion of new economic …

Hong Kong is taking action to regain its status as a global cryptocurrency hub by launching several legal initiatives related to the crypto industry. A city and special administrative region of China, Hong Kong is willing to distinguish its crypto regulation approach from the blanket crypto ban in mainland China. The government of Hong Kong is considering introducing its own bill to regulate crypto in its own China-free way, according to Elizabeth Wong, head of the fintech unit at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). One of the SFC’s initiatives is allowing retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets,” …

According to a new report published by cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko, several interesting anomalies surfaced in the cryptocurrency markets during the third quarter Although the digital asset industry witnessed heavy sell-offs earlier this year, its overall market cap actually increased by around $100 billion compared to Q2. While in the past, crypto bear markets have largely decoupled from stock performance, coins and tokens almost traded in exact tandem with the U.S. S&P500 index in Q3. The correlation coefficient, which ranges between 0 and 1, for the performance of the S&P500 vs. cryptocurrencies stood at 0.85 in the said time period. …

The latest survey carried out by Cointelegraph Research among 84 professional investors across the globe revealed that out of $316 billion in assets managed by the respondents, 3.3%, or approximately $10.42 billion, is invested in cryptocurrencies. Some surveyed investors reported over 50% exposure to digital assets, but respondents’ median percentage invested in cryptocurrencies stands at about 3%. The risk-return ratio was the primary consideration when investing in crypto, as 44% of respondents rated this characteristic as “highly important.” Other factors deemed relatively less important were “diversification” and “my company is convinced that the technology will be important in the future.” …