Daily Market Update 9/20

Top Stories

NFT Market Recap

💰️ Notable Sales:

• 61.25 Ξ CryptoPunks #4288

• 34.5 Ξ BAYC #4485

• 22 Ξ CloneX #7384

🎉 Notable Mints:

⬆️ Top by Volume:

• BAYC, floor of 24.9 Ξ (1% ▲)

• MAYC, floor of 4.9 Ξ (1% ▽)

• Otherside Vessels, floor of 0.17 Ξ (1% ▽)

⬆️ Top by Sales:

• Clownmigos, floor of 0.0036 Ξ (28% ▽)

• Sugartown Oras, floor of 0.33 Ξ (3% ▽)

• Redacted Remilio Party, floor of 0.0065 Ξ (57% ▽)

🪅 Biggest Winners:

• MegaForce Sentinels, floor of 0.05 Ξ (182% ▲)

• Moonbears, floor of 0.53 Ξ (125% ▲)

• AnarKey by TradeAI, floor of 12 Ξ (45% ▲)

Other News

Web3

• Yuga’s Legends of the Mara Season 1 open beta launches on Sept. 26

• Eligible Azuki holders can now claim their limited edition “Scorching Sidearm Pass” physical trading card from @MuseumOfMahomes

• Grant Yun’s dual digital and physical “The Last Supper” is set to be the sole NFT auctioned in Sotheby’s next Contemporary Curated sale amidst the 300 physical masterpieces

• Nouns DAO fork treasury drops from 16,750 to 7,700 ETH as holders cashout with the DAO’s “ragequit” mechanism, and traders capitalize on secondary market arbitrage

• The Cultureverse, a collaborative project between Walmart and Web3 creative studio POCLab, launches on Spatial, commemorating the golden anniversary of hip-hop music

• Balancer warns its front end is suffering from an exploit and urges users not to interact with the site until further notice

Blockchain

• Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Bitcoin Ordinals, proposes changing the protocol’s numbering system to simplify the codebase, noting inscription numbers would change but might only differ by 1%

• Spiderchain, a “Proof of Stake Layer 2 on Bitcoin,” similar to drivechains, aims to bring Ethereum’s smart contract functionality to Bitcoin without compromising on Bitcoin's security and decentralization

• Ethereum blockspace is on track to print its first unprofitable month since the Merge, coinciding with roughly an 8.9k supply increase

• Base surpasses Solana to become the ninth-largest blockchain by total value locked (TVL) amid friend.tech hype and new DeFi applications

Finance

• Chainalysis reports India ranked second in the world for raw estimated crypto transaction volume

• Bitfinex analysts report on-chain data shows short-term Bitcoin holders selling, but long-term holders are buying it up

• USDC launches on Polkadot

• Nomura-backed Laser Digital introduces its Bitcoin Adoption Fund, offering institutional investors long-only investment exposure to Bitcoin

• Analysts predict today’s FOMC release will keep interest rates flat

Artificial Intelligence

• LimeWire acquires BlueWillowAI to assemble its “all-in-one” platform

• Google announces the expansion of its AI, Bard, giving it the ability to - upon opt-in - access user’s personal information from Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, and Drive

• OpenAI is searching for experts in cognitive and computer science, economics, healthcare, and cybersecurity to improve the safety and ethics of AI models following investigations into OpenAI’s data collection and security practices

Government

• NY shortens its list of pre-approved cryptos for BitLicense holders to just Bitcoin, Ethereum, and six stablecoins, including the Gemini Dollar, GMO JPY and USD, Pax Gold and Dollar, and the PayPal Dollar

• HK will step up crypto regulation after the arrest of six individuals following allegations of fraud surrounding the unlicensed JPEX exchange

• Digital Power Network, a coalition affiliated with the Chamber of Digital Commerce, kicks off strong, representing over half the US’ Bitcoin hash rate, and seeks to champion Bitcoin and shape energy policy

• SEC’s David Hirsch warns Coinbase and Binance are just the start of its charges for exchanges and DeFi

Business

• Coinbase ramps up its grassroots advocacy program to advance legislation that provides regulatory clarity for the industry

• Core Scientific switches up its strategy to optimize performance and efficiency over maximizing the number of operational machines after a sixfold decrease in hash price since 2021

• Grayscale officially abandons post-Merge proof-of-work ETH tokens, citing a lack of liquidity to exercise the right to acquire and sell ETHPoW

• Stanford University will return donations it received from the FTX Group

• Binance’s CZ denies Binance US used custody software provided by its international counterpart, an apparent contradiction with previous statements by Binance US in legal filings

Legal

• UK Judge rules Cøbra, a pseudonymous Bitcoin.org operator, cannot challenge a $700k legal fee request from Craig Wright without revealing their identity

• Former investment banker at Deutsche Bank pleads guilty to misappropriating funds and faces up to 30 years in prison