Instagram is exploring NFTs, Justin Sun is headed into space, and Who’s got all the Bitcoin? These stories and more this week in crypto.
The CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, said the social media application is looking into the idea of NFTs. Although there is nothing to announce yet, Instagram is actively exploring NFTs and how to make them more accessible to a wider audience. He added that Instagram is also exploring how non-fungible tokens can be helpful in particular to its creators.
Founder of blockchain platform TRON, Justin Sun revealed that he was the anonymous bidder who paid $28 million for a seat to join Jeff Bezos on his first trip into space, but missed the launch earlier this year. Now he’s planning a new trip into space with five people that he will nominate from members of the TRON community, long-term holders of cryptos, and other leaders from various industries.
Crypto exchange Binance has made changes to how it removes Binance coins (BNB) from circulation, a process known as burning. The new system, dubbed Auto-Burn, will occur continuously and replace a quarterly burning schedule that reflected the tokens’ usage on various trading products offered by Binance’s centralized exchange. The move is intended to provide more transparency for the broader BNB community.
One of the world’s most popular derivatives exchanges BitMEX will be releasing its native cryptocurrency called BMEX in February 2022. Existing and new verified users will be able to receive the tokens as an airdrop from a maximum supply of 450 million coins. BitMEX described BMEX as a reward and engagement token with trading fee discounts and enhanced yields.
US crypto exchange, Kraken, is working on a new functionality that will enable its customers to borrow funds against their non-fungible tokens. If a customer deposits an NFT on Kraken, the exchange will reflect the NFT’s value in their accounts and it can then be used as collateral to borrow funds.
T-Systems, the innovation division of Europe’s biggest telecommunications company, Deutsche Telekom will be providing node-running infrastructure to users staking assets on the Polkadot network. The telecommunications firm has also integrated a crypto business into their accounting system and revealed it holds a “significant” amount of Polkadot’s native cryptocurrency, DOT, to stake on its own behalf.
The Dogecoin Foundation released its future plans by the so-called Dogecoin Trailmap that includes a unique proposal for a community staking version of a proof-of-stake model. The foundation says it will allow everyone, not just the big players, to participate in a way that rewards them for their contribution to running the network.
A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the top 10,000 bitcoin investors which represent just one one hundredth of 1% of the community own a combined 5 million bitcoins. That’s 27% of the total BTC supply. Findings suggest the bitcoin ecosystem is still highly concentrated and dominated by large players, like large-scale miners, holders, and exchanges.
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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
