What the numbers say: OpenSea Pro, OpenSea's new NFT marketplace with advanced features for professional NFT traders, has surpassed the rival Blur in key metrics, including the trading volumes and daily active users, nearly one week after its launch. The trading volume in the platform hit $3M yesterday, beating Blur's $2M trading volumes. The marketplace also overtook Blur in daily active user numbers as of April 5, with a peak of 3,595. Relevance: OpenSea launched the Pro version to increase its competitive power against Blur, launched in October 2022 as a zero-fee NFT marketplace targeting professional NFT traders who want to make large-scale purchases. To launch its new platform, OpenSea rebranded the latest version of Gem's NFT aggregation platform, Gem v2. In February, Blur demonstrated that it is a strong rival to leading NFT marketplace OpenSea by surpassing it in trading volume and pocketing nearly all of the entire NFT market's monthly gains. Brands that should care: Other NFT marketplaces, including Magic Eden, LooksRare, Alpha Sharks, Reservoir, and Rarible, are also expected to make a similar move by integrating more features targeting professional traders soon to join the race.
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Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, hit the $30,000 level for the first time since June 2022. The popular cryptocurrency's value has increased by nearly 46% over the last 30 days. More: - The jump in the Bitcoin price was mainly triggered by the U.S. banking crisis that led to investors losing confidence in the traditional financial system.
- The crisis started with the consecutive collapses of crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank within just a week in March.
- Some analysts also expect the announcement of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be a significant pinpoint for the fate of Bitcoin price.
- The U.S. CPI report will be released on April 12, giving insight into the U.S. banking system Federal Reserve's (Fed) approach to inflation.
Zoom Out: - Bitcoin's price surged by 5%, hitting the $26,000 barrier, when the CPI was last announced on March 14.
- Following the CPI announcement, other tokens, including Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE), also increased in value.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened new job postings to hire additional general attorneys for its crypto enforcement division, Crypto Asset and Cyber Unit (CACU), in New York, Washington, and San Francisco. The regulator will accept applications until April 17. More: - The additional attorneys will be responsible for investigating crypto asset securities, creating legal strategies, writing court papers like subpoenas, and conducting depositions.
- Salaries of the positions will range between $140,000 and $260,000, depending on the location.
- The move was considered a heightened effort to further investigate and crack down on the crypto industry.
- The unit's headcount nearly doubled, though it was initially planned to consist of 20 people.
- The SEC first announced its plans to hire additional staff to the CACU earlier in March.
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Crypto exchange Coinbase's head of digital asset trading platform, Vishal Gupta, has reportedly decided to depart the company. According to a recent report from Bloomberg citing a person familiar with the issue, Gupta will work on a new crypto-focused project following his departure from Coinbase. More: - Coinbase has yet to make any official announcement related to the issue.
- Gupta worked at Coinbase for almost three years and was responsible for key products at the crypto exchange.
- During his time at the company, he reported to Greg Tusar, vice president of institutional products.
- Before Coinbase, Gupta spent eight years in the U.S.-based investment banking giant Goldman Sachs as a vice president.
- He also worked at Circle, the issuer of the popular USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, and played a key role in the launch of USDC.
Zoom-Out: - Gupta's exit will mark the second high-profile executive departure at Coinbase this year after the chief product officer, Surojit Chatterjee, left the company earlier in 2023.
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Ripple, a payment protocol most famous for its native token XRP, has signed a new deal with the Central Bank of Montenegro for a project regarding the nation’s digital currency. The collaboration will see the pair jointly develop a strategy and pilot program for a Montenegrin digital currency in the form of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or a national stablecoin. More: - The project, starting in April, will consist of several stages, including exploring the use cases of the currency, putting the digital currency into circulation under controlled conditions, and determining a timeline.
- The deal was first disclosed by Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic on Twitter in January.
- RippleX’s vice president for central bank engagements and CBDCs, James Wallis, said the details related to the project would come later in 2023.
- Wallis also stated that Ripple is in negotiations for CBDC projects with dozens of central banks worldwide.
- The Central Bank of Montenegro Governor Radoje Žugić pointed out that the bank is working closely with the government and the academic community to explore the benefits and risks of a potential CBDC or national stablecoin.
Zoom Out: - Montenegro has been using the euro as its currency since 2002, though it is not a part of the Eurozone.
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Popular meme coin Shiba Inu's (SHIB) metaverse project, SHIB: The Metaverse, is scheduled to partially open in December this year. The news was confirmed by Shiba Inu's metaverse team and the new virtual world's developers. More: - Developers said some of the areas in the metaverse would be released at a later date.
- Users will be able to start exploring the open areas by the end of this year.
- The project will offer users a virtual world where they can build, design, play, and develop.
- The platform will consist of 100,595 plots of virtual land that will be minted by users.
- Through their plots, landowners will be able to gather resources for the game, generate passive income, and earn prizes.
- Developers will build the Shiba Inu's metaverse on Shibarium, an upcoming Layer-2 network.
- The network will use the Shiba Inu ecosystem's native tokens, including BONE and LEASH.
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- Tuttle Twins, a popular TV cartoon for kids, announced it would release an episode about Bitcoin (BTC) on May 2.
- The Bank of France, the country's central bank, has released a report suggesting that decentralized finance (DeFi) projects should be forced to incorporate and prove compliance with the regulations related to governance and security.
- South Korean authorities have arrested executives of Coinone, one of the country's largest crypto exchanges, with allegations of accepting bribes to list tokens.
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 |  | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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