ALPEX Global Weekly Newsletter — April Week 1

ALPEX
4 min readApr 4, 2022

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Samsung and Nifty Gateway partner to develop a Smart TV NFT platform. Hackers stole more than $600 million from video game Axie Infinity’s Ronin network. This week’s newsletter includes these stories and more.

The non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Nifty Gateway has announced that it has partnered with electronics giant Samsung. Samsung and Nifty have been working together on the “first-ever smart TV NFT platform” and Nifty Gateway is already integrated into Samsung’s 2022 premium TV product lines. Additionally, the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace, owned by Gemini, has announced its partnership with Samsung. As part of the partnership, Nifty Gateway will create a smart TV NFT platform that will allow users to discover, purchase, and trade digital art and collectibles. According to the press release, Nifty Gateway is already integrated into Samsung’s 2022 premium TV product range, which includes the QLED and Neo QLED models.

Greenpeace, along with other climate groups, as well as Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple (XRP), has launched a new campaign aimed at transforming Bitcoin (BTC) into a more environmentally friendly consensus model. According to Greenpeace, bitcoin mining requires a significant amount of energy derived from fossil fuels, and miners are allegedly using coal waste and associated natural gas to power their operations. In its manifesto, Greenpeace states that it understands Bitcoin stakeholders have an incentive not to change, as changing Bitcoin would reduce the value of their expensive equipment, and subsequently mean implementing sunk costs or implementing “other creative solutions.”

Lastly, the latest crypto hack has targeted a gaming-focused blockchain network that hosts the popular video game Axie Infinity. In one of the largest cryptocurrency hacks, hackers stole about $625 million in Ethereum and USDC, two cryptocurrencies. Hackers were able to breach the Ronin Network, an independent and Ethereum-compatible blockchain developed by Sky Mavis, publisher of Axie Infinity. During a keynote address at the NFT LA conference, Jeff Zirlin, co-founder of Axie Infinity, commented on the hack, confirming that it happened.

Since we moved into April last week, here is what’s happening. In addition to the strong performance of Bitcoin (BTC), decentralized finance tokens (Defi) are also beginning to appreciate. According to data from cryptocurrency market intelligence firm Messari, a large majority of the top tokens in the Defi sector have posted double-digit gains in the past 30 days, led by THORChain (RUNE), which has seen its price increase by 199.81%, and Aave (AAVE), which has seen its price increase by 53.95 %. Moreover, OpenSea and LooksRare nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces have been the most successful decentralized applications (DApps) in terms of revenue over the past few months, followed by Uniswap, Convex Finance, and PancakeSwap. Currently, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies stands at $2.151 trillion, with Bitcoin dominating at 41.7%.

*Disclaimer* Investment in cryptos carries various risks and is not suitable for all investors. Be sure to do your research thoroughly before making any decisions to invest.

As it relates to Bitcoin and Ethereum, Goldman Sachs appears to be all in with plans to offer its high-net-worth clients digital coins through Galaxy Digital as a third-party issuer. The endorsement of Bitcoin and Ethereum by Goldman Sachs may increase the confidence of other major financial institutions to offer their wealthy clients a similar path into the world of cryptocurrency.

According to Goldman Sachs analyst Zach Pandl, Bitcoin controls 20% of the “store of value” market. In contrast to precious metals or some currencies, Bitcoin can maintain its value over time without depreciating. Within a few years, if the cryptocurrency’s share of the store of value market were to reach 50%, this milestone might be reached.

Despite Bitcoin’s volatility, it is still far from its all-time high in November 2021 of $69,000. Goldman Sachs resumed its cryptocurrency trading desk in 2021 in response to inquiries received from hedge funds, foundations, and endowments that had received donations from Bitcoin millionaires.

This concludes our weekly newsletter. We thank you for reading. We hope it was informative and helpful for you. We look forward to bringing you more news about crypto and blockchain next week.

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TEAM ALPEX Global

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