Crypto Weekly Roundup: Fed Hikes Interest Rates, LUNA Acquires More BTC, Solana Crashes, Investors Support Musk’s Twitter Bid, And More

It was an eventful week in crypto. Solana was once again plagued by bots that crashed the network for seven hours. On the other hand, LUNA is continuing its mission of bolstering its stablecoin reserves by acquiring more and more Bitcoins. Let’s take a closer look. 

Bitcoin

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced that the interest rate would be raised by 50 basis points, the largest single rise since 2000, causing fluctuations in BTC price. 

Luna Foundation Guard acquired Bitcoins worth $1.5 billion to bolster the reserve of the Terra stablecoin. 

Bitcoin has reached the midway point to its next halving event, when the block reward is going to be cut in half.

Altcoins

A copy-paste error has sent $36 million worth of JUNO tokens into an inaccessible address, leaving the developers, validators, and token holders grappling with the aftermath.

A seven-hour-long network outage plagued Solana yet again after a surge of inbound transactions flooded the network. 

Business

A group of investors, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Binance, and Fidelity 89 has invested over $7 billion to back Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter.

Luxury brand Gucci will be accepting payments in cryptocurrencies like BTC and DOGE in select stores later this month. 

Syndicate has announced that over 50 partners, customers, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have invested over $6 million in Syndicate during the latest raise.

Blockchain network Algorand has become the first official blockchain platform sponsor for FIFA after signing a sponsorship and technical partner deal.

Crypto.com has significantly slashed its card rewards, driving the value of the CRO token down considerably. The community had a less than welcoming reaction to developments. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren voiced concerns about the “risky and speculative” decision taken by Fidelity to include BTC accounts in 401(K) retirement programs. 

Argentina’s central bank has banned operations that allow bank clients to purchase crypto just two days after Banco Galicia and Brubank announced they would allow their customers to purchase crypto.

California’s governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that will kickstart the official crypto industry in the state by setting up a regulatory framework. 

In a significant boost to its European ambitions, Binance has secured regulatory approval in France, marking the first time the exchange has secured approval from a G-7 member nation. 

European Watchdog MONEYVAL has published a report that warns of the dangers of decentralized finance and privacy coins, urging European states to crack down on cryptocurrency-based money laundering. 

NFT

Iconic whiskey brand Johnnie Walker has entered into a marquee partnership with the Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeFriends NFT Collection. 

Axie Infinity, one of the largest play-to-earn blockchain games by volume, has crossed the $4 billion mark for all-time NFT sales.

Yuga Labs raised $285 million in cryptocurrency for plots of land – the largest NFT mint in history by several multiples, but at the expense of many who bought in.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.