Apple’s CEO announces he owns crypto, Twitter is launching a crypto division, and Bitcoin is getting a major upgrade. These stories and more this week in crypto.
The value of the entire crypto market topped over $ 3 trillion this week, with Bitcoin hitting $ 69,000 and Ethereum surpassing $ 4,800. Prices soared after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its October inflation numbers, reflecting the strongest monthly increase in 30 years, and investors are looking to cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation.
Tim Cook – Apple’s CEO – revealed that he is personally invested in cryptocurrency. Cook has gotten into crypto and considers it a reasonable part of a diversified portfolio. However, despite his personal investment, Cook rejected the idea that Apple could add cryptocurrencies to the company’s balance sheet in the near future.
The social media platform Twitter is launching a dedicated cryptocurrency team called Twitter Crypto as the company continues to support the adoption of digital assets and decentralized applications. The team will look for ways to support developers’ growing interest in blockchain technology with crypto payments, NFTs, and decentralized services.
Mastercard has partnered with three crypto platforms to develop crypto credit cards that allow users to load cryptocurrencies from online wallets onto their cards to purchase goods and services. Bitkub, a digital exchange in Thailand; Coinjar, a crypto trading platform in Australia, and blockchain finance company Amber Group are helping Mastercard roll out crypto services in Asia.
The shares of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, fell sharply after the company missed its sales and earnings expectations. Trading volume was down 30% from the previous quarter, and while Coinbase generated $ 1.1 billion in transaction revenue during the reporting period, it was also below the previous quarter.
New York City is getting its own digital asset known as the NYC Coin. The token is being developed by a community platform called CityCoins, which Miamicoin also created earlier this year. The currency will generate revenue for NYC through the mining process and will be used to fund the city’s projects. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Miami is offering its residents digital wallets and giving them Bitcoin directly from the proceeds of the city’s own cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin.
Muslims in Indonesia have been banned from using Bitcoin by the country’s highest religious council, which says the cryptocurrency violates Sharia law. The council has declared the asset to be harmful as it contains elements of betting and uncertainty and thus can harm any investor.
The Taproot upgrade went live on the Bitcoin blockchain this weekend. Taproot is the first major upgrade to the Bitcoin network since SegWit in 2017. Taproot brings intelligent contract features to the Bitcoin network that support decentralized financial applications and NFTs, improve data protection and enable lower transaction costs.
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That’s what happened in crypto this week until next week.
