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Martin Young



Articles by Martin Young

More Than 80% of Bitcoin (BTC) Supply Has Returned to Profit: Glassnode

9 days ago

The volume of Bitcoin supply in profit has reached the levels last seen two years ago as the market came off its November 2021 all-time high, according to Glassnode.
In its ‘Week on Chain’ report released this week, the analytics provider added that the magnitude of unrealized profit held within these coins remains modest.
The percentage of Bitcoin’s circulating supply currently held in profit reached 83.6% or 16.36 million BTC during last week’s rally. Moreover, this is historically significant, being well above the all-time mean value of 74%, added Glassnode.
Bitcoin Accumulation Accelerates  
Bitcoin rallied to its highest level of the year, tapping $37,900 on November 16. However, it has currently retreated 4% from that high as markets continue to cool. 

With #Bitcoin

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Crypto Influencer Shares Details of Latest Scam Targeting Ledger Users

16 days ago

On Nov. 15, Scott Melker, aka “The Wolf of All Streets,” said that one of his followers was hacked in the latest scam targeting Ledger users.
While checking his Nano S hardware wallet, the user reported seeing a 503 HTTP API error when it attempted to synchronize, “which in and of itself terrified me.”
The victim reached out to Ledger support and reported having the CTO (chief technology office) contact him via direct message on X.
This is when alarm bells should have rung as support isn’t that quick, and customers definitely won’t get to speak to executives and are likely to be lumbered with a chatbot.

Scam alert.
I have been speaking with one of my followers here, who shared that he was hacked this morning on a Ledger scam.
Here is what he said happened –
“Woke up this

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US Remains Largest Crypto Market But Stablecoin Activity Shifts Away

October 29, 2023

The United States is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, accounting for 24.4% of global transaction activity, according to a recent report by Chainalysis.
The report, released on October 23, revealed that there was an estimated $1.2 trillion in value received on-chain between July 2022 and June 2023 in the U.S.
Moreover, institutional activity makes up 76.9% of North America’s crypto transaction volume, and activity is split between centralized exchanges and DeFi, it added. 

Our 2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report is out today! Get your copy now and learn everything you need to know about the current state of crypto adoption around the world. https://t.co/zJaTvo6YOE pic.twitter.com/8gbdJ2IvnQ
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) October 23, 2023

Stablecoins Shift

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European Central Bank Moves Forward on CBDC Project After Concluding 2-Year Research Phase

October 22, 2023

On October 18, the ECB Governing Council stated that it had decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project.
The move into the preparation phase for a potential European CBDC follows the completion of a two-year investigation phase.
The preparation stage will start on November 1 and will initially last two years. It will involve finalizing the digital euro rulebook, selecting technology providers, and testing.

Our Governing Council has decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project.
In November 2023 we will start laying the foundation for the possible issuance of a digital euro. A decision on issuing a digital euro will come at a later stage.https://t.co/xuKklame0U pic.twitter.com/Nn0Z8RggVn
— European Central Bank (@ecb) October 18, 2023

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Hong Kong Increases Crypto Exchange Scrutiny Following JPEX Fiasco 

October 7, 2023

The move follows the imbroglio at the JPEX crypto exchange last month, which resulted in multiple arrests and the platform shuttering services. The unlicensed exchange is alleged to have defrauded investors out of $204 million.
The task force is comprised of the city’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and law enforcement officials, including representatives from the commercial crime, cybersecurity and technology crime, and financial intelligence and investigations police bureaus.
According to the announcement, it will “enhance collaboration in monitoring and investigating illegal activities related to virtual-asset trading platforms,”
Protecting Hong Kong Public
Moreover, the JPEX saga threatens to complicate Hong Kong’s push to become a regional crypto and fintech

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These 4 Charts That Show Crypto Adoption is Still Surging 

September 27, 2023

Crypto markets remain down around 65%, or $2 trillion in total market capitalization, from their peak in November 2021.
The industry has been battered by a barrage of attacks from regulators and politicians, especially in the United States. Moreover, the wave of hacks and exploits has continued unrelenting.
Nevertheless, there is a silver lining, and that is growth and adoption across the sector.
On Sept. 26, DeFi researcher Thor Hartvigsen shared four charts showing that the “market and crypto adoption is in a much better place than you might think” before exclaiming:
“I am more optimistic about the future of Crypto/DeFi than I’ve ever been.”
Crypto and DeFi Growth Charts
The first chart was of the total daily wallets across the Ethereum and the layer-2 landscape. Users

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What Bear Market? Crypto Startups Raised $115M Last Week

September 25, 2023

More than $115 million was raised last week alone across a number of crypto startups.
The largest raise of the week was blockchain game studio Proof of Play which netted $33 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
The firm will use the funding to fuel the growth of its invite-only, on-chain pirate role-playing game, Pirate Nation. Its ambition is to create a decentralized “Forever Game” that does not rely on creator intervention or external servers to continue to operate.
Crypto VC Still Healthy
Bastion, an enterprise-focused crypto custody, wallet management, and digital asset trading firm, raised $25 million. The Web3 startup was launched by two former executives from a16z’s crypto division.
The aim is to enable companies to integrate Web3 infrastructure into

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CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act Passes Out of Financial Services Committee

September 21, 2023

On Sept. 20, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act passed out of the Financial Services Committee. Republican Senator Tom Emmer said it was,
“A historical step in defending against an ever-expanding government surveillance state.”
The House Majority Whip has been battling against Federal Reserve moves to develop a CBDC.

The first anti-CBDC bill in the United States passed out of the Financial Services Committee today! A historical step in defending against an ever-expanding government surveillance state. https://t.co/1XXSEHOhNC
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) September 20, 2023

Anti-CBDC Bill Moves Forward
The Act is the first anti-CBDC legislation introduced in the United States. Senator Emmer first proposed the CBDC bill in January 2022, and it was formally introduced to

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Citi Launches Token Service in Push For Institutional Crypto Offering

September 19, 2023

The move appears to be a part of a wider push to offer digital assets to institutional clients.
The tokens represent a claim against the bank and are processed on a private blockchain owned and managed by Citigroup. Clients can access the service through existing bank systems, according to reports on Sept. 18.
Global head of the Citi’s services division, Shahmir Khaliq, said:
“The development of Citi Token Services is part of our journey to deliver real-time, always-on, next generation transaction banking services to our institutional clients,”

Citigroup Debuts Token Service in Latest Foray Into Digital Assets
Turns out regulators don’t hate digital assets… they just want their banker buddies to catch up. 🙂https://t.co/N8y8LBULU2
— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) September

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North Korean Hackers Turning to Russian Exchanges to Launder Stolen Crypto: Chainalysis

September 15, 2023

According to a Sept. 14 report from on-chain analytics provider Chainalysis, the total amount of cryptocurrency stolen is estimated at $3.54 billion.
North Korea “continues to be an incubator for hacking activities and remains one of the largest active threats in the cybercrime landscape,” it stated.
Moreover, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)-linked hacking groups are “increasing their use of Russia-based exchanges known to launder illicit crypto assets.”

🧵 Here’s a quick summary of our findings today on North Korean hackers’ usage of Russian services. https://t.co/WUoGzNEacB
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) September 14, 2023

2023 NK Stolen Crypto Down from 2022
The revelations come in the same week that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un held military talks.

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European Central Bank Blasts PayPal in Push for its Own CBDC

September 5, 2023

On Sept. 4, Fabio Panetta, ECB Executive Board member at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, said the central bank was nearing the end of its research and investigation phase.
It will soon decide whether to move to the next phase of potentially developing and issuing a digital Euro.
The ECB first published a report on a CBDC in October 2020, and three years later, they’re ready to move forward.
Big Tech Warning
The first key aspect is legal tender status, he said before adding that this would give people the right to have access to and pay with the digital Euro.
Panetta pushed availability and accessibility across the Eurozone, saying that the CBDC should be as accessible as “electricity and water.”

The second major part is a new

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DeFi Experts Warn Over Latest Google Ads Crypto Scam

August 24, 2023

Google appears to be taking money from fraudsters and facilitating crypto scams. These are the findings from DeFiLlama researcher “0xngmi,” who reported that scammers are buying ads for proper crypto websites on Google, but…
When users click on them, “they get sent to an ad network to track the click, but that network redirects to a scam site instead!”

There’s a new crypto scam on google
Scammers will buy an ad for a proper crypto website on google, with the proper URL
Then when users click on it they get sent to an ad network (https://t.co/k5azsHhC2s) to track the click, but that network redirects to a scam site instead! pic.twitter.com/YEUYqc9IUk
— 0xngmi (@0xngmi) August 23, 2023

DeFiLlama Domain Redirect
They said it was happening with the defillama.com domain name,

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Critical Vulnerability Discovered in DeFi Protocol Balancer, TVL Tanks 28%

August 23, 2023

On Aug. 22, Balancer Labs stated that it had received a “critical vulnerability report affecting a number of V2 Pools.”
The firm went on to warn that it had taken action, but funds may be at risk.
“Emergency mitigation procedures have been executed to secure a majority of TVL, but some funds remain at risk.”
Balancer advised users to withdraw from affected liquidity pools immediately.

Balancer has received a critical vulnerability report affecting a number of V2 Pools.
Emergency mitigation procedures have been executed to secure a majority of TVL, but some funds remain at risk.
Users are advised to withdraw affected LPs immediately.https://t.co/PDzX32gqeS pic.twitter.com/F1f649Wz3L
— Balancer (@Balancer) August 22, 2023

Another DeFi Exploit?
In a follow-up note, the

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Ethereum Foundation Announces $9M in Q2 Project and Conference Funding

August 19, 2023

On Aug. 15, the Ethereum Foundation listed projects and community events that received funding in Q2.
Furthermore, the Foundation spent a total of $9.2 million supporting projects, conferences, and industry research.
The largest number of recipients were community and education projects which included more than ten summits and conferences.

Time to round up all the projects that received funding last quarter 🤠 Read all about ‘em in our Allocation Update: Q2 2023 blogpost! https://t.co/fjgkXXAiod
— EF Ecosystem Support Program (@EF_ESP) August 15, 2023

Ethereum Foundation Promoting Education
Conferences and hackathons across the world, including ETH Barcelona, ETH Belgrade, ETH Prague, Ethereum Singapore, and ETH Rome, were funded.

Consensus Layer research on data

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Can These 10 Bullish Fundamentals for Ethereum Move ETH Prices?

August 12, 2023

However, fundamentals for the asset and network are as strong as ever.
On Aug. 11, crypto industry and DeFi analyst Miles Deutscher highlighted some of Ethereum’s bullish fundamentals.
“It’s hard not to be ridiculously bullish on Ethereum,” he said.
Ethereum Fundamentals Strong
Firstly, some of the world’s largest companies, such as PayPal, have chosen Ethereum to launch their products. Earlier this week, Ethereum advocate Ryan Sean Adams said the network is “becoming the money layer of the internet.”
Worldcoin is also using Ethereum and could be a major gas consumer if the digital ID project takes off.

It’s hard not to be ridiculously bullish on Ethereum.
Here are 9 reasons why.
• The biggest new projects are choosing to launch on ETH (PayPal stable coin, Worldcoin

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Bitcoin Massively Outperforms Crypto Hedge Funds in 2023: Report

August 6, 2023

According to data from Switzerland-based investment adviser 21e6 Capital AG, around 13% of crypto hedge funds have shut down so far this year. The reasons for the closures were weak performance and difficulties in accessing banking services.
Furthermore, crypto funds generated, on average, around 15% returns in the first half of 2023. They have been underperforming Bitcoin, which gained 77% over the same period.

Crypto hedge funds suffer from lagging performance to Bitcoin and a set of operational difficulties, such as accessing banking services.
About 13% of them shut down this year, according to data tracked by 21e6 Capital. 1/https://t.co/L7ozmXW1G4 @crypto
— Yueqi Yang (@Yueqi_Yang) August 4, 2023

Crypto Hedge Funds Lagging
Despite reports to the contrary claiming

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Slow Recovery for DeFi Tokens on Positive Crypto Industry Developments: Report

August 1, 2023

It may not seem like it today, with crypto markets tanking, but DeFi assets have been steadily recovering over the past month, according to Glassnode.
On July 31, on-chain analytics platform Glassnode published a report on the state of DeFi tokens amid this year’s regulatory issues.
“Regulatory conditions in 2023 have been a tug-of-war between positive and negative news, with altcoins and DeFi tokens being the most heavily impacted,” it stated.

Regulatory conditions in 2023 have been a tug-of-war between positive and negative news, with altcoins and #DeFi tokens being the most heavily impacted.
With #MKR and #COMP experiencing significant out-performance in recent weeks, we explore how we can extract information from… pic.twitter.com/zkIzfdYbRl
— glassnode (@glassnode)

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Two Thirds of World’s Largest Banks Are Crypto-Friendly: Research

July 30, 2023

According to recent research by CoinGecko, two-thirds of the 30 biggest global banks by assets under management (AUM) support crypto trading through regulated exchanges.
Furthermore, around 74% of the top 50 banks worldwide support crypto trading by connecting to regulated exchanges, the report added.
“However, none support retail crypto trading or on-ramping from respective native platforms.”

1/ How many of the top 30 banks in the world support crypto trading?
66% or 20 out of the 30 biggest global banks by assets under management support crypto trading through regulated exchanges like @Binance and @Coinbase. pic.twitter.com/aI3mC6Rbxx
— CoinGecko (@coingecko) July 27, 2023

Crypto-Friendly Banks
It comes as no surprise whatsoever that the top four non-crypto-friendly

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Avalanche Launches $50 Million Real World Asset Tokenization Initiative

July 26, 2023

On July 25, Avalanche stated that it was on a mission to “pioneer the future of asset tokenization.”
Tokenization is poised to be one of the most impactful blockchain innovations of the next decade, it stated.

Today, the Avalanche Foundation introduces Avalanche Vista, a $50M initiative to pioneer tokenization on #Avalanche
Tokenization is poised to be one of the most impactful blockchain innovations of the next decade, and Avalanche is uniquely equipped to power these systems. pic.twitter.com/ZWy109CMCi
— Avalanche 🔺 (@avax) July 25, 2023

Tokenized RWA on Avalanche
Around $50 million will be allocated to mint tokenized real-world assets on the scalable layer-1 blockchain network.
Avalanche Vista intends to accelerate the growth of tokenization and its role in on-chain

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BAYC Has Tanked 90% as NFT Collection Floor Prices Plummet  

July 3, 2023

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have not recovered anywhere near the levels that crypto markets have. Even the largest collections in the industry, such as Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club, are heavily discounted.
On July 3, Reflexivity Research co-founder Will Clemente revealed that BAYC was down 90% from its all-time high. Floor prices for the Ape-themed NFTs have slumped over the past few days, falling 23% over the last week.
According to NFT marketplace OpenSea, the floor price for the collection is now just below 30 ETH, or around $58,440. This sounds a lot, but it is the lowest it has been in over a year.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection is now down over 90% from its $600K high pic.twitter.com/TZVuXFl9UZ
— Will Clemente (@WClementeIII) July 2, 2023

NFT Activity

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Binance Launches Bitcoin Transaction Accelerator and Teases Layer-2 Solution

June 16, 2023

Binance is also preparing a BNB Chain layer-2 scaling solution to improve network transaction speeds and costs.
Separately, the firm announced on June 15 that Binance Pool has launched a “Bitcoin Transaction Accelerator.”
The new solution will allow users to confirm their transactions on the Bitcoin network quicker regardless of any potential network congestion issues, it noted.
Binance Pool is the exchange’s service platform dedicated to improving the income of BTC miners.
Binance Teasing a Layer-2
The Bitcoin network has struggled under demand for block space recently amid the BRC-20 memecoin minting and ordinal inscriptions craze.

In May, regular users suffered from high transaction fees and a backlog of unconfirmed transactions in the Bitcoin mempool.
The new

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Lido Risk to Ethereum Grows as SEC Targets Exchange Staking Services

June 13, 2023

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is convinced that all crypto assets aside from Bitcoin are securities. Its latest war on crypto exchanges has included staking services, which the regulator seeks to shut down.
This could push more staked ETH out of exchanges and onto the market-leading liquid staking provider Lido. This may sound good, but it poses significant risks to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Lido Staking Risks Exposed
Lido provides liquid staking services for Ethereum as an alternative to self-staking, which is highly technical, and involves exchanges that take substantial commissions.
It has rapidly become the market leader with 7.18 million staked ETH, or 36% of the total 19.6 million staked.
On June 13, Ethereum advocates at ‘Bankless’ sounded the alarm on

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Tether Circulation Hits New Peak as Confidence in Circle Continues to Shrink

June 12, 2023

The stablecoin ecosystem has also been impacted by America’s war on crypto, with a clear divergence happening between the top two issuers.
Tether supply has reached an all-time high of 83.36 billion USDT, according to the firm’s transparency report.  Industry analyst Will Clemente commented:
“The divergence from USDC is striking, reflecting easier access to treasuries for US-based USDC holders and regulatory uncertainty for US-based Circle.
What was once a competitive advantage for USDC is now the opposite,” he added.

Tether in circulation just reached an ATH of $83.35 billion
The divergence from USDC is striking, reflecting easier access to treasuries for US-based USDC holders & regulatory uncertainty for US-based Circle. What was once a competitive advantage for USDC is

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Vitalik Buterin Donates Another $100M to Fund Covid Relief Projects

June 10, 2023

In a rare good news story this week, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed that, along with Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal, he has pledged another $100 million for Covid relief.
On June 9, Buterin said he and Sandeep “discussed and jointly concluded these and other projects are high-impact and need follow-through grants.”
“Hence we decided to put $100 million more to these projects.”
Last year, the pair donated a similar amount through the community-driven Crypto Relief project.

Last year @CryptoRelief_ led by @sandeepnailwal allocated $100m to Covid research projects I wanted to fund
Sandeep and I discussed and jointly concluded these and other projects are high-impact and need follow through grants. Hence we decided to put $100m more to these projects
— vitalik.eth

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Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Pledges ‘Inviolable Right’ to Hold and Use Bitcoin

May 21, 2023

The Democrat candidate for U.S. President took to the “Nakamoto Stage” at the Bitcoin 2023 conference to make some powerful pledges.
Robert F. Kennedy shared his own experiences with Bitcoin stating that he would protect the rights of Americans to hold and use the asset if he is elected president.
“As president, I will make sure that your right to hold and use Bitcoin is inviolable,”
Kennedy went on to add, “I am an ardent defender and lifelong defender of civil liberties, and Bitcoin is both an exercise and a guarantee of those freedoms.”

“As President I will make sure that your right to hold and use Bitcoin is inviolable.” – 🇺🇸 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. #Bitcoin2023 pic.twitter.com/oLtCmhiy3D
— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) May 19, 2023

Bitcoin Is Freedom
The

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UK Crypto Hub Ambitions on Rocks as Treasury Wants to Treat it as Gambling

May 17, 2023

The United Kingdom has grand aspirations of becoming a digital assets hub, just as London already is for traditional finance.
However, those plans are being thwarted by watchdogs and policymakers who want to take a heavy-handed approach to regulation.
On May 17, it was reported that a panel of UK lawmakers said crypto assets should be regulated as gambling “given they are potentially used by fraudsters and pose significant risks to consumers.”
The report from Parliament’s Treasury Committee added that cryptocurrencies are not backed by any currency or asset. This leads to “volatility in prices and the potential for all money invested in them to be wiped out,” according to Reuters.
Crypto is Gambling, Not Finance
It is a similar stance to that taken in the United States,

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OpenAI Boss Sam Altman to Raise $100M for Worldcoin Crypto Project: FT

May 15, 2023

Worldcoin is in advanced talks to raise fresh capital as it nears launch in the next few weeks, according to the Financial Times. The project aims to use iris-scanning technology to create a secure global cryptocurrency called Worldcoin.
Previous investors in Worldcoin include Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and internet entrepreneur Reid Hoffman.
The firm was founded in 2019 and has been working on digital identification technology using retina-scanning orbs.
Furthermore, a $100 million private token sale early last year valued the total supply of the Worldcoin tokens at $3 billion, the report added.
Worldcoin Launch Imminent
Earlier this year, Worldcoin claimed to have surpassed a million signups and between 100 and 200 Orbs operational

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US Customers Can Pay With Ethereum Through PayPal via MetaMask Integration

May 12, 2023

On May 11, MetaMask revealed that it had added PayPal as a payment option for Ethereum purchases. However, the new payment channel is only available to U.S. users.
“MetaMask is the first web3 wallet to enable users to buy ETH using PayPal, a leader in the digital payment space,” it said.
The integration also supports ETH transfers from PayPal to MetaMask, creating more self-custody adoption.
However, many of those responding to the tweet were more interested in when MetaMask would be launching its own token. The firm has urged users to avoid scams for MASK tokens, adding that there are no immediate airdrop plans.

#DYK
MetaMask🦊 is the first web3 wallet to enable users to buy ETH using PayPal!
Get started here👇https://t.co/RGcamJQoQ2
— MetaMask 🦊💙 (@MetaMask) May 11, 2023

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Sotheby’s Auction House Launches Marketplace for Secondary NFT Sales

May 2, 2023

On May 1, the company announced an addition to Sotheby’s Metaverse in the form of a “dynamic destination to collect, buy, and sell remarkable digital works.”
The blockchain-based NFT marketplace will be primarily for secondary sales of digital art. According to the announcement, the marketplace will feature a rotating, curated selection of leading artists hand-picked by Sotheby’s specialists.
They will provide “expert guidance and context for each work, from thematic presentations to artist spotlights, for an easy-to-navigate experience designed for discovery.”

The next evolution of #SothebysMetaverse is here! The most trusted and dynamic destination to collect, buy and sell remarkable digital works.
Explore: https://t.co/hZvYIkO3xx pic.twitter.com/dCkaCKlXVm
— Sotheby’s

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Bitcoin Daily Transaction Count Nears All-Time High on Ordinals Revival

May 1, 2023

The Bitcoin ordinal inscription craze is back, and network transactions are surging as a result. On May 1, on-chain analytics provider Glassnode reported that daily transactions were approaching peak levels.
The 30-day moving average for the metric had reached 348,700 daily transactions. Furthermore, the peak level was measured in 2017 when it reached 379,000 transactions per day on average.
However, these figures are taken from moving averages. According to Blockchain.com, the actual daily transaction count spiked to 426,814 on April 30. It has increased by more than 70% since the beginning of the year.

#Bitcoin daily transaction counts are approaching All-time-highs, seeing an explosive uptick in 2023.
With the emergence of Inscriptions, analysts now need to assess how

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