The Fed Funds Rate Hike and Solana's CryptoPanties

Bitcoin sees biggest single-day gain in six weeks. But could that be a fakeout?

Ethereum is the most-trending cryptocurrency. The Merge has everyone talking, and anticipating. The blockchain only has one testnet to go before completing its Merge. Its Mainnet Shadow Fork 10 recently went live.

The SEC lost its attempt at barring XRP holders from introducing talking points in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit. The SEC is trying every lawyer’s trick in its playbook to bully Ripple into submission. But Ripple isn’t folding.

Meta has lost $2.8 billion building the metaverse. But it’s not over yet. Mark Zuckerberg talks about the long-term vision for the metaverse in Meta’s Q2 earnings call.

Ark Invest dumps 1.4 million Coinbase shares. The crypto exchange is involved in a hotly contested SEC investigation over whether its token listings are securities and it could have some chilling effects on crypto. Of course, Coinbase has an artful interpretation of the SEC’s vague rules. “Vague” is an understatement. The Coinbase investigation and Ripple lawsuit will have serious ramifications on the entire crypto industry for years to come. Congress needs to clarify the rules with legislation and take into account that crypto assets do not fit nicely into current financial asset definitions. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA’s) is an overarching regulatory agency for all things finance. That means crypto, by default, falls into the FCA’s domain. It isn’t that easy in the U.S.

News of the week: The Fed raised the funds rate a full quarter percent. Here’s how it’s impacting cryptocurrencies. What the heads are saying:

Mikkel Mørch, executive director at ARK36

Major crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, have actually rallied in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. This may suggest that market participants were actually quite fearful of the 100 bps and sighed with relief when the raise aligned with the consensus. Since the next hike doesn't come until September, there may be some room for upside now - although that will be contingent on the strength of the dollar and the wider macro environment.”

Damian Scavo, CEO at Streetbeat

It's very interesting also to see how crypto is starting to correlate with the stock market and in general, with the planetary economy. It means that the crypto market is reaching a certain level of maturity.

Chris Terry, BPSAA Board Member and VP Enterprise Solutions at SmartFi

We anticipate that Bitcoin will continue to trade in this tight range of $20,000 plus or minus 10-15%.

Tether refutes claim that 85 percent of portfolio is backed by Chinese commercial paper. If Tether has been transparent from the get-go, they would have to refute rumors.

Binance supports new Terra upgrade.

Unstoppable Domains is now valued at $1 billion after a $65 million raise led by Pantera. Unstoppable Domains is the leading cross-chain NFT domain name provider on the planet and will be for a long time.

New MetaMask feature could be dangerous. I would be super-reluctant to use this feature. As my grandson says, it’s a trap.

Solana has a new fashion NFT project called CryptoPanties. Created by the Swedish band Rave Review, it’s ecofriendly. If you’ve always wanted to own a pair of panties inspired by the likes of Oprah and Madonna, here’s your chance. What more could a perv ask for?

Speaking of Solana, Leo Finance now has a Solana community for those who are simply infatuated. They’re also opening a physical store in New York City.

Apple and Google draw Congressional attention for “scammy crypto apps.”

Trustless Media pulled in FTX as a lead investor in its Web3 community-owned media hub.

Apple is looking for Web3-savvy marketing directors. If this wasn’t Apple, I might be tempted.

What are semi-fungible tokens? Hint: It involves Solana and Magic Eden.

Is .eth the new .com? If Jimmy Fallon has one, we should all have one. (nervous chuckle)

Former Amazonian creates a climate-friendly marketplace for NFT sales.

Employees are more concerned about working in the metaverse than their bosses are.

Some of the fine folks at Hive have taken it upon themselves to tell the story of the Steemit-Hive hard folk on film.

How should states tax NFT sales?

Immutable lays off staff despite growth.

A new Russell Crowe film was partially funded by NFTs.

Cuban NFT artists claim censorship.

Snark and commentary in italics.

Cryptocracy is a decentralized newsletter published several times a week. I curate the latest news and crypto analysis from some of the brightest minds in crypto, and sometimes offer a little insightful and snarky commentary. Always fresh, always interesting, and always crypto.

First published at Cryptocracy. Not to be construed as financial advice. Do your own research.

Image credit: PVMihalache at Read.Cash