DOGE VS. SHIB | FACEBOOK ENTERS THE METAVERSE

DOG COIN WARS AND ETHER’S NEW HIGH

Quite a week for canine-themed cryptocurrencies. The Shiba Inu (SHIB) coin soared to a new all-time high Wednesday morning on growing, though unrequited, clamor for Robinhood to list it on its platform. More than 400,000 people signed a Change.org petition. SHIB’s price explosion stirred up the action for its main competitor, Dogecoin (DOGE). The two tokens kept flipping each other in market capitalization, posting double-digit gains on the way, with DOGE coming out on top for now. Meanwhile, ether set a new price record above $4,400, topping the previous record of $4,379.62 in May. On Wednesday, Ethereum welcomed its latest upgrade—one in a series of measures designed to ensure the network’s transition from the current proof of work to a more energy efficient proof of stake mechanism. 

Source: Messari . Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on October 29, 2021.

MASTERCARD GROWS ITS CRYPTO CREDENTIALS

On Monday, the credit card juggernaut announced a partnership with Bakkt, a crypto firm recently spun off by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange, to begin offering cryptocurrency products and services to its partners in the United States. As a result of the partnership, companies will be able to offer cryptocurrency as rewards for transactions, in lieu of traditional loyalty points, and customers will be able to spend their crypto holdings to pay for purchases. Banks will also be able to issue cryptocurrency debit and credit cards, similar to the crypto-linked cards already offered by Visa.

Though Mastercard’s stock ticked up just 0.4% following the announcement, shares of Bakkt, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last week, skyrocketed more than 230% the same day, lifting the three-year-old company’s market capitalization to about $850 million. As of Friday morning, Bakkt’s stock is nearly 20% down since Monday highs.

FACEBOOK → META

It’s official. In a move that many saw as a distraction from multiple scandals surrounding the social media giant, Facebook has changed its name to Meta to reflect its focus on metaverse. “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and identity on what we’re building toward,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the Facebook Connect virtual reality conference Thursday. On the announcement, the market capitalization of metaverse-linked tokens shot up by more than 250%. Beginning December 1, Facebook’s stock ticker will change to MVRS. During a quarterly earnings call earlier this week, Zuckerberg announced that the company will be pouring more than $10 billion into its metaverse division.

BLOCKCHAIN 50 LAST CALL FOR 2022 NOMINATIONS

Over the first three years of the Forbes Blockchain 50, Forbes’ list of billion-dollar companies making meaningful use of the technology popularized by bitcoin, has become a bellwether of institutional adoption. The list shines light on how large corporations—often household names like Walmart and Novartis—are using blockchain tech to improve business processes and become more efficient and profitable. Now is your chance to help us find the best possible honorees for next year. Submit a nomination here and help us spread the word using #Blockchain50 on Twitter. The deadline is next Friday, November 5.

ELSEWHERE

An NFT Just Sold for $532 Million, But Didn’t Really Sell At All [Bloomberg]

Wharton Business School to Accept Tuition Payment in Bitcoin, Ethereum [Decrypt]

MicroStrategy Beats Estimates for Earnings, Revenue, Buys 8,957 Bitcoins In Q3 [Blockworks]  

Steven Ehrlich
Editor 
Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor

Nina Bambysheva
Reporter
Forbes Money & Markets

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