Death Of Facebook’s Diem | YouTube Explores NFTs

“KEEP CALM AND HODL”

At this week’s low, bitcoin was nearly 50% down from its November 10 all-time high. This is now the second worst selloff since the 2018-2020 bear market, eclipsed only by July 2021, where the market fell 54% from the April peaks, notes crypto market intelligence firm Glassnode. However, according to data from cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, the number of coins held for less than six months has dropped to all-time lows of 23.7%, “suggesting that long-term holding sentiment remains strong despite recent price performance.” Still, crypto and other risk assets remain under pressure. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve confirmed that it would begin raising interest rates come March to fight surging inflation.

BYE, BYE, DIEM

Facebook’s ambitions to launch its own digital currency are coming to an end. The Diem Association, set up by Facebook (now Meta) in 2019 to manage what, it hoped, would become a global stablecoin (then introduced as Libra), is reportedly winding down and selling its technology to the California-based Silvergate Capital for about $200 million. Initially backed by e-commerce and payments giants, including PayPal, Visa and Stripe, Libra had quickly met resistance from regulators, who raised concerns about its potential effect on financial stability and data privacy. The powerful backers eventually dropped out, as did many of the employees working on the project, including its founder David Marcus, who left the company late last year. The social media juggernaut is now rushing into the metaverse—a loosely described network of interconnected immersive virtual worlds.

Source: Messari. Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on January 28, 2022.

YOUTUBE IS EXPLORING NFTS, KEEPING TAB ON WEB3

YouTube is considering offering non-fungible token features as a new source of revenue for its creators, company CEO Susan Wojcicki said in her annual letter to creators Tuesday, which comes as its rivals such as Twitter and Meta have already tapped into the growing market. Wojcicki said the company is focused on helping creators “capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs,” and if it materializes, it will mark YouTube’s parent company Alphabet’s first entry into the market.

THE MAKING OF A CRYPTO CUSTODY EMPIRE

Institutional crypto custody provider Fireblocks has raised a massive $550 million Series E venture capital round, co-led by D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital, which values the company at $8 billion. Just in July, the New York-based startup, which helps the likes of BNYMellon, Revolut, Galaxy Digital and Crypto.com issue, store and move about $215 billion worth of digital assets a month, was worth $2 billion. With fresh capital, Fireblocks is planning to “heavily invest in innovation for DeFi, NFTs and payments,” including possible acquisitions, says cofounder Michael Shaulov. Additionally, the funds should help the firm “catch up” with its rapidly growing client base, which went from 150 to 800 institutional customers in the span of a year.

ELSEWHERE

Drop Bitcoin As Legal Tender, IMF Urges El Salvador [CNBC]

FTX.US Scores $8 Billion Valuation In Its First Funding Round [The Block]

Crypto Secrecy Makes DeFi A Financial Felon’s Wonderland [Bloomberg]  

Steven Ehrlich
Editor 
Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor

Nina Bambysheva
Reporter
Forbes Money & Markets

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