DeFi

In the wake of recent war events around the world, we have been able to realize how important cryptocurrencies can be, as we have witnessed uninterrupted monetary support in the form of cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH and tokens such as NFT. Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Alex Bornyakov in a way to be able to support his nation in this complicated time, has announced the sale of cryptopunk #5364 for 90 Ethereums (ETH)which had been received as a donation on April 20, 2022. The NFT CryptoPunk #5364 was donated by user 0x165cd3 in the campaign that was run known as Aid For Ukraine. Initially, the NFT was worth 16.19 ETH, which at the time was worth USD 31,722, but shortly after the NFT was donated to Ukraine it received an offer to buy it for 100 ETH being the highest offer it has ever received. But it wasn’t until recently that Ukraine decided to sell CryptoPunk #5364 for 90 ETH, valued at USD 102,640 in the bear market we currently have. While NFT may have decided to sell due to these same declines, then better to take advantage of it now. Ukraine is the third non-EU country, after Norway and Liechtenstein, to join the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) as an observer. Following this step, the country plans to expand its interstate blockchain network partnership with other countries looking at ways to implement cross-border public services based on blockchain technology, something we expect to see in the future with more countries as blockchain technology grows in popularity. More however this NFT has not been the first to support Ukraine, as crypto donations during the Russia-Ukraine war proved to be important support raising over $600,000 through NFT, which will be used as war bonds to rebuild the country’s museums, theaters, and other cultural institutions that have been destroyed in the Russian invasion. Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s deputy prime minister, tweeted that “while Russia uses tanks to destroy Ukraine, they rely on revolutionary blockchaintechnology.” Another example is that Ukraine’s MetaHistory NFT-Museum in less than a day sold 1,282 works of art for 190 ETH These NFT illustrate the history of the Russian invasion of the country, these being the remains of buildings, fallen soldiers, and burning flags, all displayed as NFTs In these difficult times, we can see the true potential and power that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology can have beyond just generating money for us, but can serve as a boon across borders. So the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signed The Law on Virtual Assets which allows foreign and Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchanges to operate legally in the country.

In May, the Terra USD cryptocurrency caused the market to collapse, leaving concerns, extreme fear, and distrust in cryptocurrency projects. Many people opted to start withdrawing their investments causing lows in coins like bitcoin that had not been seen in a while. Now, this past week we have seen a new drop-in cryptocurrency project which has left bitcoin at an all-time low that it has not been at since 2019. This has happened because cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network left 1.7 million users unable to redeem and withdraw their assets as they made the decision to freeze withdrawals in bitcoin, excusing themselves on “extreme” market conditions, thus highlighting one of the biggest mistrusts in the cryptocurrency industry: Weak collateral for investors. Now looking at the legality framework part, cryptocurrency platforms like Celsius Network are always seeking to be regulated by the US market, but they always run into roadblocks and have been too slow to provide the clarity needed to protect users, but expect that to change soon. As extra context, crypto lender platforms like celsius network collect crypto deposits of bitcoin or any cryptocurrency from retail customers and reinvest them. Sometimes with very good returns to be true double digits, these products have attracted tens of billions of dollars in assets. However, with its investments worsening amid the cryptocurrency market downturn, especially bitcoin, Celsius was unable to pay out refunds. As a result, its clients had little visibility into how their assets were invested and it is unclear whether they will get them back. Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky tweeted Wednesday that the company is focusing on customer concerns “Investors want to know their assets are safe,” said Mike Belshe, chief executive of BitGo, a digital asset trust company. “We’re going to see a shakeout of healthy companies that manage risk well.” Here at The Blue Manakin, we are always out to educate and stay on top of what’s happening in the crypto world. We always remember the importance of researching where we put our money, and everything that backs a project on the blockchain, be this the people behind it, especially in your marketing company, we have years of experience to back us up