Crypto Flipsider News – August 30th – Solana, Ethereum, Dubai, Honduras, Binance, CryptoPunks, Mutant Apes, Bored Apes

Solana’s rally continues: $100 milestone surpassed.
ETH-based products increase by 72.8%.
Government updates: Dubai, Honduras, China.
Binance removes the Norwegian Krone, listing new coins and future contracts.
NFT News: CryptoPunks, Mutant Apes, Bored Apes, Stephen Curry, OpenSea, Invisible Rock.

Solana’s Rally Continues: $100 Milestone Surpassed

Solana (SOL) broke the historic level of $100 today. The Ethereum competitor rallied over 10% within 24 hours to test the new ATH of $100.84. The total value locked on Solana reached a new high with $3.04B, as shared by WuBlockchain today.

Solana’s impressive spurt started on August 15th, since which SOL’s value has increased by over 126%.

The project recently came into the sights of institutional investors, witnessing large inflows of institutional money during August.

New York-based Osprey Funds registered the Osprey Solana Trust with the SEC last week, making it the first-ever private Solana investment offering in the States.

Flipsider:

Over 40% of SOL’s token supply is not in circulation yet.
Solana is not alone in the field of ETH killers: Cardano’s smart contracts are expected to come into effect on September 12th.

ETH-Based Products Increase by 72.8%

Ethereum (ETH) has arguably become the most sought-after network in the crypto space due to some of the features it has to offer. Ether, and ETH-based products, have gained significant momentum after the London upgrade and the rise of the NFT market. This has led to Ethereum-based products reaching $13.8 billion after a 72.8% monthly growth.

According to CryptoCompare, Ethereum’s total market share stands at 25.2%, which is so far the highest level reached this year.

Flipsider:

It looks like NFTs are really paying off for some as the sales have continued to rise while NFTs are on a hype train. However, it is only a matter of time until we see if NFTs offer long-term value and benefits for businesses.

Government Updates: Dubai, Honduras, China

UAE: Bittrex Global’s chief executive officer has said that Dubai can benefit from the growing cryptocurrency market in the Middle East, as Dubai’s regulators push towards acceptance of blockchain-based technologies. As Stephen Stonberg, CEO of digital assets exchange, pointed out, the United Arab Emirates and Dubai are “doing all the right things’’ to attract a lot of regional projects. Overall Dubai is shaping up to be a great place to set up a cryptocurrency exchange due to the region’s status as a tax free locale.
Honduras: Honduras has installed its first cryptocurrency ATM as demand for digital assets continues to grow. As neighboring El Salvador pushes to make bitcoin legal tender, Honduras refuses to be left behind. Honduran firm TGU Consulting Group, will provide the facilities to convert local currency, Lempira, into bitcoin and Ethereum.
China: China is aiming to build an international clearing and settlement network for mobile payments using the digital yuan. China also wants to use the digital yuan to enrich the monitoring and early warning capacity of cross-border flows of the yuan.

Flipsider:

While some countries, like the United Arab Emirates and Honduras, see great potential in wading into the crypto market, China persists with its “special” approach. The nation currently has arguably the most solid plan for the use and distribution of blockchain-adjacent and centralized digital currency such as Digital Yuan. As the coin has the support of the government and the People’s Bank of China, the coin could have great potential to create a strong “cashless nation.”

Binance Removes the Norwegian Krone, Listing New Coins and Future Contracts

The World’s biggest crypto exchange has removed Norwegian Krone (NOK) trading pairs, payments, Krone payment options, and also Norwegian language website support. The Financial regulator of the world’s most cashless country warned users of risks related to cryptocurrencies back in June.

Binance has today added Gnosis (GNO), a project which builds new market mechanisms for DeFi.

Binance Futures launches new Automata Network (ATA) Tether (USDT) perpetual contract tomorrow. Automata Network is a decentralised service protocol that helps to maintain privacy for dApps on Ethereum and Polkadot.

Flipsider:

Binance tightened its customer verification requirements earlier this month. However, the exchange is still subject to multiple regulatory warnings worldwide, mostly because Binance operates without the required legal registrations.

NFT News: CryptoPunks, Mutant Apes, Bored Apes, Stephen Curry, OpenSea, Invisible Rock

The NFT market is still gaining momentum. Impressively enough, the trade volume numbers are only growing. Considering the longevity of this boom, some people become more skeptical of the phenomenon. However, while there’s plenty of NFT news being received every day, let’s check most prominent pieces:

OpenSea’s monthly trading volume has surpassed $2 billion.

The biggest NFT marketplace hit $2.3 billion in August by trading volume. This is colossal when compared with July, when it had managed just over $300 million.

CryptoPunks are becoming more and more expensive.

Now, the lowest price for an NFT of punks exceeds 100 ETH, which is around $350,000 for now, although the most expensive CryptoPunk available for purchase is estimated to be $3.61 TRILLION.

Mutant Ape NFT owner made a mistake and sold the digital art for 17 USDC instead of 17 ETH.

Some lucky person paid only $17, instead of the intended $54,000. The initial holder spent around 2.87 ETH, or $9,000, to mint the NFT, while the user who first purchased the NFT resold it for 5 ETH, or $16,000.

Famous NBA star Stephen Curry, showed his Bored Ape NFT on his Twitter account.

The basketballer changes his avatar picture to the Bored Ape. For now, the digital art’s value is estimated to be almost 40 ETH, which is approximately $128,000 at this moment.

An invisible rock NFT was sold for 4 ETH ($13,000).

This is not the most expensive NFT ever sold. On the other hand, NFTs seem to have taken the approach of modern art: just a month ago, an Italian sold an “Invisible Sculpture” for $18,300. It’s interesting to see the evolution of NFTs. By the way, this is not even the most expensive invisible NFT, as that one was auctioned for 33 ETH, or $104,000.

Flipsider:

Although the NFT market is now rising exponentially, people have become divided into two groups: the first believes that NFTs are completely separate from crypto, and now exists in its own category, the other yet expects this bubble to pop.