Crypto Flipsider News – Bitcoin Taproot Goes Live, SHIB Gets New Listings, Forte Raises $725M, Opensea’s Volumes Double

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Bitcoin’s Taproot Is Live amid High Expectations, BTC Hailed as a Hedge Against Inflation
Gemini Lists Shiba Inu (SHIB), Kraken Drops Hint of Possible Listing
Daily Trade Volume of OpenSea Doubles, Google Searches for NFTs Hit All-Time High
B2B Companies Want Cross-Border Payments but Are Unconvinced about Crypto
Forte Raises $725 Million in Series B Funding

Bitcoin’s Taproot Is Live amid High Expectations, BTC Hailed as a Hedge Against Inflation

After waiting four years, thanks to Taproot, Bitcoin enthusiasts finally have an upgrade to celebrate. On Sunday, November 4, Taproot, the long-anticipated Bitcoin upgrade, was activated at block 709,632.

Thanks to Taproot, the Bitcoin network now supports greater transaction privacy and efficiency. The network will also be faster, with cheaper transaction fees. However, the most anticipated part of Taproot has been the unlocking of smart contract potential on the network.

As Bitcoin’s upgrade goes live, experts have predicted a rally for the crypto, expecting BTC to surpass $70k before the end of November. However, Bitcoin has consolidated between $64k and $66k. At the time of this writing, BTC trades at $65,810.

The five-day price chart of Bitcoin (BTC). Source: Tradingview

With Bitcoin’s strong performance in 2021, it has emerged as the best inflation hedge for investors. With a record 99.9% deflation over the last year, it’s clear why the institutional inflow into Bitcoin has steadily risen in 2021.

Flipsider:

The Taproot launch did not come with the price rally many investors expected, at least not yet.

Why You Should Care

Having had to wait since June, Bitcoin users can now access the potential of smart contracts, and bypass middlemen from transactions.

Gemini Lists Shiba Inu (SHIB), Kraken Drops Hint as Possible Listing

Trending meme coin Shiba Inu has yet another win to celebrate as Gemini joins the growing list of exchanges to list Shiba Inu (SHIB). Gemini now joins the likes of Binance and KuCoin to list the token.

On November 12, the Shiba Army was treated to the listing from Gemini. The exchange added SHIB among a barrage of other assets, including Audius (AUDIO), Mask Network (MASK), Wrapped Centrifuge (wCFG), Quant (QNT), Radicle (RAD), Burn (ASH), SuperRare (RARE), Fetch AI (FET), and Numeraire (NMR).

Brian Hoffman, Kraken’s product lead, has also teased a Shiba launch on Kraken this week. On November 1, Kraken announced that it would list SHIB if their tweet got 2,000 likes.

@brianchoffman said if we get 2,000 likes we will list $SHIB tomorrow - but he doesn't think we can do it.#SHIBArmy where you at?

— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) November 1, 2021

Despite getting over 83,600 likes, Kraken is yet to list SHIB. However, Hoffman has now tweeted that he is “feeling good” about the week, adding a GIF that depicts a Shiba Inu dog typing on a laptop.

Flipsider:

Despite the petition for SHIB to be listed on Robinhood accruing over 500,000 signatures, it is yet to be listed on the platform

Why You Should Care

The increasing number of exchanges where Shiba Inu (SHIB) is available should increase the liquidity of the asset and could help the price of SHIB.

Daily Trade Volume of OpenSea Doubles, Google Searches for NFTs Hit All-Time High

Less than a week after crossing the $10 billion mark, the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, has doubled its daily trade volume. The increase comes along with a surge in demand for Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, sending sales up by more than 900%.

According to Dune Analytics, Ethereum traded daily on NFT marketplace OpenSea has jumped from around $48 million to $105 million. The last time sales hit the $100 million mark was on October 25%.

The new record of OpenSea is fueled by a larger global interest in non-fungible tokens. According to a new report, the worldwide searches on Google for NFTs have hit a new all-time high. China leads the way with a factor of 100, with Singapore and Hong Kong at 76 and 65, respectively.

In addition, “GeckoCon- NFTs Gone Wild,” one of the biggest NFT conferences, is scheduled to be held between November 17 and 19. The conference will see industry leaders gather to shed light on this fascinating sector.

Flipsider:

OpenSea has faced criticism for insider trading and bugs that allowed the theft and creation of malware-like NFTs

Why You Should Care

The growing interest in NFTs has quelled the earlier assumptions that NFTs were just a bubble about to burst.

B2B Companies Want Cross-Border Payments but Are Unconvinced about Crypto

In the last year, we have seen a surge in the adoption of cryptocurrencies. By all accounts, the increasing demand for crypto has prepared cryptos for a strong entrance into business-to-business (B2B) trades.

According to a joint study conducted by Invoiced and PaymentsNEXT, B2B companies want the ease of cross-border payments digital assets provide. However, 59% of those respondents are still doubtful about cryptocurrency as a method for payment.

The majority of these firms attributed the lack of comfort as their greatest impediment towards accepting cryptos. The result was drawn from the responses of 269 finance professionals from August 2021.

Flipsider:

2% of B2B respondents have embraced crypto funds at this point, while 39% showed general intention to accept digital money at some point.

Why You Should Care

For cryptocurrencies to achieve global adoption, there has to be an all-inclusive adoption in every sector, including B2B.

Forte Raises $725 Million in Series B Funding

Forte, a platform gaming publishers use to integrate blockchain technology into their games, has completed one of the biggest funding rounds in 2021. The blockchain company has raised $725 million in a Series B funding round.

The funding round was co-led by Sea Capital and Kora Management. Participants include Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, Solana Ventures, Polygon Studios, Cosmos, Animoca Brands, and Warner Music Group.

The completion of this round means that Forte has more than $900 million raised in 2021. The funds will be used to expand Forte’s products and services and speed up the onboarding of emerging game and content publishers.