Crypto Flipsider News – Luna Purchases 6,000 BTC, Coinbase Adds Cardano Staking Rewards, ADA Rallies, El Salvador to Tap Binance for Bitcoin Adoption, Meta Files 8 Crypto and Web3 Patents, PUBG Creator Signs Agreement with Solana

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Luna Foundation Purchases 6,000 BTC to Back Its UST Stablecoin

Coinbase Adds Cardano Staking Rewards, ADA Jumps 15% to New High

El Salvador to Tap Binance for Bitcoin Adoption, U.S. Senators Raise Flag About El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment

Meta Files 8 Crypto and Web 3 Patent Applications, South Korea SK Group to Issue a Crypto

PUBG Creator, Krafton, Signs Long-Term Agreement with Solana Labs

Luna Foundation Purchases 6,000 BTC to Back Its UST Stablecoin

As Bitcoin continues to stage a comeback, Luna Foundation, the organization behind the top-performing popular Terra (LUNA) and the Terra ecosystem, has confirmed the purchase of 6,000 Bitcoin, worth approximately $250 million.

The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) had previously explained that the Bitcoin would be used to back the UST, a stablecoin issued by Terra. According to the LFG, the BTC will be wrapped on Cosmos and deposited in smart contracts supporting the algorithmic stablecoin.

The Luna Foundation looks to secure its ecosystem by backing its UST reserves with Bitcoin by holding a less correlated asset, a replication of countries backing their currencies by other assets, most often gold.

The news comes just days after Terra founder Do Kwon hinted that the project would purchase $3 billion worth of Bitcoin for its stablecoin reserves. If this holds true, the Luna Foundation could purchase more Bitcoin in the future.

Flipsider:

The large-scale purchase of Bitcoin has raised further questions about the decentralization of the Terra ecosystem.

Why You Should Care

Backing the Terra ecosystem with Bitcoin reduces its chances of failure, as the underlying value comes from another asset.

Coinbase Adds Cardano Staking Rewards, ADA Jumps 15% to New High

Coinbase, the biggest U.S. crypto exchange, continues its listing spree, this time adding staking support for ADA, Cardano’s native token. The current estimated annual return for ADA staking on Coinbase is around 3.75% APY.

Since the announcement was made, Pool.com reported that 23 new Cardano pools were created in less than 24 hours. These new Cardano pools saw 1.5 billion ADA coins staked, bringing the total staked ADA close to 74%.

The news comes shortly after Cardano was included with the highest allocation in Grayscale’s new smart contract fund. The wave of events has set ADA on an uptrend, with the coin gaining more than 15% over the last 24 hours.

The 24-hour price chart of Cardano (ADA). Source: Tradingview

Over the last seven days, ADA has gained 37%, the biggest gainer among the top 20 cryptos. In the process, ADA peaked at $1.15, its highest value in six weeks. Cardano now has a market cap of $38.8 billion and is the 7th largest crypto.

The seven-day price chart of Cardano (ADA). Source: Tradingview

Flipsider:

The listing spree of Coinbase has seen the exchange slammed with a lawsuit for listing 79 unlicensed securities.

Why You Should Care

Cardano’s rally is driven by significant developments, as its developers consistently make optimizations to improve the performance of its blockchain.

El Salvador to Tap Binance for Bitcoin Adoption, U.S. Senators Raise Flag About El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has announced that he will be meeting with Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance. However, President Bukele says the meeting will not be about the Bitcoin bond, as it would be issued by Bitfinex.

The meeting revolves around El Salvador’s implementation of Bitcoin as a legal tender. The Central American country is seeking help fostering greater Bitcoin adoption in the country.

Flipsider:

Raising concerns about El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment, some U.S. senators have passed a bill to monitor the impact of the nation’s Bitcoin laws on the United States.

Since El Salvador uses the USD as its legal tender, the bill also wants to examine the “potential for reduced use by El Salvador of the United States dollar.”

Why You Should Care

Despite the critics, President Bukele still bets big on Bitcoin and has said the reason for the delay in bond issuance was because of internal pension reform.

Meta Files 8 Crypto and Web 3 Patent Applications, South Korea SK Group to Issue a Crypto

Since Meta, formerly Facebook, teased its metaverse in October 2021, almost every megacorporation has filed for a trademark application in the metaverse. Meta has now filed eight trademark applications relating to blockchain and its proposed metaverse.

Meta’s field of interest includes Web3, gaming, e-commerce, blockchain transactions, virtual reality entertainment, AR/VR advertisement, online social networking, and dating services, among others.

South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, SK Group, has announced that it is preparing to issue its own cryptocurrency through the firm’s investment arm, SK Square. SK Square will also build a blockchain service for its partners to aid crypto issuance.

The finance giants are looking to establish a virtual economy to link their group of ICT businesses. The company will become the first subsidiary among the top 10 South Korean conglomerates to develop a native crypto token.

Flipsider:

Despite making the metaverse concept more popular, ex-Nintendo boss warns that Meta’s metaverse ‘will fail.’

PUBG Creator, Krafton, Signs Long-Term Agreement with Solana Labs

Krafton, the gaming company behind the popular battle royale game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), on Wednesday, announced a long-term agreement with Solana Labs. Krafton looks to explore Web3 gaming, NFT assets, and the crypto ecosystems.

The South Korea-based gaming company announced in the press release that its plans for the Solana Labs partnership include the “development and operation of blockchain and NFT-based games and services.”

The agreement gives Krafton official rights to begin developing blockchain games on Solana networks. It may also see Solana integrate Krafton’s games into the Solana ecosystem.