Web3 on Fire: $BLUR is here, BUSD...eh, not so much...

GM, frens! Ambire here with our weekly newsletter. Today we’ll be talking about what happened during the week, including: NYDFS clamping down on BUSD, 3AC's new exchange, Axie Infinity slowly reviving, BTC adoption rising through NFTs and the recent BLUR airdrop.

Let's get down to it:

NYDFS clamps down on BUSD

NYDFS (The New York Department of Financial Services) has recently ordered Paxos Trust Co. last to stop issuing their popular dollar-pegged cryptocurrency BUSD, which is managed by Paxos. This order has come as part of the government's increasing focus on providing more *oversight* in the cryptocurrency sector.

The BUSD token is one of the largest of its kind, and this clampdown could have a major impact on the industry as a whole. Despite being ordered to stop creating new tokens, Paxos will still be able to manage redemptions of the product. This was confirmed in a statement released by Binance.

It is evident that NYDFS is taking greater steps to make sure your crypto investments are safe ruined. In the coming weeks, it's going to be very important to keep watch for further announcements from the government to make sure you're up to date.

CZ mentioned during a recent Binance AMA that in the future, instead of relying on US dollar-based stablecoins, crypto industry will probably start using euro, yen, or Singapore dollar based stablecoins. (Binance AMA twitter spaces)

CZ also talked about the potential role of algorithmic stablecoins in the future of crypto and the risks associated with their use. He believes that these risks need to be made transparently available to users, so they can make informed decisions when choosing a stablecoin.

What's going to happen next? Will the crypto industry move away from US dollars and embrace a new era of algorithmic stablecoins? No one can tell for sure, but it's clear that CZ is laying the groundwork for what's to come. Hopefully, the crypto industry will be able to safely and securely transition into this new phase.

Crypto community is up in arms about 3AC's new exchange

3AC's new exchange has been nothing short of a public relations disaster. Instead of the expected flood of sign-ups, it has received a torrent of criticism from angry crypto enthusiasts.

3AC and Coinflex's new platform is called Open Exchange, but with the amount of vitriol it has received, it might as well be called ... "Closed Exchange" 🥁. The idea is that the exchange will allow users to trade claims and derivatives, something that many in the crypto community have been asking for. However, it seems that the dissatisfaction with 3AC is far greater than the demand for this service.

From the harsh words on Twitter to the disappointed comments in Reddit threads, it seems that 3AC has failed to convince the crypto community of its good intentions.

Zhu Su, the founder of 3AC, had hoped that the project would be a way for the company to make amends for its past misdeeds. However, it seems that the crypto community is not yet ready to forgive and forget. It's now up to him to devise a plan to win back the hearts and minds of crypto users.

Season 2 brings the bulls back to Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is on the rebound, the token is on a tear, and traders are overjoyed. After a hellish 2022, AXS is at a five-month high, which has investors thrilled.

On Jan. 23, the AXS token price was up over 100%, providing a much-needed and long-awaited relief from the disappointment of last year. AXS holders are probably bullish on the future of this project, and if VicTree is to be believed, they have plenty of reasons to be so.

Axie has recently announced its Season 2, which is set to bring some significant changes and improvements to the game. These changes are sure to attract more users, which should increase the value of the token even more. One of these features is the introduction of the Eras system, which will vary the opportunities to breed and battle pets depending on the status of a given era.

It's going to be an exciting year for Axie and its fans. The new season should bring more users, more trading, and a whole lot of fun so there's plenty to look forward to.

Blur airdrop craze

BLUR's airdrop the other day turned out to be a complete spectacle as grifters and freeloaders of all kinds have gathered for their chance to get rich quick. Blur launched last year and through these kinds of events has managed to surpass OpenSea by trading volume, although long term it might be a different story.

This is not the first time Blur is airdropping tokens, the first time the traders had to list an NFT in order to claim rewards. This time around it went pretty much the same way, although the difference is that the users exploited this formula to the fullest, racing to list, buy and stake as many NFTs as possible. Of course, some used scripts, bots and additional programs to max out on their rewards.

The result? The top *claimant* managed to walk away with over $1.9 million worth of BLUR tokens, leaving everyone else scratching their heads and wondering what just happened.

It's unclear who this top claimant is, but based on their activity it looks like they're a high roller in the NFT space, trading Other Side and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs for some serious amounts of money. A look at the trading activity from the wallet shows that the holder has been buying and selling loads of the same NFTs over and over again, suggesting an effort to manipulate the Blur reward model.

The token price of course crashed shortly after the airdrop, down 88% from its peak at one point. This is a pretty clear indication that the event was driven by speculators and only time will tell if this airdrop was just another blip in the crypto space or something more enduring.

Research corner: BTC's Taproot gets record adoption rates thanks to NFTs

According to Glassnode, the Taproot BTC upgrade which went live back in November 2021 seems to be doing very well, as its adoption and utilization rates recently hit an ATH due to miners and users alike taking advantage of its features.

One of the new projects that utilized this feature was Ordinals which allowed users to attach images, videos, and other types of data to their BTC transactions. Basically, it made NFTs possible on the blockchain and it seems that the market is loving it.

It's important to note, however, that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The industry is full of innovative projects and technology advancements ыщ we can look forward to some incredible advancements in the blockchain tech over the coming years. If we're lucky, it won't all be about moonboys and cashing out Xs, but rather real and meaningful implementations of the technology that will benefit us all.

The fun page - our weekly meme collection

That's all for now, frens.

We'll see you next week. And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

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