Here’s your crypto highlights of the week in less than 5 minutes.
MENA region leads the crypto growth
Users based in the Middle East and North Africa region received $566 billion in cryptocurrencies from July 2021 to June 2022, which represents a 48% increase on yearly basis. According to a report yet to be released by Chainalysis, MENA has been the fastest-growing region in crypto adoption, followed by Latin America (40%) and North America (36%). The report preview also shows that Egypt has been the fastest growing market, where cryptocurrencies are benefiting from the increased inflationary pressures and the growing crypto remittances. Saudi Arabia stands as the third largest market for crypto in the region, while the UAE is the fifth.
In a statement to Chainalysis, Akos Erzse, Senior Manager for Public Policy at BitOasis, said that the adoption of crypto in GCC countries is “driven by young, tech-savvy early adopters with relatively high disposable incomes, that are searching for investment options, and have a conviction in crypto right now”.
GoldenTree starts investing in SushiSwap
Asset management giant GoldenTree revealed it has invested about $5.2 million in SushiSwap tokens. The firm that controls over $50 billion of assets said in a letter published on the SushiSwap community forum that they have been “following Sushi for a while”, and with the launch of their crypto-focused arm GoldenChain Asset Management, they’re “psyched to be more active in all things Sushi”. Though considered a small investment, SUSHI’s price took a big push from the news, rising by more than 22% in the last 7 days.
MakerDAO invests in $500M of bonds and treasuries, MKR rallies
MakerDAO, the governing body of the Maker Protocol, has gone ahead with its previously-announced plan to reallocate $500 million of its stablecoin DAI’s collateral to minimal-risk treasuries and bonds. MakerDAO will invest 80% of this $500 million in short-term (1 to 3 years) US treasury bonds, while $100 million will be allocated to investment-grade corporate bonds provided by investment management firm Baillie Gifford. MKR’s price reacted to the news with a hike of more than 11%, breaking through the $850 mark several times this week.
Latin Grammy Awards to release annual NFTs collections
Latin Recording Academy has signed a three-year contract with web3 music platform OneOf to release an NFT collection for the Latin Grammy Awards. Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, said this will allow fans to “own a piece of the Latin Grammys”. This comes after OneOf’s partnership with the Grammy Awards, in which it also planned a three-year NFT release plan. The first collection will be dropped throughout October before the Latin Grammy Awards show on November 18.
Polygon partners with ocean conservation NGO
Decentralized Ethereum scaling platform Polygon has announced a partnership with the Ocean Conservation Exploration and Education Foundation (OCEEF). The new partnership aims to promote ocean literacy, by providing a governance platform enabling participants to help make key decisions surrounding the high-end research vessel RV Odyssey, and play a key role in determining the vessel’s itinerary. Participants will also be able to explore the state-of-the-art research vessel via immersive and interactive experiences in the Metaverse.
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