Google and Coinbase Strike a Deal, BNY Mellon Begins Crypto Custody and WisdomTree’s Bitcoin ETF Is Rejected: Hodler’s Digest, 9-15 October

PayPal’s Acceptable Use Guidelines were set to change in early November to include a $2,500 fine for any platform user who promotes, posts, transmits or publishes so-called “misinformation.” PayPal has since claimed that the policy provision was added in error. “PayPal does not fine people for misinformation, and this language was never intended to be inserted into our policies,” PayPal said. The fiasco has raised concerns about centralized platforms among crypto users who see self-storage as an important pillar of self-sovereignty and financial inclusion.

Blockchain games and metaverse projects raised $1.3 billion in Q3: DappRadar

Data from DappRadar revealed that $1.3 billion worth of venture capital poured into metaverse projects and blockchain games in the third quarter – a bright spot amid the gloom of the crypto bear market. While venture capital funding for these sectors was down 48% compared to Q2, the Q3 figure was still more than double the amount invested in all of 2021.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $19,665Ether (ETH) on $1329 and XRP on $0.50. The total market value is at $938.70 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, this week’s top three altcoin winners are Huobi Token (HT) at 87.06%, TerraClassicUSD (USTC) of 63.33% and quant (QNT) of 22.07%.

This week’s top three altcoin losers are Klaytn (CLAY) at -20.36%, Internet Computer (ICP) of -15.04% and eCash (XEC) of -14.48%.

For more info on crypto prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most memorable quotes

“Ethereum is the ‘Hotel California’ of cryptocurrencies. You can check in, but you can’t check out.”

Charles Hoskinsonfounder of Cardano

“Elon Musk quotes post about Dogecoin, you get seven times daily registrations.

Alex Harperco-CEO and co-founder of Swyftx

“If we [the crypto industry] want to achieve internet scale, we need a solution for AML/CTF compliance.

John Hendersonpartner in Airtree Ventures

“A bear market is the best time to start working in crypto and find a job.

Raman Shalupau, founder of Crypto Jobs List

“There is protection in gold. But in my opinion Bitcoin is far superior. It has math and code. It is defended by a decentralized protocol. You don’t mess with math.

Greg FossManaging Director of Strategic Initiatives at Validus Power Corp

“It’s incredibly important to never forget that we have a huge responsibility that influencers don’t have. They have their own risks when it comes to followers’ trust, but we have a responsibility to maintain our integrity as journalists.

Kristina Cornèreditor-in-chief of Cointelegraph

Prediction of the week

BTC price hits 3-week low on US CPI as Bitcoin clears $57M

For most of the week, Bitcoin traded sideways, favoring the downside, according to Cointelegraph’s BTC Price Index. The asset maintained some price volatility on October 13, in line with the release of September’s US inflation data. Bitcoin’s price dropped near $18,200 after the news, but then rebounded to over $19,000.

In an October 13 post, pseudonymous Twitter user il Capo of Crypto tweeted about the possibility of Bitcoin’s fall being a bear trap, noting a potential subsequent rise to $21,000, followed by a sharp drop.

FUD of the week

US Treasury’s OFAC and FinCEN Announce $29M in Enforcement Actions Against Bittrex

Crypto exchange Bittrex is facing charges from two different US regulators: the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The regulators have essentially claimed that Bittrex did not perform proper due diligence on its customers and transactions between 2014 and 2018, allowing users from sanctioned regions to use the platform. Bittrex confirmed that it would settle with OFAC for about $24 million, which can also be used as a credit against the $29 million settlement owed to FinCEN. Moving on from the situation, Bittrex stated that it has been updated with expected standards since 2018.

$100M Drained From Solana DeFi Platform Mango Markets, Token Plunges 52%

Mango Markets, a decentralized financial platform that runs on the Solana blockchain, reportedly lost around $100 million from the treasury thanks to an exploit. Someone manipulated price data for the platform’s native MNGO assets, allowing them to borrow crypto worth far more than the value of the MNGO they were pledging. MNGO suffered a price drop of approximately 50% following the news of the incident. Later reporting saw the hacker come forward and demand a $70 million bug bounty and other conditions to return exploited funds.

CNN will close its NFT marketplace and issue a 20% refund

After roughly four months, media outlet CNN has decided to suspend its nonfungible token (NFT) work, apparently another bear market casualty. The media company’s NFT project, known as Vault by CNN, essentially offered tokenized memories of historical news events spanning decades throughout CNN’s history. The project’s roadmap estimated six months of development, although the media has since claimed the project was a “6-week experiment,” according to an announcement from the Vault by the CNN Twitter account. NFT buyers will receive a 20% refund of the price they paid to create their NFTs, according to a CNN employee on Discord.

Best Cointelegraph Features

Attack of the zkEVMs! Crypto’s 10x moment

Launching this month, zkEVMs offer a path to infinite scaling for Ethereum. But who will win the race between Polygon, zkSync, Scroll and StarkWare?

Mass adoption will be terrible for crypto

From reversible transactions to increased regulation and a growing wave of censorship, mass adoption will make crypto look more like the systems we are trying to escape.

Crypto’s downturn is about more than the macro environment

The global economic slowdown should not have a long-term negative effect on cryptocurrency prices, although it does affect crypto in the short term.

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Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.