Crypto Trends Weekly Apr. 16 – 22

Breaking crypto news from the last week (Apr. 16 – 22, 2022):

Apr. 16: SHAREit Group, a global technology company, presented its ability to connect numerous users in the Middle East. The platform drives around two million new users to various crypto apps each month.

Apr. 17: Credit-based stablecoin DeFi protocol Beanstalk Farms built on Ethereum has lost $182 million as a result of a flash loan attack on Sunday. As Bloomberg reported, the hacker got away with $80 million in crypto tokens.

Apr. 18: Poor macroeconomic sentiment and increasing fears of a recession in the West laid the backdrop for cryptocurrencies to lose 4% of their market capitalization on Monday, with several major tokens taking hits of up to 8%. Bitcoin traded below pivotal support of $40,000 during European trading hours, reaching its nearly lowest price in a month.

Apr. 19: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report on global financial stability, detailing how a spike in crypto trading could disrupt the global financial system and demanding “strengthening macroeconomic policies.” Also, the war in Ukraine is revealing the risks of crypto payment systems, the IMF said.

Apr. 20: Crypto exchange Coinbase has launched its long-awaited NFT marketplace in beta form after the exchange first announced plans for it in October. It is currently available for select customers and supports only Ethereum-based NFTs and payments in ETH. In the future, Coinbase will also add drops, minting, token-gated communities, and the option to buy NFTs with a Coinbase account or a credit card.

Apr. 21: Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is launching a new technological research lab to focus on innovation and problem solving as the world of crypto and blockchain expands and matures. The new team of a16z Crypto Research is staffed with academics aiming to provide deeper insights for the firm’s portfolio companies.

Apr. 22: In partnership with TRM Labs, Uniswap Labs is now blocking certain crypto wallets that are found to be engaged in illegal behavior. The move reveals a trend in the DeFi sector of blocking crypto addresses sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.