Crypto Trends Weekly Jan. 1 – 7

Breaking crypto news from the last week (Jan. 1 – 7, 2022):

Jan. 1: In India, the director-general GST Intelligence (DGGI) searched around half a dozen offices of cryptocurrency service providers following the 700 million rupees tax evasion from cryptocurrency trade. A local media report has confirmed that major Indian cryptocurrency service providers are under investigation on suspicion of possible tax evasion.

Jan. 2: Over $7.7 billion was stolen in crypto scams worldwide in 2021, or an 81% rise compared to 2020, the Chainalysis report said. Including rug pulls in the DeFi ecosystem accounted for over $2.8 billion stolen, or 37% of all cryptocurrency scam revenue, compared to 1% the year before.

Jan. 3: The quantity of Bitcoin held by private corporations increased significantly during 2021, compared to the previous year, on-chain analyst Willy Woo said. The amount of BTC held by public companies has gained significant market share since February 2021.

Jan. 4: The online retail giant Amazon officially called fake some social media posts claiming that Amazon has begun a “presale” of its own crypto tokens. An internet security firm Avast also said that such messages are part of scams targeted to steal money and harvest personal data.

Jan. 5: Bitcoin will take market share away from gold and could reach $100,000 in the next five years, as digital assets become more widely adopted, Goldman Sachs analyst Zach Pandl said in a research note to clients.

Jan. 6: Prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are continuing their slide over the last two days, along with the stock market, as market analysts expect that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon to fight inflation. Bitcoin has slumped over 17% since December 27.

Nearly $41 billion worth of cryptocurrency was sent to NFT marketplaces and collections from the beginning of 2021 through mid-December, according to a new estimate from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. NFTs are now inching closer and closer in value to the traditional art market.

Jan. 7: Analysts at JPMorgan led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou have suggested that Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, could see its dominance in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space fade to rivals.