BUSD Drops from Top 10 Crypto Assets: $5B Stablecoins Redeemed in 12 Days

• Paxos announced the removal of 4.98 billion BUSD stablecoins from circulation, causing it to drop out of the top 10 crypto assets by market capitalization.
• The majority of BUSD trades were paired with the stablecoin tether (USDT), while the Turkish lira still accounted for 2.80% of all BUSD trades on Saturday.
• BUSD’s dominance has decreased significantly over the past 12 days, and its market cap is now below dogecoin’s at around $11.12 billion.

Paxos Announces Removal of BUSD Stablecoins

On February 13th, 2023, Paxos announced that it would no longer mint and issue BUSD, a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency asset. As a result, 4.98 billion BUSD stablecoins have been removed from circulation to date.

BUSD Drops Out of Top 10 Crypto Assets

Consequently, BUSD has fallen out of the top ten crypto assets by market capitalization and is currently valued at around $11.12 billion which is lower than dogecoin’s market cap which stands at $11.24 billion as of writing this article.

Global Trade Volume & Dominance

As far as global trade volume is concerned, 24 hours worth of trading amounted to around $6.84 billion with Binance being the most active exchange for this currency pair according to coingecko stats where USDT was the most commonly used pairing for trading with this asset followed by Turkish Lira accounting for 2.8%. Although USD parity remains intact since day 1 when PAXOS made their announcement regarding no more minting/issuing new coins .

Current Market Cap

As per current stats out of entire crypto economy’s net value 1 trillion dollars worth ,BUSD accounts for only 1% or 1/10th percent in total market share due to significant decrease in dominance since PAXOS’s announcement ,which has caused it to fall below dogecoin and Lido Staked Ether (STETH) in terms market valuation .

Conclusion

In conclusion after all these events that took place in span 12 days we can safely say that although there was redemption going on but still USD parity remains intact and currently it is 11th largest crypto asset by market cap as per current stats out there .

NFT Sales Soar 43% This Week, Topping $397 Million

• NFT sales surged 43.97% this week, with total sales of $397.86 million and 345,716 buyers.
• Ethereum dominated the NFT market with 90% of total sales, followed by Solana and Polygon.
• The top-selling collection of NFTs this week was Otherdeed, with $47 million in sales; Blur also outpaced Opensea as the leading marketplace.

NFT Sales Surge

NFT sales over the last seven days rose 43.97% compared to the previous week, according to statistics recorded on Feb. 18, 2023. The volume of NFT sales reached $397.86 million this week, with 345,716 buyers and roughly 1.62 million transactions.

Ethereum Dominates Market

Sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain led the way, with $360.32 million in sales, a 54.77% increase from the previous week. Solana-based NFT sales followed with $18,790,359, down 7.47% from last week. In terms of seven-day sales, Ethereum and Solana were followed by Polygon, Immutable X, and Binance Smart Chain respectively.

Top Selling Collection

The top-selling collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) this week was Otherdeed, with total sales of $47 million increasing 160% compared to the previous week.. Azuki’s sale increased 174%, while Moonbirds‘ sale rose 502%.

Marketplace Statistics

According to weekly metrics from both dappradar and Dune Analytics,, Blur captured more than 66% of market share while Opensea accounted for 23%. The top five marketplaces across different chains were Blur; Opensea; X2Y2; Immutable X Marketplace; Lookrare respectively..

Conclusion

Non-fungible token (NFT) assets have experienced a surge in popularity in recent months as more people come to understand their potential applications as digital collectibles or as investments in art or other digital assets such as music or video games.. With Ethereum dominating 90% of all NFT transactions this past week and collections like Otherdeed topping off weeks’ worth of activity it will be interesting to see where these numbers go next!

Paypal Halts Stablecoin Plans Amid Crypto Regulatory Scrutiny

Paypal Puts Stablecoin Plans on Hold

• Payment service giant Paypal announced they were exploring the launch of a stablecoin in early 2023.
• However, due to the regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry, Paypal has put the concept on hold for now.
• This follows recent crackdowns and fines from U.S. regulators on crypto businesses such as FTX, Nexo, and Kraken.

Paypal Explores Stablecoin Development

In January of 2023, payment service giant Paypal said it was exploring the launch of a stablecoin. An executive at Paypal stated that if they were to move forward with this venture, they would work closely with financial regulators.

Regulatory Scrutiny Halts Plans

On Feb 10th however, sources reported that Paypal had put their plans for a stablecoin on hold amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry. The multinational financial technology company was also working with Paxos – an issuer that is reportedly under investigation by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Recent Regulatory Crackdowns

The regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency businesses has been significant following the collapse of FTX. Crypto lender Nexo recently agreed to settle with U.S Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) and state regulators over its earn product and was mandated to pay $45 million in fines while ending its services in the United States. Similarly, Kraken was fined $30 million for its staking service program and was forced to stop offering this service to US retail customers outside US will continue using its services though but founder Jesse Powell is calling for clear regulatory guidance from Congress protect retail investors from using offshore services..

No Comment From NYDFS or Paypal

Nikhilesh De of Coindesk learned about the alleged investigation but was told by an NYDFS spokesperson that they could not comment further due to ongoing investigations. Bloomberg’s Yueqi Yang and Jennifer Surane did not specify why exactly Paypal had decided to pause their plans either .PayPal recently entered into cryptocurrency industry by launching various services but did not comment regarding reason behind putting their plan on hold .

Protocol Labs Cuts Jobs Amid Crypto Winter and Economic Downturn

• Protocol Labs, the creator of Filecoin, announced that 21% of its staff will be laid off due to an „extremely challenging economic downturn“ in the crypto industry.
• Other crypto-related businesses such as Blockchain.com, Huobi and Gemini have also made layoffs to weather the ongoing crypto winter.
• The native cryptocurrency FIL is currently ranked #35 based on market capitalization, having gained 65.7% against the U.S. dollar in the past 30 days but still down 97% from its all-time high of $236 per coin.

Protocol Labs Announces Layoffs Amid Crypto Winter and Economic Downturn

Protocol Labs CEO Juan Benet published a blog post on Friday announcing that 21% of the company’s staff will be laid off due to an „extremely challenging economic downturn“ in the crypto industry. Benet emphasized that it has been especially hard for the crypto sector during this macro winter and potential longer than expected dip in demand for digital currencies and blockchain services worldwide.

Cuts Jobs in Response to Macro Winter and Crypto Market Decline

Protocol Labs is not alone in making cuts as other cryptocurrency and blockchain-focused companies such as Candy Digital, Blockchain.com, Opensea, Huobi, and Gemini have also reduced their workforce numbers recently. In his Friday blog post Benet noted that although they worked hard to avoid layoffs it was necessary for them to focus their headcount against the most impactful efforts for their business moving forward.

Filecoin’s Native Cryptocurrency (FIL)

The native cryptocurrency FIL is currently ranked #35 based on market capitalization with a global trade volume of about $136 million over the last 24 hours. FIL has gained 65.7% against the U.S dollar over 30 days however it is still down 97% from its all-time high of $236 per coin which was reached on April 1st 2021. At 3:30 pmeastern Standard Time Saturday Feb 4th 2023 Filecoins (FIL) market valuation was approximately $2 billion USD according to Coinmarketcap data online .

Crypto Industry Widespread Layoffs

The industry-wide layoffs began last year and have continued into 2023 with many other cryptocurrency businesses facing similar fates when navigating through these difficult times . Despite these challenges Protocol Labs are hosting a “PLGO All Hands” meeting on Monday to further address any remaining questions or concerns employees may have following these cuts .

Conclusion

Overall , Protocol Labs joins other leading crytocurrency businesses like Blockchain , Huobi , Gemini who are all partaking in layoff processes due to long term effects caused by Covid 19s macro winter effecting cryptomarkets across industries globally . Although there have been some gains made by Filecoins native currency (FIL) with a 65 . 7 % increase over 30 days it still remains 97 % below its all time peak at 236 USD per coin back in April 2021 .