Crypto Highlights Week #12 – FIFA Unveils CRO as Official WC Sponsor

Crypto Highlights:LG dives into crypto, Ethereum Merge underway, Goldman Sachs crypto survey, SaTT goes open-source, FIFA unveils CRO as official WC sponsor: These and more in this weeks’ Crypto Highlights.

Top Headlines Of The Week

• The industry continues to gain the needed exposure as LG Electronics adds blockchain and crypto as new areas of business.
• Ethereum could be getting ready for a massive rally as momentum builds up ahead of the ‘Merge’.
• Crypto continues to gain the needed attention: Goldman Sachs survey shows 60% of surveyed clients expect to increase crypto holdings.

Top Stories Of The Week

Crypto.com picked as an official FIFA World Cup sponsor

Signs featuring Crypto.com will be shown throughout soccer fields as millions tune in to the FIFA World Cup, which is being staged this year in Qatar. The Crypto exchange will be an official sponsor of the soccer competition, the two organizations said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, stated that the cooperation will “raise global exposure of Crypto.com.”

“Crypto.com has already demonstrated a commitment to supporting top-tier teams and leagues, major events, and iconic venues across the world,” said Kay Madati, FIFA’s chief commercial officer.

As a founding partner, the Singapore-based corporation sponsored the Angel City Football Club, a Los Angeles-based women’s soccer club, last year. It also became the UFC’s official global “combat kit” partner, which means that its logo will appear on UFC apparel worn by athletes during competitions.

Perhaps most significantly, Crypto.com agreed to pay $700 million to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles Crypto.com Arena.

The exchange has recently made its first foray into the US market, enabling consumers on a waiting list to test the platform.

LG Electronics adds blockchain and crypto as new areas of business

A premier South Korean technology conglomerate, LG Electronics has formally incorporated blockchain and cryptocurrency as additional business sectors to its corporate charter.

LG introduced two unique crypto-related objectives during its annual general meeting on Thursday, according to a local South Korean news outlet. The goals include “the development and sale of blockchain-based software” and “the sale and brokerage of cryptocurrencies,” raising the question of whether LG would set up a cryptocurrency exchange.

When questioned about the company’s plans to launch its own exchange or platform, an LG spokesperson said, “Nothing has been decided yet.” We just highlighted business categories in broad strokes.”

Rumors of LG developing a crypto-related marketplace first surfaced earlier this year, when Bithumb CEO Heo Baek-young revealed that the exchange was collaborating with “a large company” to create a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace.

The IT giant has been aggressive in NFT adoption and integration, saying earlier this month that it was collaborating with blockchain tech startup Kakao’s Ground X to launch a range of NFT-capable smart TVs. LG also announced a collaboration with Seoul Auction Blue, an online art auctioneer, to carry out other initiatives involving NFT-based artworks.

Mainstream Adoption Of The Week

Goldman Sachs survey shows 60% of surveyed clients expect to increase crypto holdings

According to a poll received by The Block from investment banking behemoth Goldman Sachs, investors remain enthusiastic about cryptocurrency. The New York-based bank, which has a digital assets department, polled 172 clients on their views on digital assets. In the next one to two years, 60% of respondents polled anticipate growing their digital asset holdings.

Of those who were enthusiastic about cryptocurrency, 32% indicated they planned to “substantially expand” their crypto holdings. Meanwhile, 51% of its clients reported exposure to cryptocurrency, up from 40% the prior year. According to the report, about 55% might commit up to 5% of total assets to cryptocurrency.

According to the Goldman Sachs digital asset client survey, institutional investors are warming up to DeFi, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.

While BTC and ETH remained popular (22 percent each), 15 percent of respondents were interested in altcoins, 14 percent in DeFi token exposure, and 9 percent in NFTs. Previously, just 16% of those polled were interested in currencies other than the holy trinity of BTC, ETH, and stablecoins.

The announcement comes after the Wall Street firm’s digital assets trading unit made its first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) crypto transaction on Monday using a bitcoin non-deliverable option. Previously, the bank linked its clients to Galaxy Digital’s ETH fund, as well as actively investing the space – for example, it participated in crypto bank Anchorage’s $350 million Series D last year.

This Week’s Market Sentiment

Ethereum price hits $3.2K as anticipation builds ahead of the ‘Merge’

Ethereum has stolen the spotlight in our weekly crypto highlights after a while. This cryptocurrency market’s week-long rally has reawakened bullish crypto investors. The successful launch of the Ethereum “merge” on the Kiln testnet has since excited the community on the forthcoming move to proof-of-stake (POS).

According to TradingView data, the price of Ether has risen 25% since its successful debut on Kiln, from $2,500 to a daily high of $3,193 on March 25 as traders attempt to lock in their holdings ahead of the Merge.

Analysts from the independent global macro and crypto research organization MacroHive analyzed the effects of the imminent Ethereum merge on its price, noting that the Merge “will have favorable implications for Ether.”

According to MacroHive, “the prospect of generating a passive income on staked Ether will attract more investors into the space,” while the switch to proof-of-stake “will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.95 %.”

As a result, the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues “around the energy consumption of mining/proof-of-work are mitigated,” which will assist to draw more institutional money into the Ethereum ecosystem.

The merge will also have a notable impact on the circulating supply of Ether as the net issuance will undergo a significant drop-off once completed as block rewards are replaced with Ether staking yields.

MacroHive said,

“This, coupled with the ongoing Ether burning should make Ether deflationary and this should be bullish overall.”

Exclusive From SaTT

ICYMI: SaTT announces the open-source release of its social media monetization software

Since the fundraising initiative which happened in late 2020, SaTT, our cryptocurrency which specializes in advertising, has always kept as an objective to be and stay a community-driven and open source project. For 2 years now, developers haven’t stopped working on the backend rework of its platform.

Between the adaptation to Angular Universal, database migrations and optimizations, API redesign, and numerous refactoring stages, SaTT has decided to open its developers’ program to the eyes of its community.

One thing is for certain, digital marketing won’t escape the blockchain revolution, and SaTT really understands that. By opening the project to developers, the DApp’s source code will be able to be verified by anyone. Several options will be featured: “Report a Bug”, “Security Issue”, “Feature Request”, or “Something Else” for any specific request.

This Week’s Crypto Meme

We hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of crypto highlights. For a peek at our last edition of crypto highlights & blockchain news, click here.