SG is the king of crypto layoffs, Arbitrum enters the Top 40, Fujitsu files a trademark, and an Amazon boo boo excites web3 bulls.
Ah Monday... Everyone’s favourite day of the week. Whilst you were all living it large this weekend, Blockhead was busy keeping up with the ever tireless world of crypto. Here’s what you missed, and what to look forward to in the week ahead, condensed as Blockhead Brief. As ever, if you’re here from a friend, subscribe now.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slipped very slightly over the weekend, with the world's largest cryptocurrency dipping below the US$28,000 mark, hitting S$27,215. That said, BTC is currently at $27,830 and is up 1.85% over the past five days.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading at US$1,755.92 (-1.12%). Major altcoins such as BNB, Polkadot (DOT), and Avalanche (AVAX) are also slightly down, but none more than 2%.
Arbitrum Enters Top 40
Arbitrum's native ARB token has entered the top 40 coins following its successful airdrop.
Coin Market Cap places ARB at the 37th top token by market cap (US$1,600,912,277), ahead of the likes of ApeCoin, Algorand, Tezos and Aave.
Some 85.94% of all ARB tokens have been claimed according to Dune.
Its current price is $1.26, down 2.8% over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, the token touched $8.76 before sharply falling.
Arbitrum earned its hype for being a scaling solution for Ethereum, making the blockchain cheaper and faster. Transactions are settled on the sidechain before reporting back to the mainchain, making quick trades more efficient.
Fujitsu Files Trademark, Reveals Crypto Interest
Fujitsu has filed a US trademark application that reveals its intent to offer crypto brokerage services.
The Japanese tech behemoth filed the application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 16 March 2023.
According to the official document, the application is to register a new mark which “consists of the stylized word FUJITSU with a sideways s-shaped swirl over the J and I,” dedicated to financial services including the exchange of crypto assets.
This isn't Fujitsu's first foray into web3. In February, Fujitsu launched a web3 startup acceleration platform. Fujitsu is also one of the few Japanese companies including Mtisubishi that announced plans to build a metaverse project called "Ryugukoku."
Amazon's NFT Plans Teased In Digital Receipt
Amazon's web3 expansion plans may have accidentally been confirmed via a digital receipt.
CoinDesk's manging editor for global policy and regulation Nikhilesh De received an email on Friday confirming De's Amazon Prime Video subscription renewal, as well as information about a digital token.
De reportedly did not purchase any NFT from Amazon and did not have knowledge of Amazon's NFT integration.
"Your order has been completed and your digital token is now in your gallery," the email reads. "You'll also need to register as a reseller before listing an NFT for sale."
The emails suggests that these functions may soon go live on the platform.
Prior to the email, rumours were already circulating about Amazon potentially launching an NFT marketplace next month.
The new "digital assets enterprise" would focus on blockchain-based gaming and related NFT applications" according to reports, which point to a launch date of 24 April.
Amazon has not publicly addressed these rumours.
Singapore Leads Crypto Layoffs
Singapore has topped the list of major cities with crypto layoffs.
Between February 2022 and February 2023, crypto companies headquartered in Singapore laid off 3,719 employees according to layoffs.fyi.
Even San Francisco Bay Area, where FTX was based, sacked fewer people with 3,545 layoffs. Meanwhile, New York laid off 1,754.
Crypto.com alone fired 2,750 employees between 2022 and 2023.
Trading Volume
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the global crypto market cap stands at US$1.157 trillion, a 0.35% increase since yesterday. The total crypto market over the last 24 hours is US$33.53 billion, an 8.40% increase.
Fear & Greed Index
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index uses 5-6 measurements to assess the current sentiment of the market and then rates that level of emotion on a scale of 1-100 – 1 is extreme fear and 100 is extreme greed.
Risk appetites in crypto have reduced from last week's 66 to 64, but is still in the "greed" area. Since late January, sentiment had hovered in the 40s to 60s, following 4 straight months of being in the 20s.