The Disrupt

“On Friday the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization plunged after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed by an unexpectedly robust 5.4% in January, offering the latest evidence that inflation remained problematic. The PCE price index is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge.

Still, the two assets remain up 39% and 32% year to date. The OP token of the Optimism network rose approximately 20% this week, following Coinbase Global’s announcement of its layer 2 network launch.

On a macroeconomic basis, little occurred this week to shake the probabilities of continued interest rate hikes by the U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). While inflation has moderated, the persistently tight labor market remains concerning for Federal Reserve governors.”

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“In Friday’s document, the watchdog noted that many countries have failed to implement its norms, including its controversial “travel rule,” which requires services providers to collect and share information of crypto transactions.

The plenary thus agreed on a road map to strengthen implementation of FATF standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, which will include a stocktake of current levels of implementation across the global network.

A report on its findings is due in the first half of 2024. FATF published its updated standards for crypto in 2019, but last June, it said only 11 of 98 surveyed jurisdictions were enforcing the travel rule and urged them to act faster.”

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“Salesforce, the cloud-based CRM software giant, is breaking into Web3 to help future-proof its clients and connect with a new generation of customers.

We think the wallet is the new cookie. It’s gonna be embedded in all the brand’s websites, connecting your wallet. That’s a new data layer.

The company launched the pilot for an NFT minting and sales platform last June, designed to help engage online communities and collect valuable data. At the time, a spokesperson for Salesforce told Bloomberg that brands could likely use NFTs for creating loyalty initiatives and accessing private web communities.”

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“The exercise giant’s vice president of fitness programming is soon launching Swagger Society, a Web3 lifestyle membership club that aims to foster a fitness community in Web3. Arzón has been exploring how Web3 can embolden fitness communities more effectively than centralized membership platforms.

Interesting possibilities emerge when we combine the economic approach of Web3 with the fitness industry. Last year, a new fitness-oriented category of blockchain gaming called move-to-earn (M2E) games tested the theory that rewarding consumers with crypto tokens would motivate them to exercise.

Arzón believes that gamification can certainly motivate behavior, but beyond any new gimmicks and gadgets a person needs more than a game or a token, they need an accountability partner. ‘Finding like-minded, values-driven folks who are willing to put those values into action is what gives [a new behavior] ‘stickiness.’

She believes that, beyond the short-term incentivization of M2E gaming, NFT membership models may provide the perfect level of “stickiness” because members become more than simply monthly subscribers. Purchasing an NFT acts as a lifetime, all-access pass, granting holders entry to a community.”

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“The Chamber of Digital Commerce is trying to stop a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a former Coinbase (COIN) employee accused of insider trading.

According to Boring, the SEC “piggybacked” on the DOJ case, essentially ‘latching onto a third party who had nothing to do with the issuance of these tokens.’ Boring said what the SEC is doing is another example of regulating by enforcement and does nothing to define ‘what sort of digital asset transactions it considers to be securities transactions.’

If the court rules in favor of the SEC, nine of the supposed 25 crypto assets the trio purchased and sold could be defined as securities. This could lead to further legal battles for other crypto companies that list the tokens, she said.

That’s why her group filed the amicus brief, arguing that the SEC’s crackdown is a form of “backdoor rulemaking.”

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