Digital currency might be finding pace to recreate the bullish run it had back in the spring of 2021. Currently, crypto plays are breaking out of the slog seen at the beginning of this year. Top projects are seeing gains of 10% or more this week. It has certainly been an exciting past few days. So, what are the top crypto news stories right now?
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Well, atop the market finding its footing and posting some of its largest seven-day gains so far this year, there have been a couple of standout projects. Layer-1 platforms are shining and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are retaining their white-hot temperament.
Here’s everything you missed.
Top Crypto News of the Week
Cardano tops other layer-1’s with massive gains
Altcoins have seen a lot of love over the past week, but none more than Cardano (ADA-USD). This layer-1 Ethereum (ETH-USD) competitor had a rough go of it when it introduced smart contracts in 2021; founder Charles Hoskinson said earlier this week that he was wrong about how quickly the network would accrue decentralized apps (dapps). That slow adoption stunted ADA in the first months of 2022. However, things are now turning around. Today, the network plays host to hundreds of dapps and millions of native NFTs. This and several other catalysts — like Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) introducing ADA staking — are helping the coin post a seven-day gain of more than 30%.
Yuga Labs keeps the headlines coming with Bored Ape Yacht Club metaverse trailer
Last week saw a pair of blockbuster Yuga Labs announcements which helped bolster the value of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Now this week, the company has shown no signs of slowing down. Rather, it seems like the NFT outfit is pushing to make 2022 the year of the monkey, boasting yet another announcement. This one is a bit more cryptic than previous announcements, but investors generally believe Yuga’s new mysterious Otherside trailer is the first peek into the long-awaited Bored Ape metaverse.
GameStop steals the spotlight as its NFT marketplace draws near
GameStop (NYSE:GME) itself isn’t a crypto, but the gaming retailer has been leaning hard into the blockchain space recently amid its Ryan Cohen-led business pivot. Since confirming its NFT marketplace last year, every bit of news has been like throwing gasoline onto the speculative fire. Now this week is seeing the hype come to a head; GameStop is launching its beta version of the NFT marketplace on Loopring (LRC-USD). As of this week, users can go onto the platform and craft profiles in anticipation of the full launch. GME stock is up over 15% since the news broke. Likewise, LRC is up over 30%.
The U.S. government starts to take crypto scams more seriously
Crypto scams are rampant within the community and, all too often, the perpetrators get away with it. Now, the government is trying to change that, however. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on “rug pull” scams this week, recently arresting the founders of the Frosties NFT collection. The founders shut down the NFT project and began mixing coins as soon as they had sold over $1 million worth of tokens. Now, founders Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna are being slapped with wire fraud and money laundering charges.
PUBG developers catalyze SOL’s 20% upswing with NFT gaming announcement
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is one of the earliest games of the battle royale genre. Its influence is obvious among games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. Now the company behind this genre-defining title, Krafton, is leading a new charge into NFT gaming. The studio is teaming up with Solana (SOL-USD) to develop a series of NFT titles. This news makes Krafton one of the largest existing studios to take up efforts in the blockchain industry. As such, the news is also vastly assisting SOL prices. The coin is up over 15% for the last seven days.
Big oil leans into crypto mining, starting with ExxonMobil
There are lots of companies exposing themselves to Bitcoin (BTC-USD) in one way or another. While most are simply buying the coins and holding them, others with access to excess energy are deciding to put it to use mining crypto. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is becoming hip to this idea, according to insider reports. Apparently, the company is partnering with Crusoe Energy to redirect natural gas from an oil well to its own BTC mining operation. Typically, this gas is burnt as it comes out of the ground and isn’t used, in a process called “gas flaring.”
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.