Market Summary

Bitcoin Price: US$ 21,826.87 (+0.82%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,766.11 (-0.45%) 

MicroStrategy to reinvest $500M stock sales into Bitcoin: SEC filing

• MicroStrategy, the largest institutional Bitcoin (BTC) buyer, entered an agreement with two agents — Cowen and Company and BTIG — to sell its aggregated class A common stock worth $500,000,000, reveals Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
• MicroStrategy, co-founded by Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor, amassed approximately 129,699 BTC over several years at an aggregate purchase price of $3.977 billion. Despite market uncertainties, the business analytics software firm continues to pursue its goal of acquiring more BTC by selling company stocks. The filing confirmed:
• “We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of any class A common stock offered under this prospectus for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin, unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement.”
• Buying the dip is essential for MicroStrategy as the company’s BTC reserve has dipped to an aggregated value of nearly $2.8 billion — resulting in a loss of over $1 billion, as shown by Bitcoin Treasuries data.

Ethereum ready for The Merge as last shadow fork completes successfully

• Ethereum (ETH) developers confirmed the successful completion of the prerequisites — shadow forks — required for the highly anticipated blockchain upgrade, The Merge. 
• Shadow forks help developers stress test synchronization assumptions to ensure network safety during permanent upgrades. In light of The Merge, Ethereum developers implemented the first shadow fork on Apr. 11, 2022.
• Nearly six months in, Ethereum research and engineering company Nethermind confirmed that the transition in Mainnet-Shadowfork-13 — the last shadow fork — was successful, signaling the readiness of the network for migrating to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

SEC to address growing crypto issuer filings with specialized offices

• In light of the influx of filings from cryptocurrency issuers in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to set up two new offices this fall to provide specialized support to the seven offices currently responsible for reviewing issuer filings. 
• Under the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP), the SEC announced plans to add two offices — an Office of Crypto Assets and an Office of Industrial Applications and Services — purely focused on dealing with crypto assets and industrial applications and services, respectively.
• Sharing insights into the move, Renee Jones, director of the Division of Corporation Finance, stated:
• “The creation of these new offices will enable the DRP to enhance its focus in the areas of crypto assets, financial institutions, life sciences, and industrial applications and services and facilitate our ability to meet our mission.”
• According to the announcement, the Office of Crypto Assets will take over DRP’s effort to review crypto filings, allowing the department to refocus its resources “to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.”

DApp activity rises 3.7% in August for the first time since May: Finance Redefined

• DApps showed a slight recovery for the first time since May, with the daily average of unique active wallets (UAWs) increasing 3.7% on a month-over-month basis, according to a report from DappRadar.
• The rise was partially driven by the Flow protocol, which rose 577% UAW due to Instagram’s support of its NFTs and the game Solitaire Blitz. On the other hand, Solana UAW shrank by 53% in August from the previous month, while transactions dropped by 68%, the findings showed.

0x API Integration is now live on Bancor

• The integration of the 0x Protocol is live in the Bancor.network app. With the integration, users on Bancor will be able to swap any Ethereum tokens supported by 0x API, enabling trading access to hundreds of non-whitelisted tokens on Bancor.network.
• 0x API is an open-source, decentralized exchange infrastructure that enables the exchange of tokenized assets on multiple blockchains. The 0x protocol is, at its core, a set of secure smart contracts that facilitate the peer-to-peer exchange of Ethereum-based assets.
• The integration is aimed at making Bancor.network a better destination for traders by expanding token availability. When a trader performs a swap request on Bancor.network, the UI checks whether the tokens in the swap are listed on Bancor, and if not, the trade is routed via 0x API. Trades routed via 0x API have a “Best Route” of external in the swap widget as opposed to v2 or v3 for those that are routed directly through Bancor.

Latin America is ready for crypto — just integrate it with their payment systems

• Brazil is already leading the globe in cryptocurrency adoption. Integrating crypto with payment providers in the region is a surefire way to see Latin America fully embrace the industry.
• One of the hottest Latin American markets for Web3 projects is Brazil, as its citizens are adopting digital transactions faster than in any other country. Brazil has seen a massive uptake of its national instant payment solution, PIX, implemented by the Brazilian Central Bank in 2020. For Web3 companies to reach this audience, they must forge a way to connect with local banks and stay in line with local regulations.

US lawmakers call on Mark Zuckerberg to address ‘breeding ground’ for crypto scams: Report

• A group of Democrats from the United States Senate has reportedly asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to provide details on the social media giant’s policies addressing cryptocurrency fraud.
• According to a Friday report from the Washington Post, Senators Robert Menendez, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker called on Zuckerberg for the actions the company may take to detect crypto scams, to coordinate with law enforcement and to assist victims of fraud. Meta currently controls Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.
• “Based on recent reports of scams on other social media platforms and apps, we are concerned that Meta provides a breeding ground for cryptocurrency fraud that causes significant harm to consumers,” reportedly said the group of senators.

Glassnode x Coinmarketcap:

• The Merge has been formally scheduled to take place at a Total Terminal Difficulty of 58.75e21, which is estimated to be on the 15-September-2022. With the Merge date just days away, this report will introduce a suite of new metrics to help understand the Ethereum Proof-of-Stake system, and will profile the performance of the Beacon Chain since the genesis block on 1-Dec-2020.
• Continue reading in CMC.