Terrafic Growth
Good morning. Big news out of Credit Unions this morning (said no one ever), plus we've got a new #2 DeFi protocol, Super Bowl ads, and more!
Programming Note: this newsletter will be off starting this Friday and returning in the New Year. Thanks for reading and see you in 2022!
What this is:
A "Top 5" of crypto, digital asset, and other blockchain related news sent to your inbox on a daily basis
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Top 5:
1. Terra Becomes Second-Largest DeFi Protocol, Surpassing Binance Smart Chain
The decentralized payments network Terra passed Binance Smart Chain as the second-largest DeFi protocol as measured by total value locked (TVL). 13 projects on Terra have a total of $18.2 billion of value locked into the protocol, with an average of $1.4 billion per protocol. In comparison, Binance has $16.5 billion in TVL on 225 protocols for an average of $73 million per protocol. The top 3 DeFi protocols on Terra are Anchor, a savings protocol that offers yields on the Terra stablecoin, Lido, a staked assets liquidity provider, and Terraswap, which offers matching services for peer-to-peer trading. Terra's native token, LUNA, has been one of the strongest performing cryptocurrencies to close out the year.
2 Polkadot Is Deutsche Telekom’s Latest Crypto Experiment
Deutsche Telekom, the largest telecommunications company in Europe, is investing heavily into the Polkadot protocol. The firm is already working with three other blockchains, but this time they are taking their involvement a step further. Deutsche plans to provide node-running infrastructure to users staking assets and has also purchased a large quantity of Polkadot's native token, DOT, in order to stake on behalf of the business.
From Andreas Dittrich, head of Deutsche's Blockchain Solutions Center:
“I think the opportunities that Polkadot provides for enterprise use cases are really interesting,” Dittrich said. “It gives you the flexibility and security of a public, permissionless blockchain, but it has both a separation of concerns by parachains, and interoperability among use cases. So even the good old supply-chain use case could make a lot of sense on Polkadot, and I know that big industry consortia are definitely eyeing that ecosystem.”
3. Credit Unions Seek Regulator Approval to Hold Crypto Assets
Credit unions want to get into the crypto game. A letter from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said that credit unions with federally insured deposits can team up with third-party crypto service providers in order to allow their members to buy, sell, and hold digital assets under certain conditions. According to Lance Noggle, senior director of advocacy for payments and cybersecurity at the Credit Union National Association, this clarity will "help credit unions that have been kicking the tires move ahead and have a bit of a road map of what the regulator will expect." The next step for credit unions is to get regulator approval to provide crypto custody services to their customers, which the OCC allows for national banks as long as they receive written permission from their supervisory offices first.
4. Under Armour Steps Into the Metaverse With ‘Wearable’ Steph Curry Sneakers
Following moves by adidas and Nike (what's new?), Under Armour partnered with Steph Curry to drop digital replicas of the shoes Curry was wearing when he broke the NBA's record for the most made three-pointers, previously held by Ray Allen. 2,974 (the record-breaking number) non-fungible tokens were made available for sale with all proceeds going to children's charities. The virtual shoes can be worn across three metaverses (Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Gala Games) making them the first wearable cross-platform sneak NFT.
5. Crypto.com Will Run its First Super Bowl Ad Amid Marketing Blitz
Crypto.com continues its advertising blitz with plans to run a Super Bowl commercial in February. Earlier this year, the company bought the naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for $700 million and recruited Matt Damon to star in its commercials that are running now. The company won't be the only crypto player with a commercial during the Super Bowl. FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, will also be purchasing screen time during the game. The current run rate for a thirty second commercial is $6.5 million. The advertising strategy with is about showing that crypto is not a passing trend and that Crypto.com's products can be trusted, according to Steven Kalifowitz, the company’s chief marketing officer.
Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Cameron S. - New York, NY
2. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
3. Lauren A. - Nashville, TN
Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.