Kalam Crypto #43: Fastest growing crypto region worldwide, Binance chain hacked

This week, MENA is the fastest-growing crypto region in the world, Binance chain gets hacked, and NYDIG launched an institutional bitcoin fund.

10 Oct, 2022

CoinMENA Team

Author

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious” Albert Einstein

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 43rd edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, MENA is the fastest-growing crypto region in the world, Binance chain gets hacked, and NYDIG launched an institutional bitcoin fund. All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

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Local News 📍

MENA, the fastest-growing crypto region in the world: According to an excerpt released from a report by Chainalysis, the MENA region received $566 billion in cryptocurrencies between June 2021 & June 2022, a 48% year-over-year increase, making MENA the fastest-growing crypto market in the world. Egypt led the way with a 222% increase in transaction volume, followed by Saudi Arabia with 195%. The growth is likely driven by a combination of factors such as developed regulatory frameworks in Gulf countries (Bahrain and UAE), and rapid fiat currency devaluation in countries like Lebanon and Egypt. The full report is expected to be released later this month.

Global News 🌍

Binance’s BNB Chain hack shows it's not decentralized: Binance’s blockchain was hacked for $100 million. The hack was contained relatively quickly as validators coordinated to pause the chain and prevented the hacker from transferring most of the funds out of the Binance ecosystem. Mainstream media were quick with the sensationalist headlines about crypto being hacked “again.” However, just as not all companies are the same, not all crypto projects are the same. Solana and BNB Chain are decentralized only in name. For example, at any one point, BNB Chain has only 21 validators online. Whereas bitcoin and Ethereum have tens of thousands of nodes distributed across the world, working together to validate transactions. Worth remembering that bitcoin, the oldest and most decentralized cryptocurrency, has never been hacked.

MakerDAO to invest $500m in US Treasuries: MakerDAO, the issuer of the stablecoin DAI, is looking to allocate $500 million of its stablecoin reserves into short-term US treasury bonds and corporate bonds. The DAO explained that the decision is to strengthen the project's balance sheet with exposure to low-risk liquid traditional assets. It is also likely that US bond yields reaching their highest levels since 2008 influenced the decision as well.

NYDIG raises 720m for institutional bitcoin fund: Despite gloomy macroeconomic conditions, institutional adoption of bitcoin continues to grow. The bitcoin investment firm raised nearly $720 million from 59 investors. NYDIG also released a chart showing that bitcoin outperformed all other asset classes in Q3 of 2022. As the economy continues to falter, bitcoin appears to be stabilizing.

Fidelity adds Ethereum Index Fund: Fidelity broadens their crypto services by offering its customers exposure to Ether. The fund has already raised $5 million since sales began on Sept. 26.

CoinMENA News 🗞

This week, we will be announcing the 200 winners of our bitcoin giveaway! Stay tuned for more offers coming very soon 👀

Tweet of the week 🐥

Reminder: You can withdraw your USDT via TRON TRX network on CoinMENA.

Quiz Corner ✅

Last week’s question: What is the current Bitcoin block reward?

Answer: 6.25 BTC

This week’s question: Which of the following is true about blockchain?