Week in Review: Ethereum and Shiba Inu Hit All-Time Highs, and Facebook Rebrands

Ethereum reached a new all-time high above $4,400, Shiba Inu rose to ninth place in the overall cryptocurrency market by market capitalization, and Facebook carried out a major rebranding, among other events of the past week.

Ethereum price hits a new high above $4,400

On Friday, October 29, the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap reached a new all-time high, topping $4,400.

As of writing, Ethereum was trading at around $4,285. Its market cap stood at about $506 billion, according to CoinGecko.

1inch token price nears its all-time high

On Wednesday, October 27, the DeFi project 1inch (1INCH) rose by more than 100% and reached $7.7 (on Binance).

The last time the price traded at these levels was in May 2021, when it briefly topped $7.8.

Shiba Inu hits new high and enters the top 10 by market cap

The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB), a meme-coin clone of Dogecoin, rose to a new all-time high above $0.00008 and climbed to ninth place in the overall cryptocurrency ranking.

The asset’s market capitalization reached $35.6 billion. At the time of writing, SHIB traded at around $0.00006456.

Days before the all-time high, Elon Musk stated that he had not invested in Shiba Inu. As a result, the meme-coin’s quotes fell by more than 20%.

One of Shiba Inu’s early investors who put $8,000 into the asset in August 2020 became a multibillionaire. With the price rise, the coins in his wallet are now worth $4.84 billion.

Another Shiba Inu investor became a millionaire in less than a year. In January 2021 he invested $434 in the cryptocurrency. The assets he acquired are now valued at $71.2 million, and at their peak were worth even more.

Floki Inu continues dog-themed rally. Meme-cryptocurrency rose 105%

The price of the Floki Inu (FLOKI) meme-cryptocurrency, named after Elon Musk’s dog, rose by nearly 80% in 24 hours and hit a new all-time high at $0.00021552. Later the asset rose to $0.0003196.

The Floki Inu token also launched an advertising campaign on London’s public transport system.

Ads with the slogan “Missed Doge? Get Floki” (“Missed Doge? Get Floki”) appeared at London’s underground stations, on trains and buses.

In a Floki Inu blog, the project team said it also signed advertising deals in central Los Angeles and plans to promote the coin in Japan, China, Russia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Facebook is now Meta. NFTs will be in Zuckerberg’s metaverse

Facebook has undergone a major rebranding — the company is now called Meta. In doing so it signals its commitment to building a metaverse, which it regards as the next stage in the evolution of social connections.

According to Zuckerberg, within “five years or so” Facebook will no longer be associated with the social network. The company will focus on developing a metaverse that runs on VR and AR headsets, mobile devices and game consoles.

Zuckerberg said that in the next decade people will spend time “in a fully immersive, three-dimensional version of the internet.” The project will also support non-fungible tokens (NFTs), facilitating the sale of these digital objects and enabling their display in three-dimensional spaces.

During a talk with investors, Zuckerberg stressed that the company\’s spending on AR/VR development, related hardware, and the development of apps and services would exceed $10 billion. He called the project “the successor to the mobile internet”.

“I recognise the scale of the bet. This is not the investment that will bring us profits in the near term. Our aim is to help the metaverse reach a billion people,” said the head of Facebook.

Users will be able to create realistic avatars, control their eye movement and expressions, change hairstyles and appearance. Meta also demonstrated a space for their existence and a neural interface to control them.

FSB of Russia seeks power to obtain information from Bitcoin exchanges

The FSB of Russia issued a draft order expanding the powers of the agency’s staff, which would allow them, among other things, to send requests to operators of information systems issuing digital financial assets (DFAs).

The service also plans to obtain the right to request information from credit institutions, tax authorities and institutions that carry out state registration of property rights and transactions.

In the explanatory note, the agency cites changes to anti-corruption legislation, according to which information about DFAs should be reflected in income certificates. If approved, the new powers would allow staff to send requests to operators issuing cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin exchanges in anti-corruption investigations.

The document is currently undergoing public consultation and independent anti-corruption review.

Mastercard to add bitcoin payments to its network

According to CNBC, the payments giant Mastercard is set to announce support for cryptocurrencies in its network in the near future.

Banks and merchants will have the ability to integrate cryptocurrencies into their products. This includes Bitcoin wallets, crypto-based rewards on credit and debit cards, and loyalty programs whose points can be converted into digital assets.

The executive vice president of Mastercard for digital partnerships, Sherri Haymond, said the initiative would allow banks to compete with cryptocurrency exchanges.

El Salvador’s state Bitcoin fund buys an additional 420 BTC

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, said the government used a local price dip to increase its Bitcoin reserves. The state fund purchased an additional 420 BTC.

With the new investment, its balance stands at 1,120 BTC (~$67.8 million at the rate at the time of writing).

Steve Wozniak says Bitcoin surpasses the U.S. dollar

The mathematics and logic underpinning Bitcoin do not allow it to be copied or counterfeited, and so it surpasses the U.S. dollar. This was stated by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

“Look at the U.S. dollar, the government can print new notes and borrow; it will never be fixed. Bitcoin is mathematics, mathematical purity. No other Bitcoin can be created,” he said.

Wozniak compared the U.S. monetary system to the blockchain of the first cryptocurrency. He called fiat ‘artificial’ and noted that he enjoys the “science, mathematics, logic and computer code” embedded in Bitcoin.

The cofounder also noted the decentralized nature of digital gold, which allows it to maintain a level of predictability that is hard to achieve with the U.S. dollar. In his view, regulators can print new paper notes at whim, making inflation hard to predict.

“We don’t even know who created Bitcoin. Its network isn’t controlled by any company, it’s simply mathematically pure, and I always believe that nature is greater than man,” he added.

At the same time, Wozniak dismissed the anonymous features offered by some cryptocurrencies as unnecessary. He said he sees no need for private payments.

Jack Dorsey warns of hyperinflation

Jack Dorsey pointed to signs of impending hyperinflation, which “will change everything around.” He predicted that it would soon manifest in the United States, followed by the world.

In response to Dorsey’s tweet, gold advocate and crypto-skeptic Peter Schiff urged attention to real assets such as the primary precious metal as a hedge for capital. He rejected the idea of seeking salvation in Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor expressed confidence that the answer to inflation lies in investments in the first cryptocurrency.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” talks about his XRP investments

The former American broker Jordan Belfort, known as “The Wolf of Wall Street,” described himself as a “major holder of XRP”.

“I am a major holder of XRP (a six-figure amount)! The guy on TV says he’s never seen anything better. He believes the price will reach $10,000. I hope he’s right, but I’ll settle for $10,” he said.

Belfort also called NFTs an “amazing segment” and stressed that they have a future. In his view, the value of these digital assets lies not only in making money but also in the sense of belonging to a community.

“It’s like joining a private club. So pick those [NFTs] that, in your view, will bring the greatest benefit,” Belfort said.

The former broker acknowledged that his attitude toward the crypto industry has changed. He explained that he always liked blockchain, but in the early days the sector “had some signs of fraud.” Additionally, he worried about “possible government interference.”

What else to read and watch

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On Monday, October 25, ForkLog discussed the most актуальные news in the industry in a live broadcast. They talked about Bitcoin’s all-time high, the rise of altcoins, anonymous coins, China and NFTs.

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