Weekly Market Roundup: First NFT wedding happens on the Ethereum blockchain, Bitcoin miners continue to increase stash

Bitcoin

• Bitcoin miners have continued to increase their stash. According to a report from Glassnode, miners added over 8,500 BTC to their holdings about a week ago. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy increased its Bitcoin stash by purchasing another $15 million worth of BTC.
• In the world of Bitcoin ETFs, the U.S. SEC is yet to approve any application. However, the world’s largest crypto asset manager Grayscale has hinted at converting its Bitcoin trust into an ETF.
• Over the past week, the Kimchi Premium returned to South Korean exchanges following increasing demand for the digital asset. This forced the price of the digital asset to $68,000 on Korean exchanges.
• Sacramento Kings has announced that everyone in the organization can opt to receive their paychecks in Bitcoin.

Ethereum

• The number of Ethereum on crypto exchanged plunged to a 19-month low, an indication that investors are stashing up the asset or redirecting their funds to DeFi markets. On the flip side, miner revenue rose to a new all-time high of $1.38 billion in March.

NFTs

• The NFT frenzy is taking a new dimension with two Coinbase employees holding the world’s first NFT marriage on the Ethereum blockchain. Peter Kacherginsky and Rebecca Rose exchanged NFTs as virtual rings.
• Amid the booming NFT market, David Hockney, one of the highest-selling living artists, has voiced his displeasure about NFTs, calling the participants “international crooks and swindlers.”
• As expected, several new players joined the NTF scenes this week, including an announcement from the NFT platform Curio American Gods NFTs. Romania’s first new media art store One Night Gallery unveiled the first virtual reality NFT. And pleasure and leisure company Playboy partnered with Niffy Gateway to sell some NFTs.
• English supermodel Kate Ann Moss is also set to auction her own set of NFTs. And of course, WWE also wants in on the NFT action. The wrestling entertainment giant dropped its own set of NFTs of the award-winning Undertaker on Saturday, April 10.
• airBaltic set a new record as the first airline to offer NFTs.

Other news

• In other crypto and blockchain-related news, Kwikswap is set to launch its V2 scaling solution on Polkadot’s ACALA.
• The Bank of Japan has joined the CBDC race and has begun the first phase of its digital currency experiments.
• THODEX rolled out comprehensive crypto support to its customers.
• In a bid to checkmate the transactions of citizens, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic has asked all banks to provide the details of customers who are affiliated with cryptocurrency trading.
• Senegalese-American singer and rapper Akon is taking his crypto mission a step further. He has been given land to build his second crypto city in Uganda.
• 1inch Exchange has changed its name to 1inch Network.
• Houbi will be committing $1 million to UNICEF to help support blockchain solutions that are geared towards children and young people around the world.
• Kava blockchain finally rolled out optimization for its base layer infrastructure. Consequently, the firm released the Kava 5.1 upgrade to the public, allowing institutions to earn +45% APR on Bitcoin holdings without counterparty risk.