You can read the Digest.

• Fed prepares to hike rates in March and reacts to policy decision

• Coinbase (NASDAQ: ) Preparing Listing for Ecosystem tokens ahead of Proposed Network Upgrade

• Cryptomoney Laundering Rises by 30% in 2021; DeFi Involvement Increases

• Reddit tests NFT in Profile Pictures. YouTube will introduce NFT feature

Bitcoin Responds to the Fed’s March Rate Hike

Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell announced that the bank will raise its interest rates and issue bonds to deal with financial market turmoil.

The Fed would tighten its Monetary Policy as the inflation rate has not improved significantly since December, he said. While the Fed did not say when it would make this policy shift, it said that they will significantly decrease its balance sheet’s bond holdings.

Reacting to the first interest hike by the Fed in three years, Bitcoin’s three days winning streak was abruptly halted. Bitcoin fell by 4% in the past 24 hours, joining the NASDAQ100 mini falls and the main stock market indices.

Bitcoin price chart 24 hours (BTC) Source: Tradingview

From an interday high of $38,930, Bitcoin has fallen to $36,725 after the FOMC’s announcement and FED Chair Powell press conference.

Flipsider:

• The three-month-long price correction, which has seen Bitcoin drop by half of its all-time high value, has caused the number of millionaire wallet addresses to drop by 23.5% – from 105 820 to 80 945.

Why you should care

The Fed’s rate hike would affect the borrowing and saving rates, and experts have predicted that its cumulative effect would affect household budgets.

Coinbase Lists Solana Ecosystem Tokens in Advance of Network Upgrade

Solana Labs was once the emerging star of crypto, due to its performance in blockchain. However, it has now come under scrutiny regarding its stability. Solana Labs CEO – Anatoly Yakovenko – has proposed updates to solve the incessant network outages Solana is experiencing.

Yakovenko found a network bug that caused network congestion by duplicate processing and liquidatorbots. He explained Solana Labs engineers would implement “flow control” and “stake weight” in the 1.9 testnet to solve these problems.

According to him, the time required for upgrades of the 1.8 mainnet is between 4 and 5 weeks. Coinbase is expected to list Solana ecosystem tokens ahead of Solana exchange upgrades.

The report states that Coinbase has begun to support Solana Program Library tokens. Coingecko tracks more than 100 Solana Ecosystem tokens and has a market capitalization of $45 billion.

Flipsider:

• Solana’s steep declines continue droppingSOL dropped 65% since its high point by 7% over the past 24 hours.

Why you should care

Solana is a promising performer, experts say it may be the visa for cryptocurrencies. If it manages to solve its instability problems.

Cryptomoney Laundering Rises by 30% in 2021; DeFi Involvement Increases

Although cryptocurrency has been called the future of money and praised for their anonymity, they quickly became a favorite tool for money laundering, hackers, and cybercriminals.

Chainalysis, a blockchain data company found that cybercriminals stole 30% more money in 2021 than 2020. Chainalysis reported that $6.6 billion was stolen in 2020, while $8.6 million in crypto was stolen in 2021.

The laundered funds are still lower than the 2019 record of $10.9 trillion despite the increase in 2021. Blockchain tracker reports that crypto laundered has reached $33.4 billion since 2017.

The report shows that DeFi protocols’ utility for money laundering has increased by nearly 1,964%, from a share of 2% in 2020 to 17% at the end of 2021. In 2021, $900 million was laundered via DeFi protocols as a result of their increased involvement.

Flipsider:

• Chainalysis reports that only $33.4 billion of crypto is being laundered compared with the $2 trillion worth fiat annually.

Why you should care

There is a lot of opportunity for criminals to take advantage of individuals due to the growth in crypto. Investors must learn how to prevent falling prey to cybercriminals.

Reddit tests NFT in Profile Pictures. YouTube will introduce NFT feature

Reddit has been reported to be testing an NFT profile photo implementation just days after Twitter’s (NYSE:) new NFT profiles were launched. A Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt has confirmed the test, calling it “a small, internal test.”

Rathschmidt clarified that although it is not known in which direction Reddit intends to implement the feature, the feature will allow users set NFTs (avatars), and confirm ownership.

YouTube, the streaming service, has joined the fray and hinted that it will integrate web3 features with NFT to make creators more rich.

YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, described the innovation in the crypto and NFT space as previously unimaginable. Further, she explains how the company will capitalize on NFTs emerging technology to improve the YouTube experience for creators as well as fans.

Flipsider:

• Despite the growing NFT acceptance, NASA has stated that it “does not wish for its images to be used for these purposes.”

Why you should care

There are more and better use cases for non-fungible tokens. This is a good sign that mainstream adoption will be possible.

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