This Week in Blockchain #24 - 26th July 2021 - Podcast + Vlog

Welcome to this week's episode of This Week in Blockchain! 

Each week your host, Conor Svensson, founder and CEO of Web3 Labs, will provide a rundown of the major events that took place in the blockchain industry that are relevant to business during the past week.

Listen here -

Watch here -

Overview and links to all events mentioned in episode #24 -

• FTX closes $900M funding round at an $18B valuation

• DeFi Project Aave to Release Ethereum-Based Twitter Alternative This Year 

• Cease And Desist Order Against BlockFi

• Bitcoin will be a 'big part' of Twitter's future, says CEO Jack Dorsey 

• Cathie Wood's ARK Invest Raises Square Holdings After Dorsey Announcement 

• Cardano Creator Charles Hoskinson Unveils Details on Crypto Project 'Djed' 

• SoftBank to Invest $75M in Peter Thiel-Backed Crypto Exchange Bullish 

• 'Vast Majority' of Institutions Will Own Crypto by 2026: Fidelity 

• Mastercard partners with Paxos, Circle stablecoin platforms for crypto to fiat conversion 

• Binance Burns $400 Million

• Binance Australia partners with Koinly 

• JPMorgan Gives Retail Wealth Clients Access to Crypto Funds 

• China Releases First Carbon Offset on Ant Group Blockchain: Report 

• Allianz launches blockchain claims solution in 23 countries 

• Neon Labs is deploying the Ethereum Virtual Machine on Solana 

• Crypto.com deploys its Ethereum Virtual Machine chain testnet 

• Coinbase's Bison Trails Adds Developer Tool for Solana Blockchain 

• Reddit is scaling its two tokens using Layer 2 solution Arbitrum 

• Ethereum Transition to ETH2 Gets a Formal Improvement Proposal 

• Terra Attracts $150M for DeFi Ecosystem Fund

• Grayscale is launching an institutional-grade DeFi fund and index DeFi 

• MakerDAO Moves to Full Decentralization; Maker Foundation to Close in 'Months' 

• SushiSwap Unveils 4 New Crypto Trading Products at Ethereum Paris Conference 

• First Decentralized Exchange Launches on Polkadot and Kusama Ecosystem 

• South China Morning Post to Mint Historical Records as NFTs 

• Alibaba's Taobao to Include NFT Arts in Its Maker Festival 

• Polygon Announces the Launch of Polygon Studios

• Ethereum Documentary Raises $1.9 Million Via NFTs on Mirror 

• Auditchain to Use NFTs for Accounting and Disclosure Controls 

• NFT Marketplace OpenSea Becomes Crypto Unicorn at $1.5 Billion Valuation 

• First NFT Company Accepted Into UN Global Compact 

• Damien Hirst's 'Currency' NFT drop more than 6x oversubscribed 

• Testing interest in NFTs vs. physical collectibles with Apple founder's 50-year-old job application 

• Ethereum Upgrade for Reducing ETH Supply Gets Commemorative NFTs 

• A startup that lets you race NFT horses has raised $20 million from a16z, TCG 

• DraftKings shares plans for launch of NFT collectibles marketplace 

• Valuart Launches Auction of NFT Derived From Banksy's 'Spike' 

• Tyson Fury NFT sells for nearly $1 million on NFT marketplace HoDooi

• Crypto Market Cap
  
• Assets locked in DeFi
• NFT Volumes

We'd love you to listen to our new podcast 'Blockchain Innovators' too. It's an informative podcast where Web3 Labs founder and CEO, Conor Svensson, talks to guests who have made significant contributions to the blockchain ecosystem. Find out what inspires these innovators, get their thoughts on the latest industry news and events spanning crypto, blockchain, protocols, DeFi, NFTs, DAOs and IoT.

If you’d like to learn more and understand the opportunities blockchain presents to your business,  watch our Principles of Successful Blockchain Deployments Webinar.