Polygon has discovered magic

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. Metaverse is everywhere. People can’t get enough and neither can Oxford University Press. So much so that ‘metaverse’ is a contender for 2022’s Oxford Word of the Year. Goblin mode is on the list too. What a time to be alive.

The markets recovered. Bitcoin was at ~$16,400 and Ethereum moved to $1,150 levels. Nasdaq rose in early trade. Back home, Sensex and Nifty ended slightly higher.

Magic With MATIC

Ethereum, Solana, and now Polygon. NFT marketplace Magic Eden has added Polygon as the third supported blockchain. It has plans to add more blockchain games and support game developers.

Why Polygon?Polygon is leading the web3 race with crypto and non-crypto firms. Magic Eden was drawn to this. Plus, there was the pull of Polygon’s low fees and EVM compatibility.

FYI EVM is the software that runs smart contracts and manages accounts on Ethereum.

What’s the plan?The NFT marketplace will utilise Polygon to support developers to create in-game digital assets. Magic Eden will roll out a launchpad and a marketplace for web3 developers building on Polygon and use MATIC. (*nudge* use case *nudge*) MATIC rose ~9.2% post the announcement. Magic Eden wants to do a few things with Polygon:

• Investment and launch of blockchain games

• Power in-game activity and user acquisition

This may effectively boost the Polygon network through an increased number of transactions. Polygon’s zkEVM (the ETH-compatible solution) has crossed 14,000 since its launch in October, without downtime. Whatcha doin’ Solana?

The SBF effect?We’ve told you how Solana is under the weather because of its links with Sam Bankman-Fried. Polygon’s MATIC has moved into the 10th spot among crypto tokens while Solana has dropped to 15th. But, all probably isn’t lost yet. Magic Eden claims there’s something in store for SOL as well. Let’s see.

LINK Is Active

Chainlink is all charged up. Its staking initiative is ready for launch. The number of active addresses touched a one-year high of ~4,700. Chain link’s token LINK is buzzing on social media and zoomed ~10.5%.

FYI Chainlink is an oracle or bridge blockchain that helps web3 entities access data off-chain or outside the blockchain.

What’s driving it?Since the FTX collapse, investors are looking for altcoins with long-term use cases. That’s how Chainlink found more takers. The staking rewards make it even more attractive. It’s expected that stakers can earn between 5% and 7% yearly, with a stake cap of 7,000 LINK per address.

BUIDL onThe oracle crypto wants more developers to choose its network as part of Chainlink 2.0. Stakers can access add-on services and technical support to build web3 projects and dApps under the Chainlink BUILD programme.

ICYMI You can read more about Chainlink’s plan to unlink from the bears here.

Miners Got Good News & Bad News

Crypto mining and staking firm Foundry will buy two crypto mining assets from the Bitcoin miner Compute North.

ICYMI Compute North filed for bankruptcy protection in September. It couldn’t meet its $500 million debt obligations. Its assets have been sold to different entities in the time since then.

The Foundry deal will also include rights to a fleet of mining machines owned by Compute North. Some intellectual property, such as software owned by the Bitcoin miner, is also part of the deal.

Now some bad newsThat’s the question a New York law is addressing. Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work crypto mining.

Now we don’t know who will get inspired, but this does set a precedent for other states.

Crypto Your Way To El Salvador

El Salvador loves crypto. Now the Central American nation is proposing to offer fast-tracked citizenship through blockchain-based bonds.

What is this now?The country has been trying to get its hands on money. The IMF hasn’t been too kicked about El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's dance with Bitcoin. And has been hesitant to lend it money to bridge the gap between its spending and revenue. But Bukele will be Bukele. He has decided to raise a bond.

SighThis proposed law will facilitate operations with any crypto asset to help build Bukele’s dream Bitcoin city.

UhohYes. Remember it is also buying 1 Bitcoin a day because value? All of these antics are raising worries about the country's creditworthiness.

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