Don’t look now, but crypto is RALLYING so far in 2023. Bitcoin is up 24% in the past week, Ethereum is up 22% in the past week, and names like AVAX, SOL, and LIDO all surged this week even more. Could the crypto winter be thawing? On the other hand, that’s not to overlook the parade of bad news: more layoffs from Coinbase, Blockchain.com and Crypto.com, and this week the SEC made waves by charging Gemini and Genesis at once for the sale of unregistered securities. Read on, get caught up, and then enjoy your weekend.
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“Game of Thrones” is the latest entertainment juggernaut to enter the Web3 space this week, but while the NFT drop sold out, it was also widely mocked for artwork that you have to see to believe.
Most of the tokenized character images depicted generic-looking fantasy warriors—but some featured surreally long fingers that Crypto Twitter lovingly dubbed “salad fingers” and Decrypt EIC Dan Roberts called “scythe hands.” The collection creator Nifty’s chalked the protracted digits up to a “rendering error” but the wacky misfire may live on forever in the hearts of the NFT faithful à la Pixelmon’s endlessly meme-able “Kevin.”
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GALA, the Ethereum-based token of Gala Games, surged in price more than 100% this week amid a spate of announcements around its budding Web3 entertainment ecosystem. The pump wasn’t without controversy: Gala deleted a January 8 tweet teasing its “ongoing work” with actors Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.
Fake news? No, it appears that both stars are indeed working on documentary films with Gala via their respective production companies, and a Gala rep told Decrypt that both firms signed contracts in 2022. The rep said the tweet was removed due to details that weren’t “supposed to be shared in a public place.” GALA’s price dipped briefly, but has climbed back further since.
Sander on the Street is back! Decrypt’s Sander Lutz walked the red carpet and accosted attendees as they arrived at the inaugural Crypties awards gala in December 2022 at Art Basel in Miami, presented by Decrypt Studios.
