TLDR Crypto 2022-01-24

The Solana network suffered congestion issues over the weekend as crypto assets plummeted. Many DeFi users who had taken out loans needed to top up their collateral during the price drop to avoid becoming liquidated. The network was flooded with transactions, which caused congestion, resulting in widespread liquidations. Similar issues have occurred on multiple occasions on the Solana network. Solana has acknowledged the issue and the team will roll out improvements in the coming weeks.

Terraform Labs has announced the formation of the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), a non-profit created to foster the growth of the Terra ecosystem. The Terra ecosystem includes TerraUSD, an algorithmically-governed stablecoin with a supply of roughly 10.8 billion coins. Terraform Labs bootstrapped LFG with a donation of over $4 billion worth of LUNA tokens. LFG will continuously support the stability of Terra's stablecoins. It will also fund DeFi projects and open-source blockchain technology through grants.

FTX customers outside of the US can now join the waitlist for an FTX Visa debit card. The card will not have any fees and crypto balances will be automatically exchanged at the point of sale. Users will be able to use the card to spend crypto anywhere that Visa is accepted. FTX has not commented on why the card will not be available in the US.

This Twitter thread contains a list of 21 crypto projects or trends to watch out for in 2022. It includes projects that allow users to take their data with them across the internet, music NFTs, more useful DAOs, infrastructure upgrades, and wallet improvements. A larger article (20 minute read) containing more details about each project is linked in the first tweet.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the core of the Ethereum network. EVM to Ethereum is like a CPU is a computer. EVM compatible blockchains create a code execution environment similar to the EVM, so developers can easily deploy protocols to the chain and users can enjoy lower gas fees, faster settlement, and the same address format as Ethereum. Non-EVM chains promote more innovation, but there are higher costs for developers and users. This article compares the benefits and disadvantages of EVM compatible and non-compatible blockchains to help readers better evaluate the potential of projects from a different perspective.

Blockchain games are fundamentally different from traditional games as they give players full control over the digital assets they earn or acquire in game. In traditional games, the money and assets remain the property of the publisher or developer, so users are not free to sell or trade items however they want. Users can also lose all their items and data if the game decides to ban them for whatever reason. This article explores the history of business models in the game industry and how blockchain will be used in the future for gaming, looking at how blockchain can benefit both gamers and developers.

The White House is preparing to release an executive order as early as next month that will outline a comprehensive government strategy on cryptocurrencies. Many agencies have issued guidance letters, informal statements, and public rules regarding crypto laws, but these efforts have not yet been coordinated into a single document. Senior officials have met multiple times to discuss the directive and federal agencies have been studying or providing regulatory guidance around digital assets for years.

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are starting to compete on fees. Uniswap introduced the option for different fee tiers for liquidity providers with its v3 upgrade. It has lowered fees to compete with traditional finance exchanges, which charge significantly less in fees, and other DEXs. Uniswap has only lowered fees on stablecoin pairs. The lowered fees have resulted in Uniswap rapidly gaining market share from Curve and increased liquidity in the marketplace.

Bitcoin mining hit an all-time high of 26.64 trillion on January 21. The previous record was in May 2021 when it hit 25.04 trillion. Mining difficulty is automatically adjusted based on the computational power in the network. The difficulty dropped after May 2021 when Chinese miners shut down due to regulations. Many Chinese miners have come back online in North America, explaining the rise in mining difficulty. Mining is expected to continue to become more difficult as miners deploy more machines around the world.