TLDR Crypto 2022-02-28

JoinMarket is working on a new user-friendly UI to give users an easier way to privatize their bitcoin. The latest release of JoinMarket contains an alpha test of the UI for testers and developers. People using current CoinJoin services can be tracked due to messy privacy practices. JoinMarket aims to provide a peer-to-peer service that will allow users to scramble their bitcoins without a third party.

Pixelmon is an NFT gaming project that will allow players to catch Pixelmon and collect them as NFTs in an open-world RPG. The project recently minted $70 million in Pixelmon NFTs. Its artwork was criticized on social media due to its poor quality. The founder of the project has apologized for the artwork, saying that the team will update the models using the funds it raised. Some examples of the artwork are available in the article.

NFT Worlds is a metaverse built in Minecraft. The game logged over 26,000 player hours over a three-day testing period earlier this month. NFT Worlds offers NFT virtual land purchases. The lowest price for a piece of land is 14.5 Ethereum. Microsoft has terms that prevent anyone from making commercial use of its products, so it is possible that the project could be shut down at any time through legal action. The NFT Worlds team works closely with Microsoft representatives, but Microsoft has not indicated whether it approves of the project or not.

Beanstalk is a credit-based stablecoin that is immune to oversight and regulation from central banks and centralized stablecoin issuers. It maintains its dollar peg with no capital lockup using a decentralized credit facility known as the Field. The Beanstalk protocol adjusts the interest rate for lending, supply, and minting of Beans according to its price to maintain stability. The Bean token has stayed around its $1 peg over its five months of existence. More information is available in the article.

This article discusses a tokenized subscription model for subscription media that allows early subscribers to benefit from future growth. The model involves users buying and holding tokens that give them access to their subscriptions. A certain amount of tokens are burned every year, meaning that users will have to buy more every year to maintain their subscriptions. If the value of the token increases, fewer tokens are burned, so subscribers end up with leftover tokens they can use to resubscribe with.

Hashflow is a decentralized trading protocol that connects traders and liquidity providers directly with professional market makers. It uses traditional market makers for pricing assets. Hashflow brings CeFi market makers into DeFi with competitive price quotes. Price quotes in Hashflow are pre-agreed upon by users and market makers. Market makers have to be voted in by the community to be able to quote on Hashflow. Many more details are available in the article.

Ukraine has received more than $15 million in cryptocurrency donations. The country's Twitter account tweeted out official Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT addresses. Tether is trading above the dollar due to demand in Ukraine. The country is known for its tech talent. It officially legitimized cryptocurrencies last year with a law regulating digital assets and providing fraud protection for Ukrainians. Several decentralized autonomous organizations have formed to provide support for Ukrainians.

Bitcoin could shape the outcome of the battle between Russia and Ukraine. Millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies have already been donated to NGOs to support Ukraine. Crypto has proven its ability to fund activities almost instantly. However, some people view this as potentially dangerous as the crypto community could use its wealth to meddle in conflicts it doesn't understand.

Stories of governments seizing cryptocurrencies have been making headlines lately. Not much has been revealed about how governments recover stolen funds. This article looks at recent examples of where governments seized, froze, or recovered cryptocurrency and examines the strategies used by governments to gain access to crypto funds.