Hello McFinancers! We are going to take a special look at the crypto markets this week as there has been major news.

The latest in financial news: This past week, both BlackRock and Fidelity have applied for a spot Ethereum ETF, the future of web3 gaming is unclear as game developers have been switching chains, and Republic has announced that they are offering an investment that pays dividends on Avalanche.

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Ethereum ETF New On The Scene

Over the past week, both BlackRock and Fidelity have submitted applications for a spot Ethereum ETF. This is the latest in institutional investors getting involved with cryptocurrencies. BlackRock, Fidelity, and other major hedge funds had submitted applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF around June of 2023 and it has caused a major commotion in the crypto economy. The filling for the spot Ethereum ETF is just the latest for institutional investors. As the spot Bitcoin ETF has taken months so far, it is expected that the spot Ethereum would take just as long for approval.

While this spot ETF is similar to the Bitcoin ETF that was submitted months ago by large institutions, it does have a difference in that Ethereum isn’t defined as a commodity like Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been considered a commodity by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This can have a big impact on the approval process as the SEC could deny the ETFs due to Ethereum not being classified as a security or a commodity. It will eventually be approved but it may take months to years before it gets approved.

The Future of Web3 GamingTopic 2

Over the past year, many web3 games have been moving to different chains. The current top 3 chains with the most web3 games are Polygon, BNB Chain, and Ethereum Main Net. One reason games have left is because of concerns about the chain developers or parent companies. There have been a few games that have left the BNB chain due to concerns because of the safety and reliability of Binance. The biggest reason that most games have switched chains is the gas fees. As gas fees are used to pay for transactions, this can increase the cost for the game to operate on particular chains. This has caused a lot of games to switch to chains that offer gas-less fees such as Immutable X and SKALE.

Web3 gaming is the future of gaming. It ultimately will allow gamers the ability to own the assets or prizes that they win in their games. It will allow them the chance to items after spending hours playing a game. The biggest question right now for investors and developers is which chain will be successful. There has been a lot of development in web3 gaming over the past few years during this current crypto winter. This has allowed developers to work on the mechanisms for their games. As these games continue to improve and the industry determines the best solution for scalability and security for games, it will drive more gamers to web3 games. This would also lead to more adoption of cryptocurrencies as most of the world is gamers.

Republic Uses Avalanche For Dividends

Financial technology (fintech) company Republic is creating a digital asset on Avalanche (AVAX) that will help distribute dividends to investors. The company is looking to create a tokenized asset called Republic Note that pays investors dividends in stablecoins (particularly USDC). This token will be considered a security by the Howey Test. The company is expecting to release the Republic Note in 2024 with no date given as of yet.

Real-world assets (RWA) offer potential to crypto. Using blockchain technology with RWAs, people would have access to many more investments than they do now. People could buy parts of a rental property for hundreds of dollars instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars. It would let them get passive income from renters. It would allow people to get loans on art or watches. The possibilities of RWAs on blockchain technology are massive for investors. The trustless nature of crypto would allow people to invest in something and not worry about it being a Ponzi scheme or a scam.

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