We are back with an upgraded, more in-depth weekly newsletter for your Monday morning catch-up! ☕️📰

Crypto & Blockchain Update: May 27 - June 2

📈Market Highlights
- Number of people who hold crypto worldwide crosses 6.8% to around 562 million people, which is a 34% increase from 2023
- Bitcoin drops 2% as Mt. Gox wallets move $7.3B to unknown wallet
- UNI declines 9% after postponement of protocol upgrade vote
- Bitcoin had its best May since 2019
- NFT sales volume drops by 54% in May according to CryptoSlam
- Market gets ready for $875M in token unlocks in June
- PEPE trading volumes triple, landing it in 20th spot by market cap, with Dogecoin 8th and Shiba Inu 11th
- ChatGPT-coded memecoin Turbo reaches $638M market cap
- Trump token crashes following guilty verdict

🎮Crypto Gaming
- Telegram based Notcoin reaches $1B market cap
- CityVerse Tycoon will launch on Ethereum L2 network Base
- The Sandbox launched a DAO to help SAND token holders and NFT land owners decide the future of ecosystem, rollout will happen in 3 phases
- Pudgy Penguins and Mythical Games release a mobile game on Mythos chain
- South Korean game publisher Com2uS has launched its own L2 chain called XPLA Verse
- Telegram-based Hamster Kombat to launch its own token on TON
- Tapos, “tickle-to-earn” cat game on Aptos has reached 63,000 users
- Catizen is the fastest growing Telegram crypto gaming community

💼Regulatory Updates
- Ethereum ETF June launch “legit possibility” as BlackRock files S-1
- Binance France changes ownership following local regulator warning
- U.S. President Joe Biden signed a veto to repeal SEC’s SAB 121
- U.S. DOJ arrests 911 S5 botnet boss Yune Wang
- CZ, former CEO of Binance begins his 4 month prison sentence in California, United States
- El Salvador’s pro-BTC President sworn in for the second term

🛜Technological Advancements
- Google and Magic Leap partner up to make metaverse goggles
- EOS Network approves new tokenomics, promising a “new era”
- Shiba Inu developers implemented an upgrade to Shibarium network, increasing bridging time by days
- Open-source AI model Mistral got a big upgrade to its LLM

🤝Investments & Partnerships
- CertiK announces CertiK Ventures to boost blockchain development
- Tether invest $150M in Jihan Wu’s crypto mining firm Bitdeer
- Bitcoin firm and University of Austin partner for $5M endowment fund
- Babylon raises $70M to bridge the gap between Ethereum and Bitcoin
- River Protocol to aim alternative to Slack and Discord, powered by Base
- Semler Scientific adopts $BTC as treasury asset and its SMLR increased to 33%
- GME increased more than 19% overnight after Roaring Kitty posted on Reddit

🔐Cybersecurity
- Japanese crypto exchange DMM suffers $305M loss in $BTC due to private key hack
- Crypto losses from fraud and hacks declined in May by 12% according to Immunefi
- Ethereum blockchain projects still the main target for hackers, followed by BNB Chain

ℹ️Miscellaneous
- Matter Labs, known for developing zKSync, files for “zero-knowledge” trademark in 9 countries
- MotoGP’s Gresini Racing launches a new fan sponsorship program with cryptocurrencies
- Ripple CEO says Spot XRP ETF is ”inevitable”
- Turkish authorities detain 127 suspects connected to a crypto scamming platform

💭Expert Opinion:
“Telegram-based gaming projects are rapidly gaining traction, showing the immense potential of integrating messaging apps with blockchain technology. The success of recently launched games and tokens, along with upcoming advancements, highlights a shift towards more interactive and decentralized gaming ecosystems.”
– Evald Hannes Kree, CEO at @swapincom

🎙️Community Spotlight:
This week, we’re featuring Mobile Autokeskus, who have successfully integrated our SwapinCollect solution, allowing their customers to easily purchase cars with cryptocurrencies.

Watch the video below where their CEO Silver Havamaa shares more about how this works: https://t.co/wdRPw2GNhN

If you're in Estonia, check out their website to choose the car you'd like to buy next using crypto!

🗓️Upcoming Events:
1) MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit
📅 June 4-5, 2024
📍 Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, Estonia
Swapin team member Mike Tiffin will be attending.

2) @money2020
📅 June 5-7, 2024
📍 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Swapin team members Evald Hannes Kree and Ivar Jaanus will be at the Estonian Pavillion, stand nr 8 A180.

Have a great new week ahead!
- Swapin Team