The second week of February has been exciting for the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. Perhaps the biggest news was that FC Barcelona launched a crypto token offering greater engagement with its fans. Created in partnership with blockchain firm Chiliz, the Barça Fan Tokens will allow fans to vote in polls and surveys on Chiliz' mobile app Socios.com. Alexandre Dreyfus, Chiliz and Socios CEO stated: "The club is without a doubt the most renowned and the most supported football club in the world and we can't wait to see their fans start to influence club decisions." Chiliz said on Thursday supporters interacting with the club via its app will be rewarded with points redeemable for FC Barcelona merchandise and club experiences. Barça boasts one of the largest supporter bases worldwide and is the wealthiest soccer club by revenue. Its move into blockchain will surely help boost global adoption.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
The IOTA Foundation, the nonprofit organization that founded the IOTA distributed network, on Thursday recommended users close their Trinity wallets after multiple reports of theft of funds. IOTA said it started receiving theft reports Wednesday and decided to shut off the critical Coordinator node in the network pending further investigation. The foundation stated: "First exchanges have responded, reporting that no monitored funds have been transferred or liquidated. Most evidence is pointing towards seed theft, cause still unknown and under investigation." IOTA tweeted it is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to probe a coordinated attack that resulted in stolen funds from at least 10 victims. The foundation is currently evaluating an exploit on an earlier version of its Trinity wallet and analyzing hackers' attack patterns.
Polychain Capital is raising $200 million for a second blockchain fund aimed at venture investing, a funding goal that tops its first venture fund by $25 million. According to an investor slide deck reported by CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency investment firm's second venture fund launched in 2020 and is currently accepting minimum investments of $1 million for up to 3 years. Like Polychain Capital's first venture fund, the second fund will support early-stage crypto startups raising pre-seed, seed, and Series A fundraising rounds. The first venture fund of $175 million invested most of its capital by the end of 2019 after launching in early 2018. The slide deck does not reveal the amount Polychain Capital has raised so far for the second fund. Investors in Polychain Capital reportedly included renowned tech venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Union Square Ventures.
Crypto prices slipped to $282 billion this week. For the majors, Ethereum (ETH), Tezos (XTZ), and Ripple (XRP) made gains, while Bitcoin SV (BSV), EOS, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) posted outsized losses. In the top 100, the biggest losers were ICON (ICX), down 25%, Bitcoin Diamond (BCD), down 23%, and HyperCash (HC), down 21%. The biggest gainers were Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), up a whopping 126%, WAX (WAXP), up 122%, and OKB, up 64%. Next week traders will see if Bitcoin (BTC) can hold the $10,000 level.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.