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It was a rollercoaster week for Bitcoin and the broader crypto landscape, with most eyes fixed on the quadrennial Bitcoin halving finally executing early Saturday morning, on 4/20.
Monday brought an encouraging rebound after a weekend dip. As expected, Hong Kong joined the digital asset ETF party, approving Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs.
Latest on HK spot Bitcoin ETFs: They have been approved to exist but not launch (yet). Rumor has it launching next wk so to not compete w Dubai conf. Don't expect a lot of flows (I saw one estimate of $25b that's insane). We think they'll be lucky to get $500m. Here's why:
1. HK…— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 15, 2024
Tuesday brought news that venture capital and investment firm Andreessen Horowitz launched its second gaming fund, with an eye for Web3 and AI-forward games. It comes along with a new accelerator program named Speedrun, which will infuse each cohort member with $750,000. “Nothing is too early for us to get involved,” declared a16z general partner Andrew Chen.
The gaming fund is part of a massive $7.2 billion raise across several sectors.
after many months of cross-country flights, zoom calls, and late night deck revisions... whew... I'm glad to finally be able to share what I've been up to for the past bit:
yes, that's right--
A16Z GAMES FUND TWO 😎I'm super proud of the team for putting this all together.…
— andrew chen (@andrewchen) April 16, 2024
On the more whimsical side, news broke that another famous meme—a newer member of the "guy explains" category—would be going up for auction. Starting bid is 15 ETH (about $47,100), and the auction opens tomorrow.
The next meme to be auctioned is "Nightclub Meme" by David Wilkinson. The reserve will start at 15 ETH, for a 3 day auction beginning at 10am BST on Monday the 22nd of April. pic.twitter.com/40gkrIUbFg
— path.eth 🛡️ (@Cryptopathic) April 17, 2024
Hump day brought the announcement of World Chain by the Worldcoin Foundation, an Ethereum layer-2 based on Optimism that uses ETH as its native token and Worldcoin (WLD) for gas fees. “Verified humans, including more than 5 million verified World ID holders, will get priority blockspace over bots and a gas allowance for casual transactions,” the foundation said.
Introducing World Chain, a new blockchain designed for humans ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/qNb7S3vqut
— Worldcoin (@worldcoin) April 17, 2024
That same day, a tangled saga appeared to be winding up as discredited Bitcoin creation claimant Craig Wright dropped his lawsuit against a dozen Bitcoin developers following his decisive loss in the UK high court.
Craig Wright has discontinued his claims against Bitcoin developers (incl me) in the TTL case (where he was asking for a fork of bitcoin that seized random coins and gave him free money)!https://t.co/bSoJIN6Xbb
— Matt Corallo (@TheBlueMatt) April 16, 2024
The news came a week after Wright dropped a separate legal tussle in Norway.
In crypto hardware news, a newcomer announced a new smartphone—sort of. It's a Google Pixel 7a running ethOS, and yes, it comes with an NFT.
Thanks to everyone in the community who’ve asked for this newest version!
For those who’ve been waiting to mint, that time is now! ✅🫡
As always, stop by our discord with any questions you have about ethOS, or just say "hello"
We’re excited to continue building for you! pic.twitter.com/zUDfpIHBZs
— ethOS (@EthereumPhone) April 16, 2024
The back half of the week was dominated by halving anticipation—including whether it would indeed land on a meme day. (It did, at least in UTC.)
Is this #bitcoin halving barely going to squeak onto 4/20 UTC? 😬🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/R3pEHuITgD
— Laura Shin (@laurashin) April 19, 2024
A significant constituency among Crypto Twitter was more invested in the launch of Runes, scheduled to take place simultaneously. With the halving hours away, Bitcoin mining fees skyrocketed, a development some credited to Runes. Their takeaway? The reduction in Bitcoin mining rewards could be offset by the network activity generated by the new fungible token protocol.
In the last five Bitcoin blocks the fees have surpassed the coinbase reward!
The Runes degens have single handedly offset the drop in miner rewards from the halving.
Runes are drastically increasing Bitcoin's security budget.
You're welcome @LukeDashjr
— Leonidas (@LeonidasNFT) April 20, 2024
The Bitcoin halving took place overnight, Saturday morning, and Crypto Twitter celebrated.
NEVER IN HUMAN HISTORY has a good that people use as money been this scarce. Happy #bitcoin halving, peeps! pic.twitter.com/dLigDQj2Vi
— Caitlin Long 🔑⚡️🟠 (@CaitlinLong_) April 20, 2024
At least briefly.
Happy #Bitcoin Halving (: pic.twitter.com/hlV45GhC69
— I)ruid (@druidian) April 20, 2024
When the pivotal Bitcoin block was minted, the miner got a surprise bonus.
As for Runes, the race was on to mint the first batch. Within minutes, the winners were revealed.
First 10 Runes:
0 - UNCOMMON•GOODS
1 - Z•Z•Z•Z•Z•FEHU•Z•Z•Z•Z•Z
2 - DECENTRALIZED
3 - DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON
4 - THE•RUNIX•TOKEN
5 - DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG
6 - SATOSHI•NAKAMOTO
7 - MEME•ECONOMICS
8 - RSIC•GENESIS•RUNE
9 - LOBO•THE•WOLF•PUP pic.twitter.com/oaYzWRYm14— Ord.io (@ord_io) April 20, 2024
Planning ahead, Bitcoin developer and Runes protocol creator Casey Rodamor set up a Rune that will come to life at the next halving in four years.
the sleepiest rune wakes up next halvinghttps://t.co/eIiwK5lU1U pic.twitter.com/K37XG45BOk
— Casey (@rodarmor) April 20, 2024
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.