Early December was a brutal period for the crypto market, as it crashed substantially. While it has recovered since, crypto assets like BTC, MANA, SAND and GALA are yet to hit the highs they experienced in November. 

Causes include the volatile period for traditional financial markets and skewering inflation.

There is a silver lining though. Terra (LUNA) surged in price and Terra-TVL grew considerably in the past week or so. Why are people choosing Terra stablecoins over other US$-backed assets?

## TerraUSD, a truly decentralised stablecoin

TerraUSD (UST) is a decentralised, algorithmic stablecoin that offers a scalable solution for DeFi. Decentralised stablecoin leaders like DAI face severe scalability problems and UST offers a viable solution. 

People are finally realizing UST’s potential, which also includes easy exchange, passive income potential and interoperability. The ability to earn income off stablecoin deposits is a key factor currently driving its acceptance. The fact that UST held its peg during the crypto crash is big news and a significant event for the DeFi ecosystem at large. 

While stablecoins like USDT, USDC, BUSD and TUSD failed to do so, UST held strong. Earlier this year, it was impossible to think of an algorithmic stablecoin outperforming the above-mentioned stablecoins. More and more exchanges are introducing UST pairs, the latest being KuCoin with SOL/UST and MATIC/UST.

Now, one of LUNA's capabilities is ensuring the price stability of Terra stablecoins. 

## LUNA burning drove scarcity

From 26th November to 5th December for example, roughly 10 million LUNA tokens were burnt! The reason is simple. As more people are purchasing UST and exchanges are introducing UST pairs, a larger number of UST will have to be minted to meet growing demands. 

This in turn leads to LUNA burning, most of which is done by buying LUNA off the open market. 

## Conclusion

Confirming fundamentals means LUNA should be a key part of your core holdings and at the top of your ‘buy the dip’ coin list. LUNA surged to an ATH recently, so do not rush and buy the coin now.



LUNA Continues to Shine Despite Crypto Crash

We have been here before.  The “flash crash” that occurred the morning of December 4th can likely be attributed to many factors, but the lesson is the same - investing in cryptocurrency requires the wherewithal to deal with extreme volatility.  [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) continues to reign as the industry titan and when the price suddenly plummets, like it did Saturday morning, altcoins and other cryptocurrencies are likely to follow suit. 

Crypto-investors found themselves having to deal with that exact scenario this past weekend.

## Omicron Variant Effects Prices

Hopes of seeing Bitcoin achieve a year-end price level of $100,000 were dashed in only moments when monetary policy rumours and speculation about the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, sent tremors through the cryptocurrency marketplace.

The world’s original cryptocurrency suddenly lost more than 18% in value, dropping to as low as $42,875…_all within the span of a single hour_.  As the new week begins, Bitcoin has already recovered some of that value back, creeping just above $50,000.  But, still well below the $55,000 - $59,000 price range the digital coin traded in the week prior to the crash.

Don’t act surprised.  Experiencing a 30-40% price fluctuation within a single month is something to be expected as the cryptocurrency market continues to mature.

## Buy The Dip- Opportunity?

Following closely behind Bitcoin, the world's _second-_largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, [Ethereum](/coins/eth), declined to $3,525 per coin – the digital asset’s lowest price in a month, though it has since recovered some of the lost value. 

There are investors among us who have waited patiently for this opportunity.  The more experienced crypto-investors among us are seeing a familiar pattern – a significant and sudden market decline “washes out” the crypto-newbies who’ve been playing the cryptocurrency market like a casino, and while those players are making for the hills, the more prudent among us view the market carnage as a buying opportunity.

In other words, is this an opportunity to “buy the dip?” 

Even if we take Saturday’s precipitous drop into consideration, Bitcoin was trading just over $29,000 when 2021 began so it is still up over 65% on the year.  Lately, we seem to have been standing on the edge of what many would consider “mainstream adoption” of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.  But those aren’t the only two “would be” buying opportunities right now. 

## Rise of The Altcoin

Last weekend’s sell-off affected other altcoins that had been riding a trend of popularity in 2021, making such affected digital assets no less enticing in terms of “buying the dip.”  [Polkadot](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polkadot-new/), which trades under the symbol DOT, looks especially appealing right now.  The digital asset lost nearly 10% of its value in the first 24 hours of the sell-off, but most suspect the decline had come as a result of the broader market sell-off.

At present, Polkadot is showing signs of recovery which would suggest strong investor support for this suddenly popular digital asset.  Polkadot has evolved to find a place on the list of the top-ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, we assume for a reason.  Investors looking for solid projects to invest in that demonstrate future potential might have a reason to consider Polkadot right now.  Like, _right_ now…

Popular Altcoin Prices Drop in Unison

It seems like it was business as usual today after the crypto market resumed its upward trajectory after what was an extremely painful weekend for many.

The cryptocurrency market looked like it had turned a corner after a huge sell off at the end of the previous week prompting mainstream news outlets to describe the latest cryptocurrency ‘crash’.

Data from [Coinmarketcap.com](https://coinmarketcap.com/) shows that the total cryptocurrency market value fell by $630 billion in little more than 15 hours settling around $2 trillion at 15:00 hours GMT on Saturday 4th December. Such a massive drawback understandably shocked many traders and investors and led to wild speculation on social media.

However, since the weekend crash prices have recovered well, albeit slowly, with the total market value currently standing at $2.4 trillion, an increase of 8% in the last 24 hours.

## Bitcoin and Ethereum drop by over 20%

[Bitcoin](/coins/btc) dropped spectacularly from $57,000 to $45,000, just over 20%, but has since recovered and is currently changing hands for $51,400. Ethereum on the other hand suffered a drop of 21% from $4,650 to $3,650 and is now priced at $4,420.

While price fluctuations like this appear alarming to many, for those long term cryptocurrency investors it seems like just another day in the market. Without significant regulation the market is wide open to manipulation and extremely murky business. Just last week US Democrat Hilary Clinton called on the need for regulation to put a halt to manipulation from ‘Russia and China’.

## Kleiman vs Wright finally resolved

This much needed market regulation may be just around the corner as the first of two major cases affecting the entire market was settled today. As previously reported, the case of Kleiman vs Wright could prove pivotal in the confidence of major league investors and today a jury in Miami ruled that Craig Wright and David Kleiman did not have any legal arrangement when the two mined over a million Bitcoin in 2009.

Although Wright must pay the family estate of deceased Kleiman $100 million in damages the judge ruled that there was no claim on the legacy Bitcoin which Wright is thought to have control over.

If the case had gone the other way the Bitcoin held by Wright would have been relinquished and could have been sold on the open market. Now with clarity in the case, high level investors looking to invest in Bitcoin can rest easy knowing there is no chance of 1.1 million Bitcoin entering the market.

## SEC vs Ripple Labs seeking clarity

The other case which many people believe will play a key role in the continued maturation of the market is of course the Securities & Exchange Commission vs Ripple Labs. The basis of the SEC argument is that Ripple knowingly sold its native XRP token in the form of an investment security when the company raised funds in 2013.

[Ripple](/coins/xrp) of course deny this and are going to painstaking lengths to demonstrate that XRP is in fact a utility token in the remittance and settlement market and has no guarantee of return on investment. If, as seems obvious to many, the SEC lose the case the verdict will set a clear precedent across the market as to how cryptocurrencies and digital assets are defined in an investment light. 

With the case against Ripple coming up to its first year anniversary many people are hoping for a resolution sometime in the new year. Needless to say many crypto investors, advocates and enthusiasts alike are hoping for a favourable ruling on the side of Ripple Labs heralding a bright start to 2022.


Bull Market Crypto After Weekend of Pain

It's time to welcome Kitty Inu as a new contender in the Inuverse.

Shiba Inu has taken the cryptoverse by storm this year. The meme token briefly toppled Dogecoin and is one of the most purchased meme coins around, backed by a passionate community (that said, a majority of SHIB is held by a handful of investors).

Of course, both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu do not add much 'real' value to the crypto ecosystem.

The 'Inuverse' is poised for a new project and, yes, in this instance and this instance only, a cat will reign supreme over a dog (dogs>cats for me). It's time to welcome Kitty, a gaming and decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol powered by the Kitty Inu (KITTY) token.

What is Kitty?
--------------

Kitty is a gaming and non-fungible (NFT) DeFi protocol powering metaverse and play-to-earn ecosystems. Given the sudden (and long-overdue) metaverse boom following Facebook's rebranding to Meta in the latter half of October, projects like Decentraland, The Sandbox and Gala Games have shot up in valuation.

With Kitty, the narrative is simple. Shiba Inus took the crypto world by storm this year and Kitties are here to claim ownership of the Inuverse and establish a new era called the 'Kittyverse'.

The first game to be released by the ecosystem is called Kitty Kart, powered by KITTY. Its beta version will be released in January 2022.

That's not all. With Emmy award winner Edward Saatchi and former Pixar animators onboard, Kitty Star, an artificially intelligent kitty, will be introduced to the public. Kitty Star is a fully-fledged virtual being with which you can interact on social media!

The marketing team has already displayed multiple billboards in Times Square and Miami. Marketing will begin in China next week.

The ecosystem is bridged to Binance Smart Chain (BSC) today. The token is cheap at the moment, so DYOR and make a decision soon!

Is a Cat Set to Take Over the 'Inuverse'?

What an incredible year for the value of altcoins and lesser known digital assets. It would seem that all that is needed for them to go from complete obscurity to front page news is the connection to the right meme or to benefit from a well-timed tweet from some quirky and eccentric billionaire.

A cryptocurrency called Omicron is currently enjoying such notoriety, if only momentarily.

## Beast Mode

While treading water for much of the past week, the popularity of Omicron went into full ‘beast’ mode once the media announced a coronavirus variant that had been discovered in southern Africa and was given the same name as the coin.

From what we can determine, Omicron was launched on or around November 8th but already it’s identifiable by much of the mainstream public. The coin shot up 10 times in value from last week Friday till Monday as the news of the virus permeated all the major news outlets.

‘Experts’ said the rapid rise in popularity was likely attributable to the fact that both the new coronavirus variant and the coin share the same name. Good guess.

### There are other coins, once relatively obscure, that have quickly risen in popularity as well:

**SAND** – A digital asset that’s being mega-hyped by metaverse enthusiasts. SAND are tokens that can be traded or earned upon completion of certain adventures within the popular virtual gaming world called [Sandbox](https://www.sandbox.game/en/). The digital coins recently traded at around $7 and have enjoyed an eye-popping 80%+ increase in value in the past week alone.

The metaverse, which is a combination of multiple technologies, including virtual reality and augmented reality where users can hypothetically ‘live’ within the technical platform, is gaining attention from some very big, highly recognisable companies that are considered industry leaders. According to a recent statement from one such company, Adidas, they are keenly focused on how the metaverse develops saying that it is ‘…currently one of the most exciting developments in digital, making it an interesting platform for Adidas’.

**MANA** – Another coin that’s riding the Metaverse wave of popularity. The MANA coin is associated with the [_Decentraland_](https://decentraland.org/) Metaverse and rose from $2.81 to $4.67 during the month of November. If metaverse environments pique your curiosity, Decentraland is an interesting story. There were many headlines that mentioned Decentraland last month which has a tendency to happen when a nation like Barbados starts to make remarks that it is taking steps to setup a virtual embassy in Decentraland’s metaverse.

The increase in value of altcoins mentioned above seem to have been initiated by Facebook’s announcement in October that the company would be adopting a new name - Meta, a new mission that hopes to ‘bring the metaverse to life’.

Overall, the cryptocurrency market demonstrated mixed results this week.

As we close out 2021, Bitcoin was projected to reach a year-end value of $100,000, but in terms of reaching that value, the market’s key digital asset would need to stage more than a 75% rally in the next four weeks.

BTC Set to Miss Expectations; Altcoin News

David Marcus will leave [Meta](https://about.facebook.com/meta/) (formerly Facebook) at the end of the year, with the company’s stablecoin project – Diem, formerly Libra, still not fully launched.

He confirmed he was stepping down as Meta’s crypto lead on Twitter.

The former president of PayPal joined Facebook as the vice president of the company’s Messenger division and took over the firm’s blockchain work in 2018.

Libra has faced regulatory scrutiny since its announcement in 2019, with Marcus becoming the face of the project in front of the US authorities.

## New Head for Novi

The project appeared to undergo cutbacks, with key staff leaving, before it was rebranded Diem. Recently, the Meta-owned cryptocurrency wallet subsidiary Novi launched a pilot that used the Paxos-administered USDP stablecoin instead of Diem.

Stephane Kasriel, also ex-PayPal, will be the new head of Novi

Confirming his departure on Twitter, Marcus said: ‘Personal news: after a fulfilling seven years at Meta, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and leave the company at the end of this year.

‘While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi — and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems — my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it.

‘The one thing I’m the proudest of during my time here is the amazing kickass team we’ve assembled over the last three years. This is the most resilient, passionate, determined and talented group of humans I’ve ever worked with.

## Greatness Ahead 

‘I find comfort and confidence in knowing that they will continue to execute our important mission well under @skasriel’s leadership, and I can’t wait to witness this from the outside. I know there’s greatness ahead.

‘I’ll keep a special place in my heart for some of the most fun and stimulating years of my life building Messenger with so many talented people. In turn, the Novi years were the most mission-driven and intellectually stimulating ones.

‘I’m incredibly grateful to Mark for the opportunity and privilege to share a bit of the journey over the years. I’ll keep lifelong memories and friendships from my time at the company, and I wish it well in the years to come.

‘I now look forward to having more free time in the months to come before I start building something new and exciting again. Onward!’

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LUNA Continues to Shine Despite Crypto Crash

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Bull Market Crypto After Weekend of Pain

Is a Cat Set to Take Over the 'Inuverse'?

BTC Set to Miss Expectations; Altcoin News

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