Crypto crash, NFTs and airlines

News from the crypto world

The crypto market is experiencing tumultuous times, with most cryptos closing the week with losses and starting this week in a similar fashion. On Monday, Solana, Cardano and Cosmos posted gains of around +2% but the overall crypto market kept losing ground, including Bitcoin seeing -1.5%, Ethereum with -2.8% and Ripple at almost -3%. 

UST, LUNA and the crypto crash

The crypto market saw a steep fall last week and Bitcoin (as well as almost every other crypto in the market) plummeted over the course of the week. However, the main story is Terra’s, whose stablecoin TerraUS (UST) (which was formerly pegged to the US dollar), and token LUNA dropped in value dramatically, now trading for $0.12 and €0.00018 respectively. 

Terra’s crash was arguably one of the most severe shocks in crypto history, as LUNA saw losses of almost -100% and UST of around -90%. Many factors arguably contributed to the collapse of LUNA and UST: an alleged fault in the stablecoin mechanism, Anchor Protocol’s decreasing interest rates, widespread panic and several other potential factors. 

The project’s blockchain was even taken offline on Friday, rendering LUNA unavailable for trading for a while.

The Terra blockchain has officially halted at block 7607789.

Terra Validators have halted the network to come up with a plan to reconstitute it.

More updates to come.

— Terra (UST) 🌍 Powered by LUNA 🌕 (@terra_money) May 13, 2022

The Terra foundation has been discussing potential next steps to try and revive the ecosystem. 

UK court recognises NFTs as private property 

At the beginning of this month, the High Court of Justice in London has ruled that NFTs are to be considered “private property”, but what does the High Court of Justice have to do with NFTs?

The ruling comes from a theft case brought to court by Lavinia Osbourne, the founder of the educational platform Women in Blockchain Talks. Osbourne reported on Twitter that two NFTs - Boss Beauties number 680 and 691 - had been stolen from her MetaMask wallet. 

The stolen NFTs were traced back to two OpenSea accounts and, beside recognising NFTs as private property, the court took action: not only did it request OpenSea to disclose information about the two accounts holding the stolen goods but the court also froze the assets of OpenSea’s host, Ozone Networks. 

Don’t miss this week’s video recap!

News from the stock market

Recent earnings reports:

• Home Depot (HD): May 17

• Walmart (WMT): May 17

• Target (TGT): May 18 

→ Find out about upcoming corporate actions on Bitpanda

Stock market performance

The week opened with mixed performances in the stock markets. In the European stock market, both the top 40 French* and top 40 German stocks* posted point-percentages losses, while the top 100 UK stocks*, the top 40 Spanish* and top 40 Italian stocks* started the week in the green. 

The US stock market opened on a more positive note but is still dealing with the overall negative performance of the past 30 days. Asian indices showed both positive and negative results on Monday, as the market keeps struggling with the economic consequences of the coronavirus situation in China. 

RyanAir warning about impending price hikes, EasyJet can’t find staff

With summer approaching, the tourism and hospitality sector is getting ready for its busy period. However, not long ago some airlines had to cancel flights due to shortages of workforce and are struggling to find staff to cover the upcoming season. Among them, we find EasyJet* and British Airways: both airlines are having issues hiring personnel fast enough and are offering bonuses of £1,000 (EUR 1,177.95) to existing and new cabin crew members. 

During the pandemic hundreds of thousands of people working in the airline industry had lost their jobs and now airlines are having difficulties operating at pre-pandemic capacity. 

However, there are also exceptions, such as Ryanair*. Michael O'Leary, CEO of the Irish airline, stated that he forecasts a rise in tickets’ prices by a "high single-digit per cent". According to O’Leary, demand is so high that the company, known for offering low cost flights, might not be able to offer any more last minute deals until next winter. 

Check out the price developments of your favourite cryptocurrencies, stocks*, ETFs* and precious metals on our app for iOS and Android or on our web app. Check our blog and follow our social media channels to always be up to speed. Don’t forget to subscribe to the official Bitpanda youtube channel for our weekly recaps and video content. 

Disclaimer

This article does not constitute investment advice, nor is it an offer or invitation to purchase any digital assets.

This article is for general purposes of information only and no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of this article or opinions contained herein. *Bitpanda Stocks are contracts replicating an underlying stock or ETF. More information and the PRIIPs key information document (KID) are available at bitpanda.com.