Gucci x crypto, Yuga Labs gas refunds and the newest Google Web3 team

News from the crypto world

The week opened largely in the negative for the crypto market after seeing quite a steep fall over Saturday and Sunday. The beginning of the week was marked by extremely fearful market sentiment, with the Crypto Fear & Greed index pointing at 11/100 on Monday and 10/100 on Tuesday, the lowest levels seen since the end of January this year. 

On the same day, Bitcoin fell to €31,000, kept falling on Tuesday and reached its lowest value since July 2021 at €28,000. Ethereum followed a similar downtrend and dropped to €2,100 on Tuesday. Also for other major altcoins the first days of the week started in red, with Cardano down to €0.57, Solana falling to €67 and Terra dropping dramatically to €5. Waves and Near Protocol are two of the few cryptos that managed to open in the uptrend on Monday, at €13 and €10 respectively, but fell shortly after alongside the overall crypto market. 

Gucci to accept crypto payments in US stores

The luxury brand Gucci has announced some of its stores in the United States will start accepting payments in a number of cryptocurrencies from as soon as the end of the month. The high-end fashion house isn’t new to crypto, as it joined the world of NFTs back in March by partnering with 10KTF. 

Crypto holders and Gucci customers will be able to pay with crypto in select U.S. stores in Miami, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Gucci stores will accept 10+ cryptocurrencies: from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin and others, including five US dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Yuga Labs refunding Ethereum gas fees 

Last week, land sales of the Bored Ape Yacht Club metaverse “Otherside” congested the Ethereum network so much that it crashed the Ethereum blockchain and sent gas fees up to $5,000. Though the incredible turnout can be regarded as a sign of success, many users paid gas fees just to see their transactions fail due to the high congestion. Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, has refunded the gas fees “to everyone who made a transaction that failed” during the minting craze, amounting to a total of 90.57 ETH. 

We have refunded gas fees to everyone who made a transaction that failed due to network conditions caused by the mint. The fees have been sent back to the wallets used for the initial transaction. Here’s how to find your refund… 🧵

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) May 4, 2022

Don’t miss this week’s video recap!

News from the stock market

Recent earnings reports:

• BioNTech (BNTX): May 9

• Occidental Petroleum (OXY): May 10 

• The Walt Disney Company (DIS): May 11

→ Find out about upcoming corporate actions on Bitpanda

Stock market performance

The stock market opened the week with overall negative performances, possibly due to the spread of sell-offs in light of the new Fed’s interest rates hikes. European and US major indices opened in the red, Asian indices saw a negative performance overall with the exception of the Shanghai Stock Exchange which opened slightly positively. 

Google is forming a Web3 team

The Cloud Computing Unit of Alphabet (GOOGL)*, Google's parent company, is forming a Web3 team to provide new services such as back-ends  to developers and users working with blockchain technology. The tech company has expressed its interest in stepping into Web3 and crypto in the past and seems determined to become a top choice in the field. 

Indian rupee fell to a record low on Monday

On Monday, the Indian rupee hit a record low at 77.58 rupees per US dollar. The previous low was in March, when it hit 76.98 per US dollar. This turn didn’t come entirely unexpected in light of the current global markets situation, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is facing rising oil prices, the Fed increasing interest rates and a significant decline in foreign exchange reserves, which have decreased by $35 billion since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

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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.