🎮GameFi Outperforms Broader Crypto Rally

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TLDR Merit Circle's BEAM is up 277% in six weeks after the Merit Circle gaming guild migrated from Ethereum to the Beam network. The token is enjoying a new round of bullish momentum after announcing a partnership with Pantera Capital yesterday.

SO WHAT BEAM's impressive performance coincides with a broader recovery in the web3 markets, with the market cap of GameFi jumping 70% since the start of November to tag $15.7B.

READ MORE: BEAM Surges 277% In Six Weeks Following Chain Migration and GameFi Recovery

TLDR Gods Unchained is now available to Amazon Prime Gaming's 200M subscribers. Prime Gaming users can now access exclusive expansions for the pioneering web3 card game.

SO WHAT The news evidences deepening ties between Immutable, the team behind Gods Unchained, and Amazon. In October, Immutable joined the Amazon Web Services ISV Accelerate Program.

Read More: Gods Unchained Launches To 200M Amazon Prime Gaming Subscribers

TLDR BTC tagged new year-to-date highs above $44,000. The continued bullish momentum follows prospective spot Bitcoin ETF issuers meeting with the SEC and submitting updated filings.

SO WHAT Cryptocurrencies are not the only assets rallying, with gold and the S&P 500 also tagging new 2023 highs as analysts tip that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon move to reduce interest rates.

Read More: Bitcoin Rockets To $44,000

TLDR Ordi, the largest BRC-20 token, has become the first Bitcoin-based fungible token to surpass a market cap of $1B. ORDI is up 126% in one week and 529% in 30 days.

SO WHAT ORDI's rocketing price action pontificates a rebound in popularity for BTC-20 tokens and Ordinals inscriptions. The sectors enjoyed an initial surge in activity during the first half of 2023 following the creation of Ordinals in January and the launch of BRC-20 in March.

Read More: ORDI is the First BRC-20 Token to Top $1 Billion Market Cap

TLDR The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed the deadline for its decision on Grayscale's application for a spot Ether ETF until Jan. 25. The delayed proposal seeks to initiate public comment proceedings for the ETF application.

SO WHAT While all eyes are on the pending applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, prospective issuers have also set their sights on products investing in Ether. Grayscale applied for a spot ETH exchange-traded fund in late October, followed by a filing from BlackRock three weeks ago.

Read More: SEC Postpones Decision on Grayscale's Ethereum Spot ETF Listing

TLDR A French court has dropped charges against individuals behind an exploit targeting Platypus Finance, an Avalanche-based decentralized exchange.

SO WHAT The ruling indicates the French legal system will uphold the popular web3 adage that 'code is law', with the court determining that the attackers did not receive stolen goods because the assets were obtained by interacting with public smart contracts.

Read More: Code is Law Question Raised Again as French Court Rules 'Yes'

TLDR Jito, the top liquid staking protocol on Solana, released eligibility criteria for its upcoming JTO airdrop. The project will distribute 80% of the tokens to 9,852 users that participated in its Jito Points program throughout 2023, with validators and MEV searchers receiving the remaining tokens.

SO WHAT The Jito airdop is tipped to significantly bolster the market cap and total value locked of Solana. The network recently enjoyed an impressive recovery, with Solana's TVL and market both gaining more than 100% since the start of October.

Read More: Jito Unveils JTO Airdrop Eligibility and Allocation

TLDR The Mantle Layer 2 network has launched mUSD, a rebasing wrapped version of Ondo Finance's yield-bearing USDY stablecoin. The token will distribute yields derived from U.S. Treasury Bills and bank interest to holders by minting new tokens.

SO WHAT The launch comes as real-world assets and U.S. Treasury Bills are enjoying increased adoption across web3. However, U.S. t-bill yields have slumped 15% since tagging a 15-year-high in October.

Read More: Mantle Jumps On T-Bill Bandwagon With mUSD Stablecoin

TLDR Shadow, a web3 infrastructure company, closed a $9M seed round led by crypto VC heavyweight, Paradigm. The round also featured participation from the Ethereum Foundation, Uniswap, and Coinbase Ventures, among others.

SO WHAT Shadow was founded by former employees of Airbnb. Shadow's first product uses private execution environments to reduce the costs associated with transacting on Ethereum.

Read More: Crypto Data Company Shadow Raises $9M in Seed Round Led by Paradigm

TLDR Hashflow, a novel decentralized exchange hiring professional market makers to manage its liquidity pools, has begun the rollout of its 2.0 iteration. The new platform will source the best pricing from either its existing network of market makers or newly launched DEX aggregation service.

SO WHAT The service is live on Ethereum, with deployments on supported Layer 2s and Solana set to follow. Hashflow's Solana launch will allow bridge-free trading between the Solana and Ethereum networks.

Read More: Hashflow Launches 2.0 Iteration Featuring Solana Support and DEX Aggregation

• Bitcoin developer wants Ordinals inscriptions disabled
• GMX rakes in $1.7M in weekly fees amid crypto bullishness
• ZkSync Era onboards rollup-as-a-service providers to realize 'Hyperchain' scaling

• Worldcoin launches grant program, outlines decentralization plans (The Block)
• France’s 3rd-largest bank, Société Générale, launches euro-pegged stablecoin (Cointelegraph)
• Over $600M Locked in Open Dogecoin Futures as DOGE Price Hits Highest Since April (CoinDesk)