Bulletpoints:
• Layer 1 blockchain Aptos’ APT token surged 387% this January leading all cryptocurrencies for gains.
• Gaming- and metaverse-affiliated tokens including Gala Games’ GALA token and Decentraland’s MANA token gained 233% and 149%, respectively.
• The increases come during a broad-based swoop upward in digital assets that has seen bitcoin and ether rise about 40% and more than 175%, respectively.

The cryptocurrency market has seen a surge of activity in January after a lull in activity in 2022. With a market resurgence came the biggest gains in tokens that had seen the biggest losses in the prior year. Layer 1 blockchain Aptos’ native token APT was the biggest winner among 160 assets in the CoinDesk Market Index, with a surge of 387%, dwarfing the performance of bitcoin and ether.

Gala Games’ GALA token and Decentraland’s MANA token also saw notable gains, with a 233% and 149% increase, respectively. This broad-based increase in digital assets was led by bitcoin and ether, which rose about 40% and more than 175%, respectively.

According to Martin Leinweber, digital assets product specialist at MarketVector Indexes, this surge of activity is not too surprising. “Those smaller altcoins have a higher beta to bitcoin on the way up and on the way down,” he said.

As the cryptocurrency market continues to climb, investors are encouraged to be aware of the potential risks and rewards associated with these digital assets. Aptos’ APT token has seen a remarkable increase in the short term, however, continued volatility should be expected.

• FTX was a project, similar to the ill-fated Fyre Festival, that was fueled by deceptive influencer marketing.
• Celebrities who promoted the festival, such as Kendall Jenner, were forced to pay for their involvement when government agencies intervened.
• Oxygen’s Nemo Yang argues that crypto marketing needs to change in order to prevent similar cases from happening in the future.

The world of crypto marketing is in need of serious change. After the high-profile case of the ill-fated Fyre Festival in 2017, it is clear that influencer marketing must become more accountable — which is why Oxygen’s Nemo Yang is calling for renewed attention to this issue in 2023.

The Fyre Festival, which promised an exclusive beachside paradise with A-list models including Kendall Jenner, drew thousands of millennials to the Bahamas in 2017. However, it quickly became clear that the event was a hollow project, with wrecked local businesses, dilapidated cheese sandwiches, and deceived customers who formed a class-action lawsuit against the organizers. While much of the media attention focused on the organizers’ lavish lifestyles, another major point of contention was the use of influencer marketing to promote the event. As it turned out, the celebrities who had enthusiastically promoted Fyre were not properly vetted and had not disclosed their financial relationships to the festival — leading to Jenner being forced to pay $90,000 out of pocket for her role.

The similarities between Fyre and crypto exchange FTX are hard to ignore. Both projects were fueled by deceptive influencer marketing, and both failed to properly vet those involved. This has raised the question of whether crypto marketing needs to change in order to prevent similar cases from happening in the future. According to Yang, the answer is a resounding yes.

“It’s time for influencer marketing in the crypto space to become more accountable,” says Yang. “We need to do a better job of vetting the influencers we work with, as well as making sure that the financial relationships between influencers and companies are properly disclosed. It’s the only way to ensure that customers are not misled and that businesses are not taking advantage of unsuspecting customers.”

Yang also believes that companies must take more responsibility when it comes to marketing their products. “Companies need to be more transparent about what they are offering, and they need to provide clear information about how their products work,” he says. “It’s not enough to just rely on influencers to do the marketing for them — companies need to be actively engaging customers and answering their questions.”

By taking these steps, Yang hopes that 2023 will be the year for influencer accountability in the crypto space. “We need to start taking responsibility for the marketing we do and make sure that our customers are not being misled,” he says. “If we can do that, then we can start to build trust with customers and make sure that crypto businesses are held to a higher standard.”

• Art Blocks launched a Friendship Bracelet NFT Collection that was free to mint for holders of existing Art Blocks NFTs until the claim period ended on Tuesday.
• Following the claim period, the collection quickly shot to the top of the leaderboard on secondary marketplace OpenSea.
• The collection had the highest 24-hour trading volume on OpenSea at 996 ETH (over $1.3 million) and amassed a total trading volume of 7,437 ETH (about $9.9 million).

The generative art non-fungible tokens (NFT) minted on Art Blocks have been making waves on the crypto and Web3 marketplaces. Their latest collection, the Friendship Bracelet NFTs, has been especially popular. The 38,413-piece collection was conceptualized by Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon (Snowfro) and designed by artist and Japanese Generative Art Foundation Director Alexis André. The animated artwork was inspired by the novelty bracelets shared between kids and was available to any existing holder of an Art Blocks NFT.

From late October, holders of Art Blocks NFTs were able to claim up to two tokens for free, until the claim window period closed on Tuesday. Following the claim period, the collection quickly shot to the top of the leaderboard on secondary marketplace OpenSea. As of Tuesday afternoon, the collection had the highest 24-hour trading volume on OpenSea at 996 ETH (over $1.3 million) and amassed a total trading volume of 7,437 ETH (about $9.9 million).

The collection’s success speaks to the power of NFTs and the art market, showing that the trend of buying and selling digital art is not slowing down. It also speaks to the creativity of artists, who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible with NFTs. The Friendship Bracelet collection is a testament to the innovative ideas that are being explored in the NFT space.

Art Blocks has been a leader in the NFT space since its launch, and this collection is just another example of its dominance. The collection has been a hit with NFT buyers and collectors, showing that digital art is here to stay. With the success of the Friendship Bracelet collection, Art Blocks proves that it is a force to be reckoned with in the NFT market.

• Crypto.com, one of the world’s top exchanges by volume, will delist Tether’s dollar-linked stablecoin, USDT, from its trading platform for users in Canada.
• The decision was made “in accordance with instructions from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as part of our pre-registration undertaking for a restricted dealer license.”
• All USDT trading pairs, transactions, deposits and withdrawals will be delisted by 1 p.m. ET on Jan. 31 and all remaining USDT user deposits will be converted to Circle-issued USDC.

Crypto.com, one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, has announced that it will be delisting Tether’s USDT stablecoin for Canadian users. The decision comes following instructions from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as part of Crypto.com’s pre-registration process for a restricted dealer license.

The move follows in the wake of increased regulatory scrutiny of centralized exchanges and the collapse of FTX. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have committed to stronger oversight over crypto exchanges and other related activities. This news has been met with both positive and negative reactions in the community, some of whom are worried about the potential consequences of such a delisting.

All USDT trading pairs, transactions, deposits and withdrawals will be delisted by 1 p.m. ET on January 31. All remaining USDT user deposits on the exchange after that time will be converted to Circle-issued USDC. Crypto.com has also said that it will be providing additional details about the delisting process in the days to come.

The delisting of USDT from Crypto.com’s platform is just one example of the increased scrutiny that crypto exchanges have been subject to in recent months. It also highlights the intensifying competition between the top stablecoins. The overall impact of Crypto.com’s delisting of USDT remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the regulatory environment surrounding crypto exchanges is changing rapidly.