Steaker Biweekly Bulletin Sept. #2｜Key Messages around Crypto in 3 Mins

Steaker’s Biweekly Bulletin came into play for the first time this month in place of the former monthly report. In the future we will settle into this new pattern: ➊ the first bulletin of the month focuses on the current status of international financial markets and the volatilities of crypto prices, while ➋ the second part handles the latest news in the crypto sector.

With such a new layout, we believe that readers will be able to absorb the essential information more efficiently and stay on top of the crypto industry from a global perspective.

✨ Focal Points at a Glance

 ● Ethereum ushered in the era of PoS
 ● Nasdaq & Starbucks expanded into Web3
 ● White House issued the first-ever crypto framework

🐼 Historic Moment for Crypto World as Ethereum Merge Completed at Long Last

The long-awaited Merge saw the merging of the mainnet’s execution layer and the Beacon Chain’s consensus layer and a successful transition from a Proof of Work (PoW) system to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network at 14:40-ish on September 15, marking a whole new era of Ethereum.

In the past, the PoW mechanism relied on miners to validate transactions and a good hash rate (the higher, the better), requiring a lot of computational power and graphics card efficacy. This system had always come under attack for its large energy consumption and waste.

Today, Ethereum has ushered in a PoS era for greener cryptos and blockchain. This ecological move reduces not only their energy usage up to 99.95% but also ETH’s issuance rate by nearly 90%.

The notorious gas fees aren’t much affected following the Merge, nor does the transaction speed increase. Even so, the fact that the Ethereum team was able to complete such a large-scale technical renovation with optimum network stability and “zero downtime” as promised is no doubt a distinctive landmark in blockchain history.

Extension reading: The Ethereum Merge Is Done, Opening a New Era for the Second-Biggest Blockchain (CoinDesk)

🚩 Nasdaq & Starbucks Bet Big on Web3 Despite Crypto Winter

Even amidst the doom and gloom and with some investors have turned their backs on the crypto sector, Wall Street firms seem unfazed by the recent crypto turmoil. Instead, they are buoyed up and just cannot wait to go Web3.

Nasdaq (NDAQ), the second-biggest stock exchange in the world, announced the launch of its new division “Nasdaq Digital Assets” earlier on September 20 with the primary goal to start providing their institutional clients with custody services for cryptos such as BTC and ETH. Their new institutional custody offering is currently pending regulatory approval.

Extension reading: Nasdaq Establishes New Digital Assets Business（GlobeNewswire）、Nasdaq reportedly preparing crypto custody services for institutions (Cointelegraph)

Financial institutions that engage in and deploy their resources in Web3 are nothing new, but companies to do with our everyday life entering this field are quite novel then. The Web3 world is in fact closer to us than we have imagined.

Starbucks is going Web3-enabled by 2023, announcing that Starbucks Odyssey will be launched. This coffee giant plans to tap into this long-anticipated move in its existing loyalty rewards program, where Starbucks Rewards members only need to sign in to take part in interactive games or other challenges to earn and purchase collectible digital stamps, which will be NFTs.

This Web3 marriage of NFT and the loyalty rewards program with over 20 million members worldwide will definitely exert considerable influence on both the global crypto and coffee industries, manifesting Starbucks’ Web3 ambitions.

Extension reading:  Starbucks Brewing Revolutionary Web3 Experience for its Starbucks Rewards Members（Starbucks)

🏛 White House Officially Issued Their First-Ever Framework for Cryptocurrencies

The White House released a comprehensive framework for the development of digital assets on September 16. The report encourages regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with the government’s mandate, to proactively pursue enforcement actions against any illegal, unfair, or abusive practices in the digital assets space.

Remember the crash of stablecoins and the subsequent wave of bankruptcies that wiped out billions of investor and consumer funds back in May? That pain over the loss of assets accelerated the birth of this framework. To make stablecoins safer, analyzing tools will be employed to identify and track emerging strategic risks in relation to crypto markets.

Besides, to hold cyber criminals and illicit activities at bay, the U.S. Treasury is scheduled to complete an illicit finance risk assessment on DeFi by the end of February 2023 and another assessment on NFT by July that year.

Though a clear, well-rounded policy roadmap is currently lacking, at least the U.S. government is working towards a safe environment and a regulatory guidance system for future businesses around crypto to rely on, which provides a foundation for further technological innovation and growth.

Extension reading: Biden’s Executive Order Produces Few Answers in Crypto Reports From US Treasury

Steaker’s Trends of the Month

📱Steaker Android App Launched

Following the launch of Steaker’s iOS app in Q3 last year, the long-awaited Android app was finally rolled out yesterday. Android users can enjoy a simpler and smoother mobile interface and allocate their assets much more easily! Also, users may have a chance to win a Wagyu VIP qualification by accomplishing tasks on our social media platforms. Download our apps now and check the related announcement for further details.

🧚🏻‍♀️Steaker Brand Visuals Remade

For the 3rd anniversary celebration of Steaker, we’ve decided to redefine the core values of our brand and imbue it with a fresher corporate image and identity. Grounded on the redefinition, the design guidelines of our marketing materials have been further extended and adjusted to show you that Steaker does age like fine wine!

Those of you with acute eyesight must have been aware that the visual effects of the campaign this time are not quite the same as before. But what exactly are the differences from a design perspective? If you’re keen to know more about the decision-making process of our brand marketing and creativity, come check this article out immediately.