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👀 WHAT’S THE META.. 👀

GM, GA, or GN wherever you may be.

Want to stay ahead of the curve? Don't worry we got you. The market has been brewing, here's what's currently happening:

OpenSea opens up about acquisition.

Google to allow Bitcoin ETF advertisements

PolygonLabs lays off employees to optimise the organisation.

Andrew Tate to launch his own cryptocurrency.

🔮 NFT EVENTS & DROPS 🔮

So many mints, so little time. Don't worry Mani's got you covered. Eight gems to keep an eye on this coming week.

1. Powered by Solana, metaverse project "Sola City" doing land Pre sale & Free mint on 10th Feb

2. Web3 Gaming studio "Oh baby games" introduces guilds for closed beta 2, which is going live on 7th Feb

3. "Archmon", an NFT project built by L1 Blockchain Archway, launching their NFT collection on 6th Feb

4. FB WorldChain by Web3 game "Fren Pet" is launching on base on 9th Feb

5. Web3 gaming protocol "LE7EL" minting their first NFT collecion on 9th Feb

6. Web3 extra shooter game "Sharpnel's" first STX (STX1) event begins on 8th Feb. The prize pool is $100,000 US in SHRAP

🪙 CRYPTO DIGEST 🪙

Crpyto Market Volatility and Emerging Economic Challenges

As Bitcoin inches closer to its next halving, a pattern within its cycles warrants attention. Historically, the crypto market has exhibited diminished volatility with each passing cycle, suggesting a maturation of the market over time.

In the lead-up to past halvings, Bitcoin has typically staged a final rally followed by a correction, which has often represented one of the less risky investment periods. This phase precedes a more sustained and healthy uptrend. Notably, each cycle's corrective phase has ended with a dead cat bounce (DCB) falling incrementally less short of the mid-cycle peak. The first halving saw the DCB fall short by 15%, the second by 13.34%, and the third by 11.13%.

Projecting this trend forward, we could speculate an interesting potential for the current cycle: a BTC price approximation around $44,500, give or take a few hundred dollars. While speculative, this observed tendency offers a compelling narrative for analysts and investors alike.

In the cryptocurrency arena, ALT/BTC pairs are at a crossroads. Many altcoins are facing critical resistance points when measured against Bitcoin. A break below these levels could signal short term pain. However, it's worth noting that historically, during similar market phases, altcoins have often provided excellent investment opportunities. If the market turns bullish, these altcoins could see significant gains, offering investors incredibly attractive risk-reward propositions.

This week's FOMC meeting has tempered expectations of an immediate rate cut, shifting the consensus to May. Market participants should remain cognizant that the current rate restrictions are likely to continue curtailing economic growth in the near term. Coupled with the prevailing market data and the strength of the Dollar, it is reasonable to anticipate a potential rise in the Dollar's value in the months leading up to the anticipated rate adjustments.

🌟SPONSORED CONTENT 🌟

🔥 Exciting News from Portal of Truth: Mint Day Approaches!

The Portal of Truth stands as one of the new generation of upgradable NFT collections, enabling users to upgrade in art, stake, and gameplay.

⭐ Mint Day: February 12th, 5 pm UTC!

Get ready for the most anticipated event of the year! Portal of Truth's Mint Day is set for February 12th at 5 pm UTC. Don't miss this historic opportunity to mint your Upgradable NFTs and be part of a revolutionary experience!

About Portal of Truth:

In this GameFi NFT collection, there are 7 unique characters, each with 7 levels. Each character possesses distinct powers that play a crucial role in the gameplay. What sets these NFTs apart is their remarkable 3D art style and their ability to upgrade. While intentionally straightforward at level 1, the artwork progressively transforms with each level, revealing more intricate and captivating designs.

In terms of tokenomics, the whitepaper provides detailed information. Essentially, NFTs can be staked in one of two contracts: one for token generation and the other for potions (generating elixirs and immortals). To upgrade your NFTs, you pass them through the Portal of Truth, along with some SILK and 1 elixir. The Portal then decides if your NFT upgrades, leading to higher staking output, evolved art, improved battle stats, and more. If the Portal deems you unworthy, you may revert from higher levels to lower levels, where the use of immortal NFTs becomes crucial to prevent de-boosting. Higher levels, especially 6 and 7, can also generate royalties, making safeguarding against de-boosting even more crucial.

Portal of Truth is also building out a PvP game, allowing you to stake for tokens, upgrade your NFTs, and even register your other NFT collections as items to bet against other players. Imagine the excitement of sending your Azuki to a decentralized pool where you pit your Portal of Truth against another holder's Portal of Truth in a winner-takes-all contest of strength. This innovative approach to betting tokens and NFTs is not only intriguing but also promises an exhilarating experience.

Portal of Truth's gameplay will be turn-based, featuring bets, challenges, and boss levels that offer a community-driven experience. With the promise of the token being listed on exchanges, this ecosystem holds great potential.

One of Portal of Truth's unique selling points (USPs) is its utilization of UNITY, a renowned game engine. The Player versus Player (PVP) release is slated as the fourth phase in their roadmap. The team has committed to revealing gameplay teasers within the coming months.

Before you embark on this thrilling journey, here are a few things to do:

Check wallet eligibility 
Join Our Live AMA: Join our live Ask Me Anything (AMA) session happening in just 1 hour at 5pm UTC on our X Space

Get exclusive insights, updates, and the opportunity to have your questions answered by our team. Get ready for an exciting journey with Portal of Truth! See you at the AMA!

Visit Our Official Website:
Check Wallet Eligibility and Mint
Dive Into Our Whitepaper 
Explore Project Highlights and Collaborations 
Follow Our Twitter for the Latest Updates
Join the Community on Discord 

🕵️ UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: BITS CRUNCH?

Data flow in Web3 is essentially propaganda thus far.

Whales, influencers, platforms, and projects are able to shape it to their best interest. Let me give you some examples. Holders count, volume, blue chip wallet count, twitter engagement, discord activity, weth offers/blur bids, amount listed; All of these are metrics we use to judge collections and ecosystems, however they are all manipulated on a daily basis.

The question is by whom? - By market makers, projects themselves, platforms themselves, alphagroups, individual whale traders, farmers, marketing companies, VC's...Essentially there isn't anyone in the space that doesn't benefit from manipulating data to their advantage. As a market participant, I am forced to reconcile as much data as possible, and do my best to read between the lines and hope to make a good call.

If knowledge is power, data should be truth. Will bitsCrunch solve this problem? Will VC funding give them more power to do so, or make them more biased?

Backed by Coinbase, Animoca, Polygon, Chainlink and others they are offering a decentralized data solution. Which so far has been essentially B2B, but now moving into the public sphere they are opening it up to node operators, delegators, indicators, community contributors, and other roles as they collect on and off chain data. With a token release and a self sustained system it could technically be a true community curated data layer. There will be a public token sale, and then a token generation event. The token launch is scheduled for Feb. 20th and as always there will be speculative accumulation and dumping around it. But also Api builds, network staking and the curation of solutions by the community.

The testnet launch has gained incredible traction and shown an obvious global demand, but technically it is also incentivized. Meaning potentially from the 100,000 participants and 550 million queries process most of these could be farmers with multiple wallets using vpns and other masking programs to farm their testnet. Something I would have wanted to see some analysis of on their timeline, especially from a data analytics company.

The Companies backers, CEO, and fundamentals make this a very interesting initiative and something I am paying very close attention to. They have been building since 2021 and it is something the space should be solving for. The system itself will only be as strong as the community around it and an incentivization model that makes their contributions realistic, and based on the whitepaper and token backers it is quite promising.

With Web2 and Web3 colliding, and blockchain technology adoption rates being as high as they are, education, data, and security importance is at an all time high. Will bitsCrunch be the solution users, institutions and corporations rally behind? IMO they have a great chance and the ability to build using their APIs may allow the evolution and not extinction of current data sources like Nansen and Dune. If this works well, we may all become junior Zachxbts.

🎉COMPETITION TIME🎉

Now the chance to win bitsCrunch GTD/FCFS thanks to Inferno Labs

Send your answers, twitter username and Eth address to [email protected] with email subject bitsCrunch competition. Winners will be drawn in 48 hours, and notified by email.

According to the above article…
1) If knowledge is power what is Data?
2) Name one of the backers mentioned.
3) What date is the token launch scheduled for?

Must be following Alphabot, Seven & InfernoLabs_ for a chance to win.

📜 FOR THE CULTURE 📜

Zynga's Major Move on Web3 Gaming

The world of Web3 is experiencing a big change, and at the forefront of this revolution is the rapid rise of gaming. This intersection of blockchain technology and gaming is proving to be a game-changer, driving a lot of attention to the NFT space. Zynga, a titan in the mobile gaming industry, has made a colossal entry into the Web3 gaming arena with Sugartown.

Initially introduced as Sugartown, this innovative project took the crypto and gaming communities by storm, offering a glimpse into the immense potential of Web3 gaming. Many had been following each announcement and were already into the idea of Sugartown. But the revelation that Zynga, known for iconic titles like FarmVille and Words With Friends, was the creative force behind it changed everything.

Key to Zynga's impactful rise into popularity was the early involvement of Camol, a seasoned Web3 marketer who quickly became an influential figure within the Sugartown project. I remember when he announced he was going to work on something very big, I knew I had to follow closely. Camol's strategic contributions underscored Zynga's commitment to understanding and embracing the unique culture of Web3 and all its weirdness.

The significance of Zynga's entrance into Web3 gaming cannot be overstated. As one of the largest and most recognized mobile gaming companies globally, Zynga brings not only its vast resources but also its unparalleled industry expertise to the decentralized gaming ecosystem. With many many successful mobile games already on the market, this move signalled that major players in the gaming industry were starting to recognize the immense potential and value of blockchain technology.

In a strategic move to enhance community engagement and solidify its commitment, Zynga introduced a team of Community Captains such as @Carl_m101, @DaBunnyOFFICIAL, and @orangie. These captains, each a standout in their respective fields, play a vital role in shaping the project's narrative, fostering a robust community. Additionally, Zynga further emphasized its dedication to Web3 by hiring @acollnft as Product Community Manager, adding another dimension to its team of seasoned professionals and ensuring a seamless blend of expertise and community-driven initiatives.

In conclusion, Zynga's venture into Web3 gaming stands as a testament to the evolution and power of blockchain technology in the entertainment industry. As Zynga navigates the uncharted territory of Sugartown and beyond, it not only changes the game but also reshapes the future of gaming itself. And I hate the word but, brings a new wave of on-boarding and ushering in a new era of decentralized, immersive, and player-driven experiences with rewards. Yeah… THAT Zynga 😈