12 Companies Keep Close to $700 Million in Ethereum in Treasuries

April 10, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Record $900 million month for NFT sales as CryptoPunks go stratospheric

August 27, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Record 0 million month for NFT sales as CryptoPunks go stratospheric

China

Almost $400 million has been spent on CryptoPunks over the past 30 days.

August is shaping up to be a record month for nonfungible token sales with almost $900 million spent on them over the past 30 days.

According to data from the tracking portal Nonfungible, $896 million has been spent on NFTs over the past 30 days. The number is very likely to exceed $900 million by the end of the month marking a new record for the burgeoning industry.

The number is more than triple the previous best month for NFT sales in May when $255 million were sold. August has seen sales skyrocket and it has been largely down to CryptoPunks and Axie Infinity.

*NFT sales in USD, past 30 days -* *nonfungible.com*

According to Cryptoslam, a record $397 million in CryptoPunk sales have occurred so far this month. The average sale price for the pixelated punks is a whopping $214,000. One of the most expensive ones ever sold was number 7523, a rare alien punk wearing a face mask that went for a whopping $11.5 million in a Sotheby’s auction in June.

Earlier this week, credit card giant Visa announced that it had purchased its own CryptoPunk for 49.5 ETH, worth just under $150,000 at the time of purchase. Head of crypto at Visa Cuy Sheffield said:

"With our CryptoPunk purchase, we’re jumping in feet first. This is just the beginning of our work in this space.”

Chinese industry outlet Wu Blockchain reported that Chinese investors are buying up CryptoPunks like proverbial hotcakes. Cai Wensheng, the founder of smartphone software firm Meitu, splashed out on CryptoPunk 8236 with 125 ETH, roughly $387,000.

Meitu was one of the first publicly traded companies in China to bet big on cryptocurrencies, purchasing $100 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum earlier this year.

Chinese Internet investors have bought CryptoPunk one after another. Meitu founder Cai Wensheng bought CryptoPunk #8236 with 125ETH. Feng Bo bought CryptoPunk#7252 for 1600ETH (approximately US$5.33 million). pic.twitter.com/LyGxNRORJX
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 26, 2021

NFT’s have also been driving the adoption of the staking cryptocurrency Tezos. According to a blog post earlier this year, Tezos NFT platforms have proven to be attractive for artists due to low transaction fees and a more energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus mechanism favored by eco-conscious artists.

Meitu loses $17.3M on Bitcoin, gains $14.7M on Ether

July 8, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Meitu has reported losses of $17.3 million on its Bitcoin holdings, with its Ether investment having gained $14.7 million despite the recent crypto downturn.

Hong Kong tech company Meitu has taken a $17.3 million hit on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings — but on the upside, its Ether (ETH) holdings have gained $14.7 million.

The developer of popular Photoshop-style apps spent a total of $100 million on BTC and ETH between March and April this year, acquiring a total of 940.89 BTC for $49.5 million, and 31,000 ETH for $50.5 million.

According to a June 6 voluntary announcement from Meitu, the fair value of its BTC and ETH holdings is based on the market prices as of June 30, which is the final day of the firm's six-month interim results, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.

As of the end of the second quarter on June 30, Meitu’s BTC holdings represented $32.2 million and its ETH represented $65.2 million, marking an overall $2.6 million decrease from its initial $100 million investment.

The firm accounts crypto-assets as “intangible assets under the cost model” in the interim results, and the BTC loss is expected to be recognized as “impairment loss”, while the ETH gains will not be recognized as “revaluation gain” until such time as it is sold.

The interim results have not changed the firm's bullish sentiments towards crypto, with the announcement reiterating:

“The Board believes that the blockchain industry is still in its early stage and that cryptocurrencies have ample room for appreciation in value over the long-term.”

The report stated that due to the firm's long-term view “there are currently no plans to sell the same in the near future.”

Interestingly, the firm also provided an updated fair value of its ETH and BTC holdings as of July 6, which reveals an overall $5.2 million gain on its initial investment, with ETH representing $72.4 million, and BTC up slightly to $32.8 million.

Ethereum could gain even more if popular Crypto Twitter account “CroissantEth” is right with his thread containing 24 reasons why ETH is undervalued.

24 reasons $ETH is extremely undervalued...

A thread by
— croissant (@CroissantEth) July 7, 2021

Aside from the obvious use cases of ETH in smart contracts, decentralized finance and NFTs, and the upcoming EIP-1159 upgrade and eventual transition to ETH 2.0, Croissant highlighted the fact that 94 out of the top 100 decentralized apps are built on the Ethereum network.

“These protocols often have many further use cases involving $ETH, creating the fundamentals for the Web 3.0 economy,” he said.

Croissant also points to the stablecoins that utilize the Ethereum network, citing Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), MakerDao (DAI), and TrueUSD (TUSD), as he emphasized their multi-billion market caps, and highlighted that USDC grew from a $4 billion market cap to $25 billion this year.

2. Stablecoins$ETH is home to many stablecoins which have grown tremendous use cases:$USDT: $62B$USDC: $25B$DAI: $5B$TUSD: $1.5B

They are very popular for use in DeFi, & VISA will soon accept tx settlement in $USDC $USDC has grown from a $4B mcap, to $25B this year pic.twitter.com/fP8gufNeAd
— croissant (@CroissantEth) July 7, 2021

The Metaverse, gaming, and digital land also get notable mentions as he cites their massive growth potential, along with layer-two solutions, decentralized autonomous organizations to name a few.

Chinese Tech Firm Meitu Buys 175 Bitcoin, Treasury Now Holds $100 Million Worth in BTC and ETH

April 9, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Coinbase handled trades and custody for Meitu’s $90M crypto investment

March 25, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Coinbase handled trades and custody for Meitu's M crypto investment</div>

bitcoin adoption

Meitu chief financial officer Gary Ngan said the firm would have faced difficulties acquiring crypto on its own as a listed company.

Crypto exchange Coinbase's institutional custody platform helped execute the purchase and custodying of roughly $90 million of Bitcoin and Ether for Chinese tech company Meitu.

In a blog from Coinbase today, the United States-based crypto exchange said Meitu used its services to execute up to $90 million worth of crypto transactions “across multiple marketplaces with minimal market impact.” This month, the tech firm purchased 379 Bitcoin (BTC) for roughly $17.9 million and 15,000 Ether (ETH) for $22.1 million, followed by 386.08 BTC for $21.6 million and 16,000 ETH for $28.4 million. Coinbase Custody also provided cold storage for the digital assets, which are now worth more than $94 million.

“Cryptocurrencies are not new but acquiring cryptocurrencies as a listed company, while ensuring the security of the transaction and storage as well as compliance of various regulations and audit requirements, is still like navigating through uncharted waters,” said Meitu chief financial officer Gary Ngan.

Meitu cited institutional players like Tesla and business intelligence firm MicroStrategy acquiring Bitcoin as part of the reason behind its purchase, in addition to the increasing acceptance of crypto as a form of payment for goods and services. The company went public in 2016 and is listed in both Hong Kong and China.

Coinbase has also facilitated MicroStrategy’s multimillion-dollar BTC purchases. The crypto exchange’s institutional custody platform was the primary partner for the firm’s $425-million Bitcoin purchase in September 2020, which was executed over a period of five days.

Meitu

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