The Past Week in Crypto News (Dec. 22nd): Apes Flip Punks and More

Bored Ape Yacht Club, the famous NFT collection owned by the likes of Lil Baby, Jimmy Fallon, and Steph Curry, has flipped Crypto Punks in terms of floor price. Floor price is the term used to describe the lowest price at which you can purchase a piece of the collection. The flip happened when the floor price of a BAYC NFT hit 53.9 ETH ($215,350) while the floor price of a CryptoPunk NFT was at 52.69 ETH($210,515).

These two collections are arguably the most famous NFT PFP collections in the world, and will continue to serve as a gateway door for many newcomers in the industry.

In a recent Instagram Live, Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram stated that the company is “actively exploring NFTs”. Asked by a viewer on what his thoughts were about NFTs, Mosseri stated that “We have nothing to announce yet, but we are actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible and help creators.” Instagram has over 2 billion monthly users, so if Instagram were to execute on this plan, it would elevate NFTs into the mainstream and change the level of awareness on the industry to unprecedented levels. 

Apple, the world’s largest company by market capitalization, is reportedly planning to launch its AR/VR headset in 2022. This has been reported by Ming-Chi-Kuo, an analyst with a long history of predicting Apple’s launch of products. While the analyst has not always predicted accurately, he is considered one of the more reliable sources regarding Apple products. This headset will reportedly have a see-through AR feature, two micro-4k displays, object-tracking capabilities, hand-gesture controls, etc. The rumored price tag is $3,000. 

Manasquan Bank, a bank with over $2 billion in assets located in New Jersey, has announced that it will enable its customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency. Manasquan will partner with Bakkt, an app that allows users to collect digital rewards from assets such as cryptocurrency. Although Manasquan isn't a particularly major bank, the event is another sign of the continued adoption of cryptocurrencies from the banking sector and will help the crypto space attract more people.

The Senate of Paraguay has approved a new law that regulates cryptocurrencies and all respective activities such as mining. This was announced by Paraguayan Senator Fernando Silva Facetti on Twitter. While this does not make Bitcoin or other cryptos legal tender, it helps make crypto more accessible for the general population, and demonstrates a growing awareness of the sector. The final part of the law remains to be voted in 2022.