Ethereum price rallies as gaming NFTs surge to record levels in 2021
The blockchain-based gaming market – built largely on the Ethereum network – has been able to accrue AUD$3.23 billion over Q3 2021.
- DeFi platform Grim Finance recently fell victim to a hack estimated to be worth AUD$42 million.
- Early in Q4 2021, the 1-month realised correlation between the ETH-BTC pair dipped as low as 60%.
- Since the start of the year, ETH has registered gains of 560% which is substantially higher than BTC's annual profit ratio of 110%.
The last 24 hours have seen Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalisation, resume on its path of upward ascent, rising from AUD$5,540 to around AUD$5,750 – following closely on the heels of Bitcoin's current positive price action. As a result, the altcoin has been able to amass 7-day gains of 5.9%. At press time, ETH is trading at AUD$5,691.
The ongoing momentum comes at a time when a recently released report revealed that the gaming-centric non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been able to accrue a total of AUD3.23 billion (US$2.32 billion) over the course of Q3 2021 – capturing approx. 22% of the global NFT trading volume.
The study also noted that by the end of November, Metaverse activity had increased substantially, with total virtual land sales amounting to a sizeable US$42.6 million. Not only that, there has been a 6,500+% increase in daily unique active wallets linked with various video game-based smart contracts.
Blockchain-based gaming firms have been gaining a lot of traction recently, with Animoca Brands, an HK-based company, being able to double its valuation from $1 billion to a little over $2.2 billion between July and October.
DeFi protocol Grim Finance falls prey to major hack
As per reports, decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Grim Finance revealed that it had been on the receiving end of a $30 million loss as part of a reentrancy exploit that saw miscreants make their way with a number of digital assets, including prominent stablecoins such as USDC and DAI.
Security experts working for the firm revealed that the entire development could be classified as an "advanced attack", with the hackers exploiting the system's native protocol vault contract via a total of 5 different pathways. Following the incident, a spokesperson for Grim noted that all digital asset transfers had been temporarily suspended, adding:
"We have paused all of the vaults to prevent any future funds from being placed at risk, please withdraw all of your funds immediately."
ETH "flippening" narrative continues to gain momentum
At the start of November, the BTC/ETH pair showcased a 1-month realised correlation of as low as 60%, further adding fuel to the narrative that Ethereum could be on the cusp of finally becoming an independent asset. Statistically speaking, since the turn of 2021, BTC has been able to register gains of around 110% while Ethereum has been able to grow by 550+%, essentially outperforming the flagship crypto by 5 times.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner's guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
