As we head into the third month of the year, February had the second-highest monthly investment in cryptocurrency history ??! Speaking of adoption, a recent survey showed that 77% of Saudis are aware of cryptocurrencies and 18% trade in crypto.
While Russia is getting outright blocked from the international payments messaging system SWIFT and social media, there’s been a lot of chatter on how crypto continues to play a rather befuddling role in the unfolding hostility in Europe.
Fact:
— CZ ? Binance (@cz_binance) March 3, 2022
Banks (most of them I hope) follow sanction rules.
Crypto exchanges (at least Binance) follow sanction rules.
Media:
Crypto exchanges don't sanction Russia normal people.
Crypto exchanges don't follow sanction rules.
?♂️
Nevertheless, despite its lackluster performance, crypto is laying its foundation in every field and can no longer be ignored. To be honest the debate about the evolving role of crypto in wars is interesting to witness and we cannot help but wonder if it played a similar role in the MENA’s conflicts.
Let's get our crypto news round started.
Ukraine to Airdrop Crypto?
The official account of the Ukrainian government on Twitter has announced an incentive airdrop of “The peaceful world crypto token” to thank all those who supported its defense against the Russian invasion. Soon after the purported announcement, which triggered a fresh round of ETH donations, users as well as crypto activists reported that it was an alleged fake rumor.
Peaceful World token rumored to be airdropped by the Ukrainian government are suspected to be fake and have been marked by Etherscan as a problem address, said this token is misleading to make people believe that it was sent from a well-known address, which is prone to fraud. pic.twitter.com/e3mYWltRHW
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 3, 2022
Although Ukrainian officials didn’t confirm any association with the WORLD token, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister for digital transformation tweeted saying that his country has decided to scrap the airdrop and that it would instead sell NFTs.
After careful consideration we decided to cancel airdrop. Every day there are more and more people willing to help Ukraine to fight back the agression. Instead, we will announce NFTs to support Ukrainian Armed Forces soon. We DO NOT HAVE any plans to issue any fungible tokens
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 3, 2022
It’s worth mentioning that The embattled country has received $37 million so far.
Study: 18% of Saudis Are Actively Trading in Crypto
According to a new YouGov survey, more than three-quarters of Saudi Arabians (77% to be exact) are aware of cryptocurrency. However, only 18% of individuals polled are already buying and selling cryptocurrencies, according to the report.
While younger Saudis now dominate crypto trading in the kingdom, the study suggests that older Saudis intend to start trading as shown in the survey data.
Saudi MBC Group to Roll out NFT Collectibles
Ramadan will see the launch of the Saudi MBC Group's NFT Genesis Collectibles dubbed Fananees. The NFTs will feature 7 cartoon characters of MBC's most popular characters in digital Intellectual Property (IP).
On the first day of Ramadan, April 2, 2022, a total of 9,999 unique NFTs will be revealed. In the coming years, future collections of digital collectibles will be accessible around the same Ramadan time.
Fananees NFTs will be integrated into existing games, allowing users to link their NFTs to their game accounts and alter their game avatar to the image of their NFT. Fananees NFT holders will earn 1% of all revenue from NFT sales (both main and secondary); they will also receive a variety of offline and online perks, such as early access to events and streaming services, among other things.
