Umbria’s Crypto News Digest — October 19th-25th

5 min readOct 26, 2022

Reddit Collectible Avatar Holders Surge into Millions as Trading Volumes Skyrocket

Reddit Collectible Avatars have seen huge success

There are currently 2.8 million users holding one of Reddit’s Collectible Avatars. The limited-edition custom blockchain-based avatars (we don’t say NFTs in this space), created by independent artists, reside on the Polygon network. Initially available for purchase at a fixed price only in fiat, they provide unique benefits for owners engaging on the Reddit platform.

The first generation of Reddit Avatars was a bit of a damp squib taking months to sell, but the second (released on October 21st) sold out 40K pieces in less than 24 hours.

Data and infographic credit: @p_petertherock

Anyone purchasing a Collectible Avatar is the owner meaning it is theirs to hold, trade, sell and of course use as their avatar on the Reddit site.

Will social media platforms be the catalyst for mainstream NFT adoption?

Ethereum Rallies 20% in Five Days

Ethereum has seen a 20% rise since October 21st

Ethereum’s $ETH has seen a 19.69% rise in just five days. The news that asset manager Fidelity Investment’s crypto platform Fidelity Digital Assets will start offering institutional clients Ethereum trading and custody services on October, 28th could be one reason for the rise.

CEXes Still Rule the Roost

Data released by CryptoCompare highlights the narrow market share of Decentralised Exchanges (DEXes) when looking at the Average Daily Volumes.

Uniswap, which is the highest ranked and most active DEX, is the only one to make the top 10 (ranked 8th) and averages $1.32bn in daily volume. Further data showed that 92% of total CEX volumes (March 2022 to August 2022) took place on ‘Top-Tier’ exchanges.

Ava Labs Launches Core Web to Improve Web3 Experience

Ava Labs is improving Web3 UX and potential with Core web, a free, one-stop-shop command centre for Avalanche dApps, NFTs, bridges, subnets, L2s and more. It provides users with a more intuitive and comprehensive way to view and use Web3 across the Avalanche network, Avalanche Subnets and Ethereum.

One of the biggest obstacles to using Web3 is its complexity. Core aims to eliminate common barriers to entry and improve user experience by enabling users to focus on “what to do on-chain rather than how to do it”.

Polygon Deal with LatAM Fintech Giant Nubank

Nubank is launching its own chain and token using Polygon Supernets

Nubank, Latin America’s leading fintech, plans to launch its own chain and token with Polygon’s technology. Nubank intends to airdrop its Nucoin loyalty token to customers in the first half of 2023. The tokens will enable holders to access perks and discounts on selected products.

In a Tweet, Polygon announced its role in transitioning Nubank from Web2 to Web3.

“In a strategic partnership with Polygon, Nubank is launching its own chain using Polygon Supernets and thus its digital token Nucoin on Polygon. This move will open the gateway for 70 million plus Nubank users to the Web3 space.”

Binance NFT Marketplace Celebrates Halloween with “Spooktacular Scavenger Hunt”

Binance NFT Marketplace has today launched its “Spooktacular Scavenger Hunt” NFT Mystery Box Collection, which comprises of four unique Halloween-themed NFT designs of varying hashpower and distinct features. The Mystery Boxes — priced at 1 BUSD - consist of two different rarity levels: Super Rare and Super Super Rare.

The scavenger activities involve collecting specific NFTs and combinations of NFTs to win a share in 10,000 BUSD in token vouchers.

Check out the full terms and details here.

DEX Integral SIZE Launches on Arbitrum

Integral SIZE, a TWAP-based decentralized exchange built for large trades, has announced its deployment on Arbitrum, the leading Layer-2 scaling solution. Integral SIZE is the first Arbitrum DEX offering TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price) trading and order execution with zero price for any trade size.

“SIZE will make Arbitrum more versatile than ever. Whether you are trading $100 or $1mil, SIZE will always give you TWAP execution, 0 price impact and MEV resistance.”

Fantom Hits New Milestone

Fantom has reached over 400 million transactions and has approximately $500m Total Value Locked (TVL). Additionally, Fantom Insider reports that the network has burnt approximately 8.04M $FTM ($1.65M).

Meanwhile, it’s been a good week for Fantom’s token, which has seen an 11% rise since its low on October 21st.

For the latest Fantom news head to their Discord.

Optimism in Bogatá — Announcements and News

‘Optimists’ from both OP Labs and Optimism Foundation met with the wider Ethereum community in Bogotá at ETHBogotá and Devcon 6 where a number of announcements were made including one on OP Stack.

There were Hackathons, workshops and many presentations. Get the full lowdown in their Rollup Recap.

Got a story that you think should be included in the next digest? Email fran@umbria.network

Until next week!

The Umbria Team 🚀