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Cryptocurrency prices glittered — at last — bright green over the past week, giving the industry a long-awaited reprieve from the brutality of the ongoing bear market.

Digital assets have added nearly 16% to their collective capitalization since last Friday, representing nearly $143 billion in nominal value.

Altogether, cryptocurrency is now worth $1.045 trillion, per TradingView’s Total Crypto Index, down 52% from the start of the year.

But gains were seen practically across the board, with almost every top-100 cryptocurrency by market value making ground.

LDO, the governance token for liquid staking community Lido, led the pack with an 80% price explosion. The project this week pledged to expand across the entire Ethereum layer-2 landscape.

Long-serving blockchain forks came in second and third. Ethereum Classic (ETC) surged 75% amid speculation that ether miners might move to the network following its impending switch to proof-of-stake, while Bitcoin Gold (BTG) added 50% to its price without any clear narrative.

LDO, ETC and BTG were respectively trading 46%, 24% and 42% below their prices from the start of the year, as of 12 pm ET.

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Dubai is already home to nearly 1,000 companies operating in the blockchain and crypto space, adding $500 million to the national economy.

Dubai has unveiled a new strategy that will see the city create 40,000 jobs using the metaverse and add more than $4 billion to its economy over the next 5 years.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Crown Prince of Dubai, unveiled the Dubai Metaverse Strategy on July 18, which aims to turn the emirate into a global hub for crypto and blockchain technologies.

The emirate is already home to nearly 1,000 companies operating in the blockchain and crypto space, adding $500 million to the national economy, Sheik Hamdan said. The plan aims to build global standards over the coming years in order to build safe and secure platforms for investors and users. Updated infrastructure and regulations will help in the adoption of blockchain, crypto, Web 3.0 and metaverse technologies.

The strategy emphasizes fostering talent and investing in future capabilities by providing the necessary support in metaverse education aimed at developers, content creators and users of digital platforms in the metaverse community, state news agency WAM reported.

According to WAM, Sheik Hamdan said the plan was critical to continue to solidify Dubai's “status as a hub offering the most advanced ecosystem for the metaverse and as a frontrunner in adopting digital solutions globally”.

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Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin, worth approximately $936 million, according to its Q2 earnings report.

In its after-market earnings announcement, the electric car manufacturer founded by Elon Musk said in a shareholder presentation that “Bitcoin impairment” had a negative impact on its profitability during the second quarter, when it posted $2.5 billion in operating income.

The crypto market immediately reacted to the news.

Bitcoin (BTC), which made it above $24,000 on Wednesday, dropped sharply right after markets closed at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It was trading at $23,078.18 at the time of writing, down 2.5% in the last hour, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was also down 3% in the last hour following the news from Tesla’s earnings report.

Tesla and Musk have had an on-again, off-again relationship with Bitcoin.

The electric vehicle company invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021, after changing its investment policy in January to allow it to hold digital assets. It was seen as a very bullish move at the time. So much so that BTC hit what was then a new all-time high of $43,000.

Then, in May 2021, Musk seemed to sour on BTC as he announced that Tesla would stop accepting it as payment, citing concerns over the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining

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Ethereum (ETH) hit a high of US$1,610 on Tuesday morning in Asia, before retracing to trade at US$1,521 at press time, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was up over 26.6% since Saturday in its surge to “The Merge,” the blockchain’s highly anticipated move to proof of stake, tentatively set for Sept. 19.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) was the day’s biggest winner among the top 100 cryptocurrencies at Tuesday morning trading in Asia, gaining 22% over the past day.

Bitcoin was trading at US$22,071, up about 3.59% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data, extending a cryptocurrency rally that started on Sunday.

Major cryptocurrencies and traditional markets have been battling concerns of rising inflation, a possible recession, uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine and a growing list of crypto firms lining up for bankruptcy.

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