The market took a beating this week thanks to Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant to hit the airwaves. Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, didn’t assuage any fears over economic pitfalls when he announced that current inflation should no longer be considered transitory. The country winced as he followed this statement with words no one wanted to hear, "risk of higher inflation has increased." (Decrypt)

In moments like these, Bitcoin continues to see unexpected dips as it cements its place in the mainstream world of commerce. Despite Bitcoin being a clear inflation hedge, it took a hit in tandem with the stock market after news of rising inflation. Bitcoin’s mirroring of traditional market conditions serves as an indicator of massive mainstream adoption. Now the question is, when will the mainstream recognize Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional markets, rather than a mirror?

El Salvador, ever-vigilant, didn’t miss a beat in buying the dip. The country’s President, Nayib Bukele, announced via a tweet that El Salvador acquired another 100 Bitcoin late last week while the asset was down. This increased the country’s holdings by roughly 5.4 million dollars. El Salvador now holds well over 1000 Bitcoin and has already used some of its profits to build a pet hospital. (Cryptopotato)

Fidelity Investments reported that it has active plans to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada. The news is confirmed by Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Erick Balchunas, who stated that a Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF is awaiting listing on the Canadian stock exchange. This puts further pressure on the SEC to make up their minds regarding ETF approvals in the United States as Fidelity and other major financial institutions wait eagerly on their decision. (Cointelegraph)

“This should be embarrassing for the SEC,” said Balchunas in a tweet on Tuesday, “that one of America's biggest, most storied names in investing is forced to go up North to serve its clients.” (Decrypt)

While Canada steps up, China cracks down, building new strategies to regulate the metaverse and NFTs. Gou Wenjun, Director of the Anti-Money Laundering division of the Public Bank of China, highlighted trepidation over unregulated metaverse crypto trends at a recent national security summit.

Gou says that the PBoC hopes to, “clarify the division of supervisory responsibilities, improve the transparency of virtual assets, and explore the use of supervisory sandboxes to study and judge the essence and nature of virtual assets.”

Leaving nothing to chance, Gou has also requested the need for full identity transparency from those who are participating in fiat-to-crypto transactions through payment services and banks. This new regulation would require real names to be listed with all transactions. (Cointelegraph)

Inflation in the traditional market may be having short-term bearish effects on Bitcoin, but it’s certainly not slowing down any altcoin initiatives. Capital continues to flow into projects promising to build out and enhance the now booming DeFi network. For proof of interest in DeFi, one need look no further than the recent release of Grayscale Investments’ Solana Trust. The fund officially went live this week with $9.5 million in assets under management. (Decrypt)

The growing popularity of NFTs is part of the fuel behind these funding fires, with the assets finding their way into photography and fashion. A photography-centered NFT platform by the name of Sloika just raised $2 million in funding for its most recent initiative. The platform aims to give photographers a space to enter the NFT market through the Ethereum network. Unlike its predecessors, like the well-established Opensea, Sloika will focus only on photography-based NFTs. (Decrypt)

As for fashion, there’s a new runway to walk and it lives on the blockchain. Fashion is making its way to the crypto market as haute couture fashion houses step into the NFT game with digital designs. One of the first houses to get in on the action is Dolce & Gabbana, which recently launched their “Collezione Genesi” NFT collection. Soon, various names will be launching wear-to-earn collections that will be designed for digital closets and models will be paid to sport these styles in the virtual world.

“Digital fashion NFTs include clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, and more that can be worn virtually or within gaming ecosystems,” said Megan Kaspar, managing director at Magnetic Capital. “These digital wearables are currently being used for speculative investment and collecting, to clothe avatars in decentralized games, to wear in augmented reality environments, and to be superimposed onto photos and videos.” (Cointelegraph)

The fear of inflation seems to be a mere curtain over the growing world that crypto is creating outside the proverbial window. When one pulls back the curtain, there is nothing but hope outlined on the horizon. The crypto market is growing in more than just an adoptive sense, but more importantly in a creative sense. Rising consumer costs are not dampening global enthusiasm for digital art and advancement. Rising inflation only stirs up an influx of interest in crypto, which serves as a beacon of hope for a more financially stable future.

Top market movers as of December 3, 2021

  • Terra (LUNA) +70%
  • Polygon (MATIC) +33%
  • Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) +30%
  • Cosmos (ATOM) +24%

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