This week on Crypto Twitter: Waiting for the Bitcoin Half to Illusion—Then Back to Work

It's been a rollercoaster week for Bitcoin and the broader crypto landscape, with most eyes on the four-year-old Bitcoin halving that finally ended Saturday morning on 4/20.

Monday brought an encouraging rebound after a week off. As expected, Hong Kong has joined the digital asset ETF party, approving Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs.

On Tuesday, venture capital and investment firm Andreessen Horowitz announced the launch of its second gaming fund, targeting Web3 and AI-forward gaming. It comes with a new speed control program called Speedrun, which will cost each team member $750,000. “It's never too early for us to get involved,” said Andrew Chen, general partner at 16z.

The gaming fund is part of a larger $7.2 billion grant in various sectors.

On the flip side, news has surfaced that another popular meme — a new member of the “guy explains” category — is up for auction. The starting bid is 15 ETH (about $47,100) and the auction opens tomorrow.

Hump ​​Day brought Worldchain with the announcement of the Worldcoin Foundation, which uses Optimism-based Ethereum Layer-2 and ETH as its native token and Worldcoin (WLD) for gas payments. “Verified individuals, including more than 5 million verified global ID holders, will receive priority block space and gas allowances over bots,” the foundation said.

On the same day, the messy saga appeared to be intensifying as Craig Wright dropped his lawsuit against dozens of Bitcoin developers following a landmark defeat in the UK High Court over Bitcoin claims.

The news comes a week after Wright dropped a separate legal battle in Norway.

A newcomer in crypto hardware news has announced a new smartphone – sort of. The Google Pixel 7a is running ethOS, and yes, it comes with NFC.

The middle of the week is half-dominated, including resting on Meme Day. (At least it did in UTC.)

A significant constituency among Crypto Twitter is more invested in the launch of Runes, which is scheduled to take place simultaneously. With half an hour to go, Bitcoin mining fees rose, a growth some attributed to Runes. Their takeaway? The decrease in Bitcoin mining rewards can be offset by the network activity generated by the new Funnel token protocol.

The Bitcoin halving took place overnight, Saturday morning, and Crypto Twitter celebrated.

At least briefly.

When the main bitcoin block is created, the miner gets a surprise bonus.

As for Runes, the competition was to crack the first batch. Within minutes, the winners were revealed.

Projecting ahead, Bitcoin developer and creator of the Runes protocol, Casey Rodamore, developed a Rune that will come to life in the next half of four years.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.