Crypto is having a good week. Cardano and Solana hit hard

Last week was good for cryptocurrencies, with major assets like bitcoin and ethereum holding positive territory for seven days while others like solana and cardano saw big rebounds (more on that below).

Bitcoin started the week below $16, but has seen gains in the past, and last night it topped $400, a 17 percent increase in price. within a week.

Ethereum saw bigger gains, starting the week below $1, then trading above $185 midweek. Overnight, the price rose again to just below $1, where it is holding this morning, up 250%. within a week.

Investors have been looking for crypto safe havens in 2022 

2022 has been a challenging year for cryptocurrency investors, with significant price volatility that the market hasn't really experienced since 2018. Our 2022 data shows that investors have sought safe havens with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.

Bitcoin stands out from other projects because it is the original decentralized cryptocurrency, while Ethereum saw high-profile events last year, including the highly anticipated Merge.

Despite last year's volatility, about half of the cryptocurrencies on eToro platform with at least 12 months of data showed an increase in open positions.

This would suggest that investors were still looking towards the cryptocurrency market for investment ideas, and perhaps even looking to purchase cryptocurrencies at a discount due to the weakness of the market. 

Mastercard launches Web3 artist accelerator

Payment service provider Mastercard has launched a new accelerator designed to help artists, singers, musicians and other creators use blockchain technology to promote fan engagement with the brand. As part of this project, the company has established cooperation with the Ethereum Polygon scaling platform.

One of the biggest advantages Web3 – recognizable so far in the crypto industry – is the power of the decentralized internet. The market for content created by talented people - especially musicians - is still largely dominated by powerful companies that significantly control the pricing and distribution of unique content. This ends up in unfavorable deals for creators - and is most obvious with major streaming services that pay pennies.

Web3, as this project suggests, takes that power away from the primary controlling entities and returns it to individual content creators. The concept of Web3 is still in its early stages, but crypto and blockchain technology still has a big role to play in this, bringing back control to content creators and talented people who want to make a living directly from what they create.

Cardano and Solana - sudden price spikes

Away from the biggest cryptocurrencies on the market, both CardanoAnd Solana have seen significant price increases in recent days, for various reasons.

Cardano has seen a rebound in recent days thanks to an increase in Total Locked-in Value (TVL) on the chain. While still well below all-time highs as of March 2022, blockchain is witnessing some rebound in demand with specific projects like Meld, Indigo, and WingRiders all offering solutions via the Cardano blockchain.

In the meantime, Solana has been severely priced down since last year, but last week it was one of the best performing crypto assets in the market. It mainly boils down to launching a new token on the blockchain called BONK, which was created by Solana developers as a rival shib.