This week, bonding together

Internet Computer Developments

1. Dfinity conducted a global R&D event on 25th January 2023. The event covered a variety of topics, including the SNS Roadmap and Demo, the latest feature releases, demos on ckBTC Public Dashboard, and special guests from HotorNot Dapp.
2. Dfinity has announced the release of Motoko-san, a code-level verifier prototype for the Motoko programming language, which will improve the security and reliability of smart contracts and other code deployed on the Internet Computer (ICP).
3. A virtual workshop for the ICP will be held on the 27th of January at 5:00 pm PST at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Vancouver. The event will feature speakers from dfinity, hotornot dapp, and lumoslabs.
4. CryptoWendyO had an amazing conversation with the Founder and Chief Scientist of the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), Dominic, about the features and benefits of ICP, the future of web3 without cloud services, and the cool dApps being built fully on chain. Check it out here. 
5. Dominic Williams announced that work to create a transparent network-level chain key crypto integration with Ethereum is already underway, following ckBTC integration.
6. On February 6th, there will be an opportunity for individuals to meet the best DeFi projects that are developing on the Internet Computer blockchain at an office in Zurich. Register here. 
7. The Internet Computer (ICP) ecosystem has seen significant growth in developer activity, with a 94% increase year-over-year, according to a report by Electric Capital. This suggests that despite a “crypto winter,” the ICP ecosystem is still thriving. 

Dfinity Community Updates

1. ORIGYNTech is hosting its first hackathon for developers to work on and contribute to the ORIGYN NFT Standard, Perpetual OS dApps, and ORIGYN Digital Certificate. 
2. The https outcalls feature, which allows developers to make outbound http calls from their canisters has been enabled and the Exchange Rate canister is now up and running. Developers and users are encouraged to try it out and see how it can be integrated into their own projects. 
3. PokedBots: Generation 2.0, is going to have an official event called “Burn” starting on January 26, 2023 at 12:00 AM Eastern Time which will last for 7 days. 
4. Entrepot Marketplace, has shared a sneak peek of their new launchpad. They have labeled the launchpad as “Netflix style” which suggests that it will have a similar user interface as the popular streaming platform. 
5. BETBASE, a web3 social gaming platform on ICP, is the latest project to join DSCVR and create a portal. 
6. InfinitySwap, announced that their partner and collaborator, Dfinity Community (DC), led by Dukakis Tejada, is rebranding as Coinhustle to expand its mission outside of the Internet Computer (ICP) ecosystem.  

Crypto news in a nutshell

1. In the most recent quarter, Tesla recorded an impairment charge of $34 million on its holdings of bitcoin due to the drop in value. 
2. Spatial Labs, a Web3 infrastructure startup, recently raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by venture capital firm Blockchain Capital. 
3. Nike announced that it will be launching a web3 platform called .SWOOSH that will reward creators for their virtual sneaker designs. This move by Nike is seen as a way to tap into the growing trend of virtual fashion and digital collectibles. 
4. CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced the launch of Namaste Web3, a new educational initiative that aims to increase awareness and understanding of the third-generation internet and its potential for Indian industries. 
5. An NFT collector has filed a lawsuit against OpenSea after the platform allegedly locked their account following a scam. The legal team has stated that this is not an isolated incident, and has alleged that a pattern of ignoring issues related to fraud and scams on their platform. 

Internet Computer NFT Summary

1. Nature Integration, a project by ICyberSkull, is launching soon on Entrepot.
2. Secondary market trading for the new “Pepe ICP” collection is now open on Yumi Marketplace.
3. The ICP Pepe Frog collection sold out on Yumi Marketplace in 40 minutes.