It’s been an eventful week in the realm of Web3. Here are your top stories for the second week of May.

U.S. Crypto Exchange Bittrex Files for Bankruptcy in Delaware

Bittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange, has recently filed for bankruptcy in the state of Delaware in the United States. This news comes after the company had previously announced its intention to leave the US earlier in the year, which was seen as a strategic move to avoid the intense regulatory scrutiny that it was under.

Bittrex has been in the spotlight of financial regulators since 2022 and has been facing mounting pressure to comply with financial regulations. In April of 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Bittrex, accusing the company of offering unregistered securities through its trading platform. The lawsuit was a significant blow to Bittrex, and it ultimately resulted in the company’s decision to file for bankruptcy.

Bittrex’s bankruptcy filing is the latest in a series of similar events that have recently occurred in the cryptocurrency industry. Other firms that have also filed for bankruptcy include FTX and Voyager, among others. The increasing number of bankruptcies is a cause for concern for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole and highlights the need for stronger regulatory frameworks to protect investors.

Since the news of Bittrex’s bankruptcy was announced on May 8th, most coins in the cryptocurrency market have taken a slight downturn in their market value. However, experts predict that this is likely to be a short-term event and that the cryptocurrency market will recover quickly from this setback. Despite the challenges faced by Bittrex and other cryptocurrency firms, the industry remains dynamic and is expected to continue growing in the long term.

Gas fees make the headlines after one trader pays $120k gas fee on $140k worth of ‘memecoin’

Gas fees, which are the fees paid for processing transactions on the Ethereum network, have always been a topic of intense discussion within the cryptocurrency industry. While they are an essential component of the Ethereum ecosystem, they have also been a hurdle for the general public, preventing mass adoption due to their high costs.

The recent surge in gas fees has reignited the debate surrounding their impact on the industry. This debate was further fuelled by the recent revelation that an anonymous trader spent $120k worth of Ethereum on gas fees while purchasing $140k worth of the memecoin FOUR. This transaction highlights the disproportionate amount of money that is being spent on gas fees in the current market.

Memecoins have emerged as the latest trend in the cryptocurrency trading world. These coins are typically created as a joke or parody and often have little to no real-world value. However, the volume and speed at which these coins are mined and traded have played a significant role in the unprecedented rise in gas fees in recent months. As more and more people jump on the memecoin bandwagon, the demand for transactions on the Ethereum network increases, which, in turn, drives up gas fees.

Palm NFT Studio Rolls Out Generative Art Tool for Creators

Palm NFT Studio, a company dedicated to bringing non-fungible token (NFT) technology to the masses, has recently launched the Palm Generative Art Maker. This new tool is designed to help creators, including those with little to no coding experience, mint generative art collections on the blockchain.

The Palm Generative Art Maker is a plugin for Unreal Engine, a popular 3D software tool typically used for game development. The tool provides the infrastructure for artists to carefully craft their code, store it on-chain, and produce a body of generative artwork. This is a significant development in the NFT creation space, as it opens up the market to a broader range of creators who may have previously been excluded due to their lack of coding knowledge.

Generative art is a unique form of art that is created through a process of algorithmic or random generation. This means that each piece of art is one-of-a-kind and cannot be replicated. This uniqueness is a key feature of NFTs, which are digital assets that are authenticated on the blockchain. By using the Palm Generative Art Maker, artists can now create and mint their own generative art NFTs without needing to learn complex coding languages or hire expensive developers.

Palm NFT Studio has been working to bring NFT technology to the wider, mass-appeal market since its founding two years ago. The launch of the Palm Generative Art Maker is just one of the many ways the company is striving to make NFTs more accessible to a broader audience. The company’s efforts are part of a broader trend in the cryptocurrency industry, where many companies are working to make blockchain technology more user-friendly and accessible.