Banking giant Morgan Stanley has revealed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that some of its funds added Bitcoin exposure in the third quarter of the year through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

A report from the Solana Foundation claims that a transaction on the Solana network takes less energy than two searches on Google, and 24 times less energy than charging a smartphone.

A plot of digital land has been sold in the Axie Infinity world for 550 ETH, worth over $2.3 million at current prices. The plot is part of the “Genesis” land type, which Axie Infinity describes as “extremely rare.”

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Morgan Stanley Funds Increase Bitcoin Exposure
• Solana Transactions Use Less Energy Than Google Searches: Report
• Land Plot on Axie Infinity Sells for $2.4 Million
• Crypto Market Movers – GALA, SAND, BAT
  

Morgan Stanley Funds Increase Bitcoin Exposure

Banking giant Morgan Stanley has revealed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that some of its funds added Bitcoin exposure in the third quarter of the year through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

The filings reveal that for the period ending September 30, Morgan Stanley’s Growth Portfolio Fund, for example, added 1.5 million GBTC shares, while its Insight Fund added 600,000 GBTC shares. Other Morgan Stanley funds also added exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency.

The added exposure comes at a time in which Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman becomes more outspoken on cryptocurrencies. In October, Gorman revealed he does not believe that “crypto is a fad.”

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust allows institutional and high net-worth investors to gain exposure to bitcoin without having to manage private keys but incur a holding period of 12 months for the shares.

Last month, the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) started trading on the New York Stock Exchange, providing investors alternatives. Since then, several ETFs have started trading.

Solana Transactions Use Less Energy Than Google Searches: Report

A report from the Solana Foundation claims that a transaction on the Solana network takes less energy than two searches on Google, and 24 times less energy than charging a smartphone.

The report says a single transaction on its network uses 0.00051 kWh. According to Google, an average search uses 0.0003 kWh. It adds that the entire Solana network uses an estimated 3,186,000 kWh per year, equivalent to the average electricity usage of 986 American households.

The Solana network has 1,196 validator nodes that process an estimated 20 million transactions per year. The report states that the Solana Foundation will further reduce the network’s energy usage by implementing a program to become carbon-neutral and offset its environmental footprint.

It’s worth noting that cryptocurrency networks use the same energy whether it processes one or a million transactions. The metric is used to compare the energy efficiency of different networks.

Land Plot on Axie Infinity Sells for $2.3 Million

A plot of digital land has been sold in the Axie Infinity world for 550 ETH, worth over $2.3 million at current prices. The plot is part of the “Genesis” land type, which Axie Infinity describes as “extremely rare.”

There are different types of land in Axie Infinity, including Mystic and Arctic, which are collectively called Lucania. The land is home to the Axies, which are fantasy creatures required to play the game. Genesis land is located at the center of the Axie Infinity map and is capped at 220 plots.

Axie Infinity itself is a popular play-to-earn game that uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to keep track of digital creatures. It allows users to earn tokens called small love potions (SLP), which can be sold for other cryptoassets.

Crypto Market Movers – GALA, SAND, BAT

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 7-day period. Some of these are well-known cryptocurrencies with more liquid trading pairs, so we’ll be focusing on these over low-cap cryptos that may have higher percentage changes.

Gala (GALA) – Gala is a blockchain taking the gaming industry in a different direction that gives players control over the assets they earn in-game. Some of the minds behind Zynga’s most popular games, including Words with Friends, are behind Gala’s games.

The Sandbox (SAND) - The Sandbox is a community-driven platform where creators can monetize voxel ASSETS and gaming experiences on the blockchain. SAND holders will be also able to participate in the governance of the platform via a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), where they can exercise voting rights on key decisions of The Sandbox ecosystem.

Basic Attention Token (BAT) - The Basic Attention Token is an Ethereum-based token that can be used to obtain a variety of advertising and attention-based services on the Brave platform, a new blockchain-based digital advertising system.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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