Relative calm returns

Concluding a wild week in the markets, and with a massive snowstorm bearing down on a large swath of the East Coast of the U.S., traders were enjoying relative calm. Equity futures slightly dipped as of 9:20 a.m. (EST) while Bitcoin rested flat for 24 hours at $37,000.

Today's top gainer among the Big Ten is Binance Coin (BNB) which rose 2.4% in 24 hours. News items connected with Binance make for a tossed salad.

The crypto exchange is eying regional expansion in Russia on hopes that regulation there will proceed along a progressive path (Crypto Slate).

Meanwhile, Qubit Finance, which is based on Binance Smart Chain, got exploited by hackers to the tune of $80 million worth of BNB pilfered from Qubit's QBridge, according to the team behind the protocol, which confirmed the incident in a tweet earlier today. "The hacker minted unlimited xETH to borrow on BSC," Qubit Finance said, adding that team members are currently working with security and network partners on next steps (Cointelegraph).

It was roughly one year ago that Terra (LUNA) blew past $1 on its way to an eventual all-time-high above $100 by 2021's conclusion. One month since hitting that ATH ($103 on Dec. 27. 2021), LUNA's value has been cut in half. And it is among the most beaten down coins of the past week. In fact, the coin has tanked by 18% just in the past 24 hours.

The Terra blockchain remains highly touted, as it has spawned a sprawling ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) leveraging Terra's stablecoins, that maintain stability using algorithms and arbitrage incentives intertwined with a primary staking asset, LUNA.

Cointelegraph recently delved into LUNA's role as a long-term linchpin that becomes more valuable within the Terra universe over time, with more and more chunks of related stablecoin fees being re-routed for use as staking rewards for LUNA.

Astronomers in the outback of Western Australia were able to spot a mysterious object – possibly the burnt-out core of a dead star cluster some 4,000 light years away – using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) low-frequency radio telescope, known for its 4,096 spidery-looking antennas arranged lattice-like over several miles.

Quaint-by-comparison Doppler Radar will help meteorologists track the intensity of a blizzard set to hammer the East Coast this weekend.

Meanwhile, an economic sky-is-falling forecast (of inflation, slower growth and labor shortages) was just issued by veteran money manager Jeremy Grantham, citing handwriting on the wall.

Children at LeBron James' Akron, Ohio-based I Promise School will be studying crypto technology thanks to a new project co-spearheaded by the four-time NBA champion and Crypto.com, Blockworks said, citing reporting by the Akron Beacon Journal. Some 1,600 young students will learn about crypto but also Web3 and related career fields from experts provided by Crypto.com, which recently spent $700 million to put its name on the arena that plays host to James' L.A. Lakers.

Really? Fidelity To Index The Metaverse: Fidelity Investments has filed regulatory paperwork seeking permission to create a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) pegged to the Fidelity Metaverse Index, comprising companies going all-in on the metaverse - an alternate reality for commerce, trending white hot with numerous companies, including media and big tech, rushing headlong to plant VR and AR flags. Disney recently announced plans to bring metaverse functionality to its theme parks (BeInCrypto). Last month, the entertainment giant won approval for its patent on a "virtual world simulator in a real place."