The final countdown to the Ethereum merge begins, GameStop doubles down on crypto and a group of traders just made a fortune on a Coinbase glitch. These stories and more this week in crypto.

Bitcoin Tops as the Dollar Drops

Bitcoin surged past $21,000, marking its best day in months as the U.S. dollar index fell by 1% and markets were buoyed by the Fed’s hint of a softer monetary approach. Bitcoin rose more than 10% in a single day, its largest daily percentage gain since mid-July.

Final Countdown to the Ethereum Merge

The Ethereum blockchain’s Merge is officially underway, in preparation for completion at some point this week. The Bellatrix upgrade, the network’s final “hard fork” before the Merge, has already been activated, marking the beginning of Ethereum’s long-awaited transition from a proof-of-work to proof-of-stake model. In the days before the merge, Binance has already announced the launch of Ethereum staking on its platform which allows users to earn rewards at a starting rate of 6% annually, one of the highest rewards in the industry.

GameStop Doubles Down on Crypto

Gaming retailer GameStop is partnering with crypto exchange FTX US to bring more customers to crypto and work together on online marketing initiatives.  The new partnership will introduce GameStop’s customers into the FTX ecosystem, including its marketplaces for digital assets, while also seeing the retailer become F TX’s preferred retail partner in the United States.

Traders Profit 100x Due to Coinbase Glitch

A bug in Coinbase’s exchange allowed traders from the country of Georgia to sell their crypto at as much as 100 times market value. An error believed to have been caused by a third-party provider enabled an estimated 900 Georgians to sell various cryptos at a highly profitable exchange rate for the country’s fiat currency, the lari.

MicroStrategy Sells Stock to Buy Bitcoin

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, has filed to sell up to $500 million of stock in order to fund more Bitcoin purchases. The news shows that Saylor is not backing away from his plan to turn MicroStrategy into a crypto proxy. Since 2020, he’s used money raised from stock and bond offerings to purchase about 130,000 bitcoin, worth more than $2 billion.

US Seizes North Korean Hackers’ Crypto

Blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis has revealed that U.S. authorities have seized cryptocurrency worth $30 million from North Korean hackers. The seizures represent approximately 10% of the total funds stolen from Axie Infinity. Law enforcement units utilized advanced tracing techniques to follow stolen funds to cash out points in collaboration with industry players to quickly freeze funds.

Bill Murray’s NFT Charity Funds Stolen

Hollywood legend, Bill Murray, has become the latest victim of crypto hackers. Criminals stole over 100 Ether that the actor had raised through a charity NFT auction. Murray’s team says they’ve filed a police report and are working with crypto analytics company Chainalysis to identify the culprits.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption Anniversary

El Salvador celebrated the first anniversary of adopting bitcoin. The small Central American nation made history a year ago when it officially declared BTC as legal tender, becoming the first ever country to do so. Although Bitcoin’s price is down about 70% since its peak and El Salvador sits on a massive unrealized loss, the country has not given up on the initiative.

That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.