Cryptocurrencies brace for winter, virtual Adidas and a bitcoin city

Cryptocurrencies brace for winter, virtual Adidas and a bitcoin city

Cryptocurrencies survived one of the largest market shocks since the earliest days of the pandemic last week, with El Salvador a notable dip buyer, while investors decided not to share Adidas' excitement over a foray into the buzzy metaverse. El Salvador's plans to build the world's first "Bitcoin City" https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/el-salvador-plans-first-bitcoin-city-backed-by-bitcoin-bonds-2021-11-21 and Adidas's entry were the bright spots for digital assets in a week that saw major cryptocurrencies clobbered by fears over the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down 0.5% on Monday and has lost about 17% of its value from a record $69,000 over the past 19 days. But rival currency ether and tokens linked to the metaverse and decentralized finance applications have fared better. Adidas's move made waves after the German sportswear retailer said it was partnering with Coinbase Global Inc COIN.O in a tweet, although Adidas shares did not join that celebration. The company also bought a piece of virtual land called "adiVerse" in the blockchain-based world The Sandbox, with the German company hinting it would build that out to offer virtual reality products, and comes at a time it has warned of a sales hit due to supply chain snags. "That's something big because it