Another week has passed, which may have seemed like an eternity to the crypto market. In awe, crypto-enthusiasts saw prices take a big dive on August 18, but since then the market has been slowly creeping up again.

Adding to this is the fact that on Friday 25th of August Bitcoin options worth 1 billion euros will expire, something that could also have a big impact on prices.

All in all, it was an exciting week and not everyone came out unscathed, but there was not much bad news. Read along below for all the most important crypto news from the past week!

NFT sales provide new source of revenue for large companies

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have exploded in popularity over the past year, and big companies like Nike and Dolca & Gabbana didn't let that pass them by. Why exactly such large companies decided to start selling NFT collections is not clear, but one thing is clear: It made a lot of money.

Nike stands out so far when it comes to the sales they made on NFTs. The company has already earned a total of €185 million from the sale of their digital collectibles. Companies such as Adidas, Dolce & Gabbana, Tifanny and Gucci also earned big on NFTs. The revenues of these companies were between €10 and €25 million.

Whether this much can still be earned from NFTs in the future, or even more, is unclear given the current market conditions. But these figures do show that companies are finding new ways to sell not only tangible goods, but also digital assets, and that there is real interest.

Trader Joe claims to have a solution to "impermanent loss"

Impermanent loss, seen as one of DeFi's biggest weaknesses, happens when the price of a token changes after one deposits it into a liquidity pool-based automated market maker as part of yield farming - a type of investment where one lends tokens to earn rewards (not the same as staking).

Trader Joe, an Avalanche-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, claims it has found a way to escape impermanent loss. The solution comes in the form of a so-called Liquidity Book (LB).

The LB introduces a new variable swap fee designed to protect traders from temporary losses by compensating liquidity providers in the event of extreme market volatility, allowing liquidity to be managed more efficiently in response to sudden price movements.

1,000 Nigerian villages supplied with drinking water by Bitcoin donations

In Nigeria, a development aid organization has built wells in at least 1,000 Nigerian villages. Noteworthy is the fact that the donated money came entirely from Bitcoin (BTC) donors.

The organization, the Built With Bitcoin Foundation, aims to use the best aspects of Bitcoin to improve the opportunities of communities in developing countries. According to a top executive at Built With Bitcoin, Yusuf Necessary, Bitcoin is excellent for donations because of its transaction speed and cross-border nature.

In addition to, for example, drilling wells, Built With Bitcoin also offers communities the opportunity to learn about Bitcoin. According to the organization, this is important because many people in developing countries do not have access to a bank account at all.

"Thanks to the donations raised at this year's Bitcoin conference, this community in Nigeria has a new water system that keeps them hydrated and healthy, so they can thrive in school, at work and in life," Yusuf said.

Currently, the Built With Bitcoin structure ensures that 92% of donations go directly to the specific project they are currently working on, while only 8% cover administrative costs. Other related costs, such as staff salaries, are covered by a separate grant fund.

Web3 games try to attract more women

Although there is still a distinct lack of women in the Web3 sector, blockchain-based games aimed at women can help promote inclusivity.

A recent report from the Entertainment Software Association found that 48% of gamers in the United States identify as women. It was also noted that nearly half of all gamers in the world are women. The interest of women in the billion-dollar gaming industry is remarkable. This, combined with the tremendous growth predicted by the GameFi industry, is a major reason why a number of Web3 games are being built specifically for female users.

Beryl Li Chavez, co-founder of Yield Guild Games - a global play-to-earn gaming community - told that she believes blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity have begun to see an uptick in female players. "Although statistics show that play-to-earn games appeal to more male users, we believe more women will begin to show interest," she said.

A number of Web3 games are coming to fruition with the goal of appealing to a predominantly female audience. Fashion League, for example, is a free, play-to-earn mobile game that allows users to build their own fashion empire. Theresia Le Battistini, CEO and founder of Fashion League, said the game allows users to create virtual clothing lines that can eventually be sold as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, while brands can use the game to showcase digital products:

"We believe that everything in the future will be gaming, as our statistics have shown that the gaming market will exceed $300 billion by 2027. Web3 games must be inclusive."

Once again, this was the most important crypto news of the past week. Earlier this week we also wrote about an easing of crypto policy by the South African Central Bank. You can read more about that in the article "South African Central Bank loosens crypto policy".