We are once again approaching the last 3 months of the year, and these are generally good months for the cryptocurrency market. Whether this year is going to be any different no one knows, but for now it seems to be heading in the right direction.

Next month will finally bring the long-awaited Ethereum Merge, a major upgrade to the Ethereum network, and in anticipation of this we have already seen prices rise recently. This week, however, the increases stagnated and we even saw slight declines.

Fortunately, there was not much bad news, but there was some remarkably good news. Read along for all the most important crypto news of the past week (12 August 2022 to 19 August)!

Tech giants invest in blockchain companies

South Korean tech giant Samsung has been identified as the most active investor in blockchain-related companies, participating in 13 funding rounds between Sep 2021 and Jun 2022.

In a blog published by Blockdata updated Wednesday, it was revealed which funding rounds Samsung participated in, among them were climate tech venture Flowcarbon, Bored Apes Yacht Club publisher Yuga Labs, blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands, and Axie Infinity owner Sky Mavis.

The company has probably made most of its investment efforts through Samsung Next, a multi-faceted innovation group within Samsung Electronics that invests in blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Metaverse.

Other notable companies active in the blockchain investment space include Google parent company Alphabet, and financial institutions including BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Blockdata noted that Alphabet participated in funding rounds for companies such as Fireblocks, Dapper Labs, Voltage, and Digital Currency Group, which ultimately received a total of €1.5 billion from Alphabet.

Terra CEO Do Kwon breaks silence

As Terra co-founder and CEO Do Kwon breaks his silence on the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD Classic (USTC) and LUNA 2, the community is reacting with different sentiments against the Terra executive.

Despite Kwon's attempts to clear his name in an interview, community members remain unhappy with the Terra CEO.

Do Kwon said that there was likely an insider at Terraform Labs who benefited from information about the protocol's vulnerabilities - although he does not name anyone - but added, "I, and I alone, am responsible for any weaknesses that could have been presented for a short seller to start taking profits."

In June, South Korean prosecutors imposed a travel ban on Terraform Labs employees. However, since Kwon is already in Singapore, authorities may be considering invalidating his passport to launch a comprehensive investigation against him.

Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT may be closing a sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona

Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT continues to scale up and expand its international operations.

After entering the cryptocurrency market in Spain and opening its own representative office in this country, WhiteBIT is negotiating cooperation and partnership with the legendary and one of the most titled soccer clubs in Europe - FC Barcelona. The negotiations to conclude a suitable agreement are now in the final stage.

As it has become known, the agreement provides, among other things, for the inclusion of the WhiteBIT logo on the sleeve of the club's soccer apparel - one of the assets that can bring FC Barcelona the most revenue. In addition to the main soccer team, the WhiteBIT logo will also be featured on the jerseys of Barcelona's women's soccer and basketball teams. WhiteBIT and FC Barcelona will also jointly carry out a number of social, image and sports activities and projects as part of the partnership.

Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk wants to raise money for Ukraine with NFTs

A non-fungible token (NFT) collection is to start making a substantial contribution to a charitable foundation supporting Ukrainians after Russia's invasion.

Blockasset says the NFT issue has been organized in collaboration with world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, who is himself from Ukraine.

The sale comes ahead of Usyk's world title defense against Anthony Joshua on August 20.

There are 2,000 one-on-one NFTs of unique artwork, and they feature quirky designs by world-renowned artist Dosbrak - chronicling some of the most important moments in the boxer's undefeated professional career.

When the invasion began, Usyk had joined Kiev's territorial defense battalion, but he later received permission to leave the country so he could prepare for his fight against Joshua.

The Olympic gold medalist also hopes that this fight will help raise funds for Ukraine.

Once again, this was the main crypto news of the week. Earlier this week we also wrote about the upcoming Ethereum upgrade called "the Merge". You can read more about that in the article "4 misconceptions about the Ethereum Merge".