Welcome to this week‘s crypto news summary. All the essential news and events in the crypto world from last week (March. 6 to March. 10) are summarised below, so you‘ll be entirely up to date again before you head into the weekend.

Do you want to know what news there was in the crypto world this week? Then read along quickly!

Shiba Inu launches the beta version of Shibarium this week

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is working hard to shed its "memecoin" reputation. This week, Shiba Inu will take a big step in this direction. Namely, the protocol will launch the beta version of Shibarium, the new Layer 2 solution for Shiba Inu's network. This new Layer 2 blockchain should start scaling up the network's capabilities.

The Layer 2 solution Shibarium should give the ability to perform transactions off-chain, meaning a transaction can be done outside the leading network. This new capability should improve Shiba Inu's capabilities. When the beta version of the platform, which launches this week, is a success, the full release will follow soon.

Earlier this week, Shiba Inu also made headlines with other notable news. An investigation by Coinbase's top executive Conor Grogan linked ex-CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, to Shiba-Inu. The true identity of the Shiba Inu founder is still unknown, but according to Grogan, there would be indications that it is Sam Bankman-Fried.

PancakeSwap comes with a significant update

PancakeSwap (CAKE), the decentralised exchange (DEX) on the BNB Chain, indicated through a tweet on Saturday, 4 March, that a new update for the platform is coming. In the first week of April, the third version of PancakeSwap will go live on the blockchain created by Binance.

The launch of this update will merge with a series of upgrades to PancakeSwap, including more competitive trading fees, trading rewards and an improved liquidity provision and yield farming experience. The platform's interface will also become more user-friendly for better platform accessibility.

PancakeSwap is giving away $153K of CAKE to celebrate this new chapter and will airdrop exclusive PancakeSwap V3 NFT to reward early supporters. However, this NFT will not be tradable, so you cannot sell the NFT.

 World champion Messi invests in Web3 and NFT football game

Matchday, a brand-new startup focusing on web3 and gaming, has raised $21 million in an investment round. One of the investing parties is Play Time, the investment firm of world champion Lionel Messi.

The Argentine, who plays for Paris Saint Germain, became world champion just a few months ago, but Messi is also raving about new trends off the pitch. This investment in startup Matchday is not the first time he has entered the world of NFTs. Messi is also an ambassador for the well-known NFT football game Sorare and the fan token platform Socios.

Web3 sports games are still familiar to platforms like Playstation and Xbox, yet they already make big money. Sorare was already valued at $4.3 billion in 2021 and raised $680 million in investment.

The gaming sector is a growing part of blockchain networks. DappRader indicated in January that games are responsible for half of the blockchain activity. With growing activity and increasing investor interest, this sector is rising.