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Showing posts from August 31, 2021

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...
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Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approves $150M Bitcoin Trust

El Salvador's government has set aside $23.3 million toward rolling out crypto ATMs and $30 million to incentivize use of the state-backed "Chivo" wallet. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has passed legislation creating a $150 million dollar Bitcoin Trust and supporting the development of crypto infrastructure and services across the country.  The bill passed on Aug. 31, with 64 officials voting in favor and 14 opposing the trust’s creation. The Trust is designed to facilitate conversion of Bitcoin into U.S. Dollars, and support the roll out of vital technological infrastructure enabling widespread adoption of crypto assets. The news comes just one week before the country’s controversial Bitcoin Law is set to take effect. The impending legislation will recognize BTC as legal tender across El Salvador and is slated to take effect on September 7th. Currently, U.S. dollars are used as legal tender in the country. The Development Bank of El Salvador (Bandesal) has bee...
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Chinese Regulator Aims to Digitize Securities Market Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts

China’s Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will promote a national alliance chain to introduce smart contracts and blockchain-based services to digitize the securities and futures market. The announcement was made at the China Securities Industry Alliance Chain and OTC Alliance Chain Special Work Symposium in Beijing. Jiang Dongxing, deputy director of the Science and Technology Regulatory Bureau of the CSRC, stated this digitization is key for the future of the industry. China Aims to Digitize Financial Markets Using Blockchain The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is interested in digitizing much of the securities and futures markets using alternatives such as blockchain and smart contracts, according to discussions that happened during the China Securities Industry Alliance Chain and OTC Alliance Chain Special Work Symposium recently held in Beijing. Jiang Dongxing, deputy director of the Science and Technology Regulatory Bureau of the CSRC, made some important ...
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Korean firm will become first BSN portal operator outside of China

China’s Blockchain Service Network is going global, with Korean blockchain firm MetaverseSociety announced as the first BSN portal operator outside of China. Red Date Technology, one of the four founding members of the Chinese Government-backed Blockchain Service Network (BSN), has announced Korean firm MetaverseSociety as the first BSN portal operator located outside of mainland China. Twitter account “BSNbase” broke the news on Sept. 1, announcing that MetaverseSociety expects to launch its BSN portal during November of this year. According to the tweet, the Korean portal will allow local developers to “build and operate blockchain applications quickly and effectively” on top of the BSN once live. Thrilled to introduce MetaverseSociety @MarX_Metaverse , the exclusive BSN portal operator in Korea. The portal will launch in Korea in November 2021 and will empower Korean developers to build and operate blockchain applications quickly and effectively. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/N...
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Original $4M Doge NFT meme auctioned off in 17 billion pieces

PleasrDAO will offer exposure to the Doge NFT via 16,969,696,969 fractionalized ERC-20 tokens named “$DOG”. The $4 million NFT depicting the original Doge meme is set to be fractionalized into ERC-20 Tokens, and auctioned off in pieces. The owner of the Shibu Inu depicted in the beloved meme, Atsuko Sato sold the Doge NFT for 1696.9 Ether, or $4 million on June 12 to art-focused decentralized autonomous organisation, PleasrDAO. Starting from Sept.1 at 5pm UTC PleasrDAO will offer exposure to the Doge NFT via a fractionalization that will see the nonfungible token broken down into 16,969,696,969 ERC-20 tokens named “$DOG”. According to a blog post from PleasrDAO, 20% of the total $DOG supply will be available for purchase initially, with the sale being hosted on open-source smart contract platform, Miso. https://t.co/9c9899X73H https://t.co/osEMZpxkg3 blog: https://t.co/wE7yDLC3xu pic.twitter.com/vtiC7IFsdv — ✨ PleasrDAOGE (@PleasrDAO) August 31, 2021 After the launch, $D...
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Tron Founder Justin Sun Purchases Joker Tpunk NFT for $10.5 Million

Justin Sun, founder of Tron, a smart contract-enabled cryptocurrency, announced he purchased an NFT avatar for $10.5 million. The NFT, dubbed ‘Joker’ due to its appearance, is part of a Tron-native NFT series called Tpunks, that seeks to emulate the style and success of the known Cryptopunks series, but on the Tron blockchain. Justin Sun Purchases NFT for $10.5 Million Justin Sun, the founder of the smart contracts-enabled Tron blockchain, announced today the purchase of an NFT avatar for $10.5 million dollars worth of tron. The NFT purchased, identified as #3442 but called “Joker,” ostensibly due to its resemblance to the popular Batman villain, is part of the Tpunks series. Tpunks is a collection of NFTs that seeks to recreate the art style of another very successful line of NFTs, on Ethereum, the Cryptopunks. The series features 10,000 avatars, of which there are some with rare traits, which make them especially desired by collectors. The project is picking up steam and has cl...
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Offchain Labs launches Arbitrum One mainnet, secures $120M in funding

More than 400 teams are already building on Arbitrum One. Offchain Labs, the team behind the highly anticipated Ethereum layer two platform, Arbitrum One, has completed the public mainnet launch of its optimistic rollups solution. Announced on Aug. 31, Offchain Labs also revealed that it has secured $120 million in a Series B fundraising round. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and also saw participation from heavyweight crypto investors Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, Alameda Research and Mark Cuban. Lightspeed partner Ravi Mhatre also joined Offchain Labs’ board as part of the round. Amy Wu, also a partner at Lightspeed, stated: “[Offchain Labs’] dedication to the Ethereum developer community is second to none and they have the best, easiest-to-use scalability product. That’s why over 400 projects have chosen to launch with Arbitrum, including Reddit.” In May, Offchain Labs, completed its beta launch of Arbitrum One for developers, allowing developers to be...
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Biden Administration Pushes Global Crypto Data Sharing Rules in $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill: Report

The Biden administration is reportedly pushing to include global crypto data sharing rules in the $3.5 trillion budget package. The Treasury wants crypto businesses to report information on foreign account holders “so that the U.S. can share information with global trading partners.” Treasury Wants to Impose More Crypto Rules The U.S. Treasury is reportedly pushing to include more rules for tax compliance on cryptocurrency transactions in the upcoming $3.5 trillion budget plan. The Biden administration is hoping to add the requirements for crypto businesses to report information on foreign account holders “so that the U.S. can share information with global trading partners,” Roll Call reported Monday, citing an administration official who wasn’t authorized to speak for the record. According to the Treasury’s Greenbook, “The global nature of the crypto market offers opportunities for U.S. taxpayers to conceal assets and taxable income by using offshore crypto exchanges and wallet ...
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CryptoPunks creators sign with top Hollywood agents, as sales top $305M in a week

Larva Labs' blockchain-created IP is set for Hollywood after the firm signed a representation deal with United Talent Agency for CryptoPunks, Meebits and Authoglyphs. Larva Labs, the team behind the outrageously popular NFT project CryptoPunks, has penned a deal with Hollywood agents United Talent Agency (UTA). According to an Aug. 31 article from the Hollywood Reporter, UTA will represent Larva Labs for intellectual property (IP) deals in TV, film, video games, licensing and publishing. Two other NFT projects from Larva Labs, Meebits and Autoglyphs, will also be represented by UTA. CryptoPunks was launched back in 2017 and is one of the first NFT projects created on Ethereum. The IP-related deal with UTA marks a significant milestone for Larva Labs, as it is one of the first examples of content created in the blockchain sector that has entered the mainstream entertainment industry. Lesley Silverman, head of UTA Digital Assets told the Hollywood Reporter: “I would say that i...
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Former US President Donald Trump: Cryptocurrencies Are ‘a Disaster Waiting to Happen’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump says cryptocurrencies are “potentially a disaster waiting to happen.” In addition, he said that they “may be fake.” His comments followed another when he said bitcoin “seemed like a scam.” Trump Is Still No Fan of Bitcoin or Crypto Donald Trump talked about cryptocurrency in an interview with Fox Business Tuesday. Responding to a question about whether he has dabbled in bitcoin or cryptos, Trump promptly said: “I don’t. I like the currency of the United States.” He elaborated: I think the others are potentially a disaster waiting to happen. “I feel that it [cryptocurrency] hurts the United States currency,” he continued. “I think we should strengthen, we should be invested in our currency, not in [cryptocurrencies].” He further exclaimed, “They [cryptocurrencies] may be fake, who knows what they are.” Referring to crypto, the former president admitted, “They are certainly something that people don’t know much about.” He reiterated: No. I hav...
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Data suggests Uniswap is 36% overvalued and SushiSwap trades at a discount

An exchange token valuation methodology suggests that SUSHI trades at a 33% discount and that UNI price is 36% overvalued. Just looking at Binance Coin's ( BNB ) reported market capitalization, one might conclude that the token is the dominant asset when compared to other exchange tokens. Although there is no direct relationship between Binance's exchange volume (or revenue) and token economics, traders seem to use it as a proxy. The controversial burn mechanism has been losing impact since April 2019, when the exchange changed the BNB whitepaper .  Initially, the whitepaper proposed a plan where BNB tokens equivalent to 20% of the exchange's profit would be bought under a "repurchasing plan", but the new version scrapped that plan. Exchange tokens market cap and volume. Source: Messari Screener and CoinGecko However, excluding the 60 million BNB that have never been in circulation drastically changes the outcome because these excess tokens are meant to be...
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Central Bank of Nigeria Selects Barbados-Based Fintech Firm as Technical Partner for CBDC Project

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has named the fintech firm Bitt Inc. as a technical partner for its digital currency project, the e-naira. As a technical partner, Bitt is expected to use its “technological competence and implementation experience” to help the CBN successfully launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC). E-Naira Draft Guidelines The CBN’s unveiling of the Barbados-based firm as its partner comes shortly after reports suggested that the central bank had released draft guidelines for the e-naira. In justifying the selection of Bitt, Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s director of communications, touted the fintech’s “tested and proven digital currency experience.” These claims by Nwanisobi appear to be supported by a statement on Bitt’s website that suggests the fintech firm had signed a contract to conduct a CBDC pilot for the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). The contract was signed in 2019 and in April of 2021, ECCB finally launched its digital currency. E-Nai...
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3 reasons why Polkadot could be the next altcoin to hit a new all-time high

Rising trading volume, investor excitement over the upcoming parachain auctions and the success of KSM, have investors looking at DOT as the next altcoin to hit a new high. Layer-1 smart contract platforms increased their market share throughout August after the Ethereum network  London hard fork did little to solve the major issues of high transaction fees and network congestion.  One top-10 protocol that has been gaining momentum, but has yet to experience a significant price breakout to new highs like some of its competitors is Polkadot (DOT), a multichain protocol focused on facilitating the creation of cross-chain bridges between separate blockchain networks. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after bottoming out at $10.36 on July 20, the price of DOT increased 205% to an intraday high at $31.70 on Aug. 31 as the chatter of an impending altseason begins to rise. DOT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the increa...
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TradeStars Launches Mainnet of Fantasy Sports Stock Trading Game based on Fractional NFTs

PRESS RELEASE. TradeStars has launched “Olympic Torch”, the Mainnet of their Fantasy Sports Stock Trading Game, on 31 st August, 2021. TradeStars’ new Fantasy Sports Game allows users to trade Fantasy Stocks of world-class athletes, whose value is directly influenced by the real life performance statistics of the respective player. The Fantasy Stocks can be purchased using USDT for now; fiat payment gateways (for INR and USD) are on their way. Fantasy Sports Gaming Today Fantasy Sports Gaming has seen a steady rise in both popularity and valuation over the last decade. The global Fantasy Sports market was valued at $20.7 billion in 2020. It is expected to reach $48.1 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2021 to 2027. Existing Fantasy Sports games all work on a similar model, which involves users creating their own ‘dream teams’ of their favorite players and earning points based on how their selected athletes perform in real life. The top users with the maximum point...
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Surge in activity and token prices show ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’ already started

DeFi platforms have seen a steady surge in user activity and token prices, leading some analysts to say that the ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’ is well underway. After a blistering start to 2021 saw token valuations and trading volumes surge to ignite the current bull market, the DeFi sector as a whole took a break while the NFT sector stepped into the limelight . While investors' attention was elsewhere, DeFi prices have had time to consolidate and project developers were able to focus on protocol upgrades and in the past month, DeFi-related tokens have been gaining traction and look poised for a breakout in September.  DeFi Index perpetual futures 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that multiple DeFi tokens, including Aave (AAVE), Synthetix (SNX), YFI and SushiSwap (SUSHI) have rallied nearly 40% since May 10, while the price of BTC is still 27% away from its all-time high. The recent bullishness in DeFi tokens prompted some anal...
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Metamask Surpasses 10 Million Monthly Active Users, Climbing 1,800% in 12 Months

On Tuesday, the noncustodial digital currency wallet Metamask announced that the platform has surpassed 10 million monthly active users (MAUs). Year-to-date, Metamask has seen 19x growth since July 2020 as MAUs climbed 1,800% in 12 months. Metamask Hits Over 10 Million Monthly Active Users There’s no doubt that Metamask has been a popular Ethereum blockchain wallet that is also compatible with technologies like Polygon, Optimism , and Arbitrum . The wallet was created by the blockchain software company Consensys in 2016 and a great number of decentralized finance (defi) applications support Metamask. In a Tuesday announcement, Metamask says that in July 2020 the platform saw 545,080 MAUs and by April 2021, Metamask had 3 million MAUs . Today, Metamask has 10,354,279 MAUs and has grown 1,800% since July 2020. In the announcement, Metamask described some of the drivers that pushed the software’s MAU growth exponentially. For one, Metamask is considered the “primary way” global defi...
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Illuvium hits new highs as interest in NFT-based blockchain gaming skyrockets

Attractive staking options, gameplay teasers and the overall strength of the NFT sector back the massive rally seen in ILV price. The world of nonfungible tokens and blockchain gaming has seen immense growth and progress towards mainstream adoption in 2021. Recently, the movement picked up steam as an array of  celebrities and internet influencers jumped on the hype train by purchasing premium digital collectibles.  One project that has quickly risen in value over the past two months as details about its ongoing development trickle to the public is Illuvium (ILV), an open-world fantasy battle game built on the Ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain. ILV/USD 1-day chart. Source: CoinGecko Data from CoinGecko shows that after hitting a low of $29.32 on June 22, the price of ILV skyrocketed 1,765% to post a new all-time high at $545.26 on Aug. 13. Three reasons for the tremendous price growth seen in ILV include the introduction of multi-asset staking features on the ILV protocol,...
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Naomi Osaka Reveals New NFT, Dogecoin Sparks Tennis Star’s Interest in Cryptocurrencies

The popular professional tennis player Naomi Osaka has been discussing non-fungible token (NFT) assets and the meme crypto asset dogecoin in recent times. In a recent interview, Osaka said that she’s been talking to her agent about dogecoin and that she sees the crypto ecosystem “is getting bigger.” Naomi Osaka Drops ‘Finding What Was Lost’ NFT Naomi Osaka is a very popular tennis player and was ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The tennis legend has approximately 1.1 million Twitter followers, 2.8 million Instagram followers, and she’s reported on regularly by the press. On August 30, Osaka crafted a non-fungible token (NFT), according to Cool Media PR and the NFT is called “Finding What Was Lost.” Osaka and her sister, Mari Osaka, also introduced a collection of six NFTs back in April. According to Mari, “Finding What Was Lost” is “Naomi’s favorite of the six” NFTs. Osaka’s NFT collection in April sold for close to $600K. A caption by the NFT artist Mari Osak...
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Major job postings from the crypto space in 2021

Some institutional players, online retailers, and media organizations have called for recruits with experience in crypto or blockchain. As crypto and blockchain firms grow and need to navigate regulatory and economic challenges for the industry, many have to hire outside to find the best workers. This year, major companies, financial institutions, and even government agencies announced they were searching for fresh blood to help them adapt to the ever-changing crypto space.  In February, major online retailer Amazon posted it was seeking a software development manager in Mexico to help launch “a new payment product.” The Digital and Emerging Payments project was aimed at allowing residents of Mexico to buy cryptocurrencies with cash so they could spend digital currency while shopping on Amazon. Though there are reports the online retailer intends to accept Bitcoin ( BTC ) payments by 2022, the company has not officially announced such plans. In July, Amazon said it was looki...
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Bitcoin price turns to test lower support levels as $50K stays out of reach

It's a frustratingly sideways market for Bitcoin bulls as August ends and September, which is typically a boring month for BTC price, looms. Bitcoin ( BTC ) continued to range below $50,000 on the last day of August as analysts demanded higher levels in order to continue the bull run. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView $51,000 remains the deal-breaker for BTC Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView  painted a dull picture for investors Tuesday as BTC/USD continued to trade in a four-day-old descending channel. Despite highly encouraging on-chain metrics and fundamentals, BTC price action disappointed the market throughout the weekend and beyond as a lack of momentum kept $50,000 at bay. Major resistance, now solidified on exchanges at $51,000 and above, remains firmly in place and analysts say the outlook remains muted until this level is turned to support. According to Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, "We clearly...
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3 reasons why a Bitcoin ETF approval will be a game changer for BTC price

A Bitcoin ETF approval will open the door for more conservative investors and this could have an irreversible impact on BTC price. Some financial experts believe that the price of cryptocurrencies is solely driven by investors' speculation, and in the past few years detractors have suggested that fixed income instruments like treasury bills have no relation to do with digital assets. This point of view is fairly accurate because, at this time, most investors from the asset class are not allowed to invest in Bitcoin ( BTC ) and altcoins. Public pension funds, retirement plans, fixed income and most non-leverage equity and multimarket mutual funds can only invest in certain asset classes. These limits arise from the fund class regulation, the fund's own bylaws, and the administrator's risk assessment. Not every fund can invest in Grayscale's GBTC Trust Unbeknownst to most, the mutual fund manager does not have absolute control of the investment decision. The fund adm...
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