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Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of the leading crypto exchange, has announced the launch of a new fund that will focus its action on Web3 and blockchain technologies. The fund, which will launch with $500 million in capital, will invest in companies that take cryptocurrencies and extend their use cases using Web3 and other technologies. Binance Labs to Invest $500M in Web3 and Blockchain Startups Binance Labs, the investment and VC organization of the cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a new round of investments seeking to diversify its investment portfolio. The capital arm of the company has announced it is launching an investment fund to focus on the blockchain and Web3 sector. The fund, which will have $500 million at its disposal, will seek to put money behind projects aiming to extend the functions of cryptocurrencies. The fund has the participation of DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital, amongst other firms and investors. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated that one of the objectives of this fund is to ease the connection of elements destined to accelerate the adoption of these new technologies. He declared: The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead Web3 across defi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, social, and more. Investment Strategy Binance Labs has been around since 2018 and has supported projects that have been relevant in the cryptocurrency and Gamefi industry such as Axie Infinity, Elrond, Dune Analytics, and The Sandbox. The division is specialized in the incubation of such companies, meaning that it funds startups in the field that have just started to operate and are seeking funding and counseling on their operation. So far, Binance Labs has hosted four seasons of its global incubation project, where more than 100 projects coming from 25 different countries have been incubated by the organization. Incubation will also be a big part of the new fund, with the exchange seeking to connect with these startups and help them to grow by providing them with funding and expertise in different areas. However, Binance also announced that it will invest in more mature projects including early-stage companies in areas such as defi, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, social, and crypto, and also in already established companies that would act as partners to Binance — extending its functions and reach by using its platform. What do you think about Binance Labs’ new $500 million Web3 and blockchain fund? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin was once again trading above $30,000, as markets were anticipating the release of May’s non-farm payrolls report. Whilst BTC was back in the green, ETH continued to trade lower, and as of writing is below $1,800. Bitcoin Following a drop in price on Thursday, BTC was back in the green on Friday, as traders were preparing for the release of the non-farm payrolls report. After adding 428,000 jobs in April, markets are expecting 325,000 jobs to be added to the U.S. economy in May. The speculation on what this number will mean for the market has helped BTC today, with prices rising to an intraday peak of $30,633.03. This comes less than 24-hours after some expected prices to move back towards support of $28,800, following a rise in bearish sentiment. However, this sentiment has somewhat eased, and today’s surge in price has helped lead the 10-day and 25-day moving averages to an upwards crossover. Despite this, it will be interesting to see if bitcoin will climb to any further highs today, due to the fact that Friday’s peak sits right at a ceiling of $30,600. Ethereum Although BTC was back in the green on Friday, the same could not be said for ETH, which moved even lower in today’s session. Following a move below $1,900 on Thursday, ETH/USD continued to slip, and fell to an intraday low of $1,789.66 earlier today. This is around 1.3% lower than yesterday’s peak of $1,845.31, and comes as prices continued to move close to a new support point of $1,715. Unlike bitcoin which rose in today’s session, ETH has yet to see an upwards cross of its two moving averages, with still a fair distance between them. Some now believe we might see a drop towards this floor $1,715, which was last hit on May 28, with bulls choosing to enter there, as the gap between the moving averages would have tightened. As of writing, ETH is trading at $1,795, however as we get closer to the NFP release, we will likely see some more price swings. Do you expect ETH to hit its support point this weekend? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

Calls have been issued in Armenia for the central bank to do its job and put the country’s crypto space in order. Both government regulators and representatives of the financial sector insist that the industry needs regulation to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes. Bankers and Tax Officials in Armenia Call for Crypto Regulations The State Revenue Committee (SRC), a regulatory body responsible for tax and customs services in Armenia, has turned to the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), urging the monetary authority to ensure the country’s crypto market is regulated. Speaking in the Armenian parliament, the head of the agency, Rustam Badasyan, elaborated: Without regulating this area, we allow shady transactions to be made and there have been examples of both tax evasion and money laundering using cryptocurrencies. The SRC official made the statement during parliamentary hearings devoted to the execution of last year’s state budget, the financial and banking news portal Armbanks.am reported on Wednesday. The committee works closely with the CBA and oversees the Customs Service and the Tax Service of the small South Caucasus nation. Badasyan also noted that authorities are now unable to take any action regarding transactions with digital assets. He pointed to a case involving the exchange of a large amount of fiat cash for cryptocurrency, in which an investigation failed to produce any results due to the lack of a legal framework for this sphere. His comments follow an earlier statement by the Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia Seyran Sargsyan, who said that the issues associated with the identification of cryptocurrency users and the transparency of crypto transactions need to be addressed. The banker emphasized that financial institutions in Armenia do not work with digital coins and do not provide related services. In March 2021, Armenia and the other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) failed to agree on a common approach towards the adoption of rules for the crypto economy in their jurisdictions, the crypto news outlet Forklog noted in a report. The calls for crypto regulation in Armenia come as ongoing discussions on the matter in Russia are delaying its regulatory framework. Do you expect Armenia to quickly adopt cryptocurrency regulations? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The legal representative of victims of the Onecoin bitcoin scam operation, Jonathan Levy, has accused the Bulgarian prosecutor of deliberately failing to take action against Onecoin. The lawyer said due to the prosecutor’s inaction, more victims are losing millions of dollars to the fraudsters. Prosecutor Refusing to Take Action Against Ruja Ignatova’s Mother A lawyer representing victims of the Onecoin bitcoin Ponzi scheme, Jonathan Levy, has suggested that the criminal scheme’s masterminds may be getting protection from the Bulgarian chief prosecutor, Ivan Geshev. In an open letter addressed to Yuliya Kovacheva, Bulgaria’s deputy minister of justice, the lawyer claimed Geshev’s inaction has allowed Onecoin to defraud new victims of millions of dollars. According to Levy, the prosecutor has failed to act against the key Onecoin mastermind Ruja Ignatova’s mother, despite the existence of arrest warrants that have been issued by Interpol, Europol, and German law enforcement. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Ignatova was placed on Europol’s most wanted list after the law enforcement group accused her of being the driving force and intellectual inventor of Onecoin. The agency has since offered a reward of more than $5,300 to anyone with information that may lead to Ignatova’s capture. Bulgarian Government Urged to Probe Chief Prosecutor Meanwhile, in a letter in which he expresses his dissatisfaction with Geshev’s conduct, Levy accuses the prosecutor of not only failing to take action against Veska Ignatova (Ruja’s mother), but also of failing to act against “other Onecoin mafia in Bulgaria that continue the Onecoin criminal operation on behalf of the fugitive Ruja Ignatova.” The letter also suggests that if Geshev were to take action, Onecoin masterminds would be forced to halt operations. He added: This nonfeasance by the Prosecutor’s Office is allowing the Sofia office of OneCoin to maintain operations throughout Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia and continue to receive millions of Euros in payments in cryptocurrency (BTC, ETH, USDT) on a monthly basis from new victims. Levy concludes his letter by urging the Bulgarian government to launch a probe into the prosecutor’s conduct. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, has issued a new internal providence that defines the guidelines it will follow in dealing with reports of suspicious activity related to fintech platforms. The document describes that the use of unauthorized platforms might constitute a suspicious activity, which could ostensibly lead to penalties of $15,000 for its customers. Sunacrip Publishes Internal Providence on Fintech Activities Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, is seeking to have better control of the movements that Venezuelans make using cryptocurrencies and other assets using fintech platforms. The organization issued a new providence that establishes the mechanism to deal with suspicious activities, including on fintech platforms. The providence, which is an internal document signed by Joselit Ramirez, head of the organization, seeks to include different Financial Action Task Force (FATF) directives in its working processes to detect money laundering and terrorism financing schemes. Venezuela is not part of the FATF currently due to the sanctions the country faces internationally. The internal providence states that using non-authorized exchanges might be considered an alert signal that can be reported to the national financial intelligence organization to be investigated and sanctioned. While the memo does not indicate which penalties can be applied for these violations, another related law does define sanctions for using crypto assets without authorization, establishing penalties of up to $15,000. Disrupting Crypto Adoption This new set of measures might affect users of some exchanges like Binance, which despite being very widely used by the crypto community in the country, lacks official registration and authorization with the institution. Users of the exchange might flee to other platforms to avoid these sanctions. Other popular exchanges in the country are not on the list of authorized exchanges either. In January, Sunacrip revoked the licenses of two exchanges and informed about the ones that were authorized by the organization, leaving some important names like Binance, out. At the time, Ramirez told users to refrain from using these unauthorized exchanges. But it’s not only cryptocurrency exchanges that are affected by this regulation. Fintech platforms and fiat exchanging services that are operating in the country would also be included in the scope of this providence. Raul Velásquez, a Venezuelan lawyer and cryptocurrency enthusiast, stated that the national financial intelligence unit does have the faculties to require information from crypto institutions as well as banks. “Fiat on and off-ramps are especially prone to be surveilled. However, this is a very costly and complicated task for the government institutions.” He concluded by pointing out it was very strange that the document was not published in the country’s official gazette, this being a mandatory procedure for all documents of this kind. What do you think about the new providence of Sunacrip that establishes guidelines regarding suspicious activities on fintech platforms? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

On Thursday, Warner Bros. announced it was collaborating with the non-fungible token (NFT) focused social media platform Nifty’s and at the end of June, the two firms will launch a story-driven NFT collection called “Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block?” The upcoming NFTs will tell a unique Looney Tunes storyline and will also celebrate the character Tweety’s 80th anniversary. Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block? A unique Looney Tunes-based blockchain program will leverage non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to tell a story, according to the American film and entertainment company Warner Bros. and the NFT-centric social media firm Nifty’s. Warner Bros. says that it is collaborating with Nifty’s again in order to release an NFT compilation called “Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block?” According to the announcement the NFTs will be used to create a “fresh narrative for the Looney Tunes franchise” via a storytelling experience. Looney Tunes is an animated short film series that was launched by Warner Bros. in 1930. The cartoons featured well known animated characters like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, Sylvester, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, and Tasmanian Devil. Warner Bros. details that the NFT program will allow Looney Tunes fans to “participate in fun activities and games as the story unfolds, both digital and ‘in real life,’ while earning rewards and benefits along the way.” Rewards and benefits include special access to Looney Tunes merchandise, access to virtual meet and greets, alongside never-before-been-seen content, and new NFT drops. Warner Bros. has been dropping a number of NFT projects in recent times including “Space Jam: A New Legacy” NFTs, Matrix-themed NFT avatars, and hybrid physical and digital DC Comics-themed NFT trading cards. The upcoming “Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block?” NFTs will also celebrate Tweety’s 80th anniversary and the popular yellow canary will be the first character featured in the NFT collection. “Looney Tunes is a pop culture sensation, representing the golden era of animation with 80+ years of storytelling and laughs,” Josh Hackbarth, the head of NFT commercial development at Warner Bros. detailed in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. “From the recent success of ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ to the classic cartoons from the 1940s and ’50s, these beloved characters continue to spark nostalgia and excitement across all generations.” The Warner Bros. executive added: Today, as digital engagement and technology evolves, the Looney Tunes collection will further expand the reach of the franchise, bringing fans together from around the world, offering unique experiences, community building, storytelling, and a whole new way for them to engage. And what better way to kick things off with Tweety as his 80th birthday celebrations continue. According to the Looney Tunes NFT Twitter account, the pre-sale begins June 20 and the public sale will start the following day. The NFT platform Nifty’s features the drop on the web portal which explains a snapshot will be taken on June 15, and the reveal will take place on June 23. Warner Bros. announcement notes that the NFTs will be minted on the Palm blockchain network. The Looney Tunes collection is the third collaboration with the NFT-centric social media platform Nifty’s. The NFT company Nifty’s worked with Warner Bros. on the Matrix NFTs and the Space Jam NFTs as well. The redeemable DC Comics-themed NFTs Warner Bros. released stemmed from a collaboration with the Ethereum-based layer two (L2) protocol Immutable X. What do you think about the upcoming Looney Tunes NFT collection? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Just weeks after launching its cryptocurrency trading platform, online brokerage Firstrade Securities has already begun expanding its available crypto listings. The most recent additions to the tradeable crypto coins on Firstrade are ENJ (Enjin), Maker (MKR), Bancor Network Token (BNT) and Compound (COMP). The latest 4 coins now make a total of 41 available cryptocurrencies on the Firstrade crypto platform. Enjin (ENJ) is a decentralized network on Ethereum which enables Developers to create and manage digital assets like NFTs, for game developments. The Maker (MKR) is a decentralized network, also on the Ethereum network, which primarily functions as a governance token for MakerDAO and as a fully functioning DeFi ecosystem. Compound (COMP) is similar, also a decentralized finance ecosystem on ETH, and Bancor Network Token (BNT), operates pools which bring Ethereum and other blockchains together. Why Trade Crypto on Firstrade? Traders and investors can get started trading fractional amounts of cryptocurrency on Firstrade. The minimum allowable cryptocurrency trade that can be executed on Firstrade crypto is $1. Customers can trade positions on coins through either limit or market orders, breaking down barriers to entry when trading cryptocurrencies such as custody and storage. Advanced Trading Suite for Firstrade Customers The addition of more cryptocurrencies is happening less than a month since the initial launch of the Firstrade crypto trading platform. Firstrade has a published commitment to providing its customers with the most advanced tools to seamlessly execute investment strategies. Cryptocurrencies run parallel with the most current and future technologies as instruments in digital ecosystems integrated into global payments and industry. Cryptocurrencies are now available through the Firstrade mobile app for iOS and Android. The web version will be available soon. press@firstrade.com This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Former Monero lead maintainer, Riccardo Spagni, faces over 370 counts of fraud, forgery, and uttering. The charges against the developer stem from fraudulent activities he allegedly committed when he was still employed by Cape Cookies. Fluffypony Pleads Not Guilty The so-called crypto mogul and former Monero lead developer, Riccardo Spagni, has been charged with 378 counts of fraud by the South African government, a report has said. The charges follow allegations that Spagni defrauded his former employer of more than $93,500 (R1,453,561). The crimes are alleged to have taken place between October 2009 and June 2011. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Spagni was arrested in Tennessee by U.S. law enforcement. The lead maintainer’s arrest stems from a warrant that was issued by a South African court when Spagni, who is also known as “Fluffypony,” failed to make a routine court appearance. Spagni, who has since pleaded not guilty to the charges, is accused of cheating his former South African employer, Cape Cookies, by inflating the amount of money that was due to the supplier. According to one report, the former Monero lead maintainer would then ensure that the funds would be transferred to a bank account that he controlled. Once the payment was made, Spagni would then transfer the actual amount that was due to the supplier and retain the balance. Spagni Waives Right to Extradition Hearing As per court documents filed in May 2022, the former developer is now facing 126 counts of fraud or contraventions of the VAT Act. He also faces “126 counts of forgery [and] 126 counts of uttering.” Attempts by Spagni’s lawyers to have the documents struck from record were reportedly rejected by a U.S. court, a report said. Meanwhile, the revelation of the South African government’s charges against Spagni came just a few days after the former Monero maintainer reportedly waived his right to an extradition hearing. Also, in an affidavit reportedly filed on May 25, Spagni is said to have asked the U.S. court to hasten his extradition to South Africa. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued a warning about investing in cryptocurrency. She said the crypto market is “extremely unpredictable” and “unstable,” noting that the market “reached record lows” last month. NY Attorney General Warns About Cryptocurrency New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a warning about investing in cryptocurrencies Thursday. The official Twitter account of the New York Attorney General’s Office tweeted: The cryptocurrency market is extremely unpredictable. Just last month, the market reached record lows and investors lost hundreds of billions. James added: “New Yorkers should be cautious and think twice before putting their hard-earned money into this unstable market.” Last year, James shut down cryptocurrency trading platform Coinseed. She also took action against two crypto lending platforms. The New York attorney general’s warning followed weeks of cryptocurrency sell-off. However, many people on Twitter disputed her claim that the crypto market reached record lows last month. At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at $30,505.32, up over 3% in the past seven days but down 21% over the past 30 days. Several countries have also warned about investing in cryptocurrencies following the crypto market sell-off. In addition, cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST) collapsed in May, losing almost all of their values. Following the collapse of the two cryptocurrencies, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, warned that a lot of crypto tokens will fail. This week, Singapore’s deputy prime minister advised retail investors to steer clear of cryptocurrencies. The governor of India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), also issued a warning about cryptocurrency following the LUNA and UST catastrophe. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned last week that bitcoin has no intrinsic value and is not a practical means of payment. What do you think about New York Attorney General Letitia James’ warning? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Venture capitalist Tim Draper has doubled down on his bitcoin price prediction of $250,000 by the end of this year or early next year. However, he explained why he expects the price of the cryptocurrency to soar past his estimate. Tim Draper’s Bitcoin Price Prediction Venture capitalist Tim Draper has doubled down on his $250K bitcoin price prediction. In a recent interview with Scott Melker, aka the Wolf of All Streets, Draper was asked if he still believes the price of bitcoin would reach $250K this year. He replied: Yeah, by the end of this year or early next year. Draper further explained why he believes the price of BTC will surpass his prediction. “One thing that will possibly likely happen — and I don’t know exactly when — is that the women will start using bitcoin,” he described. The venture capitalist noted that previously only one in 14 bitcoin holders were women. “Now, it’s something like one in six and I think it will eventually be even,” he said. A survey in March by crypto financial services company Blockfi found that nearly one in three American women said they plan to purchase cryptocurrencies in 2022. Furthermore, 60% of that third indicated that they intend to do so in the next three months. Draper explained: “Women control about 80% of retail spending and retailers haven’t yet realized that they can save 2%, and they usually run on very thin margins so that might be like double their profits. They can save 2% just by accepting bitcoin instead of taking a bank-issued credit card. And that can change everything.” Draper opined: All of a sudden. All the women will have bitcoin wallets and they will be buying things with bitcoin and you are going to see a bitcoin price that will just go right through my $250,000 estimate. On May 19, Draper told CNBC that despite the current economic condition, “I’m still a bull on bitcoin because it’s a great hedge against inflation.” He elaborated: “As the speculators leave, eventually it will diverge from the tech stocks.” What do you think about Tim Draper’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted an employee of non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Opensea in what the department called the “first-ever digital asset insider trading scheme.” DOJ Indicts Former Opensea Product Manager The DOJ announced Wednesday the unsealing of an indictment charging Nathaniel Chastain, a former product manager at Ozone Networks Inc. (aka Opensea), in its “first-ever digital asset insider trading scheme.” Chastain was arrested Wednesday morning in New York. The Justice Department explained that from June to September 2021, the defendant allegedly used Opensea’s confidential information about what NFTs were going to be featured on its homepage “to secretly purchase dozens of NFTs shortly before they were featured.” The DOJ added: After those NFTs were featured on Opensea, Chastain sold them at profits of two- to five-times his initial purchase price. As part of his employment, Chastain was responsible for selecting NFTs to be featured on Opensea’s homepage. “Opensea kept confidential the identity of featured NFTs until they appeared on its homepage,” the DOJ detailed. “After an NFT was featured on Opensea’s homepage, the price buyers were willing to pay for that NFT, and for other NFTs made by the same NFT creator, typically increased substantially.” Over the course of his fraudulent scheme, Chastain purchased about 45 NFTs on approximately 11 separate occasions, court documents show. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams opined: Today’s charges demonstrate the commitment of this Office to stamping out insider trading — whether it occurs on the stock market or the blockchain. The DOJ further detailed: “To conceal the fraud, Chastain conducted these purchases and sales using anonymous digital currency wallets and anonymous accounts on Opensea.” According to the Justice Department: Chastain, 31, of New York, New York is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. What do you think about this case? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. 3 June, 2022 — Sydney, Australia: Play-and-Earn game The Red Village has announced $6.5M in seed funding from some of the world’s leading blockchain investors, including Animoca Brands and GameFi Ventures Fund, to create an immersive dark-fantasy ecosystem targeted at traditional gamers. Animoca Brands is the global leader in gamification, blockchain, and metaverse projects, with a portfolio of more than 170 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralised projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse. These projects include The Sandbox, the world’s premier metaverse and Phantom Galaxies, the AAA-quality open-world science fiction shooter. Animoca Brands’ extensive network and industry expertise will help position The Red Village among the top blockchain projects globally. The Red Village comprises two game modes; Tournament mode (which is currently live and playable in beta and supported by a thriving community), and an expansion of the ecosystem known as The Red Village: Darklands, currently under development by Animoca Brands’ subsidiary Blowfish Studios. The new funding will be partially used to build the immersive, dark-fantasy expansion, which draws inspiration from traditional titles such as RuneScape, Diablo, Skyrim, Elden Ring, and The Witcher. “The true catalyst for the mass adoption of the blockchain will be the onboarding of traditional gamers into the metaverse through high quality, immersive ecosystems with strong lore, engaging gameplay, and lively community,” The Red Village co-founder Brendan Robb said. ”We have rarely seen a project that inspires traditional gamers to make the jump into blockchain gaming, and we believe the reason for that is the lack of great game experiences. We will offer a great game experience.” Yat Siu, the executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands said The Red Village partnership was a sign of things to come. “The world is waking up to the power of the metaverse, and projects are scrambling to make the transition from Web2 to Web3 as easy as possible for users,” he said. “Games like The Red Village provide an experience that conventional gamers are familiar with, and will lead the charge as players search for gaming that is both fun and also an opportunity to play-and-earn.” Other value-adding investors in the significantly oversubscribed seed round include Kucoin Ventures, JellyC, Sfermion, Polygon Studios, Metavest, SL2 Capital, Dweb3 Capital, Spark Capital, Fundamental Labs, OIG Capital, MEXC Global, IQ Protocol, Rendezvous Equity, Paribu Ventures, CGU, LucidBlue Ventures, DuckDAO, Pylon Labs, Prometeus Labs, Vendetta Capital, and several well-known angel investors. About The Red Village The Red Village is a success story of blockchain-gaming, with two sold out NFT sales in late 2021 and early 2022 generating more than 1,100 ETH, and trading more than 3,000 ETH on secondary. The Red Village Tournament mode is currently live in playable beta, and players have already won over $500,000USD. As the first dark-fantasy game on the blockchain, The Red Village is aiming to bridge the gap between traditional gamers and the metaverse through deep lore, immersive storylines and an active and engaged community. The Red Village: Darklands is under development by Animoca Brands’ Blowfish Studios. Media contact: Brendan Robb Email: brendan@theredvillage.com Discord: discord.gg/theredvillage Twitter: twitter.com/theredvillage Website: www.theredvillage.com Player’s Guide: https://the-red-village.gitbook.io/the-red-village/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theredvillage This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

According to trademark filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the American rapper Ye (commonly known as Kanye West) is getting into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. The record producer’s company Mascotte Holdings Inc. filed 17 trademarks, and parts of the trademark summaries describe digital collectibles like NFTs. Kanye West: ‘Do Not Ask Me to Do a F***ing NFT … Ask Me Later’ On Wednesday, trademark attorney and founder of Gerben Intellectual Property, Josh Gerben, tweeted about rapper and musician Ye and his company Mascotte Holdings filing new trademarks. Gerben said: “Kanye West has filed 17 new trademark applications around his YEEZUS name. The filings indicate an intent to launch YEEZUS-branded amusement parks, NFTs, toys, and more.” Interestingly, West criticized the non-fungible token (NFT) industry in February and is quoted as saying he’s only focused on creating real-world products. “My focus is on building real products in the real world. Real food. Real clothes. Real shelter,” West said at the time on Instagram. “Do not ask me to do a f***ing NFT.” However, the Instagram post that shares West’s thoughts on NFTs also said “Ask me later.” West is no stranger to the world of cryptocurrencies and he once said bitcoin advocates “really have a perspective on what the true liberation of America and humanity will be.” At that time in 2020, West was also running as a candidate for the president of the United States during the election. The trademark filing applications with the USPTO were filed on May 27, 2022, according to the trademark summary. West’s Mascotte Holdings joins a slew of well-known brands filing NFT and metaverse-related trademarks. Companies like New Balance, Crocs, Urban Outfitters, Walmart, Ralph Lauren, and Abercrombie & Fitch have also filed USPTO trademarks tied to digital collectibles and blockchain technology. Moreover, a plethora of other companies such as Samsung, Gap, Adidas, Nike, Hennessy, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Cola have already released NFT and metaverse products. What do you think about the American rapper Ye and his company Mascotte Holdings filing NFT trademarks with the USPTO? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The websites of several ministries of Belarus have allegedly been taken down in a new attack, part of the cyberwar Anonymous is waging to help Ukraine. The hacking group declared it’s targeting the Belarusian government for its complicity in the Russian invasion of the neighboring country. Several Government Sites in Belarus Taken Offline by Anonymous The websites of the Belarusian ministries of economy, education, and justice, as well as the online platform of the country’s National Center for Legal Information, have been hit by Anonymous, a Twitter account associated with the decentralized hacktivist collective announced. According to a post recently published by Anonymous TV (@YourAnonTV), the attack is in response to the involvement of Belarus in support of Russia’s ongoing military assault on Ukraine. A few days ago, the authors of the tweet stated that the biggest government websites of Belarus were down. Some of them have already been restored. JUST IN: Massive attack carried by #Anonymous against the Belarusian government for their complicity in the #Ukraine️ invasion. All their biggest government websites are #Offline. #OpRussia #OpBelarus #FreeUkraine pic.twitter.com/b358jRwPu2 — Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) May 29, 2022 Belarus has not sent its own forces to Ukraine but has allowed its closest ally, Russia, to use its territory and infrastructure for what Moscow calls a “special military operation” against the government in Kyiv. While this is the first time Belarusian government websites have been targeted, Anonymous has so far carried out numerous attacks against Russian online resources. Soon after the Russian army crossed the Ukrainian borders in late February, the hacking group declared a cyberwar on Russia, vowing to disrupt the country’s internet space. It has since hit the websites of the Kremlin, the State Duma, and the Ministry of Defense, attacked Russian TV channels, and released millions of leaked emails. In March, the hacktivist collective announced it had published 28GB of documents belonging to the Central Bank of Russia, including some of its “secret agreements.” In early May, the Anonymous-affiliated hacking group Network Battalion 65 (NB65) said it had targeted the payment processor Qiwi. Later that month, Russia’s largest banking institution, Sberbank, also suffered a blow. Do you expect Anonymous to continue to hit Russian and Belarusian targets? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. There are more than 300 crypto-exchanges nowadays, almost all of them offer the same mediocre features that are identical to the leading exchanges such as Binance. MemeBank is not a lazy copy of the successors but an ambitious project that aims to drive revolutionary changes. According to its official announcement, MemeBank($MBK) will soon be listed at Pancakeswap on June 7th, 2022. The development team defines the project as a centralized exchange that solely focuses on the listing and trading of memecoins, tokens with high growth potential and strong appeals among young adults. The famous resemblance is Dogecoin, which was a lazy copy of Bitcoin originally designed to be used for paying restaurant tips. The price of the token skyrocketed by 500x in only two years. However, behind the success of Dogecoin are many memecoins that got left behind. On average, there are 20-30 new blockchain project launches per day and most of them will die out because of the lack of follower-base and early marketing. To help increase projects’ survivabilities, MemeBank introduces a vote-to-list solution that effectively facilitates public acceptance of projects. MemeBank is a CEX that charges no listing fees, instead, projects only need to raise a sufficient amount of upvotes in order to be listed. As Alec Rubal, one of the MemeBank co-founders pointed out, “An exchange can’t make money when its users can’t profit from it.” MemeBank is not only startup-friendly but starter-friendly. The team since the beginning has aligned their interests closely with those of the users. Its tokenomics demonstrates a set of Web3 traits including the management of trading fees. Most CEXs do not list memecoins and startup projects, whereas DEXs usually charge a higher trading fee. MemeBank integrates the advantages of both into one, a CEX that offers memecoin trading while charging considerably lower trading fees. Not only that, the exchange circulates 100% of the trading fee back to the community to pay dividends to $MBK holders as well as rewarding users who make referrals. The tokenomics in itself indicates a sustainable growth in the user-base of MemeBank. What is even more interesting is the upcoming features of MemeBank which have yet to be seen in the industry. The development of MemeBank revealed in an earlier statement that the project will also focus on the gamification and socialization of crypto-trading, which seems like a reverse-engineering of GameFi. First, MemeBank introduces a PVP competition where two users can bet on their monthly rate of return or the future market price of a particular token, both users need to submit their betting amount to the exchange prior to the competition. When the competition is over, MemeBank will decide the winner and distribute the reward accordingly. A leaderboard will be put up to rank users based on their PVP win-rate. Users who have higher win-rate are granted a series of privileges including official NFTs and highlighted name-tag. MemeBank is also going to introduce the tribal system which works like a spontaneously organized mutual fund. Every user at MemeBank can create their own tribes, and others can pay a monthly subscription fee that goes to the tribal treasury to join the tribe. The tribe founder serves as a portfolio manager who invests the tribal treasury into different projects. The tribes will also be ranked on a leaderboard based on their net annualized return and the size of tribal treasury. Users can also see how much the tribal founder has put into the fund to grasp if there is a strong interest alignment. Regarding the socialization part, every project listed on MemeBank has a separate live-chat where users can share memes, thoughts and financial analysis of the project. To make sure that the best investors are the loudest, users who have higher win-rate will be given prioritized speaking privilege as well as message pinning. The project leads can also update their project development and news at the live-chat. With this feature available, MemeBank will become a one-stop platform that satisfies the needs of both socializing and investing. Among all the blockchain projects we see, only those whose dev team puts brain-power and sweat into it can finally succeed, and MemeBank with such level of innovation will surely become the next rising star of crypto-exchanges after Binance. Media Contact Company: MemeBank Contact: Alec Rubal E-mail: support@memebank.com Website: www.memebank.com Source: MemeBank This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Over two weeks after the Terra LUNA and UST fallout, a whistleblower dubbed “Fatman” published an alleged chat log between the project’s co-founder Do Kwon, Terra validators, and infrastructure providers from the Terra blockchain community. If the chat log is legitimate, Fatman claims the document proves over 50 people “knew about the [network] halt before it happened.” The “Terra Rebirth League” Discussion On June 1, 2022, a whistleblower called “Fatman” (@fatmanterra) published a chat log that allegedly shows a discussion about Terra’s blockchain halt before it happened. Bitcoin.com News has reported on Fatman before, as the Twitter account has accused Terraform Labs (TFL) and Do Kwon of a number of sketchy acts. On Wednesday, Fatman explained that an anonymous source provided the whistleblower with a document that shows a number of Terra community members and Do Kwon discussing a chain halt. An anonymous source has provided me with the missing pages from the internal validator chat. The link is in the next tweet. Make no mistake – a chain halt was necessary – but it would be interesting to see if anyone in here maps to the big LUNA buys that happened right before. — FatMan (@FatManTerra) June 1, 2022 Bitcoin.com News reported on the Terra blockchain stopping block production on May 12, 2022. The network was halted at a block height of 7,603,700. The chat conversation was called “Terra Rebirth League” and the start of the discussion shows Terra validators asking for opinions from TFL. Throughout the entire chat, a number of people are added to the conversation by the active chatroom participants. In the conversation, Terra co-founder Do Kwon allegedly says: “I think a halt makes sense. And validators can discuss how to restart the network.” One of the reasons noted for halting the chain was because the network’s native token LUNA was being minted at an exponential rate. For instance, on April 16, 2022, there was a circulating supply of 359,024,672 LUNA, according to data saved by archive.org. The total supply that day was 742,371,433 LUNA and a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000. However, by May 12, 2022, archived data shows the supply jumped to 18,511,882,771 LUNA with a total supply of 19,407,034,276. Moreover, the maximum supply on coingecko.com that day displayed an infinity symbol. The “Terra Rebirth League” discussion shows that participants are well aware of LUNA being minted into infinity. One individual asks if all the validators were present during the chain halt discussion. “So we agree to halt the chain?” one individual asks. “[Are] all the validators representatives here?” the person continued. One validator said he already stopped his node and someone scolded him by saying: “This is not how its done. Please restart it.” While more validator representatives were added to the discussion there’s a lot of confusion and arguing happening. “Can someone tldr me what the advantage of halting the chain is?” a person in the chat room asked. “Hello everyone, what are we doing here?” another individual asked. Confusion Grips Terra Validators and Active Network Participants TFL co-founder Do Kwon is not very active during the conversation but is seen adding specific Terra community members to the chat room and making some comments here and there. Some individuals had shown concern for the Terra community. “I think halting makes sense,” Do Kwon says at the 11:00 a.m. section of the chat log. At some point, someone says they need to get TFL’s opinion and at 11:05 a.m. an individual said: “TFL is not making any statements rn. They want to minimize all further liability.” In addition, when an individual asked about all validator representatives needing to be present, one person discloses that only the top five validators are needed to halt the chain. One participant writes: We need the top five to halt. Rest doesn’t matter really. The individual also left a screenshot of the top five validators at the time Terra blockchain participants were scrambling for escape routes. According to one person in the chat log, all the top five validators were present during the “Terra Rebirth League” discussion. During the conversation, people discussed what block height would be the best time to stop block production. The ostensible chat log published by Fatman shows that Do Kwon is a little more active by trying to figure out what time the chain will halt, and whether or not a patch will be ready. At the 11:27 a.m. mark, Kwon writes: Has the chain halted? When he asked the question, the chain had not yet stopped and was still active according to some of the discussion participants. When asked why the chain was being halted, Kwon ostensibly details that the “cost to attack the network stake is too low.” Kwon is also being asked to merge some code into the Terra codebase at the 11:40 a.m. mark. One person asks if blockchain snapshots are being taken as well. Moreover, Bitcoin.com News reported on May 31, how the Terra development team recently explained some Terra token holders “received less LUNA from the airdrop than expected.” According to a verified TFL insider, the entire core team working on Anchor, including the creators of the Anchor whitepaper, quit TFL before Anchor's release because of Do's adamant decision to force an unsustainable 20% interest rate that they knew may result in a collapse. — FatMan (@FatManTerra) June 2, 2022 Six Trillion, Nine Hundred and Seven Billion Luna Classic Tokens Today, the new LUNA 2.0 tokens are being swapped on exchanges and the old coin is now called luna classic (LUNC). At the time of writing, LUNC tokens are well below a U.S. penny at $0.00009820 per unit. However, the coin itself still has a $794 million market valuation and $271 million in 24-hour global trade volume. However, the circulating supply of LUNC is unknown and the total supply is a whopping 6,907,072,876,045. That means since April 16, 2022, LUNC’s total supply expanded 930,306% in roughly 45 days. Even after the chain was halted on May 12, the total supply of LUNC grew by 35,490%. What do you think about the alleged “Terra Rebirth League” chat log discussion? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

ATOM fell towards a three-week low on Thursday, as crypto markets were victim to yet another red wave. Overall, markets are down nearly 5% as of writing, with GRT dropping by almost 10% lower on the day. Cosmos (ATOM) ATOM dropped towards a three-week low during Thursday’s session, as global crypto markets were nearly 5% lower. Following a peak of $10.46 on hump-day, ATOM/USD slipped to an intraday low of $9.23 earlier in today’s session. This move sees ATOM back to its long-term support level of $9.30, which has mainly been holding firm since May 12. However, with prices currently under a significant amount of descending pressure, this floor could be tested in upcoming days. An early test will be how the 14-day RSI will react in the next few days, as price strength currently hovers marginally above a floor of 34. Should this level give way, then bears will likely continue to pressure prices, pushing them to further lows in the process. The Graph (GRT) Another token to fall by over 10% on Thursday was GRT, which dropped for a second straight session. Despite going on a run of four sessions in the green, prices of GRT have dropped in the last two days, with today’s move taking price close to its floor. GRT/USD hit an intraday low of $0.1414 today, which is over 10% lower than Wednesday’s peak of $0.164. As a result of today’s decline, prices are now nearing the support level of $0.1320, which hasn’t been hit since May 27. This comes as the momentum of the moving averages continues to decline, however this decline has started to slow, with the 10-day average trending sideways. Should it continue on its current trajectory, it will cross the downward 25-day average, which could be an ideal setup for price reversal. Will GRT hit its $0.1320 before the end of this trading week ? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

During the last 30 days, the price of bitcoin has lost more than 22% against the U.S. dollar but during that time, Bitcoin’s hashrate has remained above 200 exahash per second (EH/s). While 16 known mining pools mined the leading crypto asset during the last month, the top five mining pools retained 71.4% of the global hashrate. Out of 16 Pools, the Top Five Acquired Most of the Bitcoin Blocks Found Last Month The month of May is over and during the last 30 days 4,276 bitcoin (BTC) block rewards were found. Out of the 4,276 block rewards found, 26,725 freshly minted bitcoins were born into the system. While the network’s hashrate has been above the 200 EH/s zone, on May 2, 2022, Bitcoin’s hashrate hit an all-time high at block height 734,577. On that day it reached 275.01 EH/s, according to coinwarz.com data. Statistics show that 16 known bitcoin mining pools mined BTC during the past 30 days and stealth miners, otherwise known as “unknown,” captured roughly 1.03% of the hashrate during the last month. Unknown miners mined approximately 44 block rewards out of the 4,276 found, scoring 275 freshly minted bitcoin. Data further shows that the top five bitcoin (BTC) mining pools captured 71.4% of the global hashrate last month. Foundry USA scored the most block rewards last month, as the pool represented 21.02% of the global hashrate. Foundry obtained 899 BTC block rewards out of the 4,276 rewards and was able to acquire 5,618.75 newly minted bitcoins. Foundry is followed by Antpool (14.27%), F2pool (14.27%), Binance Pool (10.87%), and Poolin (10.85%) in terms of the top five bitcoin mining pools by hashrate size. All five of the aforementioned mining pools make up close to three-quarters of the global hashrate recorded last month. A few factors are approaching that could change the hashrate distribution and one of them is BTC’s price. The market cycle seems to be in a bear mode and the value of BTC dropping lower could shake out smaller mining pools. In 700 days the halving is taking place as well, and that means mined blocks will pay out 3.125 coins per block instead of today’s 6.25 BTC per block rate. Lastly, during the month of July, the bitcoin mining rig manufacturers Bitmain and Microbt will release two new models producing between 126 terahash per second (TH/s) and 140 TH/s. The two new models produce a higher hashrate per second than most of today’s machines, and pools with access to them will benefit. What do you think about Bitcoin’s current hashrate distribution? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Despite a strong start to the week, bitcoin fell below $30,000 on Thursday, as crypto bears returned to action. Following an uncertain day of trading yesterday, bearish momentum has taken charge of markets, with ETH also in the red. Bitcoin Following a strong start to the month, BTC fell lower, dropping below $30,000 on the second day of June. Bitcoin rallied to a nearly three-week high earlier this week, however on Thursday fell to an intraday low of $29,501.59. This drop comes less than 24 hours after BTC/USD hit a high of $31,848.82. However, as we approach tomorrow’s NFP report, market uncertainty seems to have pushed prices lower. Today’s move sees prices fall below the recent resistance level of $30,500, and they now look set to move towards a floor of $28,600. Bulls have so far resisted any further declines, with the $29,500 point acting as interim support, however should bearish pressure intensify, we will likely see this decline extended. A reason for the interim support is likely a result of the 14-day RSI holding firm at a support of its own, at 44. Ethereum After recent highs of its own, ETH dropped below $2,000 on Wednesday, however this decline has only worsened as the week has progressed. ETH/USD dropped below $1,800 on Thursday, hitting an intraday low of $1,776.05 in the process. Similar to bitcoin, ETH has broken below a ceiling as prices plunged, with support of $1,715 now a likely target for bears in the market. As can be seen from the chart, moving averages of 10-days and 25-days have moved closer in proximity, which despite today’s selloff is still a positive sign for bulls. This is due to the fact that the likelihood of an upward cross has once again increased, meaning we could be set for a huge bounce in price. The 14-day RSI here is also at a floor, and should this hold, bullish hopes may not be entirely lost for a strong month in June. Could a strong NFP report send crypto prices higher? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

The bill “On Digital Currency,” meant to comprehensively regulate crypto transactions in Russia, will be a “tough” law, according to the head of the State Duma Financial Market Committee. The legislation is yet to be finalized and will not be reviewed by lawmakers in the near future, Anatoly Aksakov revealed in an interview, despite Bank of Russia’s decision to drop its opposition to crypto payments, at least when they facilitate Russia’s foreign trade amid sanctions. Adoption of Russian Law on Cryptocurrencies Delayed by Ongoing Debate Over Rules Discussions about the regulation of the Russian crypto market continue in the government and it’s not worth expecting that the draft law “On Digital Currency” will be filed with the State Duma soon, the Chairman of the Financial Market Committee at the lower house of Russian parliament, Anatoly Aksakov, told Parlamentskaya Gazeta this week. Russian officials are currently debating over the bill’s third revision and the talks are heated, Aksakov unveiled. “I don’t think that the document will appear in the State Duma in the near future. The situation in the crypto market does not add optimism either — bitcoin has collapsed a lot against the backdrop of sanctions decisions,” the high-ranking deputy elaborated, despite earlier statements the legislation should be adopted during the house’s spring session. The lawmaker noted that the U.S. State Department has started clamping down on the crypto space, with the presumption that bitcoin is being used to circumvent sanctions against Russia. “There are suspicions that the American intelligence services largely control this market, so there is no desire to fall under their invisible or visible eye when carrying out financial transactions,” Aksakov added. Bank of Russia Not Opposed to International Crypto Payments The bill “On Digital Currency,” which was initially submitted to the federal government by the Russian finance ministry in February, is likely to be adopted in its stricter version, Aksakov further unveiled. That includes the establishment of a centralized platform for exchange, settlements, and other operations with digital currencies, he detailed. Russian officials have been working on the legislation in the past few months with most institutions supporting the regulatory approach proposed by the Ministry of Finance, which favors legalization under strict government control of crypto-related activities such as trading and mining, while prohibiting the use of bitcoin and the like in payments. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has found itself in isolation with its push for a blanket ban, including on the issuance and exchange of cryptocurrencies. However, the monetary authority recently softened its position a little, backing a proposal to employ digital coins for international settlements while maintaining that crypto assets bring risks for the country’s financial system. Quoted by the Kommersant business daily, the CBR’s First Deputy Chairman Ksenia Yudaeva said during a press conference that the regulator does not oppose the use of cryptocurrencies “in international transactions and the international financial infrastructure.” A respective provision, allowing crypto payments in foreign trade, has been added to the Minfin’s draft law. Do you expect Russia to adopt its new law “On Digital Currency” this year? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

India is the global leader in non-fungible token (NFT) gaming, while the number of play-to-earn (P2E) players in developed countries like the U.S. and France is significantly lower than in much of the rest of the world, the latest data from Finder has shown. More People Plan to Play in the Future According to Finder’s latest NFT gaming statistics, India is the country with the highest number of respondents (34%) that have played a P2E game. Hong Kong is the next highest country with 29%, while the United Arab Emirates is third with 27%. While the popularity of P2E games appears to be growing, data from Finder seemingly show a distinction in the level of interest between respondents from Western countries and the rest of the world. To illustrate, in the United States, where nearly 14% of the respondents said they know what P2E is, only 9.4% played at least one game. Only 4.3% of respondents in Sweden admitted to having played. However, in the study wherein Finder sought to determine the NFT gaming habits of internet users in 26 countries, the research firm said it found that more respondents in the U.S. plan to play in the future. Remarking on the scale of the expected growth in the number of U.S. residents that plan to play P2E games in the future, Finder said: That figure is expected to increase 1.8 times by the end of 2022, with the percentage of people in the US expected to hit 16.5%. In France, where only 6% of the respondents have played a P2E game, the figure is expected to rise to 15%. The other big movers are Peru (going from 13% to 29%) and Spain (8% to 17%). Nigeria Leads Africa Meanwhile, the survey also found respondents under the age of 35 to be leading the way in NFT gaming. India again leads in this category with 41.7% while Germany, Sweden, and France all had less than 10%. In Africa, only respondents from two countries — namely Nigeria and South Africa — took part in the study. In Nigeria, 16% of the respondents said they played a P2E game and a further 16.9% plan to do so in the future. In South Africa, about 10.2% said they played an NFT game while 10.6% plan to do the same in the future. What are your thoughts on this story? Let us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has partnered with major banks and financial services companies to explore the uses of asset tokenization and decentralized finance (defi). DBS Bank and JPMorgan will pilot the first project. Project Guardian Launched The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, announced Tuesday that it has partnered with the financial services industry to launch Project Guardian. The central bank described Project Guardian as “a collaborative initiative with the financial industry that seeks to explore the economic potential and value-adding use cases of asset tokenization” and decentralized finance (defi). Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and coordinating minister for economic policies, announced the commencement of Project Guardian Tuesday at the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit. “The first industry pilot under Project Guardian will explore potential defi applications in wholesale funding markets,” the MAS detailed, adding: The pilot, led by DBS Bank Ltd., JP Morgan, and Marketnode, involves the creation of a permissioned liquidity pool comprising tokenized bonds and deposits. “The pilot aims to carry out secured borrowing and lending on a public blockchain-based network through execution of smart contracts,” the MAS continued. Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the central bank, explained that the MAS is “closely monitoring innovations and growth in the digital asset ecosystem and working through the potential opportunities and risks that come with new technologies — to consumers, investors, and the financial system at large.” He noted: “The learnings from Project Guardian will serve to inform policy markets on the regulatory guardrails that are needed to harness the benefits of defi while mitigating its risks.” Han Kwee Juan, head of group planning and strategy at DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, commented: DBS is pleased to lead the charge to explore potential digital assets and use of defi concepts that will enhance efficiency and scalability in trading, clearing, and settlement; while managing risks to financial stability and integrity. What do you think about this initiative? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Colombian soccer superstar James David Rodríguez Rubio has announced his partnership with ZKSpace to launch the James Rodríguez Commemorative Edition NFTs, Zurda (left foot in Spanish), with the presale scheduled for June 15th, 2022. The 1,500 unique pieces are currently the only digital art collections available featuring key highlights from his illustrious career spanning three continents and celebrating Rodríguez’s outstanding contribution to the game. Rodríguez is amongst the first of many prominent athletes and celebrities to get involved in the digital art space, and his strategic partnership agreement with ZKSpace, the team behind ZKSea, is a testament to the quality of the layer 2 NFT minting platform and marketplace. Instead of merely turning a digital photo into NFTs, Zurda NFTs are based on exquisite artwork digitally hand-painted by professional artists. The NFT collection will be made up of 4 different rarities comprising 1 Platinum, 10 Gold, 400 Silver, and 1,089 Bronze, with each piece entitling the owner to a commemorative moment in Rodríguez’s career, and top-ranking pieces to be given signed memorabilia, whitelist spots for future NFTs issued on ZKSea, stake-to-earn bonuses, and even the chance to have a video call with James Rodríguez himself. James Rodríguez is one of the greatest Colombian attacking midfielders of all time. Having a magical left foot and being able to play anywhere behind the front line, Mr. Rodríguez is regarded as one of the most creative players in the game. His list of honors includes two Champions Leagues, two FIFA Club World Cups, and a World Cup Golden Boot. Among the moments captured for the NFTs are his celebrations playing for the Colombian National Team at the 2014 Fifa World Cup against Uraguay, Greece, Japan, and the Ivory Coast and during the 2016 American Cup. Also featured are some close-up shots of his stylish leg tattoos and of legendary goal celebrations such as when playing for Argentina’s Banfield against Uruguay in 2010, and a successful free-kick for Real Madrid in 2015. According to the official announcement by ZKSpace, users on the whitelist are able to mint one of the Silver and Bronze James Rodríguez mystery box NFTs from June 15th at a price of 0.12 ETH, 20% lower than that of the public sale. The public sale starts after the presale, and the prices begin at 0.15 ETH for Silver and Bronze, 0.6 ETH for Gold, and 1 ETH for Platinum. The Gold and Platinum NFTs will be sold in the form of an auction. Regarding the launch of his NFT collection, James Rodríguez said, “I am so blessed to be supported by such a wonderful network of fans, and I hope this will be an opportunity for many of them to be a part of my career in the future. For me, this launch has been a wonderful opportunity to look back at all my past achievements and celebrate this incredible journey that soccer has taken me on. I am truly excited to be able to share this with my fans from all around the world.” In releasing an NFT collection, James Rodríguez joins a growing number of top athletes and sporting organizations utilizing the emerging technology to better connect with and reward fans. Since market-leader NBA Top Shot began popularizing the digital trading card model, similar variations such as Vayner Sports Pass, Topps, and teams partnering with Chiliz have had great success in building communities around their sport-related digital assets. The James Rodríguez Commemorative Edition NFT collection will be an opportunity for Rodríguez’s nearly 70 million social media followers to get involved and be a part of an amazing fan community. NFTs are an integral part of the incoming web 3.0 revolution and will serve as virtual identity badges, displaying to the world what an individual likes and cares about. Due to their scarcity, many NFT collections are often also revered as membership passes to exclusive members-only clubs, building a community around common interests and passions. NFTs are also an opportunity for professional sporting stars and KoLs to better connect with their hardcore fans by raising the barrier to entry and creating a place where only the truly dedicated can connect. Alongside the ZKSwap AMM DEX and ZKSquare, a low-cost Layer 2 payment protocol, ZKSea is part of ZKSpace, a full-featured Layer 2 protocol leveraging ZK-Rollups technology to provide users with an ultra-fast, inexpensive, and secure way to transact on Layer 2. ZKSea is also the first ZK-Rollups-based platform supporting Layer 1 to Layer 2 NFT mutual transferring. Having recently introduced its mobile application on both Android and iOS, ZKSpace is committed to lowering the barrier to entry for new users looking to get involved in the blockchain industry and explore the future of Web 3.0. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

For years, traditional financial institutions in different parts of the world have been attempting to narrow the financial exclusion gap by extending their services to the unbanked population. Yet for many reasons, these institutions still cannot avail their products and services to everyone that needs them. Regulatory Hurdles While there are several reasons cited for why banks are still not able to do this, their failure to serve this unbanked population has, on the other hand, led to the meteoric rise of fintech startups. Instead of relying on metrics often used by traditional banks when making a decision on whether to open a new branch or not, fintech startups such as Eversend are often primed to serve even those without regular incomes. For individuals like Stone Atwine, a veteran banker, the failures of large financial institutions have created opportunities. In addition to explaining why he thinks traditional banks have failed to close the financial exclusion gap, Atwine (co-founder of Eversend) also shared his sentiments on crypto, stablecoins, and Web3 with Bitcoin.com News. Below are Atwine’s responses to questions sent to him via email. Bitcoin.com News (BCN): You have worked for several conventional financial institutions and in different capacities. What can you say about their efforts to extend financial services to the unbanked? Do you see them ever succeeding at this, seeing that it has been several years since they started talking about financial exclusion? Stone Atwine (SA): Traditional banking systems are not optimized for serving people without massive incomes. Branch networks, compliance systems, and limited efficiency do not allow them to serve the unbanked. The economics do not make sense for a traditional bank if they cannot earn a minimum amount of money from customers. BCN: In your opinion, why are fintech startups doing a better job of bringing financial services to the excluded? SA: Yes. Promising fintech startups can serve the excluded at a lower cost. But not at the bottom of the pyramid. Startups like Eversend try to help the customer increase their revenue. This is very attractive. BCN: Since leaving the employment of banks, you now run a digital-only banking alternative for Africa and African diaspora payments platforms. Can you tell our readers about this digital-only banking alternative? SA: Eversend is the all-in-one payments platform offering mobile-based cross-border P2P payments, virtual cards, stock trading, crypto, and asset-backed credit, focusing on Africa. In addition, Eversend is building crypto-fiat B2B and API-based payments services, including collections, payouts, and currency exchange. BCN: What are some of the challenges facing fintech startups such as yours? SA: The main challenge is regulatory compliance. African countries have multiple regulatory regimes, which means different laws and regulations. BCN: What do you think is the best use case for the blockchain in Africa and why? SA: There are many great use cases, but the leading one for me is not the most cutting edge like web3 and NFTs but solving a massive problem of cross-border business payments using stablecoins. BCN: The Central African Republic recently became the second country after El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender. As expected, the decision has divided opinion. Some have argued that it is not possible for a developing country with limited telecommunications infrastructure like the CAR to adopt bitcoin. Others have said the decision shows cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can act as an alternative reserve currency. What is your reaction to these views and sentiments? SA: It may be a great move by the CAR to attract wealth and human capital. Builders like building for supportive regulatory environments. It won’t be surprising to see a few companies moving in the build around bitcoin and the lightning network. But the criticism of limited electricity and internet access is legitimate as Bitcoin would not necessarily solve problems for the everyday person if access is restricted. That should not stop the CAR or any other country from being a fast and first mover in this space. There are always advantages to this. BCN: Others have suggested that adopting stablecoins makes more sense than volatile bitcoin. However, the recent crash of the UST stablecoin appears to have upended this argument too. What is your view on this? SA: Stablecoins need to be auditable and fully backed by fiat currency so that we don’t experience value loss when there’s a bank run. I do not support the idea of an algorithmic stablecoin today. UST is an example of what could happen. BCN: Are central bank digital currencies the answer since cryptocurrencies and now stablecoins all seem to have challenges maintaining a stable value? SA: Central bank digital currencies are an excellent idea for central banks and governments looking to have total control over their citizens. Still, they are not recommendable for the privacy of the said citizens. If I hand you a fiat note, the government will not know about that transaction. But with CBDCs, every single movement of value is recorded. Most people do not have anything to hide, but in my opinion, that would be a massive invasion of privacy. Fully-backed stablecoins make a lot of sense. What are your thoughts about this interview? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Soros Fund Management’s chief executive and chief investment officer, Dawn Fitzpatrick, says cryptocurrency is here to stay and it’s already gone mainstream. She also believes that a recession is inevitable Soros Fund’s CEO: Crypto Is Here to Stay Dawn Fitzpatrick, chief executive and chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, discussed cryptocurrency and the U.S. economy in an interview with David Rubenstein, aired Tuesday on Bloomberg. Soros Fund Management was founded in 1970 by George Soros and his former business partner Jim Rogers. Fitzpatrick was asked about her view on crypto. Referencing Fidelity’s announcement to allow bitcoin investments in 401(k) retirement accounts, she replied: It’s here to stay. I think it’s gone mainstream. The executive added: “The one caveat I would say is … climate impact is going to become increasingly focused so, in that context, I think ethereum is likely to gain some more traction over bitcoin.” She also noted, “the blockchain technology is going to have some great applications.” Fitzpatrick on the U.S. Economy and Recession The Soros Fund Management chief shared her thoughts on reports that the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter of this year. “When you look at that GDP number, I think the really important point is the reason it shrank is because of net imports, which were negative, which means we are importing a lot of goods from abroad. And that’s because consumer and corporate demand is robust. So I think there’s a silver lining in the reading of that GDP number,” she explained. Replying to a question about whether she thinks a recession is coming, Fitzpatrick said: There’s a lot of discussion about a looming recession and the bottom line is a recession is inevitable. It’s a matter of when. Regarding high inflation and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, the Soros Fund’s executive said: “There is no doubt interest rates are going to go higher and the Fed is going to move very very quickly. That said, interest rates net of inflation are still negative, so monetary policy is still really easy.” She concluded: “I don’t think we’ll avoid a recession. I just think it will be further out than people expect.” What do you think about the comments by Soros Fund’s CEO? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article