Autor Cointelegraph By Brian Quarmby

Nifty News: Snoop Dogg and Gary V have $95M in NFTs, Dolly Parton’s Dollyverse and more…

According to data from DappRadar, the NFT portfolios belonging to Iconic rapper Snoop Dogg and popular entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck are worth a combined $95 million. Vaynerchuck’s wallet holds the lion’s share of the value with $81.89 million at the time of writing. His holdings include multiple NFTs from top collections such as CryptoPunks (he owns a whopping 60 in total), the Bored Ape Yacht Club and World of Women. Snoop Dogg’s is an avid NFT collector and his wallet also holds multiple CryptoPunks, Meebits and Fidenza NFTs, with his most expensive NFT CryptoPunk #3831 worth $2.57 million at current prices. The wallets were highlighted as part of a blog post from DappRadar which compiled a list of the top 10 most valuable celebrity NFT portfolios. Other notable figures included Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian at $4.9 million, YouTuber and self-proclaimed future U.S. presidential candidate Logan Paul at $4.36 million. Snoop Dogg’s presence on the list is no surprise, having launched various NFT projects, snapped up virtual property in the Metaverse, and he partnered with The Sandbox in late January to launch “Snoop avatars.”Vaynerchuck is also highly active in the scene, launching his own project called “Veefriends” which has generated more than $132,000 worth of secondary sales since launch in May 2021. Top 5 celebrity NFT portfolios as of March 1: DappRadarMore NFT pushback Popular K-pop idol Sunmi (also known as Miyane) has received pushback from fans in relation to NFT collectibles that she and her agency the Abyss Company launched last week. The “Sunmiya Club” project was launched on Feb. 23 and consists of 10,000 computer generated NFTs depicting various cartoon Sunmi avatars. However some of her fans slammed the artist for just wanting to make some “quick cash for her company”.On Monday Sunmi shared a statement from Abyss Company regarding the backlash, although the firm simply reiterated its long term stance on the project and did not appear to address any of the concerns from fans, noting that “we kindly ask for your continuous love and support in our artist’s future performances.” Fans were quick to take issue the statement, with Twitter user “cruelrush” also raising environmental concerns over NFTs, while other fans threatened to boycott the K-pop Idol: “We’d love to actively support Sunmi but not at the expense of our environment. NFTs are bad. We want to support and interact with Sunmi by buying her albums and songs. By going to her shows. We would’ve loved more online concerts to support her,” they wrote. just a bunch of lies, NFTs are NOT needed to further support an artist. Sunmi already has a lot of fans who genuinely enjoy her music and personality. NOBODY asked or wanted this, Abyss is just being greedy https://t.co/cZKi4T6iBt— Quarantine Lil(SAINTS ROW ERA) BLM ✊ (@lil_drawsart) February 28, 2022With friends like these.Despite being a touchy subject amongst the gaming community, Valve CEO Gabe Newell has praised NFTs and discussed the potential benefits of integrating the tech with triple A gaming. His firm owns digital gaming distribution giant Steam, and in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun Newell was quick to draw a line in the sand between NFT technology and the people currently using it. He noted that underlying features such as distributed ledgers, the idea of digital ownership, and shared universes are “all pretty reasonable” and shouldn’t be overlooked: “You have to separate the underlying technology versus which actors are utilizing that technology. It’s like if you’re a chemist, and you’re looking at nitrocellulose, you’re like ‘Oh, yeah, we can do some really interesting stuff with that’.”“The people in the space, though, tend to be involved in a lot of criminal activity and a lot of sketchy behaviors. So it’s much more about the actors than it is about the underlying technology or the rationale for what we’re doing,” he added. Thanks for the “support” Newell, appreciate it.Related: FC Barcelona and AS Roma fan tokens rally after Socios partners with UEFADolly Parton launches DollyverseRenowned country music icon Dolly Parton is launching an NFT collection and marketplace dubbed the “Dollyverse.”While the name implies something related to virtual reality and the Metaverse, Parton’s project essentially consists of tokenized art work and music as part of a promo for her upcoming album “Run, Rose, Run.”The album is also accompanied by a book bearing the same name as the album which was co-authored by James Patterson, a best selling author with titles such as Alex Cross, Michael Bennett and the Women’s Murder Club. The Dollyverse platform was developed by Eluvio and it will host the NFT sales along with a live streamed musical performance on March 18 featuring Parton and songs from the new album. The NFTs will be up for sale during and after the live performance, and users who watch the performance will also receive free NFTs that authenticate their attendance at such a landmark event. Other Nifty NewsEarly users of the $70 million Pixelmon NFT collection were left unsatisfied with their hefty 3 Ether mint after they discovered the artwork depicted in the tokens were subpar and poorly designed. Celebrity metaverse platform Gemie has raised $3.8 million to fund partnerships and fill its NFT marketplace with more collections.

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War coincides with Bitcoin's highest 'real' volume since early December

The “real” daily Bitcoin (BTC) volume spiked to levels not seen for three months amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the latest weekly update report from blockchain analytics firm Arcane Research, real daily BTC trading volume surged above the $10 billion last Thursday (Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion), marking the highest daily volume recorded since Dec. 4. The firm cited “new crypto narratives” that have risen to the forefront amongst the ongoing crisis, such as crypto fundraising in Ukraine, along with demand increasing in relation to the western block and Russia introducing “the strictest capital controls in decades.” Strong selling pressure from investors looking to take risk off the table on Feb. 24 may also have contributed to the surge in daily BTC volume, as the price dipped 10% on that day.    The term “real trading volume” refers to data sourced from exchanges that are believed to be reputable and free of wash trading activities. In this instance, Arcane Research pulled its figures from the Bitwise 10 exchanges (consisting of names such as Coinbase, Kraken, Poloniex and Binance) along with LMAX and FTX.Real daily BTC trading volume: Arcane ResearchIn comparison, crypto data aggregators such as Coingecko — who draw data from more than 500 exchanges — had BTC’s trading volume on Feb. 24 at around the $25 billion region. Messari’s real BTC volume chart (which includes a number of additional exchanges) paints a similar picture to Arcane’s, recording a spike to around $11.6 billion worth of volume last Thursday.Since Feb. 24, the real daily BTC volume has dipped to around $7.5 billion as of March. 1 according to data from Messari. ThArcane Research also highlighted that the price of BTC saw its largest daily percentage gain in over a year on Feb. 28, with the price jumping 14.5% in the space of 24 hours. The firm attributed the surge in part to Russian and Ukrainian crypto adoption (although the actual volume is relatively small in global terms) along with increased speculation on crypto’s use cases amid the current Russian invasion: “Investors are speculating that crypto will become increasingly important apolitical and trustless money in a time of escalating geopolitical uncertainty, conflict, and capital controls. This speculation may have contributed to the 15% increase in the Bitcoin price over the past seven days.”Related: Uniswap builds interface to swap altcoins into ETH donations for UkraineCrypto in Ukraine and RussianWith financial services and markets severely disrupted in both Russia and Ukraine, there has been flow on effects for the use of cryptocurrencies. The report pointed to data from last month showing a significant surge in crypto purchases from Ukrainian citizens.Around the time the full scale Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, daily Tether (USDT) stablecoin purchases on Binance via the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) increased from around $2.5 million to as high as roughly $8.5 million by Feb. 25. While the BTC/UAH chart showed a similar trajectory, surging from around $1 million to $3.0 million within that time frame. Daily UAH crypto purchases: Arcane ResearchA similar phenomenon occurred in Russia as well, with Ruble based purchases of USDT climbing from around $15 million on Feb.21 to as high as $34.94 million on Feb. 28. Daily Bitcoin purchases also jumped from below $5 million to as high as $15 million on Feb. 25, before dipping back to around the $12 million range.

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Block nets $1.18B Q4 gross profit marking a 47% YoY increase

Crypto-friendly digital payments tech firm Block, Inc. (formerly known as Square) posted $1.18 billion worth of gross profit in Q4, representing a growth of 47% over the same period in 2020. The firm led by Bitcoin maxi Jack Dorsey has multiple business arms including Cash App, Square, and the freshly acquired buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay after the $29 billion deal officially closed at the end of last month. Block’s 2021 Q4 report was posted on Feb. 24, and the firm revealed significant gross profit increases across Cash App and Square, with each firm generating $518 million and $657 million apiece to mark YoY gains of 37% and 54% respectively. In total, the company generated $4.42 billion worth of gross profit for the entirety of 2021, marking a YoY growth of 62% compared to 2020. The impressive figures do require a pinch of salt, however, as Block’s net profit after expenses for Q4 tallied just $77 million ($166 million for all of 2021) suggesting hefty operating costs for the firm. The company pointed to Cash App’s Cash Card and Square’s seller ecosystem as key metrics behind the Q4 growth, noting that the Cash Card saw more than 13 million active users in December with 38% of sellers using four or more Square business products. Moving forward in 2022, Block also highlighted the significance of the Afterpay deal as it will enable the firm to significantly scale up its offerings and products this year. The firm stated: “On January 31, we completed our acquisition of Afterpay, a global “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) platform. We believe this acquisition will further Block’s strategic priorities for Square and Cash App by strengthening the connections between our ecosystems as we deliver compelling financial products and services for consumers and merchants.”Related Coinbase made $2.2 billion in revenue from transaction fees in Q4Block has been ramping up its presence in the crypto space of late, with Cointelegraph reporting in mid-January that Cash App had integrated the Lightning Network to speed up BTC transfers, while Dorsey confirmed that Block was rolling out open-source Bitcoin mining systems. After stepping down from Twitter in November, Dorsey is reportedly said to be mainly focused on scaling the Block’s crypto initiatives.

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Russian miners keep running, may see pivot to Bitcoin in response to sanctions

Russian Bitcoin (BTC) miners are reportedly running as usual despite the government’s invasion of Ukraine this week. According to estimates from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption index, miners in Russia accounted for around 11.2% of the global BTC hash rate as of August 2021. With sanctions on the Russian government coming from the U.S. and allied NATO nations, it is unclear how the local BTC sector and the broader market will be impacted. While some crypto mining firms such as Ethereum focused Flexpool have halted their services in Russia in response to the invasion, BTC miners Compass Mining confirmed to customers hosting in Russia that its mining infrastructure will remain operational in the region. Compass Mining CEO Whit Gibbs expressed his thoughts and prayers to all affected by the conflict, on Twitter earlier today, as he reassured the community that its facilities in Eastern Europe are located safely in Serbia, well outside any “geopolitical unrest.” I want to reassure our customers hosting in Russia that we are in constant communication with the facilities, which are in Siberia and well isolated from any geopolitical unrest. Compass has confirmed with our partners that all miners are safe and will continue running as normal.— Whit Gibbs (@BitcoinBroski) February 24, 2022The Biden administration outlined on Thursday that it would be imposing “sweeping financial sanctions and stringent export controls” on Russia’s top financial institutions, the government, high-ranking officials, and the technology sector. Notably, it appears that the heavy restrictions won’t yet extend out to the international payments network SWIFT or cryptocurrency transfers. Many onlookers have argued that this could be a time in which the Russian crypto sector flourishes as it could soon become an important tool to sidestep various sanctions. In a newsletter to investors earlier today, BTC bull and Morgan Creek digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano emphasized that the Russian government could use this moment as a chance to shift away from the US dollar reserve system, and back a decentralized currency with a global appeal: “This game theory leads us to Bitcoin. The next best option to being the producer and distributor of the global reserve currency is to be the most advanced user and holder of a global reserve currency that no single country controls.”Related: Twitter users ask Ukrainian armed forces to start accepting crypto donations“That incentive leads these superpowers to realize that Bitcoin will be essential for decades to come. The countries that have a large ownership stake, along with conducting mining and other pro-bitcoin activities within their country, will have a significant advantage,” he added. VanEck’s head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel echoed similar sentiments to Bloomberg, noting that the Bitcoin network will enable Russia to reduce the potential harm caused by being shut out of the Western financial system: “Neither dictators nor human rights activists will encounter any censor on the Bitcoin network.”

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Nifty News: Collector spends $488K minting Tubby Cats, NFT vending machine

An anonymous nonfungible token (NFT) collector spent 204 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $488,800 (at the time of writing, considerably more when it occurred) on gas fees to mint 1,000 Tubby Cats NFTs.In total, the Tubby Cats enthusiast clearly had some capital to burn as they spent more than $720,000 on minting the NFTs including gas fees, according to the Etherscan transaction history. Following the mint of 1000 NFTs, and with Tubby Cats invading Nifty Twitter timelines, it appears that the community has turned the occurrence into a meme, as various figures have claimed to be Tubby Cat whales in jest. found it, also not hating! congrats to all who minted. https://t.co/zjL81c0W7I— Dallasjhawk.eth (@dallasjhawk) February 23, 2022The project consists of 20,000 NFTs depicting unique computer-generated cat avatars. According to data from NFT marketplace OpenSea, Tubby Cats NFTs have generated 11,600 Ether ($27.7 million) worth of trading volume in just three days since listing on the platform.We may be going to war but at least I got my tubby @tubbycatsnft pic.twitter.com/KTsPYe3b3E— cam () (@camallen_) February 24, 2022

Blockchain-based fantasy basketball game receives major backingWeb3 gaming startup Fast Break Labs has closed a $6 million seed funding round to launch an NFT-based fantasy basketball game dubbed the “Virtual Basketball Association” (VBA)According to a Feb. 23 announcement, the seed round was co-led by Patron and Pantera Capital and included backing from a long list of top names such as Solana Ventures, Blue Pool Capital (the family office of Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai), Riot Games co-founder Marc Merill and Sacramento Kings Co-Owner Aneel Ranadive, to name a few. The game is slated to launch via an early alpha for 2,000 users, who will have a chance to collect fictional player NFTs and build teams for season 0. Users will be able to earn rewards from the game via player vs player simulated team battles. The VBA: Fast Break Labs”While we’re primarily focused on creating a new and fun experience, it was also really important to us to give power back to gamers by allowing them to shape the direction of the game and accrue the economic benefits,” said Charles Du, the CEO and co-founder of Fast Break Labs.Solana NFT vending machine runs 24/7 in New York Solana-based NFT marketplace Neon unveiled a 24/7 NFT vending machine in New York’s financial district on Feb. 23. The vending machine was soft-launched back in December but is now officially rolled out and accepts credit and debit card payments. After payment, it dispenses a box containing a unique code that can be used to redeem an NFT listed on the platform. Solana NFT vending machine: NeonThe firm stated that the vending machine was designed to provide the “simplest, most accessible way to buy, sell and trade NFTs in the real world.”Speaking as part of the announcement, CMO and co-founder of Neon Jordan Birnholtz emphasized the importance of providing a user-friendly buying experience as a way to remove a barrier to crypto: “Giving people the choice to use vending machines and an easy online platform that decouples cryptocurrency from NFT participation means we can engage the widest possible audience.”“NFT buying and selling doesn’t need to be a mystery and you shouldn’t be required to hold Ethereum, write a smart contract, pay gas costs or bridge blockchains to participate,” he added.Another influencer NFT project crashes and burnsThe floor price of NFTs from the project founded by popular influencer and pornstar Lana Rhoades has crashed an eye-watering 96.1%. Rhoades’ CryptoSis NFT collection consists of 6,969 tokens that feature cartoon style depictions of the influencer. The cost to mint plus gas fees totaled 0.18 Ether worth roughly $421, however, the floor price has since crashed to 0.007 Ether ($16) on OpenSea. The community appears to be unhappy with Rhoades and team behind the project, as Twitter user “Zachxbt” highlighted on Twitter earlier this month that:“Another dead influencer project. No activity from the team in weeks, roadmap untouched, majority of the funds raised transferred to Coinbase/Gemini.”@lanarhoades why you delete all your TikTok vids promoting NFT — TikTok Investors (@TikTokInvestors) February 11, 2022

The project is said to have raised around $1.8 million in profit, and some have questioned why Rhoades deleted their promotional Tik Tok videos about the project since it has gone cold.Other Nifty NewsNew data shows that transfers of NFTs on Ethereum have surpassed transfers of stablecoins and altcoins while the supply of wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) has remained relatively stagnant since late last year.Puma joined the growing list of major brands to purchase a decentralized URL and reveal their NFT plans by changing their Twitter handle to Puma.eth on Feb. 22. The German sportswear brand registered the domain name with the Ethereum Name Service.

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