Autor Cointelegraph By Gareth Jenkinson

MiCA legislation good news for crypto players: Binance Europe VP

Smaller cryptocurrency exchanges and start-ups could benefit from the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation, according to Martin Bruncko, Binance’s executive vice president of Europe.Cointelegraph had a one-on-one interview with Martin Bruncko during the Web Summit conference in Lisbon early in November 2022. Heading up Binance’s operations across Europe, Bruncko offered unique insights into the exchange’s growth across the continent and its perspective on the regulatory environment.The European Parliament Committee passed the MiCA crypto policy on Oct. 10, which aims to create a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework for the industry across the 27 countries that make up the EU.Bruncko told Cointelegraph that the European crypto landscape is currently fragmented, with all 27 countries in Europe having different regulatory regimes ranging from ‘fairly restrictive to non-existent.’ This has led to time-consuming and financially demanding requirements for exchanges to ensure that they are fully compliant in different jurisdictions:“This is exactly the issue right now and this is why we’re actually, I would say almost excited about MiCA, because it’s creating a single market.”Bruncko stressed that the current landscape hamstrung smaller players that were looking to scale across the continent, given the costs of ensuring compliance across different borders.“In principle, it’s good news for every crypto player in Europe because, again, now you can just operate within one single market. It’s just making it so much easier to grow your business, to scale your business with much less cost.”Bruncko also believes that early-stage crypto companies will also benefit from the legislation, being able to focus on growth rather than legal and compliance considerations.Related: MiCA bill contains a clear warning for crypto influencersEurope remains a focal point for Binance, which views the continent as one of the largest and most advanced crypto economies in the world. Given that financial innovation and leading fintechs are centered in Europe, Bruncko stressed that the wider region will continue to be an important operational space for the exchange. “A lot of major crypto projects were started out of Europe. If you take Ethereum, it effectively started in London, Switzerland and a bunch of other places. Ever since then, we’ve had a huge amount of various successful, influential projects coming out of Europe.”Bruncko said that Binance has been pushing to ensure regulatory compliance across Europe over the past year. The exchange is regulated in five European countries, including two G7 members.

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Crypto hits the main stage at Web Summit in front of record crowds

Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon has established itself as the spiritual home of one of the world’s largest technology events. Web Summit has called the Altice Arena home since 2016 and attracted a staggering 71,000 people in the latest edition of the conference.The effect of the event on the city was palpable. An estimated 540,000 people call Portugal’s captivating, hilly capital home and the influx of attendees from around the globe made for a busy week on its smaller cobbled streets and busier roads.The Ponte 25 de Abril bridge, connecting Lisbon to the municipality of Almada to the south.It is not surprising that the event is a focal point for the city, which continues to establish itself as a tech hub in Europe. Web Summit continues to play a role to that end, with Lisbon rated as an Alpha-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Global industry leaders from a wide range of sectors were joined by prominent politicians, celebrities, actors and sportspeople that are at the intersection of tech and their respective spheres of influence. Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska delivered a keynote speech on opening night as the country continues to battle against Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska speaks during the opening night of Web Summit 2022. Credit: Jose Val Bal.The cryptocurrency space was also top of mind on opening night as Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao brought the ecosystem to the fore in front of a packed house at the Altice Arena.CZ unpacked Binance’s $500 billion investment into Twitter, his long-term view of the growing value of cryptocurrencies and the growth of blockchain-powered Web3 capabilities. It was the first time a figure from the crypto space spoke during the event’s opening ceremony, signaling cryptocurrency and blockchain’s growing influence in the global technology ecosystem.Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson alongside Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao at a community meet-up in Lisbon.A dedicated Crypto section of the Web Summit app guided attendees to the various stages around the expansive Altice Arena grounds, with the stadium and five massive marquees housing exhibitors and presentations from the world’s foremost technology companies and emerging start-ups.Related: The Sandbox co-founder explains how the metaverse has evolved for brands: Web Summit 2022Some of the most prominent projects from the cryptocurrency and Web3 space were in attendance. Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz was on hand to give an inside look at the explosion in popularity of the Bored Ape Yacht Club on the mainstage inside the Altice Arena:“What we’ve done with BAYC and then later with CryptoPunks and MeeBits, is giving commercial IP rights so that exclusive ownership is something unique to this space that empowers consumers to turn into owners, which is a paradigm shift.”Cointelegraph also took the stage alongside another prominent metaverse platform as chief operations officer and co-founder Sebastien Borget delved into the history and future of The Sandbox in a wide-ranging conversation on the Content Makers stage.The Sandbox COO and co-founder Sebastien Borget on stage with Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson at Web Summit 2022.Devin Finzer, CEO and co-founder of OpenSea, the world’s largest nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, also weighed in on the popularity of NFTs and the importance of their influence on creator economies. Finzer stressed that NFTs are a generic tool attracting a different market segment away from people interested in traditional cryptocurrencies:“These are people who are excited about art, collectibles and engaging with creators. NFTs, particularly in the creator economy, allow for creators to create digital items that can immediately be monetized and connected with a fan.”Web3 and NFTs have already become well-ingrained in the world of sports. Cointelegraph sat down for a one-on-one interview with Jorge Urrutia del Pozo, Dapper Labs’ vice president of Football, to unpack their involvement with Spain’s LaLiga and the recently launched Golazos video collectible platform.Having built the hugely popular NBA Top Shots platform, which produces NFTs of video highlights from America’s top basketball league, Dapper Labs is looking to drive further adoption of blockchain-powered Web3 collectibles through the world’s most loved sport:“It is a really interesting opportunity for us to onboard tens of millions of people onto blockchain. That’s the way we see sports in general and football in particular. There is massive reach and the intensity of the fandom — it’s a big opportunity.”Another major player bridging blockchain technology and sport featured prominently at Web Summit. Socios.com CEO Alexandre Dreyfus took to the main stage inside the Altice Arena alongside former Italian footballer Alessandro Del Piero to unpack blockchain’s influence on fandom in modern sports.Socios.com and Chilliz CEO Alexandre Dreyfus and Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson inside the speakers lounge at Web Summit 2022.Cointelegraph caught up with Dreyfus after the panel discussion, who highlighted the main reason behind Socios’ creation of fan-powered tokens ecosystems to bring together teams and their supporters:“The question was, what can you create that is both valuable for a fan and scalable for a team? We think two things matter for a fan. One, being recognised, and two, having a voice. That recognition, that social status, we thought we could power with tokens.”Web3 gaming was another topic of interest on the Content Makers stage. Cointelegraph moderated another panel featuring Bozena Rezab of Gamee and William Quigley of WAX, who explored the promise and the difficulty of building Web3 games built on play-to-earn mechanics.Gamee co-founder & CEO Bozena Rezab, WAX co-founder William Quigley and Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson during their panel, “Building a games company with a Web3 mindset.”Rezab stressed that developers or studios building Web3 games should be more focused on creating good experiences and driving value and avoid adopting blockchain technology for novelty’s sake. The Gamee co-founder highlighted the importance of thinking about the distribution of value and how to best use the technology:“It should not be tech-first thinking like ‘this is a cool technology and we’re going to use it.’ It’s more about how I will use this to make value and create something people are excited about.”Web Summit also provided the platform for projects to announce new offerings. Interlay used the conference to announce the launch of a suite of decentralized applications (DApps) to power Bitcoin (BTC). Decentralized finance (DeFi) offerings allowing users to lend, trade, borrow against and earn yield on BTC holdings.Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr hosted a number of panel discussions focused on the emergence of Web3 tech hubs around the world as well as a round table discussion on how to pitch startups and projects for coverage to top-tier journalists.Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr on-stage at Web Summit in Lisbon.Cointelegraph CEO Wes Kaplan also hit the stage to moderate a discussion around monetizing media and how news companies grapple with this complex topic. Web Summit well and truly brings the world of tech together for one of the biggest events on the global calendar. 2022’s conference proved that the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem has established itself as a growing player in a space dominated by the likes of Google and Apple and will continue to do so as Web3 adoption gathers speed.

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Cowboy hats, boots, guns and crypto talk with Dan Held

Bitcoiner Dan Held gave journalist Nicole Behnam a true Texan welcome to Austin while the pair discussed their individual paths into the world of crypto.Dan Held is a household name in the world of Bitcoin while Nicole Behnam is a journalist-turned cryptocurrency and NFT enthusiast. Together the pair explored Held’s hometown in Austin, Texas, getting a taste of local life while delving into their journeys into the cryptocurrency space.[embedded content]Held took Behnam to a local gun range to start things off, with the pair getting the chance to shoot a rare World War II German MP40. Behnam then grabbed her first cowboy hat from a local store and matched that with a pair of boots before the pair rounded off their thoughts on the cryptocurrency space.Related: How CZ built Binance and became the richest person in cryptoThe pair finished off the day unpacking the prevailing perception towards Bitcoin as NFTs and Web3 becomes more of a focus. Held closed off the interview by giving a broad view of why other blockchain platforms trade off some semblance of decentralization to enable other functionality.“This is where a lot of Bitcoiners don’t question the nature of Bitcoin. What if Bitcoin has over-optimized for security or decentralization? I admit that could be a flaw in our thinking.”However, Held also stressed that this is a major reason why Bitcoin remains strong against any nation-state potentially attacking the network.

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Binance wired $500M to back Musk’s Twitter takeover — CZ

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says the company followed through with a $500 million commitment to back Elon Musk’s high-profile Twitter takeover.Musk reportedly sealed the deal on Oct. 27, with a handful of Twitter executives escorted to the door as the new owner of the social media platform cleaned house. Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com/GMwHmInPAS— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022Binance had indicated that it would co-invest in Twitter in May 2022, alongside 18 other investors that included the likes of cryptocurrency investment firms Sequoia Capital Fund, Fidelity Management and Research Company.Related: How Crypto Twitter could change under Musk’s leadershipBinance’s founder confirmed on Oct. 28 that the company had indeed put its money on the table as Musk finalized his ownership of Twitter. CZ took to the newly-owned platform to confirm that the company had wired the funds earlier in the week.Our intern says we wired the $500 million 2 days ago, probably just as I was being asked about Elon/Twitter. https://t.co/gM65GHUnZC— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) October 28, 2022

Commenting on questions in the thread, CZ said that he was not involved in facilitating the transaction himself and joked that he thought the transaction had been processed through traditional banking means and not over a blockchain or cryptocurrency transaction.Binance’s $500 million stake in Twitter makes it the fourth biggest contributor to the takeover. The Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust invested $1 billion to make it the biggest contributor to the Musk-led acquisition of the social media platform.Cointelegraph has reached out to Binance to ascertain the finer details of its Twitter investment, its total shareholdings and other potential partnerships entailed.

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Coinbase, Alameda-backed Mara launches African crypto wallet service

Some two million users in Nigeria and Kenya are set to be onboarded to a new cryptocurrency wallet backed by the likes of Coinbase Ventures and Alameda Research. Mara is a digital financial ecosystem project that is kickstarting its journey with the launch of a cryptocurrency wallet for signed-up users in Nigeria. A portion of the waitlist will be onboarded through an invite-only process starting on Oct. 27, followed by the onboarding of users in Kenya and Ghana.The project is backed by cryptocurrency industry heavyweights, having raised $23 million in a fundraising round headlined by Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Huobi and several other investors and venture capitalists.The Mara wallet will offer cryptocurrency brokerage services through its app, allowing users to buy, send, sell and withdraw fiat and crypto. The app will also provide access to educational resources focused on cryptocurrencies and personal finance management.Launching alongside the wallet is the Mara Foundation, a non-profit intended to drive blockchain and sustainable development in Africa. The Foundation is also partnered with USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle and EURO Coin (EUROC) to drive uptake of the stablecoins.Related: Crypto users in Africa grew by 2,500% in 2021: ReportWeb3 and blockchain development are also a focus of the project, with Mara aiming to train one million developers on the continent. A first effort to drive this goal was a hackathon dubbed “Hack the Mara,” aimed at building payment solutions to support Kenya’s Maasai communities and improving the financial sustainability of conservation projects.The Maasai Mara is a large ecological and wildlife conservation area in Kenya which is set to benefit from the initiatives aimed at fostering developers and payment solutions in East Africa. Three winning teams out of 24 local developers were awarded a share of $100,000 in prizes as well as entry in a startup accelerator program to continue their product development.The foundation will also roll out an educational community offering free-of-charge resources on financial literacy, cryptocurrency, Web3 and blockchain education in multiple languages. Students of the Mara Academy will receive certifications, allowing them to then teach and mentor other users in the program.The project also aims to launch a proprietary layer-1 blockchain solution called Mara Chain which is intended to run decentralized applications. The blockchain platform is touted to launch before the end of 2022

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