Autor Cointelegraph By Ornella Hernandez

'Ready, steady, NFT:' Ukrainian government accepts NFT donations

'Ready, steady, NFT:' Ukrainian government accepts NFT donations

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 28, 2022 |

Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, tweeted that the Ukrainian government will accept war effort contributions in the form of nonfungible token (NFT) donations and purchases. Via the official “Aid for Ukraine” crypto fund, individuals can donate cryptocurrency, fiat and now NFTs. So far the initiative has raised over $60 million, according to the website. All funds go toward supplying Ukrainians with weapons, medical gear, medical kits and other expenses outlined on the Aid for Ukraine website. Total expenses amounted to $45,103,538 by April 14. The Aid for Ukraine platform is powered by crypto exchanges FTX and Kuna, and by staking provider Everstake. The new big update of @_AidForUkraine website. We’ve added the NFT section: now you can donate or buy NFTs. All funds as always will contribute to the Ukrainian victory. Ready, steady, NFT https://t.co/x7OscenXCz pic.twitter.com/Zo9hYufHSB— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) April 27, 2022The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is the beneficiary organization of several NFT projects including Russia For Sale, which sells Russian lands in the form of NFTs, and Holy Water, which supports local Ukrainian NFT artists, among others. Those who buy an NFT from one of the organizations will contribute directly to Ministry’s crypto wallet.At the time of publication, the NFTs donated by “UkrainianCryptoFund” and available to bid on in OpenSea come from collections such as, CryptoPunks, mfers, MoonCats, TIMEPieces by Time Magazine, CREYZIES and Chubbiverse Frens. All of these collections only accept Ether (ETH) for payment. Just as the Ukrainian government has fully embraced digital assets in order to support humanitarian efforts, so have many both Ukrainian and Russia citizens had to familiarize themselves and accept using crypto to support themselves. Cointelegraph spoke with some of the people who experienced the advantages of Bitcoin firsthand as well with some of the blockchain companies that have been thriving amid war. Related: Binance announces crypto card for Ukrainian refugeesFedorov first signaled in a tweet on March 3 that the government would soon be using NFTs to help pay for its military. Since then, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has also launched a virtual NFT gallery to keep alive the memory of war. 

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Crypto Bahamas: Attendees talk the future of NFTs

Crypto Bahamas: Attendees talk the future of NFTs

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 28, 2022 |

The crypto community headed to Nassau in the Bahamas this week for the inaugural Crypto Bahamas conference. Like most conferences, panels fill up the agenda and on Wednesday the topics at Crypto Bahamas ranged from NFTs to crypto in sports and to asset allocation in Web3. During one particular conversation, titled Evolution of NFTs: Culture, Utility and Regulation, panelists had some insightful musings on the NFT market.To put the Crypto Bahamas conference into context, Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas in Sept. 2021. It recently inked a multi-year partnership with Anthony Scaramucci’s investment firm SkyBridge Capital, and its events arm SkyBridge Alternatives, or SALT. They jointly presented the conference. That’s why the NFT panel consisted of multiple perspectives from Tristan Yver, head of strategy at FTX U.S., Joseph Doll, attorney at Fenwick law firm, Roham Gharegozlou, the chief executive officer at Dapper Labs, and Sarah Hammer, the managing director of The Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at The Wharton School. Zack Guzman, writer for the Meta-owned newsletter platform Bulletin, moderated.Great to have the opportunity to speak about #NFTs & their evolution @CryptoBahamas! Excited about the many applications for NFTs & other #digitalassets, esp. for #education, #healthcare, #socialimpact. @jackshaftoes @FTX_Official @dapperlabs @zGuz #CryptoBahamas @WhartonCypher pic.twitter.com/tQVlDOb29g— Sarah Hammer (@FinanceHammer) April 27, 2022Gharegozlou pointed out how new the NFT market truly is when “most people have only been thinking about it for a year and a half,” making valuations “very immature.” As the CEO of Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot,  Gharegozlou recognized that “utility, rewards and the how you value and NFT is primarily based on the strength of that of the community.” He added that a good way for an NFT collection to build a strong community is to have multiple tiers of scarcity. In the case of NBA Top Shot, at the higher price end there is extreme scarcity, but there are also millions of “common” moments so that people can “get their first NFT and see how it feels without breaking the bank.” Tristan Yver echoed that the current valuation and pricing model for NFTs is based on a collective perception on value based on the amount of people willing to buy an asset for a certain amount. He anticipated a “movement away from this consensus view to a more unique singular view where people buy things that resonate with them rather than what resonates with a larger community.”Joseph Doll chimed in to say that “communities need to be thoughtful about democratizing access.” There are some “massive” barriers to entry to certain projects, he said, including not being early enough or not having enough capital at the time. He questioned, “That’s not what crypto is about, right? It’s kind of about the exact opposite of that.” Democratization, he suggested, can come in the form of derivative projects at better price points.Another important point brought up by Yver was the reality of scams, especially on Discord and Twitter. He said that “we need to move past security aspects to be able to really bring in the next large mass of users.” He recommended talking among family and friends or asking a Discord moderator to make sure “you click the right link when minting that NFT” because “wallet security sucks right now.”Gharegozlou even said that Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, should use Web3 to fix Twitter’s fraud problem, just as Discord should use Web3 authentication and verification as well. “Once NFT’s are the sort of identity bridge across all these different social networks, identity and assets, authenticity, provenance,” then the system can be more resilient he added.When asked what “main alpha” the audience should bear in mind, Doll said to engage with and be part of these NFT communities even if it’s “scary,” because getting scammed is a “part of the journey.”Sarah Hammer, who leads the Cypher Accelerator at Wharton business school, said that the school is launching an incubator specifically for NFT projects in partnership with Dapper Labs because the “NFT model is a business model for the future.” She emphasized that the greatest way to grow and innovate in the space is to increase education efforts in order to get more people learning and working together. Related: Goldman Sachs reportedly eyes FTX alliance with regulatory and public listing assistance Recently the Bahamian government allowed residents to use digital assets, including the world’s first central bank digital currency, or CBDC, to pay for taxes in 2022.

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Nifty News: OpenSea acquires Gem, and Chess.com makes a move into NFTs

Nifty News: OpenSea acquires Gem, and Chess.com makes a move into NFTs

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 27, 2022 |

OpenSea buys NFT market aggregator Gem In a Monday Twitter post, OpenSea announced it had acquired NFT marketplace aggregator Gem for an undisclosed price. A blog post by OpenSea chief executive officer Devin Finzer stated that the company made this move to improve the experience of its more seasoned, “pro” users. Gem lets traders buy NFTs across various collections and multiple marketplaces in a single transaction that saves on gas fees. For now, OpenSea is adding popular Gem features such as its collection floor price sweeping tool, and rarity-based rankings to its platform. Gem will continue operating independently from OpenSea as a stand-alone product, but OpenSea intends to continually integrate more Gem features into its NFT marketplace in the future.Many of the user comments on the Twitter thread, however, criticized OpenSea’s latest move. Amid multiple hacks and recent phishing scandals, collectors like @BandoNFT said he’d rather OpenSea invest to “improve communication and customer service.”1/ Exciting news!To invest in the “pro” community and continue improving the OpenSea experience, we’re excited to share that we’ve acquired @gemxyz !Read more in the official announcement blog, and below https://t.co/IBn38f2d3U— OpenSea (@opensea) April 25, 2022Virtual influencer Rae celebrates girls in STEMRae is one of Asia’s CGI (computer generated imagery) influencers, many of whom have large followings on Instagram and Weibo. Known as “here.is.rae” on social media, her Instagram bio states that she is a virtual being, digital artist and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) advocate. Rae announced her upcoming second NFT collection ahead of the United Nations-recognized International Girls in ICT Day on April 28 (information and communication technology.) The virtual influencer intends to use this collection to advocate for better STEM education for young girls. Eight percent of the total sale proceeds and royalty fees will go to a non-profit organization called United Women Singapore.The collection called “Adventures of Tako” features Rae’s virtual pet named Tako. NFT holders of the first out of three series will receive an audio message from Rae and gain priority access to the launch of the second series of the collection.Tako can’t stop dreaming of space! Especially with all the exciting adventures ahead that will soon be shared with you.#nfts #nft #nftart #nftcommunity #nftcollector #nftartist #crypto #digitalart #cryptoart #art #ethereum #opensea #nftcollectors #blockchain #nftdrop pic.twitter.com/Dr2PMDfq5y— here.is.rae (@hereisrae) April 26, 2022

Chess.com to launch an NFT marketplace Wyre, a fiat-to-crypto and payment infrastructure firm, partnered up with the online chess community Chess.com to launch a new NFT marketplace called Treasure Chess. The platform allows users to turn a chess game played on treasure.chess.com into a Treasure NFT. Users can then purchase, sell, mint and collect their “Treasures” on the Layer 2 blockchain Polygon.Treasure Chess generates an Ethereum Address for users who sign in with their Chess.com accounts. Wyre permits players to use debit cards to buy the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) in order to buy NFTs, without having to have a separate wallet. Labeled an experiment, Chess.com stated that the mission is to make users’ chess experience richer and support chess streamers and content creators in celebrating their favorite matches.We are excited to announce our integration, and official launch of @treasurechess_, a groundbreaking #NFT marketplace built in collaboration with @chesscom!Every chess game is one-of-a-kind. Our collaboration makes yours a collectible!♟️ pic.twitter.com/XM7nhuVFab— Wyre (@sendwyre) April 21, 2022

Other Nifty NewsThe recently launched owl avatars Moonbirds NFT collection is bringing new liquidity to the NFT market, according to Cointelegraph market analyst Alyssa Exposito. So much so that The Sandbox metaverse purchased MoonBird #2642 for 350 Ether (ETH), or about $1 million, which was originally purchased for 100 ETH. At the time of publication, Moonbirds had generated 117,115 ETH in volume or slightly over $332 million in sales on OpenSea in a ten-day run. Another NFT collection with a soaring market cap is Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, ahead of Yuga Labs’ The Otherside metaverse land sale. On April 25, BAYC suffered a phishing attack that coincided with the one-year anniversary of its launch. Hackers breached BAYC’s official Instagram page and shared links to a fake airdrop.

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Crypto gaining trust as investment, but still lagging behind other options: Bitstamp report

Crypto gaining trust as investment, but still lagging behind other options: Bitstamp report

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 26, 2022 |

Global crypto exchange Bitstamp released its Crypto Pulse survey on Tuesday and concluded that both institutional and retail investors believe that crypto will overtake many traditional investment vehicles within a decade — specifically 8 out of 10, or 80%, of institutional respondents and 54% of retail investors.The survey also polled opinions on whether crypto will see mainstream adoption within the next 10 years. With slightly higher results, 88% of institutional respondents and 75% of retail investors responded affirmatively. This overall bullish attitude came from 28,563 respondents, including 5,450 senior institutional investment strategy decision makers and 23,113 retail investors, from 23 countries.Crypto powers towards universal adoption. What’s next? In the first edition of our Crypto Pulse report, you’ll find the answers from 28,615 institutional and retail consumer investors! Sign up for the full report here https://t.co/ksGYJhUiSr pic.twitter.com/Ab3hQi0kd6— Bitstamp (@Bitstamp) April 26, 2022Julian Sawyer, CEO of Bitstamp, said in a statement that cryptocurrency is now at the forefront of mainstream investing. She added:”We’ve seen interest propel in the years since the pandemic, and crypto is now part of the wider conversation in global macro-economic matters. Our survey shows something we have advocated over a long time: talking about survival of digital assets is firmly over — the question is now about evolution.”When it came to trusting in crypto as an asset class, 71% of investment professionals and 65% of everyday investors stated that in crypto they trust. When compared to trust in property ownership, shares and stocks, however, crypto is trusted less. For retail respondents, 67% believe crypto is a trustworthy investment, while 11% said that crypto was untrustworthy. And as for decentralized finance, or DeFi, investment vehicles like stablecoins and NFTs, levels of trust went above 60% across retail and institutional investors.Bitstamp suggested that any hesitation may stem from the lack of regulation around crypto. It added that trust at a global level in crypto is primarily driven by developing countries and unstable economies, where trust in the traditional financial system is low. In the U.S., President Joe Biden signed an executive order that addresses a regulatory framework for digital assets in March. Recently, Bitstamp increased its compliance efforts by requesting its users to provide more data info like nationality, place of birth, tax residency and the source of wealth. 

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Takeaways and reviews, what went down during Miami Tech Week

Takeaways and reviews, what went down during Miami Tech Week

Uverejnil používateľ | apr 25, 2022 |

Miami Tech Week took place last week in the South Florida city as part of April’s Tech Month programming, which also included NFT Miami and the Bitcoin 2022 conference earlier in the month. Tech Week kicked off with the eMerge Americas conference and the myriad of panel discussions scheduled throughout the city that followed.Cointelegraph gathered some key insights from thought leaders who participated, and the two main themes are Miami as a hot spot for crypto folks, and crypto as a disruptor of the investment landscape.eMerge Americas is a venture-backed organization with a mission to position Miami as the tech hub of North and South America. Its signature event since 2014 has been the annual tech conference, which features a startup pitch competition. After a two-year hiatus, it returned to the Miami Beach Convention Center on April 18-19 with web3, crypto and NFT content. The crypto trading platform Blockchain.com was the 2022 title sponsor. Related: Crypto startup Blockchain​.com planning 2022 IPOPeter Smith, Blockchain.com’s chief executive officer and co-founder, sat on an eMerge panel to discuss the state of the crypto market. Afterwards he expanded on his bullish outlook when he told CNBC that he expects “crypto assets to rebound much faster than tech stocks and growth stocks” amid a current downtown in the market.Blockchain.com claims that it is the first crypto company to move its headquarters to Miami. Smith even tweeted out some reasons for that move on Thursday. His main motive was a “vibe” of genuine love of crypto from Miami’s residents.Reason 1: #Miami loves #Crypto. Not just Mayor @FrancisSuarez and local leadership, but actual people in Miami. Walking around the city, you find more people than anywhere else who are genuinely into building the next financial system, vs the last one (NYC)— Peter Smith (@OneMorePeter) April 21, 2022Another eMerge speaker was Melinda Delis, Director of Business Development at Gemini. During her panel about “Business Applications for Emerging Technologies” like NFTs, she revealed her clients’ main concerns when it comes to the Metaverse: “Custody. For these businesses to meet the standards of their internal risk and compliance teams, they need to check what is the security of the custodian, what are the controls around it, and how is it regulated.”Related: Crypto seen as the ‘future of money’ in inflation-mired countriesRegulation is a topic that Ripple’s chief executive officer, Brad Garlinghouse, had strong opinions on. During a panel programming at the Faena Forum Miami Beach on Friday, Garlinghouse mentioned on stage that Ripple (XRP) is currently in a lawsuit with Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, which alleges that Ripple conducted an illegal securities offering through sales of XRP. Ripple argues XRP should be treated as a virtual currency rather than as a stock.Garlinghouse advised audience members to “not incorporate a company in the U.S.” because the country “has been and continues to fall behind in terms of regulatory clarity. And investors don’t want to put money into uncertainty.” He even tweeted about his experience later that day.The SEC seems perfectly content to let the US fall further behind – all in the name of protecting their own jurisdiction at the expense of US citizens. Politics over policy is good for no one. We need a clear regulatory framework now.— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) April 22, 2022

Sitting next to Garlinghouse was Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and chief executive officer of MoonPay, the Miami-based crypto payment platform. When the moderator, Coinbase’s head of business operations and strategy Marc Bhargava, asked about the future of NFTs, Soto-Wright stated that “NFTs have now overtaken crypto.” He pointed to companies like Yuga Labs and CryptoPunks that have been able to monetize their brand value by “turning its intellectual property into a number on the income statement.” The next big wave of NFTs, he said, will be from major Web2 brands that “will monetize their legacy via NFTs.”He added that the process of purchasing an NFT, however, may still be a complicated process for the average “mom.” Even though Web3 promises decentralization, it’s still “at the cost of user experience,” and that streamlining peer-to-peer payments via wallets is the key to getting more people into crypto, according to Soto-Wright.From left, Marc Bhargava, Ivan Soto-Wright, Natalia Karayaneva and Brad Garlinghouse at the Faena Forum Miami Beach.Related: Dozens of VIP backers invest $87M into crypto payment startup MoonPayWhile the purpose of Miami Tech Week is to gather together startup founders and venture capitalists, the true motives behind the meetups, presentations and parties is to rub shoulders with potential investors and investees. Looking specifically into crypto investment numbers, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups in 2021. So far in 2022, the industry has raised $5 billion in the first quarter, according to the latest PitchBook data.The Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area alone collected more than $1 billion in general tech VC funding during Q1, according to Crunchbase. However, almost half of that billion was attained by Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT community, with its $450 million seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Crunchbase also pointed out that the most recently funded Miami companies tend to “skew heavily to the crypto/NFT/blockchain/metaverse sphere.”In regards to venture capital investment pouring into crypto companies, influencer and boxer turned investor Logan Paul, gave his thoughts while on stage at the Faena Forum Miami Beach. “Its not about money anymore, but about finding investors who bring added value,” said Paul. Sitting alongside Geoffrey Woo, his co-founder of the VC fund called Anti Fund, Paul added that “capital doesn’t buy you cultural relevance anymore,” and that the Anti Fund, which invests in early-stage startups, places priority on marketing and brand consulting services to differentiate itself. One man who has taken to marketing Miami as a pro-business and crypto-friendly city is  Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Miami Tech Week would not be complete without appearances from its mayor at eMerge and other events. The organizers of the city-wide and crypto-related hackathons, Miami Hack Week, set up a free co-working space during Tech Week and held fireside chats with top VC’s & tech leaders, including the mayor. While on stage, Suarez said that a dedicated tech month is part of Miami’s rebranding, and that its tech ecosystem is being “refreshed by new faces,” especially those in the blockchain industry.“Miami is going to hack our way to the top in order to compete with the world.”What an honor to be joined by visionaries like @DavidSacks @shervin @jdanjohnson and @jefffluhr for “Not Another Fireside Chat” on the future of Miami Tech at Miami Hack Week! pic.twitter.com/WWJHsUmg6W— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) April 20, 2022

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