Table of Contents
Bitcoin News: 25th October 2021
- Ethereum competitor Near launches $800M developer fund as DeFi competition heats up.
- After a crypto crackdown, is China going after NFTs and their promoters.
- Just 17% of all Ethereum addresses bought 80% of all NFTs this year.
- MasterCard to offer U.S based customers crypto loyalty rewards.
- Shiba Inu gains 10% in 24H as Ethereum whale buys over $11M in SHIB
- Dubai regulator announces new regulations for investment tokens
- Alien Worlds Takes the Helm as the Top Blockchain Game, Approximately 11 Million Daily Transactions
- South Korean pension fund to invest in Bitcoin ETF: Report
Ethereum competitor Near launches $800M developer fund
According to Proximity Labs, the new financing, which includes a $350 million grant programme announced last week, gives ecosystem developers more motivation to produce new product offerings on Near.
A total of $250 million will go to existing ecosystem developers, with another $100 million set aside for startup awards, with Near aiming to fund more than 20 firms at a rate of $5 million apiece. The remaining funds total $100 million to be spent on so-called regional funds across Asia, Europe and the United States.
Despite Ethereum’s overwhelming dominance, the DeFi industry is exploding, with a market valuation of over $247 billion, providing plenty of potential for other platforms to profit. The entire value of DeFi projects was less than $13 billion a year ago.
Near only makes up a small part of the overall DeFi industry, but that might change as more developers take advantage of the new financing campaigns and customers look for alternatives to Ethereum-based protocols. As reported by Cointelegraph, Ethereum’s competitors have experienced an influx of customers fleeing the ETH network’s exorbitant fees.
After a crypto crackdown, is China going after NFTs and their promoters
China held 0% of the average monthly hashrate share in August, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. Following this, many people assumed the country had abandoned cryptocurrency for good.
However, the Chinese authorities appear to be focusing their attention on a new target: NFTs.
Chinese regulators have “interviewed” some Internet companies about their connection with NFTs, according to journalist Colin Wu. Despite the fact that NFTs can only be used as “digital collectibles,” big businesses like Tencent and Alibaba have launched NFT platforms.
Both firms had responded to Wu by distancing themselves from “unregulated” NFTs and illegal virtual currencies at the time of publication.
Tencent stated, according to a translation,
“The business logic of Magic Core Digital Collection is completely different from the internal logic and extension of the overseas unregulated NFT business.”
Wu himself commented,
“Obviously they are under some pressure from supervision.”
DHL China recently allowed individuals to use the VeChainThor blockchain to create personalised NFTs of its mascot. The tweet has since been taken down. The China Association for Standardization officially validated VeChain.
However, there was some misunderstanding concerning the legal status of various crypto assets. This was made evident when China’s Loudi Taxation Bureau [State Administration of Taxation] recently published an article calling for crypto assets to be taxed.
China is aiming for more environmentally friendly energy sources, with the goal of reducing fossil fuel use to less than 20% by 2060. Furthermore, the government decided to put a stop to efforts that use a lot of energy.
Meanwhile, NFTs based on Ethereum have been chastised for their large carbon impact. Is there a relationship between the two factors? Analyst Raoul Pal argued in late September that China’s crypto crackdown could be intended to assist the government control electricity prices and push for “green energy.”
Just 17% of all Ethereum addresses bought 80% of all NFTs this year
According to a Moonstream analysis on Ethereum-based NFTs, the market demonstrates wealth discrepancy in NFT ownership.
The study looked at over 7 million NFTs transactions on the second-largest blockchain between April 1 and September 25, 2021, and found that only a few of these addresses, 17 percent of them, were responsible for about 80% of all Ethereum-based NfTs.
As a result, the paper concluded that “the Ethereum NFT market (is) an open and free market with the same types of wealth disparities as a traditional market.”
The majority of the addresses in the 17 percent could be from “marketplaces and clearinghouses like OpenSea, Nifty Gateway, and other platforms of the similar ilk,” according to Moonstream.
Moonstream agreed that the NFT market was still “open in the sense that the vast majority of its players are small-time customers who likely make their purchases manually” when distilling the data. For individuals who want to join in this industry, there are few hurdles to entrance.”
Because it is more or less a duplication of the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule, a Reddit member known as Xddemonesque quickly compared the situation to the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule.
According to the Pareto principle, 80% of results are the result of 20% of causes. Reddit users reacted to the study by saying, “Fascinating to see the Pareto principle more or less hold in a market as avant-garde and traditionally”irrational.”
Moonstream gathered data mostly from ERC 721 tokens, avoiding tokens from Layer 2 networks and centralised Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
MasterCard to offer U.S based customers crypto loyalty rewards
MasterCard, the world’s largest payments company, has revealed ambitions to incorporate cryptocurrency into its loyalty programme offers.
The tech company announced its plans on October 25, claiming to have teamed with digital asset platform Bakkt to provide a wide range of digital asset solutions to US-based financial institutions, fintech firms, and merchants on its payment network.
To put it another way, MasterCard customers in the US can now purchase, sell, and store digital assets in their wallets.
In addition, as a result of the agreement, cardholders will be able to earn crypto rewards and spend them instead of using their loyalty points to make transactions.
Sherri Haymond, MasterCard’s executive vice president of digital partnerships, adds that in addition to the new provision of digital asset integration, the business will also be delivering distinctive and relevant user experiences.
MasterCard also stated that as of the end of the first quarter of 2021, it had 249 million cards in the United States. As a result, there’s a good chance that these millions of members of the loyalty rewards programme, who may have never heard of or used cryptocurrency before, will now. That’s a lot of publicity.
This isn’t the first time MasterCard has taken the lead as institutions continue to embrace cryptocurrency in their operations.
The financial services company stated in February that its roughly one billion users would be able to conduct crypto-related transactions at over 30 million businesses. However, MasterCard has yet to respond on the list of tokens it’ll support.
Shiba Inu gains 10% in 24H as Ethereum whale buys $11M in SHIB
Shiba Inu (SHIB) has seen a substantial surge in value over the last 24 hours, as the decentralised coin approaches $0.00005.
It’s worth noting that on October 26, 2021, an Ethereum whale bought 276,592,553,073 SHIB tokens, which is worth $11,510,207.
According to transaction records supplied by whalestats.com, one individual whale presently owns about $13,448,334 in Shiba Inu token, leaving many onlookers wondering if another price rise in either direction is inevitable.
For a brief period on October 25, the SHIB’s 24-hour trading volume briefly topped that of Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the network upon which it is constructed.
Indeed, the increasing trading activity in SHIB during the previous 24 hours coincided with Ethereum’s highest-ever weekly closing in the cryptocurrency market.
SHIB increased by more than 50% on Sunday, reaching a new all-time high of 0.000044. Inflows of $4.64 billion during two days on October 23 and 24 fueled price gains, bringing the total amount of money in the market from $11.02 billion to $15.66 billion.
Despite Elon Musk’s latest rejection, major spot markets are still trading at all-time highs for the cryptocurrency. According to CoinMarketCap.com, the cryptocurrency is currently trading at $0.00004205, up 10.15 percent in the last 24 hours and only 49.79 percent in the previous week, with a market capitalization of $16.6 billion. It’s worth noting that the price of SHIB has risen significantly in the last seven days, from $0.000028 to $0.00004205, a significant increase.
Dubai regulator announces new regulations for investment tokens
As part of its efforts to boost the digital financial and technology environment while also addressing market players’ requests and requirements, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has established a regulatory framework for investment tokens.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is an independent regulatory organisation in Dubai that is in charge of monitoring and regulating financial services firms who seek to do business there. It also issues licences and oversees the regulation of their goods and services.
The DFSA’s legal framework defines investment tokens as either “a Security Token or a Derivative Token,” according to a report by Emirates news agency WAM.
The construction of a new regulatory structure is the first step in the DFSA’s Digital Assets Regime, according to the study, which incorporates the recommendations given in Consultation Paper 138, which was issued in March 2021. The public was invited to comment on the DFSA’s plans to regulate Security Tokens in the consultation document.
The financial authority in Dubai, as reported by Cointelegraph in March, invited members of the public to submit views on draught guidelines for cryptocurrencies classified as security tokens.
The investment token structure is intended to protect investors while also providing legal certainty to market participants.
It lays forth the types of investment tokens that are allowed and that can be published on a Digital Asset Exchange in the Dubai International Financial Centre, as well as other details.
The DFSA is also developing proposals for unlisted securities that are not covered by the regulatory framework for investment tokens. Cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, and certain stablecoins are expected to be among them. In the fourth quarter of this year, the DFSA is anticipated to release a follow-up consultation document.
Alien Worlds Takes the Helm as the Top Blockchain Game
Alien Worlds has risen to the top of the blockchain gaming rankings, with approximately 11 million daily transactions and over 700,000 monthly active users.
This study was carried out by DappRadar, a renowned platform for decentralised applications, which tracked on-chain smart contract activity.
NFT artist Max Infeld applauded Alien Worlds for gaining traction in less than a year, saying:
“The Alien Worlds community has successfully inspired a generation of blockchain gamers to engage in the same intense cooperation and competition – mining, fighting, playing games and participating in governance – that is found in any earthbound community.”
Alien Worlds is a blockchain-based game in which players use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to play games, vote in elections, stake Trillium tokens on planets, and run for planetary council.
In addition, this game is built on a competitive Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) framework that motivates and engages participants on Planet DAO, their virtual home.
There are 3.6 million registered users on Alien Worlds.
Because it has over 3.6 million registered NFT aficionados and game players, the blockchain-based game’s popularity has not gone unnoticed since it was introduced in beta version in 2020.
Kevin Wang, a partner at Longling Capital, made the following observation:
“Alien Worlds started with a vision to make the most of NFTs and blockchain technology by building a social and economic structure that gamers could explore and enjoy in many different ways.”
NFTs have swept the board in a variety of industries, including gambling.
For example, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American integrated media and entertainment business best known for professional wrestling, stated in August that NFTs inspired by 16-time world champion John Cena would be featured at the pay-per-view event SummerSlam.
NFTs are blockchain-based owned digital assets whose value is predicated on their rarity, as the tokens are non-divisible and must be purchased in their whole. As a result of their scarcity, these characteristics provide NFTs inherent worth.
South Korean pension fund to invest in Bitcoin ETF: Report
After consulting with domestic asset managers, KTCU aims to invest in Bitcoin ETF products, according to reports.
The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), a public pension fund in South Korea, is apparently considering investing in Bitcoin (BTC) through a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to local news media The Korea Economic Daily, KTCU, one of South Korea’s major institutional investors, is considering investing in a pure Bitcoin ETF or Bitcoin-linked ETFs in the first half of 2022.
According to the report, KTCU is considering investing in a number of Bitcoin ETFs, including those offered by Mirae Asset Global Investments, a South Korean asset management firm. In April 2021, the company’s Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs released two ETFs that track the value of Bitcoin futures.
“Because there are certain well-made cryptocurrency-linked ETF products by asset managers like Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments,” a KTCU executive reportedly remarked, “We plan to invest in the ETF products after consulting with domestic asset managers.”
The official also highlighted Mirae Asset’s subsidiary, Global X ETFs, which applied for a Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July.With $40.2 billion in assets under administration, KTCU is the second-largest institutional investor in South Korea, according to the research. Alternative assets account for 40% of the pension fund’s investments, with domestic and overseas stocks accounting for 10% and 9%, respectively. The magnitude and other parameters of KTCU’s potential Bitcoin ETF investment have yet to be determined.
The announcement comes as global pension funds become more interested in having exposure to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and key companies in the space. According to reports, the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund purchased $25 million in Bitcoin and Ether last week (ETH). The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board of Canada took part in a $420 million fundraising round for FTX, a major cryptocurrency exchange, the company stated Oct. 21.
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