Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Former OpenSea Exec Charged with Insider Trading

Nathaniel Chastain, former product manager at leading non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea, has been charged with insider trading by U.S. prosecutors, according to a press release published by the Department of Justice.　　Chastain is now facing one count of money laundering and one count of wire fraud.　　Last September, he was forced to resign after it turned out that he was buying NFTs before they would appear on the websites homepage. His ingenious scheme was exposed by a Twitter user who posted transaction receipts tied to Chastain.　　The unscrupulous executive would sell his NFTs right to make significant financial gains after pumping their price by attracting more eyeballs.　　In some cases, Chastain was able to make profits of up to five times his original investment.　　He used anonymous accounts in order to conduct his NFT purchases.　　Chastain was reportedly asked to leave the company due to the damning allegations. The former executive was silent on the issue, and the controversy was quickly denied down.　　Now, Chastain is once again on everyones lips after U.S. prosecutors brought their first NFT-related insider trading case against him. For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit - the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.　　In a statement, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said that

2022-06-02Deep Dive

Bitcoin Is Biggest Market Bubble, Deutsche Bank Survey Shows

A Deutsche Bank survey that was published earlier this Tuesday shows that the majority of investors still think that Bitcoin is in “extreme bubble” territory.　　More than half of the respondents gave the cryptocurrency a rating from 8 to 10.　　Image by twitter.com　　Still, the share of those who view Bitcoin as the most extreme case of “bubbliness” has declined significantly compared to March 2021.　　It is worth noting that Bitcoins price action has been extremely underwhelming in 2022. The cryptocurrency is currently down 54.20% from its record high after recording nine consecutive weeks of losses (a new record).　　The survey shows that investors continue to believe that there is froth in the stock market. Despite the fact that the Nasdaq 100 index declined more than 22.30% on a year-to-date basis, tech stocks are still viewed as a bubble, albeit not an extreme one. The vast majority of the respondents gave the Nasdaq a rating of 7 or lower.　　In early 2021, for comparison, tech stocks were in “extreme bubble” territory right next to Bitcoin.　　The U.S. equities market remains frothier compared to European and Asian equities. Other asset classes, such as European government bonds and credit spreads, are also off the hook, the survey shows.　　Yet, Bitcoin

2022-06-01Deep Dive

More Crypto Companies Moving to Switzerland to Avoid Regulatory Restrictions

IN BRIEF　　Crypto exchanges and firms are increasingly choosing Switzerland.　　The government practically encourages crypto and blockchain firms.　　The regulatory system is much easier to work with than many nearby countries in Europe.　　Switzerland remains one of the most attractive locations in Europe for blockchain and crypto firms which continue to flock there according to reports.　　Divisions appear to be forming geographically between nations that are pro-crypto and want to attract innovation and investment, and those that are intent on restricting digital asset usage and trading, heavily taxing them, or banning them outright.　　On one side of the digital divide are countries such as Switzerland, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and El Salvador. While on the other side are China, India, Iran, and to some extent the United Kingdom and the United States due to their ongoing regulatory procrastination and constant warnings.　　Switzerland is one of Europes most accommodating jurisdictions for crypto companies which are still heading there in droves according to a recent report in local media.　　Rolling out the red carpet　　Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and Switzerland Global Enterprise, the official organization for investment promotion, took the opportunity to welcome more foreign blockchain firms at last weeks World Economic Forum in Davos.　　In March, Switzerland touted the

2022-06-01Deep Dive

European Union Plans to Introduce Tighter Rules on Crypto Transactions

IN BRIEF　　The European Union (EU) is set to vote on a bill that will require exchanges to report every crypto transaction to authorities.　　The new bill is an upgrade to the “travel rule” that has been in operation for a few years.　　The EU is proposing legislation to exercise greater control over the crypto industry.　　The European Union will soon decide whether to approve a proposal that could compel crypto firms to collect data on both senders and recipients in a transaction.　　The “travel rule” obliges banks and payments companies to hold information that “travels” between payers and recipients.　　However, the European Parliament is nearing a vote to decide on expanding the scope of the travel rule for cryptocurrency firms. The vote is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.　　The travel rule mandates that every financial transaction above 1,000 euros should be reported to financial authorities. While this has been hailed as a win for anti-money laundering (AML), the new proposal seeks to eliminate the threshold for reporting.　　European exchanges may be obliged to report all crypto transactions　　In the event that the proposal passes, exchanges will be mandated to report all crypto transactions, even as low as five euros.　　The proposers of the bill argue that

2022-06-01Deep Dive

World's Biggest Financial Holding, Fidelity, to Offer Ethereum Custody and Trading

One of the worlds biggest financial holdings, Fidelity, started offering Ethereum trading and custody services after launching a similar service for Bitcoin. As WSJ reports, the company plans to double the head count in 2022 as they expect a return in demand for digital assets.　　The company is getting ready to hire 110 new workers, including engineers and developers with the experience in blockchain. The company is most likely planning to build digital infrastructure to support additional cryptocurrencies.　　The expansion plans are following the news about Fidelitys plan to put retirement savers funds to Bitcoin later this year, which would make it the first major retirement-plan provider to do so.　　The Fidelity Digital Asset was founded far before the 2021 bullrun. The subsidiary builds infrastructure for supporting custody and trading services for Ethereum. The platform was developed for storing and trading large volumes of Bitcoin or any other digital assets.　　Reportedly, the platforms data and apps will be located in the cloud to make transaction processing significantly faster and open 24-hour trading support. With a growing number of users, Fidelity aims to provide an institutional level of security.　　As we may see, the massive correction on the cryptocurrency market has not scared off institutional-tier investors

2022-06-01Deep Dive

South Korea Plans to Establish a Watchdog over Virtual Assets and Crypto in June

According to NewsPim, the Digital Assets Committee, which will serve as the supervisory and controlling authority for virtual assets, and cryptocurrencies in particular, will be launched as early as June. The committee is expected to be responsible for policy preparation and supervision of the virtual asset industry until the enactment of the Framework Act on Digital Assets and the establishment of a dedicated organization within the government.　　Based on the words of a Korean official cited by NewsPim, the launch of the Digital Asset Committee will occur shortly after the inauguration of the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission - as early as the last week of June.　　The decision to launch the Digital Asset Committee was made in a hurry, as the Terra (LUNA) crash increased the need for a reliable authority to represent the virtual asset industry. It is expected that the government will minimize market confusion and enhance policy efforts by unifying the South Korean system of the competent ministries into one state body.　　The Digital Asset Committee plans to prepare market guidelines, such as listing review criteria, designation of significant items, unfair trade monitoring, disclosure system and investor protection measures. On top of that, five major exchanges in

2022-06-01Deep Dive

Prada becomes the latest fashion brand to launch NFTs

Prada, the Italian luxury fashion designer, will debut its first solo NFTs on Thursday, which will be available for 24 hours with the purchase of a physical item.　　The NFT will be part of the brands ongoing Timecapsule initiative, originally launched in December 2019, which drops limited-edition physical products on Pradas e-commerce site on the first Thursday of every month.　　This Thursday, the shirts dropping on Pradas website will come with a free NFT that is designed like a pill capsule and backed up on the Ethereum blockchain. There will be 100 shirts and NFTs in total.　　The black or white button-down unisex shirts are designed by artist Cassius Hirst, son of NFT artist Damien Hirst. The corresponding NFT will refer to the drops serial number and an item number associated with each physical shirt.　　The NFTs will give owners exclusive access to perks and experiences, all of which will be revealed on Pradas new Discord server “Prada Crypted,” which is set to launch on Thursday as well.　　Aura Blockchain Consortium, a nonprofit founded by LVMH, Prada, and Cartier, is behind Pradas latest NFT drop. Aura uses Quorum, an Ethereum-based enterprise blockchain service.　　A larger phygital trend among luxury brands　　This isnt Pradas first move into the

2022-06-01Deep Dive

How to get a job in the Metaverse and Web3?

Can you work in the Metaverse？　　The Metaverse is the next big career path on which to land an ideal job with firms like Meta, Roblox, Microsoft, OpenSea, The Sandbox (SAND), and the many others constructing it. So, if you want to know how to land a job in the Metaverse, you need to be aware of what your role may look like. Essentially, your job will involve a combination of blockchain, artificial intelligence, 5G, gaming and other Web3 technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality.　　In this article, learn the basic steps to landing a career in the Metaverse and Web3 fields.Build the required skill set　　The first step toward exploring jobs in the Metaverse is to gain the required skills and knowledge. For instance, a 3D character artist developing avatars will need to know Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D and have some expertise in creating skins and gaming. Most Metaverse jobs like those involving engineering-related work require a competitive skill set such as knowledge of NodeJS, Javascript, application programming interface (API) integrations and React.　　You can build the above skills by applying to a university that offers metaverse-related courses or learning at no cost or through financial aid on platforms like Coursera and

2022-05-31Deep Dive

Brazil Launches a Blockchain Network to Better Trace Public Expenditures

On May 30, Brazils new government blockchain network went live thanks to a cooperation agreement between the Court of Accounts of Uniam (TCU) and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).　　The launch event was live-streamed on the official YouTube channel of the Court of Accounts of Uniam (TCU). The events focus was to discuss the technical aspects of the project based on the experiences of several guests (public officials, company executives, and representatives of university institutions).　　The Brazilian Blockchain Network (RBB) is still under development, but will initially be used in several public institutions, aiming to improve the services offered to citizens and provide greater traceability on public expenditures.　　This is just part of the countrys broadest efforts to integrate blockchain technology into the public administration for a more eficcient and transparent workflow. This goes beyond simpiy regulating crypto from a financial point of view —which also happens to be the focus of many legislators in the country.　　Brazil is betting on the blockchain to fight corruption or improve public institutions　　The incorruptible nature of blockchain technology is a double-edged sword for many officials and politicians, as it makes it easier to immediately expose any type of corruption, embezzlement, or illegal activities, which TCU wants to

2022-05-31Deep Dive

Report: Latam Countries Are Among the Most Enthusiastic About the Metaverse

A new survey has found peoples opinion of the metaverse in emerging countries is significantly more positive than in their developed counterparts. The study, carried out by Ipsos for the World Economic Forum (WEF), also shows that Latam countries are among the most enthusiastic about the future of the metaverse and its applications for different industries.　　Latam Believes in the Metaverse　　More and more companies are interested in the opinions people in different parts of the world have about the metaverse. A new survey conducted by Ipsos for the World Economic Forum.　　The study surveyed groups of 1,000 and 500 adults in 29 different countries, considered representative of the actual populations of each country. The study reported that all of the countries in Latam surveyed — including Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru — had a more positive opinion that the rest of the world about metaverse technologies. Peruvians had an exceptional opinion about the metaverse, with 74% of the adults surveyed being positive about it, being only surpassed by some countries in the APAC area.　　More Insights　　The survey also found that most people believe that certain applications of metaverse technology will be more successful than others. When asked about which kinds of metaverse

2022-05-31Deep Dive

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