Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

ArtNet Launches dedicated NFT Platform with ArtNFT: Beginnings Collection

Artnet, founded in 1989 and one of the worlds largest platforms for fine art with over 60 million unique annual users, has launched into the world of NFTs. With an outstanding reputation for helping people discover, research, and collect art, it was a natural progression. Today, Artnet Auctions hosts more than 70 curated auctions annually. As of the end of August, the value of transactions sold on Artnet Auctions had increased by 20% YoY to 18.5 million USD, and revenues have increased by 15% to 3.6 million USD.　　Now it has launched ArtNFT, the companys highly-anticipated on-chain NFT platform. Its inaugural sale, ArtNFT: Beginnings, is the first dedicated space for NFT artists on the well-known platform. The first collection features some of the most iconic NFTs of today and the works reflect on artists experimenting with this technology. The platform includes art from early pioneers and the inventors of the NFTs to the generation of digital artists that have fully embraced NFTs.　　Including works by Georg Nees, Herbert W. Franke, Vuk Ćosić, Miltos Manetas, Kevin McCoy, Dmitri Cherniak, Osinachi, Justin Aversano, Pindar van Arman, FEWOCIOUS, and Kevin Abosch, Artnets inaugural auction brings together a tightly curated selection of rare examples from within

2021-12-23Deep Dive

DeFi token VISR plunges by 95% following $8 million hack

Decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity management protocol Visor Finance became yet another victim of hackers last night as perpetrator(s) siphoned over 8.8 million VISR tokens—worth $8.1 million at the time.　　“On December 21st 2021 02:29:11 PM UTC a malicious contract drained Visor Finance‘s staking contract of 8,812,958 VISR tokens. The attack was made possible by implementing the IVisor delegateTransferERC20 interface and calling the staking contract’s withdraw function with the desired VISR amount,” Visor Finance developers explained in a post-mortem today.　　In other words, the hacker wrote their own smart contract and used it to manipulate Visor protocols “withdraw” function, allowing the attacker to drain the staking pool.　　To remedy the situation, Visor now plans to issue a new token under a different ticker and use it to reimburse VISR holders in a 1:1 ratio.　　“We have already begun the process of listing the new token on various registries in order to make sure the new token is visible and recognized by dexes and wallets starting day one,” Visor explained, adding:　　“We are engaged with both Quantstamp and ConsenSys Diligence for December and January audits and this new staking contract will be included.”　　Since the compensation plan will rely on a snapshot made before the hack occurred, currently

2021-12-23Deep Dive

Russia’s Cryptocurrency Mixed Signals – Investors Can Invest Through Foreign Intermediaries

Russia has plans to allow citizens to continue to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum after back and forth arguments.　　The country states that foreign companies will be the only bodies that will be allowed to partake in the market.　　The country pledges to clarify crypto regulations in the coming months.　　Russia has been playing cat and mouse with cryptocurrency investors in the country for years but it seems clarity could be coming to the ecosystem. In the new system, local players will be excluded with preference shown to foreign firms.　　Yes To Crypto, No To Local Players　　Russias deputy central bank governor, Vladimir Chistyukhin told the press on Monday that cryptocurrencies will not receive an outright ban but they can only invest in them through foreign companies. His comments have been described as bitter-sweet as it offers a ray of hope to investors in the county seeking legal backing before going all in.　　“Russian citizens and businesses have the right to acquire and hold cryptocurrency, but not through the domestic infrastructure or intermediaries,” said Chistyukhin.　　His comment comes after the central bank‘s governor said that the apex bank is considering a blanket ban of cryptocurrencies after citing potential risks that investors have to be wary of.

2021-12-23Deep Dive

Argentina's Central Bank Taking Action Against Crypto Ponzi Schemes

The Central bank of Argentina has announced that it will be taking action against cryptocurrency investment companies that offer “returns through operations with crypto assets and cryptocurrencies that are not compatible with reasonable parameters in financial operations.”　　In a statement the central bank noted that they would be cracking down on cryptocurrency scams as well as investigating crypto companies that they believe carry a high investment risk.　　“The BCRA, through the Superintendency of Financial and Foreign Exchange Entities, has carried out inspections in several provinces, initiating the respective investigations and adopting cessation orders on these practices and will initiate the corresponding summary and judicial actions to protect the public” the statement noted.　　The Argentinian Chamber of Fintech recently released a proposal of guidelines on how the government should regulate cryptocurrency assets in the future. The proposal provided key issues aimed to help regulatory decisions, and includes recommendations into how regulators should approach the regulation of cryptocurrency.　　Cryptocurrency adoption in Argentina has been high, largely the result of of an unstable national currency, and president Alberto Fernandez stating publicly that he was open to adopting cryptocurrencies as legal tender. The recent crackdown by the central bank draws attention to the significant rise in illegal or

2021-12-23Deep Dive

More than 100 crypto companies failed to get a license in Singapore

Since Singapore began regulating the cryptocurrency sector earlier this year, about 170 companies have applied for a license to offer “digital payment token services,” which include crypto-related services. However, Nikkei Asia reported that more than 100 companies that applied for such a license have either been turned down or withdrawn their applications.　　Central bank fears cryptocurrencies could be abused for money laundering.　　Crypto firms that were operating in the country prior to the introduction of the licensing regime were granted exemptions until their license applications had been processed. A spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the countrys central bank and regulator of the crypto sector, said, “Cryptocurrencies could be abused for money laundering, terrorism financing, or proliferation financing due to the speed and cross-border nature of the transactions.” “Crypto firms have to comply with requirements to mitigate such risks, including the need to carry out proper customer due diligence, conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report suspicious transactions,” the spokesperson added.　　Only three companies are listed as licensed entities on the MAS website.　　So far, only three companies are listed as licensed entities on the MAS website: DBS Vickers Securities, a unit of DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia‘s largest bank; digital

2021-12-23Deep Dive

Crypto Trading Volume in Turkey Surges as Local Currency Plunges

The popularity of cryptocurrencies in economically embattled Turkey has continued to surge with the number of daily trades now surpassing one million, a report has said. This surge in trades has been attributed to the depreciating lira which plunged to a new low against the USD on December 20.　　Lira Plunges　　Cryptocurrency trades in inflation-stricken Turkey have surged to above one million per day for the first time since March, a Reuters report citing Chainalysis and Kaiko data has said.　　According to the report, the return to over a million trades per day has come at a time when Turkey‘s fiat currency, the lira, has depreciated by almost 40% since September. Prior to the latest surge, cryptocurrency trades in Turkey had previously surpassed the one million per day mark after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unexpected dismissal of the central bank governor on March 22.　　The dismissal of then-governor Naci Agbal sparked inflation fears among Turks and caused the lira to plunge by more than 10%. However, after a period of relative stability — which in turn led to reduced cryptocurrency transactions — trades per day went above the one million mark again after the liras latest plunge.　　As shown by recent data, the lira briefly

2021-12-23Deep Dive

Former POTUS Donald Trump Says Crypto is Dangerous But Praises Melania’s NFT Project

Former US President Donald Trump is no fan of cryptocurrencies, and he is making that known once again. The only currency he wants is the US Dollar.　　Trump has been a critic of cryptocurrencies for quite some time now, and this outlook isnt changing anytime soon. Even if the former FLOTUS Melania Trump has warmed up to the idea of NFT and digital assets, her husband still believes that cryptocurrencies are dangerous.　　 Donald Trump Weighs on Crypto: Still Not a Big Fan　　In a recent interview with Fox Business, Donald Trump revealed that he never liked Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Like many other critics and naysayers, Trump didnt go to lengths to explain why he thinks investing in those assets can be dangerous. He said,　　“I never loved it because I like to have the Dollar. I think the currency should be the Dollar. So, I was never a big fan. But it is spilling up bigger and bigger. Nobody is doing anything about it. I don‘t want to have all these other (cryptocurrencies). There could be an explosion someday, the likes of which we’ve never seen. It will make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff. I think its a very

2021-12-23Deep Dive

This is how Zilliqa’s ‘Metapolis’ plans to unravel new layers of engagement

Layer 1 sharded blockchain Zilliqa recently announced it will be launching its own extended reality (XR) platform, dubbed ‘Metapolis’ in January 2022.　　Ready to enter the Metaverse, Zilliqa‘s ’Metapolis is designed as an “amalgamation of AR and VR” that will leverage several engagement layers, including NFTs, e-commerce, play-to-earn, digital mannequins, advertising billboards, and beyond.Conceptually rich and custom-designed domes　　According to the announcement, Zilliqas “highly immersive and gamified” extended reality (XR) platform built for the Metaverse will feature so-called “domes.” These custom-designed parts of the cities are conceptualized to house brands, artists, concepts, games, e-stores, real estate, and more.　　Fully customizable NFT Avatars which can be picked up upon entering Metapolis will represent users digital identities, as they take part in diverse activities the Metaverse platform has to offer–such as attending music events and fashion shows, teleporting between different locations, or venturing into galleries and showrooms to buy, sell or trade digital assets.　　“The metaverse isn‘t about replacing reality. It is about bettering our relationship with the digital world. Beyond the sharing-culture that social media has unleashed, this world looks at reducing the gaps present in our ’real‘ economy–gaps around access to value creation and fair pay. It will add layers of interaction to professional

2021-12-22Deep Dive

Less than 1% Bitcoin addresses control 27% of its total supply

The total supply of the flagship crypto-asset, Bitcoin, now stands at around 19 million. While many tout the decentralized nature of the asset, a recent study has revealed the coin might be more centralized than we think, as only a minute fraction of all wallet addresses hold nearly one-third of the total circulation of the currency.0.01% of wallets control 5 million units of BTC　　Wall Street Journal reported the result of the recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research on Bitcoin. According to the report, about 0.01% of BTC addresses hold a whopping 27% of all of the coins in circulation. 　　“Approximately 0.01% of bitcoin holders control 27% of the 19 million bitcoin in circulation.”　　This means that out of the mined 19 million BTC that is presently in circulation, 27% of it, which represents 5 million Bitcoin units (valued at $232 billion), are in the control of 0.01% wallet addresses (equivalent to 10,000 crypto addresses). Per recent data, approximately 114 million wallets hold all the 19 billion units of Bitcoin currently in circulation.　　In another study, professors at MIGs Sloan School of Management and the London School of Economics have analyzed all transactions made so far in the history

2021-12-22Deep Dive

Bitcoin Spot ETF Would Attract Billions USD: Bloomberg Expert

After the ProShares Bitcoin ETF was kicked off in late October of this year, the crypto market was galvanized; however, there are plenty of other Bitcoin funds that have been attracting lots of cash from investors.　　Institutions crave Bitcoin ETFs　　Financial institutions keep jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, investing in such funds as Grayscale and Galaxy Digital, which hold billions of investments under their management.　　Still, the release of the ProShares BTC Strategy ETF (BITO) at the end of October gained a great deal of attention since it was the first ever Bitcoin ETF approved by the U.S. regulator the SEC.　　After only a couple of days of trading, it accumulated a whopping $1 billion and set a record as the biggest and busiest start of a Bitcoin ETF. This showed the massive interest of U.S. institutions in Bitcoin ETFs. However, BITO tracks the performance of Bitcoin futures, and it is not a spot ETF.　　Overall, however, the amount of investment in crypto funds more than doubled this year.　　Bitcoin spot ETF would draw a lot more investors, expert says　　Bloomberg Intelligence believes that demand among investors would be far higher if a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund was approved for launch since it does not bear roll

2021-12-22Deep Dive

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