Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Binance to offer world’s first Initial Game Offering (IGO) featuring AI robot Sophia

AI robot Sophia is set to be tokenized and auctioned as part of a Metaverse project called “Noahs Ark.” Binance is launching this campaign as an Initial Game Offering (IGO).　　It will feature 100 “intelligent NFTs” available for auction on December 16 and be known as “The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI.”　　“The IGO will showcase a history-making limited-edition one hundred Intelligent NFTs featuring Sophia beingAI. The collection will be known as, ”The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI.　　As the worlds first, IGOs promise a new level of innovation in crypto funding. But what exactly are they？What is a Binance Initial Game Offering (IGO)？　　Up to 2017, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) were the industry standard in how crypto projects raised money. The ICO scene birthed many big-hitting projects, including Ethereum and NEO.　　But ICOs hit trouble following a series of high-profile exit scams, including OneCoin, headed by self-proclaimed “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova.　　Ignatovas “global tour” convinced investors to part with a reported $4.9 billion before she disappeared with the funds in 2017.　　As expected, this and similar incidents tarnished the term ICO, leading to their demise. Since then, different types of fundraising concepts have come into play, such as Security Token Offerings (STOs) and Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs).　　In

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Bitwise CIO Says $100K Bitcoin a Difficult Prediction to Make, Calls Ethereum the 'Asset of the Year

While there‘s been an awful lot of calls for bitcoin to reach six-digits in value in 2021, as the end of the year draws closer, it doesn’t seem like $100K per bitcoin will happen. Bitwise Asset Managements chief investment officer Matt Hougan told the press on Monday that “$100,000 by the end of the year is a difficult prediction to make.”　　$100K Bitcoin Prices May Be Unattainable in 2021 — Bitwise Exec Says Next Year ‘Investors Are Going to Be Looking at Ethereum’　　For a good portion of the year, many bitcoin advocates, experts, luminaries, and analysts predicted that bitcoin (BTC) would surely hit the $100K per unit range in 2021. One of the most popular forecasts belongs to Plan B, the creator of the stock-to-flow (S2F) bitcoin price model. Plan B said based on the pseudonymous analysts “worst case scenario for 2021 (price/on-chain based)” would be “Aug47K, Sep43K, Oct63K, Nov98K, Dec135K.”　　However, November‘s price call missed and the $135K prediction looks like it will miss as well. Bitcoin would have to double in value over the next 24 days gathering a touch over 96% during that time. Plan B is not the only one that has predicted BTC could hit six-digits in

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Biden Releases Anti-Corruption Strategy Targeting Cryptocurrency

The White House recently released a first-of-its-kind, 38-page report detailing new efforts to fight state and financial corruption. It breaks down the effort into five strategic pillars, one of which bears mention of a new “National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team”.　　Prosecuting Crypto Criminals　　The Biden Administration released the document through a statement from the White Houses website on Monday. As reads the statement, the strategy places particular emphasis on reducing “the ability of corrupt actors to use the U.S. and international financial systems to hide assets and launder the proceeds of corrupt acts.”　　Under pillar III, titled “Holding Corrupt Actors Accountable,” it states that the DOJ will combat the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit finance through a new, dedicated task force:　　“DOJ will utilize a newly established task force, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, to focus specifically on complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering infrastructure actors.”　　Money laundering is a persistent concern among regulators regarding cryptocurrencies – especially stablecoins. From Gary Gensler to Jerome Powell, fiat-pegged digital assets are perceived as unregulated avenues for global payment that can scale rapidly across illegal payment networks, due to their high liquidity.　　Illicit

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Central bank tells Thai banks not to offer crypto trading

The Bank of Thailand has stated that it does not want commercial banks to be directly involved in the trading of crypto assets.　　The edict came from central bank senior director Chayawadee Chai-Anant on Dec. 7 who cited risks associated with high price volatility.　　“We dont want banks to be directly involved in digital asset trading because banks are (responsible) for customer deposits and the public and there is risk.”　　The latest round of central bank suppression of digital assets comes at a time when commercial banks have been making investments in local cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a Bangkok Post report.　　In early November, Thailand‘s oldest bank Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) announced that it was acquiring a 51% stake in the country’s largest crypto exchange, Bitkub. In late August, the Zipmex crypto exchange raised $1.3 billion in funding from the countrys fifth-largest lender, Bank of Ayudhya.　　The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has taken an increasingly tougher stance against digital assets despite their growing popularity in the country among individuals, companies, and banks.　　Last week, BoT senior director Sakkapop Panyanukul warned businesses about accepting crypto, stating: “If other currencies are widely used, it will impact the central banks ability oversee the economy.” Referring to tokens not backed

2021-12-08Deep Dive

India Will Jail Citizens for Using Crypto as Payment Tool

Previously proposed legalization and further cryptocurrency regulation in India will include strict punishment for those for choose not to obey the new law, arrest without a warrant and jail time with no right to bail, according to Reuters sources.　　Jail time for sending Bitcoin　　The Indian government has previously stated loud and clear that the government is looking forward to banning most cryptocurrencies that are being used as payment tools, which universally means a total crackdown on crypto as a payment method in the country.　　The previously accepted bill will generally prohibit all activities related to mining, generating, holding and trading cryptocurrency assets. Crypto would not be allowed to be used as a store of value, exchangeable medium or even as a unit of an account.　　Any noncompliance with the abovementioned rules would be considered a strict violation of the law that will lead to an arrest without a warrant or further notice. Arrested individuals will have no right to be bailed out of prison.　　End of crypto trading in India　　The governments actions contradict the previous statement about plans for the promotion and further development of the blockchain industry and technology. In addition to a complete prohibition on crypto usage, the non-fungible tokens market will

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Salvadoran Ecologist Claims Volcano-Powered Bitcoin Mine Will 'End in Environmental Disaster'

El Salvador‘s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro believes that mining bitcoin with a volcano, or geothermal energy, will “end in environmental disaster.” Navarro believes geothermal energy costs more than oil, and thinks El Salvador’s millennial president Nayib Bukeles decision is questionable.　　Salvadoran ecologist Ricardo Navarro Questions His Countrys Volcano-Powered Bitcoin City Venture　　During the second week of June, El Salvador‘s president Nayib Bukele told the public that the Latin American country planned to mine bitcoin (BTC) with energy stemming from volcanoes located in the country. At the end of September, Bukele shared a video of the initial construction of the Salvadoran volcano-powered bitcoin mining facility. Now the president and his government have been criticized by El Salvador’s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro.　　El Salvador‘s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro, an environmentalist who believes Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s recent bitcoin concepts are questionable.　　The Salvadoran ecologist explained to Telegraph contributor Simeon Tegel that developing a ‘Bitcoin City’ next to a volcano doesn‘t make sense. “Talking about building this city beside a volcano is like thinking you are rich because you live next to a bank,” Navarro said. Navarro also detailed that geothermal energy is still a costly endeavor and won’t be much better than using petroleum sources. Navarro

2021-12-07Deep Dive

Grayscale Finds Rising Interest in Bitcoin as it Pushes for Spot BTC ETF

The US-based major cryptoasset management firm Grayscale turned to a survey to show the rising interest in bitcoin (BTC) among investors as the company is working hard to convince the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the first bitcoin spot-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.　　Today, Grayscale published the results of an online survey of 1,000 US consumers, who were involved in some form of personal investing, in August this year.　　“It is becoming increasingly difficult for investors to ignore Bitcoin as its price continues to rise. The interested market for Bitcoin investment products expanded to 59% in 2021, up from just over half (55%) in 2020 and slightly more than one-third (36%) in 2019, reflecting a steady growth in interest,” Grayscale said.　　Also, according to the survey, 77% of respondents said they would be more likely to invest in BTC if a spot-based ETF existed.　　Source: Grayscale　　Spot-based ETF differs from the existing bitcoin futures ETFs in the US, which only hold bitcoin futures contracts and not BTC itself.　　Grayscale Investments has an application pending with the SEC for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the worlds largest BTC fund, to be converted to a spot-based ETF.　　As reported last week, Grayscale issued a letter

2021-12-07Deep Dive

India releases ‘National Strategy on Blockchain’ for e-governance

The Indian ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has released a 52-page “National Strategy on Blockchain” document that urges closer cooperation between government and the private sector to build blockchain infrastructure across the worlds second-most populous nation.　　Fast facts　　It is to be noted that the current NSB document is an updated version from the one released earlier this year. According to the document, India wants to develop a national blockchain platform to further the use of blockchain across sectors. To that effect, MeitY wants to build a “National Blockchain Framework” (NBF), because a “geographically distributed national level shared infrastructure,” whose nodes are spread across India, is required for the country to benefit from blockchain at scale, the document noted.　　The national blockchain infrastructure will be used to provide blockchain-as-a-service, the document said. It added that the development of the NBF will require collaboration between academic institutions, the government, startups and the industry. Initially, the NBF will only be used in the e-governance domain while transitions to broader use-cases will be done over time.　　The document notes that it “lays out overall vision and the development and implementation strategies for a National Blockchain Platform covering the technology stack, legal and regulatory framework, standards

2021-12-07Deep Dive

Only 1 in 4 NFTs Bought During Minting Result in Profit - Chainalysis

Data acquired from the major non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea reveals that merely 28.5% of NFTs purchased during minting lead to a profit. On the other hand, more than 65% of NFTs bought from other users on the secondary markets result in profit.　　NFTs “are far from a surefire investment” and only 1 in 4 NFTs purchased during minting can provide their owners with a profit, according to a report from blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.　　They noted, however, that certain tactics can lead to more success.　　Chainalysis claimed NFT projects that “whitelist” their dedicated followers, gather them in a Discord or Telegram server, and allow them to buy the NFTs at a discount will have more chance of success. That is because those followers will promote the project on social media, marketing the yet-to-be-launched project.　　“More than anything else, NFTs run on community and word of mouth growth. Look at virtually any successful NFT project, and youll likely find Discord servers and Twitter threads full of enthusiasts promoting the project. This is by design,” the report said.　　The report also noted that it is nearly impossible for users to gain substantial returns on minting purchases if they are not whitelisted, stating that, users who “make

2021-12-07Deep Dive

Full Decentralisation in DeFi is Illusory: BIS Report

In its latest quarterly review, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has claimed that decentralization in decentralized finance (DeFi) is an illusion and argues that policymakers should leverage this to regulate the sector.　　BIS Report Calls DeFis Main Proposition “Illusory”　　The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial institution owned by central banks of different countries, published a research paper on Monday containing a special feature on DeFi and its implications for financial stability.　　In the feature, the BIS argues that full decentralization in DeFi is an illusion, citing the inescapable need for some form of centralized governance to exist and the tendency of blockchain consensus mechanisms to concentrate power.　　According to the report, all DeFi platforms “have central governance frameworks outlining how to set strategic and operational priorities,” thereby necessarily containing “an element of centralisation.” On this point, the BIS specifically highlighted holders of governance tokens and stakeholders that exercise “managerial or ownership benefits” as typical examples for points of centralization.　　“These groups, and the governance protocols on which their interactions are based,” the report said, “are the natural entry points for policymakers.” Interestingly, the BIS did not make any specific policy recommendations for lawmakers, but rather only highlighted the need to regulate

2021-12-07Deep Dive

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