Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Golden State Warriors Become First US Sports Team to Release Own NFT

Golden State are diving headfirst with an extensive collection of digital memorabilia which they have named the “Golden State Warriors Legacy NFT Collection.”　　The Golden State Warriors announced on Tuesday a new non-fungible token (NFT) collection to be auctioned off. The collection was created to commemorate the teams six NBA championships.　　Golden State looking for a big win in the NFT market　　The collection will highlight the Warriors six NBA Championship wins, specifically the rings. Each ring will be digitally reproduced in limited quantities with the coveted first editions to include a physical version of the ring as well. Custom designs and even a fitting will be done by jewelry artist Jason of Beverly Hills.　　The auction will also contain a collection of special ticket stubs, each hand-illustrated by artist Black Madre. The same artist who created the Joe Dimaggio NFT, earlier this month.　　Each stub is designed to commemorate events ranging from the first game in 1946, when they were the Philadelphia Warriors, to the first game in their new arena. Another piece will honor the famous 2007 “We Believe” playoff run where GS beat the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the NBA postseason.　　The pièce de résistance of the collection is a

2021-04-28Deep Dive

New WWF Project To Use NFTs to Save Animals

While some skeptics criticize non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for their alleged carbon footprint, an unusual partnership has emerged.　　This time, Carbonbase, a Hong Kong-based greentech start-up that leverages emerging technologies to reduce emissions for individuals and enterprises, has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Panda Labs division, to launch a marketplace for rare digital collectibles, Project Ark. Launched this month, it aims to “save animals and protect biodiversity through collectibles worth saving.” Artists and buyers can be connected here, with the goal to support international NGOs and local communities.　　The NFTs sales are used to form crowdfunding campaigns for projects, with the majority of the proceeds going towards the conservation efforts and the rest to the artists and the platform. Buyers will know exactly where their money goes and the impact it creates, as a report will be made for each completed campaign, said the team. Meanwhile, the partnering organizations hope to be able to access new funding.　　The first project is set up with WWF Romania, a part of Panda Labs, with the idea to “have both a local and international perspective, bringing to life a Proof of Concept and then provide a model that can be used for other locations and

2021-04-28Deep Dive

Oxen Review | The Future Of Decentralized Privacy Tools

When Bitcoin was created, it gave birth to a whole world of varied and diverse cryptocurrencies. A key attribute of this new cryptocurrency technology was anonymity. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, was a champion of privacy, and to this day no one knows their true identity. Over time, however, privacy became a polarizing topic in the crypto industry.　　Fast forward to this past year, and privacy is an issue that has become incredibly dominant again. Hackers are more advanced, governments agencies are getting better with blockchain tools, and even some of those who took the extra step to use cold storage (hardware wallets) recently had their personal details leaked on the internet.　　Simply put, privacy is more important than ever. As crypto and digital economies take hold, preserving privacy will become one of the most crucial factors for the success of the technology. As such, were digging into Oxen – a private cryptocurrency at the center of a more private digital universe.　　What Is Oxen？　　Oxen is an anonymity protocol with advanced tools to build a more private internet. Those tools include a secure and encrypted messaging platform called Session, a network anonymity layer called Lokinet, a private and instant payment mechanism called

2021-04-28Deep Dive

South Korean Gaming Giant Nexon Snaps Up $100 Million Worth of Bitcoin

South Korean video game behemoth Nexon said Wednesday that it had purchased $100 million worth of Bitcoin, paying on average $58,226 per coin.　　CEO Owen Mahoney claims that the move is meant to protect shareholder value:　　“Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash assets. n the current economic environment, we believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments.”　　In December, Nexons market cap eclipsed $30 billion due to mushrooming demand for gaming. It is known for such hit games as Dungeon s cash pile.　　Earlier this month, Hong Kong-based beauty app Meitu also made yet another $10 million investment in crypto, bringing its total Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings to $100 million.

2021-04-28Deep Dive

Ethereum on a high after European Investment Bank’s $121M digital bond news

Ether (ETH) prices skyrocketed to a new all-time high on Wednesday on the back of positive news from the European Investment Bank.　　Ether has climbed to $2,709 early during trading in Asia on Wednesday, marking a new peak price for the asset, according to CoinGecko.　　The crypto metrics provider reports a gain of 7% over the past 24 hours, and 15.7% over the past seven days for the worlds second-largest digital asset by market capitalization. The move has pushed the ETH market cap to a record $312 billion.　　While there are a range of factors propelling Ethers price, Reuters today attributed it to the news that the European Investment Bank is launching a “digital bond” sale using the Ethereum network.　　The EIB is issuing a two-year 100-million-euro ($120.8 million) digital bond, with the sale to be led by Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander and Societe Generale, according to analysts at Bloomberg.　　On Friday, Societe Generale announced that its subsidiary, Societe Generale SFH, had issued a 100-million-euro bond as a security token on the public Ethereum blockchain. It was awarded the top triple-A rating by Moodys and Fitch.　　Danny Kim, head of revenue at crypto broker SFOX, told Reuters that the news has demonstrated a bullish institutional use

2021-04-28Deep Dive

End of Era? Binance Will Cease Support For OMNI

Without a lot of explanations, the worlds leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has decided to halt support for the OMNI network.　　Binance Halts OMNI Network Support　　According to a recent announcement, Binance will “cease support for deposit and withdrawal service on the OMNI network” on April 30th, 2021, at 00:00 UTC.　　The only explanation given in the official release is that Binance aims to “provide users with a better and smoother experience.”　　The world‘s leading stablecoin, Tether’s USDT, currently uses the OMNI network (among others) and has about $1.3 billion USDT in circulation on it.　　However, according to Binances official exchange wallet dashboard, the current fees to withdrawal USDT through OMNI is $28. This dwarfs every other network in comparison, even the swamped Ethereum, which currently requires $20 per withdrawal.　　 OMNI Network – a Blast From the Past　　The OMNI Network is a protocol that‘s built on Bitcoin’s blockchain and represents an effort to enable financial functions. Initially known as Mastercoin, the whitepaper for OMNI was published back in January 2012 by J.R. Willet. The project was officially rebranded in 2015.　　In any case, the Omni Layer was particularly popular in the early days of blockchain development as it had little to no competition. Its also the first

2021-04-28Deep Dive

Binance Continues Crypto Dominance With New NFT Marketplace

NFT mania has just gone bigger, with Binance, one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency companies, announcing its intention to launch a marketplace for the new species of digital assets.　　Dubbed as Binance NFT, the platform will see its first light of the day in June. The Malta-based company stated that the new marketplace would bring together “artists, creators, and crypto enthusiasts from around the world” and would enable them to conduct premier art exhibitions and collaborate with other global and regional NFT creators.　　“Furthermore,” it added, “Binance NFT will share the same account system as Binance.com, allowing users to access the marketplace alongside our other ecosystem offerings.”　　NFT Mania Explained　　NFT is a backronym for non-fungible tokens. They represent supposedly unique digital assets secured using blockchain, the same technology that powers global cryptocurrency leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum. NFTs backer treat them as digital certificate of authenticity, insomuch that one of them — an investor who goes by the pseudonym “Metakovan” — ended up buying digital artist Beeples digital collage for a whopping $69.3 million in March 2021.　　But the NFT sector also smells like hype to many. For instance, it emerged that Metakoven also owns the world‘s biggest NFT fund. He was already the biggest

2021-04-28Deep Dive

U.S. Congress Passes Bill Addressing Crypto Regulation

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would help direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a digital asset working group and open new regulatory frameworks for both digital assets and cryptocurrencies.　　H.R. 1602, or the “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021,” was affirmed by the U.S. Congress last week, escalating the bill to the U.S. Senate. It is now undergoing review through the Senate Banking Committee, led by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.).　　Once passed and signed as law, the bipartisan bill would initiate the commission of a specialized working group that would evaluate regulation of digital assets in the U.S.　　The news marks a major progress for a crypto-related bill to get approval from Congress, and would directly impact the status of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. The bill is set to usher in regulatory clarity on the status of cryptocurrencies, having been a subject of mixed contention from both institutional investors and companies, as well as the state and its forays into central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).　　The Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act was introduced sometime in March by Representatives Patrick McHenry (Republican National Committee)

2021-04-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin Gains Steam With U.S. Politicians, Will It Become A National Movement?

Politicians in the United States seem to be embracing Bitcoin. In the last two weeks, various states across the U.S. territory have pushed regulations, resolutions, and statements that acknowledge BTC as an asset on the path to gain broader adoption.　　House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana published Resolution No. 33 to congratulate Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry on their accomplishments. The document claims Bitcoin has the potential to replace gold as a store of value.　　BTCs features, decentralization, limited supply, Proof-of-Work consensus, have made the cryptocurrency a “critical tool for businesses”. Also, the resolution claims BTC could be a hedge against inflation and currency debasement for “citizens around the world”. The institution said the following:　　To commend Bitcoin for its success in becoming the first decentralized trillion dollar asset and to encourage the state and local governments to consider ways that could help them benefit from the increased use of this new technology.　　Senator for the state of Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, reacted to the resolution. Lummis has been an advocate of Bitcoin and an active crypto community member. The Senator tagged Senators John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy on a report about the resolution and said:　　Let‘s visit. As is frequently the case, our

2021-04-28Deep Dive

NFTs Are the Building Blocks of Our Digital Future

IN BRIEF　　NFTs have garnered viral attention across the world.　　These tokens will become genuinely revolutionary when we truly merge our digital and physical lives.　　NFTs make concepts like rarity, scarcity, and uniqueness possible.　　Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have finally moved out from the niche blockchain space. From Paris Hilton to Jack Dorsey, NFTs have garnered viral attention across the world.　　NFT‘s have set new art market and crypto price records. In addition, they are generally confusing everyone who isn’t a crypto insider.　　Throughout this year, multiple media outlets have released some sort of NFT explainer article. This article is not about what NFTs are, but rather what NFTs mean when you think about the increasingly virtual world we live in today and their role in our near future. What does the NFT movement mean for society as we know it？　　NFTs offer much more than just a substantial income for artists or an opportunity for traders to get rich quickly.　　Looking beyond the NFT hype　　The rise of NFTs corresponds to a broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and cardano (ADA) among mainstream institutions and the broader public. For the past decade, crypto was a largely specialized space. Mainly the domain of a select group of

2021-04-28Deep Dive

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