Almost two years ago, during the first winter of the COVID pandemic, Roman Tirone was introduced to the world of meme stocks.

I think I had a couple of friends reach out about them to me and I took a look, the New York City-based investor told MarketWatch. There was a strong community that was pretty convinced that they were going to send the stocks up.

These were indeed heady days for meme stock darling AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC, +2.47% as investors drove the stock to a high of $72.62 on June 2, 2021. AMC closed at $18.21 on Wednesday, well below its 52-week high of $52.79, which it reached on Sep. 13, 2021. Fellow meme stock star Game Stop Corp. GME, +1.13% climbed to a 52-week high of $63.92 on Nov. 3, 2021 but ended Wednesdays session at $37.93.

Caught up in the momentum of the meme stocks community, Tirone made significant investments in AMC and Game Stop. Initially it went really well and then things began to deteriorate, he told MarketWatch.

See Now: AMC may have been a meme-stock darling, but weakness in some key areas has the company on shaky ground

However, he was able to apply what he learned elsewhere. I ended up taking what I learned about digital communities, investing online and new speculative assets, and I applied that to investing in blockchain and NFT, he said.

An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unique digital asset that harnesses blockchain technology to verify ownership or trade tokens. A growing number of companies are getting involved in NFTs. eBay Inc. EBAY, -5.17%, for example, recently launched its first collection of NFTs, which features animations of athletes from Sports Illustrated covers.

Blockchain, which has grown in popularity in recent years, is a decentralized digital ledger of transactions. The technology is used to underpin cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

I learned a lot about how to read the momentum, understand how and when a community is a signal, both good and bad, and how, typically, there are tiers within a community whether it is someone who is a lifelong investor or someone just passing through, Tirone added. You cant get swept up in the inner fervor of other peoples ideas when it comes to investing.

After applying what he saw in the meme stocks world, Tirone now describes himself as an NFT collector. Specifically, Tirone is focused on NFT collectibles, art, and Play-2-Earn gaming, where players are rewarded with NFTs or cryptocurrency.

The market for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, has boomed in recent years but has cooled somewhat this year amid the crypto crash.

See Now: Squeezable AMC, GameStop stocks break out to multi-month highs

Nonetheless, Tirone says that his transition to blockchain and NFT investing has been life changing.

Despite his pivot to a new investment strategy, the investor maintains a small position in AMC. I still have a little bit of AMC its a small fraction of what I originally owned, he told MarketWatch. Its more of a symbol for the cause at this point.

The cause, Tirone explained, is all about the little guy. At the high level, its an underdog story where people that typically lose have a chance to win, he said.

George Pearkes, an analyst at Bespoke Investment Group, told MarketWatch that the massive upside volatility in meme stocks is clearly played out. However, he characterized meme stocks as stickier in the outflow, with some investors unwilling to relinquish the stock. The inflows come in very big and very fast, then the outflows trickle out, Pearkes said.

See Now: Heres the little-known reason why Cathie Woods ARK Innovation ETF is having such a bad year

To illustrate his point Pearkes pointed to the rough run that the ARK Innovation ETF ARKK, +0.82% has been on since its peak in 2021, noting that some investors are still committed to holding the ETF. Thats pretty classic investor behavior and I think it applies to the meme stocks too, he said.

The ARK Innovation ETF is down 48.7% year-to-date. AMC shares have declined 33% in 2022 and Game Stop is up 2.2%. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.08% is down 12.8% over the same period.

AMC reports its second-quarter results after market close on Thursday.

Original post:

How one investor applied the lessons of the meme stocks frenzy to blockchain and NFTs - MarketWatch

In the US, the Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) Program will fund multi-year projects at UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, University of Florida, Yale and Purdue

SINGAPORE, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Algorand Foundation,whose mission is to grow the ecosystem ofAlgorand, the carbon-negative Layer 1 blockchain invented by Turing Award winner and MIT professor Silvio Micali, today announced the 10 winners of itsAlgorand Centres of Excellence (ACEs)Program with awards totalling $50M over five years. The program received77 proposals with over 550 participants representing 46 countries; winners were selected by an international panel of 27 experts from a diverse set of disciplines.

The 10 winners lead 36sub-organizations and are represented by the following primary investigators (PIs):

US

Australia

Italy

Germany

South Africa

Singapore

"The selection process was incredibly difficult, given how many excellent applications we received," said Dr. Hugo Krawczyk, Algorand Foundation's principal researcher and head of theACEProgram. "But we're delighted to see how many bright, talented people around the globe recognize the ability of blockchain technology to fundamentally change and better the world we live in, and we're very much looking forward to seeing the amazing work the grant recipients do in the coming months and years."

These grants will fund research and education hubs (each one is an Algorand Centre of Excellence) on university campuses worldwide for multiple years to enable:

"It was the cryptographic, distributed and security community that created the technology on which blockchains are based. I applaud the Algorand Foundation for going back to the roots and supporting this kind of research. The academic grants are going to stellar teams that will help grow the diverse and inclusive global community of blockchain researchers and educators," said Dr. Shafi Goldwasser, a scientific advisor for Algorand and winner of the Turing Award (alongside Micali), Gdel Prize and Franklin Medal.

Goldwasser, who received her Ph.D from UC Berkeley and is currently the director of the university'sSimons Institute for the Theory of Computing, added, "And of course, I am proud to see my Bears among the winners!"

ALGORAND FOUNDATION The Algorand blockchain designed by MIT professor and Turing Award winning cryptographer Silvio Micali is capable of delivering on the promise of a borderless global economy. It achieves transaction throughputs at the speed of traditional finance, with immediate finality and near zero transaction costs, and without a second of downtime since it went live in June 2019.Its carbon-neutral platform and unique pure proof-of-stake consensus mechanism solves for the "blockchain trilemma" by achieving both security and scalability on a decentralized protocol.

The Algorand Foundation is dedicated to helping fulfill the global promise of the Algorand blockchain by taking responsibility for its sound monetary supply economics, decentralized governance, and healthy and prosperous open-source ecosystem. For more information, visithttps://algorand.foundation

MEDIA CONTACTS Prosek Partners, on behalf of Algorand Foundation [emailprotected]

SOURCE Algorand Foundation

Read more from the original source:

Algorand Foundation announces global winners for its $50M blockchain research and education program - PR Newswire

SPAC3SHIP JOINT STOCK COMPANY

On July 29, the Blockchain community inside and outside of Vietnam had the chance to meet at Global Blockchain Day 2022, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The event created a playground to share and introduce products, technologies, solutions, etc. in the field of Blockchain.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Aug. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SPAC3SHIP JOINT STOCK COMPANY -Blockchain Global Day 2022 features the theme "Into the Infinity Con-Verse", which only took place on July 29 but attracted thousands of people. Exhibitors visited and experienced project information booths in modern blockchain space, simulated with colorful settings and large 3D cubes. The center stage has a monumental spacecraft design, with LED screens showcasing several big-name blockchain projects.

Panel talks from top-notch panelists and speakers are hosted on the grand stage (pictured) and live streamed via Facebook.

The exhibition brings together a wide range of blockchain-driven enterprises in the gaming and finance field, including Aethr, Topebox, Football Battle, Puffgo, MetaDOS, Aspo World, Mineverse, Binance, CoinEx, XT.com, Pandora, Antpad, Realbox, M3TA, Sustainations DAO, GALL3RY, Sway Commerce, MoonLab, OpenliveNFT, etc. Also, renowned investment funds such as Vina Capital Ventures, Ventory Labs participated.

The event aims to facilitate the Vietnam Blockchain industry, inspiring and encouraging Vietnamese startups to thrive in the global Blockchain race, helping the community to reach and benefit from the latest Blockchain technology applications, thereby optimizing the benefits of Blockchain to Vietnam's society and economy.

The event is also held to remove the issues that hinder the development of Blockchain, from the lack of public awareness, the shortage of human resources to capital and legal basis. Accordingly, it created a "touch point" connecting all stakeholders in the field of Blockchain to promote Blockchain products in daily life, gradually removing stereotypes and repositioning the Blockchain technology in the community.

Story continues

Besides, Blockchain Global Day 2022 also creates a condition for domestic and international enterprises to introduce products and converse with worldwide technology experts, thereby developing business, transferring technology, and improving the quality of products and services in the field of Blockchain; supporting Vietnamese businesses to access and connect with investment funds, future human resources and gradually formulating a complete legal framework on Blockchain.

The final round of Blockchain Global Pitching Contest was held at the central stage of the event. Many project owners presented their ideas directly to representatives from prestigious investment funds in Vietnam. The winners can receive up to $30,000, media sponsorship, technology advice and legal assistance from leading experts.

According to Ms. Nguyen Dang Quynh Anh, COO of SPAC3SHIP, cooperation is a prerequisite at present. The government, agencies, investment funds and businesses need more opportunities to reach out for partners. Once the last doubts about the potential of Blockchain are dispelled and the necessary resources are finally found, we will have every reason to believe that Vietnam's Blockchain projects will break through, and the world may even see the next technological unicorns from Vietnam.

Contact information: business@spac3ship.com

Continue reading here:

BLOCKCHAIN GLOBAL DAY 2022: A WORLD-CLASS GIGA-EVENT OF TECHNOLOGY HAS JUST TAKEN PLACE IN VIETNAM - Yahoo Finance

The third-quarter has done a pretty good job so far of debunking the Old Wall Street advice to "sell in May and go away," as anyone doing so would have locked in some hefty losses and missed a very healthy start to the current quarter. While most the year was dominated by energy names, there's a new boss on the block, and by block, I mean to say blockchain.

Of the top-25 performing non-leveraged exchange-traded funds so far this quarter, all but five are crypto- or blockchain-focused. Returns range from ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) , rising 25.2% to the quarter-to-date, to top dog,First Trust Skybridge Crypto Industry & Digital Economy ETF (CRPT) and its 51.12% gain.

But funds that sound like they provide the same or similar exposures will often produce different results for investors and this is a great example. So, I pulled four funds from this list and ran some attribution, so we can get a better understanding of what drove returns for each product.

The other top-gaining funds are the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) (with 46.13% gains), the Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH) (43.76%), and Grayscale Future of Finance ETF (GFOF) (30.91%).

CRPT is the only actively managed portfolio of the bunch. Index methodologies for the other funds can be found through these links: BITQ (Bitwise Crypto Innovators 30 Index), BKCH (Solactive Blockchain Index), and GFOF (Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index). From what I can tell, the ETF issuers developed the intellectual property behind the indexes and have contracts with various index providers for calculation services, as opposed to the index providers creating these indexes and pitching them to the issuers to launch products.

Before I get into what drove quarter-to-date returns for these funds I'll mention overlap between them, which is what percentage of holdings are held in common across all the funds. Looking at CRPT and its 31 holdings, it has 39% overlap with BKCH and GFOF, and 58% overlap with BITQ meaning if you own CRPT it's like having a 58% exposure to BITQ.

One thing that struck me was that in all four funds, the bottom 10 contributors to performance over the period were net additive to returns and in fact, aside from BKCH each fund only had one name that lost ground over the period including BITQ: CME Group (CME) (-3.51%), First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Ind and Digi Econ (CRPT) : Meta Platforms (META) (-0.66%); and, GFOF: BC Technology Group (BCTCF) (-23.71%). The down names in BKCH include Bigg Digital Assets (BBKCF) (-7.64%), Greenbox (GBOX) (-25.54%) and, SOS Ltd. (SOS) (-37.74%).

In the 40 potential slots that make up the top 10 contributors to return for these funds there are only 17 unique tickers, and accounting for some funds owning both U.S.- and Canada-listed shares that number drops to 14. Of those 14 ,the five names that had the biggest positive impact on average across all four funds are Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) , Riot Blockchain (RIOT) , Coinbase (COIN) , Silvergate Capital (SI) , and Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY) . All five names are held in all funds and across the board figure into the top five or six contributors to return.

These results are all impressive. I like how all of these funds seem to draw inside the lines of crypto and the crypto industry, although I'm not crazy about names like Interactive Brokers (IBRK) , Alphabet (GOOGL) (GOOG) , and Meta showing up on CRPT. Very much like another gold rush from 1849, it seems like selling picks and shovels is a better long-term approach than getting exposure to the actual commodity, as evidenced by BITO's returns quarter-to-date, as compared to these funds. If I had to pick a fund out of these for crypto and crypto industry exposure, I'd have to go with the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF, if only for the revenue exposure focus. If you think this trend is likely to carry through the near to mid-term, then perhaps BITQ is worth a closer look.

(GOOGL is a holding in the Action Alerts PLUS member club . Want to be alerted before AAP buys or sells stocks? Learn more now. )

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

See the original post:

These Blockchain Funds Are Breaking the Rules of Old Wall Street - RealMoney

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, Aug. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflex Finance ($RFX) has announced a super-fast, gasless, andeco-friendly blockchain named Neutronium, that is scheduled to launch before the end of this year. The project is built in partnership with Web3 developers FYB3R and DeFi projects Meta BUSD and BitBurn.

The neutral name for the blockchain was agreed upon by all parties to ease the path to mass adoption, encourage additional projects to onboard the new chain, and advance the joint initiative that is being promoted on social media under the hashtag #UniteDefi.

Multiple partners have already announced first projects that will be hosted on the Neutronium Chain, including an AAA P2E game and Metaverse applications.

First blockchain to be powered entirely by 100% green energy

Blockchain technology without a doubt has massive growth potential, but most of it is still powered by fossil fuels, creating several ecological issues in addition to the already high cost of running the necessary infrastructure.

The custom-built Neutronium Chain will solve those problems for the involved projects with a cloud infrastructure powered by 100% green energy that provides both low-cost computing power and low-cost data storage. This framework will enable projects to securely develop economically and ecologically sustainable products in the Decentralized Finance space, while feeding rewards and revenue back into the Neutronium ecosystem and ultimately to the holders of Reflex and their partners.

A blockchain built for independence, sustainability, and speed

The robust infrastructure of theNeutronium Chain is not restricted to a single location and does not require a connection to the main power grid. Each server is part of an independent set of nodes which together create node clusters that communicate across the World.

The independent supply of green energy - in combination with effective energy storage solutions and three layers of connectivity back-up - guarantees 100% availability 24/7 and a new level of flexibility for projects joining the chain.

In terms of transaction speed, Reflex Finance's development partner FYB3R states that various cluster configurations are currently being drag raced against each other, as well as against other major blockchains, with other blockchains not even coming close to the speed of Neutronium.

Reflex Finance at a glance

Reflex Finance is a Web3 startup that launched in February 2022 on the Binance Smart Chain. Since then, the team around Chairman Myles Tweedy and CEO Ryan Arriaga, former Global Head of Products at Safemoon, has developed and launched multiple utilities including Reflex Launchpad, Reflex Swap, and Reflex Pulse a unique financial health tracker for projects with tokenomics and multiple project wallets.

An NFT marketplace is set to launch within Q3 of 2022 with another secret and unique high-volume utility announced to also go live within 2022.

REFLEX V2, the native BSC token of Reflex Finance, is a hyper deflationary reflection token and currently pays 8% BUSD rewards from daily trading volume to its holders. In addition to the regular rewards, Reflex holders also benefit in multiple forms from the revenue generated from the various utilities and the announced 100%green blockchain.

Media Contact:Jaren CCO[emailprotected]+1 936 443 1393

SOURCE Reflex Finance

More:

Neutronium: Reflex Finance and Partners Announce Eco-Friendly and Gasless Blockchain for 2022 - PR Newswire

NFC-enabled sticker to verify origin and authenticity of Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Terrazas and Moet & Chandon bottles with a simple scan of a smartphone

SAN MARINO and LAS VEGAS, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly fading, many economies are witnessing a sharp rebound in consumer demand, especially for high-quality, luxury goods. During this resurgence, the inefficiencies of traditional logistics models have become starker than ever, with cases of fraud skyrocketing, especially in developing economies.

VeChainThor, the world's leading Enterprise-grade public blockchain, was conceived specifically to resolve trust gaps in data. Blockchain creates a level playing field where any party can review the claim of another independently, removing the need for intermediaries.

For producers and importers of luxury products, digital technologies that can guarantee origin, logistics trails and legitimacy of a product present a significant opportunity. Unsurprisingly, the adoption rate of digital tools such as blockchain is rapidly picking up pace.

A Digital Future

Attwood Import Export, recognized as the largest premium alcoholic beverage importer and distributor in Cambodia, recently announced the implementation of an entirely new kind of security sticker built using the VeChainThor blockchain, the NFC-enabled 'Attwood Blockchain Sticker' (ABS).

Mr. David Wang, General Manager of VeChain Tech SEA, attended the launching ceremonyon July 27, 2022, an event attended by various major Cambodian news outlets and televised on the CTV8 Cambodia news channel.

Attwood Import Export is a leading company that has exclusively imported and distributed luxury brands for almost 30 years, notably, Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Moet & Chandon, Terrazas, Chandon Sparkling, Budweiser beer, Corona beer, and Coronita beer.

By applying ABS to each bottle of product, Attwood enhances its liquor distribution capabilities, drastically improves transparency, and guarantees product authenticity to partners and consumers. With key data hashed on the blockchain, salient product information becomes immutable and trustworthy, allowing clients and customers to verify the origin and authenticity of products with a simple scan of a smartphone, preventing fraud and protecting consumers.

Attwood is known for going to great lengths to take care of its customers. Mr. Tan Se Chhay, CEO of Attwood commented:

"As a leading import export trading company, Attwood has always played an important role in bridging the gap between brands and consumers. Through the partnership with VeChain Tech, we strengthen the ability to take responsibility for our customers and products."

As a mature, scalable, and commercially proven blockchain, VeChainThor's versatility continues to garner industrial interest. With an array of advanced tools and solutions already on the market, the VeChainThor blockchain is cementing its position as the de facto blockchain for industrial, commercial, and other kinds of application.

VeChain Tech will continue its mission of developing and deploying digital solutions for Attwood and other visionary businesses, push the fore of digital transformation and unlock new value while solving complex industrial problems. With blockchain mass adoption unfolding globally, VeChainThor stands ready to deliver its powerful blockchain technology to enterprises and businesses of all sizes.

About VeChain

Launched in 2015 as a private consortium network, the VeChain Foundation went on to launch the VeChainThor public blockchain in 2018, a fully programmable, EVM-compatible layer one smart contract platform.

Its unique two-token model ensures stable, low transaction costs while an advanced Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism guarantees high throughput, scalability, and security with minimal energy consumption. VeChainThor's robust architecture has seen zero downtime for the network after almost 4 years of continuous operation.

Strong independent capabilities combined with the professional compliance guidance of strategic partners PwC and DNV has seen VeChain to establish partnerships with leading enterprises including Walmart China, Bayer China, BMW Group, BYD Auto, PICC, H&M Group, Shanghai Gas, LVMH, D.I.G, ASI Group and more.

VeChain continues to pioneer real-world blockchain applications across the globe with offices in Luxembourg, China, Singapore, San Marino, Milan, Ireland, Japan, France and the United States, working on wide-ranging applications from supply chain & logistics, sustainability & SDGs, carbon emissions, energy, medicine, De-Fi, NFTs and much more.

SOURCE VeChain

View original post here:

ATTWOOD IMPORT EXPORT LAUNCHES VECHAINTHOR BLOCKCHAIN SECURITY STICKER TO GUARANTEE AUTHENTICITY ON LUXURY BEVERAGES - PR Newswire

The runaway success of Axie Infinity and StepN has convinced a flurry of entrepreneurs that web3 gaming, where the ownership of in-game assets is in the hands of users via blockchain adoption rather than a centralized platform, is the future.

Some of the biggest hits in the space to date reward users with tokens that can be cashed out in whats known as the play-to-earn model. While P2E games have attracted millions of players and billions of dollars from investors, veterans of the gaming industry argue that they are fundamentally unsustainable.

These games are the brainchild of financial engineers aiming to get rich quickly rather than experienced developers building time-honored works, they say.

Axie Inifitys dramatic rise and fall is telling. After peaking at $754 million in November when bitcoin hit all-time high, the games monthly sales volume plummeted to $4.5 million in July.

Most gameFi developers are not game developers, says Maciej Burno, whos spearheading the new metaverse business of Polish gaming studio Reality.

Burno is among a spate of blockchain-believing gaming veterans around the world trying to take blockchain games to the mainstream. Their vision is to counter the public impression that web3 games, popularized by P2E, are all scammy and trashy. Instead, they want to build games that are both fun and sustainable, while introducing cryptocurrenciesas a novel way to incentivize gamers as well as creators.

The problem with P2E, as seen by See Wan Toong, a former senior technical director at Electronic Arts and CTO of web3 gaming startup Red Door Digital, is that users have to spend money upfront to start playing.

In Axie Infinity, users buy and breed cute blob-like creatures called Axies in the form of non-fungible tokens that are authenticated on the blockchain. Sales from the NFTs then go toward funding rewards for those who earn tokens by playing, and the tokens, the games native cryptocurrency, can in turn be cashed out.

That means for the game to be sustainable, it must have a constant influx of new users or it loses its financing source. Thats why critics compare P2E games to pyramid schemes.

Many of the P2E titles arent really games by strict definition, Toong argues. They are more akin to decentralized finance, or DeFi, products with gamified features. Hardcore gamers dismiss Axie Infinity as simple or even boring, not unlike the free-to-play, mindless mobile games that they have opposed for years.

But for those living in developing countries, the prospect of making several hundred dollars per month by clicking on a computer screen can be tempting. Thats largely why Axie Infinity took off in countries like the Philippines during the pandemic when many people lost jobs. To them, the game is more like work than fun.

I think there is a bit of elitism in it, Simon Davis, CEO of Mighty Bear Games, a Singapore-based web3 gaming studio that just raised $10 million in a token sale, says of Axie Infinity critics.

There is a tendency in Western countries to dismiss things that are popular in other parts of the world and not be as respectful as you should be. If you look especially in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and countries where incomes are probably less high, people dont buy high-end gaming rigs and consoles. Its interesting to provide people not just with entertainment but also with potential economic upside.

I dont like the term play to earn, continues Davis, formerly a design manager at Ubisoft. I dont think it should be a primary motivation because youre playing a game to have fun. But someone can then decide they dont want to play the game anymore and get some of their investment back then. I dont see how thats a bad thing.

While Davis recognizes the value of P2E, like many other experienced game developers entering web3, hes pouring resources into perfecting the gameplay first and foremost. His studio had been producing conventional games, like an official Disney and Pixar game and Butter Royale, a hit on Apple Arcade, before turning to blockchain. It will soon be launching its first web3 title, a multiplayer third-person battle royale that incorporates the token economy.

Games can be both fun to play and lucrative, some blockchain game developers argue. Its not news that gamers are motivated to make money even in more developed parts of the world.

Remember World of Warcraft? There is already a group of players in the MMO [massively multiplayer online] game who hire tons of people in Vietnam and Indonesia to farm gold, observes Toong.

When you look at a traditional game, people are putting millions or billions of dollars into the gateway, but its on the other extreme. They dont get any value back, adds Toong.

Burno agrees. People want to play for fun and they are willing to spend money that makes them feel happy, but there are also those who want to invest, so you can give them a tool to invest.

Developers are also promised greater rewards from blockchain-integrated games. In free-to-play games, a common monetization model of today, developers earn income by pushing an update every six to eight weeks, observes Davis. Users get annoyed that youre trying to squeeze money out of them every two months.

In web3 games, in contrast, developers get a small percentage of every in-game transaction, which is recorded on the blockchain. So the only thing you have to worry about is creating a game that people want to keep playing for a very long time and creating value for those assets of the players who want to trade between themselves, says Davis.

To make a blockchain game sustainable, Toongs Red Door Digital is taking a different approach from Axie Infinity. Users dont need to buy the platforms tokens in order to start playing unless they want to start earning or have real value in their assets.

When a game sustains a recurring user base, the value of the game will increase and external investors will join, reckons Toong. All this increase in value then goes to the people who are playing to get financial returns.

Like many web3 games, Red Door Digitals platform offers utility tokens, which are used like in-game currencies for purchasing skins, items, and so on, as well as governance tokens. Users who contribute to the game will get governance tokens and be able to vote on critical project decisions. The utility tokens can be traded, while the governance tokens have no liquidity to strip them of any speculative value.

While developers are still working to optimize their token economy, investors are already plowing big money into their nascent ventures. Blockchain games attracted a whopping $2.5 billion in funding in Q2, according to DappRadar, a data company that tracks decentralized apps. In H1, blockchain games accounted for about 30% of all the capital raised by private gaming companies, a report by investment bank Drake Star shows.

Despite the torrent of VC money floating into web3 games, some legacy studios and publishers seem to err on the side of caution. Tencent, the worlds largest gaming company, has no development plans for web3 games that are of public knowledge.

Reputation is a big thing for the corporate, so if anyone who creates this initiative fails, its the end of their career. They will have to answer the board, says Toong. So the only way is for them to invest in a crypto company or two to see how it goes.

The gold rush into web3 is also posing challenges to crypto skeptics in the gaming arena. An Asia-based game-focused fund manager is frustrated that investors he meets these days are overwhelmingly interested in knowing whether his fund has a web3 angle.

If I say I dont, they dont want to invest.

Continued here:

Gaming vets promise to make blockchain games fun and sustainable - TechCrunch

Hive Blockchain stated that it currently holds 3,239 bitcoin (BTC) and 7,667 Ethereum (ETH) after producing 278.5 BTC and 2,542 ETH in June.

The crypto mining firm also stated that it increased its bitcoin mining hash rate from 2.17 exahash per second (EH/s) to 2.24 EH/s, however, the capacity for Ethereum mining slightly dropped from 6.26 (TH/s) at the beginning of June to 6.0 TH/s, as some miners were taken offline temporarily for layout optimization due to higher summer temperatures.

Hive is confident in the face of market volatility, and CEO Frank Holmes said the company has weathered "crypto winters" before.

As per Holmes, the company has strived to "maintain a strong balance sheet of Bitcoin and Ethereum which is completely unlevered," and the business remains cash flow positive with no "significant debt."

"We are cautious, seeking out opportunities and remain firm in our belief that Bitcoin and Ethereum will survive to thrive again after all the over-leveraged players are forced out of business," Holmes said.

Besides the June report, Hive Blockchain also stated plans to expand in the coming future by selling the current production of BTC and ETH.

"We are able to undertake this strategy and maintain coin inventory levels as a result of keeping a strong balance sheet position and never having entered into any agreements whereby our coin holdings have been staked, put up as collateral, or otherwise put at risk of being called by another party to cover a position due to the current decline in the price of cryptocurrency," said Hive CFO Darcy Daubaras.

Read more here:

Hive Blockchain Says Produced 278.5 BTC and 2542 ETH in June - Blockchain News

Blockchain technologies have been touted as the next disruptor that will reinvent banking and save financial institutions (FIs) significant sums of money. To the layperson, blockchain technologies represent opportunities for fortunes to be made and limitless problems to be solved through its seemingly magical technology.For banks, the blockchain allure is all too appealing: save significant sums of money in transaction and operational costs.

Unfortunately, the promise of blockchain being able to deliver this value is not realistic, and when examined critically, one can see that many of the blockchain applications created for FIs are often overhyped solutions in search of a problem.

A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM

To understand why blockchain is merely a solution in search of a problem, its helpful to examine what it solves and how it does this. Blockchain is a database that seeks to solve issues concerning validating, confirming, and recording transactions between two or more parties. The database is shared among participants that must follow rules to ensure trust. Blockchain technology ensures the rules are followed and trust is maintained byin theoryguaranteeing atomicity and authenticating transactions.

Atomicity is crucial for making sure transactions occur correctly. For example, a banks software may implement a transfer from account A to account B as a withdrawal from account A followed by a deposit to account B. If the first action happens, then the second had better happen as well. Blockchain technology solves this issue by building what is essentially a chain of transactions that can be replayed and verified. Each transaction can be considered a link in the chain, with each link supporting the next transaction in the series (hence the name blockchain). All blockchain technologies implement some form of cryptography to authenticate the counterparties, and once a transaction is confirmed, it becomes an irreversible part of the chain.

Ultimately, blockchain is intended to provide trust where trust cannot be ensured. This feature is important if you do not know your counterparty or if participants in the system are not acting truthfully (e.g., forging transactions, double spending, etc.).

Fortunately, FIs transacting business with each other in the United States are well regulated and these features of blockchain are largely unnecessary. The irony is that this zero-trust feature is not needed in an industry where BSA/AML, KYC, and Counterparty Risk are a large part of the operating environmentnot unless one plans to run afoul with the regulators. As for issues with atomicity, these can be solved in a less complicated and direct way using a centralized clearinghouse. After all, if the industry is willing to agree upon a single blockchain standard, then why cant FIs agree on using a jointly sponsored digital clearinghouse?

BLOCKCHAIN IS EXPENSIVE

Most staunch blockchain supporters would advocate that the decentralized nature of the technology is its principal advantage. They would argue that by decentralizing, federating, or whatever other distribution schema they espouse, the cost of maintaining a global ledger can be shared by all. I would agree; however, most blockchain implementations today have incorporated some form of digital currency as a means for their developers to monetize their technology and ensure the integrity of transactions.

Early financial transaction cryptocurrency platforms promised to provide a universal ledger that FIs could use to record transactions. The idea was to streamline communication and make transactions cheaper. These transactions, however, have proven to be prone to price volatility, as changes in the underlying value of the currency can make them much more expensive than traditional means.

What does this mean? The FI has zero control over the cost of transactions. Even more troubling is that by using a blockchain platform, institutions are effectively relinquishing their price control to an entity that can arbitrarily add more coins into circulation and enrich the founding owners, while reducing shareholder value for the company.

BLOCKCHAIN IS INEFFICIENT

This last point is complicated, so I will keep it concise and simple. Blockchain technologies are typically inefficient. Bitcoin, a household name, can take anywhere between 10 to 60 minutes to process a transaction. The reason for this is that they rely on proof-of-work or other similar authentication schemas that require a form of cryptographic mining (heavy computation work).

This manifests many inefficiencies; the time to record transactions is incredibly long, and the power requirements to support these networks can be environmentally deleterious.

Banks are accustomed to long timeframes for clearinghouses to record transactions. At best, these technologies may only marginally improve timing, and at worst, they may take longer and result in harm to our environment.

Additionally, blockchain requires an investment in hardware since each participant must maintain some chunk of the chain. As such, while the database is distributed, a financial institution will still need to subsidize its use through its infrastructure. At this writing, the Bitcoin blockchain is approximately 400GB in size and averages 250,000 daily transactions. Contrast that with the NASDAQ averaging 3-5 billion daily transactions and one can start to see fundamental issues with how these technologies will scale. Can you imagine having to maintain a copy of all transactions made on the NASDAQ into perpetuity?

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is no doubt that blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has found many good uses outside of typical banking. Creating digital assets allows for easier movements of wealth and can provide some with economic freedom without being tied to a central bank.

I do not want to deride the innovators in this field; however, I want to share caution and wisdom. This technology can be completely replaced with financial institutions forming a consortium to promote interbank standards and a jointly owned clearinghouse. Not only will FIs benefit by coming together and working for joint standards, but also, no one party will be unfairly enriched by simply being the progenitor of a cryptocurrency.

Former large bank balance sheet manager turned entrepreneur. CEO ofQuantalytix, an enterprise lending and bank management solution.

Read the original:

Banking blockchain: A solution in search of a problem - Fast Company

While critics use the bear market as an opportunity to pounce on crypto and belittle its value, some projects take this chance to develop and launch industry-disrupting platforms on the blockchain.

In July, firms launched or revealed their intentions to construct blockchain-based music licensing platforms that aim to change the way songs are licensed by reducing costs, removing intermediaries and bringing all of blockchains inherent benefits to the music scene.

Commenting on the topic, Mehmet Erylmaz, the CEO of Web3 entertainment firm Faro Company, said that blockchain provides new frameworks for traditional industries. He explained that:

According to Erylmaz, the most important and primary advantage of blockchain platforms is the fact that it allows full audience ownership. This model holds the secret sauce for full-pledged economic autonomy, he said.

While blockchain-based music platforms have only started to pop up, the event gives a preview of what the technology can do for music. Without further ado, lets have a peek at some projects that aims to bring music ownership rights to the blockchain.

Web3 project Dequency has launched its music licensing platform after completing its beta phase. The team has created a decentralized licensing portal for music rights holders and creators and allow them to perform their licensing transactions directly.

In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Keatly Haldeman, the CEO of Dequency, said that the platform utilizes Web3 tools like smart contracts and crypto to facilitate more efficient licensing transactions and payments. Haldeman explained that the platform allows easy licensing for audio-visual content creators who need a diverse music catalog.

According to the team, the project is built on the Algorand blockchain and will also provide on-chain licensing for blockchain-native content.

SphereTrax, a project led by Sefi Carmel, a prominent composer who is also designing sounds for upcoming crypto films, has announced that it will launch a music licensing platform based on Bitcoin SV (BSV) later in 2022.

In a press release, the team told Cointelegraph that the platform will curate a gallery of tracks and songs that can be used in films, television and advertisements. Apart from these, the team said that the soundtracks curated by SphereTrax can also be implemented in gaming, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

According to Sefi Carmel, the project will be an enhanced music library that provides accessible and timely tracks for the creative industry. Carmel also noted that this move is in preparation for the wider adoption of VR, AR and metaverse technologies.

Last year, music producer Justin Blau, also known as 3LAU, launched a music licensing platform called Royal. The platform was created to support music projects by allowing fans to invest and co-own songs with them.

In January, the platform collaborated with the popular rapper Nas, allowing fans to acquire nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that give them ownership rights over some of the artists songs. This allows NFT holders to earn with Nas on the songs titled "Ultra Black" and "Rare."

Related: Experts explain how music NFTs will enhance the connection between creators and fans

As the adoption of blockchain-based licensing platforms continues, these projects may also face their fair share of challenges. According to Erylmaz, two potential roadblocks for these projects include misrepresentation and legality. To combat this, he explained that:

Additionally, Erylmaz highlighted that its very important for projects to be detailed regarding information related to the duration of the rights, territories and rights in terms of revenues generated.

Originally posted here:

Playing it louder: Companies bring music licensing to the blockchain - Cointelegraph

Innovative outdoor products company YETI HoldingsInc YETI looks to be gearing up for a leap into the future of the internet after the company filed a Trademark Applicationwith the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

According to thefiling, Yeti has applied to trademark"YONDER," which will include the use of NFTs and other digital goods and services related to blockchain technology. The filing even mentions the metaverse.

Yeti plans on "providing virtual environments in which users can interact for recreation, leisure or entertainment."

So What Is YONDER? The description on the filing indicates that Yeti will offer entertainment services via YONDER. Said entertainment services include NFTs and other virtual goods, as well as blockchain and metaverse-related services.

The original filing was submitted on June 30.Yetijoins a growing list of companies that have shown interest in exploring NFTs and blockchain technology.

See Also:Are Free NFTs Coming? Bored Ape Yacht Club Company Yuga Labs Tests Its Otherside Metaverse, 'Voyagers' to Receive NFTs

YETI Price Action: Yeti has a 52-week high of $108.82 and a 52-week low of $38.77.

The stock gained 4.84%at $48.33at the close, according to data fromBenzinga Pro.

Photo:Tony Websterfrom Flickr.

See more here:

Yeti Files Trademark Application Related To NFTs, Blockchain And The Metaverse: Here's The Name It's Under - Benzinga

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BTIG announced today that its inaugural Crypto Staking and Blockchain Infrastructure Conference will be held on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. The one-day event will feature virtual fireside chats and one-on-one meetings with the leaders of many of the staking and blockchain infrastructure industries leading platforms and protocols.

Mark Palmer, BTIGs Head of Digital Assets Research, and Mike Kaye, the firms Digital Assets Strategy and Franchise Sales Specialist, will host the conference and serve as moderators of the virtual fireside chats.

Mr. Palmer leads the firms digital assets research effort. He provides comprehensive coverage of both crypto-related equities and of a wide array of verticals across the Web3 ecosystem, including decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and the Metaverse, among others.

The BTIG Crypto Staking and Blockchain Infrastructure Conference will put a spotlight on some of the leading firms in the staking and blockchain infrastructure spaces, Mr. Palmer said. The virtual event will provide Institutional investors and corporate management teams with a better understanding of the role that staking firms play in offering investors with a means of earning yield on their crypto holdings, while also highlighting the ways in which blockchain infrastructure firms are enabling Web2 platforms and corporate entities to establish a meaningful presence in Web3.

For more information about the conference, email info@btig.com. Please note that participants must be pre-registered to attend. To access BTIG insights, contact a firm representative or log in to http://www.btigresearch.com.

The conference is being produced by BTIGs Corporate Access program which hosts client events across the consumer, energy and infrastructure, financials, healthcare, real estate and technology sectors.

About BTIGBTIG is a global financial services firm specializing in institutional trading, investment banking, research and related brokerage services. With an extensive global footprint and more than 725 employees, BTIG, LLC and its affiliates operate out of 22 cities throughout the U.S., and in Europe, Asia and Australia. BTIG offers execution, expertise and insights for equities, equity derivatives, ETFs and fixed income, currency and commodities (futures, commodities, foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, and convertible and preferred securities). The firms core capabilities include global execution, portfolio, electronic and outsource trading, transition management, investment banking, prime brokerage, capital introduction, corporate access, research and strategy, commission management and more.

Disclaimer: https://www.btig.com/disclaimer. To learn more about BTIG, visit http://www.btig.com.

Read the original:

BTIG to Host Crypto Staking and Blockchain Infrastructure Conference on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 - Business Wire

ATLANTA, July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EZ Blockchain brought online its 2nd project to transform underutilized energy into crypto mining in West Point, GA. The full-service green crypto mining company is expanding its data center operations in West Point, by doubling its capacity from 8MWs to 16 MWs.

EZ Blockchain is using the underutilized energy capability allotted to the town that would otherwise be sitting idle. The company invested in total over $1 million into the area to tap into this energy, hiring only local contractors. Additionally, EZ Blockchain created 8 full-time and well-paying tech jobs,

The company partnered with the city of West Point for the 8 MW expansion project in December 2021, a project that includes an additional four EZ Blockchain mobile data centers expected to be operational in mid-spring. By May 2022 the company finished deployment by bringing online suggested capacity.

Speaking about the project's success, EZ Blockchain CEO and Co-founderSergii Gerasymovych expressed his excitement with the support and collaboration of the city officials, the economic development department, and the utility department.

"We are happy to work with the local community, economic development authority, and city of West Point to increase our presence in Georgia. Capturing underutilized emmission free power capacity in the grid has been a long time a part of our mission. We are happy to bring a consistent load to this part of this country," Gerasymovych said.

The project has been a win-win for all parties. EZ Blockchain invested an additional $0.5 million in the local economy's goods and services, which further helped the local community generate extra revenue and jobs.

"The City of West Point is pleased to have EZ Blockchain located in our community. Sergii and his team have become the largest electric utility customer on the city electric system. The company has two locations in the city and hired local staff right away as the project started up several months ago. EZ Blockchain is a good addition to our community and our electric utility" Ed Moon, the City manager told.

Over 60% of electricity powering the EZ Blockchain data center campus in West Point, Georgia are from emmision free resources primarily from nuclear power. The company is focused to increase its growth in the West Point, GA to 24 MW total by adding another 8 MW of capacity till the end of the year. This project is EZ Blockchain's first site open to other clients, where the company leases the space in its mobile container like data centers.

About EZ Blockchain

EZ Blockchain is a technology company that is on a mission to solve the global waste energy problem with the help of crypto mining. The company focus on taping into underutilized energy sources, such as stranded gas, underutilized power on the grid, base load for power plants.

Main

Media Contact:Sergii Gerasymovych[emailprotected]

SOURCE EZ Blockchain

Read the original here:

EZ Blockchain expands its facilities to 16 MWs in Georgia by tapping into underutilized energy on the grid - PR Newswire

TEANECK, N.J., July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Veratad Technologies, LLC, a global leader in identity verification solutions that ensure regulatory compliance, announced today their partnership with U.K.-based Blockchain-ID Ltd to develop BlockchainIDme, an identity validation tool that integrates KYC and AML compliance solutions to be deployed on the Algorand blockchain.

Veratad Technologies logo (PRNewsfoto/Veratad)

While most blockchain users favor the use of non-custodial wallets for their day-to-day use, regulatory bodies all over the world are developing new laws and regulations that will require changes to the way those non-custodial wallets can be used. Furthermore, one of the fundamental objectives of blockchain technology is ensuring users' ownership of their own data, including absolute control over how and which third-parties can use that data.

The BlockchainIDme proposed solution, which is being developed with the support of Veratad's complete suite of identity verification methods, allows both custodial and non-custodial wallets to fully comply with KYC and AML regulations while providing wallet owners with absolute ownership and control over their personal information.

"Veratad's proven and tested identity verification solutions will allow Algorand blockchain users, merchants, and service providers to comply with stringent KYC and AML international requirements, while adapting to the requirements that are specific to a blockchain environment and non-custodial wallets," said BlockchainIDme Chief Strategic Development Officer, Marc Bernier. "Veratad brings years of identity verification experience to the BlockchainIDme development team. To ensure user satisfaction, we have assembled the best resources available to realize the BlockchainIDme project."

"The Blockchain revolution certainly appears to be the biggest thing since the dawn of the internet, but it's not without the same security challenges we all face on the Web," said John E. Ahrens, Veratad CEO. "We are proud to participate in the development of a solution that will allow millions of blockchain users and merchants to comply with highest privacy protection and KYC/AML standards. We are also proud to be participating in the development of the Algorand blockchain, which in itself meets the highest blockchain standards."

Story continues

Veratad is a leading global ID and age verification company with a full suite of age and ID verification tools that satisfy a variety of regulatory requirements. All of Veratad's solutions are available for individual or bundled deployment to meet any combination of compliance requirements.

About Blockchain-ID

BlockchainIDme is an identity validation solution owned by Blockchain-ID Ltd, a United Kingdom based company that is part of the Respectful Development Initiativ ecosystem. BlockchainIDme is being built on the Algorand blockchain. BlockchainIDme allows its users to remain in complete control over their own data. BlockchainIDme allow users through the identity verification tools developed with Veratad to meet identity validation requirements ranging from basic to more stringent Know Your Client (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules and regulations. BlockchainIDme identity validation, as well as the KYC and AML results are minted in a token secured by an encryption key owned and controlled by the user. The combined BlockchainIDme token and encryption key will then allow the user to confirm his identity and his ownership of a wallet to CEX, DEX, merchants, service providers, or other users in the context of private smart-contracts.

About Veratad Technologies

Veratad Technologies, LLC is the leading provider ofglobal identitysolutions. Veratad makes high-end technology accessible with a full suite of trusted and highly flexible solutions. With Veratad, data, documents, out-of-wallet questions, mobile two-factor authentication and biometrics come together to solve the toughest identity problems. Privacy matters at Veratad. Our solutions verify age or identity in seconds while protecting sensitive personal data and promoting a high level of consumer privacy. Veratad's goal is to keep our clients safe without losing focus on their goals of increasing profits, reducing costs, preventing fraud and enhancing compliance. For more information, visit https://veratad.com/.

Media Contact: Beth Balch | beth@altitudemarketing.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veratad-partners-with-blockchain-id-on-kyc--aml-compliance-solution-for-algorand-blockchain-301582598.html

SOURCE Veratad

Read this article:

Veratad Partners with Blockchain-ID on KYC & AML Compliance Solution for Algorand Blockchain - Yahoo Finance

As the government of India moves towards implementation of Web3.0 technology, it seems e-governance is one such area of focus, with it reframing policies around it. Recently, the government of Maharashtra led by the Gadchiroli district administration(Etapalli subdivision) issued caste certificates to its citizens which are cryptographically anchored POS blockchain via LegitDoc, a software which works over a blockchain-based system preventing it from security breaches and budget constraints. India is moving towards originality and authenticity regarding information and data. The district has an overall population of over 1.1 million. ). The percentage of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes community population that resides in the district is 11.25 % and 38.7 % respectively ( as per Census 2011), Shubham Gupta, assistant collector, Etapalli (Gadchiroli), told FE Digital Currency.

The Internet has evolved from Web 1.0 to 3.0 and this technological advancement allows the use of semantics but also space, images, and traditional static web transformed into an interactive one. The sub-division office Etapalli has taken up the task of running 65,000 caste certificates through the blockchain system. This was a pilot project for blockchain adoption. The caste-based certificates are mandatory to access government-funded schemes, Gupta stated.

As per industry experts, blockchain allows the secure transfer of information, assets, and money without a third-party intermediary. In that perspective, it is believed that blockchain is vital in strengthening the image of legal framework of e-governance.

Social benefits and opportunities of participating in the Web3.0 ecosystem are starting to crystalise. The blockchain system consists of an Issuance DApp (decentralised applications built on top of public blockchains) that combines all the hashes belonging to a certificate together to make a single hash which is stored on the Polygon POS blockchain. Upon the successful upload of the final hash (for each certificate) on the blockchains returns transaction data. The caste certificates can be issued to citizens via common service centres, he added.

The term, Web3.0 was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, and venture capital firms.

Read more:

How the government is betting big on Web3.0 and blockchain - The Financial Express

After delivering multi-fold returns over the past few years, the cryptocurrency market is in a prolonged bear cycle, one that has prompted many long-term investors to question whether it is possible to generate returns from these digital assets while holding onto their positions.

There are more than a few ways for long-term crypto token holders to generate additional yields and one of the most popular options is investing in staking pools, which promise additional income apart from capital gains through token value appreciation.

Staking is available on blockchains that employ a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model and requires holders to lock their crypto tokens in a specific blockchain address (or wallet) in return for an annual percentage yield (APY) that is commensurate with the number of tokens staked.

A suitable option for crypto investors with a long-term investment horizon, staking on blockchains promise a regular income stream, without needing to become a blockchain validator.

What is blockchain?

A blockchain is a decentralised digital system of recording transactions across several computers or nodes on a peer-to-peer network. Blockchains maintain a decentralised and secure record of all transactions, with trust preserved between all parties without the need for a central or third-party authority.

This digital ledger of transactions is distributed across the entire network of nodes, with some nodes acting as validators in the consensus mechanism.

A holder can pledge (or stake) their digital tokens to qualify as a blockchain transaction validator or verifier. Validators maintain the blockchain's integrity by constantly computing the linkage from the first block to the last and earn crypto tokens as a reward for their contribution.

How does staking work?

For a blockchain network to perform transactions with speed and security, it is important to have an ample number of validators in the network, thus requiring more nodes or clients to pool their crypto tokens with the blockchain.

Often, this may not be possible for retail crypto investors, limiting the number of potential candidates that could assume validator status.

This is where a staking pool comes in, allowing multiple crypto token holders to contribute their tokens and grant the staking pool operator a validator status in return for the staked tokens.

In this way, all investors who deposit their crypto tokens can gain rewards for contributing their computational resources. This gives retail investors an opportunity to earn income through passive investing.

Most crypto investors havent heard of the concept of a staking pool. Some perceive it to be a risky investment model due to the relative lack of investor awareness.

How to choose a staking pool

There are several crypto staking pools available for various cryptocurrencies that operate on a PoS blockchain. Investors would do well to choose notable crypto exchanges that operate public stake pools over private staking pools that may offer a higher APY.

It is advisable to go through peer reviews before selecting a staking pool and choose one that doesnt have too many holders already participating in it. This is important because all validator rewards are distributed after deducting the platform fee and a large staking pool usually offers a lower return.

Additionally, it is important to factor in the membership or entry fee to compute real returns that will be generated on the staked tokens.

Apart from considering the ranking, it is prudent to choose a staking pool that is transparent in its functioning and provides regular performance updates. This includes key decision-making regarding the future roadmap of the pool and how stakeholders are made a part of the process.

Points to remember before staking

Crypto staking does not involve investing in mining equipment to generate returns and thus offers crypto investors an opportunity to be a part of the blockchains core functionality with the benefit of earning regular income.

Staking investors are usually privy to information regarding vital updates or improvements being made on the blockchain and are thus a privileged lot.

There are many staking pools for popular blockchain networks and it is important that investors choose those where the pool operator has an exemplary track record of performing the validators role without malicious intent.

Staked tokens act as a guarantee for the blockchain. The network may burn a certain amount of staked tokens if a block is formed with invalid or fraudulent transactions, resulting in investors losing capital.

Additionally, once an investor decides to join a staking pool, their crypto tokens are locked in at a specific blockchain address or with a third party and this may result in them losing direct control over their tokens.

See the original post:

Want to earn money staking on blockchains? Heres how - Moneycontrol

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

As a highly-successful crypto investor and blockchain enthusiast, Max Handler has seen over-and-over how novice crypto investors can fall victim to sophisticated crypto scams.

This knowledge inspired Max to co-found a cryptocurrency tracing and consulting company called the Coin Dispute Network that empowers budding crypto users on how to safely use crypto wallets and fight back against common scams, all while protecting their life savings.

Max decided he wanted to help others with crypto security needs during his time visiting a family friend who was living in a retirement home. In early 2015, he discovered that this family friend, a WW2 veteran who should have been living his golden years, had recently fallen to a crypto scam that took his entire retirement savings.

It was then and there that Max knew he wanted to use his knowledge of the blockchain and technical expertise to help thousands of other people avoid a similar fate and protect their savings.

Shortly after this incident, Max launched his career as blockchain investigator and immediately experienced the power of certain tracing and recovery techniques and how they can positively impact virtually any individual who lost their crypto to a scam.

Max also immersed himself in the world of crypto exchange regulations and laws, learning all he could about ways to use the rules to fight back and help victims. He has applied his technical expertise and passion for entrepreneurship to build his company Coin Dispute Network and help as many people as possible. He has used these methods to help numerous businesses recover losses, and then expanded his scope to individuals so he can help normal folks to do the same.

Known as 'The Sherlock Holmes of Crypto', Max has already led or assisted with over 500 cryptocurrency investigations to trace and recover lost funds for people all over the world.

Max will never forget his time helping his family friend in the retirement home who lost his entire life savings to a scam. The WW2 veteran was trying to navigate the complicated and often risky world of crypto all alone with nobody else to turn to. As a result, Max is committed to giving back to others who have been a victim of any online crypto scams by offering free scam checks and free consultations to help people locate and dispute their funds. Everyday Max uses these skills to review new cases and determine if his company Coin Dispute Network can assist with them or not.

Time management

A typical day for Max starts at around 5 AM. His office is usually buzzing with activity so time management is key, especially these days. He often has to decide which cases to prioritize. "As the new cryptocurrency bear market continues, this has spawned a rush of people trying to withdraw all their money from unregulated or fake crypto platforms and discovering they've been scammed. They then reach out to us for help as soon as they can so we can start reviewing their case before it's too late," he said, adding that he and his team review up to 10 new cases per day but only agree to take on a small fraction of that. He is all about managing his time wisely, prioritizing cases, and living by the 80/20 Pareto principle.

Being an entrepreneur

Max didn't always see himself in the role of an entrepreneur. "Actually, when I first started becoming an entrepreneur and launched my crypto business, I wasn't super confident in myself. It wasn't until after I started helping clients that I realized how much I really knew about blockchain technology and how most people who had no idea what the heck they were doing. They really need a lot of help and I know how to do it. But our success has had its share of trial and error working long hours in the trenches finding out what works and what doesn't, always trying to stay one step ahead" he said.

Max didn't see himself running a large crypto recovery company and security firm in just a few short years. From helping one person to now helping several hundred with more on a waitlist, the demand has been growing quickly, in his words. "The need for this kind of expertise has never been bigger," he added. Max believes he is blessed to be here at this point, because he is doing something he loves while also getting the opportunity to help people during moments when they need it most. "Everyone's entrepreneurship journey is always different, but I've learned that if you're doing something you love and you're making a difference in people's lives, then it never feels like work" he said.

Networking

You will rarely spot Max at any crypto conferences or networking events. "That surprises most people because I have a huge network. But the old image of networking in person is changing, especially in the Web3 crypto space. Don't get me wrong, I do like networking but I do it differently," he said.

Go here to see the original:

This Entrepreneur Harnessed the Power Of the Blockchain To Help People Find Their Lost Or Stolen Crypto - Entrepreneur

Meta will shut down its pilot of the Novi digital wallet, one of the last remnants of the company's beleaguered cryptocurrency push, in September,Bloomberg reported this week.

Novi users in parts of the US and Guatemala will no longer be able to log in starting on September 1.

And as of July 21, they won't be able to add to the wallets. In fact, Novi's website urges users to empty their accounts "as soon as possible." Novi says it will "attempt to transfer your balance to the bank account or debit card youve added to Novi" if you still have money in your account after the pilot ends.

The pilot for Novia, originally known asCalibra,launched in October, but Meta was already turning from its crypto dreams, which, at their height, included the company's own stablecoin, Diem, formerly known as Libra. Novia launched withPaxos Trust Co.s USDP stablecoin instead. It also had some integration with WhatsApp.

But last year, the head of the project,David Marcus, departedMeta. And in January,we detailed the fall of Meta's cryptocurrency aspirations, signaled by the company selling off its assets (mostly intellectual property) and refunding investors.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerbergannouncedhis crypto hopes in 2019, with dreams of using crypto for easy transactions in WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. But despite big-name investments, US regulators' concerns about distribution, network policing, andfears of overly concentrated economic power going to member companies derailed Meta's plans. Ultimately, it became unclear if the Federal Reserve would let the project's bank issue the stablecoin.

Although Novi will soon be dead, Meta insists that the cryptocurrency wallet's technologies aren't.Despite skepticism around non-fungible tokenspertaining to their necessity, reputation, and value (the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, fell 85 percent in the first half of 2022, according to Financial Times)Meta is leveraging Novi technology for othermetaverse-y projects, including building Meta's capabilities around blockchain and "digital collectibles," a company representative told Bloomberg.

You can expect to see more from us in the web3 space because we are very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to people and businesses in the metaverse," the representative reportedly said.

Meta is already testing NFTs on Instagram as a purported way for creators to make money. In late June, Zuckerberg said the companywill bring that testingto Facebook "soon."

Visit link:

Meta clings to NFT, blockchain hopes as it shutters its Novi crypto wallet - Ars Technica

Block.ones EOS VC deployed its money through partnerships with other investors, including Novogratzs Galaxy Digital firm, Asia-based investors Michael Cao and Winnie Liu, London-based fund SVK Crypto, and German firm FinLab. The former Hong Kong-based employee says this was a way to outsource the task to these partners, rather than spend time looking for companies using the technology that underpinned EOS, which according to the employee, Blumer regarded as a distraction.

In the crypto space, people using EOS are small companies, they say. Brendan wasn't really interested in doing these small VC deals.

Crunchbase data and Block.ones own press releases show that Block.one injected around $675 million into the partnerships. But the whereabouts of some of the funds are unclear: $50 million invested in a partnership with TomorrowBCa company run by Derek Rundell, a managing director of Eric Schmidts TomorrowVentureshas not been used as of 2022, barring a $750,000 investment in crypto-trading startup LogosBlock, according to PitchBook data. Rundell and Schmidt did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

Following the ENFs ultimatum, on November 10, Blumer and Pierce flew to Canada to meet La Rose. In a blog post, La Rose says that he kept asking for a part of the ICO proceeds to be given to the ENF, but his requests were swiftly rejected each time.

Just before the meeting, Block.one had transferred some 45 million EOS tokens (worth $216 million at the time) to Pierce, in exchange for his stake in Block.one. On Twitter, Pierce suggested rescuing EOS through the launch of an investment firm called Helios, which would be endowed with the newly acquired tokens. I'm no longer a [Block.one] shareholder, which means I don't have any limitations, Pierce told WIRED in November. I'm free to do whatever I think is necessary for the ecosystem at this point.

However, his status soon became a problem during negotiations. Most of the tokens used to buy out Pierce were still in the process of being vested. The network believed that those tokens are theirs, and Block.one believed they're theirs, La Rose says.

Following weeks of futile negotiations, on December 7, EOSs block producers enforced a script that stopped the vesting of Block.ones tokens, including those that had been sold to Pierce, effectively blocking his buyout. Ahead of the decision, Pierce told WIRED that such a move would have a very negative impact on trust within the EOS ecosystem, and therefore he expected that it would be called off.

La Rose says Pierce did not take the eventual decision well. Clearly he wasn't happy, he says. He was pissed off. He made death threats against me. In an interview he did in late December with blockchain news website Bywire News, Pierce, donning a fedora in a Puerto Rican club while disco music blasted in the background, said he did not recall making threats, but apologized if he did.

From Block.ones side the divorce was quite clean, La Rose says. They now no longer need to worry about the network, which they didn't really care about and that was costing them time. Larimer and other senior developers have now started working on EOS code again, under ENF. The foundation has announced grants for companies creating apps for the network.

The launch of Bullish, in La Roses opinion, is Block.ones greatest coup. They are essentially getting away with $9 billion, he says. And they did it in a legal way.

On February 10, a post on ENFs Medium page announced that it had hired a law firm with the goal of holding Block.one accountable for its past actions and broken promises. An accompanying tweet by La Rose hammered the concept home. Review of ALL possible legal recourse to seek $4.1B in damages underway, it read. Let's do this together! #4BillionDAO coming.

We're victims, La Rose says. The community is reclaiming the chain for itself.

Additional reporting by Greg Barber

Read the rest here:

EOS Was the Worlds Most Hyped Blockchain. Its Fans Want It Back - WIRED

Hello and welcome back to the Chain Reactionpodcast, where we unpack and explain the latest crypto news, drama and trends, breaking it down block by block for the crypto curious.

On this weeks episode, we talked about the virtual land sale that (temporarily) broke the blockchain. Yuga Labs now-infamous NFT drop was to put it lightly chaotic. Users swarmed the sale like it was a Supreme drop in 2017, overwhelming the entire Ethereum network and resulting in lots of failed transactions and exorbitantly high gas fees. We explained what went wrong and explored some (potential?) conspiracy theories about the fiasco, which seem to spring up anytime a major event happens in the web3 world.

Next, we went through some big news from an OG of the decentralized internet Wikipedia thats decided to reject crypto donations, and talked about the beef between regulators and crypto that heated up this week after a major flex by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jill Gunter occupies a unique spot within the crypto world as both a venture partner at Slow Ventures and co-founder of a new layer-one blockchain project, Espresso Systems (you can learn more about that in Anitas article here). As a former credit trader at Goldman Sachs, Jill is used to explaining the nuances of crypto to friends and colleagues in the tradfi (traditional finance) world. We were excited to have her on the show to break down some complex concepts in simple, understandable terms, from why popular blockchains dont maintain user privacy to how new projects should approach developer acquisition.

Chain Reaction podcast episodes come out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PDT. Subscribe to us on Apple,Spotify or your alternative podcast platform of choice to keep up with us every week.

More:

Oops, I think they broke the blockchain - TechCrunch