Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced its several educational initiatives for teaching investors in India. Through three key educational initiatives, Binance aims to provide open access for blockchain and crypto learnings.

At Binance, we believe in financial freedom through crypto adoption, Leon Foong, head, APAC, Binance, said. This represents an opportunity for us to play our role in educating the future innovators and builders of India, especially students, and equip them with the relevant blockchain and crypto knowledge to build a path towards financial freedom. With Binances resources of academy content and learn and earn program, we hope to create the incentives for users to do thorough research and make informed investment decisions, he added.

The exchange recently launched its learn and earn program on Binance academy that incentivises learners with cryptocurrency, while gaining knowledge about important topics across the blockchain industry. It also aims to create further courses to enable students to define their own career and entrepreneurial futures in the blockchain industry, for helping the future generation navigate the new world of Web3.0 and smart contracts.

As a follow up to the Binance Campus BUIDLers Program, Binance recently partnered with Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre (i4c) to initiate the Blockchain for Good ideathon. The program will provide a platform for students across Indian colleges to come up with solutions for making the blockchain space inclusive and accessible.

Further, Binance has partnered with IIT Delhi as a title sponsor for its cultural fest Rendezvous, for showcasing user cases of blockchain technology such as NFT tickets, certificates, fan tokens, POAP, among others. As per the partnership, the company will host a Crypto for All webinar, which will include financial influencers such as Neha Nagar, Aditya Saini, and Kashif Raza. Along with providing certificates issued over blockchain to all attendees, selected winners will receive giveaways in Bitcoin and Binance Coin (BNB).

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Binance to create awareness about cryptocurrency and blockchain in India - The Financial Express

The overseas British territory wants to become a global hub for crypto firms.

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Gibraltar has unveiled new regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, taking aim at potential market manipulation and insider trading in the fast-evolving space.

The overseas British territory, located on the southern tip of Spain, published an amendment to existing regulations Wednesday requiring firms dealing in bitcoin and other digital currencies to respect the integrity of markets in which they operate.

In a guidance note for regulated crypto companies, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission says firms must combat "manipulation or improper influencing of prices, liquidity or market information, or any other behaviour which is inimical to market integrity."

"We were the first jurisdiction in 2018 to launch the legal and regulatory framework, and we're now the first jurisdiction to launch a framework for market integrity," Albert Isola, Gibraltar's minister for digital and financial services, told CNBC.

"The more there is around the world in terms of international standards for this space, the more trust, the more usage, and the more adoption we will have around the world," he added.

While perhaps better known as a seaport and popular vacation spot, Gibraltar is a hub for a number of other industries, including financial services and gambling. Its latest move forms part of an ongoing bid to lead the way in regulation of the digital currency industry.

Despite its small size, Gibraltar has a track record of developing rules for the crypto market. The region, which borders Spain but is under British control, first introduced a licensing regime for blockchain firms back in 2018.

Some fairly large names have set up shop in Gibraltar and obtained licenses from local regulators, including FTX, Huobi and Bullish, which is backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Executives from Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, also visited Gibraltar "some months back," but does not have a license, Isola said. The company is seeking to become a friend rather than foe to regulators after facing crackdowns in numerous countries last year.

The Gibraltar Stock Exchange recently agreed to be acquired by Valereum, a blockchain firm, in a bid to become the world's first regulated bourse for share and crypto trading. It's an aim Switzerland's SIX Swiss Exchange is also seeking to achieve with the creation of an exchange for trading blockchain-based securities.

The latest rules arrive as various major world economies, including the U.S. and U.K., are now introducing new rules to bring crypto into the regulatory fold.

"I think it's a sign that more and more jurisdictions are recognizing the need to do it," Isola said. "And the need to do it is because there's more and more adoption."

However, Isola insisted Gibraltar is "not doing this to market ourselves," adding: "We want a very small but quality number of firms within our jurisdiction."

Gibraltar has previously been criticized for being a "tax haven." Several major U.K. gambling firms, including Entain and 888, set up shop in the rocky peninsula, in part due to its favorable taxation regime. More recently, however, Gibraltar has sought to distance itself from such a reputation.

The region is "fully compliant with all transparency and exchange of information standards applicable in the U.K.," Isola said, adding this was at odds with descriptions of Gibraltar as a tax haven. Such transparency standards also apply to crypto, Isola added, meaning "the bar to entry is high."

Spain last year agreed to take Gibraltar off its list of tax havens after coming to a tax cooperation deal with the U.K. The issue has been a sticking point in London's negotiations with Madrid following Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

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Gibraltar became a hub for crypto now it wants to tackle attempts to manipulate the market - CNBC

While 2022 has been a typically roller-coaster year for cryptocurrency buyers, it's shaping up to be exceptional for one group of virtual money enthusiasts: thieves. Criminals have already stolen more than $1 billion in crypto this year.

Attacks onCrypto.com in January,Wormhole in FebruaryandRonin Networklast month each resulted in multimillion-dollar losses. Cybersecurity experts say hackers often target decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms with weak security. DeFi services are typically built on public blockchains, allowing users to exchange crypto back and forth without the need for an established financial institution like a bank or credit union.

"We should expect these types of [sophisticated] attacks to continue to increase, as more and more criminal organizations build DeFi-hacking skills in-house," Mitchell Amador, CEO at cybersecurity auditing firm Immunefi, told Yahoo Finance earlier this month. "Furthermore, as DeFi gets bigger and bigger, these kinds of attacks become more and more lucrative."

The most recent attack came last week when an unknown hacker stole $182 million from Beanstalk Farms the fourth-largest hack on a DeFi service to date. PeckShield, a blockchain security company in China, said thieves used a "flash loan" to exploit security weaknesses in Beanstalk. A flash loan is an unsecured loan that bypasses the need for collateral from the borrower by using smart contracts requiring repayment by the the end of a transaction usually within seconds or minutes.

A large portion of the $182 million that was drained went toward fees on exchange platforms, such as Uniswap and Aave, used to carry out the attack. In the end, the culprit tookhome 24,830 in ether and 36 million BEAN tokens. Beanstalk officials said in a blogpostthat the hackers made out with roughly $76 million of users' crypto holdings. It's unclear if Beanstalk, which launched last August, has been able to recover the stolen crypto.

PeckShield said the hacker laundered the stolen cryptocurrency using Tornado Cash, a service that lets users transfer crypto tokensanonymously.

Since the attack, users have contacted Beanstalk with their suggestions on how to tighten security. Beanstalk said in its blog post that it is taking those thoughts into consideration and "is preparing a strategy to safely re-launch a more secure Beanstalk with a path forward."

Another cyber criminal stole more than $3 million worth of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a popular series of non-fungible tokens, after hacking into the brand's Instagram account. Owners of BAYC lost four Bored Apes, six Mutant Apes and three Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs, Bloomberg News reported in late April. It's unclear if parent company Yuga Labs has been able to retrieve the stolen digital assets.

Hackers have already snatched more than $1.2 billion in crypto from DeFi platforms this year, according to Immunefi, compared $154 millionin the first quarter of 2021. In all of 2020, hackers stole a total of $162 million in crypto from DeFi platforms, according todata from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

"We've also seen significant growth in the usage of DeFi protocols for laundering illicit funds, a practice we saw scattered examples of in 2020 and that became more prevalent in 2021," Chainalysis said in a report. "DeFi protocols saw the most growth by far in usage for money laundering at 1,964%."

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Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.

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Cryptocurrency heists are getting more ambitious and costlier to investors - CBS News

The metaverse and cryptocurrency seem to be concepts that go hand-in-hand virtual worlds and virtual money to spend in them.

Both form an integral part of what is being hyped these days as web3" the third generation of the internet, following web1 the world-wide-web, and web2 social media. The idea is that this version of the internet will be more experiential and engaging, involving virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) to create immersive 3D environments.

How The Metaverse Will Change Cryptocurrency

Metaverse and cryptocurrency are separate concepts and can happily exist without each other as weve seen with Bitcoin, which has utility in the real world as well as the virtual world. And many visions of the metaverse - including Mark Zuckerbergs only tangentially involve crypto and blockchain.

However, its clear that there is a potential synergy between the two ideas. People love spending money, and shopping very quickly established itself as a key feature of both web1 and web2, so theres no reason web3 will be any different! Its also becoming increasingly apparent that, while no one is quite sure exactly what form the metaverse will eventually take, it has the potential to significantly impact the way cryptocurrency evolves, and the impact it will eventually have on society.

Virtual world, real value

One of the big advantages of the virtual world is that there is a lot less friction than in the real world. If we want to go somewhere, we simply click a link or press a button, and we (or our avatar, at least) are there. Theres no need for costly and cumbersome transport infrastructure or passports or to pack our luggage.

The same is true of cryptocurrency. Transacting in traditional money (known as "fiat" by crypto aficionados because its value is supposedly based on government decree) requires a vast infrastructure of banks and regulators to act as custodians, intermediaries, and clearinghouses. Transacting in cryptocurrency, on the other hand, generally just requires software running on standard computers.

Of course, we shouldnt gloss over the fact the energy used by this software to crunch the cryptography that makes currencies work consumes a great deal of energy. But protocols are constantly being refined, and new technologies are being developed with the aim of reducing energy use. Newer proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, for example, are said to be far less environmentally damaging than older proof-of-work currencies like Bitcoin.

As the metaverse becomes more popular, and more and more of our lives are spent online working in virtual offices, playing games with our friends, or even taking metaverse vacations we will need friction-free ways to pay for virtual goods and services. Perhaps we will want to spend it on virtual real estate if we want to own our own slice of digital land on which to entertain friends or build a business!

In fact, the metaverse could add significant value to the global economy to the tune of $1.5 trillion by 2030. And much of that value could be realized in cryptocurrency. This could mean cryptocurrency truly breaking into the mainstream as more and more of us become used to using them as a means of payment.

If this happens, then governments and legislators will undoubtedly feel the need to step up efforts to regulate and, to some extent, control cryptocurrencies. Although things have become more organized in recent years with a growing number of countries beginning to introduce regulatory frameworks around digital currency its still something of a wild west environment. This means that there is little protection for buyers or businesses that rely on coins like Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Dogecoin to do business and little recourse for consumers should they fall victim to the large number of scams that are out there.

As it becomes more popular, governments could also choose to regulate cryptocurrencies according to how energy-efficient or polluting they are. For example, networks that rely on more wasteful proof-of-work algorithms could attract higher tax rates on transactions, while those that use the more efficient proof-of-stake algorithms could be taxed at a lower rate.

The road to adoption

As cryptocurrency becomes the main medium of exchange for people buying and selling in the metaverse, its users will become increasingly comfortable with methods of acquiring, handling, and storing it. This means it will be more frequently used outside of the metaverse, too for sending money to friends and family, for example particularly if this involves the money crossing national borders, which, with traditional currency, can often incur heavy fees (if its even possible at all).

This, in turn, will mean that banks and other existing financial institutions are likely to step up their efforts to facilitate cryptocurrency or blockchain-derived financial models. In order to remain competitive in an age of borderless, middleman-free financial systems, they will need to streamline their own infrastructure. While some such as the head of the IMF - have foreseen that cryptocurrency could eventually spell the end of banking as we know it, in the near term, it's likely that businesses, in particular, will still want to hang on to the layer of protection and regulation that banks and central banks bring to transactional networks. But it seems likely to me that the ones that thrive in this new environment of digital currencies and peer-to-peer finance will be those that are flexible and forward-looking with their own policies when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption. Paypal and Mastercard are examples of payment systems that are now fully engaging with cryptocurrency, Bitcoin in particular and both have said it is because its clear that it will play an important role in the future of payments.

What comes next?

It's certainly true that no one even the likes of Mark Zuckerberg knows what form the metaverse will actually take, when (and if) it becomes fully integrated into our lives. But from past experience, one thing we can say for sure is that businesses will use it to make money, and consumers will use it to spend it!

When it comes to establishing the currency of the virtual world, then cryptocurrencies are clearly a natural fit and because this ground-breaking technology is also in its infancy, then its evolutionary course is likely to be influenced by changes in the way we live our lives. For better or worse, more and more of us are choosing to spend more of our time online, and that's only likely to accelerate as the online world becomes more immersive, entertaining, and engaging. This also means that cryptocurrency will play a bigger role in our lives. As a result, we are likely to see it becoming more regulated, more environmentally friendly, and useful.

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How The Metaverse Will Change Cryptocurrency - Forbes

The popularity digital currencies enjoy has surely made investors invest in cryptocurrencies

There is no doubt that cryptocurrencies are trending worldwide. It seems like ages when only a select range of investors was keen on investing in crypto. In present times, there is hardly any person who hasnt thought about investing in cryptocurrency. With differing degrees of utility, adoption, and promise, the cryptocurrency market has managed to garner attention from every corner of the globe. The attention and popularity that the digital currencies enjoy have surely made investors decipher as to which are the best cryptocurrencies to invest in. This article lists the top 10 cryptocurrencies that are available on the Binance exchange.

Current price: US$41,888

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency and is a peer-to-peer online currency. BTC runs on the blockchain, or a ledger logging transaction distributed across a network of thousands of computers. Because additions to the distributed ledger are verified through a cryptographic puzzle, Bitcoin uses the proof of work algorithm to keep the transactions safe and secure.

Current price: US$3,099

Ethereum rose to prominence after its introduction of smart contracts. The crypto is a favorite of program developers because of its potential applications, like smart contracts that automatically execute when conditions are met, along with its NFT capabilities. Ethereum experienced tremendous growth and volatility in the past couple of months, increasing more than 27,000% since its inception.

Current price: US$1.00

Tether is useful for crypto investors because it offers a way to avoid the extreme volatility of other cryptocurrencies. This creates liquidity for exchange platforms, creates no-cost exit strategies for investors, and adds flexibility and stability to investors portfolios.

Current price: US$420.60

Binance Coin is a product of the Binance exchange. Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of the trading volume. It supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies to trade. BNB coin is used to perform certain operations over the Binance exchange, such as exchange fees, withdrawal fees, and listing fees. The Binance team is providing a discount on fees if the user uses a BNB coin to pay the fees.

Current price: US$1.00

USD Coin is known as a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Cryptocurrencies like USD Coin provide confidence to crypto investors to be present in the volatile cryptocurrency market and earn profit in a slow and steady process. The tokens are ensured with ERC-20 smart contracts.

Current price: US$$0.75

XRP is one of the top cryptocurrencies to help crypto investors yield profit other than Bitcoin. It is a digital asset built for payments and can be sent directly without any central authority. It acts as the most reliable crypto with the potential to source liquidity on demand.

Current price: US$106.97

Solana is a highly functional open-source project that banks on blockchain technologys permissionless nature to provide DeFi solutions. The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history consensus, along with the underlying proof-of-stake consensus of the blockchain. Also, due to its innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike.

Current price: US$95.06

LUNA is the native token of the Terra blockchain ecosystem. LUNA is down in the last 24 hours but showing the least losses of major crypto 0.06%. LUNAs price has been rocketing up this year and at the beginning of March was showing over 80% price increase in the previous seven days.

Current price: US$0.95

Cardano is one of the top competitors of Ethereum, like Bitcoin, in this highly volatile cryptocurrency market as a proof-of-stake blockchain platform. This cryptocurrency combines cutting-edge technologies to offer unparalleled security and sustainability to DAapps. The token is designed to ensure crypto investors can participate in the network operation.

Current price: US$78.58

Avalanche is one of the popular cryptocurrencies that is emerging as the crypto with potential in 2022 and beyond. It helps to create a unified global financial market to trade digital currency in a seamless way. This crypto with potential is known for the proof-of-stake consensus algorithm in the development of Dapps.

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Watch Out for the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Available on Binance Exchange - Analytics Insight

Ark Invest Chief Executive Officer Cathie Wood has never shied away from bold predictions. In 2018, she put a price target on Tesla that implied a $672 billion market cap. Of course, Tesla has since exceeded that valuation by leaps and bounds -- but at the time, the company was worth just $56 billion.

Wood is also a well-known crypto bull. In fact, a recent report from Ark Invest suggests that Ethereum(ETH -1.83%) could achieve a valuation of more than $20 trillionin the next 10 years. That implies 5,400% upside from its current price. Given Wood's bullish outlook, let's take a closer look at this cryptocurrency.

Here's what you should know.

Ethereum has pushed the limits of blockchain technology. Rather than simply securing transaction data, the Ethereum blockchain allows developers to build self-executing computer programs known as smart contracts. That utility has revolutionized the industry, giving rise to a thriving ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) services, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Not surprisingly, Ethereum has faced an onslaught of competition in recent years, and many rival blockchains are faster and cheaper. Even so, Ethereum still ranks as the most popular decentralized ecosystem of software and services. In fact, it powers nearly 75%of all dApps across any blockchain. Better yet, Ethereum accounted for 78% of all NFT sales last year, and it's the leading DeFi ecosystem, with $114 billioninvested on the platform.

DeFi services allow investors to lend, borrow, invest, and earn interest on money without involving banks or other financial institutions. To that end, DeFi makes financial services more efficient and more accessible. Case in point: The average U.S. savings account currently pays a 0.06% annual percentage yield (APY), but your return could be orders of magnitude higher in a DeFi protocol. For instance, the borrowing and lending platform Compoundcurrently pays 2.3%APY on USD Coin deposits, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Ark Invest sees Ethereum's leadership in DeFi services as a significant growth driver in the years ahead. That's true for two reasons: First, whenever an investor engages with a DeFi product, the transaction fees are paid in the native cryptocurrency. In the context of Ethereum, that means the ETH coin, also known as ether. Second, ether itself is the preferredcollateral in DeFi, according to Ark's research. To that end, rising adoption of DeFi should create demand for the ETH coin, pushing its price higher.

Image source: Getty Images.

NFTs are digital certificates of ownership. While the term NFT is most often associated with JPEG art like CryptoPunks, any asset can be tokenized on a programmable blockchain. For instance, healthcare records could be turned into NFTs to better protect patient privacy, and education transcripts could be turned into NFTs to streamline the college admissions process. Even physical assets like tickets, cars, real estate, and collectible items could be tokenized to simplify transactions and proof of ownership.

Given the potential, Ark sees Ethereum's leadership in NFTs as a key advantage. It costs money to mint and buy NFTs, and when those transactions take place on Ethereum, the ETH coin is used as payment. In other words, as the NFT market continues to grow, demand for ETH should drive its price higher.

As a final thought, many investors are familiar with OpenSea, the world's most popular NFT marketplace. It should come as no surprise that OpenSea is built on Ethereum (among other blockchains), but so is the recently launched Coinbase NFT marketplace. And given its position as the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, its new Coinbase NFT marketplace could strengthen Ethereum's competitive position in the coming years.

Ark makes a strong case for owning Ethereum. Yes, numerous competing blockchains are gaining ground, but Ethereum has maintained its market leadership despite soaring transaction fees. That says a lot about the platform's ability to create value for users. Better yet, a scaling solution is set to go live in 2023, supercharging Ethereum's throughput and lowering fees. That catalyst should reinforce its leadership position.

So can Ethereum soar 5,400% over the next decade? It's possible, though Ark's price target may be a little too optimistic. Regardless, Ethereum has positioned itself as a key enabler of DeFi services and NFT sales, and that advantage could create significant wealth for long-term investors. From that perspective, this cryptocurrency is worth buying.

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1 Cryptocurrency With 5,400% Upside, According to Cathie Wood - The Motley Fool

The Bank of Spain has issued a new report that touches on the subject of the popularity of cryptocurrency usage and the possible effects it might have on the financial stability of the nation. In the document, the bank explains that these assets which ostensibly dont have any kind of support behind them can introduce systemic risks via their adoption by traditional institutions and the lack of regulation over them.

The Bank of Spain has issued a new report where it warns about the growth of the cryptocurrency economy and its possible effects on the traditional economic system. According to the report, while the cryptocurrency market is still considered limited, its exponential growth and the fact that most of the value of the market comes from cryptocurrency assets without support, could pose risks for the global economy.

This systemic risk is explained by the growing links between crypto and the traditional economy. On this, the Bank of Spain identifies two possible vectors. The first one has to do with the elevated volatility of these assets and their correlation with traditional markets. On this, the document informs:

The high volatility of crypto assets may contribute to these dynamics, with corrections in these assets favoring a more general correction in financial asset prices.

The second risk vector has to do with the elevated market cap of traditional stablecoins like USDT and USDC, which forces their issuers to maintain a high number of support assets. This might affect the prices of these safe assets in the case of an accelerated run caused by market conditions.

The report continues to explain that, while these cryptocurrency assets pose significant risks for the global economy, regulation is still being established and has failed to address these concerns comprehensively. Spain does not have the ability to regulate cryptocurrencies and has just recently issued a set of rules and recommendations when it comes to advertising campaigns related to these elements.

The document clarifies that:

In this context of lack of its own national regulation on crypto assets, the Bank of Spain does not currently have the capacity to regulate, authorize or supervise the operation of crypto asset markets or their participants.

Spain and others in the E.U. are waiting for the approval of MiCA, the Markets in Crypto Assets law framework, which according to recent reports, will designate supranational entities to oversee cryptocurrency operations in Europe.

What do you think about the latest report on the risks that cryptocurrencies present to the global economy issued by the Bank of Spain? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bank of Spain Report Warns About Cryptocurrency Usage and Its Effect on Financial Stability News Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

With gambling deals on the wane, cryptocurrency companies are the latest wave of controversial cash to flood into football, with many top European clubs having deals with companies in the sector.

The latest and perhaps most significant yet may be Liverpool who, at the same time as attempting to win a quadruple on the field, are in talks off it with a number of companies from different areas, including cryptocurrency firms, to replace Standard Chartered on the front of the iconic red shirts next year as revealed by David Ornstein.

Were they to strike a deal they would be the first Premier League club to have a cryptocurrency firm as their front of shirt sponsor.

Here The Athletic explains what cryptocurrencies are, the deals firms have already signed with clubs and whether there should be any concerns about partnering with them.

What are cryptocurrencies and who is in the mix for Liverpools shirt sponsorship deal?

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets based on blockchain technology, the computer networks which underpin the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The firms in the race for Liverpools shirt include a crypto exchange firm a platform to buy and sell digital currency and a blockchain platform, a decentralised computer network that underpins cryptocurrencies.

These sorts of firms are increasing their presence in sport but are controversial for reasons including the environmental impact of their products and an association with volatile financial speculation.

Which other major crypto sponsorship deals have there been in sport?

In football, many top European clubs including Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have big money sponsorship deals with Socios.

This fan engagement company creates cryptocurrency tokens that grant access to polls and rewards, but an investigation by The Athletic revealed the companys products are subject to frantic pumping and dumping by people who see the volatile tokens as financial investments.

The Italian top flights technology sponsor is cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, meaning VAR announcements on Italian TV come with a shout-out for crypto punto com. The website will also sponsor this years FIFA World Cup.

In the USA, big-money crypto sponsors are even more established. Crypto.com recently signed a massive 20-year, $700 million sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles arena, previously known as the Staples Centre, home to multiple sports teams including the LA Lakers and LA Clippers of the NBA.

The firm also has deals with Formula 1 and UFC (the Ultimate Fighting Championship).

FTX, another big exchange, has a deal with Major League Baseball, and has given its name to Miami Heats basketball arena in Florida.

There are many more cryptocurrency firms in different sports around the world appearing on jerseys and renaming stadiums.

Why is a crypto sponsor controversial?

First, carrying out cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology requires extensive computing power, which is directly associated with guzzling energy and therefore environmental destruction.

This is particularly true for the original Bitcoin blockchain. Later versions such as the Tezos blockchain which sponsors Manchester Uniteds training kit, and the Polygon blockchain which underpin Liverpools collection of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) say they are more environmentally friendly.

Second, and more fundamentally, critics argue that cryptocurrencies have no real purpose beyond financial speculation. The word cryptocurrency is a bit of misnomer because few people use this technology for buying goods or services. Far more common is using them as digital assets to try to make money. But unlike conventional assets like company stocks or commodities like gold or oil, cryptocurrencies are not linked to any tangible entity.

This means some go so far as likening the entire industry to a Ponzi scheme, where cash is transferred from late investors to early investors, who make money simply by buying low and selling high, with no product of tangible value being generated at any point.

Many cryptocurrencies, most famously Bitcoin, have ballooned in value since their creation, making some people very rich. But over the past year or two as the industry has become more established, these sorts of gains have become harder to come by and lots of people have lost money.

Another concern about cryptocurrency exchanges is that being such a new form of technology, the laws and regulations dont always apply to them.

Furthermore, some cryptocurrency exchanges offer many products, some of which, though legal in the exchanges home country are illegal in the country where the product is being marketed.

For example, during Liverpools recent thrilling draw with Manchester City, OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange, was prominently advertised at the Etihad Stadium.

A look at this companys website shows that the company deals heavily in crypto derivatives, which are banned from sale to UK consumers because they are deemed too risky for retail investors. There is no suggestion club or company is breaking UK law and the company itself is free to advertise here.

The financial structures of some of these companies are poorly understood, meaning we dont know if they are borrowing huge sums to fund these sports sponsorships, with the road to future profitability less clear.

What are the upsides?

Put simply, there is lots of money in this. The cryptocurrency industry is booming around the world and the sums being funnelled into sport are vast.

Maintaining a football club at the very top tier of international competition is increasingly expensive, with wages endlessly on the rise, and no cost controls like in American sports which implement salary caps.

While some clubs enjoy the luxury of financing from a state-linked entity, or, until recently, an oligarch willing to stomach huge personal losses for sporting glory, Liverpool are not in that position and Fenway Sports Group try to operate in a fairly sustainable way.

The clubs achievements have been exceptional over the past few years, but it will be difficult to sustain those levels without going toe-to-toe with rivals financially.

Cryptocurrency advocates also claim there are lots of positives about the technology itself, such as enabling payments across borders and across jurisdictions, such as in warzones or countries with poor banking systems.

Do Liverpool have any history with crypto?

The club recently launched a collection of NFTs, a sort of digital asset based on blockchain technology in the form of cartoon images of Liverpool players, which can be traded online.

The sale was not a success, with the club selling only around 10 per cent of the NFTs available, raising only around $1 million, less than 0.5 per cent of the clubs commercial revenue last year. There was also a backlash from fans.

The club also has a sponsorship deal with Think Markets, a trading app which offers cryptocurrency trading as a product.

What are the risks of a cryptocurrency deal?

Given the sector is growing so quickly despite almost no regulation, perhaps the biggest risk aside from a gigantic crypto crash that causes investors to desert the sector is not something that is obvious right now.

These firms are involved in moving money around the globe in ways that is barely understood, let alone regulated, meaning cryptocurrency exchanges are constantly working to steer on the right side of the law and not fall foul of prohibitions on money laundering or being used to fund illegal activities.

The biggest risk is that a club will sign a deal with a company that one day explodes spectacularly, or is embroiled in scandal and controversy in a way that is perhaps barely even conceivable at the moment the deal is signed, while the cryptocurrency hype is raging and while the values of digital assets are generally going up.

Although partnering with one of these controversial companies may be the best way for a club like Liverpool to help bankroll footballing glory, before they swap Standard Chartered for a new logo, they may want to make sure they are getting paid for the privilege in dollars or pounds, not crypto.

(Top photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

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Explained: Cryptocurrency, football sponsorships and why a Liverpool shirt deal could be controversial - The Athletic

Over the past 24 hours, The Graph's GRT/USD price has risen 16.21% to $0.40. This continues its positive trend over the past week where it has experienced a 7.0% gain, moving from $0.37 to its current price. As it stands right now, the coin's all-time high is $2.84.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for The Graph over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

The Graph's trading volume has climbed 156.0% over the past week along with the circulating supply of the coin, which has increased 5.12%. This brings the circulating supply to 6.93 billion, which makes up an estimated 69.3% of its max supply of 10.00 billion. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for GRT is #48 at $2.78 billion.

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This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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Cryptocurrency The Graph's Price Increased More Than 16% Within 24 hours - Benzinga - Benzinga

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney has sounded off on one of the hottest issues in tech and gaming right now, that being digital economies, including cryptocurrency. Speaking to Fast Company, the billionaire founder of the Fortnite studio said he believes digital goods will become massively popular and lucrative, running into the trillions of dollars, but right now the market is filled with bad actors and scams.

"The idea of a digital economy that's not gate-kept by any one company, which is decentralized and open to all participants and has incredibly low transaction fees, that's an awesome aspiration," Sweeney said. "I support the idea of universal ownershipthe idea that if you were to buy an avatar in one place that youd own it in every other place where it's conceptually compatible... the field of zero knowledge proofs--the idea that you can verify that something happened without receiving any private details about it--that powers a number of the cryptocurrencies in protecting privacy while running a decentralized system, I think thats going to be the backbone of a large part of the next century in technology."

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Right now, however, Sweeney said he's observed that the crypto market is "bundled up with a lot of speculation and a lot of outright scams." Sweeney also said he believes companies are promising more than they can realistically deliver in the name of making money.

"You know, like the blockchain avatar economies for example, there are a bunch of companies aspiring to make avatars that you universally own, but none of them I've found, not a single one, has actually made any effort to foster actual adoption of these avatars by any actual games or ecosystems," he said.

"They just want to build this thing and sell people avatars, but they're completely useless in practice."

Sweeney went on to say one of the main issues right now is around utility--companies are selling digital goods that don't have much in the way of actual use. "They're showing you digital goods you can't do anything with except to say that you own it. You can cryptographically prove that you own it, but who cares?," he said.

Looking further into the future, Sweeney said he is optimistic that crypto will become massively successful and ubiquitous. "I firmly believe there's going to be a multi-trillion dollar economy around digital goods in the future," he said.

The full interview touches on many other subjects like the metaverse; go read it here.

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Originally posted here:
Tim Sweeney Reacts To Cryptocurrency Trend, Says It's Overrun With Scams Right Now - GameSpot