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Cointelegraph enters into a strategic collaboration with Chainlink Labs to support Web3 startups

Coin Telegraph
Cointelegraph enters into a strategic collaboration with Chainlink Labs to support Web3 startups
Blockchain

Cointelegraph is excited to announce a strategic collaboration with Chainlink Labs, the primary contributing developer of the industry-standard decentralized computing platform Chainlink.

Cointelegraph is excited to announce a strategic collaboration with Chainlink Labs, the primary contributing developer of the industry-standard decentralized computing platform Chainlink. This collaboration will align the Cointelegraph Accelerator and Chainlink BUILD programs, helping drive innovation and accelerate the growth of next-gen Web3 projects.

The Cointelegraph Accelerator is a global program that supports early-stage and up-and-coming Web3 startups. As part of the collaboration with Chainlink Labs, the Cointelegraph Accelerator will provide Chainlink BUILD projects with marketing support, media strategy, social media playbooks, user acquisition guides, access to the largest industry events, and other benefits that help accelerate their growth.

On the other hand, Chainlink Labs will engage with projects under the wing of the Cointelegraph Accelerator by offering technical support, mentorship and providing access to Chainlink’s decentralized computing platform and expanding their builder communities.

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Crypto wallet with zero connectivity: NGRAVE joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

Coin Telegraph
Crypto wallet with zero connectivity: NGRAVE joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Adoption

NGRAVE, a digital asset security provider, offers user-friendly, self-custody solutions that combine offline key creation with advanced recovery options for crypto users.

Cryptocurrencies are digital-only assets that investors can delegate custody to a third party, such as an exchange, store in hot wallets, or rely on their own hardware wallets. Security concerns with online solutions and third-party risks (not your keys, not your coins) have increased the need for crypto investors to find offline, easy-to-use solutions to securely manage their crypto assets. This demand, along with a growing awareness of self-custody, is driving the expansion of the hardware wallet market, which is expected to reach 3.6 billion by 2031.

However, hardware wallet manufacturers need to overcome several challenges to compete effectively with software-based Web3 wallets. Unlike their software counterparts, hardware wallets require an upfront purchase and can be complex to use, especially for beginners. Additionally, like any physical wallet, hardware wallets are vulnerable to real-world security risks such as theft or structural damage — just like any physical wallet.

However, a well-designed hardware wallet can improve security without compromising accessibility. This is where NGRAVE, a digital asset security provider, steps in. The team believes that achieving air-gapped protection for cryptocurrency storage necessitates 100% offline usability, which hardware wallets and anti-tampering measures can provide. This means not having any connectivity like Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi or even USB to completely eliminate any hack or malware attempts.

NGRAVE applied this approach to its flagship product, the NGRAVE ZERO hardware wallet. As a fully offline wallet, ZERO only communicates with the outside world through verifiable QR codes. The device has a 4” touchscreen to help users create keys, manage wallets and sign transactions directly through ZERO’s swipe-and-tap user-friendly interface.

NGRAVE ZERO features its own interface for simple management of crypto assets. Source: NGRAVE

NGRAVE ZERO features its own interface for simple management of crypto assets. Source: NGRAVE

The anti-tampering protection protects the hardware wallet against physical damage and attacks, while the EAL7 certificate — one of the highest security levels in the blockchain and finance industry — ensures the keys stored on ZERO are safe against digital attacks.

The NGRAVE team is on a mission to help people “safeguard their wealth, so they are free to live the life they want.” Their security-first approach led to an end-to-end solution that combines security with ease of use. NGRAVE is currently raising a Series A round of funding.

The premise of a fully offline hardware wallet and the potential of NGRAVE’s tiered product line helped the team to get a seat at the Cointelegraph Accelerator — a program designed to boost promising Web3 and crypto startups. Down the line, NGRAVE plans to add more coins to its growing list of supported crypto assets and offer other wallet solutions that bridge the security of offline use and the flexibility of online connectivity. The team is also working on integration with Trust Wallet, MetaMask and other hot wallets, bringing passphrase support to its products as well as a portfolio tracking feature.

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Web3 social media to disrupt a $100B market: Pop Social joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

Coin Telegraph
Web3 social media to disrupt a 0B market: Pop Social joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Adoption

Web3 social media dApp Pop Social becomes the newest member of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program.

The growth of social media has made it possible for everyone to become a content creator. And while the creator economy grew, incentives to become part of it continued to diminish. Since the $100 billion market is dominated by a handful of centralized platforms, creators hardly ever see a fair compensation for their efforts. 

YouTube, for example, has only recently started paying out a minor share (45%) of the ad money from Short videos to creators. Streaming platform Spotify also cuts 30% from ad revenue, leaving creators to share $0.003 to $0.005 with right holders and publishers per stream. 

Add to this the growing concerns about data ownership and the lack of sustainable financial models, it becomes clear that the creator economy needs to reestablish itself by placing users and creators at its heart. As the digital landscape evolves, it’s crucial to utilize a decentralized approach to overcome the major challenges of the creator economy.

Web3 social media where users and creators come first

Pop Social, a Web3-friendly social media platform, combines SocialFi, Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI) to address the key pain points of content creation faced by users and creators alike. The platform aims to eliminate the exploitation of creators by providing fair compensation for creators while introducing a new mechanism to reward users for their engagement as well. To achieve this, Pop Social diversifies its revenue streams by including AdTech revenue, nonfungible token (NFT)-related earnings, Phygital Stores and Open-API subscription models, to ensure a sustainable financial foundation. 

Using an on-chain unique profile ID and enabling users to bring their own IDs from other decentralized protocols, Pop Social goes all in for true content ownership. With the AI integration, users will be able to see personalized recommendations based on meritocracy rather than popularity. Pop Social uses AI to provide a more balanced experience for users while building a foundation for reliable information flow to prevent fake news through its platform. It aims to create a vibrant and inclusive social ecosystem by focusing on social recovery, user-controlled data privacy and transparent content moderation policies.

An integral part of the Pop Social ecosystem, Pop Labs operates as a launchpad for innovation, driven by generative AI, creator incubation, and project initiatives.

“We envision a future where Social, Web3, and AI convergence redefines how we interact, create, and thrive in the digital realm,” Michael Shen, CEO of Pop Social, told Cointelegraph. “At the heart of this vision is empowering individuals, content creators, and communities through a seamlessly integrated ecosystem.” 

“SocialFi should aim to create an exciting and inclusive ecosystem where users, creators, and communities thrive financially while reaping the benefits of a decentralized, transparent, and secure social experience.”

Cointelegraph Accelerator welcomes Pop Social as a participant in its growing roster of promising projects. Given the disruptive potential the Web3-native social decentralized applications (DApps) hold against the $100 billion creator economy. With good traction regarding active users and app downloads, Pop Social has a founding team of experts who have substantial experience in the blockchain industry.

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Crypto portfolio management platform MC2 Finance joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

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Crypto portfolio management platform MC2 Finance joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Asset Management

Decentralized crypto wealth management platform MC2 Finance becomes the latest participant of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) might hold immense potential to solve the problems faced by traditional finance (TradFi). However, DeFi still struggles with onboarding new users -both retail and institutional- due to its limitations on the user experience side. 

Despite all the innovation and development happening on the infrastructure level, the “DeFi revolution” is presented to users with unnecessarily complicated screens that would require expert-level technical knowledge. 

To reach the mainstream, blockchain protocols need a robust infrastructure on the back while delivering a smooth, clean and user-friendly experience on the front. The easiest way to achieve this is to take a cue from what has worked in TradFi and fintech all these years in terms of user experience.

MC2 Finance, a decentralized crypto asset management platform, aims to onboard both TradFi users and crypto newcomers by simplifying the investment experience in DeFi. It offers an infrastructure for creating KYC-free digital asset funds that are aligned with regulatory requirements. 

Asset managers can instantly create non-custodial portfolio structures across multiple blockchains using MC2 Finance and trade a strategy as a token. Users can then follow experts’ strategies with their own cross-chain portfolios automatically. Once a user connects to MC2 Finance with a Web3 wallet, they’re free to explore different token strategies and review risks and ratings to make informed decisions based on their goals.

DeFi needs simple screens

The simplistic design of the platform allows DeFi newcomers to easily mix their strategies through an uncluttered interface while learning from the expert community by joining exclusive traders’ clubs.

The platform features a white-label marketplace that is integrated into popular decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The integration means increased trading volume and total value locked (TVL) for some of the biggest DEXs in the space. MC2 Finance also offers automated auditing and strategy verification to ensure the safety and reliability of investments. What’s more, by implementing trading competitions, the platform will allow users to have access to tested out investment strategies.

“The digitization and decentralization of all asset classes is a clear trend in the financial sector,” an MC2 Finance spokesperson commented, adding that MC2 Finance is bridging traditional finance and DeFi by bringing TradFi standards to DeFi and introducing decentralization to traditional funds.

“By creating a compliant, non-custodial, and decentralized fund management infrastructure, we're addressing key challenges in both sectors and facilitating the transition to on-chain financial systems.” 

MC2 Finance joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

MC2 Finance joined the Cointelegraph Accelerator, a program designed to help up-and-coming Web3 projects benefit from Cointelegraph’s established media presence and marketing opportunities. Cointelegraph Accelerator picked MC2 Finance due to its team expertise and vision of the potential to disrupt the traditional investment industry using the blockchain technilogy . 

Having 14 employees across Europe, the project already has partnerships with several blockchains and DEXs. The platform hosted over a thousand users during its testnet phase, and a full launch is slated for early 2024. 

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TradFi gets crypto boost: Renegade joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

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TradFi gets crypto boost: Renegade joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Applications

Cointelegraph Accelerator welcomes Web3-friendly fintech platform Renegade to its program.

As the crypto industry continues to grow, it becomes increasingly intertwined with traditional finance (TradFi) to the benefit of end users. TradFi is notoriously slow, inefficient and expensive. International wire transfers, which take days and double-digit dollar fees in most cases, are a perfect embodiment of the current state of traditional finance.

By comparison, decentralized finance (DeFi) has the potential to provide similar services, including fund transfers, payments and storage, much quicker and at lower costs. However, the majority of financial technology (fintech) applications offered by TradFi services win the users in terms of user experience and simplicity, leaving the unnecessarily complex and obscure DeFi apps with limited adoption.

Mainstream users require a friendly experience and easy-to-use applications to dip their toes in decentralized waters before becoming full-fledged crypto users. Similarly, DeFi users need a bridge to utilize their crypto funds in their everyday lives. They seek a fintech solution that is free from the complexity, logginess and expensiveness of traditional finance services.

Renegade, a Web3-ready financial services platform, aims to bridge TradFi features with crypto and DeFi by providing users with a clean, easy-to-use interface through its mobile apps developed for iOS and Android.

On top of a standard TradFi experience, which includes payment solutions, an IBAN account and personal finance management, Renegade adds Web3 functions, including a non-custodial and custodial wallet, fiat on-ramp through a Visa debit card, and crypto exchange — bringing the DeFi and TradFi spaces together.

Integration with crypto exchanges and wallets

Key crypto industry players such as crypto exchanges and wallet providers integrate with the Renegade platform to offer their solutions in a more TradFi-friendly environment. As more partners join the Renegade platform, users will be able to use a diverse range of direct, in-app conversions and enhanced liquidity options.

On the fintech side, the company is building RenegadePay and preparing a Renegade Visa debit card. Both will give users the ability to spend crypto in everyday shopping. Renegade users will also get a Swedish IBAN number thanks to a partnership with EMI Intergiro, opening up a range of traditional banking services and also a very attractive spending rewards programme.

Renegade provides users with a Visa debit card, which can be used for crypto payments. Source: Renegade

Renegade provides users with a Visa debit card, which can be used for crypto payments. Source: Renegade

Talking about the vision of the company, Renegade CEO Daniel A. Strele-Ramonis explained that the team aims to dissolve the barriers between fiat and crypto, offering everyone the tools to harness the full spectrum of financial opportunities. “As the future unfolds, we aspire to lead this fusion, ensuring that financial empowerment is accessible, intuitive, and without compromise,” he added.

Renegade joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

Renegade has joined Cointelegraph Accelerator as a participant to benefit from the media reach and marketing opportunities provided by the program. Cointelegraph Accelerator selected Renegade given the user experience the project is developing for both TradFi and DeFi users.

The platform aims to integrate with major payment services, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, by the end of the year. When its mobile app is launched, Renegade can serve the TradFi needs of DeFi users while providing access to crypto and Web3 for the fintech market, effectively bridging the two worlds.

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Community-powered crypto trading: CryptoRobotics joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

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Community-powered crypto trading: CryptoRobotics joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Blockchain

CryptoRobotics, a one-stop-shop trading platform, offers trading bots, autostrategies and signals while fostering a community-driven mission to outperform the market.

Crypto market charts can make traders feel exhausted just by looking at them, and chances are high that this contributed to the prolonged bear season. After experiencing historic lows for well over a year, both first-timers and experienced traders are looking for ways to stay afloat in the crypto market, and it might feel like a never-ending grind.

In times like these, when individual efforts and manual orders hardly yield results due to the unpredictability of the market, it’s crucial for traders to get together and learn from each other. Adding a social aspect to crypto trading might be the answer, and one project aims to do that.

CryptoRobotics offers automated trading on cryptocurrency exchanges, enabling users to implement popular strategies. Their cloud-based technology allows traders to execute trades simultaneously and benefit from each other’s successful trading strategies. With features like autostrategies, copy trading or crypto signals, CryptoRobotics aims to unite all traders and investors by developing a trading index that will bring its users into one large community with shared goals.

One of CryptoRobotics' key differentiators in the industry is its commitment to uniting traders and investors with a shared purpose. Unlike many projects that focus on driving commissions and fees, CryptoRobotics aims to create a trading index that fosters a community with common goals. Their profit-sharing model ensures fairness and equity among all participants within the community. Traders who provide successful strategies earn rebates, while investors who profit share with the strategy providers. This approach caters to both beginners and experienced traders, emphasizing community support and recognition for passionate traders.

Pro traders’ signals now open to all users

The auto-following CryptoRobotics feature combines trading robots with signals, first provided by analysts or experienced traders and then executed by robots. This feature simplifies continuous trading for newcomers with an uncomplicated setup.

Meanwhile, analysts and professional traders have the opportunity to monetize their trading strategies through automation.

CryptoRobotics’ dashboard is available with desktop and mobile interfaces. Source: CryptoRobotics

CryptoRobotics’ dashboard is available with desktop and mobile interfaces. Source: CryptoRobotics

In addition, CryptoRobotics is integrated into 15 major crypto exchanges. Users can trade using its bots, which have a risk management system, for spot and futures exchanges. The CryptoRobotics team explained that the project combines the best practices from traditional asset markets, including user-created strategies, copy trades and risk management through multiple asset investments.

“CryptoRobotics is a platform for beginners and experienced traders, but most importantly, for enthusiastic traders who need community support and recognition,” a CryptoRobotics spokesperson said. “Those who love the market and stay awake for weeks anticipating a big win or after a fatal mistake.”

Cointelegraph Accelerator picked CryptoRobotics as the latest addition to the program’s growing roster of promising Web3 and crypto startups. The CryptoRobotics team has already built a product generating revenue in a tough crypto-investing market. CryptoRobotics’ social approach to trading picked up the pace, generating over 55,000 registered users, 20 trading robots and over 50 popular strategies since its launch. The platform saw over $1 billion in trading volume in 2022. The head office of the startup is in Estonia, and most of its team is based in Bali.

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Fintech, DeFi, GameFi, and more: Web3 startups kick off Cointelegraph Accelerator second cohort

Coin Telegraph
Fintech, DeFi, GameFi, and more: Web3 startups kick off Cointelegraph Accelerator second cohort
Blockchain

Sixteen startups selected from over 1000 applications will present their projects to a global audience.

Cointelegraph Accelerator, a startup booster that leverages Cointelegraph’s capabilities as a media and strategic partner, announced its second cohort launching in October 2023 for up-and-coming Web3 startups.

Selected from over 1000 startup applications, the 16 participants of the second cohort of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program represent a wide array of Web3 verticals, including decentralized finance (DeFi), fintech, wallets, entertainment, social, and GameFi.

By joining Cointelegraph’s accelerator program, Web3 startups will get marketing strategy expertise, access to Cointelegraph media products, and mentorship programs with industry experts on key start-up development topics, including token design, fundraising, legal frameworks, liquidity management, security, etc. The participants will also benefit from access to Cointelegraph’s broad network of investors, foundations, infrastructure partners, and other industry leaders.

The current cohort of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program consists of 16 Web3 startups focused on bringing innovation to the biggest sectors in the blockchain space. Find out more about them below:

DeFi and trading

In a world where traditional and decentralized finance coexist, bridging the gap between them is crucial. The latest Cointelegraph Accelerator participants focused on DeFi services are pioneering solutions to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency, thus redefining trading and personal finance management for mainstream users.

Changex is a personal finance mobile app that aims to bring traditional finance users to Web3 by combining centralized and decentralized finance on a single screen. As an all-in-one self-custody wallet solution, Changex offers crypto swapping, buying, selling, and staking. The platform has 2,500 monthly active users (MAU) with over $3 million in staked assets.

CryptoRobotics is a crypto trading platform with advanced tools aimed at bringing the crypto community together. Users can utilize the signals and trading strategies coming directly from professional traders and analysts, who, in return, can earn investor rebates for providing their strategies. The platform leverages trading robots powered by smart algorithms with risk management systems to enable automated trading. The team reached over $1 billion in trading volume in 2022 with over 50,000 registered users.

Clip Finance is a DeFi protocol that aggregates and benefits from the investment strategies available to the mainstream audience and other protocols. Users can deposit their stablecoins with a single click and get yield from a pool of various DeFi protocols, including Aave, Thena, Stargate, and Biswap. The platform aims to simplify the creation of risk-analyzed yield portfolios and is currently preparing for the main launch based on feedback from the private beta phase.

Renegade is bridging the gap between traditional banking and cryptocurrencies. The user-friendly platform offers both a full IBAN account and a Visa card, allowing users to pay in top cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH effortlessly. A central product element is the noncustodial wallet, ensuring users maintain full control over their crypto assets. After a promising beta test with 2,500 users, the company is gearing up for an open market launch in Q4 2023.

MC² Finance is a noncustodial, cross-chain token strategy platform. It aims to democratize access to on-chain crypto wealth management through easy-to-use tools and access to aggregated crypto portfolio strategies with a user-friendly UI. The European-based MC² Finance team aims to launch its mainnet after hosting over a thousand users during the platform’s testnet.

Nolus is a semi-permissioned, blockchain-powered platform that bridges lenders and borrowers in a DeFi money market. With its DeFi Lease, borrowers can secure 3x leveraged yield-generating capital. Inspired by traditional leasing, where one pays a fraction upfront and gains ownership after repayment, Nolus' approach cuts down the DeFi sector's high overcollateralization standards, which boosts capital efficiency and offers borrowers better loan terms.

Velvet Capital is a DeFi platform on the BNB Chain that helps create and manage on-chain funds and structured products. Asset managers can create portfolios of digital assets and mint synthetic tokens representing them. Users can invest in tokenized portfolios and earn yield from lending, staking, capital gains, or providing liquidity. The company offers a Web3 app for regular users and “DeFi-as-a-Service” (with SDK and APIs) for institutional clients. The platform has a live MVP with over 550 active investors.

WhiteList Zone is a marketplace where crypto investors and enthusiasts can buy “front-row seats” for upcoming Web3 projects. Its mission is to democratize the market of early Web3 investments in the most efficient and accessible way. Users can buy and trade whitelists, which grant exclusive rights to participate in launch events such as initial DEX offerings (IDOs). The platform hosts over 50 projects and over 7,000 whitelist submissions, attracting nearly 4,000 users.

Data storage and digital assets

Data sovereignty and security are paramount in the digital age. By offering decentralized data storage and robust digital asset management solutions, these projects ensure a seamless transition toward digital ownership and secure data management.

GhostDrive is a Web3 native data storage platform and user application on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and Filecoin, a decentralized alternative to Google Drive where users can store, share, and access data. Users can join by logging in with MetaMask or the traditional email and password combination and start storing data in a decentralized cloud securely.

NGRAVE is the first complete solution for full control of digital assets, focusing on self-custody, maximum security, and ease of use. The hardware wallet, Ngrave Zero, is the world’s only financial product featuring a secure OS with the highest security certification: EAL7, developed with world-renowned cryptography and security experts. The company also offers its users a stainless steel encrypted backup for their keys and a mobile app to track their digital assets.

SocialFi and Marketing tech

The conventional social media landscape often overlooks fair revenue distribution and user control. However, innovative platforms are being developed to merge social interactions with financial incentives, creating a more equitable social media ecosystem for both content creators and consumers.

Pop Social is an AI-powered social gateway to Web3. The platform explores a new approach to social media where users create and share their content, interact with each other, and get rewards with native Pop Tokens for active engagement with the app. AI algorithms are used in the content creation features and in the process of generating individual post feeds. Pop Social has already reached over 250,000 downloads on the App Store and Google Play Store and has over 40,000 daily active users.

ReadON is a social app with a Web3 sharing economy where content is owned by creators, and part of the ad revenue is distributed back to them. Creators earn tokens for sharing, users earn tokens for reading, and advertisers buy and burn tokens to place ads and access users' interests targeting data. The app has reached over 510,000 user registrations and app downloads, 45,000 daily active users, and over 563,000 content pieces.

GAMI is a Web3-focused venture builder that hosts a variety of products tailored to the blockchain industry. Gami’s flagship product is Midle, an all-in-one marketing platform that helps optimize user acquisition and community engagement, working with 100+ partners from the Web3 space. Midle has already reached over 22,000 unique users who have completed over 400,000 quests.

EdTech and HRTech

Exclusivity and a lack of verified talent pools hinder the growth of the Web3 domain. Some projects, however, are working on democratizing access to Web3 solutions and education, bridging the gap between academic institutions and the blockchain industry, and facilitating continuous innovation.

Talentre is a Web3 talent platform where users have access to blockchain education courses, events, certifications, and a traceable tokenized achievement system. At the same time, Web3 companies and projects get access to a verified talent pool. More than 50 universities have already partnered with Talentre, and the platform has reached over 170,000 registered wallets and over 50 business clients, including Circle, BNB Chain, Solana, and many others.

Entertainment

Monetization and user engagement are pressing challenges in the entertainment sector. By embedding blockchain technology in streaming and gaming platforms, these innovative projects are crafting a rewarding and engaging entertainment ecosystem for modern audiences.

Replay has developed a blockchain-powered streaming service called RewardedTV that empowers viewers and creators to take control of their video streaming experience. RewardedTV uses blockchain tech to reward viewers with digital tokens and collectibles to drive engagement. The platform has over 100,000 registered users, and more than 4,000 videos-on-demand (VOD) live TV channel options, with more partnered streaming apps on the way.

Fanton is a Web3 fantasy football game playable on Telegram and integrated with The Open Network (TON) blockchain. Similar to traditional fantasy sports games, which comprise a $25 billion market, the game allows players to create their dream team with NFT cards of soccer superstars and earn points based on the players’ real-life performances. The product has had a successful launch reaching more than 11,000 registered users to date.

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Fantasy football game on Telegram: Fanton joins Cointelegraph Accelerator

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Fantasy football game on Telegram: Fanton joins Cointelegraph Accelerator
Blockchain

Fanton brings blockchain-based fantasy football to Telegram thanks to the IM service’s recent integration with the TON blockchain.

What’s a better way than combining the world’s most popular sports with Web2’s most socialized aspects to introduce new users to Web3 through gaming? Association football, or soccer, boasts the largest fan base among sports enthusiasts, with over 3.5 billion estimated people rooting for their favorite teams. Built mainly for football fans, the fantasy sports industry, a vast network of virtual sports leagues where users can create their own teams, has also grown to become a $25 billion global market.

Mixing fantasy football with blockchain features like nonfungible token (NFT) cards could create an ideal entry point to Web3 for the masses. However, current platforms present complex mechanics for newcomers, and most of them lack in-platform user interaction —a big loss considering the social aspect of fantasy football.

Soccer superstars as collectible cards

Fanton has built a fantasy football game that is integrated into Telegram to benefit from the instant messenger service’s 800 million-strong user base. It features collectible cards of top football players that earn points according to their real-life performances. These cards are issued on the blockchain as NFTs and can be easily traded among players.

The game benefits from Telegram’s recent integration with The Open Network (TON) blockchain, which enables the use of a noncustodial wallet directly from the Telegram app. Users can create a virtual football team with their cards of players, and earn points for their players’ actions in the real world.

The teams are made of five players: a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder, a forward and a substitute player. These players earn points based on their performances in their real-life football matches. Points are awarded for various actions, such as goals, assists and saves of goal chances by the goalkeeper. The combined score of the points equals the team score.

Tournaments are organized based on match days of real football leagues, including the English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1. Players can partake in a special championship consisting of the most important matches from the five European leagues, the Brazilian Championship and the UEFA Champions League, the world's most prestigious championship.

Users can join these tournaments by paying a participation fee, of which 85% is added to the prize pool while 15% goes to Fanton. Teams that score more points than others are rewarded with TON coins and collectible cards.

Fanton features soccer superstars as NFT cards. Source: Fanton

Fanton features soccer superstars as NFT cards. Source: Fanton

Cards are divided into rarity classes based on their scarcity, giving them value and uniqueness. Non-NFT cards are classified as common, while NFT cards can have rare, epic and legendary rarities. The game is free to play and provides common cards without charge for everyone who wants to participate. The rarer NFT cards should be purchased to take part in special NFT tournaments with higher prizes.

Fanton became a part of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program with its straightforward product that is already showing good traction in user onboarding and revenue. The Cointelegraph Accelerator team was inspired by the innovative game-in-a-messenger format, easy user onboarding and the perspective of crypto adoption via messengers. The platform has over 350,000 users and surpassed $40,000 in monthly revenue. With a seasoned team of 15 based in Spain and Indonesia, the game managed to raise $300,000 in a pre-seed round in February.

Today, October 27, 2023, Fanton launched its product on Product Hunt, a platform where users can discover and upvote new products. Fanton encourages its supporters to visit Product Hunt on Friday and upvote the product.

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Revolutionizing whitelist marketplace for Web3: WhiteList Zone partners with Cointelegraph Accelerator

Coin Telegraph
Revolutionizing whitelist marketplace for Web3: WhiteList Zone partners with Cointelegraph Accelerator
Blockchain

The whitelist marketplace WhiteList Zone onboarded over 50 projects that collectively submitted more than 8,000 whitelists.

In the Web3 space, one of the key challenges for new projects and products is to get a motivated audience and for crypto-enthusiasts and investors — to find the most promising projects and get in earlier than others. This is where whitelists step in, addressing several critical aspects.

A whitelist is a curated list of addresses or users with authorized access to specific privileges. It grants entry to activities like presales, token sales, initial coin offerings (ICOs), nonfungible token (NFT) minting, or access to various events. It works as an exclusive guest list, allowing only approved participants to join the party while keeping others out.

Why whitelists are important

For crypto-enthusiasts and investors, whitelists represent an early-access opportunity to secure a position ahead of the crowd, enabling them to purchase assets or participate in events before the general public. Being on a whitelist often grants lower entry prices, additional token allocations or lower gas fees, enhancing the investment potential. A prominent example is the Bored Ape Yacht Club participants who received free NFTs that later had a market value significantly higher than their original price.

For projects, whitelists serve as a strategic tool to onboard the most motivated users, encouraging them to engage in activities like social media promotion and friend referrals to earn a coveted spot on the whitelist.

Moreover, whitelists ensure a fair and equitable distribution of tokens or resources, reducing the risk of concentrated ownership. They also serve as a regulatory safeguard by implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, which verify participants' identities. In essence, whitelists act as a robust security measure, shielding projects from potential scams or malicious actors by thoroughly vetting participants in advance, ensuring that only legitimate individuals or entities can participate in their events or projects.

Challenge to get whitelisted

However, getting on the whitelist is a complex and risky endeavor. Users often need to register their wallets on the project's website as part of the onboarding process and compete with thousands of other crypto-enthusiasts for a small amount of available spots. Additionally, they must demonstrate their eligibility by completing various laborious tasks, including generating user-generated content, social media support (likes, shares, subscriptions), securing referrals, and undertaking actions that enhance the project's brand awareness.

For those unable to secure a whitelist spot legitimately, a black and gray market offers an alternative, but it’s often fraught with risks. Transactions in this realm take place in less regulated and secure environments, such as over-the-counter (OTC) groups on Telegram or Discord, leaving participants vulnerable to fraudulent schemes and malicious actors who can take advantage of their trust and desire for whitelist access.

A safe option for getting whitelisted

In response to these challenges, a groundbreaking solution has emerged — WhiteList Zone. Launched in alpha in June 2023, WhiteList Zone has quickly established itself as a marketplace where crypto enthusiasts can directly purchase whitelists from launchpads, project owners and whitelist winners. These whitelists serve as golden tickets, granting investors the right to participate in initial decentralized offerings (IDOs), NFT mintings and other events hosted by crypto projects.

Investors can say goodbye to the gray markets and uncertain terrain of Telegram and Discord channels, as WhiteList Zone now provides safe and easy access to whitelists. To buy whitelist spots, investors simply need to visit the marketplace, browse the list of available projects, select their preferred one and complete the transaction in less than a minute.

Users can discover new projects based on category, network, or sale type. Source: WhiteList Zone

Users can discover new projects based on category, network, or sale type. Source: WhiteList Zone

WhiteList Zone believes in direct collaboration with launchpads and projects to ensure that scams and fraud are a thing of the past. By establishing these partnerships, the platform creates a reliable ecosystem right from the start. This means that when users access whitelist opportunities on WhiteList Zone, they can trust that they are engaging in legitimate transactions.

What’s more, WhiteList Zone offers an easy-to-use interface and a simple onboarding experience and continues to expand its support, currently accommodating over 140 cryptocurrencies, with plans to introduce convenient credit card payment options soon.

Focus on user’s engagement

When it comes to projects looking to issue whitelists, WhiteList Zone also emerges as the top choice, as the marketplace boosts engagement among whitelist winners. This proactive and engaged community is a valuable asset for projects seeking active participation and support. Moreover, the platform generates valuable data that empowers projects to make informed decisions. This data-driven approach aids in strategizing and optimizing whitelist distribution, resulting in more effective outcomes.

WhiteList Zone recently became the latest participant of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program. The Accelerator has picked WhiteList Zone due to the latter’s potential to disrupt the whitelist market. With a team of 15 people, the Ukraine-based project has shown good traction since launching the alpha version in June 2023. The marketplace has successfully attracted users from 71 countries and onboarded over 50 projects that have collectively contributed more than 8,000 whitelists. Furthermore, WhiteList Zone has plans to launch its token generation event in the first quarter of 2024.

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How to buy Bitcoin on eToro

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Latest from Web3 gaming: Gaming Demo Day with Cointelegraph Accelerator, Animoca Brands, BGA, Metaera, Cipholio and Sandbox

Coin Telegraph
Latest from Web3 gaming: Gaming Demo Day with Cointelegraph Accelerator, Animoca Brands, BGA, Metaera, Cipholio and Sandbox
Blockchain

Cointelegraph Accelerator, Animoca Brands, BGA, Metaera, Cipholio and Sandbox the second Gaming Demo Day to showcase seven new projects from the Web3 gaming space.

Web3 gaming has become one of the hottest trends in the tech world, and not without a good reason. Using blockchain technology to give more control to gamers turned out to be a fascinating idea and catapulted Web3 gaming to the main stage of Web3 space.

Web3 gaming applies key principles of blockchain technology - including decentralization, true ownership and community - to video games. Blockchain has enabled the creation of concepts such as play-to-earn (P2E), nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and more to cater to the needs of true players who don’t want to escape exploitation by the Web2 monopoly.

Web3 gaming components

The fast growth of Web3 gaming, however, makes it hard to track the most promising projects and chart the map of the blockchain-based gaming ecosystem. To provide a reliable perspective on Web3 gaming, Cointelegraph Accelerator has partnered with Cipholio, Animoca Brands, Blockchain Gaming Alliance, Metaera and Sandbox for the next Gaming Demo Day, slated for Oct. 12 at 2 pm UTC.

Gaming Demo Day: For investors, developers and gamers

By joining Gaming Demo Day, startups can introduce their projects and present their ideas to an engaged audience of interested parties eager to hear about new games, including investors. Developers can capitalize on the opportunity and leverage the event to gain exposure to potential investors actively seeking projects to support.

What’s more, investors attending Gaming Demo Day gain early access to promising projects, enabling them to identify and support projects with high potential. Investors get the chance to witness developers in action and research their potential clients. The “X factor” of the new projects introduced during the event can be measured through the audience's live reaction. These opportunities combined provide direct feedback and ease the process of making investment decisions.

The Web3 startups scheduled to present their groundbreaking projects throughout the event are:

Challenge

Challenge is a decentralized multi-chain tournament platform where gamers can compete against each other, host tournaments and earn rewards. The platform’s reward protocol ensures active participants receive a share of the tournament revenue. Challenge’s software development kit (SDK) facilitates the integration of both Web2 and Web3 games, enabling on-chain tournaments.

JR Studio

JR Studio is a platform designed to empower game creators with the tools they need to create, host, launch, manage and grow their games and communities. The platform serves as a gateway from traditional gaming into Web3 gaming by providing true ownership and effectively managing technical aspects like blockchain integration.

SuperSnappy

SuperSnappy is a cross-platform messaging app with a social network and a gaming portal that allows users to play games. The social network, which boasts 3D avatars, pets, spaces and NFTs, enables users to smoothly transition between games and create profiles featuring friends lists, feeds, achievements and digital assets.

Isotopic

Isotopic is a software distribution service that utilizes blockchain technology to advance the metaverse towards a sustainable Web2.5. The service also hosts the first decentralized cross-platform game store.

Worlds Beyond

Worlds Beyond is a creator platform that lets creators craft immersive virtual experiences fueled by the power of artificial intelligence (AI). The platform aims to become the definitive Web3 destination and aspires to be the Roblox of Web3 for grown-ups.

The Unfettered

The Unfettered is an AA-quality story-based Web3 action RPG game with elements from the soulslike genre. The team is dedicated to presenting an immersive adventure that provides true ownership to players using virtual assets.

MetaFight

MetaFight is a digital trading card game and social entertainment platform for fighting sports. The platform stands as the world’s premiere globally-licensed gamified platform for mixed martial arts, featuring collectibles of fighters.

Investors, gamers, and startups who want to witness exceptional projects, explore investment opportunities and build connections within the Web3 gaming industry’s key players in a single place can mark their calendars for Oct. 12 to be a part of the Gaming Demo Day.

Registrations are now open for investors who wish to secure their spots at this exclusive event. Attendees can guarantee their place in the event and become a part of the flourishing blockchain community by registering here. One of the startups attending the event will also receive a 12-month basic membership to the Blockchain Gaming Alliance after pitching their projects to frontrunning industry backers. Check out the registration page here.

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