Aave Companies rebrands to Avara, acquires Ethereum self-custody ‘Family Wallet’

November 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Liquidity protocol Aave’s parent company has been rebranded to Avara as it looks to streamline its suite of infrastructure products to attract a broader Web3 user base.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) group Aave Companies has been rebranded to Avara as it looks to broaden its user base across the Web3 ecosystem.

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Avara (formerly Aave Companies), tells Cointelegraph that the company’s growing number of offerings, including liquidity protocol Aave, the GHO stablecoin, Lens Protocol and Sonar, necessitated an umbrella brand with broader Web3 appeal.

“We will continue to innovate in DeFi and build tools for developers while creating new, intuitive and compelling products that attract mainstream people”

Kulechov adds that the broader industry has focused on building infrastructure to enable the development of products that appeal to a wide user base. The rebrand marks the beginning “of a new era” where blockchain technology becomes more “accessible, usable and fun.”

The Avara founder adds that the company’s new identity is inspired by the Finnish word “Avara,” which carries a number of definitions, including “extensive,” “open,” “spacious” and “inclusive.” Its colloquial use means “seeing more than you see.”

Kulechov also notes that liquidity protocol Aave will continue under the same brand name through Aave Labs and continue its focus on contributing to technological innovations within the DeFi landscape.

The rebrand announcement coincides with the acquisition of Los Feliz Engineering (LFE) and its flagship self-custodial Ethereum wallet, Family Wallet. The strategic deal means that Avara’s product suite now encompasses a consumer wallet allowing users to send, receive, swap and hold cryptocurrencies.

The acquisition also includes ConnectKit, a developer library built by Family Wallet to facilitate connectivity between the wallet service and decentralized applications. LFE’s team, including its CEO and founder Benji Taylor, will join Avara. Taylor takes up the role of senior vice president of product and design.

Avara hopes to tap into LFE’s experience building the messaging application Honk to continue the development of Lens Protocol. As Cointelegraph reported, the latter aims to be a social layer for the wider Web3 ecosystem, connecting users across a decentralized social networking environment and providing developer tools to build applications and communities.

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Friends and FOMO pushed newbie investors to buy crypto in 2022 — Survey

May 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A survey from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) suggests that new crypto investors tended to be swayed by suggestions from friends, compared to equities or bond investors.

Influence from friends and the fear of missing out (FOMO) were some of the reasons investors bought crypto for the first time in 2022, according to a survey by a United States financial regulator.

Published by the United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation in late April, the survey found that a large portion (31%) of new cryptocurrency investors cited "friend suggestion" as the primary reason for their foray into crypto.

This is compared to only 8% for first-time equities or bond investors, potentially indicating that there is "a social element to cryptocurrency investing not evident in equities or bond investing," according to FINRA.

However, the ability to “start with small amounts” was the second biggest reason for making a move into the crypto market at 24%, similar to equities and bond investors.

*Friends are having a significant influence on crypto newbies entering the market. Source: FINRA*

Meanwhile, around 10% of respondents indicated a fear of missing out (FOMO) on a “potentially lucrative investment opportunity” led to them buying crypto for the first time, according to the survey.

The survey also found that 48% of crypto investors said they sourced information about the digital asset market from friends, family or work colleagues — compared to 35% for stock investors — followed by social media at 25%.

Many crypto newbies are learning about the crypto market from social media. Source: FINRA

The survey also found that newer crypto investors were slighter younger on average (37 years old) and less college-educated (28.5% completed a four-year degree) compared to stock investors (43 years old and 46.3% with college degrees).

Interestingly, the study found that digital asset owners didn’t know as much about cryptocurrencies as they initially thought.

Digital asset investors scored 26.6% on a five-item quiz that asked questions about how a cryptocurrency is issued; transferred into U.S. dollars; how it is taxed; and how transactions may be “susceptible" to fraud.

The 465 participants surveyed on Sept. 9 and 29 were randomly selected from U.S. households. The margin of error was 6.75%. The 2022 survey was part of a follow up survey from 2020.

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Portugal slowly becoming a ‘haven’ for European Bitcoiners

February 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The small, sunny country recently welcomed the Bitcoin Family to its shores; a closer inspection reveals a growing Bitcoiner community basking in a zero tax glow.

While Switzerland holds the spotlight for being the most crypto-friendly jurisdiction in Europe, Portugal is picking up the pace. Indeed, the Republic offers more than just quality of life improvements for Bitcoin (BTC) owners, including an attractive fiscal environment and a growing Bitcoiner community.

Cointelegraph recently interviewed the Bitcoin Family, who recently relocated to Portugal, learning that there was more to the move than pursuing "300 days of sunshine" and "cheap coffee."

Didi Taihuttu, father and husband to the Bitcoin Family, first spoke to Cointelegraph six years ago. In 2016, he rose to crypto fame after selling all his family’s possessions and going all-in on (BTC).

Although Taihuttu's larger-than-life persona grabs the headlines, plans for Portugal's take on Bitcoin Beach as well as budding Bitcoiner communities give rise to a pro-Bitcoin Portugal, supported by crypto-friendly tax laws and a low cost of living.

Portugal’s Bitcoin-friendly beginnings kicked off in earnest six years ago. A 2016 law by the Portuguese tax authority ruled that because cryptocurrencies are not considered currencies, they are not legal tender in Portugal and are therefore not taxable.

For Taihuttu, the Bitcoin community has since ballooned and there are “a lot of them” on Cristiano Ronaldo’s home turf. He told Cointelegraph:

“I know the big ones (Bitcoiners) live in Portugal already. They are anonymous. They are not like me out there, but they already are here. They are spending their money on houses, they are spending their bitcoins on everything.”

Merchant adoption is indeed on the march: some Portuguese residents can pay for their energy bills in BTC, while Spanish startup BitBase is bringing more Bitcoin ATMs and stores to major cities. Coinmap cites there are already 57 merchants and retailers just in the Lisbon area to accept Bitcoin.

BTC-only businesses are also spawning out of the Iberian nation. John Carvalho, CEO of Synonym, recently moved to Portugal, and Aceita Bitcoin, or “Accept Bitcoin,” a non-profit group of BTC enthusiasts, is picking up steam.

Tiago Vasconcelos, the Bitcoiner behind Aceita Bitcoin, was inspired by El Salvador's Bitcoin Beach experiment. He's set his sights on making Bitcoin Lightning payments widely accepted in his homeland.

He told Cointelegraph that he is "hoping merchants take the challenge I sent out to experiment having bitcoin as a payment option for the summer," adding that Portugal is "very friendly" to Bitcoin. Vasconcelos explains:

Portugal is not taxing crypto and this may be the best time, especially for the people, to start knowing and interacting with the technology and get exposed to the best savings account they'll ever have."

Taihuttu jokes in his interview with Cointelegraph that there's an opportunity for Bitcoin to become legal tender in Portugal. “It's already money in El Salvador, probably soon in Honduras–and you know–hopefully very soon in Portugal because I think Portugal has all the ingredients.”

While legal tender might be a way off, the Portuguese Blockchain Association recently stated that the regulation of crypto-assets is important but it should not “castrate” evolution. Matt Koller, the co-founder of Swiss company Pocket Bitcoin, shed light on the evolving regulatory landscape.

Koller explained to Cointelegraph that Portugal’s favorable stance on Bitcoin capital gains is “unlikely to change soon.” In his view, the “outcome of the legislative election in January 2022 suggests that it is most likely not going to change for the time being.”

He explained Cointelegraph why many Bitcoiners have chosen a new place to call home:

“Besides having an advantageous legal framework for those interested in magic internet money; the 300 days of sunshine, the lovely Portuguese people and culture as well as the outstanding cuisine, certainly also play their part.”

Plus in light of Portugal’s “free zones” for tech development, Cointelegraph reported that Portugal effectively doubled down on its crypto-friendly position in 2021. The country is actively facilitating research activities for blockchain and crypto companies.

For Taihuttu, moving to Portugal is a no-brainer. “Portugal should become the new haven for Bitcoiners,” he revealed in the soon-to-be-published interview.

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