NFT 2.0: The next generation of NFTs will be streamlined and trustworthy

May 28, 2022 Coin Telegraph

NFTs are moving into the mainstream, but this requires a streamlined and trustworthy experience for the general public’s mass adoption.

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have been in the headlines for the past few years. While swaths of the population have tried to get their head around why NFTs exist, demand has soared, institutions have been built, and the lingo has entered our collective consciousness.

There is an elephant in the room, though: NFTs are difficult to use and a majority of them are digital snake oil. But these problems create the opportunity to provide answers. The accessibility and legitimacy of NFTs are both ripe for change. As funding pours into the space, the market is starting to mature, and that change is gaining momentum. We’re entering a new era of NFTs — NFT 2.0 — where the technology will be more easily accessible by the mainstream, and the underlying value proposition of the NFTs will be more transparent and reliable.

Reflecting on the rise of NFTs

In their short existence, NFTs have exploded onto the crypto scene, topping $17 billion in trading volume in 2021. This number is expected to balloon to $147 billion by 2026. Even more impressive is the fact that this volume is owned by fewer than 400,000 holders, which totals a whopping $47,000 transaction volume per user.

Alongside the industry’s meteoric rise, NFTs themselves have gone through enormous changes since their inception. For example, CryptoPunks, which minted for free in 2017, rose to blue-chip status, peaking with an $11.8-million sale at Sotheby’s last year. A few years later, Larva Labs, the company responsible for creating the Punks, was acquired by the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s parent company, Yuga Labs, for an undisclosed amount.

The evolution of NFTs

Dismissed as a fad early on, NFTs have shown a tremendous amount of staying power, attracting the attention of major celebrities and brands and even being featured in Super Bowl commercials. Companies such as Budweiser, McDonald’s and Adidas have dropped their own collections, while Nike has entered the space by acquiring RTFKT Studios.

While organizations determine their NFT strategy, the overall space has mirrored the past several decades of technological innovation, just under a significantly accelerated timeline. While the iPhone took about 10 years to reach its current version, NFTs have moved from 8-bit pixelated images and Pong-like blockchain games to high-fidelity 3D animations and complex play-to-earn game mechanics with massive multiplayer experiences in just a couple of years.

While the actual NFTs evolve, the ecosystem of pick-and-shovel solutions is also rapidly advancing. The onslaught of NFT minting platforms and toolings has dramatically reduced the barrier to entry, which has created deep saturation in the market. As of March 2022, there were more NFTs than there were public websites, creating a significant amount of noise that many have found difficult to cut through.

1/ There are now more NFTs on OpenSea than there were websites on the internet in 2010.

Very soon, NFTs will outnumber websites, maybe even webpages. This growth has major implications for how we should index NFTs...
— Alex Atallah (@xanderatallah) March 9, 2022

The staying power of the asset class and the gargantuan transaction volumes have shifted the ways that creators approach the space. Many have rushed their Web3 strategy or treated their fans as a source of liquidity, leaving a mess of missteps, rug pulls and abandoned projects. Put simply, most companies and creators aren’t ready to enter Web3, and they require more hand-holding and white-glove services than they do tools.

Just like email

Ultimately, NFTs appear to be heading the same way as email. There was a time in the 1990s when companies needed to hire specialists to code emails for them. Early adopters founded lucrative agencies that were able to service Fortune 500 companies and execute early digital strategies. The information gap gave these agencies tremendous leverage until technological advancement (and education) made it easier for brands to do it themselves.

Similarly, we are currently in the era where brands are looking to experts to educate and prepare them for a Web3 future, and it is only a matter of time before they fully disintermediate and manage their Web3 strategy fully in-house. Onboarding for NFTs, and crypto at large, is a fairly complex process that many simply cannot handle. Some companies, however, are finding ways to abstract the more difficult aspects of crypto and creating avenues for deeper engagement with their fans.

Built for the mainstream: NFT 2.0

The current iteration of NFTs is not designed for mainstream consumption. The onboarding system isn’t smooth for consumers; the volatility is damaging to true fans; and it skews the artist-fan relationship. There is too much dissonance between the sticker price of an NFT and the value it is able to provide consumers, and many collections are seeing rough demand shocks as they fail to execute on their road maps.

The core NFT buyer is becoming savvier to rug pulls and scams, which means they are less likely to mint new collections. And though it’s easy to look at declining volumes and see doom, the reality is that NFTs need a sizable washout in order to knock out those looking to get rich quickly and more properly incentivize true builders in the space. As the vaporware gets wiped out during a bear cycle, the antifragile companies that can weather the storm when shifting from Web2 to Web3 will thrive. Agencies and platforms, if timed incorrectly, will be wiped out, but those prepared for an email-esque shift will maximize high-margin, high-touch projects while capturing long-tail revenue streams.

This has important implications whether you’re building in the space, a potential user or an investor. This space is going to grow up fast and evolve quickly. Don’t blink or you might miss it.

This article was co-authored by Mark Peter Davis and Sterling Campbell.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Mark Peter Davis is a venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur, author and community organizer. He is the managing partner of Interplay, a top-performing venture capital firm based in New York City. He’s also an active podcaster, the author of The Fundraising Rules and the founder of both the Columbia Venture Community and the Duke Venture Community.

Sterling Campbell is the CEO of Minotaur, Web3 company servicing top-tier creators and brands as they develop NFT projects, decentralized autonomous organiations and tokens. He has spent the majority of his career focusing on consumer-focused tech for Blockchain Capital, Lerer Hippeau, Grishin Robotics and William Morris Endeavor, where he also developed talent. Sterling earned his bachelor of science in music industry and business administration from the University of Southern California and his master of business administration from Columbia Business School.

GPU prices are still on a decline: Is Bitcoin’s sorrow gamers’ joy?

May 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

Times are hard for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but gamers are in luck, as GPU prices are now more affordable.

The prices of graphics processing units (GPUs), also known as graphics cards, are undoubtedly still a far cry from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). However, they aren’t what they used to be either, especially considering what GPU prices looked like just a year ago.

For instance, the price of a GPU from Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series is 14% over its MSRP, according to reports from 3D Center. Whereas AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 is up 7% from its MSRP from April 17 and May 8. On the other hand, it is the first time since January that AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 dropped below 10% over MSRP.

Meanwhile, just a month ago, these same prices were 19% and 12% above their MSRPs, respectively.

The Nvidia RTX 3080 currently goes for a price range between $1,000 to $1,300. Despite being at such a long distance away from its $699 MSRP, the price is still down by almost 30% from its peak at $1,800.

Regardless, the question on everyone’s mind remains whether, perhaps, the falling GPU prices are in some way related to the current cryptocurrency market situation.

Presently, there’s almost no digital asset big or small that hasn’t been hit by the crypto market tsunami. While crypto continues to crash, GPUs are becoming increasingly affordable. So, one might wonder what is responsible for the continuous fall of GPU prices in recent times.

The founder and CEO of Aldrin, Hisham Khan, believes that the bull market in the crypto space benefited GPU makers such as Nvidia a lot. If the current market downturn and sell-off continue, together with a prolonged period of low activity in the crypto space, that would “definitely impact GPU makers.” He told Cointelegraph:

“If you're mining Bitcoin and other cryptos with an Nvidia graphics card, the amount of time that you would need to spend mining after committing capital to buy these GPUs would depend on the price of the crypto assets. If the price drops you would need to mine longer to breakeven, which might deter people from jumping into mining.”

Factors that cause GPU price hikes

GPU prices can go frenzy for several reasons, and some of them include high demands for new products, global chip shortage, supply chain issues, and increased demand that stems from the crypto boom.

Firstly, as happens with almost every upcoming product, there’s a promise of better features or performance over the predecessor resulting in an increased demand for the product and an unavoidable price increase.

For instance, while Nvidia and AMD are set to release their next-generation graphics cards, one can expect some sort of overpricing. That should also, in a way, lower the prices of cards that are already out on the shelves.

According to a report by Digital Trends, some believe that once both the Nvidia and AMD launch their new products, any other GPU that currently exists will undoubtedly dip in price or go even below their MSRPs.

Secondly, when chip shortages happen, producing graphics cards becomes even more cumbersome and then there’s a struggle to lay hands on the few GPUs in circulation. Just as expected, demand rises and prices inevitably shoot up as well.

Lastly, there’s a strong link between graphics cards and the cryptocurrency market, as GPUs can be used to solve the cryptographically intensive process of proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains like Bitcoin.

According to a Digital Trends report in 2021, around 25% of all graphics cards sold in the first quarter of the year went to crypto miners. That accounts for nearly 700,000 GPUs; as seen many times in the past when crypto is booming, GPU prices are mostly up and vice versa.

Recent: Enforcement and adoption: What do UK’s recent regulatory aims for crypto mean?

Bitcoin’s sorrow, gamers’ luck

Khan believes that whether gamers are into nonfungible tokens (NFTs) or crypto, “I would say that the branding and so far on what NFTs and the crypto community has done” for the gaming space has not been received very well. He said:

“There’s a common sentiment if you just look at the top streamers that play games that NFTs and crypto are extremely bad, everything is written off as just a scam. So, there is a necessity for good actors in the space to create a fun and sustainable game that would benefit from leveraging crypto and tokenization technology, not the other way around.”

The current fall in GPU prices may be attributed to the current cryptocurrency market situation. Crypto prices took a dive, and, in the same manner, graphics card prices are declining in price as some smaller miners reliant on ad-hoc operations with GPUs exit the market.

However, some believe that graphics card prices have been falling consistently over some time. In fact, in February 2022, a report by Tech Times already suggests a price slash across the board on the GPU scene.

It should be noted that the crypto market crash did not exactly happen overnight either, as the market has been in a general downturn since the year started.

Although volatility and the crypto market go hand in hand, the past week has been one of the wildest ever in the crypto space. Ever since reaching all-time highs in November 2021, the two leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), have been on a downward spiral. And, once it got to the aforementioned top two, the bear market or the so-called crypto winter came for the whole ecosystem.

According to a Reuters report, however, the recent crash saw the cryptocurrency market lose about $800 billion in value within a month. And, though GPU prices and gamers live for this to happen, miners do not.

Recent: El Salvador’s Bitcoin play: What does the current slump mean for adoption?

Miners are usually rewarded 6.25 BTC for completing a block, according to Investopedia. This means that around last November, when Bitcoin’s price was around $55,000, the reward for completing a hash would have been around $344,000. But today, BTC trades at roughly $30,000, and the reward figure is expected to be around $188,000 for completing a hash.

Meanwhile, increasing electricity costs and a higher mining difficulty are cutting into the profit margins of cryptocurrency miners, which may be driving some to exit the market.

In addition to the current market conditions, there’s also the issue of Ethereum’s migration to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model. This form of consensus mechanism will rely not on miners solving cryptographic puzzles to verify transactions but on staked tokens to maintain the health of the network, entirely defeating the aim of mining and thus opening up a massive supply of GPUs to the regular gamer.

Recent research from the popular analyst and pioneer in the graphics industry Jon Peddie, who is also the head of Jon Peddie Research (JPR), has claimed that cryptocurrency miners usually make massive, bulk GPU purchases for their operations. So, now that crypto prices are on a downward trend, the graphics card market is set to be largely affected.

Meanwhile, it is quite important to understand that the crypto may eventually recover, and when the market does recover, chances are that GPU prices could go up again, especially considering the ties between GPU prices and the crypto market that have been established so far.

Ideas vs. practice: How are regulators working together on crypto?

May 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

While the calls for globally coordinated regulation for cryptocurrencies is a noble effort, the practicality of the situation is far from ideal.

The regulation of cryptocurrencies across the world is a constant battle for investors in a rapidly expanding and constantly changing ecosystem.

Various regulatory agencies around the world view digital assets in a different light that vary significantly from one another.

Recently, executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Fabio Panetta mentioned in a written statement for a speech to Columbia University that regulators should follow a globally coordinated approach while regulating digital assets. He said that the world should have digital assets regulated by the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) rules of the Financial Action Task Force.

Panetta also spoke about strengthening public disclosure, reporting on regulatory compliance in the industry and setting up certain “transparency requirements” and “standards of conduct.” He stated:

“We need to make coordinated efforts at the global level to bring crypto-assets into the regulatory purview. And, we need to ensure that they are subject to standards in line with those applied to the financial system. We should make faster progress if we want to ensure that crypto-assets do not trigger a lawless frenzy of risk-taking.”

Practicality of global regulation in question

The ECB applying such rules across the European Union is one thing, and having the same rules apply to the all the countries in the world is a whole other due to the fact that ECB can behave as the regulatory entity in the EU. Still, there is no clear understanding of which regulatory body would have the authority to conduct such coordinated regulatory activities.

Even more recently, Ashley Alder, chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions — an association of market regulators — spoke about this aspect in an online conference organized by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. He elaborated on the need for a joint body that will be tasked with coordinating the regulation of digital assets around the world and could even be a reality within this year.

On May 16, the Basel Institute of Governance and the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators published a paper that also called for further coordinated action against unlawful crypto markets. The paper suggested that investigators that are involved with cryptocurrencies should invest in learning approaches and technologies to keep up pace with the evolving techniques of criminal organizations and entities.

Cointelegraph spoke with Bianca Veleva, head of legal and regulatory compliance at Nexo — a crypto lending platform — about the advantages of a global regulatory approach. She said:

“The adoption of a unified legal framework and/or principles for crypto-related activities may prove beneficial in terms of accelerating the legislative efforts of countries which have not yet recognized the advantages that the crypto industry brings, following from the comprehensive framework that more forward-looking countries have already adopted and implemented.”

As the digital assets landscape expands and regulations begin to get clearer, a new paradigm could be underway wherein international regulatory consensus unifies. The mass adoption and increasing use-cases of digital assets and blockchain technology alike are bound to provide a solid foundation for the eventuality of a consensus among regulating bodies and nations.

However, there are many countries that have outright banned their citizens from indulging in cryptocurrencies and even their services. A prime example of that would be China, which announced an outright ban on digital assets in September last year. There are a total of nine countries that have banned cryptocurrencies, in addition to China: Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar and Tunisia have a blanket ban on crypto, according to a Law Library of Congress report from November 2021.

Recent: El Salvador’s Bitcoin play: What does the current slump mean for adoption?

This difference in the way various countries view digital assets could serve as the biggest obstacle to a globally coordinated regulatory framework. Igneus Terrenus, policy advocate at Bybit, told Cointelegraph that while a global regulatory system makes sense for tracking fund flows and reducing regulatory arbitrage, the reality is that there is no universal regulatory body capable of imposing it upon sovereign states. Realistically, it will have broader impacts on citizens and residents of countries that responded positively rather than countries that choose not to partake.

Terrenus added that “A blanket framework that fits the whole world does not seem to be attainable given the disparities between countries in even existing financial regulations. A feasible model would focus on easing the exchange of information between entities and jurisdictions, which tax authorities are already doing via the banking system, deploying zero-knowledge proof technology to prevent fraud and improving regulatory clarity and consistency.”

Another aspect to consider in the hypothetical eventuality of globally accepted regulations for cryptocurrencies is that a consensus between various countries at different stages of adoption could lead to innovation being stifled and a plateau in adoption rates. Veleva said:

“Any joint efforts of unifying the currently pending EU regime for crypto-assets with the United State’s legislative framework may be a double-edged sword. They may, in fact, impede the pace of innovation and crypto adoption at an EU level and lead to greater regulatory difficulties for crypto companies.”

Coordination like never before

Despite the difficulties and challenges involved, some participants in the digital assets ecosystem remain positive about a move toward globally coordinated crypto regulation.

Justin Choo, group head of compliance of Cabital — a cryptocurrency trading and passive income platform — told Cointelegraph that the current approach that countries have taken couldn’t be more varied when compared with traditional asset classes like equity, debentures and managed investment schemes that work with a regulated framework.

When compared to crypto-forward countries, Choo stated that “I would imagine that a globally coordinated regulatory system wouldn’t go as far ahead as what El Salvador and Argentina are doing simply because the governments of developed countries whose currencies are reserve currencies wouldn’t be ready to give up the economic prowess — which is often used to influence international diplomacy — that they already have in favor of cryptocurrencies.”

Global coordination on crypto regulation will require collaboration within the industry and from regulators across the world in a manner that is never seen before. Terrenus said:

“Paternalistic protections based on decades-old laws may not be the most helpful approach. Truly sensible, meaningful and impactful regulations should encourage transparency when it comes to the terms, ownership breakdown, vesting schedules and accurate representation of annual percentage yield of crypto projects. This would improve the overall information symmetry and reward investors who do their own research.”

Especially after the recent highly-publicized fiasco with the Terra blockchain and its stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), regulators have begun to take a closer look at the feasibility and viability of stablecoins as well. The European Commission has also revealed its intentions of placing a blanket ban on large-scale stablecoins, considering the massive economic and investor impact that was triggered by the crash of UST and Terra (LUNA) in the Terra blockchain.

Recent: Enforcement and adoption: What do UK’s recent regulatory aims for crypto mean?

As the adoption of digital assets increases, moving from one adoption and innovation cycle to another, the evolving regulatory landscape will be the most vital part of the transition of digital assets penetrating the masses. A global regulatory framework seems like the ideal solution for the transition, but the obstacles set in the way of implementing such a framework will make the transition a long process and it is highly unlikely that it would happen within a year.

Andreessen Horowitz — a crypto-friendly venture capital firm — recently released its “2022 State of Crypto” report, highlighting that the growth of decentralized markets has gone to a total value locked of more than $100 billion just within two years after the concept was first introduced. The report estimates that decentralized finance (DeFi) would be the 31st largest U.S. bank by assets under management.

It is only natural that such a rapidly expanding industry will require regulators and central banks to innovate and evolve at the same pace. Even if a highly laborious globally-coordinated regulatory framework slightly stifles innovation, the protection of investors is always the prime concern for regulatory bodies across the globe.

Report: The Metaverse Might Contribute $320 Billion to Latam’s GDP in the Next 10 Years

May 25, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Exchanges show initial support to Terra revival by listing new LUNA token

May 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

HitBTC plans to list Terra's brand new token LUNA on May 27 as the suspended Terra Classic blockchain is expected to revive as Terra 2.0.

Crypto trading platforms show initial signs of support for the revival of the collapsed Terra network by listing Terra's brand new token, also named LUNA.

The HitBTC exchange took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that Terra’s new chain token Luna will be available on its platform on May 27.

The news comes amid Terraform Labs preparing to relaunch its protocol on May 27 and replace the old chain referred to as Terra Classic with the new chain called just Terra, or Terra 2.0. The new chain will not be a fork as it will be created starting from the genesis block that will not share history with Terra Classic, Terraform Labs said on May 23.

The new Terra’s token will be named Luna, replacing the old token referred to as Luna Classic (LUNC).

Dear Traders,@terra_money’s new chain token (LUNA) will be available on HitBTC on May 27th, 2022.

The old chain will be renamed to Terra Classic (LUNC).

Learn more: https://t.co/MuYPUfcMjJ

Stay tuned for updates. pic.twitter.com/shYIWtPuN6
— HitBTC (@hitbtc) May 25, 2022

As previously reported, Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon proposed to create a new Terra chain without Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) in mid-May, suggesting LUNA airdrops across LUNC stakers and holders, UST holders and Terra Classic app developers.

The proposal immediately received support from the community, with 91% of Terra validators voting in favor of the Terra “rebirth” as of May 18. At the time of writing, the community poll is still ongoing, with roughly 67% of voters supporting Terra's revival as Terra 2.0.

*Terra network rebirth poll. Source: Terra Station*

Terra’s revival comes after Terraform Labs halted the Terra blockchain on May 12, following a massive crash of both LUNA and UST, with the Luna token plummeting as low as 99%.

Enforcement and adoption: What do UK’s recent regulatory aims for crypto mean?

May 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

British regulators intend to amplify the enforcement of crypto and make stablecoins a payment method.

In April, the United Kingdom’s Economic and Finance Ministry, also known as Her Majesty’s Treasury, announced its intention to put the United Kingdom at the forefront of technology by bringing stablecoins under the country’s payments regulation — a bold move that looks especially intriguing in contrast to the recent shock, caused by TerraUSD’s (UST) depegging.

Later, in May, during the annual Queen’s Speech, Prince Charles informed the Parliament about two bills that will support “the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies” and “create powers to more quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets.”

Taken together, these initiatives give an impression of the nation’s growing interest in digital assets, which comes as no surprise, given the inevitable competition for innovation with the European Union.

The last few months were busy for crypto in Great Britain. Besides some important precedents being set such as the High Court’s decision to recognize nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as property or the listing of Grayscale’s first European ETF on the London Stock Exchange, we witnessed some major announcements by regulators.

The Treasury’s affair with stablecoins

In its announcement on April 4, following a several-month public consultation, the Treasury acknowledged that certain stablecoins could become “a widespread means of payment” for retail customers. It also stated its readiness to “take the necessary legislative steps” to bring stablecoins into a comprehensible regulatory framework.

As the head of tax at Koinly, Tony Dhanjal, explained to Cointelegraph, this announcement should be regarded as huge news or even a game-changer because it will lead to the reclassification of stablecoins in the U.K.:

“Once stablecoins are no longer subject to capital gains tax, spending crypto could become a lot more widespread and we could see the adoption of crypto as a means of payment in mainstream industries.”

The intentions voiced by the Treasury weren’t limited solely to stablecoins; the financial regulator also teased the launch of a Cryptoasset Engagement Group, which will consult with the industry stakeholders; reassessing the country’s tax system in regard to crypto, establishing a “financial market infrastructure sandbox” and even the Royal Mint’s very own NFT.

Even the infamous market crash on the second week of May, particularly painful to the stablecoins’ original promise of zero volatility, didn’t discourage the Treasury. According to the Independent, legislation to make stablecoins a means of payment would be included in the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

What is known now is that the Treasury doesn’t plan to include algorithmic stablecoins, such as UST, in this legislation — only fully-backed stablecoins like Tether (USDT) or USD Coin (USDC) are being considered.

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Seize and recover

The aforementioned Financial Services and Markets Bill, which would possibly include the guidelines for stablecoins, occurred as a part of the Queen’s Speech — a package of 38 legislative projects that was announced to the Parliament on May 10.

In its current form, it doesn’t tell much, though the very language sounds rather benevolent for the industry. The bill aims at “harnessing the opportunities of innovative technologies in financial services,” including:

“Supporting the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies and resilient outsourcing to technology providers.”

For now, the key point of the bill’s announcement is the intention to craft a national framework which wouldn’t copy the EU’s. While it would initially apply to the traditional finance sector, similar requirements for crypto assets are expected.

*The Eastern end of Government Offices Great George St, where Her Majesty's Treasury is located. Source: Carlos Delgado*

Another part of the Queen’s Speech that bodes significant for the crypto industry is the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. At first sight, it doesn’t sound that amicable to the digital currencies, referring to them in a list of the risk zones where British enforcers are going to tighten their grip. As the only line mentioning crypto goes, the bill would create powers to:

“More quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets, which are the principal medium used for ransomware.”

While the “principle medium for ransomware” is not exactly benevolent wording, the existence of a body that could not only seize, but also actually recover the funds in crypto would bolster the market.

“A huge step for the UK”

The general perception in the U.K. crypto community is a positive one, Djahal said. There is still a commonly held belief that crypto is a criminals’ paradise hence the regulation is welcome, he believes:

“It’s not that existing powers cannot seize the ransomware money, but Anti-Money Laundering legislation enacted in 2002 way before crypto was incepted, is perhaps just not fit for purpose in the cryptoverse.”

Benjamin Whitby, head of regulatory affairs at Qredo, tends to agree on that matter. He told Cointelegraph:

“I feel the recognition of the space in this proposal is hugely positive, recognizing the asset class will unlock the opportunity for more fintech firms to start working crypto assets into their technology stack.”

While the ambition to develop effective enforcement still might be perceived as somewhat ambivalent at this point, experts are excited about the announced stablecoin recognition. Whitby called it “a huge step for the U.K.,” but said we shouldn’t kid ourselves that “everything will be smooth sailing:”

“It’s vital people that have a position they can move to for safety, with regulated stablecoins we can move into a T0 settlement world and reduce the burden on the creaking and fragile traditional infrastructures.”

Dhanjal believes that the British financial authorities might even seek their own stablecoin, which would pretty much resemble a central bank digital currency (CBDC) — a government-backed “Britcoin” that will be pegged to the Great British pound. The intent here is to maintain financial stability and address the volatility inherent in crypto, he states:

“With appropriate regulation, a Britcoin could provide a more efficient means of payment and widen consumer choice, particularly in the emerging decentralized financial system.”

Make Britain great again?

It is hard not to compare the U.K. with its continental neighbor now that they are separate and have to compete with each other for talent and innovation. The very spirit of the Queen’s Speech draws on that comparison, stating its mission to “make the most of our Brexit freedoms” or “seize the benefits of Brexit” — overall, the word “Brexit” is mentioned 20 times. The U.K. could and would innovate and adopt faster than many jurisdictions, Whitby believes, and the move away from the EU regulatory process allows it to act faster:

“Crypto assets unlock faster settlement, remove credit risk and drop settlement times to near zero, it’s a huge win for commerce and the U.K. has set the intent it will take the front foot. The U.K. has a long history of exploring boundaries, crossing oceans in tiny ships, insuring risk and forming new ventures — crypto is no different.”

Dhanjal is confident that the U.K. has a high chance of out-competing its continental neighbors, as it possesses a centuries-old heritage in financial services, a deep talent pool and experience from all over the world across the financial sector and startups. In his opinion, the U.K. is unwilling to adopt the general spirit of EU regulations, and that is good news for the country.

“Now that the shackles of the EU have been removed through Brexit, the U.K. can accelerate through the gears in becoming a world leader in crypto innovation and adoption,” he said.

Recent: Crypto inheritance: Are HODLers doomed to rely on centralized options?

Gilbert Hill, the chief strategy officer at blockchain-based data aggregation platform Pool, told Cointelegraph that U.K. authorities are genuine in their efforts to create a haven for starting and scaling crypto companies, but, in his estimate, not all of them are efficient.

In particular, he finds the current regulatory sandbox inflexible and said that it has rejected two-thirds of applicants, which has already resulted in a drain of some of the best projects to the European mainland. Hill also emphasized the strong sides of the European approach:

“In a nutshell, the EU is putting data reform at the heart of its strategy with the aim of busting silos worth 300 billion euro a year, and a set of new laws covering everything from AI through to internet gatekeepers and data unions, all a new source of high-quality intel to build better Web3 products.”

To become a future leader, Hill stated, the U.K. needs the same degree of political will “shown on the mainland” and to break free from the inflexible FCA/sandbox model. Hopefully, the spirit of competition and the urge to justify its separation from the continent will help the nation to make the right decisions.

ADDX bags $58M to reduce min. private investment by 10x via smart contracts

May 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

ADDX bags M to reduce min. private investment by 10x via smart contracts

Coin Telegraph

ADDX uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to tokenize and fractionalize private markets, including pre-IPO equity, private equity, and hedge funds and bonds.

ADDX, a blockchain and smart contract-based digital securities platform from Singapore raised $58 million from mainstream financial institutions to fund its goal of reducing minimum private investment sizes via tokenization and fractionalization.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore regulates ADDX as a digital securities exchange that aims to democratize private markets. The Pre-Series B funding round saw participation from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), UOB, Nasdaq-listed Hamilton Lane and Thailand’s Krungsri Bank, which has brought total funds raised by ADDX to around $120 million.

As explained in the announcement, ADDX uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to tokenize and fractionalize private markets, including pre-IPO equity, private equity, and hedge funds and bonds. ADDX can reduce the minimum investment sizes for such private investments through tokenization.

According to ADDX, the platform effectively brings down private markets’ minimum investment threshold from $1 million to $10,000. In addition, as part of the investment, SET becomes entitled to appoint a board member for ADDX.

Moreover, ADDX intends to redirect some of the latest funding to other strategic initiatives, such as expanding the partnerships with issuers and supporting the launch of ADDX Advantage, a private market service for wealth managers.

Existing shareholders of ADDX include SGX, Heliconia Capital, Development Bank of Japan, Japan Investment Corporation, Tokai Tokyo, Kiatnakin Phatra and Hanwha Asset Management.

A survey conducted by Singapore’s first licensed crypto exchange Independent Reserve revealed tremendous investors’ support in the region, which might be key to mainstream adoption in the region.

*Factors for increasing trust among Singaporean investors. Source: Independent Reserve*

According to Raks Sondhi, managing director of Independent Reserve Singapore:

“58% [Singaporeans surveyed] perceive Bitcoin as an investment asset or a store of value.”

While nearly 60% of Singaporean investors envisioned mass-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies in 2021, 15% of the respondents from this year's survey have started considering Bitcoin (BTC) as a real form of money.

GameStop unveils beta cryptocurrency wallet and upcoming NFT platform

May 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

GameStop launches an Ethereum-powered self-custodial wallet that is set to integrate with an upcoming NFT marketplace.

American electronics retail firm GameStop has taken a step into the world of cryptocurrencies, unveiling a proprietary blockchain wallet that will feature nonfungible token functionality.

The GameStop Wallet will allow gamers to acquire, send and store Ether (ETH), ERC-20 tokens and NFTs through a self-custodial browser extension running on the Ethereum blockchain. A mobile application is also in the works.

It’s official! The GameStop Wallet is here.

Download: https://t.co/dK2dmRmwRI

— GameStopNFT (@GameStopNFT) May 23, 2022

The wallet will run on Ethereum’s Loopring layer-2 scaling protocol designed for decentralized exchanges, which boasts of high throughput, low-cost trading and payment capability.

Users will be able to download and install the wallet extension through the Chrome Web Store. Much like MetaMask’s Chrome extension, GameStop Wallet will integrate with its upcoming NFT marketplace, which is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of the firm’s financial year.

GameStop announced a partnership with ImmutableX in February 2022, with the Ethereum NFT scaling platform tapped to develop the renowned brick-and-mortar video game retailer’s custom NFT marketplace.

The announcement earlier this year claimed that the marketplace would be 100% carbon-neutral, with no gas fees. The two companies also committed to a $100 million grant program, to be paid in IMX tokens, in order to attract prospective NFT content creators and developers.

GameStop’s NFT move has been a work in progress since May 2020 , when the firm made initial calls for software engineers specializing in Solidity, React and Python to apply to join its team. A beta version of the Loopring-powered GameStop NFT marketplace was announced by the layer-2 scaling protocol in March 2022.

Noncustodial, multichain cryptocurrency wallets are proving to be a major focal point for firms looking to establish firm roots as Web3 continues to grow. Major United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase integrated Web3 application functionality with a wallet and browser for a select group of its mobile app clients in May 2022. This will incorporate trading on NFT marketplaces, token swaps on popular Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and OpenSea, and access to decentralized finance lending protocols.

Coinbase isn’t the only exchange looking to improve its offerings, as commission-free trading platform Robinhood has promoted an upcoming noncustodial cryptocurrency wallet with multipleblockchain accessibility. The wallet will also allow storage and access to NFT marketplaces.

Crypto inheritance: Are HODLers doomed to rely on centralized options?

May 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Are crypto inheritance solutions a centralizing force? To some, yes, but to others, decentralized solutions are out there.

Self-sovereignty is a core principle in the cryptocurrency space: Investors need to rely on a trustless, decentralized network instead of a central entity that has been known to devalue the holdings of others. One shortcoming associated with self-sovereignty, however, is inheritance.

An estimated 4 million Bitcoin (BTC) has been lost over time and now sits in inaccessible wallets. How many of those coins belong to HODLers who passed away without sharing access to their wallets with anyone else is unknown? Some believe Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1 million BTC fortune hasn’t been touched for this very reason: No one else had access to it.

A study conducted in 2020 by the Crenation Institute has notably found that nearly 90% of cryptocurrency owners are worried about their assets and what will happen to them once they pass away. Despite the concern, crypto users were found to be four times less likely to use wills for inheritances than non-crypto investors.

The seeming lack of a solution does not seem to be widely discussed, however. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Johnny Lyu, CEO of crypto exchange KuCoin, said that crypto inheritance is still “poorly understood” because most crypto holders are young and, as such, aren’t thinking about their death or inheritance.

Moreover, Lyu states that we have not yet “come across a legislative precedent in this matter.” As such, there isn’t enough experience “in resolving inheritance disputes as, for example, in matters of theft and return of cryptocurrencies.” To Lyu, crypto inheritance “comes down to providing relatives with private keys.” He added that it can be managed through private keys in a cold wallet that is then stored in a safe and held with a notary:

“If the owner does not want to transfer the cryptocurrency before the moment of death, then they need to think of drawing up a will and an inventory of the contents necessary for their heirs to open the wallet.”

The CEO added that investors that want to pass on their assets must “solve the problem of maintaining anonymity until the moment when the heirs can come into their own.” At the same time, he conceded, transferring access credentials can “compromise the safety or anonymity” of holders.

To Lyu, the best crypto inheritance option out there was developed by Germain notaries and consists of a flash drive with a “master password, which already contains account passwords.” That flash drive is kept by the assets’ owner while the notary holds the master password, he said.

Lyu’s proposition does, however, come with a caveat: a lack of self-sovereignty. Trust is sacrosanct if someone else has access to our funds.

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Keys and trust

Should crypto holders share keys with trusted third parties? The question is hard to answer.

To some crypto enthusiasts, if someone else controls the keys to a wallet with crypto assets in it, they are essentially co-owners. If no one else knows how to access funds, the assets may be lost in the case of a holder’s untimely death.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Mitch Mitchell, associate counsel of Estate Planning at Trust and Will — a firm specializing in estate planning — said that cryptocurrency investors should share their private keys with trusted family members “for the simple reason that, if they do not, their knowledge of the private key dies with them.”

*Alfred Nobel's will, which established the Nobel Prize.*

Mitchell added that when or how they should share their private keys is a point of contention. Max Sapelov, co-founder and chief technology officer of crypto lending startup CoinLoan, told Cointepegrah that sharing private keys is a “debatable question,” as it depends “on the depth of the relationships” and the trust investors have in third parties.

Sapelov said that there are two main threats to consider before sharing private keys:

“Firstly, in an extraordinary situation, even the closest family members can turn their back when it comes to money and wealth. Secondly, managing private keys (or recovery seed phrase) is a challenging task.”

Without appropriate knowledge, he said it’s “easy to lose access” to private keys due to improper backup procedures or to attacks from hackers looking to steal crypto.

It’s worth noting that prominent crypto community members have openly admitted to simply sharing their private keys with family members to ensure that they have access to their funds. Hal Finney, the recipient of the very first Bitcoin transaction, wrote in 2013 that Bitcoin inheritance discussions are “of more than academic interest,” and that his BTC was stored in a safety deposit box, to which his son and daughter had access.

To some, however, sharing private keys isn’t a solution. If not for lack of trust, for a potential lack of security. Self-custody isn’t for everyone, so much so that many crypto users don’t even move funds off of exchanges.

Holding crypto on exchanges

Another solution often considered when it comes to cryptocurrency inheritance is simply holding assets on a leading cryptocurrency exchange. The strategy may at first seem risky, taking into account the number of trading platforms that have been hacked over the years, but as the market matures, some have managed to stay afloat even after suffering security breaches.

To Mitchell, users may store their wallet files in a portable hard drive instead of holding funds in a cryptocurrency exchange and treat it as a bearer bond, meaning it belongs to whoever holds the drive. It may, however, be prudent to store an encrypted backup on the cloud to provide a dual layer of protection, he added.

The advantage of storing on exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, Mitchell said, is that they are more user-friendly for family members looking to recoup funds. Sapelov pointed out that major exchanges “have one of the highest levels of security” in the space and are by law required to “have account inheritance processes in place.”

Coinbase, for example, allows a family member to access the account of a deceased relative after providing a number of documents, including a death certificate and last will.

For beneficiaries to gain access to funds locked in cryptocurrency exchanges, they will certainly have to jump through hoops, while having direct access to a drive with the keys would allow them to instantly access the funds.

An alternative would be cryptocurrency inheritance services. To Sapelov, whether someone decides to pay for such a service “depends on the person’s preference,” as it’s a new industry that is “definitely gaining popularity” but doesn’t “have a proven track record yet.” Instead, he suggests that users should contact the customer support teams of the exchanges they use to explore inheritance options before it’s too late.

Conversely, cryptocurrency exchanges or inheritance services may shut down over time or lose access to funds themselves. While the possibility is remote, it’s still worth considering when considering how to pass on cryptocurrency investments.

A technical solution

There is, nevertheless, one more solution to consider: special cryptography.

Speaking to Cointelegraph Jagdeep Sidhu, lead developer and president of peer-to-peer trading blockchain platform Syscoin, said that it’s possible to set up a solution in which a users assets automatically transfer to another wallet, which can be used for inheritance purposes:

“What is possible is to do ‘timed’ encryption. Special cryptography where you can encrypt a message containing a private key that is only decryptable after some time.”

Crypto holders can also set themselves as the beneficiary of such transactions, or set up a larger number of beneficiaries, as “there is no limit to how many times you can encrypt your key.” Sidhu said that crypto inheritance can be arranged while maintaining self-sovereignty with this method.

He further stated that a service can be set up which requires a user to remain interactive to prove he is still around. If the user fails to respond after a specific period of time, then a “timed encryption message is created to all of your beneficiaries.”

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The solution is nevertheless fairly technical and would require cryptocurrency users to remain interactive or risk accidentally sending their assets to beneficiaries. The confusion that would arise from such a setup could be troublesome.

Overall, the way crypto HODLers go about their will has to vary from person to person. Some may prefer to go the decentralized way and self-store their funds while creating their own inheritance solutions, while others may prefer to trust institutions with their funds and their wills.

What’s important is that at the end of the day, users set up a system that allows their beneficiaries to access their cryptocurrency holdings in case anything happens to them. After all, life-changing money isn’t really life-changing if nothing can be done with it.

Do Kwon shares LUNA burn address but warns ‘LUNAtics’ against using it

May 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Burn

Upon a persistent request from the Terra community, Kwon went against his initial plan and publicly shared a burn address for LUNA on May 21.

The recent Terra revival plan announced by Do Kwon, the co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, received mixed reactions as many questioned the effectiveness of a hard fork in reviving the fallen prices of LUNA and UST tokens. Instead, the part of the community recommended burning LUNA tokens as the most plausible way to achieve a comeback.

Kwon’s proposal to preserve the Terra ecosystem involves hard forking the existing Terra blockchain without the algorithmic stablecoin and redistributing a new version of the LUNA tokens to investors based on a historical snapshot before the death spiral. However, several crypto entrepreneurs, including Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, opined that:

“Reducing supply should be done via burn, not fork at an old date, and abandon everyone who tried to rescue the coin.”

Upon a persistent request from the crypto community, Kwon went against his initial plan and publicly shared a burn address for LUNA on May 21. Every LUNA token sent to this address will be burned immediately, effectively reducing the circulating supply of LUNA tokens.

To clarify, as I’ve noted multiple times i dont think sending tokens to this address to burn tokens is a good idea - nothing happens except that you lose your tokens

Want there to be no confusion whatsoever https://t.co/GrzG9cclAr
— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) May 23, 2022

Two days after sharing the LUNA burn address, Kwon reiterated his point of view that reducing the circulating supply of LUNA tokens will have no impact on the market price, stating, “nothing happens except that you lose your tokens.”

The Terra co-founder clarified that the burn address was shared with users only for information purposes and warned against using it:

“Happy to provide for information purposes but want to clarify that you should not burn tokens unless you know what you are doing - I for one cannot understand.”

However, the revelation resulted in more confusion among investors. As Cointelegraph previously reported, LUNA’s insane volatility serves as a lucrative opportunity for investors as many try to recoup their losses and others eye profitable trades.

Kwon has previously confirmed that Terra is no longer minting new LUNA tokens, which is one of the main reasons why investors believe a burning mechanism will improve LUNA price owing to scarcity.

Amid an unclear roadmap for a resolution, investors are advised to refrain from making abrupt financial decisions as the master plan for Terra revival continues to be under public scrutiny.

As a direct consequence of Terra’s collapse, numerous projects sought to migrate to different blockchain ecosystems fighting for survival. Near Foundation, too, played its part by recently onboarding Tracer, a Web3 fitness and lifestyle app.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Near Foundation’s (NEAR) Nicky Chalabi highlighted that projects like Tracer seek alignment with the ecosystem’s core values and that:

“Projects must watch the interests of their community and users because, in the end, that’s the most valuable thing you have.”

Chalabi further advised Terra projects to migrate only after considering the interests of their users and communities, stating "That can actually define your success."

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