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3 developments signal that Verasity (VRA) price may have bottomed
The marketwide sell-off on May 19 triggered a 55% decline in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), and altcoins were hit even harder, with some tokens seeing declines of up to 90%. One project whose native token price appears to have bottomed out after an 87% decline from its all-time high is Verasity, an e-sports-focused blockchain protocol focused on increasing engagement and advertising revenues for video publishers. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after declining from a high at $0.0558 on April 17 to a low of $0.0073 on July 20, the price of Verasity’s VRA token has rallied 230% to an intraday high at $0.024 on Aug. 17 as its 24-hour trading volume steadily increases. VRA/USD 1-daychart. Source: TradingView Three reasons the price of VRA may b...
Avalanche Rush to give out more than 180M in DeFi incentives
Smart contract platform Avalanche has announced a $180 million liquidity mining incentive program, named Avalanche Rush. The program aims to encourage more applications and tokens to move to Avalanche’s DeFi platform, according to the release. It’s set to follow a multi-stage deployment starting with the Aave and Curve protocols, before expanding to other assets in the coming months. For this first stage, Avalanche will allocate up to $20M AVAX tokens for Aave and $7M AVAX tokens for Curve over a 3 month period. At the same time, the Avalanche Foundation will sponsor the launch of Benqi’s DeFi protocol native to the Avalanche network with a $3M allocation starting August 19. News of the Rush program follows the re-release of the Avalanche Bridge — an upgraded version of the project’s...
How Risky Are Concerts? We Asked an Infectious Disease Expert
Billboard spoke with Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and an authority on infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness, to raise these questions. Adalja, 45, is a go-to pandemic expert, sharing his views on CBS This Morning, NPR and the BBC, among many others during the past year and a half. It turns out Adalja knows his way around concerts, too: A longtime skateboarder, Adalja grew up listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Metallica and Rancid and saw the original Lollapalooza twice. “We’ll have COVID cases 20 years from now,” he says. “Then we have to come up with a way to be able to go about our lives, making risk calculations jus...
Maroon 5 Will Be First Major US Act to Perform in Canada After Border Reopening
A spokesperson for Live Nation confirmed to Billboard that Maroon 5 will be the first major U.S. act to perform in Canada since the pandemic began early last year. Vaccinated Americans and permanent residents must submit proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival to Canada. The vaccinations must have been administered at least 14 days before entry. A steady stream of concerts in Canada featuring U.S.-based artists — most for dates in 2022 — have gone on sale this summer, including John Mayer, The Killers, Sebastian Maniscalco, Elton John and Sepultura. On the books from October through December of this year are shows in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver featuring Ricky Martin with Enrique Iglesias, Lemonheads, Maluma, Ge...
PSV Eindhoven soccer club to accept new sponsorship deal in Bitcoin
The football ecosystem has stepped up its adoption game as more clubs continue to involve crypto in mainstream operations. Netherland-based top-tier football club PSV Eindhoven has partnered with local crypto trading platform Anycoin Direct, which will pay the club an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin (BTC) in a new sponsorship deal. According to the official statement, Anycoin Direct will remain an official partner of PSV Eindhoven for the next two seasons with the goal of growing awareness of crypto across Europe. By using the crypto platform’s services, PSV Eindhoven will be able to receive the total sponsorship amount in Bitcoin, making it the first major football club in the European Union to get paid sponsorship in cryptocurrency. PSV Eindhoven commercial director Frans Janssen rep...
Bitcoin bulls at risk? Tether growth rate flatlines despite market cap crossing $64B
Tether Holdings Ltd, the issuer of the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), reported that its total market capitalization had crossed $64 billion for the first time in history. The company called the event a “milestone,” adding that it is another indication of the cryptocurrency market’s “continued trust and confidence” in its stablecoin. Tether’s $USDt market cap hits $64B! A new milestone reached and another indication of the market’s continued trust and confidence in #Tether ! pic.twitter.com/t85i6e6UQt — Tether (@Tether_to) August 16, 2021 In detail, Tether’s business model revolves around providing digitized dollars to cryptocurrency traders and investors. In doing so, the company offers them a way to park their volatile digital assets into USDT, a digital asset that maintains a one-to-...
Crypto.com uses Circle API to launch USD bank transfers in over 60 countries
Digital asset exchange and service provider, Crypto.com, has launched withdrawals via U.S. dollar bank transfers for institutional clients across more than 60 countries. According to an August 18 announcement, the expanded fiat functionality for institutional account holders has been enabled by its partnership with Circle. Institutional customers are now able to withdraw dollars from their Crypto.com USD Coin (USDC) wallet via bank at a 1:1 basis using a unique code provided by Circle. Bank transfers are expected to be processed within three business days. Kris Marszalek, CEO and co-founder of Crypto.com, stated: “Our integration with Circle provides Institutional clients with a robust and stable USD fiat on and off ramp to the Crypto.com Exchange.” Crypto.com announced its partnership wit...
Ukrainian ministry considering digital currency pilot for staff salaries
Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, has revealed a possible early use case for the nation’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a recent interview published by Ukrainian media outlet TSN, the minister revealed considerations within the ministry to test out the CBDC by using the electronic currency in staff salary payments: “Frankly as one of the first pilots, we have on the table the question of paying salaries to employees of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in electronic hryvnia.” Fedorov made these comments while arguing the case for the initial roll-out of the e-hryvnia to focus on a small, controlled use case rather than being deployed for social payments. According to Fedorov, there is t...
Downtown Music Holdings Names New CEO, Kalifowitz to Executive Director
Founder and CEO Justin Kalifowitz moves to the role of executive director in the new leadership alignment. Downtown Music Holdings — the umbrella organization that houses several music-services brands like CD Baby, FUGA, Songtrust, Downtown Neighboring Rights and more — is shaking up its executive leadership team. Founder and CEO Justin Kalifowitz will transition to a new role as executive director of the company, while longtime general counsel and COO Andrew Bergman rises to the role of CEO. The moves will take place effective Sept. 1. Kalifowitz started Downtown in 2007 as a music publisher, a business it largely exited in April when it sold the rights to its 145,000-song catalog of publishing copyrights to Concord in a deal estimated at $350 million. (Downtown still serves a...
Safemoon price analysis: SAFEMOON could yet see further losses
The cryptocurrency market recorded losses for the second consecutive day this week, with prices of most coins down by more than 2% in the past 24 hours The cryptocurrency market rallied for most of last week, with Bitcoin rising past $47,000 for the first time since May. Ether also experienced a massive increase in price, closing in on the $3,300 mark last week. However, the market is currently in a correction period, with the prices of most cryptocurrencies down by more than 2% in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has dropped below the $45,000 mark while Ether risks falling below the $3,000 resistance point in the coming hours. Safemoon isn’t left out, with the cryptocurrency losing nearly 5% of its value in the past 24 hours. The market is consolidating after last week’s rally, and this implies...
PBoC shuts down 11 companies involved in crypto trading
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has promised to turn the heat on companies engaging in cryptocurrency trading activities The Shenzhen branch of the People’s Bank of China is increasing its efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency trading activities in the region. The central bank said it is committed to ensuring that corporate entities don’t engage in cryptocurrency trading. According to a local report yesterday, the PBoC Shenzhen branch has shut down 11 companies for allegedly being involved in cryptocurrency trading and financial activities. The report pointed out that the bank had compiled a list of 46 companies it suspects are engaging in illegal trading of cryptocurrencies towards the end of last month. The PBoC went on to conduct further investigations into these companies and shut ...
Argo Blockchain becomes climate positive crypto mining firm
Argo Blockchain is reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its crypto mining activities as part of its Climate Positive Strategy Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain announced yesterday that it had become climate positive for its Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This means it is achieving carbon neutrality by addressing its own emissions, while also supporting projects to further mitigate emissions. Argo is the first publicly traded crypto mining company to do so. Reducing its GHG emissions is just one part of the company’s Climate Positive Strategy. It has already prioritised the use of renewable power on its site, signed both the UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now Pledge and the Crypto Climate Accord, and purchased Verified Emissions Reductions (VERs) and Hydr...
