Business
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business
Bitcoin network difficulty drops to 27.693T as hash rate eyes recovery
The difficulty in mining a block of Bitcoin (BTC) was reduced further by 5% to 27.693 trillion as network difficulty maintains its three-month-long downward streak ever since reaching an all-time high of 31.251 trillion back in May 2022. Network difficulty is a means devised by Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto to ensure the legitimacy of all transactions using raw computing power. The reduced difficulty allows Bitcoin miners to confirm transactions using lower resources, enabling smaller miners a fighting chance to earn the mining rewards. Despite the minor setback, zooming out on blockchain.com’s data reveals that Bitcoin continues to operate as the most resilient and immutable blockchain network. While the difficulty adjustment is directly proportional to the hashing power of miner...
Minecraft ban ‘hypocritical’ and NFTs are inclusive: Animoca’s Yat Siu
Yat Siu, the co-founder of crypto/NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands, labeled the recent Minecraft NFT ban as “hypocritical” and emphasized that nonfungible tokens (NFT) can be inclusive, despite arguments to the contrary. As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios announced a ban on all NFT integrations in the game on July 20. The firm stated that NFTs were against its values, as they foster price speculation, scarcity, exclusion and potential rug pulls. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Siu expressed his frustration at Mojang Studios given the context in which NFTs were being integrated with Minecraft before the ban. Projects such as NFT Worlds were utilizing Minecraft’s open source servers to host a metaverse platform that had crypto and NFT ecosystems built around it. Th...
Top Bruce Springsteen Ticket Prices Fueled Rage, But the Average Cost Wasn’t So High
Bruce Springsteen fans had a rough introduction to the world of dynamic ticket pricing Wednesday (July 20), as many logged into Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform to buy tickets for his upcoming tour with the E Street Band and experienced sticker shock at the cost of the best seats. Those prices – which climbed into the thousands of dollars, as widely reported – represented about 1 percent of the tickets listed on the Ticketmaster Verified Fan sale, but they became a sore point for fans who felt that they no longer had a shot at great seats after years of loyalty to the Boss. By selling high-priced platinum tickets, Ticketmaster argues, the company can prevent the best seats from being bought and resold by scalpers. That money can instead go to Springsteen. However, this only works when ...
Swedish House Mafia Cancels More Shows Due to Poor Ticket Sales
Swedish House Mafia has canceled five more shows on its upcoming 2022 Paradise Again arena tour on Friday (July 22) after months of anemic sales, despite promoter Live Nation’s best efforts to move tickets at discounted rates. The newly canceled shows include July 31 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Aug. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Aug. 9 at TD Garden in Boston, Aug. 11 at Verizon Arena Washington D.C. and Aug. 17 in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena. The tour’s poor ticket sales and struggles to generate interest have been widely known in the live music business, and many arena acts are facing sluggish ticket sales, especially at the arena level where a number of first-time tours are playing to half-empty houses. Festivals too have struggled amid a wave of oversaturation and redu...
Bitcoin dips to $22.6K, risking further losses if it fails to hold above 200-week MA
The mood across the cryptocurrency ecosystem is noticeably brighter on July 22 after a week of gains helped traders put the events of the past two months behind them and look toward a positive future. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been oscillating around support at $23,000 over the past couple of days and continues to hold slightly above its 200-week moving average (MA), which has been a reliable indicator of bear market bottoms in the past. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView As the debate about the market’s direction continues to rage, here are the important levels to watch heading into the weekend, according to analysts. Bitcoin needs weekly close above $22,800 The significance of Bitcoin trading abov...
Play-to-own, NFTs and Web3: Crypto Raiders drops knowledge with NFT Steez
Blockchain gaming and the play-to-earn model were all the rage in 2021, but over time, the model declined as a few kinks were revealed and the wider nonfungible token (NFT) and crypto market hit a few speed bumps. It’s safe to say, the sector is “down, but not out” and it’s entirely possible that blockchain gaming could see another 2021-style surge once the market regains its momentum. On Friday, NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Space hosted by Alyssa Exposito and Ray Salmond, met with the founders of Crypto Raiders to discuss the state of blockchain gaming, and the future of play-to-earn-based projects. According to the founders, Crypto Raiders is an NFT-based dungeon crawler and in the episode, each agreed that the current blockchain gaming landscape should focus on sustainability and “fun...
FTX proposes a way to give Voyager Digital clients some of their digital assets back early
FTX and Alameda Ventures want to offer Voyager Digital customers a chance to start a new FTX account with an opening cash balance funded by an early distribution on a portion of their bankruptcy claims, FTX announced in a statement Friday. To accomplish this, Alameda Ventures said it would like to buy all Voyager digital assets and digital asset loans, with the exception of loans to Three Arrows Capital (3AC). A letter from an FTX and Alameda Ventures legal representative explained that Voyager Digital customers who did not choose to create an FTX account would retain their rights in the bankruptcy proceedings, but would not receive early reimbursement. Accepting the offer would protect Voyager Digital clients from the depreciation of the crypto assets they currently do not have acce...
Board urges Bank of Central African States to introduce common digital currency: Report
The Bank of Central African States, or Banque des États de l’Afrique, which serves Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo, could be closer to releasing a central bank digital currency reportedly at the urging of its board. According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, the board sent an email calling for the regional bank to introduce a digital currency in an effort to modernize payment structures and promote regional financial inclusion. The Central African Republic, or CAR, passed legislation adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country in April, but has not recognized a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Nigeria’s central bank was one of the first in the region to launch a CBDC called the eNaira in October ...
The Ledger: Royalty Growth Requires Changing More Than How They’re Calculated
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. If The Beatles wrote a song about music royalties, the band would sing about a “Long and Winding Road” to higher subscription fees and better pay for artists and labels. The music subscription business model has become the record industry’s main breadwinner since launching in the early 2000s. But for two decades, many artists and rights holders have bristled at the royalty rates paid by streaming services. Some rates have improved: ad-supported royalties grew as online advertising matured. Royalties from subscription services have less wiggle room for change, however. The biggest innovation is a change in how to divvy a...
U2 to Perform First Concerts at MSG Sphere in Las Vegas
U2 will be the first group to perform at the MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas when the $1.8 billion arena opens next year, multiple sources tell Billboard. The performances will be the first dates of a multi-show residency by the band at the high-tech arena, which is being built by Madison Square Garden Entertainment chairman James Dolan near the Venetian off the Las Vegas Strip. Officials with MSGE describe the MSG Sphere at The Venetian as the next generation of live entertainment, offering fans a multi-sensory experience of sound and light inside the largest spherical structure ever created. For concerts, the MSG Sphere at The Venetian can hold 20,000 standing spectators or 17,500 seated guests, with 23 VIP suites. The Sphere will include 160,000 square feet of video vi...
‘Dead bodies’ and dump sites draw DOJ civil rights probe of Houston
“No one in the United States should be exposed to risk of illness and other serious harm because of ineffective solid waste management or inadequate enforcement programs,” Clarke said. The investigation will assess residents’ allegations with respect to possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prevents federal funding recipients from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origins in the services and programs they provide. Clarke said DOJ would try to agree on a compliance plan with city officials to remediate concerns if it finds civil rights violations. The complaint filed by legal advocacy organization Lone Star Legal Aid alleged the “city’s denial of services, failure to enforce municipal codes and permit restrictions and failure to adequately and e...
Pro Bitcoin traders are uncomfortable with bullish positions
The previous $19,000 Bitcoin (BTC) support level becomes more distant after the 22.5% gain in nine days. However, little optimism has been instilled as the impact of the Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Voyager, Babel Finance and Celsius crises remain uncertain. Moreover, the contagion has claimed yet another victim after Thai crypto exchange Zipmex halted withdrawals on July 20. Bitcoin/USD 1-day price. Source: TradingView Bulls’ hopes depend on the $23,000 support strengthening as time goes by, but derivatives metrics show professional traders are still highly skeptical of continuous recovery. Macroeconomic headwinds favor scarce assets Some analysts attribute the crypto market strength to China’s lower-than-expected gross domestic product data, causing investors to expect further expan...
