Business
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business
‘Invisible Aether’: World’s largest museum launches NFT art exhibition
The Russian State Hermitage Museum continues diving in the nonfungible tokens (NFTs) industry by debuting its first fully-virtual exhibition of digital art. Shortly after raising over $400,000 via its first NFT auction on Binance in September, the Hermitage is now hosting a free exhibition of NFT artworks existing exclusively in the virtual space, the so-called “celestial hermitage,” or the museum’s digital avatar. Launched on Nov. 10, the Hermitage’s exhibition is called the “Invisible Aether” and is based on the concept of metaverse, allowing users to create digital avatars and surf across the virtual site using PCs, smartphones, virtual reality glasses and other devices. The virtual site mimics the interiors of the local landmark Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange, but the actual exhib...
Stablecoin payment app Reserve helps individuals protect their savings against inflation in Latin America
One under the radar cryptocurrency-powered payment app that’s been gaining traction across Latin America is Reserve. The platform acts as a convenient way for people to convert their local currencies, which may be undergoing high inflation levels, to the United States Dollar via the Reserve stablecoin (RSV). The network also features the Reserve Rights token (RSR), which is used for protocol governance. Since its launch in March 2021, the platform says it has seen 367,000 total signups. Meanwhile the number of weekly active users has surpassed 100,000, with most located in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. In the past 30 days, the app has handled approximately 547,000 transactions. In addition, over 8,000 businesses, predominantly based in Venezuela, now accept Reserve as a pa...
Aluna Is Launching a New Orleans Dance Festival With an All-Black Lineup
“I’ve talked a lot about the future of dance music I want to see, and here it is,” Aluna tells Billboard. “This unique experience of honoring dance music’s heritage and getting a taste of what’s to come will reignite a much needed connection back to what dance music is all about – creating a place where people from all different communities can come together and dance their hearts out feeling free to be themselves.” Produced in partnership with Pollen Presents, the festival will celebrate the Black and LGTBQ+ origins of dance music in a city famous for Black and brown musical excellence. In addition to performances — which will include late night warehouse parties — Noir Fever will also host a speaker series with keynote talks, workshops and a marke...
‘#DropGold worked’ — Grayscale ‘flippens’ world’s largest gold fund as AUM hits $60B
Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin investment firm Grayscale now has more assets under management (AUM) than the world’s biggest gold fund. According to the latest data from issuer Grayscale, Grayscale now controls over $60 billion — $1.7 billion more than the leading gold fund, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). Praise for Grayscale, futures ETFs Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), meanwhile, contains over 646,000 BTC, worth around $41.75 billion as of Nov. 11. The figures add to the debate over gold as a store of value and inflation hedge versus Bitcoin, as inflation cuts through the United States and global economies. With gold flagging compared to BTC/USD, the allure of giving capital Bitcoin exposure has arguably never made more sense. GBTC price, holdings and premiu...
Nigerian banks tracking customer accounts for crypto trading
In Nigeria, commercial banks have begun monitoring accounts that appear to be utilized for cryptocurrency trading. The action is in response to an order from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) demanding all commercial banks freeze accounts belonging to at least two individuals engaged in cryptocurrency trading. According to a report by local publication Leadership, an internal memo in one of the banks instructed employees to start monitoring accounts with significant transaction volumes or those that are believed to be used for cryptocurrency trading. The memo, according to Leadership, reads: “We wish to reiterate that the CBN is strictly monitoring non-compliance with the directive on the closure of all accounts involved in cryptocurrency for high impact regulatory sanction. In view o...
Chinese retail giant JD accepts digital yuan payments for Singles Day
E-commerce giant JD.com took payments in China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) at a massive local shopping event. JD.com accepted digital yuan (e-CNY) for payment on its e-commerce application for the Singles Day promotion period which began on Oct. 31 and ended on Nov. 11, the firm confirmed on Thursday. Singles Day is an unofficial shopping holiday in the country that also celebrates people who aren’t in a romantic relationship. “100,000 people had used e-CNY on JD.com’s app during the Singles Day promotion period as of today,” a spokesperson for JD.com told Cointelegraph. “We will continue to work with related parties to explore the application,” the spokesperson added. The representative declined to specify the value of e-CNY processed during the promotion. The rep...
Indonesia’s national Islamic council reportedly declares Bitcoin haram
The National Ulema Council (MUI), Indonesia’s top Islamic scholarly body, has reportedly found cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) to be haram, or forbidden, by the tenets of Islam. Asrorun Niam Sholeh, chairman of MUI’s Fatwa Commission, confirmed the religious authority’s rejection of cryptocurrencies due to alleged elements of “uncertainty, wagering and harm.” In order for the MIU to endorse crypto trading, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin need to abide by Shariah guidelines as a commodity or a digital asset and show a “clear benefit,” Sholeh reportedly said following an expert MIU hearing. The MIU discussed Bitcoin as part of the Ulama Fatwa Commission, which is designed to address some of Indonesia’s biggest social, political, economic and legal issues through the lens of Islamic l...
Global crypto market cap down 1.75%, top coins drop, as Kadena and MicroPets maintain their bull run
On Thursday the cryptocurrency market saw a dip with the global cryptocurrency market cap dropping by 1.75% to $2.86T. Despite the drop in the market cap, the total crypto market volume increased by about 34% in the last 24 hours. The total volume in decentralized finance (DeFi) is about $30.43B, which is 16.76% of the total crypto market trading volume while the volume of stablecoins is $142.05B, which is 78.23% of the total crypto market volume in the last 24 hours. Top coins in the red All the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap ranking are in red. Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a 2.28% decrease to trade at about $65,255 after hitting an all-time high above $69,000. Despite its current dip, Bitcoin still controls the majority share of the cryptocurrency market with a dominance of about 43%. ...
Biden’s ‘I feel your pain’ conundrum
There is ample precedent for a president trying — and failing — to message his way through a recovery that has yet to be felt by voters. In 1993 and again in 2009, Americans perceived that the economy was recovering more slowly, and more unevenly, than expected, even though it was, indeed, recovering. The ensuing midterms brought painful lessons for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama alike. For Republicans, the job has been fairly simple. The party has placed a heavy focus on the rise in prices of everyday goods — gas prices in particular — as a means of symbolizing that voters are worse off under Biden. Advisers to former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said following his loss last week that the economy, along with the pandemic, were the top issues on the minds of voters — and both were hammered...
Rivian IPO Puts Company’s Valuation at $93 Billion USD
Electric vehicle maker Rivian is now valued at $93 billion USD following its initial public offering earlier this week. The company announced its $66.5 billion USD IPO on Tuesday, marking the biggest of its kind in 2021. The following day, its stock price traded 28% above the listing price, pushing it from $78 USD per share to $112.77 USD within a day and peaking at one point at $119.46 USD. At that price, the Rivian’s valuation increased to $93 billion USD, pushing it past both American automotive giants Ford and GM, which sit at $77 billion USD and $86 billion USD respectively. As of now, the newcomer only trails behind EV competitor Tesla, which is valued at a staggering $1.05 trillion USD. Most significantly, Rivian currently only holds two models on its roster: the R1T electric ...
‘Sinister’ debanking of crypto traders is often anti-competitive says Senator Bragg
Australian banks have been dressing up anti-competitive behavior as regulatory compliance when de-banking crypto customers, Senator Andrew Bragg said. “I believe many banks have been dressing up de-banking as a regulatory necessity. In fact it is often anti-competitive behavior and far more sinister and threatening than it appears on the surface,” the Liberal Senator for New South Wales said in a prepared address to the Tech Council of Australia tod. Denial of banking, or debanking, is when a financial institution chooses to no longer offer banking services to a customer. No reason needs to be given, and banks have the ability to freeze an account instantly or shut it down with very little notice. For crypto customers banks often cite concerns around Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter...
Rocket Pool Eth2 staking service launches, hits stage two cap in 45 seconds
The launch of ETH2 staking service Rocket Pool saw it hit its stage two cap in just 45 seconds according to the co-founder of hosting partner Allnodes Konstantin Boyko-Romanovsky. In its first two days of operations, Rocket Pool has registered 237 node operators across 42 global locations, with 1088 ETH staked. According to an announcement the platform now has Total Value Locked of 4000 ETH ($13.9 million USD) in value, including collateral from the platform’s Rocket Pool (RPL) token. Rocket Pool aims to become the “primary staking infrastructure for Ethereum, by providing a decentralized, easy to use staking network for individuals and businesses,” according to the whitepaper. The protocol is progressively rolling out over four weeks. During the stage one...
