Business

Volatility continues to be the name of the game for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) amid the rollercoaster valuations and volume surges, but a new trend appears to be emerging in the sector.  Aesthetic appeal aside, for many investors, buying an NFT is akin to casting a bait-laden hook into an opaque body of water and hoping that a fish bites. Sure, when the Bored Ape Yacht Club listed, some buyers thought “They look cool” and “The community is really strong and dedicated,” but these aren’t really hard valuation metrics that can be backtested and applied across most assets in the NFT market. Community activism and holder stats are important features to look for when purchasing an NFT, but aside from that, the initial purchase and hope that one will eventually turn a profit is nothing more t...

U.S. fintech giant Stripe is hiring a new blockchain team to enable crypto payments for its users. The $100 billion company is returning to the crypto sector three years after it pulled back from offering Bitcoin support due its slow transaction times and rising fees. According to a job listing page on Stripe’s website, the firm is looking for four “Staff Engineers” with experience in the crypto sector. Guillaume Poncin, the head of engineering stated on Twitter earlier today that he’s looking for engineers and designers to “build the future of Web3 payments.” The listing outlines that the future engineers and designers will be tasked with working “across everything from web/mobile UIs to backend, payments and identity systems.” “We hear a growing need from developers and users in th...

Crypto asset investors may have a longer wait for a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded product according to Todd Rosenbluth, the senior director of ETF and mutual fund research at research firm CFRA. Speaking on CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Oct. 12, Rosenbluth stated that while a Bitcoin futures product is likely to be the first crypto ETF to gain approval, he cautioned that the current clouded regulatory situation could cause further delays. There are more than 20 crypto asset-based exchange-traded products waiting for Securities and Exchange Commission approval, and the regulator is yet to pass any, instead kicking the can down the road on multiple occasions. The researcher suggested that regulators could be waiting for all of these products to meet their goals so that they can be approved at the s...

Guy Oseary, the manager of musical heavyweights U2 and Madonna has signed a representation deal with Yuga Labs to expand the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT project into movies, TV, music and gaming. The move from Yuga Labs comes a month after CryptoPunks creators’ Larva Labs penned a representation deal in Hollywood with the United Talent Agency. Oseary adds BAYC to a list of all star clients which includes, alongside U2 and Madonna, comedian Amy Schumer and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Welcome to the club, @guyoseary ! ☠️⛵️ https://t.co/PcUtD67zIF — Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) October 12, 2021 The announcement was shared via Variety on Oct. 12, with Oseary highlighting that despite the success of the BAYC project, Yuga Labs is still a relatively unknown ...

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange has announced a $1 billion accelerator fund to expand the capabilities of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem and advance mainstream adoption across the financial technology sector. The exchange showcased the eight-figure fund in a tiered development model across four specialist areas: Talent Development, Liquidity Incentive Program, Builder Program, Investment & Incubation Program. The announcement suggested that they will allocate $100M, $100M, $300M and $500M to each segment respectively. The largest benefactor of the pot, the investment & incubation program, will focus on multi-chain expansion of the already burgeoning areas of the technological sphere. This includes various metaverses, gaming, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Maver...

Bitcoin had been underperforming against most altcoins ov the past two months, but that trend reversed when its 20% rally pushed its market capitalization to break the $1 trillion mark on Oct. 6. That shifted investors’ attention back to the leading cryptocurrency, and altcoins are currently in the red for the day. The current positive momentum could be dangerous if Bitcoin (BTC) traders become overconfident and abuse leverage to open long positions. To avoid this, traders need to carefully analyze derivatives markets to exclude this risk. Top 14 coins weekly performance. Source: CoinMarketCap Notice above how the altcoin market capitalization increased by 5.8%, while Bitcoin posted a 20.8% gain in the same period. Sure enough, there were some outliers such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), which rose ...

Major crypto exchange Coinbase has announced it will be opening a waitlist for a nonfungible marketplace it plans to launch later this year. In an Oct. 12 blog post, Coinbase vice president of product and ecosystem Sanchan Saxena said the nonfungible token, or NFT, marketplace would allow its users to mint, purchase, discover, and showcase Ethereum-based tokens. According to Saxena, the offering will allow creators to maintain control of their artwork “through decentralized contracts and metadata transparency,” with all NFTs on-chain. The Coinbase announcement comes following crypto exchange FTX and its U.S.-based subsidiary introducing a marketplace with users able to trade NFTs cross-chain through the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, entered ...

Ether (ETH) price is lagging Bitcoin’s (BTC) price action by 13% in October, but is this relevant? To date, the altcoin has still outperformed BTC by 274% in 2021. However, traders tend to be short-sighted and some will question whether the Ethereum network can successfully migrate to proof of stake (PoS) validation and finally solve the high gas fees issue. Bitcoin and Ether prices at Bitstamp. Source: TradingView Moreover, the increasing competition from smart contract networks like Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX) have been worrying investors: One big problem with the “ETH is ultra sound money” meme is that EIP-1559 only limits the supply of ETH if Ethereum continues to have lots of transactions. It’s just as possible that people will tire of $80 gas fees and opt for one of numer...

Blockchain payments firm Ripple has announced a $44-million environmental, social and governance (ESG) joint venture partnership with fintech provider Nelnet Renewable Energy to fund the adoption of environmentally conscious solar energy initiatives across the United States.  According to the announcement, the new fund is expected to offset over 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide over 35 years, equivalent to the energy usage of 180,635 homes for one annum. In March 2021, Nelnet Inc. received a commendable E1 ESG accreditation from the S&P Global Ratings evaluation board for the former’s $9.9-million solar tax equity fund. The project entails the financial backing to build four photovoltaic solar projects in Upstate New York. The evaluation was assessed across t...

Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has raised $400 million in a new equity funding round amid United States regulators increasingly cracking down on crypto lending. Announcing the news on Tuesday, Celsius noted that the latest funding was led by Canada’s second-largest pension fund, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and WestCap, an equity firm established by former Airbnb executive Laurence Tosi. Celsius Network raises $400m. @FT “The funding round was led by WestCap… and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).” More:https://t.co/L5wpMxCvcR — Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) October 12, 2021 The firm intends to use the proceeds from this investment to continue expanding its offering and products, focusing on institutional grade products. Celsius ...