business
OpenSea launches ‘Seaport’ marketplace protocol allowing NFT bartering
Nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea has announced the launch of a Web3 marketplace protocol for “safely and efficiently buying and selling NFTs.” In a Friday blog post, OpenSea said the marketplace protocol, dubbed Seaport, will give users the option to obtain NFTs by offering assets other than just payment tokens like Ether (ETH). According to the platform, a user “can agree to supply a number of ETH / ERC20 / ERC721 / ERC1155 items” in exchange for an NFT, implying bartering a combination of tokens as a method of payment. In addition, SeaPort users can specify which criteria — e.g. certain traits on NFT artwork or pieces part of a collection — they want when making offers. The platform will also support tipping, as long as the amount does not exceed that of the original offer. “OpenSea...
Ex-‘American Idol’ Star Caleb Kennedy Granted Bond in Fatal Car Crash
A South Carolina judge granted bond on Friday (May 20) to the former American Idol contestant accused of barreling into a man with his pickup truck and killing him. Caleb Kennedy, 17, received a $50,000 bond and was ordered to receive mental health treatment while in home detention, news outlets reported. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The country music singer had been jailed since February on a charge of driving under the influence resulting in the death of 54-year-old Larry Duane Parris. Police say Kennedy drove his truck up a private driveway in Spartanburg County and struck Larry Duane Parris, 54, pushing Parris into a building. A toxicology report showed that Kennedy had marijuana and Prozac in his system at the time. Ke...
Billboard Promotes Mike Van to President & Dana Droppo to Chief Brand Officer
Mike Van has been named the new president of Billboard and Dana Droppo has been promoted to chief brand officer, Billboard parent company Penske Media Corporation announced Friday (May 20). Van — previously Billboard‘s executive vice president and head of global partnerships — will be responsible for all revenue operations and financial performance of the Billboard brand as president. He started at Billboard in 2018 and previously held leadership positions in advertising and sales at Pandora, Electronic Arts and Complex. During his time as executive vp and head of global partnerships, Billboard set all-time sales records. Droppo — who was previously Billboard‘s senior vice president of marketing, as well as vice president, brand experiences, and vice president and creative director for bra...
FestivalPass Unveils Subscription Platform For Live Entertainment, Eyes Expansion: Exclusive
FestivalPass launches with a membership platform that unlocks access to the show — tens of thousands of them. The brainchild of founder and CEO Ed Vincent, festivalPass claims to be the world’s first subscription platform for live events, through which members can nab no-fee tickets to more than 800,000 concerts, festivals and more. Membership can gain entry to such festivals as Coachella and ACL Music Festival, and live shows featuring Dua Lipa, John Mayer, Billie Eillish and more. Based in Austin, Texas, the festivalPass model uses a novel credit system, which can be redeemed for a smorgasbord of film, food, art and sports experiences across the U.S. and for booking rooms at thousands of hotels across the world at reduced rates. Members rack up credits through a subscription plan, rangin...
Tether launches crypto and blockchain education program in Switzerland
Switzerland’s southern city of Lugano will host a blockchain- and cryptocurrency-focused school as part of a partnership between the local government and Tether (USDT). In a Thursday announcement, Tether and Lugano said they will be launching the Plan ₿ Summer School in an effort “to bring blockchain and crypto education to the masses.” The education center is part of Tether’s “Plan ₿” initiatives with the Swiss city, which have included making Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and the LVGA token legal tender in the area. @luganomycity @Tether_to @FranklinSwitz @USI_university announced today the launch of @LuganoPlanB Summer School, 3-16 July 2022. Apply now #Lugano @LuganoLivingLab https://t.co/PI0USZpA96 — Lugano (@luganomycity) May 19, 2022 According to the school’s website...
Tether reports 17% decrease in commercial paper holdings over Q1 2022
USDT Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has reported it cut its reserves allocation to commercial paper investments and increased that of United States Treasury bills over the first quarter of 2022. In a Thursday blog post, Tether reported its reserves were “fully backed,” seemingly in an effort to assuage many users’ fears around USDT briefly depegging from the dollar on May 12. According to the stablecoin issuer, its commercial paper holdings over Q1 2022 decreased 17% from roughly $24 billion to $20 billion, with an additional 20% reduction to be reflected in the firm’s next quarterly report. Tether also increased investments in money market funds and U.S. Treasury bills by 13% over the same quarter, from roughly $34.5 billion to $39 billion. “Tether has maintained its stability through mu...
Saudi Arabia Is Now Nintendo’s Fifth-Largest Shareholder Following a $3 Billion USD Buy-In
Saudi Arabia has just become Nintendo‘s fifth-largest shareholder. According to Bloomberg, a filing in Japan from the video game giant revealed that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund has purchased a 5.01% stake in the company worth $2.98 billion USD, making the $500 billion USD fund Nintendo’s fifth-largest stakeholder. The new investment comes following similar purchases throughout recent years. In 2020, the fund spent roughly the same amount to purchase smaller stakes in FIFA publisher Electronic Arts, Call of Duty and Diablo studio Activision Blizzard and Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer Take-Two Interactive while owning almost the entirety of Metal Slug and King of Fighters creator SNK. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia also acquired 5% stakes in both Japan’s CAPC...
Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland Released From Prison to Halfway House
McFarland has been released from the Milan Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan, where he was being held, according to the Bureau of Prisons website and confirmed by his attorney Jason Russo. He is now under the management of Residential Reentry Management New York — the administrative office overseeing halfway houses located in southern New York, eastern New York and New Jersey. TMZ first reported the news. McFarland’s release date from the halfway house is currently set for Aug. 30. In 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting to defrauding investors in the disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival, which was promised to be a luxury destination music event with extravagant promotion from A-list celebrity influencers. But when ticket-holders showed up to the ...
Early polling from Terra vote indicates 91% are in favor of ‘rebirth’
Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon’s plan to create a new blockchain “without the algorithmic stablecoin” TerraUSD (UST) has the support of 85 million community votes. In a proposal opened to the Terra (LUNA) community on Wednesday, more than 91% of votes at the time of publication were in favor of “rebirthing” the Terra network — roughly 85 million out of 93 million, with up to 284 million votes yet to be cast. The proposal needs roughly 188 million votes in favor to pass before the window closes on May 25. At the time of publication, the biggest validator to come out in support of the proposal is Terra infrastructure provider Orbital Command, holding 1.39% of the voting power. Major validators with more than 2% of voting power have not yet made a decision, including cross-chain stablecoin bank O...
Meta trademark filing hints at plans for crypto payments platform
Social media giant Facebook’s parent company, Meta, may be planning to launch a payments platform with support for cryptocurrency. According to records submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, on May 13, Meta filed five applications for its namesake to be used in a platform called Meta Pay. The filings included Meta’s name for use in a “online social networking service for investors allowing financial trades and exchange of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, digitized assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens and utility tokens.” Meta Platforms Inc. (i.e. Facebook) has filed 5 new trademark applications for: “META PAY” The filings indicate that @Meta plans to launch a payment platform called &#...
Crypto users react to Terraform Labs legal team purportedly leaving company
The ongoing saga with Terraform Labs, the blockchain developer behind Terra (LUNA), took a turn following a supposed change in employment status for many on the firm’s legal team. According to their LinkedIn profiles, Terraform Labs general counsel Marc Goldich, chief litigation and regulatory counsel Noah Axler and chief corporate counsel Lawrence Florio have all stopped working for the blockchain firm as of May 2022. Goldich started at Terraform Labs in August 2021 while Axler and Florio joined in January 2022. The change in employment status for three members of Terraform Labs’ legal team followed major volatility in the crypto market after the price of LUNA collapsed to $0.00 within two weeks. Stablecoins including Tether (USDT) depegged from the U.S. dollar, while the price of TerraUS...
BitMEX to diversify by offering spot crypto trading services
The Seychelles-based crypto exchange unveiled its spot trading platform today The BitMEX founding trio was recently fined $30 million for conducting business in the US illegally BitMEX exchange now allows traders to buy and sell crypto assets offered on its newly launched spot trading platform. Prior to today, the exchange did not support spot crypto trading despite being founded more than half a dozen years ago and having spread to over 100 countries. “Today, BitMEX is one step closer to providing our users with a full crypto ecosystem to buy, sell, and trade their favourite digital assets,” CEO Alexander Höpner said. “We will not rest as we aim to deliver more features, more trading pairs, and more ways for our clients to take part in the crypto revolution.” Seven crypto products tr...
