crypto blog
City-building startup Praxis secures $15M in Series A Funding
Peter Thiel-backed city-building startup Praxis has raised $15 million in Series A funding from a variety of crypto venture firms led by Paradigm Capital, Sam Bankman-Fried‘s Alameda Research and Three Arrows Capital. Dryden Brown of New York University and Charlie Callinan of Boston College co-founded Praxis, formerly Bluebook Cities, in 2019. they described their goal as: “building the city-crypto state to realize a more vital future,” according to the company website. Praxis wants to pivot away from “artificially scarce metaverses” to build a city-state that is organized around “shared values,” rather than the “labor market principles of the Industrial Age.” The cryptocurrency-run city will reportedly focus heavily on functional architecture and environmental technology. Money made from...
The Sandbox Metaverse hits 2M users, begins K-Pop partnership
The Sandbox metaverse game owned by NFT investment giant Animoca Brands has surpassed 2 million registered users amid its play-to-earn season 2 alpha launch. The crypto game backed by NFTs and its native SAND token has been in the works for roughly four years, and the latest preview into the game comes just a couple of months after its long-awaited season 1 alpha launch in late November. Season 2 officially went live earlier today and any user is able to freely explore 35 different virtual experiences including a sneak peek of the “Snoopverse” in partnership with popular rapper and new-found NFT proponent Snoop Dogg. There are 200 quests that players can complete to earn a chance of getting an Alpha Pass NFT, which will reward the owners up to 1,000 SAND worth roughly $3,000 at current pri...
Bitcoin returns to test $40K as macro factors pile up to squash BTC bulls
Bitcoin (BTC) bended to new macro pressures on March 4 after bulls failed to hold $42,000 for long. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Europe stocks sink on Friday open Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching lows of $40,800 on Bitstamp Friday after a major options expiry event. Overnight performance, initially showing a recovery, had been stymied by worries over a nuclear power plant fire in Ukraine. Stocks futures fell on the news, the severity of which was subsequently questioned. In Germany, the DAX index hit a one-year low on the daily open, with the S&P 500 yet to commence trading. “From recent high, index has lost 17%, way more than S&P 500,” markets commentator Holger Zschaepitz noted. “Investors are turning ...
Bitcoin mining difficulty drops for the first time this year
For the first time since November 2021, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty adjustment has dropped, correcting 1.49%. The move follows a succession of six consecutive positive difficulty adjustments, in which the mining difficulty and hash rate hit all-time highs. The average hash rate over the past two weeks fell to 197.19 exahashes per second (EH/s), making the average block time exceed the 10-minute target at 10 minutes 9 seconds. As a result of the difficulty adjustment, miners competing to solve the next valid block found it marginally easier. Bitcoin mining difficulty marginally dropping after an 8 month climb. Source: Glassnode The difficulty adjustment is one of the Bitcoin protocol’s most prominent features. Every two weeks or 2,016 confirmed blocks, the difficulty for mining a ne...
Bitcoin and Ether prices dip as crypto market turns red ahead of the weekend
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Top 25 Most Influential Women In Crypto
Soon it will be International Women’s Day. A good time to reflect on how their representation in the crypto world and fintech is doing. Spoiler: we’re not quite there yet. One detail that often immediately stands out in the crypto world is the fact that it consists almost exclusively of men. It’s a hard truth, but cryptocurrency is and remains a man’s world in 2022. Does this mean there are no women in the cryptocurrency industry? CoinText set out to find the top 25 most influential women in the industry. 1. Cathie Wood Cathie Wood is best known as the Chief Executive & Investment Officer at the American investment house Ark Invest. As an ETF manager, Wood is jointly responsible for buying and selling shares within the ETFs of Ark Invest. She leads the development of ARK’s philosophy a...
75% of investors in emerging markets want more crypto: survey
A recent survey has revealed that a whopping 75% of investors in Asia-Pacific and Latin American emerging markets are looking to increase their exposure to cryptocurrency investments. Researchers from consumer sentiments firm Toluna surveyed 9,000 people from 17 countries to complete the report released in February which found that more investors in APAC and LATAM emerging markets believe cryptocurrency investments are on a long-term upward trend. This is contrasted with developed markets that tend to believe crypto is in the midst of another hype cycle. Emerging markets appear to be the most lucrative markets for growth in the cryptocurrency industry as 32% of consumers surveyed have trust in cryptocurrency compared to just 14% in developed markets such as the U.S. and E.U. The data sugge...
NFT infrastructure startup Rarify raises $10M from Pantera Capital
NFT infrastructure startup Rarify has raised $10 million in Series A funding from Pantera Capital at a valuation of $100 million. The backing from Pantera Capital appears significant as the company is one of the top venture capital firms in crypto. One of Rarify’s primary offerings is an NFT-commerce-focused application programming interface (APIs) that enables firms to launch and integrate user-friendly marketplaces in their platforms. The API also allows minting and porting NFTs between different blockchains. Speaking with Forbes on March 3, Rarify co-founder Revas Tsivtsivadze stated that the company aims to simplify NFT buying and selling similarly to “how Square made it super easy to accept payments.” Tsivtsivadze highlighted the check-out process of marketplaces such as OpenSea, whic...
Russian crypto volume across major exchanges plunges by 50%
Data from blockchain-analysis firms show that Russian denominated crypto purchasing and trading on major exchanges have faltered, debunking theories that the country will pivot to digital assets to circumvent sanctions. When Bitcoin rallied over 15% last week, some industry experts attributed the surge to Russians buying cryptocurrency in the face of increasing economic sanctions. This theory seems to be proved false, however, as data from Chainalysis showed that ruble-denominated crypto trading volume was just $34.1 million on March 3, around half of a recent peak of $70.7 million a week ago on Feb. 24. Speaking on the matter of sanctions-fueled crypto purchasing to Bloomberg, Citigroup analyst Alexander Saunders said, “Russian volumes have been relatively small so far, suggesting t...
New York Bitcoin mining moratorium bill garners more support
A New York State proposal to suspend fossil fuel-powered proof-of-work mining for three years across the state has gained support from two more Assembly members. Members Amy Paulin and Ken Zebrowski have thrown their names in along with 43 other cosponsors for bill A7389B. In addition to the three-year suspension of mining at former fossil fuel power plants, the bill would require the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to assess the state’s crypto mining industry. The assessment would determine the impact on water and air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. @annakelles is touting a build of of support in the assembly for her proposed bitcoin mining moratorium bill, where it stalled due to the union opposition. pic.twitter.com/YoRaN8r0sK — Jimmy Jordan (@jmmy...
US SEC is probing possible violations in NFT offerings
The SEC is particularly interested in fractional NFTs The regulator has, over the last few months, reportedly demanded information on the matter from certain entities Enjoying a breakout onto the scene in 2021, the NFT sector grew to become a $40 billion market. However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has taken note of the digital collectables and is now exploring whether they have been used in ways that violate securities laws. According to a recently published report by Bloomberg, the Commission has initiated a probe into whether NFT offerings are securities in the last few months. The news outlet said that the SEC has been sending subpoenas to creators behind some NFTs and crypto exchanges to provide information on the said product offerings. Bloomberg, citing people fa...
Ukraine DAO raises over $6M via NFT sale to aid Ukrainian citizens
UkraineDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization created by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova, Trippy Labs and PleasrDAO members, crowdfunded 2188 ETH, or $6.1 million, for a 1/1 Ukrainian flag NFT. Proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations in Ukraine that are helping those affected by the Russian invasion. The NFT sale was hosted as a PartyBid auction, allowing people to pool resources and bid collectively for fractionalized ownership of the digital Ukrainian flag. Contributors will receive ERC-20 tokens in the form of LOVE tokens depending on the donation amount. At the time of writing, the NFT has not been fractionalized and the funds have not yet been distributed. 1- $LOVE TLDR (and thread) ✅ Funds (over $6M / 2100ETH) safu in the ukrainedao.eth multisig...
