Crypto news
Visa launches immersion program to help creators build their business with NFTs
Visa announced the official launch of the Visa Creator Program, a one-year product strategy and mentorship program for entrepreneurs working in art, music, fashion and film who seek to accelerate their small business through nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. According to Visa, the goal of the Creator Program is to bring together a global cohort of digital creators and empower them via education of blockchain technology and NFT commerce. Originally announced in October, 2021, the program’s first Visa Creator is Micah Johnson, creator of the Aku World NFT community. Johnson is a former professional baseball player who retired after multiple injuries to become a visual artist in 2018. The NFT character Aku is a young Black astronaut who has grown to ink his own film...
Omnichain developer LayerZero Labs raises $135M
On Wednesday, LayerZero Labs, a firm that develops protocol to enable omnichain decentralized applications, or dApps, to span multiple blockchains, announced that it raised $135 million in its latest funding round. The deal values LayerZero Labs at $1 billion and will accelerate the development of its namesake protocol. The round was led by notable venture groups and investors such as Sequoia Capital, FTX Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and with participation from Coinbase Ventures, PayPal Ventures, Tiger Global, Uniswap Labs, and more. It aims to unite applications such as gaming, nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, marketplaces, media apps, etc., so they are operable across multi-chain realms. Potential new use cases via LayerZero include: decentralized finance applications utilizing trading, bo...
DeFi sector TVL rises as investors return to a bullish crypto market
The month of March has been a tale of two halves for the cryptocurrency market and the weakness seen since the start of the year has began to fade. Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong move above the $40,000 level is helping to lift sentiment across the sector, and DeFi tokens are also beginning to move upward. Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me Data from cryptocurrency market intelligence firm Messari shows that a majority of the top tokens in the DeFi sector have posted double-digit gains over the past 30 days, led by THORChain (RUNE), which has increased by 199.81%, and Aave (AAVE), which has seen its price increase 53.95% Top 12 DeFi assets. Source: Messari Here’s a rundown of the state of DeFi as the sector attempts to get back to its former glory and kickstart a new ...
Ted Cruz introduces companion to Emmer’s bill to exclude Fed retail CBDC digital currency issue
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced companion legislation into the U.S. Senate on Wednesday for Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer’s bill prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currency, or CBDC, directly to individuals, Emmer announced. Emmer introduced the House bill Jan. 18. Fellow Republican Cruz’ legislation could potentially speed up passage or rejection of the bill by allowing it to be considered in both chambers of Congress at the same time. Emmer, co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, motivated his bill by concern a retail CBDC that forced consumers to open accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank could “be used as a surveillance tool that Americans should never tolerate from their own government,” according to the lawmaker. Emmer said in January, “Requi...
Greenpeace and Ripple CEO call for bitcoin code change due to energy consumption
Chris Larsen, founder of Ripple, has found an ally with Greenpeace to attack bitcoin. He wants bitcoin to move away from proof of work mining and become more energy efficient. To this end, they have started the “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign with various climate activists. The campaign will buy ads in several magazines over the next month. Greenpeace, the Environmental Working Group and some local activist groups rely on their millions of members to share the message. Change the Code, Not the Climate Michael Brune is leading the campaign, and he says they have already had success with “Change the Code, Not the Climate.” “We are in this long-term campaign, but we hope, especially since Bitcoin is now funded by entities and individuals who care about climate change, that we can ...
Greenpeace and Ripple CEO call for bitcoin code change due to energy consumption
Chris Larsen, founder of Ripple, has found an ally with Greenpeace to attack bitcoin. He wants bitcoin to move away from proof of work mining and become more energy efficient. To this end, they have started the “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign with various climate activists. The campaign will buy ads in several magazines over the next month. Greenpeace, the Environmental Working Group and some local activist groups rely on their millions of members to share the message. Change the Code, Not the Climate Michael Brune is leading the campaign, and he says they have already had success with “Change the Code, Not the Climate.” “We are in this long-term campaign, but we hope, especially since Bitcoin is now funded by entities and individuals who care about climate change, that we can ...
Dogecoin co-founder believes DOGE is best suited as a digital currency
Dogecoin creator Billy Markus on Monday said that Dogecoin ought to exploit its advantages as a digital currency Markus also defended the Dogecoin project, saying it doesn’t belong in the ‘shit token’ category Through a series of tweets posted on Monday, Dogecoin creator Bill Markus shared his view on the future of the ecosystem’s native coin, DOGE. Popularly known on Twitter and in the crypto space as Shibetoshi Nakamoto, Markus was one of the influential people behind Dgecoin. Though he is no longer associated with the project presently, he suggested that by marketing itself as a currency, albeit virtual, DOGE could differentiate itself from thousands of digital speculation and utility tokens in the market. In his opinion, the coin is well-suited to be used as an ...
Dogecoin co-founder believes DOGE is best suited as a digital currency
Dogecoin creator Billy Markus on Monday said that Dogecoin ought to exploit its advantages as a digital currency Markus also defended the Dogecoin project, saying it doesn’t belong in the ‘shit token’ category Through a series of tweets posted on Monday, Dogecoin creator Bill Markus shared his view on the future of the ecosystem’s native coin, DOGE. Popularly known on Twitter and in the crypto space as Shibetoshi Nakamoto, Markus was one of the influential people behind Dgecoin. Though he is no longer associated with the project presently, he suggested that by marketing itself as a currency, albeit virtual, DOGE could differentiate itself from thousands of digital speculation and utility tokens in the market. In his opinion, the coin is well-suited to be used as an ...
Is China’s apprehension to ban NFTs a hopeful sign for investors?
It’s no secret that China has a clear disdain for all things crypto, as was highlighted last year when the country decided to ban its digital asset industry in its entirety. That said, one niche related to the crypto industry that has continued to thrive in the region despite the ban is its nonfungible token (NFT) market. However, with certain negative developments coming to the forefront recently, this may not be the case much longer. In this regard, many local social media platforms and internet firms have continued to update their policies so as to restrict and, in some cases, remove NFT platforms altogether from their networks, claiming a lack of regulatory clarity but, more importantly, fearing a government clampdown on their day-to-day operations. For example, WeChat, a Chinese insta...
Bitcoin sentiment hits ‘greed’ in 2022 first amid calls for $45K BTC price pullback
Bitcoin (BTC) sentiment is seeing its first significant test of the rally to year-to-date highs as bullish gains dry up. The start of Wall Street trading on March 30 failed to induce a fresh advance on BTC/USD, which threatened to lose support at $47,000. From “extreme fear” to “greed” in one week After gaining nearly 30% since March 14, Bitcoin has managed to cling to its yearly opening price as support, this previously marking the resistance ceiling of its trading range for throughout 2022. Now, however, hopes of a retracement appear to be coming true, as momentum shows signs of — at least temporary — fatigue. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured the turnaround overnight on March 30, with $48,000 currently the level proving stubborn fo...
UK financial watchdog extends registration deadline for some crypto firms
The Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, has extended the temporary registration status of some firms offering crypto services beyond its Friday deadline. In a Tuesday statement, the FCA said “a small number of firms” in the crypto space will continue to have temporary registration status in the United Kingdom “where it is strictly necessary.” The financial regulator reiterated that temporarily exempting the crypto firms from its previously announced Friday deadline “does not mean that the FCA has assessed them as fit and proper” but included situations in which a company “may be pursuing an appeal” or was still in the process of winding down operations. “Only firms that are registered with us or on our list of firms with temporary registration can continu...
Why the rise of a Bitcoin standard could deter war-making
Alex Gladstein, the CSO at the Human Rights Foundation, says that if Bitcoin was adopted as a global reserve currency, nation-states would be less incentivized to start wars. According to Gladstein, the U.S. was able to sustain its “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan mainly by borrowing capital. That was possible largely because of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, which has been keeping interest rates relatively low through quantitative easing. “We literally print money, we sell bonds to the open market for a promise to pay in the future and we use the income from the bond sales to pay for these wars.”, explained Gladstein in a latest interview with Cointelegraph. Unlike fiat currency, Bitcoin’s total supply is immutable. That ...
