What Are Metaverse NFTs and How Do They Work?

What Are Metaverse NFTs and How Do They Work?

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Crypto wiki, NFTs

What is a metaverse NFT? The metaverse has been one of the most awaited online experiences. Now it is now available for users from all around the world through a simple internet connection. 

Here’s what the metaverse brings and how the metaverse NFT tokens can be used. 

What is metaverse technology?

The metaverse is an immersive virtual world, where users have their own avatar and can interact with each other, share experiences and create places and objects similar to real life. A metaverse is likely to build a completely new ecosystem, a massive-multiplayer online game if you will, with an incorporated economy, that enables users to buy and sell items. 

When was the metaverse first mentioned?

In 1992, the SF novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson was the first published piece to mention the term “metaverse”. In the book, humans could interact with software within a 3D space similar to the real world. 

However, the idea of the metaverse exists since the late 1970s. That’s when the internet pioneers talked about the internet as a place to create a bridge between the real and the digital world.

Why is everyone talking about the metaverse?

The Metaverse and Metaverse NFTs are taking over all industries, including crypto, gaming and social media. It has become one of the most used words in 2021, as more platforms are developing and integrating a metaverse experience for their users. 

When Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook will be rebranding and will be called Meta, he described a virtual world that will enhance and step up our online experiences. 

The metaverse can be experienced through a computer, smartphone or a virtual reality (VR) headset. 

Crypto Metaverse Games and Apps

Since the metaverse requires a safe and transparent technology to incorporate all aspects of a virtual world, including a financial environment, the rise of crypto metaverses has started. A metaverse app can be built on top of a programmable blockchain that supports smart contracts, such as Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Harmony and others. 

A crypto metaverse is all around the economy within the virtual space, which will rely on metaverse NFTs and tokens.

How are crypto metaverse app different from traditional online multiplayer games?

Firstly, the core component of the crypto metaverse apps and NFTs are :

  • Decentralisation. A crypto metaverse is not owned or controlled by a central entity. At least a part of the metaverse is built on the blockchain. Participants can get equity in the metaverse, and the future of the metaverse is in the hands of the users. 
  • User governance. Most crypto metaverses are democratic environments that have a governance token and a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) to enable users to take control of the metaverse and decide on future updates or changes through voting. 
  • Transparent ownership. Crypto metaverses use in-game items, that can be represented through cryptocurrency tokens and metaverse NFTs. Gamers can truly own the assets they buy in a game and anyone can easily check on the blockchain the true owner and value of a metaverse token.
  • Crypto tokens have real-life economic value. Users of a metaverse can easily trade the metaverse NFTs and tokens on DEXs or NFT marketplaces. Some use NFTs for investment purposes while others see them as a means to transfer wealth. 

Several crypto metaverse protocols have been already launched in 2021 and more are announced to be released in the near future. 

Crypto Metaverse Examples

The most popular crypto metaverses apps and are:

  • Decentraland (Ethereum)
  • Cryptovoxels (Ethereum)
  • Axie Infinity (Ethereum)
  • The Sandbox (Ethereum)
  • Alien Worlds ( Ethereum, WAX, and the Binance Smart Chain – BSC)
  • Star Atlas (Solana)
  • Tranquility City (Harmony)

The blockchain network of a crypto metaverse game is one of the most important aspects of the experience, since a congested and hard to scale network may lead to high network fees for transactions and slow speed to confirm and register transactions. 

What is a Metaverse NFT token?

A metaverse non-fungible token (NFT) enables internet users and metaverse participants to truly own the digital assets purchased within the metaverse. 

By owning a metaverse NFT token, the user gets to own a part of the internet and has complete control over it, to trade it, store it and use it. 

A metaverse NFT can by any crypto asset in the metaverse, such as digital objects or land. The ownership of the metaverse NFT is recorded on the blockchain network of that specific metaverse and represents a real value on the decentralised finance (DeFi) market. 

Metaverse NFTs can be traded for digital assets, such as bitcoin (BTC) or ethereum (ETH) on supported NFT marketplaces and decentralised exchanges (DEXs). 

How to Buy Metaverse NFTs

With the great surge in the interest in NFTs and other crypto tokens for the past years, Metaverse NFTs are a great investment opportunity. However, it’s important to check the scarcity of the metaverse NFT that you want to purchase, as well as the brand and community behind it before you make your investment. 

Step 1. Decide on a metaverse

To buy a metaverse NFT you will first need to decide on which metaverse you want to start your digital experience. Some of the most popular crypto metaverses that support NFTs are Decentraland, Star Atlas and Alien Worlds. 

Step 2. Connect your wallet to the metaverse

Metaverse NFTs are traded using a cryptocurrency wallet, such as MetaMask and other wallets supported by WalletConnect. 

Step 3. Explore the metaverse

After you connect your wallet, you will be able to access and experience the metaverse. Users can interact with each other and set a custom avatar for the metaverse.

Step 4. Buy Metaverse NFTs from the marketplace

Metaverses have incorporated NFT marketplaces, where you can buy or sell NFTs, using the crypto metaverse native token. To buy an NFT, you will need to hold the required sum in the wallet you used to connect the metaverse. 

The Metaverse Is Free

Obviously, users can enjoy the metaverse for free, and there’s no requirement to buy a metaverse NFT. 

Now that you know how the metaverse works and how to access the metaverse NFT tokens, we hope you will enjoy this new era of the internet.

Le Matin Dimanche comments on Sorare’s Swiss ban

Le Matin Dimanche comments on Sorare’s Swiss ban

by | Nov 4, 2021 | Blockchain Games

According to the publication Le Matin Dimanche, the football-themed NFT website, Sorare, has been banned in Switzerland.

Here is an excerpt from Rebecca Garcia’s article investigating the recent official forbiddance of the game in Switzerland.

“Buying virtual player cards or footballers with the purpose of creating a customized team: is this a game, or simple speculation? Swiss authorities have leaned towards the latter and have taken the decision to ban Sorare.

The ideas behind fantasy football and Sorare are simple enough. Users are encouraged to purchase cards of football players. If they perform well in real life they accumulate points. You can also attempt to buy the card at a smaller price in the hope that its value will skyrocket in the future and that you can sell it for a profit.

“The users are delighted to try and double their bet in 24 hours. But, they might invest 20 francs and spend a whole day researching this so that they can win 20 more times,” says one blockchain expert. Therefore, there can be a lot of effort involved for not much.

Banned in Switzerland, and soon elsewhere?

Although the platform views itself primarily as being focused on football fans, l’Autorite Internationale de surveillance des jeux d’argent (Gespa) has banned Sorare. The officials have decided that the game encourages financial speculation for which they do not own a valid authorization. This is vital to be able to function legally in Switzerland.

Gespa simply motivated their decision by stating that games of chance, or gambling are prohibited in Switzerland, and therefore Sorare is banned.

One of the market’s leaders, FootballCoin, a similar fantasy football game estimate that over 70% of its users join their game because of an interest in sports. The other 30% are, however, interested in the blockcain technology. Do you absolutely need to know football to be able to play? “No, but it helps,” the game’s representatives state.

Thousands of speculative users play Sorare every month looking to buy more cards. “I’ve made 50.000 to 200.000 dollars a week on Blackpool”, says Max M, one of the managers in this DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) launched in Sorare.

Here it’s not a matter of playing the game well, but making the right financial decisions. “I can redeem my cards and grow my collection.” This user owns a large number of unique cards. Even if a user has the exact same selection in the game, they might be at a disadvantage because of the rarity of the cards.

The unique card of Kylian Mbappe has sold for 54.147,97 Euro. “I was offered five to ten times the price I paid to buy the card, but I wasn’t interested.” And, the card could grow in value from one week to another while new cards are released all the time. A win-win.

Collect them all!

The people that bet on Sorare might take an interest in the football matches so that they can know the performances of the players. In the search for good tips, they may scour the internet to find good statistical data and info that will help them in retrieving the golden nuggets. Among the clubs that sign and register their players, there are those that want their slice of the pie.

“The most important is for it to be an official platform, otherwise it will disappear,” says Crystal Ohad, head of Real Manager. It’s important to consider the long-term perspective when it comes to investing in developing a collection of cards. The official ban of Sorare in Switzerland could end up being a big break on their activities.”

It is important to note that games such as FootballCoin continue to function openly on a global scale, with the game using strictly a fantasy football system that involves, exclusively, the use of skill, unlike Sorare where teams are composed of 5 players a side and the rarity of the cards determines the outcome.

Best NFTs to Invest In: Why FootballCoin NFTs Are the Best Choice

Best NFTs to Invest In: Why FootballCoin NFTs Are the Best Choice

by | Oct 28, 2021 | Blockchain Games, NFTs

What are the best NFTs to invest in right now? With the rise of NFT projects and the wider awareness that the world of blockchain technology has known over the past years, investors are turning their attention towards the transparency of digital assets. 

In this article, you’ll discover the best NFTs tokens to invest in and how you can buy NFT crypto. 

Is Investing in NFTs Worth It?

Now that you’re started to learn about cryptocurrency and digital assets, you know there is an entire ecosystem in the blockchain industry. I’m guessing you’re here because you’ve heard from your friends all about NFTs. 

The internet has been talking relentlessly about NFTs since the beginning of 2021. Some gurus pretend to know everything about NFT investment and that NFTs increased their wealth. After a quick search, you’ve discovered an entire world of digital tokens and assets, and you wonder how can you benefit from it? What are the best NFTs to invest in?

First of all, let’s make sure you understand what an NFT is and how does it work.

What Is an NFT?

By definition, NFT is a Non-Fungible Token. 

Basically, this means that no two tokens are the same nor that they can be interchanged. But what are fungible assets? Bitcoin, for instance, is a fungible token. If you trade one Bitcoin for another, you have the same thing and same value.

NFTs are used to certify ownership of digital assets, and they are registered on a blockchain, which is a public digital ledger that anyone can check. 

For instance, if you sell a Bitcoin today and tomorrow you get a Bitcoin back, you have the same value in Bitcoin, although it might not be the exact same Bitcoin. In the case of NFTs, each token is unique, and can only have a single owner at a moment in time.

An NFT can be anything that can be stored digitally, such as a drawing, a collectable card, a song, a Tweet and more. There are many NFT marketplaces that offer a wide variety of non-fungible tokens, such as OpenSea. 

Investing in NFTs

The NFT movement started as a way to collect digital art. 

Think of it like this. Millions of people over the internet can admire a unique piece of art, but only one person has ownership of it. When it comes to digital art, owning it as an NFT is the only way to ensure you are the true owner of it. 

But today, NFTs are also a means of investment in digital assets, that might increase in price in the future. 

Just like physical assets, An NFT is a digital asset that can be an investment. You can decide to keep it for as long as you like and can opt for a big exit if the right price tag comes along. 

NFTs investments should be done in an industry you are familiar with. 

If you’re an art expert, go for digital art which you might later resell (and support the artist at the same time). Selling NFTs is a huge income stream for some investors, but you should also be aware that values might not fluctuate that much in the future. 

If you’re still yearning after your childhood collectable cards, then go with that. 

Knowing and understanding the ecosystem of that NFT will help you gain a profit from your investment. 

Or you can get lucky, like the person who sold a CryptoKitty collectable card for $172,000.

At the time of writing this article, the most expensive NFT ever sold is Beeple’s First 5000 Days. It was sold on March 11, 2021, by the Christie’s Auction house, for $69.3 million.

How to Invest In NFTs

Although the digital drawing of a kitten seems like an impossible thing to achieve for profit, that was an NFTs trade. And it proved that games with NFTs are a surprising but legit investment.

Many NFT marketplaces offer you the option to buy an NFT, sell or even create them. You can use online marketplaces such as OpenSea or Rarible for buying NFTs and digital art. You can think of NFTs as stocks to buy that may increase in value in the future and generate income when you sell them. 

Gamers and card collectors should look at blockchain games that offer top NFTs to invest in, such as FootballCoin. Buying and selling NFTs can be easily done on the in-game NFT market. 

Why FootballCoin NFTs Are the Best Choice

What Is FootballCoin?

FootballCoin is a fantasy football blockchain game. 

The entire ecosystem is based on the game’s own cryptocurrency, XFC, which can be earned while playing the game for free. If you’re looking for the best cheap crypto to invest in, learn more about the economics of the game and how to get XFC, as the game continues to improve year after year. Regular players earn a monthly income from the game.

But what makes the game stand out is its unique approach to fantasy football, by providing NFTs which can be used in the game, or kept in your wallet as a long term investment. These are the best assets to invest in, in a card collectable blockchain game.

In FootballCoin, a non-fungible token or an NFT comes in the form of collectable cards with football players and stadium cards. All of these are registered on the blockchain and come in limited supply. 

As a fantasy football game, players can use the NFT football cards to join competitions in the game. As a player, you can also create your own competition, if you have a stadium NFT card to play on. 

Note that not all football player cards are NFTs. Less known football players still have a card, but they are free and don’t come in limited supply. Those free cards can be used by anyone to create a fantasy football team in FootballCoin. That’s why the game is free to play. 

More famous players such as Christiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi have an NFT card. Because of that, if you own their card, you can only use it once at a particular moment in time. If you decide to use your NFT in the game, then you can only use Ronaldo or Messi once, in a contest. After the contest is over, the NFT card is available for use again. 

NFTs Generate Daily Income

Fantasy football fans will love the concept of the game, but others might find it too complicated to start investing in NFTs. 

Trying to understand the mechanics of FootballCoin can be overwhelming, but investing in NFTs is not. One of the most undervalued aspects of the game is the NFTs market and the perspective of owning FootballCoin NFT cards as a long investment. 

Even as a complete foreigner to the world of fantasy football, with a little bit of research, you can invest in the right NFTs and earn a daily income by either playing the game or leasing the NFTs. We recommend you can follow their social media for regular tips on how to play the game.

Football Player Cards NFTs

The main two NFTs you can own in FootballCoin are football player cards and stadium cards. 

Football player NFTs have clearly marked as 3, 4 or 5-star cards. These all come in limited supply. Here’s a more detailed explanation of the NFTs distribution in FootballCoin. 

How can NFT football player cards be used in FootballCoin?

FootballCoin’s NFTs can be used to:

  • Participate in daily fantasy contests, 
  • Leased to other players to use them in the contents or 
  • Can be sold. 

If you decide to lease your NFTs, you can set your price in the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC. 

If there is demand for your NFT card, someone will probably lease it and pay you the asked amount. After the contest is over, you get the NFT back in your wallet, and you can repeat the process for each one of your NFTs. 

Unlike participating in the daily fantasy contents, leasing is more advantageous and it can bring you a predictable income. That’s why FootballCoin NFTs are the best NFTs to invest in. 

After you understand what NFT card players are in high demand and play more often, it’s easy. It’s more of a market game than it is a football skill game. That’s where your real-world knowledge about European football will help you devise investment strategies for buying and selling NFTs. 

Football player NFTs can be bought from other players, using the in-game market, or directly from the game, in packages of 3, 4 or 5 NFTs. 

Given the real-life performance of a given player, the corresponding FootballCoin NFT can experience a significant increase in value over time. 

Stadium Cards NFTs

Stadium cards in FootballCoin are the second type of NFTs available for investment. While these are more pricey than the others, stadium NFTs allow you to organize private contests in the game. 

The owner of the stadium gets a share of the total value of the prize, as follows:

  • 3-Star stadium NFT rewards you with 3% of the total prize
  • 4-Star stadium NFT rewards you with 4% of the total prize
  • 5-Star stadium NFT rewards you with 5% of the total prize

Stadium NFTs also come in limited supply and can be bought and traded. 

Transaction fees

FootballCoin does not have any transaction fees on the platform. 

Trading football players and stadium NFTs can be done easily from the market section of the game. 

Note that all NFTs can be owned indefinitely, without paying any fees in the game. However, FootballCoin NFTs can only be traded in the game, using the market section. 

Trading the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC, on third-party crypto exchanges can be subject to transaction fees. 

Are NFTs the right investment?

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a secure way to ensure ownership over a digital asset. Especially digital art collectors see NFT investments as a good investment. Owning an NFT creates value for the item. Physical art can also be tokenised and this process can help eliminate duplicates, while also determining the clear owner of that piece of art.

Best Way to Earn free Cryptocurrency and Free NFTs

Best Way to Earn free Cryptocurrency and Free NFTs

by | Oct 28, 2021 | Cryptocurrency, NFTs

What is the best way to earn free cryptocurrency and free NFTs? We’ve all heard of airdrops and signup bonuses, as a way to earn cryptocurrency, but none of these methods gives you a significant amount of crypto to actually do something with it. 

After some in-depth research of the current ways to earn free crypto, we can recommend a platform that doesn’t require any initial investment. 

How to earn free cryptocurrency and free NFTs? Continue reading to discover how you, too, can make a monthly income from crypto and start earning. 

Old Strategy to Earn Free Crypto 

Giving away free crypto as a reward for performing an action has been one of the main drivers for adoption at the beginning of the crypto era. 

Some of these methods are still used today, and anyone can use them to get free crypto. What are the old strategies you can still use to earn crypto and bitcoin rewards?

Crypto Giveaways

Just like traditional giveaways, crypto companies will sometimes organise a giveaway for their users to create awareness around their coin. 

Most of these crypto giveaways will have specific rules to follow that may differ from one giveaway to another and in return, participants may earn cryptocurrency. 

An example would be when an exchange when it lists a new coin on its platform. 

That’s when they need more users and publicity to spike up the volume. By organising a giveaway, they ask users to share the news on social media, follow them on their socials, and sign up for a new account. 

The prizes are incredibly enticing for new crypto enthusiasts, but the competition is also high. 

Beware of the many giveaway scams on social media. Most of these scams require participants to send a specific amount of crypto to a given address. Don’t do it. You’ll lose your crypto. 

Crypto Coins Airdrops

Usually, new cryptocurrency projects perform airdrops. 

They give their cryptocurrency to new users in exchange for a small task, such as a share on social media. 

Airdrops allow people to obtain free crypto and to become investors while the company gets free publicity and creates awareness around its product. Airdrops may also help users start learning about crypto and their project. 

Signup Bonus

Platforms such as Coinbase and eToro are offering signup bonuses in crypto for new users. 

The bonus is often received after a specific condition has been fulfilled, such as taking a quiz about a new cryptocurrency or deposing a specific amount of cash in your exchange wallet. 

Note that some platforms ask for ID verification, and then they report back to the fiscal entities. 

Crypto Stacking

Stacking is a way to support the security and operations of a blockchain by locking your funds in for some time and receiving rewards for it. Staking is one of the safest ways to generate a passive income from your crypto funds.  It is much safer than crypto trading, although the rewards may be smaller. 

Some platforms allow users to stack crypto directly from their crypto wallets, such as Trust Wallet. Exchanges also offer the option to stake your tokens by keeping the coins in the exchange wallet. PancakeSwap is famous for this practice.

Users who participate in staking contribute to the consensus mechanism of the blockchain by facilitating the Proof of Stake (PoS). 

Unlike the Proof of Work used by Bitcoin’s blockchain, the PoS algorithm randomly chooses one of the staking participants to validate the next block.

Earn Xfc for Free Using Your Football Knowledge

Earning free crypto is awesome, but you need to signup to many different platforms to collect all the small bonuses.  

What all of the ways mentioned above to get free cryptocurrency have in common is that you only get the bonus once, and after that, you need to trade or perform other actions that require you to spend money. 

In this case, what’s the best way to get free cryptocurrency for an indefinite time?

We found a platform that rewards users with free cryptocurrency for staying active, and it doesn’t require you to spend any money. 

It’s a fantasy football game on blockchain called FootballCoin. 

Yes, you will need to know a thing or two about football, but you might get lucky anyway. 

The win the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC, you need to create a valuable football squad. 

Unlike real life, fantasy football gets really fun when choosing the lucky combination of 11 players.  

What Is Fantasy Football?

The players from real football games all have collectable football cards in the game. According to their real-life performance, they get a score in the fantasy football game. 

In FootballCoin, more points equal a higher chance of winning XFC prizes in the daily fantasy football contests. 

That’s why you need to be intentional when choosing your team in fantasy football. The better the players play in real life, the better for your fantasy football team. 

Daily Contest in Footballcoin

FootballCoin organises daily contests for the main European football leagues and tournaments. It also features the North American MLS league and the Chinese league CSL. 

Contests in FootballCoin reflect the games played in real life. 

FootballCoin players are called managers. The managers can choose the football players in their fantasy football team based on those playing in real life, in those particular football games.

The contests are free to join and have substantial prices in the game’s cryptocurrency, XFC. 

The game’s mechanics also allow users to create their own contests, for which they can charge a participation fee. These are called private contests and are fun to play within a group of friends passionate about football. 

Play for Free and Win Crypto

One of the best ways to earn bitcoin and free cryptocurrency is by joining a free blockchain game. What sets apart FootballCoin from other blockchain games is the free-to-play feature. 

It’s free to set up an account. And it is free to play. There are free daily contests that anyone can join to win real crypto. 

The free daily contests in FootballCoin are tournaments. There are two kinds of tournaments. The Double Up tournaments reward the first half of the ranking managers. The Top 30% tournaments reward the top 30% of managers. 

After a contest is finished and all, the rankings are calculated according to the scoring system. The players from the contest are rewarded automatically with XFC, depending on their rank in the contest. 

The free cryptocurrency is deposited automatically in your FootballCoin wallet, and you are free to use it however you want. 

You can choose to invest in the game, get more NFT digital assets in the game, or you can simply send it to one of the crypto exchanges that accept XFC and trade it. 

How to Get Free NFTS

By now, most crypto enthusiasts have been talking about and investing in non-fungible tokens and some big names in the industry have talked about acquiring NFT collections. 

It’s important to note that FootballCoin supports non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In fact, its market for football player cards is actually an NFT marketplace. 

NFT marketplaces are where the cards can be traded. In the FootballCoin market, the game’s users are able to freely buy, sell and lease non-fungible tokens and grow their NFT collections. 

Furthermore, the player card tokens can be easily exchanged for another card, for a small fee. In this way, the game guarantees that users will always have cards that can be used in the game. 

Assuming you start right now playing FootballCoin with a new account, you will get free crypto if you join the free daily contests. According to your real football knowledge, you will be able to create better fantasy football teams for free. 

These teams that perform well will allow you to get the game’s crypto, XFC. You can later use that crypto to buy the game’s NFTs. 

In FootballCoin, there are two different kinds of NFTs. 

You can get football player NFT cards, which are usually for more famous players, such as Christiano Ronaldo. Having these cards will eventually help you rank better in the tournaments and earn even more XFC. 

The other kind of NFT is the stadium card. These can be used to create your private contest, and you can earn a passive income from the fees that managers pay to join your contest. 

By definition, NFTs come in limited supply and are often called collectable cards in the game.

While NFTs are a good way to store value and generate more income in FootballCoin, they are not required to play. However, it’s nice to know that you can buy them if you perform well in the free contests without investing your money. 

No Investment Required

FootballCoin doesn’t require any investment to play or to win in the game. 

Unlike the famous mobile games that are pay-to-win, which sell worthless assets, in FootballCoin, you own everything you collect and win. 

The game has many different assets that might help you advance and earn even more crypto, but no investment is required. 

Most players start with nothing, and after a few months, are able to trade or sell their assets for a profit. 

It’s important to point out that regular players get a monthly income from the game without an initial investment. 

Manchester City celebrates Premier League Win with NFT edition

Manchester City celebrates Premier League Win with NFT edition

by | May 21, 2021 | News

Manchester City Football Club will launch a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to honor their victory in the English Premier League.

NFTs will appear on the MakersPlace platform on May 24 – the day after the trophy is presented to the team. Part of the proceeds from the sale of non-fungible tokens by Manchester City will go to charity. 

The collection, designed in collaboration with artist John Nordlander, contains four works. One of them – The Champions Medal – can be received by the club’s fans for free by taking part in the drawing.

NFT’s gain more and more popularity among Football fans. 

From the popular FootballCoin game where you can Collect, Trade or Lease Player cards from all major leagues to the NFT release from Brazilian footballer Pele that took place in May on the Ethernity Chain platform.

In June, Bayern Munich player Alfonso Davies will present a collection of non-interchangeable tokens on the Binance platform.

Bitcoin will rise to $ 500,000 – according to Catherine Wood Ark Investment CEO

Bitcoin will rise to $ 500,000 – according to Catherine Wood Ark Investment CEO

by | May 21, 2021 | News

Ark Investment CEO Catherine Wood expects Bitcoin to rise to $ 500,000 despite the latest price swings this week. 

Catherine Wood has once again expressed her opinion about bitcoin. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, the founder of Ark Investment Management said that bitcoin is now “sold out”, and even during yesterday’s fall, the cryptocurrency may not have reached a minimum yet. 

She describes the current market as emotional and says the bottom is difficult to predict. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has almost completely won back yesterday’s losses. 

During the interview, Wood expressed her opinion on Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s comments on the environmental issues posed by bitcoin miners. The use of solar energy in the mining industry is about to skyrocket, she said. 

Wood also noted that prospects for Bitcoin ETF approvals in the US this year have been boosted by the recent fall in prices. 

“Now that we’ve gone through this correction, the odds are better,” she said. 

Last month, Catherine Wood said that Bitcoin could become the new gold standard as it can increase purchasing power. She also believes that bitcoin will continue to grow and the first trillion in cryptocurrency capitalization is just the first step. 

Earlier, Catherine Wood also warned BTC holders in the United States against converting crypto assets into fiat currency pending tax changes.

China creates another blockchain national hub in Yunnan and Alibaba joins it

China creates another blockchain national hub in Yunnan and Alibaba joins it

by | Mar 17, 2020 | News

China has opened a new blockchain centre in Yunnan province. This new centre aims to allow companies to trace their products and fight the sale of fake ones. China hopes this centre will become a new technology hotspot.

The blockchain centre in Yunnan was opened on Sunday, March 15.

The centre is hosted in Wuhua Technology Industrial Park in Kunming, the capital city of the Yunnan province, which is considered a remote and a less-developed province in China.

Quite a few blockchain companies will operate from the new technology centre, including a platform which will trace consumer products and food using blockchain. This is the first provincial platform of this sort.

By opening this new facility in Yunnan, the authorities hope to boost the adoption of blockchain in the region and that Yunnan will become a national hub for technology.

Some of the most known companies that occupy the new technology centre in Yunnan include the e-commerce giant Alibaba, Hyperchain and the blockchain-as-a-service provider Uni-Ledger. Currently, there are a total of 24 companies that occupy the centre.

To aid the tracing and sourcing locally produced goods, a new protocol was set in place, called the “Peacock Code,” in which companies and providers participate.

The name of the “Peacock Code,” comes from the idea of the local ethnic communities which believe that the peacock is sacred. The Yunnan region is among the largest producers of agricultural products in China. Their main products are tobacco, tea, sugar and coffee.

But the blockchain platform can be be used for other functions as well (medical records management, legal evidence management, e-invoicing and supply chain financing) as they are used in other Chinese major cities.

Also, there was also set in place a blockchain alliance, which included 38 members (research institutions, educational groups and companies) that are not present in the region.

The movement towards blockchain adoption started in 2019, by the government, when they introduced the first blockchain-based invoice system, in the province, for touristic attractions.

The entire world is taking notice of China’s efforts to pursue the blockchain adoption as a mainstream technology and this could lead to China being a leader in this sector.

Last year, the president of China himself urged the adoption of the blockchain technology in the country, arguing its abilities to reduce costs to business processes.

How is the Federal Reserve Bank of NY affecting the crypto market

How is the Federal Reserve Bank of NY affecting the crypto market

by | Mar 16, 2020 | News

The coronavirus outbreak is affecting all areas of our lives and a financial crisis seems to be knocking at our door. On March 12, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced the offering of $1.5 trillion in loans to banks. These short-term loans are meant to “address highly unusual disruptions in Treasury financing markets associated with the coronavirus outbreak”.

The distribution of the sum has been divided into weekly batches.

On the same day of the New York Fed’s announcement to inject money into the bond market in their attempt to stabilize it, the Dow Jones industrial average index (the stock market index that measures the stock performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States) went down by 10%.

The New York Fed also announced that it will buy $60 billion worth of Treasury bonds over the next month, starting with March 13. The problems reported by investors over the past week reminded the Fed about the 2008 financial crisis and that’s why it has decided to act so quickly.

What happened to the crypto market after WHO declared the Coronavirus pandemic

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic, after considering over 120 000 cases of infection and over 110 countries affected by the spread of the virus.

According to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general:

“This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector,”

“So every sector and every individual must be involved in the fights.”

One day later, on March 12, the price of Bitcoin lost over $1,000 in value in under 30 minutes and the depreciation continued to values comparable to last year’s prices.

Bitcoin, the most known cryptocurrency lost 50% of its value in a matter of hours, and at some point dipped under the $4,000 benchmark.

By March 13, Bitcoin had recovered some of the lost value, and it was trading at almost $6,000.

Following the March 12 plunge, Bitcoin continued to lose value over the weekend, and the sudden increase in volatility made some analysts reconsider if Bitcoin is or ever was a safe-haven asset.

Other top cryptocurrencies have seen major value losses during the same time.

Is crypto in a bear market?

The stock and crypto markets are in a bear market after the response of the US Federal Reserve to the Coronavirus crisis to diminish interest rates to near zero. The crypto market registered a brief fall after this announcement on Friday, March 15.

Anthony Pompliano, the founder of Morgan Creek, told Decrypt:

“I don’t make calls on short term price movements, but I generally think the Fed’s actions are (a) going to be proven to be ineffective and (b) are bullish for Bitcoin long term,”

This was the second initiative of the Fed to aid confidence in the financial markets.

On Sunday, the Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, stated during a conference:

“We will maintain the rate at this level until we’re confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve our maximum employment and price stability goals,”

Blockchain to aid the Coronavirus crisis

Timothy Mackey, an adjunct professor at the UC San Diego, has added blockchain solutions to teach on his global health policy course, which has the coronavirus crisis at the core.

The goal is to point out the faulty points in supply chains to health officials and to identify which hospitals from around the world are prepared to treat patients.

Others are trying to profit off the coronavirus crisis publicity and have issued Coronacoin, which destroys coins every 48 hours, based on the number of new global infection cases and deaths.

What are the crypto enthusiasts responding to the Coronavirus crisis

How is coronavirus affecting the cryptocurrency markets

How is coronavirus affecting the cryptocurrency markets

by | Mar 12, 2020 | News

The recently declared coronavirus pandemic has triggered massive sell-offs of stocks and cryptocurrency, and some turned back to considering gold a safe-haven.

There are many concerns regarding the global economy and with the announcement of shutting down the economy of Italy, other governments are starting to think about future measures to stop spreading the virus.

As of March 12, 109 countries have reported the spread of the infection and massive travel cancellations have been announced. Europe is facing a fast widespread and many business interruptions.

Stock and commercial markets might be facing a halting period, and Bitcoin’s market cap has shrunk by $50 billion in the curse of the last month, since the 12th of February, when only 28 countries were infected by the Coronavirus.

According to Coindesk, some analysts are questioning whether Bitcoin can be a safe haven from financial panic and to be treated similar to gold. The price of Bitcoin is under $7,400, the lowest in the last 2 months.

But it is worth to bear in mind that bitcoin was created after the last global financial crisis in 2008 and survived for over a decade.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a billionaire investor, told CNBC that believes that Bitcoin is not correlated to any other assets, such as stocks or bonds. He urges other investors to put 1% of their assets into Bitcoin.

“I don’t think when you wake up and see a coronavirus scare and the Dow down 2,000, you should not be going in and buying bitcoin. That is an idiotic strategy,” Palihapitiya said. “I think a reasonable strategy is to say 1% of my net worth should be in something completely uncorrelated to the world and how the world works. You quietly over some period of time accumulate a position and then just never look at it again and hope that that insurance under the mattress never has to come due. But, if it does, it will protect you.”

The Approach of Big Companies to Quarantine

Tech companies form a wide range of industries that are dependent on China have been affected by the Coronavirus situation and try to adopt uniform decisions as a strategy to fight off the spreading of the virus.

Major companies have instructed their employees to work from home following the recommendations of global heald organizations.

Coinbase, for instance, has laid out the plan on how the company will act in various scenarios if the number of cases of Coronavirus rises in the vicinity of their offices. The Japan office is one most at risk.

Having plans for future possible scenarios for ensuring a low-stress environment might be critical for businesses to keep cryptocurrency available and open for the world to trade them.

The Remote World of Cryptocurrency 

Many blockchain startups form China have been forced for limiting the spreading of the Coronavirus. Some of these measured included work from home, and taking the in-person conference to the online.

The decentralized nature of the technology is an advantage to the blockchain industry as a whole because developers can build new projects without having any physical contact with an office.

With all the madness going on, an entrepreneur decided to take advantage of the free publicity and to issue CoronaCoin. The coin’s total supply is based on the world’s population and tokens are burnt every 48 hours, based on the number of those who have died or have been infected.

“Some people speculate a large portion of the supply will be burned due to the spread of the virus, so they invest,” Sunny Kemp, a user who identified himself as one of the developers, said in a chat on messaging app Telegram.

The main question of how to keep the economy afloat remains, as the coronavirus threatens to infest the entire world. Traditional stock markets have been severely hit by the overall panic, but the crypto market is still high, although there has been registered a drop.

Regardless of the evolution of the cryptocurrency market, the aim of cryptocurrency is to thrive, even through hard times, and it is not depended on its price. The most important thing is to keep the economy alive and that will allow the community to adopt its beliefs in a crypto future.

Nike, Kohl’s & Macy want to gather data from their supply chain and run experimental Blockchain

Nike, Kohl’s & Macy want to gather data from their supply chain and run experimental Blockchain

by | Mar 10, 2020 | News

Auburn University RFID Lab in Alabama has published a whitepaper which aims to demonstrate the improvement of the supply chain using the blockchain technology.

Yes, supply chains are chaos and, at least at a theoretical level, blockchain can sort things out.

The structure of this Proof-of-Concept is to enclose, encrypt, disburse and save data from several points across the supply chain on Hyperledger Fabric.

The experimental blockchain has saved data from brands such as Nike, Herman Kay, Kohl’s and Macy’s.

This pilot program is part of CHIP (Chain Integration Pilot) which is the first supply chain program to integrate item-level data streams into a blockchain.

A number of 223,036 products were saved on the blockchain; only 1% was from stores and 87% were from distribution centres. 12% originated from the place of encryption.

According to CHIP, blockchain is a solution for serialized data-sharing issues within the supply chain. The report states that the organizations were “able to record transactions containing serialized data in a common language and share that data with their appropriate trade partners.”

The same report states to be “a tremendous amount of error and inefficiency in currency supply systems,” and that using blockchain will help further eliminate counterfeit products. This will help businesses regain up to $181 billion.

To face the truth, the technology used today in most of the supply chains, were developed before the internet era and are not suited to process the huge volume of data they are facing today.

There is a lack of “an effective, industry-wide solution for exchanging serialized data between business partners,” in spite of the launch of serialized data through the use of QR codes and RFID tags ten years before. Additionally, the report contends that earlier approaches to merge framework and draw info en masse’ throughout the supply chain have been “constrained by the industry-wide ineptitude for sharing serialized data.”