Walken Runner, the first game of the Walken ecosystem, will be released in October.
The game, which will include CAthlete NFTs, will require completing a long track and defeating the boss to reach the finish line.
Top players will be rewarded weekly with $WLKN tokens.
Walken, the mobile game project using the play-and-exercise-to-earn concept, is preparing to launch the first game of the ecosystem. The Walken Runner, which will be released in early October 2022, will both offer players different experiences with different modes and include CAThletes. Walken Runner is the first game of the large ecosystem that continues to develop rapidly.
Walken will release more hyper-casual games in the coming months that will allow Web2 users to transition easily to Web3. By diversifying the ecosystem, the developer team is working with all its might to create a sustainable gaming platform that gamers can access on mobile and attract new developers to the platform.
How to Play Walken Runner
The Walken Runner will highlight athletes within the ecosystem and showcase their athletic skills and pave the way for them to win rewards. Encouraging to create a more active and healthier lifestyle, Walken offers this through competitive, fun, and rewarding methods. The game is basically based on the logic of a CAThlete running, collecting bonuses and power-ups, and overcoming obstacles to increase its avatar’s power. Reaching the end of the track, CAthlete encounters a boss. All the adventure in the game is enhanced thanks to the character development and progression mechanics.
Leaders will be determined by player activities tracked throughout the weekly changing seasons. Each player gets a place on the leaderboard based on the score they earn in-game. Top Walken Runner players are rewarded with WLKN tokens through the Walken App. In the future, players’ leaderboard scores will also include their activities across the entire Walken ecosystem.
Based on Walken Runner’s statistics and community feedback, the dev team will continue to work to create a new ecosystem and bring more value to all Walken users.
Alexei Kulevets, CEO of Walken, adds:
“We are proud of the current traction of the Walken project and inspired to move on and push the limits. The Walken Runner is our first bold experiment aimed at providing additional value and fun to the community and also expanding token utility. It has all the potential to go viral and be a great addition to the main gameplay.”
More About Walken
Walken is an application that can be used on mobile devices, supports an active lifestyle with the move-to-earn concept, and rewards players with WLKN tokens and NFTs. With the application developed by the team behind GetFit Apps and Appyfurious applications, a mechanism for rewarding active players was created by basing the blockchain games on physical activities.
You can keep up to date with the latest updates about the project by browsing Walken.io, or you can also follow the Walken team on Twitter.
After months in the making, the Aptos Mainnet went live yesterday
The Aptos team revealed the project’s tokenomics, detailing how 1 billion APT tokens will be distributed among the community, core team, and other network participants
Major exchanges have revealed they will be listing Aptos tomorrow
After months of testnet activity and millions in investments, Aptos mainnet goes live
Aptos Labs, a company consisting of former Meta’s Diem stablecoin employees, launched the Aptos mainnet on October 17. The Aptos team has stated on Twitter that everything went as expected on the first day.
Day one update: Today has been exciting. Thank you for all the support!
The Aptos network has been performing as expected and will see increased activity as ecosystem projects onboard and get going.
However, several social media users voiced their concerns over the poor performance of the Aptos blockchain, which was at one time clearing just 4 transactions per second (TPS), compared to the 160,000 TPS the network was supposed to handle. It is worth noting that with the mainnet being so young, there is currently little activity on the network, so the real test of the transactional throughput will come in the coming weeks and months.
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain using Move programming language and advanced dApp development tools to facilitate the high throughput required by NFT and DeFi products and services. The Aptos team managed to raise $350 million in funding in 2022 from a number of prominent investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and FTX Ventures.
Aptos tokenomics: 1 billion APT initial supply
The Aptos team has published a post detailing APT tokenomics. According to the post, the initial token supply of APT at the time of the mainnet’s launch was 1 billion. Aptos’ supply will increase over time, and is projected to reach 1.5 billion APT tokens by 2031 due to the issuance of staking rewards.
Aptos’ 10-year token supply projection. Image source: Aptos Foundation
Out of the initial token supply, 51% was reserved for the community, 19% for core contributors, 16.5% for Aptos Foundation, and roughly 13.5% for investors.
It is worth noting that a large portion of Aptos’ token supply is locked in staking pools, with tokens slated to be unlocked over time on a predetermined release schedule.
Binance, Coinbase, and FTX to list Aptos
Following yesterday’s mainnet launch, several major cryptocurrency exchanges have announced they will be listing Aptos trading pairs in the coming days.
Binance, Coinbase, and FTX have announced they will list Aptos (APT), the network’s native governance and utility token, on October 19, at 1:00 UTC.
In addition to the trio of crypto giants, Huobi, OKX, and Bitfinex have also announced they will be listing APT trading pairs.
Accra, Ghana to host the 6th Edition Connected Banking
The West African financial sector has been witnessing a wave of digital innovation that has fuelled services and applications that had the potential to really shake up the banking sector. Banks, Fintechs, and financial institutions have been harnessing digital solutions designed to serve touchless and remote banking, which has unlocked opportunities for the millions of digitally connected diaspora that remains formally unbanked but economically active.
Central Banks in the region have been implementing policies to meet next-gen requirements of the evolved banking customer, this by analysing the challenges and successes of regions that have championed financial inclusion. The sector has also been adopting automated banking systems, advanced mobile money platforms, tailored credit and digitized lending facilities, and crypto-currencies for this promising market.
With this as a driver The International Center for Strategic Alliances (ICSA), organizers of the Leading Banking summit Connected Banking 2022- (Formerly Africa’s Digital Banking Summit). is all set to go live with the 6th Edition Connected Banking West Africa, which is themed as “Accelerating Financial Inclusion Through Digital Adoption”.
The Two-day Summit will witness inputs by leaders and experts from the Banking Industry. The Summit goes live, on the 15th and 16th of November 2022 in Accra, Ghana with a concurrent virtual stream with almost 350+ delegates in attendance.
The Summit will witness insights and inputs from leaders like Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari from Bank of Ghana; Abena Osei-Poku from Absa Bank; Victor Yaw Asante from FBN Bank Ghana; Ndungu Thairu from Consolidated Bank of Ghana; Adesola Adeduntan from First Bank of Nigeria and many more who will touch upon key areas like Crafting a Cashless/Cash-lite Economy; Digital Wallets and Digital Lending; Security – An all pervasive model; The Digital Only Model – Trend and Challenges; Synergies Between traditional FIs and Telecoms.
The Connected Banking 2022 historically has been bringing together the best minds from leading institutions to engage in an open, constructive dialogue with peers, industry subject matter experts and policy czars, and this year promises to be even better and bigger. Connected Banking will offer latest and actionable insights, networking opportunities, a chance to learn from the best in the business, and get ahead of the competition.
About ICSA
International Centre for Strategic Alliances is a group of leading industry professionals and innovators. Our core actions comprise of innovations and use case scenarios of industry leaders, by our research and from leading information sources for businesses and professionals all over the world.
With the $4.2 million funding from the leading Web3 investment firm IOSG Ventures, Hexens will expand horizontally by increasing its top-notch cybersecurity service coverage and vertically by developing products that aim to impact the field on ecosystem grade.
Backed By the Biggest
Besides IOSG Ventures, Delta Blockchain Fund, Chapter One, Hash Capital, ImToken Ventures, Tenzor Capital, and angels from Polygon and other blockchain projects participated in the seed funding of this cybersecurity boutique and blockchain startup.
“$2B lost in crypto hacks only in 2022 shows the importance of thorough cybersecurity practices and the high demand for first-class cybersecurity services,” said Queenie Wu, the partner at IOSG Ventures, shared their reasons for funding Hexens.
“The team’s expertise in ZK technology positions them well to ensure the next wave of industry innovations. Moreover, products being built by Hexens have the potential to become a standard toolkit for each developer and security researcher in the blockchain space,” she added.
Delta Blockchain Fund highlighted that Hexens brings high-quality cybersecurity services to a new level:
“The need for full-stack Web3 security measurements, as the industry grows, should be a top priority. Hexens is not only an audit service company but also innovates in building security standards for the industry, bringing security products to the market. Not only will this enhance safer testing environments for developers, but also provide greater observability of the code.”
People Behind Hexens
Sipan Vardanyan and Vahe Karapetyan, the founders of Hexens, understand that Web3 is the future of technologies, and target its mass adoption. After a decade in Web2 classical cybersecurity services, the founders pursue their goal of implementing new security standards in the field by focusing on blockchain technologies.
Vahe, the CTO of Hexens shares:
“Most of our auditors and security engineers have a scientific background in cryptography, computer science, or math, together with previous, let’s call it, Web2 security experience. Considering our recruitment approach and Hexens’ philosophy, it often happens that we refuse to audit simple ERC20 tokens or other projects like that: the more complex the project the more attractive and interesting it is for us.”
The Hexens team has expertise in both on-chain analysis, as well as off-chain techniques that allow the firm to tackle the most challenging and technically complex tasks, including but not limited to: Infrastructure Audits, Zero Knowledge Proofs / Novel Cryptography, DeFi, NFT.
About Hexens
While Hexens can be considered a newcomer in the blockchain security arena, the immense experience of its team enables them to see the needs of the premature blockchain market. In a just year they cooperated with Mudit Gupta – CISO of the biggest EVM Ecosystem – Polygon Technology, who now joined the company advisory board.
Today, Hexens provides several cybersecurity services to the decentralized industry, ranging from advisory during the developmental stage to securing existing services. The team has not only been able to identify cyber criminals but also helped in recovering digital assets worth of $13 million this year alone, returning these back to their owners.
Hexens strives to have its first market-wide and standardized product rolled out in late 2023, bringing a new chapter in blockchain security.
There are various ways of approaching crypto investments. Some investors prefer to buy digital assets in hopes of their value increasing over time, which is commonly referred to as the Buy and Hold strategy. Others, engage in derivatives trading and are trying to make profitable traders both during positive and negative market movements.
Both spot and derivatives trading requires users to manually manage their digital assets. What’s more, the profits are not realized until the physical asset or contracts are sold.
What if we told you that there is another way to make money with crypto? One that allows you to earn passive income on your existing assets at that? If you are intrigued and want to learn more about how to earn interest by staking crypto assets and increasing your crypto savings, read our overview of Binance Simple Earn.
Binance Simple Earn is a one-stop investment solution that allows crypto investors to earn daily rewards generated by their existing crypto assets. The service aims to streamline the process of generating passive income with crypto, and provides users the ability to utilize both locked and flexible products.
Simple Earn users can subscribe to various products, supporting different digital currencies and durations.
The Simple Earn platform was launched in September 2022, unifying Flexible Savings, Locked Savings, and Locked Staking products, under a single umbrella. As a part of the Binance Earn platform, Simple Earn provides users with another venue to turn their idle crypto assets into profit-generating investment vehicles.
For existing Locked Savings users, the move means that their positions will be automatically transitioned to relevant Simple Earn Locked Products upon the expiration of their subscription. The rewards accrued and subscription management is still accessible through the Earn wallet.
How does Binance Simple Earn work?
Binance pays interest rates on crypto deposited in Simple Earn products. The deposited crypto is used for liquidity-providing services and for supporting the operation of underlying blockchain mechanisms, such as the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus. In return, Simple Earn users earn profit distributed via Binance interests.
Binance Simple Earn products vary in terms of their duration periods, which cryptocurrency their support, and expected annual percentage rate (APR).
In total, there are more than 300 Simple Earn products Binance users can choose from as of October 17, 2022. The selection includes options for staking Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and virtually every other well-known crypto asset.
How much can I expect to earn with Simple Earn?
The profitability of different Simple Earn plans depends on the cryptocurrency used and the subscription’s duration. As a rule of thumb, longer locked periods net bigger returns that shorter plans.
To illustrate this point further, let’s look at the following example.
Suppose you want to deposit Solana. If you were to choose the flexible duration product, which allows you to withdraw assets at any time without forfeiting daily rewards, you would earn 1.5% APR. In addition, the Solana product features a tiered APR, meaning that every coin above the 20 SOL limit would generate 0.2% APR.
On the other hand, if you would commit to a 120-day locked subscription, you can expect to earn 16.9% APR. Moreover, there is no tiered structure when using the locked option, making it that much more lucrative.
It is worth noting that in some cases, the APR doesn’t increase in a linear fashion, meaning that shorter locked terms can sometimes offer a higher APR than longer ones.
Binance uses the following formula to calculate daily rewards:
Rewards = Your Deposited Assets × APR/365
What is the difference between Flexible and Locked Simple Earn products?
The main difference between Simple Earn products is in their duration. Here’s a brief overview of the differences between flexible-term Simple Earn products and their locked-term counterparts:
Flexible-term products
Locked-term products
Rewards distribution
initial rewards are deposited in the Spot account on the third day; after that daily
initial rewards are deposited in the Spot account on the third day; after that daily
Asset redemption
at any time
after the locked period ends
Yield expectations
low to moderate
moderate to high
How to subscribe to a Simple Earn product?
If you want to take advantage of the Simple Earn offering, simply search for the coin you wish to earn Binance interest rates on from the dashboard. After that, click on the [Subscribe] button, which is displayed next to every product.
Subscribing to a BNB Simple Earn product with a 120-day duration.
From here, you can select the duration period of your order, choose the amount of cryptocurrency you would like to deposit, and see an estimated APR.
If you want to automatically resubscribe to the product after it expires, you can choose to turn on the Auto-Subscribe toggle. After you’ve entered all the parameters of your order, and agreed to Binance Simple Earn’s terms and conditions, you can initiate your plan by clicking [Confirm].
When are rewards distributed?
The first distribution of crypto rewards to a Spot wallet account occurs on the third day after you subscribe to a product, usually between 0:00 UTC to 08:00 UTC. Keep in mind that you’ll lose all rewards you have accrued if you choose to redeem deposited crypto before the locked period ends. The rewards will be deducted from the asset you deposited, when you withdraw them.
Closing thoughts
Binance’s Savings offering has been streamlined thanks to the newly-launched Simple Earn, which combines Flexible Savings, Locked Savings, and Locked Staking products into a single crypto savings solution. If you are looking to generate passive income with your idle crypto assets, then Binance Simple Earn could be the perfect choice for you.
Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain that aims to be more scalable, fast, and secure compared to its competitors
Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure provider that provides RPC to 19 PoS blockchains, including BSC, Avalanche, Polygon, and Solana
The mainnet of the Aptos blockchain, which has reached 160,000 TPS on the testnet, will be released in the coming weeks
Ankr provides dApp developers with developer tools such as Web3 Gaming SDK, Liquid Staking SDK and AppChains
Ankr, one of the leading Web3 infrastructure providers in the blockchain industry, became one of the first RPC (Remote Procedure Call) providers for Aptos, a scalable and secure Layer-1 blockchain. Thanks to Ankr’s RPC services, developers will be able to access the Aptos Testnet Community and Premium RPCs to make request calls and run an Aptos full node on their own.
This collaboration will enable blockchain developers to build scalable, secure and upgradeable decentralized applications on the Aptos network. Ankr, which provides RPC to many blockchains including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Avalanche and Solana, will now serve 19 different blockchains. RPC enables various applications to interact with the blockchain.
Aptos mainnet has not been released yet. Once the mainnet is released, Ankr will provide Web3 developers with features, additional documentation, and tools to help them streamline creation.
Aptos, which will bring scalability advantages and new technologies to the Web3 world, is eagerly awaited by many developers.
Aptos testnet TPS
More than 160,000 transactions per second (TPS) were performed on the Aptos testnet, thanks to upgrades such as the parallel execution engine Block-STM. That’s about 2.5 times faster than Solana (65,000 TPS), currently the highest TPS network.
The Ankr network, on the other hand, serves an average of 8 billion blockchain requests per day on more than 50 networks. Extending Aptos’ overall RPC resources, Ankr offers a proven high-performance RPC node infrastructure to handle any request load.
Ankr’s Aptos Testnet RPC connects command line interfaces, wallets and dApps to the Aptos blockchain. Aptos nodes act as a blockchain router or messenger, transferring on-chain information between dApps and users.
The geographically distributed decentralized Aptos RPC provided by Ankr ensures reliable connections and low latency. Now developers in the community can make their first call to Aptos using Ankr’s RPC service. The endpoint https://rpc.ankr.com/http/aptos_testnet/v1 can be used to call the Aptos chain using standard EVM JSON RPC methods.
Josh Neuroth, Head of Product at Ankr, said:
“Ankr is excited to be an early supporter of Aptos with an RPC that now makes it easy for all developers to start building on the ecosystem. This is just the beginning of Ankr’s products for the blockchain that will doubtlessly attract more demand ahead of the much-anticipated mainnet launch.”
More about Ankr
Ankr is an RPC aggregator and node distribution system serving over 50 PoS blockchains. Advancing the decentralized Web3 infrastructure technology, Ankr serves more than 2 trillion Web3 transactions per year. As of today, Ankr is the leading infrastructure provider for BSC, Fantom and Polygon chains. Ankr provides developer tools such as Web3 Gaming SDK, Liquid Staking SDK and AppChains to enable dApp developers to build Web3 applications in a simpler way.
More about Aptos
Aptos is a scalable and secure Layer-1 blockchain developed by the team behind Facebook’s Diem project. Getting ready to launch its mainnet in the coming weeks, Aptos is backed by Coinbase Ventures, FTX Ventures, Paypal Ventures, Binance Labs, and other leading investors.
Aptos, which aims to be a more scalable, fast and secure blockchain than rival Layer-1 blockchains thanks to its advanced programming language called Move, has solved many security and performance problems found in competing protocols.
Binance Pool has launched a $500 million lending program for Bitcoin miners
The company will charge between 5% and 10% interest rates for loans that will be collateralized with physical or digital securities
The move comes at a time when Bitcoin mining difficulty is at its ATH, leading to slim margins for miners
Binance’s mining subsidiary launches a $500 million lending fund
Binance crypto exchange announced on Friday the launch of a new financing program designed to support the Bitcoin mining industry via medium-term loans. Binance Pool, the exchange’s mining subsidiary, will reportedly make $500 million available for eligible borrowers.
According to a blog post, interested parties will have the option to decide between 18 and 24-month loan terms. Interest rates will vary between 5% and 10%, while borrowers will have to offer security, either physical or digital assets, as collateral.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the eligibility criteria for borrowers entail Binance VIP status and the requirement to “connect at least 500 PH/s to the Binance Pool for a minimum of 24 months after the loan is issued.”
In addition to the lending program, Binance Pool is reportedly also intending to launch cloud mining products. The company said they are currently looking for cloud mining vendors that are open for collaboration.
Profit margins get slimmer as BTC mining difficulty reaches an all-time high
Due to the rising cost of electricity and the poor market performance of Bitcoin this year, the mining profits have gotten very slim. Add to that the all-time high BTC mining difficulty, and we have the recipe for a very competitive and cutthroat environment.
Bitcoin mining difficulty over time: Image source: BTC.com
For context, an online Bitcoin mining calculator shows that using a popular and one of the most capable Bitcoin mining machines, Bitmain’s Antminer S19 XP, nets about $2 in daily profits if we take a $0.10 per kWh electricity rate as an example. Keep in mind that the Antminer costs almost $18,000.
PIP.me has launched version “2.0” which lets users create a personalized eWeb3 page
Anyone can use the native PIP Button to integrate crypto and blockchain payments without any coding knowledge
Solana-based transactions are currently supported on PIP.me (SOL, USDC, PIP, SERUM, etc.)
The PIP provides users services such as managing their payments, placing their NFTs, and streamlining their social media accounts with its newly released version 2.0. In this way, it hopes to alter people’s perceptions and introduce new ways of interacting with the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The PIP.me offers its users a customizable eWeb3 page service. PIP.me supports BNB Chain, the industry’s leading blockchain, and eliminates the complexity of cryptocurrency payments and the need to remember wallet addresses. Moreover, it allows users to customize every component of the page without having any web design knowledge or paying any fees.
PIP’s CEO, Jeff Baek, highlighted the service’s core functionality in a statement:
“PIP.ME connects online identity with crypto payments so that anyone can interact financially with people across the globe, fostering a global micropayment economy.”
PIP.me Platform Overview
After a successful rollout of the platform’s first iteration, the PIP.me team began focusing on the improvements ahead. PIP.me 2.0 extends the platform’s native functionality by adding the following features:
Simplified payment points supporting mobile and desktop devices
Payment service with flexible options
Ability to view personal links and social media accounts
Including individual NFT assets or collections sourced directly from major NFT exchanges such as Opensea, Looksrare, and Magic Eden.
Another advantage of PIP.me 2.0 is the ability to directly transfer links from other websites. Switching from the Linktree platform to PIP.me takes only a few clicks.
PIP considers itself a supporter of the decentralized creator economy. Without any coding knowledge, anyone can use the native PIP Button to integrate crypto and blockchain payments. The button works with all websites and platforms, including Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace.
The PIP Button will gradually announce other supported blockchain networks. At the moment, the service supports Solana-based transactions in SOL, USDC, PIP, SRM, and more.
AllianceBlock creates innovative infrastructures to enable interoperability between the TradFi and DeFi industries
INATBA is an association that works on creating blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations through the Government Advisory Body
AllianceBlock’s membership in INATBA means that the company will have a say in determining the legal regulations pertaining to DeFi
AllianceBlock has joined the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) to comply with the law by interacting with policymakers and regulators. This development marks a new milestone for AllianceBlock’s vision to take blockchain technology to the next level.
What is INATBA?
INATBA was launched in 2019 in partnership with the European Commission and is the largest association in its category in Europe. Representing a broad cross-section of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries, the association of 140 SMEs, international organizations, regulators and policymakers have a critical role in giving a collective voice to industry actors.
Dialogue with international organizations and lawmakers through the Government Advisory Body, which includes members such as the Government of Canada, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Israel National Digital Agency, the association is working on issues such as bringing additional clarity to key terms in the Market for Crypto Assets Market Regulation, which the EU continues to prepare.
INATBA’s work includes much more than regulatory issues. The Association is also active in many other key R&D areas spanning the industry, such as CBDCs, self-sovereign digital identities, and blockchain sustainability. Among these studies, there are studies such as increasing efficiency by using blockchain in agriculture and the supply chain. INATBA also hosts a variety of regular learning and networking events.
INATBA members are divided into four business categories based on their size, and non-profit organizations are assigned a fifth category. In each category, two participants are selected to join the Board of Directors. Members include household firms such as Fujitsu and L’Oréal, blockchain industry pioneers such as Coinbase, Binance, and Aave, and TradFi institutions such as Deutsche Börse.
What Is the Importance of This Collaboration for AllianceBlock
By joining the ecosystem of crypto advocates, AllianceBlock aims to ensure that other crypto and blockchain projects can safely benefit from AllianceBlock’s DeFi solutions package. Aiming to connect with all companies that plan to use blockchain technology and applications, AllianceBlock will play a role in a collective effort to shape policy and lawmaking around crypto assets as part of INATBA.
Regulation is inevitable for the crypto market, so being a member of INATBA, which operates in the sphere of legal regulations considering crypto compliance, means that AllianceBlock has a say in the field of regulatory-compliant DeFi.
Matthijs De Vries, CTO and Co-Founder of AllianceBlock, said:
“AllianceBlock has always strived to help improve the industry as a whole and would rather work with like-minded people and policymakers than against, but always keeping compromises to a minimum to preserve decentralized ideologies. This partnership is a real opportunity to solve meaningful and impactful issues in the industry and to connect with a strong network of experts that share the same goals.”
Ricardo Simões, Executive Director of INATBA, said, “INATBA is excited to have AllianceBlock as a member and looks to support their mission to create a stable, compliant channel for traditional financial players to access decentralized markets, especially in the DeFi sphere, as we accelerate the positive adoption of blockchain solutions, transparent, inclusive governance, and ongoing constructive dialogue with authorities and regulators.”
About the AllianceBlock ecosystem
AllianceBlock provides solutions to problems in the two areas to build seamless gateways between DeFi and TradFi. Striving to increase capital flows, the future of finance, and technological innovation, the project has created an integrated system where the best of both industries can work together.
Aiming to increase interoperability by bridging traditional finance to decentralized finance projects with compatible and data-driven access to ecosystem tools, AllianceBlock is building the financial systems of the future powered by the platform’s native ALBT token.
AllianceBlock is building a next-generation financial infrastructure that will provide regulated financial institutions worldwide with the tools they need to seamlessly access DeFi space. You can follow AllianceBlock updates and news on Twitter and other social media channels.
