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  • Mexico Billionaire Salinas Pliego Wants His Bank To Start Accepting Bitcoin

    Mexico Billionaire Salinas Pliego Wants His Bank To Start Accepting Bitcoin

    What started as a peer-to-peer payment system has grown to become one of the most rewarding investments of this time. Even though Bitcoin is currently going through a troubling period in the bearish zone, this has not stopped more parties from pushing for its adoption. One of them is Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who has mentioned that his bank is looking to kickstart the adoption of Bitcoin by financial entities in the country.

    Salinas’ Banco Azteca is considering adopting Bitcoin

    In the statement taken from his Twitter page, Pliego mentioned that with the growth rate in the adoption of Bitcoin, his bank is already looking for ways to become the first-ever to accept the digital asset across the country. The third richest man in Mexico owns the bank and some other investments in the country, which are under the Grupo Salinas company. If  Banco Azteca begins to accept the digital asset, it would join a growing list of financial institutions across the world that have started to engage with digital assets. 

    According to a recent statement by the bank, it presently boasts about 16 million savings accounts and credit accounts to a tune of 19 million.

    Giving his statement as a response to a question posed by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Salinas mentioned that he would recommend that anybody adopt and use the digital asset.

    Michael Saylor previously tweeted a video where Salinas said that first currencies are a fraud while promoting digital assets like Bitcoin. In the video, Salinas mentioned that any investor should have Bitcoin in their portfolio.

    Going further, Salinas bashed Dogecoin while mentioning that the coin and others were shitcoins. Salinas previously stated that Bitcoin represented about 10% of his liquid portfolio.

  • FCA Warns Traders Against Trading With Unregistered Crypto Platforms

    FCA Warns Traders Against Trading With Unregistered Crypto Platforms

    The Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom has issued out a memo warning traders against carrying out trading activities with over 100 cryptocurrency companies. According to the FCA, the companies mentioned have not undergone the required testing and have not registered as licensed service providers in the country. This recent news is coming off the back of the Ontario Securities Commission calling out Bybit and other cryptocurrency exchanges for failing to register their exchanges.

    The FCA says more than 100 platforms are unregistered

    According to the FCA, they previously rolled out a list of guidelines that crypto exchanges and companies operating in crypto-related activities should follow. In the released guidelines on January 10, the FCA pointed out that it mandated the crypto firms to follow the anti-money laundering and CFT laws. 

    Furthermore, the agency noted that it also ordered the companies in the region to register with the FCA. At this moment, a considerable part of the population has failed to register with them. In a statement by the head of enforcement of the FCA, Mark Steward, he posited that crypto entities that are yet to be regulated put their users and business partners under risk.

    The FCA is worried about FOMO

    Steward also noted that they had compiled a list of the companies that are yet to be registered, and investors and traders can check and be sure before using the platforms. This shows that the FCA, in light of the growing numbers of cryptocurrency investors across the United Kingdom, wants to ensure that they are closely monitoring the industry’s activities. 

    In a recent survey carried out by the agency, about 2.3 million residents of the United Kingdom now hold at least one form of crypto. Also, the survey showed that the proportion of people who are well versed or familiar with digital assets is gradually taking a downturn. Steward also mentioned that the fear of missing out is one factor driving most of the population in the country towards adopting digital assets. 

    The United Kingdom government has taken a subtle approach to regulate crypto across the country after it recently announced the banning of cryptocurrency derivatives in January. 

  • VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAUNCH FIRST SERIES OF COLLECTIBLE NFTs FEATURING UNIQUE VGK-THEMED DESIGNS AND PREMIUM REDEEMABLES

    VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAUNCH FIRST SERIES OF COLLECTIBLE NFTs FEATURING UNIQUE VGK-THEMED DESIGNS AND PREMIUM REDEEMABLES

    Vegas, Nevada, 1st July, 2021,

     VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAUNCH FIRST SERIES OF COLLECTIBLE NFTs FEATURING UNIQUE VGK-THEMED DESIGNS AND PREMIUM REDEEMABLES

    Seven one-of-one digital collectibles will be available via auction starting Thursday, July 1 at 9 am PT on Crypto.com/NFT

     Vegas Golden Knights Chief Marketing Officer Brian Killingsworth announced today, July 1, that the team has launched their first series of collectible NFTs (non-fungible tokens). There is a limited run of only eight VGK NFTs in the inaugural batch, seven of which will be featured on Crypto.com/NFT in an auction based format for a limited time of only 48 hours, starting on July 1 at 9 a.m. PT. These seven NFTs up for auction will have premium physical redeemables tied to them as well. 

    In addition to the highly exclusive, one-of-a-kind seven VGK NFTs up for auction, the team will also be issuing 1,500 digital-only versions of their “Gold Drip” coin collectible. These will be sold for $50 each and will be available for purchase for a limited 72 hours.

    Descriptions of the NFT concepts and artwork can be found below. Minted by the Golden Knights on the Crypto.org Chain, each NFT is a digital collectible containing a unique serial number that guarantees scarcity and protects ownership on the blockchain. Crypto.com/NFT is a carefully curated platform for collecting and trading non-fungible tokens by creators, celebrities and brands from the worlds of sports, entertainment, art and design. Established in March 2021, Crypto.com/NFT is powered by Crypto.com — which serves over 10 million customers with the world’s fastest growing crypto app, the Crypto.com Visa Card, the Crypto.com Exchange and the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet. 

    “The Golden Knights are one of the most exciting franchises in NHL history, both on and off the ice,” said Crypto.com Executive Vice President and Global Head of NFT Joe Conyers III. “The thought and care they’ve put into this inaugural drop — not just with the artwork itself, but with so many amazing redeemables — is a testament to how dedicated their organization is to its fanbase. Hockey fans and NFT collectors alike will be thrilled; from a chrome gold team-issued helmet to a VIP package that includes a tour of the T-Mobile Arena, a Zamboni ride and the opportunity to watch pregame warm-ups from the penalty box at a Golden Knights game, these are really some first-class experiences.”

    “We are always exploring new, innovative ways to engage our fans,” said Vegas Golden Knights Chief Marketing Officer Brian Killingsworth. “We view NFTs as an emerging space that has generated significant interest and momentum in recent months. We hope Golden Knights fans and collectors alike appreciate the creativity and meaning behind our designs, as well as the unique redeemables associated with the winning bids. We look forward to our upcoming launch on July 1.”

    NFT Descriptions Available for Auction

    Name: Shoot Your Shot

    Artwork Summary: Pucks laid out on a black ice surface with the VGK branded gold puck standing out from the rest of the group

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: Full set of warmup pucks from the 2020-21 season AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon home game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Vegas Baby

    Artwork Summary: Vegas Born wordmark above the Las Vegas Strip

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: VIP Game Day Experience at a mutually agreed upon home game. Includes: behind the scenes tour of T-Mobile Arena, Zamboni ride, opportunity to watch warmups from the penalty box and two tickets to the game

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Hielo Hielo Bebé

    Artwork Summary: Inspired by the iconic sugar skulls associated with the Mexican Día de Muertos celebration, this NFT ties subtle hockey elements into its traditional floral design. 

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: 2020-21 Latino Heritage team-issued jersey AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon home game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Sevens

    Artwork Summary: Animated slot machine landing on sevens with Golden Knights coins pouring out.

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: 777 Treasure Chest from the VGK Gold Jersey unveil AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon VGK game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Chrome Dome

    Artwork Summary: First ever chrome gold helmet worn in the NHL with the number 21 signifying the 2020-21 season.

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: Gold team-issued helmet from the 2020-21 season AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon VGK game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Swag Sweater

    Artwork Summary: First alternate jersey in team history with the motivational quote “Always Advance, Never Retreat” emblazoned on the collar.

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: Gold team-issued jersey from the 2020-21 season AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon VGK game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    Name: Red Light Special

    Artwork Summary: The Vegas Golden Knights popular red alternate jersey featuring the traditional secondary logo (swords and stars) as the primary. 

    Quantity: 1 of 1

    Redeemable: Red alternate team-issued jersey from the 2020-21 season AND two tickets to a mutually agreed upon VGK game in the 2021-22 season

    Available: Via auction on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT

    NFT Available for Purchase

    Name: The Gold Drip Collection

    Artwork Summary: The only item in the collection available for purchase, as opposed to auction, the design for the Gold Drip coin was inspired by medieval treasure and features a quatrefoil — which were often used in medieval and gothic architecture. An ancient symbol for good luck, using the quatrefoil is also a subtle nod to 2020–21 being the team’s fourth season in Las Vegas. Also included on the coin are 16 Vegas stars across the front and back, symbolizing the 16 wins needed to win The Stanley Cup.

    Quantity: 1,500

    Available: For  purchase on Crypto.com/NFT beginning Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m. PT 

    ABOUT THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 

    The Vegas Golden Knights are a National Hockey League franchise owned and operated by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment LLC. The Vegas Golden Knights were established by founding partners William Foley and his family and the Maloof family. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights visit vegasgoldenknights.com. Fans can follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. 

    #07/01/21#

    Contacts

    Director, Communications

    • Sage Sammons
    • Vegas Golden Knights
    • ssamons@vegasgoldenknights.com
  • Decentralized liquidity underwriter KUU partners with BENQI to scale DeFi on Avalanche

    Decentralized liquidity underwriter KUU partners with BENQI to scale DeFi on Avalanche

    New York, USA, 1st July, 2021,

    Avalanche-based lending and borrowing protocol BENQI,  and KUU, a decentralized liquidity underwriter for the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem, have announced a partnership to support BENQI’s on-chain liquidations. Additionally, KUU will be putting its under-utilized assets into BENQI to receive yield and maximize profitability.

    KUU provides reinforcing liquidity by offering flash loans using pooled liquidity on the protocol. Its name is derived from “Kuutar,” who is the Goddess of the moon in Finnish mythology.

    The decentralized liquidity underwriter allows on-chain keepers to efficiently capture on-chain profits and arbitrage opportunities through lending and borrowing market liquidations. 

    In the event of a market-wide flash crash, BENQI would require a large amount of capital to liquidate the under-collateralized loans. Instant access to KUU’s liquidity pools via flash loans will ensure the maintenance of liquidations, strengthening the BENQI protocol’s safety and market efficiency. 

    “We are very excited for our partnership with BENQI, and believe that together we can help accelerate DeFi activity on Avalanche. There will be a flash-loan fee for accessing the KUU liquidity pool, the majority of which will be directed towards the liquidity providers and the KUU Treasury. Further, through KUU’s own internal bot, contributors to the KUU liquidity pool are able to take part in on-chain activities without running their own infrastructure, lowering the barrier of entry.” said KUU co-founder Tommy Ngo.

    About KUU 

    KUU is a decentralized protocol designed to provide reinforcing liquidity to on-chain keepers to maximize on-chain profit through liquidations, DEX arbitrage and other on-chain opportunities. As a communal pool, KUU enables users to pool capital into smart contracts to collectively profit from on-chain arbitrage and liquidation opportunities. Capital staked in these pools is used to extract on-chain profit opportunities presented by any DeFi protocol on Avalanche.

    About BENQI

    Built on Avalanche’s highly scalable network, BENQI is an algorithmic lending and borrowing protocol. Through BENQI, Avalanche users will be able to earn interest on their assets, obtain credit through over-collateralized loans and earn QI governance tokens as rewards for providing liquidity on the protocol and Pangolin. For more information about BENQI, please visit: benqi.fi 

    Contacts
    • Dan Mgbor
    • info@benqi.fi
  • Community Gaming Receives $2.3M in Seed Funding, Led by CoinFund, to Build Automated Esports Tournaments

    Community Gaming Receives $2.3M in Seed Funding, Led by CoinFund, to Build Automated Esports Tournaments

    New York, NY, 1st July, 2021,

    New York, NY, July 1, 2021 — Community Gaming, a gaming startup working to automate the organization and payouts of esports tournaments, today announced the completion of a seed round for $2.3 million, led by the blockchain-focused investment firm, CoinFund and major crypto ecosystem players, including Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, Multicoin Capital, 1kx, Warburg Serres, and Hashed. Venture funds and angels from the gaming scene also contributed, including Kevin Durant’s and Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, Marc Pincus’s WorkPlay Ventures, Play Ventures, WhaleShark, and GenG Esports and Rally Network founder Kevin Chou. The seed investment follows an earlier pre-seed investment by ConsenSys.

    Community Gaming is a platform that delivers a seamless tournament experience using cutting edge blockchain technology for the distribution of rewards. The inspiration for the project comes from the experience of its founders hosting LAN tournaments in New York City since 2017. Across 200 events, the team saw firsthand the challenges in producing grassroots gaming tournaments stemming from lagging payment methods and convoluted tournament software. CommunityGaming.io was born to address these pain points and launched in late 2019.

    Community Gaming provides a web app for registration, tournament bracket management, and player payments facilitated by distributed ledger technology. Credit card integration facilitates fiat-to-crypto onboarding with the entire experience designed to be as seamless and beginner-friendly as possible. Tournament organizers can create a tournament in less than 5 minutes by first connecting an existing MetaMask wallet, or alternatively, generating a new non-custodial wallet with a single click. 

    Organizers can then designate the tournament format, along with rules and payout methods; the platform automatically manages the bracket for them. Likewise, participants can create their CommunityGaming.io account, connect or generate a new self-managed wallet, and join one of the active tournaments. Currently, tournaments can be deployed on the Ethereum mainnet, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon with fees as low as 1/50 of a penny. Payouts are immediately and automatically sent to the winners’ connected wallets at the conclusion of the tournament.

    The investment round will help Community Gaming expand its presence into Latin America and South East Asia as the first comprehensive blockchain-enabled payment solution in the gaming space.

    The platform’s eventual rewards program will enable highly engaged users to increase their earnings potential by completing weekly quests. The recent investment will also allow for rapid development of this rewards program as well as more complex smart contracts for league play.

    “We are excited to have obtained support from major players in both the blockchain and gaming industries as we seek to bring web3 payment technology to millions of gamers worldwide and help accelerate the shift towards Play2Earn gaming ecosystems.” said Chris Gonsalves, CEO of Community Gaming.

    “Community Gaming has created a valuable platform for esports that enables the community to thrive,” said Jake Brukhman, Founder and CEO of CoinFund. “The team has taken the world’s renewed interest in gaming to new heights and improved on challenges facing online gaming. We are eager to support their continued success in making esports tournaments seamless and enjoyable.” 

    About Community Gaming

    Community Gaming is the all-in-one platform offering esports infrastructure to all key stakeholders in the industry. Through its seamless UX and highly scalable blockchain payment technology, the platform equips players, organizers, and game developers with the tools they need to create, facilitate, and participate in esports tournaments.

    Contacts
    • Dan Edelstein
    • PR@marketacross.com
  • Coinbase Continues To Add More Digital Assets To Its Platform

    Coinbase Continues To Add More Digital Assets To Its Platform

    Crypto exchanges have cemented their role as the go-to platforms when traders want to exchange between digital assets. While there is an impressive list of crypto exchanges that are available across the globe, United States-based Coinbase has cemented its place as one of the leaders in this aspect. The crypto exchange made a massive leap in April, becoming the first cryptocurrency exchange to go public in the U.S. stock market.

    Coinbase has listed more tokens since the beginning of this year

    In the past, Coinbase was very conservative about which tokens they listed on their platform, which is evident from their listing pattern across the years. But since the beginning of 2020, Coinbase has moved swiftly to increase the number of tokens listed, adding a total of 21 digital assets for that period. In the first half of this year, the company has further increased its number of supported tokens, adding popular crypto assets such as Dogecoin and Polkadot. Judging by previous records, the number of listed tokens in the first half of this month is the highest by far since the inception of the crypto exchange. Also, the company only recently listed Dogecoin, despite the company’s employees floating the idea already a few years ago.  

    Asides from Coinbase’s cryptocurrency trading services, the company’s custody arm of the company has also stretched its list of supported tokens to a total of 134 after adding 74 tokens since the start of 2021. 

    Many cryptocurrency traders and investors are familiar with the “Coinbase effect”, which refers to the price spikes that cryptocurrencies tend to experience right after Coinbase announces a listing. This phenomenon has helped make a Coinbase listing one of the most desirable milestones for projects and investors in the crypto and blockchain industry. 

    Following the company’s public debut, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, noted that the exchange would continue to add as many digital assets as possible in the future.

  • Glassnode Report Says Institutional Investors Interest in Bitcoin Is Declining

    Glassnode Report Says Institutional Investors Interest in Bitcoin Is Declining

    Even though some investors are still bullish on Bitcoin despite the major price dips that have happened since April, a new report has shown that institutional investors may be losing interest in Bitcoin. 

    According to a report by Glassnode, the demand for Bitcoin from institutional entities is suffering a downturn. Noticeably, the institutional demand for the asset was one of the major factors that pushed the asset over its current all-time high at over $64,000. 

    In the report, Glassnode pointed out that even though institutional investors are still showing signs of having more than enough money to invest in assets, they might no longer be too enthusiastic about Bitcoin.

    Giving a typical example, the company pointed to the Bitcoin Trust held by Grayscale (GBTC). In its review of the GBTC, Glassnode mentioned that the product has been trading at a discount to its net asset value (NAV) since February this year. While this is now a trend, it was not usually so as GBTC has historically traded at a big premium to NAV. However, it’s worth mentioning that the discount has decreased from a record -21.2% in May to about 7% at the moment.

    The report also mentioned that two of the highest trading Bitcoin ETFs in Canada have traded at a meager rate. The Purpose and QBTC Bitcoin ETFs have recorded a combined outflow of of 8,037 Bitcoin in the last month. 3IQ’s QBTC ETF has witnessed a massive decline of 10,483 Bitcoin in the last two months. 3IQ CEO Fred Pye has commented that this trend shouldn’t be a cause for concern. According to Pye, the decline shows that investors are seeing gains and are willing to cash out their profits.

  • Upland Is Celebrating 1 Million NFT Properties Minted in the Metaverse

    Upland Is Celebrating 1 Million NFT Properties Minted in the Metaverse

    Upland has just hit a major milestone in their platform, and for the NFT landscape as a whole. Being one of the world’s fastest growing digital metaverses, Upland’s users have recently minted the millionth NFT property on the platform.

    Not long after being featured on CBS/Paramount Plus’ 60 Minutes+, Upland, the property trading metaverse, has reached a record-breaking milestone by surpassing over one million NFT properties minted in just 18 months since its inception. Upland is one of the world’s fastest growing blockchain games, with an active community of tens of thousands of daily active players flipping properties and growing their net worths. The millionth property NFT was officially minted on June 15.

    Upland is an NFT metaverse mapped to real world addresses, where people around the world can buy, sell and trade virtual properties. The cities which are live in Upland include San Francisco, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Fresno, Oakland, Bakersfield, Staten Island, and most recently Chicago, with the release of Cleveland right around the corner, but can be played by anyone across the world. Each property in the Upland metaverse is a non-fungible token on the EOS blockchain, giving the users true ownership of their properties.

    The game’s user base has been rapidly growing their in-game net worth, and flipping properties left and right. Players have been seeing incredible returns after putting some time and strategy into their property investments. When asked how players’ net worth has changed over time, a player named BEN68 responded with: “From 4,000UPX when I started in January 2020, to 64,500,000UPX in June 2021” representing an astonishing 1,612,400% increase in net worth! GreenTurtle, another Uplander, reported only investing $5 into the platform and realizing gains of over 100,000%.

    It’s not uncommon to see these types of stories in the metaverse, as the number of players and cities continue to increase quickly.

    1,000 UPX is equivalent to 1 USD, and with the Property-to-USD feature that was recently introduced to Upland, more players are taking full advantage of Upland’s Play-to-Earn gaming model and cashing out their gains to real U.S. dollars. This gaming model allows players to have true ownership of their in-game assets, with full command over how they want to manage those assets. 

    Upland’s free market economy-focused approach will soon mean players being able to start their own businesses, continuing to flip property NFTs, and seeing their in-game investments turn into real dollars. Real laws of supply-and-demand are already taking hold in Upland, and it will continue to grow as more features, partnerships and collaborations develop.

    To register for Upland, visit this link for a 6,000 UPX starting bonus to get your property portfolio off to a strong start. Upland is available on iOS, Android and the Web. It can be played from anywhere in the world. To stay up to date on all things Upland, follow the project on Twitter and join their 24,000-strong Discord here.

  • The 1inch Foundation Revamps Governance

    The 1inch Foundation Revamps Governance

    The move will facilitate active community participation in improving 1inch protocols by establishing a straightforward and transparent process for considering and adopting proposals.

    The DeFi is built by the entire community, not by individual projects. And the 1inch Foundation has always acknowledged that the involvement of developers and regular users in improving protocols is vital.

    Back in December 2020, the 1inch instant governance was launched, enabling 1INCH token stakers to vote for protocol parameters. For more information about instant governance, see this post.

    Now it is time to take it up a notch, complementing instant governance with the 1inch Network Governance, a system similar to that of many other leading Ethereum-based projects.

    The 1inch Network Governance will offer a clear and user-friendly process for proposing protocol improvements and voting for them. Unlike instant governance, which is focused on protocol parameters, the 1inch Network Governance will be focused on major improvements that would make a difference for the entire 1inch ecosystem and, possibly, for the DeFi space at large.

    How it works

    To participate in the 1inch Network Governance, go to the DAO category of the 1inch Forum and select one of the subcategories for your proposal – Aggregation Protocol, Liquidity Protocol, Limit Order Protocol or General proposals. The proposal process consists of three stages.  

    The 1inch Network Governance process

    Stage 1. Discussion

    At this stage, a user makes a post describing their proposal in detail, with the tag “stage-1”. Subsequently, community members engage in discussing the proposal. Valuable feedback from the community will help users to streamline their proposals, increasing chances of adoption. There is no timeline or specific requirements at this stage.

    Stage 2. Formalization

    At stage 2, proposals are formally submitted using the 1inch Improvement Proposal (1IP) template. Tag your proposal with “stage-2” and use the prefix “[1IP-#]” in the title (replace # with the lowest available proposal number). Each section of the proposal template should be completed and the poll should be set to 5 days.

    Subsequently, users will speak out for or against the proposal. To progress to stage 3, the majority of votes within a 5-day period should be in favor of the proposal.

    Stage 3. Snapshot 

    At the snapshot stage, off-chain voting for the proposal will be facilitated. Unlike instant governance, which is available only to 1INCH stakers, all users holding 1INCH tokens on Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain (BSC), including those who have staked their tokens, can participate in voting. 

    Once a proposal has received approval at stage 2, the author changes the tag to “stage-3”, and a 7-day vote period starts. Proposers are responsible for making snapshot polls. For a proposal to be adopted, it needs to collect 4 mln 1INCH tokens in votes. 

    Now that you’ve read about the 1inch Network Governance process, go ahead and submit your proposal. Let’s build the DeFi future together!