Sunday, May 29, 2022

Stellar Weekly Community Update May 29th

If there's something interesting that happened in the ecosystem over the last week and it's not listed below, please mention it below in the comments.

Recorded Events ▶

Jayrome Testing Our New Moneygram Intergration

Sam Testing Out New Moneygram Intergration

Alfred Pay Presents at Haiti Blockchain Alliance (French / Creole)

Speaking with Spintax Ep. 1: NFTs and Community Stuff

Stellar Metaverse Deepdive with BES and Bullringcrypto

Tech Talks with Tomer: Refugee Relief & Remittances with Tori Sample

WEF Davos Panel With Denelle Discussing Crypto’s Carbon Footprint

WEF Davos Denelle at Equality Lounge

WEF Davos Day 1 Recap

WEF Davos Day 2 Recap

Ecosystem Updates/Reads 📄

MoneyGram CEO Sees a Future in Stablecoin Remittances (Stellar mentioned)

ICE. The next stage of Aquarius

Messing Around with Multi-Sig

Can a CBDC promote financial inclusion? We think so. - SDF Blog

Mercado Bitcoin partners with Stellar Development Foundation in the LIFT Challenge Real Digital by the Central Bank of Brazil and Fenasbac - SDF Blog

Mercado Bitcoin partners with Stellar to create MVP for Brazilian CBDC (Cointelegraph)

Lobstr Starts Blacklisting Fraudulent Asset Domains

Stellar Development Foundation Announces New Methodology to Measure Environmental Impact of Blockchain Technology and Releases Findings on Stellar Network Electricity Consumption - SDF Blog

Escape Inflation Effortlessly with the Beans App

Rehive: How Stellar and Wyre Empower the Future of Finance

Upcoming ⏰

June 8: pubnet upgrade - Protocol 19

June 10th: Denelle Consensus Main Stage "Adoption at Scale: Addressing the On-Ramp Challenge"

June 20-23: Litemint Fed Presenting at NFT.NYC


What happened to Crypto?

It's been a tough time in the crypto community as a lot of rugpulls are happening. The crash happened in a lot of cases & here's Polygen's updates in order for us to be informed about the recent events in crypto.

Millennials and Gen Z Invested When It Was Fun. Now They’re Riding Out a Crash

This actually isn't news to me. Millenials have gotten FOMO over the past years, especially when the DOGE era or rather the MEME COIN era began. Newbie investors are often on the lookout for an investing opportunity that has the potential to change their fortune overnight because of success stories, which shouldn't really be the case.

All Those Celebrities Pushing Crypto Are Not So Vocal Now

We all know a lot of famous personalities gushing about crypto & NFTs on social media for their followers to follow their steps.. yet now, there seems to have an awkward silence. Some of these personalities are Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon, and Gwyneth Paltrow who have been criticized for exciting virtual currency without highlighting the risks.

On the lighter note, here are some good news from Polygen's Crypto Updates:

Bitcoin Conference in El Salvador Attracts Representatives From 44 Countries

The El Salvador President himself, Presidente Bukele, has won the hearts of 44 countries to have a discussion with them about Bitcoin's use cases. It was known that El Salvador bought 500 BTC during the dip.

Wanna know more? Well... There's more news for you! Just head on to:
https://medium.com/polygen-ecosystem/weekend-updates-21-05-2022-45e75a2be2db
For more updates & discussions!


Crypto Investor Briefing – May 2022

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May 2022

One of the largest crypto industry events is the annual Bitcoin Conference, which took place in April 2022 in Miami Beach. This four-day pilgrimage gathered nearly 30,000 crypto enthusiasts to discuss the latest developments, exchange collaboration ideas, and celebrate the growth of the ultimate reserve currency in the digital world.

After its humble beginning in 2009, this digital asset is maturing fast—it is estimated that 150 million people worldwide now own Bitcoin. Nevertheless, it continues to face regulatory and scaling challenges as Bitcoin becomes more mainstream. These topics and many more were discussed by industry thought leaders during this conference. 

The reveal of the “Miami Bull,” an 11-foot, 3,000-pound statue that bears the likeness of Wall Street’s “Charging Bull,” was one of the event highlights. At the opening ceremony, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez proudly declared that the bull’s “presence further reaffirms the strength of Miami’s position on the financial world stage.” This statue will remain a permanent fixture on the Miami Dade College campus.

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We have curated conference summaries from various attendees and journalists, including Forbes, Coindesk, Cointelegraph, SkyNews, The Block, and CNBC. For more comprehensive coverage, Bitcoin Magazine’s summary includes all of the relevant discussion topics. 

Tokenomy Team

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Terra’s UST becomes crypto’s third-largest stablecoin. The dollar-pegged UST has overtaken Binance USD to become the crypto market’s third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, currently sitting at more than $18 billion. The leading stablecoin is Tether (USDT), which commands a whopping $83 billion market cap. USD Coin (USDC) comes in second at $49 billion.

Crypto investors made $163 billion in gains in 2021, according to a blog post by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. It was a stellar year for crypto investors after $32.5 billion in gains in 2020. US investors took the lion’s share of the profits, netting some $47 billion—around 29% of the total amount. These investors were followed by those in the UK, Germany, Japan and then China. The gain from Ethereum is estimated at $76.3 billion

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After El Salvador’s 2021 adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, the Central African Republic has followed suit, becoming the first country in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as a payment currency. In the National Assembly, officials unanimously adopted the bill to help put the country’s plan for economic recovery and peacebuilding on track. However, contrary to popular headlines, the African nation has not adopted BTC as a legal tender; instead, it has reportedly legalized the use of cryptocurrencies in financial markets.

Goldman Sachs offered its first ever lending facility backed by Bitcoin, a significant step for a major U.S. bank that accelerates Wall Street’s embrace of cryptocurrencies. At the same time, David Soloman and Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executives of Goldman Sachs and FTX, discussed opportunities for future partnerships in fundraising, regulatory collaboration, and IPO opportunities.   

Fidelity to let workers save 20% of retirement in Bitcoin. Fidelity, America’s largest provider of 401(k) savings accounts, is rolling out a Digital Assets Account that gives companies access to Bitcoin. According to a New York Times report, the new product is expected to go live this summer, enabling companies to add Bitcoin to their customers’ retirement saving accounts.

BNY Mellon, one of the oldest U.S. banks and one of the first to lean into custodying digital assets, will serve as the “primary custodian” for the reserve assets behind the USDC stablecoin, according to the issuer Circle Internet Financial. 

MetaMask, a popular Ethereum wallet, announces integration with Apple Pay. Starting with iPhone users, MetaMask is adding integrations with payment gateways on its mobile wallet to increase options for buying crypto.

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego says bitcoin makes up 60% of his liquid portfolio. Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami, he mentioned that the other 40% of his portfolio is invested in hard-asset stocks like oil, gas, and gold miners. Salinas, who controls more than half of the Mexican motorcycle market, also called bonds ”a terrible investment.” 

NFT or just an expensive JPEG? Crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi bought Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million last year. He listed the NFT for sale again at $48 million last week, but the highest bid is only $280

Can celebrities endorse NFTs? Hollywood stars are facing legal questions on how they publicize their involvement in the non-fungible token (NFT) market, and whether they need to disclose paid endorsement deals. The key legal question is whether digital assets, including NFTs, are securities; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stipulates that it is unlawful for any person to tout a security without disclosing a financial relationship or ownership to the source.

Meta plans to charge creators 47.5% on sales of digital assets and experiences made inside the company’s virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds. According to a Reuters article, this comprises a 30% fee on the Meta Quest Store, where users buy games/apps for the Oculus Quest headset, and a 17.5% fee from Horizon Worlds, Meta’s metaverse platform. This has drawn skepticism from the crypto community at large. 

The first Australian spot Bitcoin and Ether Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) were listed on 27th April. Launched by 21Shares and ETF Securities, the two ETFs invest directly in Bitcoin and Ether and are fully backed by the respective assets held in cold storage by Coinbase. This move comes amidst regulatory hurdles for issuers in the US as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to deny spot Bitcoin ETF proposals.

The Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the Ethereum ecosystem, published a report on 19 April disclosing its $1.6 billion treasury holdings (as of 31 March 2022) for the first time. The treasury holds ~19% of its assets in non-crypto investments, with the majority (~80%) in Ether. The report also details the foundation’s spending allocation in 2021.

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Ethereum will go through a major technological upgrade this summer. This upgrade will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by more than 99%, cut the issuance of new ETH by 75–90%, and create a mechanism for long-term investors to earn up to 8–12% yields while holding ETH. The upgrade is a reminder that crypto is a dynamic and competitive market, and that having diversified exposure to the space is critical. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan explains the details in this report

Have blockchain bridges become hackers’ prime targets? Continuing on from last month’s Top Story on Ronin’s $540 million exploit, this report delves deeper into the vulnerabilities created as the crypto industry evolves toward interconnectedness across chains.

Recommended Reading: “The innovator’s dilemma and U.S. adoption of a digital dollar,” Brookings Institute, by Michael Sung and Christopher A. Thomas.   

Research Paper: Experienced investors made more gain in NFT trading. “Investor Experience Matters: Evidence from Generative Art Collections on the Blockchain,” by Sebeom Oh, Samuel Rosen, and Anthony Lee Zhang. 

The Wolf of Crypto: Jordan Belfort, the author of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” is marketing himself as a cryptocurrency guru, and he is charging entrepreneurs tens of thousands for his advice. Read the report by the New York Times

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The Ramifications Couldn't have Been Greater for Ethereum's Merger. What do you think of the Upcoming merger?

Crypto investors are looking forward to the end of May, a month that has brought nothing but losses. And, while it's too soon to say whether the worst is over—Bitcoin is currently trading below $30,000 as this has taken its toll on Altcoins including relatively new ones like Solana which is one of the largest transaction network; Concordium which is a fast and cheap transaction network e.t.c and could fall further—it appears that the industry will weather the storm just fine. So long as the Ethereum merger goes smoothly.

If you've been living under a crypto rock, "The Merge" refers to the long-awaited upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain, which will see the No. 2 cryptocurrency switch to a proof-of-stake model, removing concerns about Ethereum's environmental impact and dramatically improving transaction speed.

The Merge is the most recent name (the previous one was Ethereum 2.0) for a process that has been ongoing for years and has been postponed numerous times. However, Ethereum experts, including co-founder Vitalik Buterin, are now predicting that the event will take place in August when the Beacon chain (a parallel Ethereum blockchain that is serving as a proof-of-stake test) merges with the main Ethereum chain.

They had better be correct. Crypto desperately needs a win right now, and Ethereum pulling off the most significant upgrade in blockchain history would provide it. It would show that the Ethereum community, which is known for being friendly but frivolous, is capable of doing serious business.

It could also spark a significant ETH price increase.

While Ethereum's chances of completing the merger appear promising, there are also reasons to be concerned. The Beacon chain experienced a so-called "block reorganization" event this week, in which its blockchain forked for seven consecutive blocks—something that hasn't happened in years. While the cause appears to be benign, it triggered a brief period of uncertainty because the emergence of multiple, competing Ethereum chains following the merger would be disastrous.

To their credit, the elite developers assisting in the merger have worked patiently and methodically to ensure that the new Ethereum blockchain is ready for prime time. And, as Kraken CEO Jesse Powell stated on a recent episode of Decrypt's gm podcast, he is unconcerned about the numerous delays that have plagued the merger process, because success is more important than speed in a situation of this magnitude.

Powell is correct, but the Ethereum merger cannot continue for much longer. Further delays will elicit accusations that the Ethereum community is unprepared for the task, and it is possible that the blockchain's gas fee woes, which are a major impediment to crypto's mainstream adoption, will never be resolved. Failure by Ethereum to move beyond the energy-intensive proof-of-work system would provide additional ammunition to environmentalists and politicians who already have a grudge against the crypto industry.

The bottom line is that the stakes for the merger could not be higher, not just for Ethereum, but for the entire crypto industry. Success will restore faith in Web3, whereas further delays or a botched execution will result in a price collapse and a new and nasty Crypto Winter. Everyone in the crypto community, including Bitcoin maxis, should be rooting for Ethereum to pull this off. The alternative is a market much worse than the one we're in right now.


Dynamic VS static NFT. Let's talk about the future

Dynamic VS static NFT. Let's talk about the future

At the December 2-3, 2021 "Enter the Metaverse" conference, Stephen Fluin said from the stage that "The next generation of NFTs, will be dynamic". According to the Head of Developer Relations at Chainlink Labs "the future lies with NFTs that are adaptable, flexible, and capable of responding to external cues and data to level up their capabilities". Stephen's words certainly make sense, because as of today few visionary projects are already making strides to make a shift from static to dNFTs.

What is the fundamental difference?

Despite a general decline in market activity (according to some estimates by 92%) for example, in September 2021, 225 thousand NFTs were sold on the peak day. In May 2022, the daily sales volume is only 19 thousand. In addition to the decline in NFT sales, the number of active purses has also declined by 88%. And considering that the majority of these collections are static, it is absolutely clear that the time has come to reform this industry, to update it, to inject new technology and adapt its algorithms to respond to what is happening in the world, which is almost completely realized in NFT, which is why we increasingly hear that the future belongs to them.

So what is the fundamental difference between static NFTs and their more modern dynamic counterparts?

Dynamic NFTs:

  • Active interaction with the off-chain environments.
  • Dynamically responses to real-world events.
  • Moving across chains

Static NFTs:

  • Isolation from the off-chain environment.
  • No ability to respond to real-world events.
  • Can’t be moved across chains.

Limitations related to NFT

Owners of static NFTs face two major limitations:

  • So how can one or another collection be considered unique? Rarity is what makes an NFT valuable. But it is much more difficult to guarantee this "rarity" in the fast-growing market of static NFT (hundreds of projects similar to each other appear every day).
  • The question of NFT's interaction with the real world. Limitations impose their own imprint on gameplay and incentive mechanisms.

Any restrictions sooner or later provoke progress, and the NFT-world is no exception. Solutions have already been created to abolish or weaken all these constraints, which have been implemented directly in dNFTs. And as a consequence, both the crypto world and the blockchain ecosystem itself have begun to realize even more clearly the true value of this new unique asset class.

The uniqueness dNFTs

The problem of "rarity and uniqueness" is solved in dNFTs by the possibility of modifying a character or its individual characteristics. At the same time, it is often impossible to predict how the hero of the collection will look like or what features he will acquire, which increases the value giving a certain touch of "intrigue". By purchasing static crypto-art, the collector knows in advance what his character will look like in a week or a month - just like on the day of purchase. Let's take the Rubber Duck Bath Party collection dNFTs as an example. The owner of a purchased duck goes to a virtual party at his own risk. He doesn't know if his NFT will get a new eye or crown - and that makes the project more unique than, say, the static Asuna card from "Lives of Asuna". There, buying an NFT with an anime image only gives the collector an anime image that won't change.

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Dynamic NFTs and their interaction with the real world

As for the interaction of NFT with the real world, it is worth looking at an example of a real dNFT and understanding its value. For example, a digital basketball player card may contain performance statistics (e.g. points scored per season). If you transfer that card to NFT format and connect it to the real world through oracle networks, it can automatically update its stats based on the player's performance in the real world. Pretty cool, huh? Another example: the new GasMonsters project. If it would have been the usual static NFT collection, we'd see the regular monsters on cards. Nothing unusual - just dragons instead of cats/lemons/monkeys. But in this case, the collector buys a cute little dragon that grows over time (depending on the amount of Gas used in blockchain transactions) and turns into a robotic monster. The more Gas, the cooler the character. Fascinating and intriguing, isn't it?

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Outlook

It is absolutely obvious that dNFTs, due to their greater technological sophistication and not being corny on the market, will increase their market share and interest among the NFT community more and more every month. In our opinion, this niche of digital assets is at the very beginning of its development, like Bitcoin in 2014-2015. Overall growth in the price and volume of dNFTs is absolutely inevitable. Just like sudden bursts of interest leading to new peaks, which will constantly update the previous maximum values, are inevitable. To summarize, it is safe to say that by paying attention to dNFT today, you are less likely to experience FOMO in a next few years.


The remainder of the crew may continue their voyage as soon as the IKONIC Metaverse is ready for them. To get here

The remainder of the crew may continue their voyage as soon as the IKONIC Metaverse is ready for them. To get here, it's taken a long time and a lot of work. With this project, we want to provide gamers a different perspective on the metaverse. The inclusion of metaverse venues as a social feature in IKONIC is beneficial to both artists and fans of the game. In order to conduct meetings virtually, you'll need NFTs such a microphone and speakers. You may display your friendship by going to sporting events with your buddies. Tickets to parties and other events may be purchased with NFTs. A new use for these items may arise in the future.

#IKONIC #CRYPTO #BSC #BINANCE #BITCOIN


Crypto Miners Account for Over 2% of Electricity Consumption in Russia, Estimate Suggests – Mining Bitcoin News

The share of crypto miners in Russia’s power consumption structure already exceeds 2%, according to a new government estimate. On this backdrop, the country’s industry ministry believes it’s time to bring the sector out of the shadows and regulate it.

Crypto Miners Burn More Electricity Than Russian Farmers

Miners extracting digital currencies account for more than 2% of the total volume of electricity consumed in the Russian Federation and their activities need to be “whitewashed” and regulated, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak stated. Speaking at a forum organized by the ruling United Russia party, Shpak elaborated:

This is more than the cost of electricity for agriculture. In this sense, we cannot but recognize mining as an industry.

Cryptocurrency mining is now in the “gray zone,” it’s not taxed in any way and creates risks for those involved in it, the government official noted during the event devoted to the development of blockchain technologies and the regulation of digital financial assets. Shpak is convinced that the industry can be brought out of the shadows and made transparent for the state.

The deputy minister expects that in the future the amount of electricity spent on mining will decrease as the industry moves towards less energy-intensive mining protocols. Nevertheless, it’s obvious that mining facilities will continue to consume power, Shpak said, quoted by Interfax. He further emphasized:

Our position is completely unambiguous — mining must be recognized, regulated and established as an industrial activity.

Bitcoin mining is one of the key crypto-related activities that Russian authorities are now working to legalize, despite Bank of Russia’s call for a blanket ban on all of them. A bill designed to achieve that was filed with the Russian parliament in late April. The draft legislation was recently revised and lawmakers withdrew a proposal to introduce a one-year tax and customs amnesty for mining entities.

Officials in Moscow believe Russia should develop the sector, citing its competitive advantages in terms of abundant energy resources and favorable climate. However, amid western penalties imposed over the invasion of Ukraine, Russian miners have been targeted with sanctions to deny the country opportunities to circumvent the restrictions. Russia’s share in the average global monthly hashrate has dropped to 4.66% this year.

Tags in this story

bill, Bitcoin, Bitcoin mining, consumption, Crypto, crypto miners, crypto mining, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency, draft law, Electricity, Energy, Hashrate, Legislation, Miners, mining, power, Regulation, Regulations, Russia, russian, shareDo you think the electricity consumption in Russia’s crypto mining sector will continue to grow after the industry is regulated? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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