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Category: Crypto News

  • The Next Stage In Real Estate Tokenization

    The Next Stage In Real Estate Tokenization

    With cryptocurrency adoption on the rise, many sectors are vying to hop in on the bandwagon which has led to an increase in opportunities. Caruso Properties– one of the largest real estate firm in the US – has announced the acceptance of rent in the form of Bitcoin.

    The next initiative in the real estate industry has been taken by Vesta Equity to revolutionize real estate tokenization. In a partnership with Algorand block chain, Vesta Equity has launched its real estate tokenization services. Vesta Equity is a global home equity marketplace and it envisions to transform the industry by increasing the value provided to the customers.

    Through the tokenization, the company is aiming to disrupt the market by reducing the intermediaries. The tokenization will allow home owners to convert their equity into digital assets. The tokens will enable home owners to sell a percentage of their home equity in the form of digital assets to accredited investors without any compounding interest.

    Algorand and Vesta Equity, both, have their mission aligned which is to increase the value in the real estate market through the block chain technology and the numerous opportunities it provides. Real estate tokenization is one of the most viable real-world use of the block chain technology. Vesta Equity has taken the first steps towards a proper implementation. This will not only open doors for further implementation of block chain technology in the real estate realm but also in other industries as well.

  • Crypto Exchanges Dipping Into The Stock Market: Kraken following Coinbase’s Footsteps

    Crypto Exchanges Dipping Into The Stock Market: Kraken following Coinbase’s Footsteps

    Kraken – the cryptocurrency exchange – is considering going public in 2022 through direct listing. The crypto exchange has reported record high trading volumes amidst the bull run. With the market capitalization of Bitcoin having surpassed $1 trillion, the king of cryptocurrencies is pulling up the whole market with itself.

    Kraken is the fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of trading volume. The exchange was founded in 2011, and currently, boasts around 6 million clients worldwide.

    Kraken’s CEO, Jesse Powell, stated in an interview to CNBC that the exchange was able to surpass last year’s numbers in just the first quarter of 2021. The exchange observed four times more new user signups than the second half of 2021. The spot trading volumes also reached a record level of $160 billion.

    The listing of Kraken’s competing exchange may also have played a role in the decision of Kraken. Coinbase has announced its NASDAQ listingto be held on 14th of April. Coinbase, too, has reported a record high quarterly earnings of $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021. The Kraken rival’s direct listing could value the exchange at a whopping $100 billion.

    Jesse Powell also disclosed, in his CNBC interview, that kraken is waiting on Coinbase to see where its value lies. Kraken is in talks with investors regarding funding but the main focus of the exchange is on geographic expansion and growth.

  • Signal In Hot Water Over MobileCoin Partnership

    Signal In Hot Water Over MobileCoin Partnership

    The messenger application rose to glory when WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook because of Facebook’s record of past data breaches. Signal offers better privacy and end to end encryption which appealed to the masses – even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Signal rather than his using his newly-acquired messenger application.

    Signal announced a partnership with MobileCoin in order to integrate the cryptocurrency to a beta version of the messenger app that is being released in the UK only. Signal has always been vocal about privacy and integrating the privacy coin, MobileCoin, is the next step in the ladder towards providing complete privacy.

    However, after the initial excitement died down, people started questioning the motives of Signal and the real reason behind the partnership as MobileCoin’s price rallied upwards. The price of MobileCoin (MOB) shot up by 450% before the announcement. Now, the founders of MobileCoin and Signal has found themselves scrutinized. Joshua Goldbard, founder of MobileCoin, and Moxie Marlinspike, CEO of Signal, are being questioned regarding the opacity surrounding the issuance of the coin.

    Marlinspike has had extensive involvement with MobileCoin with the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper listing Marlinspike as CTO. Goldbard has cited the Signal CEO to be only an advisory figure to MobileCoin – the description has been inconsistent at times. Both the founders have opt for secrecy when it comes to their relationship and Marlinspike’s involvement in MobileCoin – leading to increased suspicions.

  • Cryptocurrency Going Green – Crypto Climate Accord

    Cryptocurrency Going Green – Crypto Climate Accord

    Cryptocurrencies have garnered a bit of a reputation when it comes to being environmental-friendly. Bitcoin – the market leader – is leading in this regard as well. The energy consumption of one transaction is the same as one household in the UK consumes for two months. While a Cambridge study places the yearly consumption of Bitcoin equal to Sweden’s annual production.

    With the increase in cryptocurrency adoption, the crypto community has decided to take steps towards making the market green. Following suit with the Paris Climate Accord, a Crypto Climate Accord has come into being. The private sector initiative has the objective of making the industry 100% renewable by the year 2030. The Accord has been founded through the partnership of AIR, RMI and Energy Web while various other major players like Web 3, Ripple, ConsenSys, CoinShares and the United Nations has also joined hands.

    The union of around 20 companies has pledged to move the industry to operate in line with the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. Although the task is a hard one, given the decentralized nature of the market, the partners have planned to bring the whole crypto industry together and achieve their goal of a sustainable market through mutual collaboration and cooperation.

    Energy Web, AIR and RMI goals include the development of an accounting standard to measure the crypto market’s carbon emission and achieving net zero emissions from the whole industry.

  • Lawsuits Piling Up: SEC Going After The Crypto Market

    Lawsuits Piling Up: SEC Going After The Crypto Market

    With the adoption of cryptocurrencies on the rise, governments throughout the world has started paying attention to the regulation of cryptocurrencies – or the lack thereof. While the stance of the Biden administration on the cryptocurrency market is unclear, the new expected head of the US Securities & Exchange Commission Gary Gensler is expected to resolve the issue to crypto regulation being well-versed in the block chain technology.

    The SEC’s crackdown on the crypto market appears more of a reality each day as the Commission first went after Ripple Labs and now LBRY. LBRY is a Youtube competitor based on the blockchain. The content sharing and publishing platform is completely decentralized and, hence, owned by its users. In the lawsuit registered last week, SEC alleged that LBRY Inc. used the LBRY credit tokens to fund the project without registering them as securities first. The CEO denied the allegations and questioned the repercussions of the SEC’s actions. According to the CEO of LBRY Inc. Jeremy Kauffman, the lawsuit put every block chain at risk.

    Mati Greenspan, the founder of Quantum Economics, has also warned the crypto community of the intentions of the SEC in a newsletter. Greenspan states the lawsuit can threaten the future of the whole cryptocurrency market:

    “a negative ruling here could make it easier for them to kill off any project which utilizes crypto tokens. DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), smart contracts, and just about everything except possibly stablecoins would potentially be on the chopping block.”

  • Asian governments’ growing skepticism of cryptocurrencies

    Asian governments’ growing skepticism of cryptocurrencies

    Cryptocurrencies are a high risk and high reward investment. The increased risk component is a major reason why people sometimes shy away from diving into the world of cryptocurrencies but at the same time, it is also the appeal factor for many investors. As the market capitalization of the cryptocurrencies passed $2 trillion, governments and regulators throughout the world has realized the potential of risk that lies in the market and what it could mean for economies if the market goes down – which is a plausible scenario given a market boom is followed by strong corrections.

    Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the introduction of new qualifications for retail cryptocurrency investors in order to protect them. The qualifications would include a minimum age, trading experience and wealth limits in order to ensure inexperienced traders do not get into the market. The SEC is reviewing other regulation regarding the cryptocurrency market too.

    On the other hand, the Korean government has been alarmed about the increasing illegal activities in the cryptocurrency market like tax evasion, money laundering etc. In a meeting of high-rank officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Services Commission and the National Police Agency vowed to increase monitoring of the digital coin market. Investors were also warned of a possible shutdown of the digital asset businesses as the deadline to register under the act on Reporting & Using Transaction Information is quickly approaching.

  • Biden administration not a fan of Bitcoin?

    Biden administration not a fan of Bitcoin?

    With President Biden’s win into the office, there were mixed views of the administration’s stance on cryptocurrencies. The community had grown wary after the nomination of Janet Yellen for the head of the Treasury Department. Yellen had been vocal about her disdain for Bitcoin calling it a hotspot for illegal transactions. President Biden himself has been a strong critic of Bitcoin with two anti-encryption bills presented during his tenure at the Senate.

    Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, have garnered interest from everywhere in the current bull run of 2021. Heavy investments from giants like MicroStrategy and Tesla are coming into the crypto market and the rise of the cryptocurrencies continue.

    Amidst the cryptocurrency craze, former presidential aspirant Ron Paul has warned of a government crackdown on cryptocurrencies. In an interview with Kitco News, Paul stated the crackdown can take the shape of increased taxation or increased dollar supply in the market.

    Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have the unique feature of staying immune to shocks in the economy. The pandemic and the subsequent crash of various stock markets was what contributed towards the rise of cryptocurrencies. According to Paul, the government does not like a contender for the place of the reserve currency, the dollar, which is why they will take measures to ensure the growth of the cryptocurrency market is trampled.

    However, all hope may not be lost yet because there exists several silver linings as well. Gary Gensler – the new head of SEC – can prove to be an ally of cryptocurrencies given his vast understanding of the technology having been taught on it at MIT.

  • NFT frenzy not cooling down: New players in market

    NFT frenzy not cooling down: New players in market

    The technology of non-fungible tokens has revolutionized the creation of content. It enables artists to crowdfund their projects through tokenization before their creation. NFTs are, primarily, representations of tangible or non-tangible objects like digital art, collectables etc. The pandemic has served as a big push towards technology as more and more people went online to sought entertainment.

    NFT is becoming an increasingly popular segment of the cryptocurrency world because of the realm of unlimited possibilities it provides. From celebrities like Paris Hilton & Lindsay Lohan jumping in on the NFT craze to heritage brands, everyone wants a piece of the novel technology.

    Gucci, the women’s luxury brand, has also confirmed its intentions of diving into the NFT world in order to appeal to the younger audience more. Another key player, Playboy – an American men’s lifestyle brand – has announced a partnership with Nifty Gateway to enter the NFT world.

    Saturday Night Live (SNL) sold a skit by the title of “What the hell’s an NFT?” for around $360,000 with all the proceeds going to charity aimed at reducing hate crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders.

    With the NFT craze reaching new highs, some skepticism has also been brewing. Peter Wood, CEO of a UK-based crypto trading platform, confirmed the suspicions of the NFT frenzy being a bubble. However, Wood believes the technology of NFTs is solid and like the 2018 bull run, NFTs are going to rise again stronger.

  • Celebrities jumping on the NFT bandwagon: Paris Hilton & her NFT enthusiasm

    Celebrities jumping on the NFT bandwagon: Paris Hilton & her NFT enthusiasm

    Paris Hilton had been one of the most vocal celebrity figures when it comes to cryptocurrencies. The entrepreneur cum socialite is bullish on the crypto market. Paris Hilton dropped a blog on her Twitter handle titled “I’m Excited about NFTs – You Should Be Too”. In the detailed blogpost, Hilton went on about how NFTs enables, innovates and empowers. The businesswoman further teased the audience with her upcoming NFT project and chose to not disclose any details.

    Hilton also delved into the NFT world more deeply starting from what non-fungible tokens are to the value they can add to artists and the unlimited opportunities that lie ahead in the NFT sphere. Per the actress/model, NFT’s are “the future of the creator economy”.

    This is not the first time Hilton has vocalized her enthusiasm about the crypto sphere. In an interview with CNBC, Paris Hilton called Bitcoin “the future”. The heiress showed her enthusiasm and excitement about cryptocurrencies and confirmed that she has been in the sphere for quite a while. Hilton has also changed her profile picture to laser eyes which depicts her expectations of Bitcoin crossing $100,000.

    Hilton has been an avid support of Justin Sun and his Tron cryptocurrency. In a reply to a tweet by the Tron founder, the Hilton heiress talked about another dive into the NFT world after her first NFT launch last year which won the NFT Charity Award. She also hinted towards launching her NFT on the Tron block chain – asking Justin Sun to be ready.

  • Cryptocurrency adoption: Paying rent with Bitcoin?

    Cryptocurrency adoption: Paying rent with Bitcoin?

    After the cryptocurrency bull run of 2018, people grew increasingly skeptical of cryptocurrencies; however, the recent bull run is set to change the course of history with the pace at which cryptocurrencies are being adopted at a massive scale. From institutions discouraging the masses from crypto investing to them jumping on the bandwagon themselves.

    The masses have realized the potential that the block chain technology carry and with the world moving toward digitization cryptocurrencies being the standard mode of payment in the future appears to be a plausible reality.

    With PayPal accepting cryptocurrency payments, others are following suit. Caruso properties – one of the largest privately-held real estate firm in the US – has taken a bold step towards the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. The real-estate giant based in California is now going to enable tenets of commercial and retail properties to pay their rent in Bitcoin. Caruso is the largest real estate firm in the United States to be accepting Bitcoin as a mode of payment. The move is being facilitated by Gemini Exchange.

    Bitcoin – and other cryptocurrencies – are expected to account for a sizeable chunk of a lot of major firms’ balance sheets in the coming days as giants like Tesla and MicroStrategy are investing heavily in the digital asset. The world is truly moving towards a mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.

    Caruso properties quest in the crypto world does not end with Bitcoin. In fact, it is just the beginning. The firm has big plans of cryptocurrency integration. Caruso intends on bringing other cryptocurrencies, the block chain technology, dApps and non-fungible tokens over to the real estate giant.