22 minute read
02Testnet Upgrade for Ethereum - And It's Years Ahead of Schedule
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Testnet Upgrade for Ethereum - And It's Years Ahead of Schedule
In an unexpected development yesterday, zkSync, a protocol that implements Ethereum scaling platforms, announced the release of its ZeroKnowledge rollup (zkEVM) compatibility with Ethereum Virtual Machines years ahead of schedule.
In addition to setting the rules for the chain from block to block, it is also where Ethereum wallets and contracts reside. As the first implementation of the Zero-Knowledge rollup that can run the full Ethereum environment, the new test network will provide a great insight into how well Zero-Knowledge can scale blockchains.
Ethereum's base layer has been scaled in two ways over the past few years, Optimistic and Zero-Knowledge. Both technologies have seen some adoption, with Arbitrum being the most notable Optimistic chain and DyDx utilizing ZK technology to enable leveraged trading. ZK rollups have traditionally offered a single type of application per chain as the Ethereum environment, which offers customizable smart contracts, is too computationally intensive.
Until now, trade-offs favored Optimism and Arbitrum; now, zkSync offers a fair playing field. Users who use Optimistic rollups can use applications from NFT marketplaces like OpenSea to lending protocols like Aave on the mainnet in one composable environment. With zkEVM, users would have a similar enduser experience, with lower transaction fees and nearly immediate finality, eliminating the need for the two-week withdrawal periods associated with Optimistic rollups.
The computing requirements of these methods are more significant, and nodes must solve zero-knowledge validity checks. Still, they can post network state to Ethereum for a fraction of the cost of even Optimistic rollups. According to L2Fees.Info, transaction fees on Loopring and zkSync are 1/200th of what they are on the mainnet. Ethereum users pay over $90 per trade on a decentralized exchange, while Loopring and zkSync users pay between $0.45 and $0.68.
The scaling issues associated with Ethereum may be alleviated earlier than anticipated if zkEVM can offer fees similar to other ZK rollups. Scaling blockchains requires lower transaction fees, but only if the chain can host applications that drive user demand. Ethereum native applications will port over Solidity-based contracts and provide a full range of services in a low-fee environment backed by Ethereum's security. As such, zkEVM will theoretically be able to host the industry's favorite applications without sacrificing liquidity, decentralization, or product offerings.
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What to do with Metaverse Real Estate
For their virtual properties, many Metaverse landowners choose to buy and hold. Nevertheless, they lose out on the opportunity to earn additional income from the property. You can capture even more value if you rent out your land (or a structure you build there).
You can purchase Metaverse land and keep it until you want to sell it. Wouldn't it be great if you could also earn rental income while you wait for its growth?
There is a lot of information telling people to buy Metaverse real estate, but what happens once you own it? Investing in the Metaverse may be a smart move for all kinds of real estate investors. However, if you don't plan to put that real estate to some use, you may have to wait a long time before it pays off.
As opposed to buying and holding your virtual real estate and waiting for a buyer, renting it could generate income right away. Many businesses are already looking for a way to get a foot in the door in their preferred Metaverse platform but may not be ready to invest fully.
This is where your role as a landlord in the Metaverse comes in. You can still hold onto your land and wait for it to appreciate (or hope that the next Snoop Dogg will move next door!), but letting it lie fallow hinders it from achieving its full potential as an investment.
Decide what you want to rent.
You already know what you're planning to rent out, whether it's empty land, a structure, or a billboard space if you planned your Metaverse land purchase carefully.
Maybe you didn't get that far before jumping on a piece of land you thought was a great deal and that you were willing to take a chance on.
You have the opportunity to shine. Make your land valuable before renting it. While raw land is an excellent option, offering the land with structure might make more sense if you have land in a prime location. It's generally your responsibility to construct and maintain billboards.
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Find a renter
Finding a renter for your land can be challenging if you're going it alone. A Metaverse real estate agent may be able to assist you in properly valuing your property and locating renters who are interested in renting your virtual property.
Depending on the platform you are using, there may also be sites to list rentals, such as Decentraland's property listing site, Double. They also provide added conveniences, such as the ability to complete a transaction within the platform, that can be used in conjunction with traditional methods of finding tenants.
Signs on your land are essential, so don't overlook them. Your Metaverse property can be advertised as "For Rent" so that renters can apply online or complete the rental process.
Execute the rental agreement.
Most Metaverse rentals are rented for a few days or weeks rather than year after year. Having this in mind is extremely important when setting up a rental contract for your virtual real estate since competing contracts will offer daily and weekly rates. Since virtual real estate rental platforms are still in their infancy, you may want to build your contract around the standard lease. Still, smart contracts on the Ethereum network are also popular choices if you're going to be ahead of the pack.
You can specify the length of time for the contract, the amount of rent due, and the due date with a smart contract. Upon execution of the contract, it runs automatically and collects rent without your intervention. Tenants who do not pay their rent on time can be evicted using several Metaverse landlording tools.
Now it's time to use the Metaverse real estate you just bought!
A Metaverse property owner who waits for their property to appreciate misses out on the opportunity to make money from their property. Find a Metaverse renter, so you don't have to leave your money on the table.
There is nothing more rewarding than putting your property to work for you while you have it, whether it is a wellknown business, a budding entrepreneur looking for a place to set up shop, or just someone who needs to advertise on a billboard.
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Emergency Relief Fund Established by Binance with $10 million Donated to Ukraine
The international community has continued to support Ukraine after Russia's invasion. Even cryptocurrency makers were not idle. Experts from every sector began to worry about worse cases following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Cybersecurity experts, for example, began speculating about the possibility of a global cyberwar. Binance, among the world's largest crypto exchanges by volume, has donated $10 million to Ukraine. There is also an emergency fund set up to assist the country. CEO CZ wrote on Twitter, "Our goal is to provide support on the ground. NGOs and U.N. agencies are receiving US $10 million as part of our humanitarian response to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine. People matter to us."
Support for Ukraine from the crypto industry
Binance has launched the Ukraine Emergency Fund, raising $6 million. The Ukrainian Relief Fund was set up to help those affected by recent natural disasters and violence in the country. Following the Russian war crisis, FTX's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, donated 25 dollars worth of cryptocurrency to each user in Ukraine.
Yet another rival, FTX.US, does not offer as many crypto options as you will find on regular F.X. platforms around the world. The Bahamas' FTX cryptocurrency exchange provides advanced trading options, such as margin trading and futures trading. U.S. residents cannot access them because U.S. laws prevent them from operating within their own country. To help fund this cause, Chain. com CEO Deepak Thapliyal donated 100 ETH (approximately $278,000). In a comment to BuzzFeed News, Deepak Thapliyal said, "I felt compelled to help when I discovered the Ukrainian government had requested donations in the form of crypto. In order to help those in need, I hope the local government will use Bitcoin donations as soon as possible since they are borderless and near-instant." Ethereum inventor and founder, Vitalik Buterin, expressed his support for Ukraine. Recently, he tweeted "Victory for Ukraine."
Donations To Ukraine
Ukraine is a leader in blockchain innovation. As a result of the nation's embrace of cryptocurrencies, it is one of the only countries where Bitcoin and other digital currencies can be traded legally without fear of taxation. This, combined with the nation's low currency exchange rates and the fact that skilled engineers are developing security protocols, will allow the country to be among the first to develop modern technology.
The official Twitter account of Ukraine, just days after Russia occupied it, asked for cryptocurrency donations. Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, sincerely appealed for assistance. Mr. Fedorov called on the public to support the nation. There is increasing evidence that Russia has invaded Ukraine to install a puppet government. Russian troops have already entered Kyiv, posing a threat to the democratically elected government. Citizens might be deprived of more freedom than ever before.
Crypto Weekly is also sponsoring a Donation drive for Ukraine
Thank you to those of you who are willing to support the people of Ukraine. Here's to making a difference! #AltcoinsMakeaDifference Please send donations to these official and verified addresses:
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5
Avoiding Potential Scams With Crypto Scammers
In a project involving cryptocurrencies, this warning rings true, and it comes from developers and admins in chats like Telegram, and it should be taken very seriously. "I will not DM first!"
In light of the elaborate scams being committed in crypto investments, we must take measures to prevent inviting scammers into our circle of trust. One way to avoid this is to never respond to a developer unless they announce it first in the main chat.
Now, why is a developer reaching out to you necessarily a bad thing? In most cases, it's not, but when the developer is a scammer posing as a developer, it opens you up to all sorts of financial threats. I have personally seen this act occur where a simple plight for help in the main chat of a Telegram group resulted in an admin member reaching out to offer some assistance. In most everyday situations, you would welcome the help, but when they are not a team member, and their sole purpose in life is to steal your money, you can only imagine the result if you do not keep your wits about you.
A well-planned scammer will always start by letting you know who they are, "this is the active admin," "how may I help you?" Now you will be feeling a sense of relief that someone is willing to help you out in your time of need. Still, it is at this point you really should be asking why they have contacted me personally and not tried to help in the main chat. If you make the rash decision to take up a conversation with the socalled admin, you need to start to watch out for key signs that they are trying to steal from you, and the first is if they
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begin to talk to you about your wallet, and its validation.
There should be absolutely no need for any validation of any sort if you are using Pancake Swap or Uniswap. For example, these Dex do not need anything more than your wallet to be connected, which you can take care of. It clearly shows if you are connected or not. If you are using a Cex, then if you are in your private wallet and are connected, once again, no need for any so-called validation. Then we move on to the most critical rule everyone should know, "you never give out your seed phrase!" Now, if you are not familiar with what a seed phrase is, then I suggest you take some time to do some research to find out how crucial it is to your investments and being able to keep them safe.
The seed phrase should never be brought up in any conversation with anyone. There is just no need for that to be mentioned at all unless you have ulterior motives. Unfortunately, for my friend and his lack of knowledge and language breakdown, he was convinced, relatively easy, to hand over his seed phrase in the hope that his new 'knight in shining armor' would help fix a simple problem. But there was to be no help, only for him to become a victim of a scam. Within seconds of this person receiving the seed phrase, his entire wallet was drained of all his tokens, leaving him a balance of zero. He lost around $20k in a few minutes, highlighting how quickly these fraudulent people are once they have the keys to access your vital information. Now I know there will be people reading this and thinking how stupid that guy was to hand over his phrase. Still, in the heat of the moment and a lack of knowledge, this person was not thinking straight and just wanted to resolve a problem that, in the end, turned out to be nothing more than the network lagging. It's also safe to say that FOMO (fear of missing out) had also settled in as the market was shifting quite quickly then. He needed to hurry to maximize his results. Still, in the end, this is what can cause you to lose focus, when in fact, this is the time to be more aware and alert while we are amongst these scammers that are always looking for their next victim.
Not that the whole experience was bad enough to lose all his money in the blink of an eye, he was told by the scammer that the problem would be fixed, so he then thanked the scammer for his help only to receive a thumbs-up emoji. After discovering all his tokens were gone, he reached out for an explanation to only receive silence.
We all work hard to build our portfolios, and to have them ripped from underneath our noses cuts even more deeply, even more so than if you had made a bad trade or the market dives. It's an elaborate scam that is quite effective to the untrained eye, made even more challenging to spot when they use the same logos and names as the legitimate team. So my advice would be to ask your questions in the main chat and wait for a response from someone in the main chat. Do not wait for someone from the team to reach out to you for "I WILL NOT DM FIRST."
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Investments in virtual land are booming as investors close multimillion-dollar deals
It was only a matter of time before digital assets in existing Metaverses began commanding seven-figure prices. Millions of dollars spent on a single digital property were laughable a few years ago. Not anymore. Virtual properties are still available for purchase by corporate and individual investors. Several asset management companies and investors have spent millions of dollars buying land they won't touch over the last few months! Nothing indicates that the trend will be slowing.
Buying virtual land with real money.
In 2021, $500 million worth of virtual land was sold. Sales increased tenfold between January 2021 and January 2022. This is just the beginning, according to Brand Essence. According to a report, the Metaverse market value is expected to reach $209 billion in 2022. By 2027, that number should rise to just over $700 billion. The growth rate should be 23 percent. A number of companies have spent millions of dollars on virtual land in the last three months. Tokens. com purchased land in Decentraland's fashion district for $2.5 million in midNovember 2021, making it one of the largest virtual land purchases ever.
A few weeks later, Republic Realm, a Metaverse developer, paid $4.28 million for 792 parcels of land (roughly 1,200 city blocks) in Sandbox. Together with Atari's giant game developer, Republic Realm intends to develop Fantasy Islands, a high-end real estate project complete with a fully-occupied shopping mall. This company plans to build 100 islands for $300,000 each, which will generate about $30 million in sales. A 96 square meter plot of land on any Metaverse platform costs $11,000 despite the fact that the same piece of virtual land was available for approximately $1,000 in March of 2021.
Why is the virtual land business booming?
On the 28th of October, 2021, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook's parent company would be renamed, Meta. Under the new brand, the giant would operate all of its apps and technologies. Additionally, the company will invest $150 million in immersive learning to help creators learn how to create the Metaverse. This virtual world allows
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people to interact just as they would in the real world but with greater flexibility.
We're currently witnessing a lot of hype in the virtual world as a result of this announcement. Due to companies such as Facebook showing interest in the Metaverse, investors can't help but get into the game while there is still enough land to go around. The increasing popularity of virtual land is also due to NFT's popularity, security and transparency, blockchain technology, and the development of Metaverses.
These digital spaces have also benefited from celebrity partnerships with Metaverses. In a section of Sandbox, Snoop Dogg has built a virtual mansion. An NFT collector bought Snoop Dogg's plot for $450,000 late last year. These deals are also causing FOMO, which is driving the virtual land price spike.
Is there enough virtual land to go around in the Metaverse?
As Facebook changed its name to Meta, the current demand for virtual land increased by the limited amount of land on different Metaverse platforms. There will only ever be a limited number of lands in two of the biggest and most popular Metaverses, Sandbox and Decentraland. Only 166,464 Lands will ever be available in Sandbox. Price increases are likely to follow a decrease in the number of pieces available. Those who don't purchase quickly will likely miss out. The number of available plots of land in Decentraland is limited to 90,601.
MetaDojo presented a project in January to help early Metaverse startups find financially and technically feasible solutions for starting businesses. Despite their apparent large number, approximately 123,840 Sandbox plots are available for sale, of which 23,000 have been sold. Not all of these numbers are available. Sandbox will retain about 26% of its public land for special events (10%) and reward its players, partners, and creators (16%). These are more accessible options for regular investors if you're interested in investing in virtual land.
They provide ready-made premises and infrastructure that can accelerate the growth of businesses in the Metaverse. Holding such tokens offers investors an investment incentive, as well as new opportunities, such as Play-to-Earn and creator economies.
What the Future Holds.
Metaverse investments and developments are a good indicator of where experts expect the market to go. Even though investing in virtual land is risky, recent trends point to even faster growth in the next few years. The number of companies investing in virtual reality, such as Facebook, Google, and Apple, will increase the demand for these virtual spaces. The top investment and development platforms are Sandbox, Decentraland, and Somnium Space. Though each is tailored to a specific protocol and functions in a particular way, the goal is convergent — to build a social network based on 3D digital worlds.
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Crypto Investors Prove Wealthier than Traditional Investors
We should consider how vast wealth created in cryptocurrencies filters through the rest of the economy.
Millions of dollars have been spent on Super Bowl ads by cryptocurrency companies. It's harder to estimate how much cryptocurrency investors spent on game day. Several trillions of dollars have been created in cryptocurrencies, which now have a value of nearly $2 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Although that pales in comparison to other asset classes, it has risen rapidly.
According to FactSet, the crypto market value rose nearly $1.5 trillion last year, compared with nearly $9 trillion for the S&P 500. In some key ways, crypto wealth may be harder to spend than gains from stock or house price increases, making its impact on the overall economy harder to predict. We need to start thinking about how that wealth filters through the rest of the economy. Now, some crypto wealth might be making its way into daily spending. Cryptocurrency is currently only accepted directly by a few merchants, but companies like Coinbase Global COIN -6.90% and PayPal Holdings PYPL -1.41% make it possible to pay with it using conventional methods. The funds come from crypto holdings and can be used to fund cards or digital wallets. Visa's crypto-linked debit cards processed about $6 billion in payments between October 2020 and the end of 2021. Although that sounds significant, it is still just a drop in the ocean at the moment. Visa debited over $1 trillion last year.
While the SEC hasn't taken action against big crypto exchanges, it has threatened to sue companies that offer crypto loans. As described by Dion Rabouin, this particular component of the crypto market has received such a strong reaction.
It's like selling crypto for tax purposes when you spend crypto in the United
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States. Additionally, it may be anathema to long-term believers who believe prices will ultimately rise greatly. You may recall the cautionary tale of the man who paid 10,000 Bitcoins for two Papa John's pizzas in 2010; those coins are now worth over $400 million.
Stock portfolios can be sold without a sale if the wealthy get low-interest loans secured by their investments in the form of "buy, borrow, die" maneuvers. Securing loans via crypto is also becoming a trend. Crypto-backed lending is offered by several firms and DeFi applications. Bitcoin can be used as collateral for home loans through Milo Credit, for example.
Some crypto-entrepreneurs are making their presence known in the high-end real estate market by owning crypto or starting crypto businesses. Anyone attempting to get a mortgage that is eligible for Freddie Mac's guarantee might struggle with their crypto wealth. The mortgage giant announced last year that income paid in crypto could not be counted against mortgage qualifications.
As for cryptocurrency assets, they can't be used in the same way as stock dividends as a source of income or repayment. Furthermore, even if you borrowed dollars against your crypto, those obligations would have to be factored into your debt-to-income ratio. Loans secured by salable noncrypto assets, on the other hand, do not need to be included. The conversion of cryptocurrency into fiat currency can be done at will. In the fourth quarter, about 12% of first-time home buyers surveyed by brokerage Redfin said selling crypto investments helped with down payments. In a thirdquarter 2019 survey, fewer than 5% of respondents said the same.
In response to rising mortgage rates, Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, predicts that more lenders may consider crypto as part of a borrower's assets. “By accounting for a portion of a crypto portfolio just like a 401(k) retirement account, it might be possible to expand the pool of people that can be underwritten without going further into the risk range,” he says.
There is also a possibility of recycling some crypto wealth within the digital ecosystem. Some investors in the asset class may not be eager to convert their money into fiat currency. It is possible that they will take out loans against their existing holdings to buy coins or spend crypto on nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. If they cash out their earnings, people selling or minting NFTs might consider this a traditional source of income.
At least $44 billion worth of cryptocurrency was sent to contracts related to NFT marketplaces and collections in 2021, according to Chainalysis. Despite its popularity, that's still a fraction of the crypto wealth that has grown in recent years.A person who has gained significant wealth in the digital realm may also spend more today simply because they feel richer or expect to be able to use crypto more readily in the future. Additionally, many investors are likely to be investing more discretionary funds in crypto. Their traditional retirement savings might have a greater propensity to be spent or leveraged than the gains from their investments.
Whether or not you think it is really money, we are now talking about real money. Crypto is starting to matter even to people who have never bought a cent of digital tokens. Investors and economic observers should be watching as closely as they do a splashy TV commercial.
