Crypto Weekly Issue 43.

Editors

Welcome to Crypto Weekly

Crypto Weekly is the brainchild of the guys at CMC, and I am Rob Stone, Editor; and I hope to bring you an informative read on everything crypto every week of the year Another week has gone by, and this is our 43rd issue of Crypto Weekly

Crypto is on the edge of a great explosion of acceptance around the world and there is a great opportunity for anyone taking part in the crypto revolution Crypto is so important that it may shake up the status quo in such a way that it may save the world and that's the truth! We at Crypto Weekly are looking forward to the future right along with all of you I see crypto as portraying the depth of needed change in the world and I want to leave you with a quote from Mario Savio

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

—Mario Savio

happened in the last week because the music never stops in the crypto sphere, and the time keeps rolling on I hope you all enjoy what we have brought together for you this week� Please let us know your thoughts, and if you would like to see something featured, please do get in touch

As usual, a lot of stuff

Taxes Can Now be Paid in Crypto in Colorado

The state's payment portal allows residents to pay their taxes using cryptocurrencies PayPal's cryptocurrency hub charges an additional fee for payments

During an appearance on CoinDesk TV in February, Gov Jared Polis announced that crypto payments would be accepted by the end of the summer PayPal's crypto checkout service settles in U S dollars while allowing users to deposit, withdraw, and hold cryptocurrencies

According to an Axios report, residents can pay for personal income tax, business income tax, severance tax, and withholding tax with crypto The payment amount is also subject to a service fee of $1 plus 1 83%

The inflation-hit capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, announced in April that it would allow crypto payments for taxes, joining other U S states, like Florida and Ohio

—Crypto Weekly

Crypto Continues to Act as Risk Asset Says B of A

According to a research report published Friday by Bank of America (BAC), digital assets continue to act as risk assets Stablecoin inflows are a positive sign of an eventual recovery The value of stablecoins is pegged to another asset, such as the U S dollar or gold

According to the report, payments and remittances jumped by 58% last week as "real-world data providers such as decentralized Oracle networks improved functionality "

Three out of the four largest stablecoins experienced net exchange inflows last week, the report said, and that Binance USD (BUSD) inflows/USD Coin (USDC) outflows may be due to investors "preemptively rotating" into BUSD from USDC to prevent disruptions following Binance's decision to convert some stablecoins into its own stablecoins

According to Bank of America, decentralized finance adoption will be supported by regulatory clarity DeFi refers to lending, trading, and other financial activities carried out on a blockchain without the involvement of traditional intermediaries

ETH's (ETH) price has reversed from mid-July to mid-August as investors

realize that proof-of-stake (PoS) does not resolve scalability issues or high fees, and they take a waitand-see approach regarding future upgrades

Known as the Merge, the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proofof-stake consensus is the first of five upgrades for the Ethereum blockchain —Crypto Weekly

The Center of Game-Changing Technologies - Register for "The ICBM Expo" in Dubai March 3–4

influential industry experts will gather

It's time to register for the biggest crypto, blockchain, and metaverse exhibition of the year, the ICBM Expo� It is with great pleasure that Events360 Group announces the great platform that will attract exhibitors, traders, specialists, and fans from all over the globe� The most significant technology exhibition will be held March 3–4, 2023� Conferences will be held at the Festival Arena, Festival City Dubai - UAE, for two consecutive days of the exhibition

ICBM - International Crypto, Blockchain, Metaverse Expo

The ICBM Expo is the only enormous meetup opportunity for tech companies to showcase all their pioneering products Furthermore, visitors are expected to learn about groundbreaking technologies, intelligent and safe business, and investment opportunities Companies will be able to learn what products and projects they have to offer and the direction they are

headed in Over 100 tech companies and over 50 speakers will participate in this exhibition plus conference, which expects more than 10,000 visitors daily In addition, the entry passes for the ICBM Expo are real NFTs

For the two-day event, a network of metaverse, cryptocurrency, and blockchain professionals from various exchanges, payment and liquidity solution providers, NFTs, ICOs, play-to-earn projects, metaverse, and

The ICBM Expo is looking for emerging tech companies with innovation to revolutionize the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and metaverse industries In addition, all trendsetters in the fintech industry and new startups are welcome to explore the opportunities In addition, there is a separate startup village where founders will be able to pitch their innovative ideas to investors and secure massive funding

Dubai has enormous potential in regulating technology-related events and adopting cuttingedge innovations As part of its efforts to develop a robust digital economy, the UAE government is utilizing its advantages and benefits. Visitors can interact digitally with avatars in the metaverse and develop a sense of community

Among many other things, shielding can be

purchased with digital cash in video games� Users can explore the metaverse aimlessly and enjoyably using a virtual reality headset and controllers Using blockchain technology, participants will learn how to confirm transactions without needing a centralized clearing

house All trades are recorded on decentralized ledgers on a peer-to-peer network To demonstrate ownership of unique items, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may be used It is also possible to tokenize works of art, valuables, and even real estate As a result of the Ethereum blockchain, no one can

Registration Information

ƒ

event is open for registration�

you are planning

Space Booking,

alter an asset's ownership record or copy/paste a new NFT into existence Despite their economic and social potential, these virtual worlds are incredibly engaging Using blockchain structure, people can access the larger digital economy and exchange virtual goods for real economic

value Investing in digital assets has become increasingly popular in recent years ICBM Expo promises to bring together new talks and networking opportunities for institutional interest and the expansion of crypto-focused venture capital, among other things

here to register as a speaker

ICBM Expo website

can email ICBM Expo

Sponsorship,

Great news for kids; parents can create a cryptocurrency wallet for their child and set up periodic donations by being aware of Crypto for Kids They will accept presents from relatives and friends that are put immediately into their wallets A new lineup of key

influencers will lead talks on the future of relevant industries at ICBM Expo� It is not to miss The exhibition will ensue with insightful and exciting conversations expected on new gamechanging technologies such as blockchain, metaverse, virtual assets, games, DeFi (decentralized

finance), investing in virtual real estate, the future of the internet Web 3 0, digital payment solutions and getaways, talk about ICO/STO, progress in crypto, AI and VR's role in the metaverse, and more A stellar lineup of conference speakers is already in the

works, with some of the world's most powerful influencers and officials expected to participate Attendees will have networking opportunities with important industry executives, investors, and guided business contacts

—Crypto Weekly

Ex-CEO of Celsius Withdrew $10 million Before Client Accounts Were Frozen

According to the Financial Times, Alex Mashinsky, who resigned as chief executive officer of Celsius on Sept 27, withdrew US$10 million from the crypto exchange in May before it filed for bankruptcy and froze withdrawals in June

A spokesperson for the embattled ex-CEO said he "withdrew a percentage of his cryptocurrency to pay federal and state taxes " After the withdrawals, Mashinsky and his family still owned US$44 million in frozen crypto assets with Celsius,

according to his voluntary disclosure to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC)

Despite telling customers just days earlier that the company was financially secure and moving forward "at full speed," Celsius halted withdrawals, swaps and transfers in June due to "extreme market conditions " As a result of its balance sheet's US$1 2 billion deficit, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon after this freeze, claiming that "without a pause, the acceleration

of withdrawals would have allowed certain customers — those who had acted first — to be paid in full while others were left waiting for Celsius to harvest value from illiquid or long-term asset deployment activities before they received

a recovery " Celsius is expected to submit details of Mashinsky’s transactions to a bankruptcy court this week along with other documentation further detailing the company’s financial situation.

—Crypto Weekly

Binance Hackers Successfully Mined $569 million in Crypto but Lost Most

According to the Financial Times, Alex Mashinsky, who resigned as chief executive officer of Celsius on Sept 27, withdrew US$10 million from the crypto exchange in May before it filed for bankruptcy and froze withdrawals in June

A spokesperson for the embattled ex-CEO said he "withdrew a percentage of his cryptocurrency to pay federal and state taxes "

After the withdrawals,

Mashinsky and his family still owned US$44 million in frozen crypto assets with Celsius, according to his voluntary disclosure to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC) Despite telling customers just days earlier that the company was financially secure and moving forward "at full speed," Celsius halted withdrawals, swaps and transfers in June due to "extreme market conditions " As a result of

its balance sheet's US$1 2 billion deficit, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon after this freeze, claiming that "without a pause, the acceleration of withdrawals would have allowed certain customers — those who had acted first — to be paid in full while others were left waiting for Celsius to harvest value from illiquid or long-term asset deployment activities before they received a recovery "

Celsius is expected to submit details of Mashinsky’s transactions to a bankruptcy court this week along with other documentation further detailing the company’s financial situation.

—Crypto Weekly

Cryptocurrency Seizure, Freeze, and Recovery Law Introduced in the United Kingdom

A gainst the backdrop of money laundering, drug trafficking, and cybercrime, the U K government has introduced a law to facilitate the seizure, freezing, and recovery of crypto assets This 250-

page bill, first promised in May, was introduced by the Home Office, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Serious Fraud Office, and Treasury and covers more than just crypto Thursday was the

bill's first reading in the House of Commons, and the second reading is scheduled for Oct 13

"Domestic and international criminals have used U K companies for years to launder proceeds of crime and corruption and are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to do so," said Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency� "I am delighted these reforms will help us crack down on both�"

There has been no power vacuum for the authorities even without the bill After seizing 114 million pounds of crypto in June, the Metropolitan Police in London seized 180 million

pounds in July of last year, the BBC reported The bill builds on the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, which helped regulators place sanctions against Russia and freeze relevant assets Some Russians have used cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions imposed after the Ukraine invasion, which has concerned regulators

Treasury updated guidance earlier this month to encourage crypto exchanges and wallet providers to report suspected sanctions breaches� Cryptocurrency sanctions are also covered by the sanctions rules of the United States and the European Union —Crypto Weekly

In Promotion to Institutional clients, Nasdaq Makes its First Big Crypto Push

Nasdaq is setting up a new digital asset business as part of its efforts to promote institutional participation in the digital asset space As part of its new business, Nasdaq (NDAQ) first offers custody options for crypto as part of "Nasdaq Digital Assets " Nasdaq seeks to capitalize on big-money investors' growing interest in digital currencies

Furthermore, Nasdaq will expand its crypto-related index solutions and anti-

financial crime offerings. Regulatory approval is still pending for Nasdaq Digital Assets, the company said The head of North American markets, Tal Cohen, said a new group would provide institutional investors custody services for Bitcoin and Ether� "As a trusted brand and a strong track record as a global capital markets technology provider, Nasdaq offers unique solutions to industry pain points by improving liquidity, scalability, and

resilience, increasing trust and confidence in the digital asset ecosystem," Cohen said� To lead the new Nasdaq Digital Assets unit, Nasdaq hired Ira Auerbach, who led prime broker services at crypto exchange Gemini

A downturn that is costing jobs and depressing prices isn't stopping Wall Street's biggest companies from getting more involved After partnering with Coinbase Global Inc , BlackRock Inc offered its

first investment product directly in Bitcoin Several companies are backing the new exchange EDX Markets, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity Digital Assets, Citadel Securities, and Virtu Financial

In an interview, Auerbach said the next wave of the revolution would be driven by mass institutional adoption Nasdaq is the only company to bring this brand of trust and reliability to the market " As a custodian of digital

assets, Nasdaq will compete with crypto firms such as Coinbase, Anchorage Digital, and BitGo, which are currently awaiting approval from the New York Department of Financial Services Several financial firms offer crypto custody services for institutions, including BNY Mellon and State Street Still, recent SEC accounting rules have made it more difficult to hold tokens on behalf of clients

Achieving custody is the starting point of other solutions, including execution services, liquidity services, and thinking about ways to support new markets, Cohen said in an interview Cohen said that Nasdaq would evaluate the opportunity based on the regulatory environment and competitive landscape, even though it does not

plan to launch a crypto exchange immediately

Investing in software, data, and other offerings has helped Nasdaq diversify its revenue sources away from its exchange business, where shares in public companies trade Bitstamp, for example, already uses its matching engine technology It also outsources its own software to crypto players, including surveillance

and trading tools Despite that, Nasdaq's overall approach to the space has been more cautious because of regulatory concerns, and Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman told Bloomberg in May According to Cohen, regulation can also provide opportunities for innovation "Our industry knows how to operate under regulatory regimes, and we continue to innovate under those

rules of the road," Cohen said� "We are expected to operate within that framework "

While Nasdaq is open to exploring partnerships and deal opportunities with crypto-native firms, it has no plans to acquire any companies in the short term, Auerbach, who will report to Cohen as senior vice president and head of digital assets, said By the end of the year, he hopes to reach 40 employees by hiring internally and externally

Besides offering crypto companies protection and anti-crime software, Nasdaq has expanded its technology offering to banks and trading firms, including its Verafin and Surveillance products Using these products, banks and trading firms can investigate and report instances of money laundering, fraud, and manipulation

—Crypto Weekly

Market Actions: New Phrase From Bitcoin Boosters

A new phrase for Bitcoin suggests the coin's price in fiat currency does not really matter.

Cryptocurrency prices dropped recently after Bitcoin fans coined a new line to describe the world's most popular digital currency Bitcoin's fans now describe the cryptocurrency as "1 BTC = 1 BTC" after its price fell sharply in 2022 Winston Ma, the managing partner of CloudTree Ventures, agrees

Making the Social Rounds

"The phrase has been circulating on Twitter recently, with users suggesting that the coin's price in fiat currency does not matter Winston Ma, author of "Blockchain and Web3: Building the Cryptocurrency, Privacy, and Security Foundations of the Metaverse," says Bitcoin believers claim that "BTC will eventually become a unit of account, so don't worry about the amount of bitcoin you have today�"

As a result, 1 BTC equals 1 BTC probably also means that the changing inconsistency of the dollar

distorts 'measurement'read: 'prices'-of assets, but BTC will keep its intrinsic value, like the light of speed is constant," he declared

As of Oct 6, Bitcoin was down 1% to $19,925 50, according to data firm CoinGecko The native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, ETH, dropped 0 9% to $1,351 74, while dogecoin fell 1 1% to $0 064312 Cryptocurrency prices remain in a welldefined multi-month trend, according to Billy Endres, cryptocurrency expert with Finder� As far as high-cap trading pairs are concerned, Ripple has outperformed the market, rising over 20% since midFebruary

Ripple vs. SEC

In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs Inc and two of its executives for conducting an unregistered, ongoing offering of digital assets According to Endres, XRP's price action follows

advances in its longrunning lawsuit with the SEC "Both parties requested a judgment without a trial regarding whether Ripple was considered a security " In addition to breaking out of its long-term range, it is currently trading around its $0 50 resistance level, "a clear target for traders to take profits."

As a result of Ripple's lawsuit against the SEC and XRP's price reaction, Endres said the rest of the market appeared to be largely unaffected� While Bitcoin is currently holding above $20,000, exchange reserves for Bitcoin are at yearly lows, with approximately 2 25 million BTC held on exchanges�" According to him, this shows investors are comfortable with holding their Bitcoin and are removing them from exchanges A lack of tradeable Bitcoin may trigger a bull run if exchange outflows continue "The lack of tradeable Bitcoin could drive the market out of its

trading range," he said 'Saving Customers from Themselves' According to David Lesperance, managing partner of immigration and tax adviser Lesperance & Associates, Reuters recently "put the crypto world's loans under a microscope " "One of the report's most interesting findings is the fact that many are still doing unsecured lending, despite the crypto wipeout caused by it," he said According to Lesperance, regulators do not yet require crypto lenders to hold capital or liquidity buffers

"When there is a downturn in the crypto market, a lender and its customers suffer large losses due to a lack of collateral," he said Leverage, of course, amplifies these losses, resulting in the loss of customer deposits " Regulators will rush to protect retail crypto customers According to Lesperance, this is yet another instance of the crypto world ignoring the risk-return rules He said, "This misconception quickly vanishes when a margin call is made during a slowdown in growth or even a downturn

—Crypto Weekly

Crypto is still loaded with uncertainty, but Mastercard is betting that it can assuage buyers' minds� The company announced in a press release that financial services company Mastercard Inc launched Crypto Secure, a technology solution that helps banks identify fraudprone crypto exchanges

Crypto exchanges on the Mastercard payment network are analyzed using artificial intelligence algorithms and blockchain data Using a digital dashboard on the platform, users can judge

Crypto Exchanges

which crypto merchants to use based on color-coded ratings representing suspicious activity With CipherTrace, card issuers can create a "risk profile" for digital asset providers and decide whether to approve transactions Your bank may block your purchases when a merchant has a history of fraud as recorded in the platform�

Cryptocurrency is just a new application of the company's existing conventional currency method Based on the color-coding system, risk ratings range from green

(safe) to red (dangerous)

In addition, MasterCard helps issuers track the number of approved and declined transactions through a "benchmark" rating

Data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis indicates that illicit cryptocurrency funds reached a record high of US$14 billion last year, and some forms of cryptocurrency-based crime will increase in 2022�

Due to its vested interests, Mastercard is highly interested in improving the reliability of crypto

transactions In 2021, it began supporting cryptocurrency payments, allowing more retailers to use it� Mastercard profits more from those payments the more trustworthy they are Regardless of the motivations, you might not mind if you find more places to spend your Bitcoin or Ethereum

Mastercard acquired CipherTrace, a Californiabased blockchain security company investigating illicit blockchain activity to support the new service —Crypto Weekly

What Billionaire Founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried Says About the Markets

It is common to wonder whether the crypto markets have reached a bottom level before recovering� Still, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, believes that crypto could be tied to macroeconomic conditions in the coming months

"Interest rates are driving markets, and they are leading to the strengthening and weakness of fiat currencies, and so whenever you have the dollar moving, you're going to see the inverse " The entrepreneur told Laura Shin of the Unchained

podcast that "if the dollar strengthens, it'll strengthen against Exxon, Amazon, and Bitcoin, and when it weakens, it'll be the inverse "

Because "a lot of macro moves are driven by currency movements, this sort of crypto price will move against dollars " Bankman-Fried says, "So, one boring answer to the question is if markets go up, crypto will probably go up�" "If markets go down, it'll go down, but maybe let us take that out for a moment and look at relative to whatever happens to stock markets "

He estimates that U S authorities' regulatory activities will have the "biggest impact" on the current crypto-sphere, and such a crucial development could occur soon, according to FTX's CEO As a result, this would occur "if regulatory regimes were clear, and

particularly in the United States, regulatory regimes came out that allowed the industry to operate clearly and transparently in the country while protecting consumers " BankmanFried believes we might be close to that white whale, which has been a problem for years —Crypto Weekly

New Crypto Exchange Has Wall Street Intermediaries

crypto investors get the best market price

While traditional Wall Street players are entering crypto, Nazarali welcomes the competition enthusiastically According to Nazarali, we will match the best price available from market makers with customers' orders To avoid regulatory oversight, Nazarali has said that the firm would only offer "a handful" of tokens, including bitcoin (BTC)

As more institutions offer cryptocurrency to their big clients, a new crypto exchange assembled by Wall Street heavyweights aims to bring traditional finance into digital asset trading through intermediaries

In his interview with CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" on Tuesday, Jamil Nazarali explained that his exchange applies "the best practices of traditional finance" to crypto trading, claiming it will lead to a safer, faster, and more efficient digital asset trading experience

The exchange, which will serve institutional accounts at the beginning

rather than the retail sector, is backed by Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab (SCHW), and Citadel Securities, where Nazarali previously worked

Nazarali explained that EDX Markets investors are industry leaders and longterm investors rather than short-term investors Their strategy includes building infrastructure for the future " Although no direct customer accounts will be available in the beginning, Nazarali said that "in the long term, we will build and include that capability "

Even though blockchains and cryptocurrencies were created, in

part, to eliminate the need for traditional intermediaries, Nazarali says intermediaries will not disappear The reality is, you'll have an intermediary, either way, he said. He added his firm's primary objective is to help

His exchange will not directly compete with Nasdaq's crypto push, Nazarali said, but it suggests "a great development in the market " It will "attract more institutional players," he said�

—Crypto Weekly

Max Keiser Says Ethereum's Recreation of Fiat Money is a New Financial Crisis

Robert Stone

WWe may experience a new financial crisis around the world's biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin� Satoshi Nakamoto mined Bitcoin's 'genesis block' in January 2009 under a pseudonym At the same time, the global financial crisis in 2009 was in the middle of cascading failures among

interconnected financial institutions worldwide when a small set of assets declined rapidly in value�

According to Stacy Herbert and Max Keiser, the alldominant US dollar will soon be superseded by Bitcoin after a financial crisis occurs in the future The digital asset

is projected to consume the incumbent financial system until it becomes the reserve asset of the globe, forming a 'Bitcoin Standard' in the footsteps of gold, as its target addressable market is the total sum of global finance. Despite this, institutional and retail investors have embraced this asset as a

mature asset How do they respond to Ethereum's move to low-energy 'proof of stake' transaction validation?

Doesn't bitcoin have to give up its energy-intensive 'proof of work consensus mechanism? In addition, El Salvador has now adopted bitcoin as a legal tender for one year El Salvador's experiment with bitcoin has been regarded as a failure by the media and leading economists worldwide

Since reaching its all-time high of $68,000 per coin in November 2021, bitcoin has lost almost 70% of its value

Since the recent successful upgrade to a new way of verifying transactions on the Ethereum blockchain that uses 99 95% less energy, the bitcoin community has been pressured to abandon its energyintensive 'proof of work consensus mechanism and follow Ethereum's lead Given the rapidly worsening climate crisis, fossil fuels have become a controversial source of power for proof of work mining

While proof of stake is less energy-intensive, it is not without its critics Nefarious operators could exploit 'proof of stake' to gain control of the Ethereum blockchain if they amass the largest amount of staked Ether

Since Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin Whitepaper in 2008, a centralized entity controlling the blockchain is the opposite of what every blockchain has sought to emulate.

A blockchain's validator nodes are distributed worldwide to ensure maximum democracy and autonomy Longterm network security depends on the number of independent validator nodes Max Keiser, a fervent bitcoin advocate, did not overlook the fact that, with a proof of stake system, this higher concentration of validator nodes could be accomplished by simply being able to stake the most Ether "The Ethereum Foundation has changed the code on a whim many times," says Max He says, "it's completely insecure,

and now it's even much worse than ever�"

Max wants the world to know and has explained, "Bitcoin has nothing to do with Ethereum, and its proof of stake method is basically a recreation of fiat money systems worldwide A spotlight is being cast on Bitcoin, and capital is being attracted to Bitcoin Ethereum is selling off now versus Bitcoin We will see if the trend of the selling of ethereum continues and if Ether eventually trades at zero against bitcoin We will see this for all altcoins since none offer anything that would draw capital for any serious reason " Etherium Can be Dominated by a Minority of Heavy Investors "Users and developers are highly alarmed about the potential for dominance

of only a few players in the Ethereum ecosystem," said Halborn's Limaris Torres, senior security advisor "Coinbase and Lido, who validated 46% of blocks after the merge, and the Flashbots relay, which delivered 82% of blocks " He adds, "The point of the decentralized network around Bitcoin was to have a monetary system that could not be controlled by a government, but because OFAC sanctions were recently imposed on Tornado Cash, ecosystem users are concerned that major players would have to comply with regulatory bodies and blacklist certain users It would violate the ecosystem's very ethos if this were to occur. Unlike fiat money, a decentralized network cannot be controlled by any government, so people worldwide will be able to send payments

What is the fiat money system?

Governments produce fiat money rather than precious metals or commodities of intrinsic value, backed by central banks Since 1971, when Nixon removed the dollar from its gold backing, the US dollar has ruled the present fiat monetary system In the wake of the "Nixon Shock," the dollar's direct international convertibility to gold was canceled Since then, the Federal Reserve has created dollars without having to back them with gold

A Possible Forecast for Bitcoin

Satoshi Nakamoto mined the 'genesis block' in January 2009, launching Bitcoin� Although institutional and retail investors have embraced this asset, it will face a financial crisis this time. Global financial institutions

had cascaded failures after the last global financial crisis caused by the declining value of a small set of assets We are now amidst a new financial crisis for the world's leading cryptocurrency

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are renowned for their conviction that bitcoin will replace fiat currencies, including the dollar As the total sum of global finance is its target addressable market, they predict the digital asset will eat up the incumbent financial system until it becomes the world's reserve asset, thereby creating a new 'Bitcoin Standard,' similar to gold follows in its footsteps

In a recent interview for "The Crypto Mile" on YouTube, Keiser reiterated his belief that the world's largest digital asset will prevail in the long term against the dollar's dominance and the emergence of altcoin challengers Keiser said that Bitcoin's real target is

the entire global financial system Keiser said: "Ultimately, bitcoin could address a market worth $400 trillion That's the total global financial system. In essence, bitcoin will eat that, so we'll see prices of $1 million or $2 million per bitcoin "

El Salvador's Bitcoin Law

The Central American nation's experiment with bitcoin is viewed by mass media and economists worldwide as a failure one year after it became legal tender� Since its alltime high of $68,000 per bitcoin in November 2021, Bitcoin's value has fallen almost 70% When asked how bitcoin adoption is progressing from her first-hand experience on the ground, Stacy Herbert, a member of the interview, said, "El Salvador is winning, and they're winning big, which is why the headlines are misleading us It's challenging to quantify El Salvador's success since it's not measured

in fiat." Max Keiser added that "tourism, GDP, and inward investment have all increased since the country enacted its Bitcoin Law Whenever a courageous leader turns his back on the global central banking establishment, such as the IMF, and gives his people sovereignty, Bitcoin as legal tender will continue to prove what is possible As a result of distrust in central banks and the financial system during the 2008 recession, Bitcoin was created�"

Bitcoin has never been re-tested in the same conditions that it was born However, Bitcoin's reason for existing had yet to be realized after over 12 years of buoyant markets with interest rates near zero and equities flourishing. Can the digital asset become a true store of value when it faces an upcoming financial crisis in the future as it was designed to handle? Time will tell

across borders regardless of regimes or politics�"

Can Privacy-Focused Bitcoin Projects Avoid U.S. Sanctions?

Robert Stone

Bitcoin's immunity to government meddling is uneasy after the U S blacklisted Ethereum addresses associated with Tornado Cash

Cryptocurrency's oldest and most valuable network has faced

transaction censorship before Marathon Digital Holdings, a U S bitcoin mining company, announced in May 2021 that it would exclude transactions involving sanctions-listed addresses from the blocks it mined

Ultimately, the initiative was short-lived due to high controversy In the end, Marathon CEO Fred Thiel reaffirmed his commitment to the Bitcoin ethos of censorship resistance and decentralization by

reverting to traditional mining This kind doesn't discriminate among users

OFAC's action against Tornado Cash has raised the stakes Rather than sanctioning individuals or organizations linked

to terrorism or drug trafficking, the agency cracked down on lawabiding users who use privacy-enhancing software to conceal their tracks on Ethereum�

Would OFAC sanction one of Bitcoin's decentralized mixing protocols similarly?

Transactions to and from these mixers may be blocked more frequently by miners based in the U S or jurisdictions where Washington dominates, as Marathon briefly did with

sanctioned transactions Bitcoin developers have been working on this issue for more than a decade Further, they are developing ways to make it more difficult to distinguish between a "regular" bitcoin transaction and one that has been mixed

The many mixers that are available for Bitcoin Almost every bitcoin transaction is public information, and anyone with a block explorer, a software tool that provides detailed information about cryptocurrency transactions, can see them all A mixer is a software program or protocol that prevents such snooping To sever the link between sender and receiver, transactions are jumbled up before being sent through a mixer

Like a bank protects its customers' financial information, privacy tools like mixers do the same for Bitcoin users Some people use mixers for illicit purposes, but others want to keep their financial activities private, such as charitable or political donations

Although mixers provide privacy, they aren't perfect

It is extremely difficult to trace the history of a mixed coin's transactions before it entered the

mixer, but it is fairly easy to determine that a coin has been through one afterward This is where censorship takes place Users often detect that a mixer has been used after sending their coins through a decentralized mixer, as the process of mixing generates a distinctive transaction output When regulators (or regulated entities such as cryptocurrency exchanges) see a large number of these quirky mixer transactions, questions about illicit activity naturally arise

Mixers provide peer-topeer software for people to interact Regulatory agencies don't have a single target for mixed funds, as no centralized entity is holding them The resultant transactions are vulnerable to sanctions and censorship, not the transactions themselves� There is one straightforward solution, but it isn't always easy: Make mixer transactions look like regular transactions so that they can't be censored�

The following are some techniques bitcoiners can use to protect their privacy through coin mixing

CoinJoins

To enhance privacy, CoinJoins combine multiple bitcoin

transactions Bitcoins are mixed with other bitcoins in a pool The origin of bitcoins is obscured by the mixing activity when users withdraw bitcoins, but the amount is the same as what they sent in

Through Samourai or Wasabi's centralized CoinJoining services or by joining the JoinMarket decentralized CoinJoining marketplace, a group of individuals can perform CoinJoins independently

Despite CoinJoins' obfuscation of bitcoins' transaction pathways, snoopers can easily identify CoinJoins based on the Bitcoin blockchain Due to regulatory mandates, some entities may choose to censor CoinJoin transactions

PayJoins

You can use PayJoins and CoinJoins together� Similarly to CoinJoins, PayJoins obfuscate the distinction between sender and receiver by mixing bitcoins PayJoins are also supported in CoinJoin wallets such as Wasabi and Samourai There is a PayJoin adoption Bitcoin Wiki page that lists compatible wallets

PayJoins can only be conducted between two parties, which is one of their main pitfalls As a result, PayJoin's use cases

are limited There are only a few wallets that implement PayJoin fully Having a limited number of implementations also means collaborating with fewer "PayJoiners "

CoinSwaps

By creating a series of transactions that appear unrelated to an outsider, CoinSwaps allows users to swap bitcoin

With CoinSwaps, the transaction pathway of a bitcoin is obfuscated, just like with their cousins, CoinJoins

"Imagine a future in which Alice has bitcoins and wishes to send them with maximum privacy, so she creates a special type of transaction According to Chris Belcher's initial CoinSwap design proposal, her coins will end up in address Z, which is entirely unrelated to either A or B� Even though her coins appear to go from address A to address B, her transaction appears

normal to anyone looking at the blockchain�

A drawback of CoinSwap transactions is that they look like multi-signature transactions rather than standard single-signature transactions This makes them appear conspicuous and susceptible to censorship

Improvements in privacy are on the way.

With the Taproot upgrade in November 2021, Bitcoin tackled many of the pitfalls mentioned above, by making coin-mixing transactions less obvious to anyone trying to filter them

The Schnorr Signature

As part of the Taproot upgrade for Bitcoin in November 2021, Schnorr signatures were introduced as an alternate to Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) signatures

Using Schnorr signatures,

users combine their signatures into one signature This is called aggregation Multiple signers complicate the identification of each signer from a privacy perspective

MuSig2

Schnorr signatures also have the advantage of combining multiple public bitcoin addresses (public keys) into a single address through a signature scheme called MuSig2

These composite MuSig2 addresses resemble standard bitcoin transactions rather than multisig transactions when bitcoin is sent to them

Obscuring the source of a transaction and making it look like a single signature transaction is another method for enhancing privacy

MAST

A third aspect of the Taproot upgrade is the integration of Merkelized Alternative Script Trees (MAST)� By concealing transaction spending conditions, MAST integration reduces transaction sizes and increases transaction privacy� Senders can specify conditions under which funds can be used in Bitcoin using a feature called a timelock script For example, a

specified amount of bitcoin can be spent days after it was received

Transaction data contains these instructions, compromising privacy MAST provides better privacy by combining, hashing, and concealing these spending instructions

Cross-input signature aggregation (CISA)

It is an exciting Bitcoin enhancement that has yet to be implemented A bitcoin transaction currently requires each input to have its own signature Cross-input signature aggregation is a feature that allows multiple inputs in a bitcoin transaction to share a single signature

Among the primary privacy benefits are that it will reduce the cost of mixing activities such as CoinJoins and PayJoins A CoinJoin costs the same as a single transaction with CISA Since CoinJoins are performed by groups, the fee for each group member is only a fraction of the total fee� As a CoinJoin group grows, the bitcoin transaction cost drops�

By making CISA transactions more affordable, CoinJoins will be used more frequently, and the increased use of CoinJoins will ultimately increase privacy

Keeping Tornado Cash Legal Without Sanctions

Robert Stone

Could the U�S� government have used better tools to counter Tornado Cash crimes than the one it ultimately used? Was it possible to avoid the blunt instrument of sanctions normally targeted at individuals rather than code?

Crypto enthusiasts were rightly furious at the U S government U S authorities designated

Tornado Cash (a currency "mixer") as a sanctioned entity in August Before that, Tornado users - both licit and illicit - had made it the default platform for privacy in transactions, and we all have a right to privacy

Blockchains are particularly sensitive to privacy issues since all transactions are publicly visible Achieving

blockchain privacy becomes much more challenging without Tornado to mix funds� Transactions are mixed before being transmitted to individual recipients by Tornado Cash While mixers are intended to increase privacy, illicit actors usually use them to launder money because they make it very difficult to trace the flow of funds and enhance anonymity

According to the Treasury Department press release, "According to the press release, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to implement effective controls intended to stop it from laundering money for malicious cyber actors, despite public assurances otherwise Tornado Cash appears to be run by actual people –a fact at the heart of the controversy over these

sanctions – which implies real people manage Tornado Cash

It's hard to deny that Tornado-based money laundering needed to be addressed, sanctions or not In addition to the $182 million Beanstalk hack, the $196 million BitMart exploit, and the $34 million Crypto com compromise, the mixer cleaned massive amounts of dirty money

Tornado's ETH pools require users to wait a certain amount of time before withdrawing their ETH In conjunction with Tornado's innovative use of zero-knowledge proofs and the collaborative placement of ether into the same pot, the trail of ether's origins is hidden

Lazarus, a North Korean state-sponsored hacker group, began laundering funds from the massive

$625 million Ronin Bridge hack in April 2022 using Tornado In April 2022, Lazarus, a North Korean state-sponsored hacker group, began laundering funds from the massive $625 million Ronin Bridge hack In 2019, Lazarus was sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury

Economic sanctions are imposed by The OFAC (Office of Federal Assets Control) against countries and groups of individuals on behalf of the U S federal government Terrorists, narcotics traffickers, and money launderers are among its targets Indisputably, the Tornado Cash sanctions are, to date, unique and unprecedented

The U S government's decision was met with immediate pushback According to the

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Tornado Cash smart contracts are code Code sanctioning violates constitutionally protected freedom of speech Suppose OFAC can designate Tornado Cash as an SDN (Specially Designated National) that is lawful to be subject to sanctions In that case, we can expect it to do the same for other defenseless open-source software tools

OfAC had overstepped its authority, according to Coin Center, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit promoting decentralized computing By its rules, OFAC can only target individuals and companies However, Tornado Cash smart contracts are neither; they cannot change their behavior or appeal to OFAC to have sanctions revoked, a key element of any sanction

Penalize users, not code

EFF and Coin Center have raised serious criticisms Were there other ways to counter Tornado's tools that were less likely to trigger these criticisms rather than penalizing Tornado Cash smart contracts? If the U S government had a second chance, what would it do?

That's right The people who use the code should be penalized rather than the code itself Tornado Cash users fall into three categories: relayers, liquidity providers, and Ethereum-rich users

Relayers are the people who process withdrawals for Tornado Cash, adding a key layer of privacy A relayer solves the following problem It costs gas to withdraw mixed funds from Tornado to a new wallet address, so the new wallet must have some funds to pay for the withdrawal Although prefunding can be traced, it may also compromise privacy To solve the prefunding problem, Tornado Cash introduced third-party relayers who paid the gas fees, sending the withdrawal to the new address These relayers collect service charges�

Over 75% of Tornado Cash withdrawals rely on relayers for intermediation, illustrating the importance

of relayers The U S government needn't ban code Liquidity providers could also be targeted in addition to relayers

A liquidity provider is someone who earns a profit from Tornado Cash By depositing ether into Tornado pools, they earn anonymity points, which can be exchanged for TORN, Tornado's native token

Money laundering, a criminal offense, could be charged against relayers and liquidity providers

Relayers conduct illegal transactions by indiscriminately forwarding mixed ether As a result of relayers indiscriminately forwarding mixed ether, they are conducting transactions with criminally derived funds Liquidity providers profit financially from Tornado's anonymity, which aids criminals in concealing their financial activities.

Relayers and liquidity providers probably knew criminals, and SDNs used Tornado Cash because blockchains are transparent Thus they knowingly offered their services�

Federal prosecutors could have easily prosecuted relayers and liquidity providers for providing Tornado Cash services without a license and a money laundering offense

OFAC may also sanction, fine, or charge relayers and liquidity providers Due to their free agency, these users can defend themselves against Coin Center's accusations

Sanctioning Tornado Cash by itself was never needed Liquidity providers and relayers are individuals, not programs Therefore, arresting or sanctioning them would not trigger the code-is-speech criticism

Tornado Cash would have been less able to hide criminally-derived funds if relayers had been prohibited, making it easier to link depositors with withdrawn funds�

Criminals would be less able to launder funds through Tornado Cash if liquidity providers were targeted Tornado

A liquidity provider is someone who earns a profit from Tornado Cash. By depositing ether into Tornado pools, they earn anonymity points, which can be exchanged for TORN, Tornado's native token.

money laundering could have been curtailed if authorities pursued liquidity providers and relayers instead of the Ethereum-rich�

Dealing with future blockchain crime.

To some extent, OFAC's sanctions seem to have worked The public has mostly stopped using

TORN to avoid penalties Tornado Cash pools now contain just 869,000 ether, a 63% drop This has led to a decline in Tornado-facilitated money laundering There are a dozen or more systems of anominizing crypto transactions; none of those were affected in any way

Instead of targeting the code itself, this could have been accomplished by targeting the users of the code, like relayers Authorities would have had to spend more time and effort on it Governments don't need to ban the code at large when criminals use smart contracts More nuanced approaches are available

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JPMorgan Payments Boss says that Crypto is Not Used for Payments Anymore

According to Takis Georgakopoulos, head of payments at JPMorgan Chase, cryptocurrency has a "niche use case," and the demand for cryptocurrencies as a payment method has decreased drastically in recent months

In an interview with Bloomberg Television a few weeks ago, George said Chase is not taking on any more principal risk as cryptocurrency usage declines even though it is still accepting cryptocurrency payments "Up until six months ago, we saw a lot of demand for Crypto as a payment method from our clients "Right now, we do not see much," he added�

Although cryptocurrency's popularity and price have fallen recently, JPMorgan still sees big potential in tokenized assets� Georgakopoulos took the opportunity to mention the many benefits of digital currencies while knocking Crypto's recent popularity "Blockchain technology certainly has some great benefits, like the fact that

people can exchange information without a centralized exchange, as well as security, privacy, and the like," Georgakopoulos added In traditional gaming and the metaverse, JPMorgan sees the intersection between the real, the virtual, and Crypto as another growth area

Georgakopoulos was weary of making any predictions regarding other digital tokens, such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) since little is known about how they would work Except

for China, which has been testing its digital yuan since 2020, the rules of how they will work have not been written " Georgakopoulos said The economy is one of the most advanced of any major economy, but it faces scrutiny and criticism from abroad� In addition to some inherent advantages, Georgakopoulos says JPMorgan believes blockchain and digital currencies can be used as alternative payment options� "As Georgakopoulos notes, the most exciting thing about digital currencies on blockchains is the ability to transfer information

and value simultaneously, in real-time, without the constraints of traditional payment systems

Because of this, JPMorgan is developing its own blockchain network that will accept fiat currencies, digital currencies, and central bank digital currencies in the future�

A $20 million Series A funding was also provided last week by JPMorgan to London-based startup owners� New digital payments may be needed in the future in areas such as the Internet of Things, smart devices, and mobility, but for now, the world is far from that "We still have some way to go," he says —Crypto Weekly

Any suggestions for alternative payment methods?

Crypto is Up There with Social Media and the Internet as U.S. National Security Issues

Robert Stone

To prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting cryptocurrency for nefarious agendas that threaten American institutions' financial and political stability, the U S government can make cryptocurrency a national security issue, enforcing much-needed regulations on this industry Crypto, a peer-to-peer system that can enable anyone anywhere to send and receive payments, has

got to be regulated to the extent that it can become stable and trusted As opposed to physical currency, cryptocurrency payments are merely digital entries in an online database that describe specific transactions. Fiat money has longstanding legal grounds for regulation associated with it, but Crypto transactions circumvent these laws Crypto has no well-defined or clear system yet

developed that seems fair to all involved� It will take time to work things out if crypto is ever to survive—a human dimension to work through the issues and evolve into crypto's future

In the opinion of Brian Armstrong, co-founder, and CEO of Coinbase, crypto should be considered as essential to the U S economy as goods and infrastructure In his impassioned

plea in response to the SEC's recent crypto crackdown, he included an investigation into whether Coinbase itself improperly allowed Americans to trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities "The national security argument is one of the strongest policy arguments in favor of cryptocurrency," he posted to Twitter, attempting to highlight the legal gray

for cryptocurrency to go offshore as well," Brian wrote, adding that "this was true for all countries " Onshore semiconductor production is becoming increasingly important, as he pointed out It is not only high-paying jobs in financial services that are important for economic productivity and help to grow a government's tax base

SEC Regulation by Enforcement

A number of industry players have been urging the SEC to clarify how securities law applies to crypto for years Despite this, the SEC has refused for years, instead pursuing an uneven approach called "regulation by enforcement" that forces companies to guess what it will do It's important to recognize that enforcement-based

regulation has a chilling impact, and rhetoric matters Many with crypto talent, asset issuers, and startups have already moved offshore to protect their hard work and investments

It would be a dream come true for many countries to be able to attract business away from Wall Street The Coinbase CEO may have a point Not only is the U S dollar strong because it is the world's reserve currency, but also because it soaks up excess foreign capital The dollar is also strong because the people of the United States and those who support the U S are rising to the crypto occasion and filling the gaps that must be filled to create a foundation for Crypto Mass Adoption A rules-based system will fill essential regulatory requirements needed for crypto to thrive

area of cryptocurrency

Neither must the industry go the way of microchips, which are made exclusively in Asia, nor fifth-generation mobile network equipment, which is dominated by Chinese company Huawei, Sweden's Ericsson, or Finnish company Nokia, which is based in Finland "The U S couldn't afford to lose out on semiconductors and 5G, now largely manufactured overseas It can't afford

Damien Hirst burns thousands of pieces of art after selling NFTs

Among the many art-world giants who have burned their works is British artist

Damien Hirst, who burned 1,000 of his pieces on Tuesday He streamed the event on Instagram and will burn thousands more works of art

Filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn told NPR in 2018 that contemporary art is traded like an asset and seen as a financial instrument The NFT is a new type of commoditized asset The NFT is a new

type of commoditized asset� The burning was the subject of many critical comments on Hirst's Instagram post� In the end, it's all about the money, wrote one user "Interesting strategy to maximize this collection's carbon footprint," wrote another Damien's painting of multicolored dots burns at the Newport Street Gallery in London on Tuesday, October 11, as part of his exhibition In "The Currency," he released a collection of 10,000 NFTs,

each corresponding to a physical piece of art� If the buyer kept the painting, they would lose the nonfungible token� In either case, the painting would be burned if the buyer kept the non-fungible token�

In the case of buying pieces, the artist informed buyers that they could choose the physical artwork or the NFT that represented it Physical pieces corresponding to the NFTs will be destroyed for those who choose them When asked how

he felt about burning the works, Hirst replied, "It feels good, better than I expected " Each time Damien collected a piece, Damien wore silver metallic boiler suit trousers and matching fire safety gloves The works being burned are estimated to be worth almost $10 million collectively

According to Newport Street Gallery, 4,851 buyers chose NFTs, which means many physical artworks will be destroyed A year ago, Hirst released his

first NFT collection, The Currency, which consisted of 10,000 NFTs representing 10,000 original artworks NFTs could be kept or swapped for physical artwork by collectors who bought one Among the 5,149 buyers at Newport Street Gallery in London, 4,851 selected non-framed artworks

Hirst announced in an Instagram post last week that he would burn 1,000 artworks for non-exchanged NFTs on Tuesday 12th According to reports, each NFT depicted colourful spots and sold for $2,000 (£1,800) Onlookers watched the Turner Prize winner and assistants use tongs to deposit individual pieces stacked in piles into fireplaces in the gallery.

He collected 10,000 NFTs as part of his project "The Currency " Each token is made from enamel paint on handmade paper and

features his signature multicolored dots� A piece of Hirst's work has historically sold for more than $1 million, so $2,000 for this piece is affordable

Collectors had to choose a piece from "The Currency " Either they would take the painting and lose the NFT or hold onto the NFT and burn it Artnet News' Caroline Goldstein wrote Hirst Hirst's "The Currency" pitted his digital art against his old-school practice, asking which was more valuable "

Hirst transformed these physical artworks into NFTs by burning their physical versions, thereby preventing millions of dollars worth of art destruction As soon as the artworks are burned, they will become part of the NFT, whether they are digital or physical 5,149 buyers traded their NFTs for original paintings,

while 4,851 chose the NFTs The pieces will be burned during Frieze London, which runs from October 12 to 16, at the Newport Street Gallery in London

In addition to the works that have been burned, more will be destroyed before the exhibition closes on October 30 "I don't want to burn millions of dollars of art," Hirst said Upon burning the physical versions of these artworks, I am completing the transformation of these physical artworks into NFTs Art, whether digital or physical, has value that is hard to quantify

Each artwork was numbered, titled, stamped, and signed in 2016 using enamel paint on handmade paper The currency will be burned until October 30, when The Currency exhibition closes

Hirst showed each artwork

to a camera before burning it to keep track of every burning so a unique code could be recorded During a time of economic crisis, Hirst has been criticized for burning his own valuable artworks 'Damien Hirst appears to have transcended into another plane of existence, inhabited only by the once-edgy artists he collects,' wrote Eddy Frankel in Time Out You can still visit Newport Street Gallery if you can't turn on your heater at home Those £20,000 paintings will look great and feel toasty on fire at the exhibition "

Since his rise to fame in the 1990s, Damien Hirst's work has divided critics Hirst gained fame during the Young British Artist movement in the 1990s with what some critics considered publicity stunts He won the Turner Prize in 1995, and his work has sold for millions, but he is also a controversial artist� A dead shark floating in formaldehyde is one of his works that has divided critics, while a bisected cow and calf are another Additionally, he is known for his spot paintings and a platinum cast encrusted with diamonds of an 18thcentury skull

According to a BBC interview with him in 2018, "If I put it in a skip outside a

pub, would people take it home? And you think, 'sure they would ' If it's good, it won't get left on the street I think that's a good way to judge whether a painting is good or not "

In the digital world, NFTs are one-of-a-kind assets that can be bought and sold like any other type of property, but which have no tangible form of their own An NFT is a digital

identifier that confirms the authenticity and ownership of a tangible or digital object It acts as a sort of receipt, and its uniqueness makes it valuable

Digital tokens can be viewed as certificates of ownership of either virtual or physical assets

Paintings, for instance, are valuable precisely because they are oneof-a-kind, while digital files can be duplicated endlessly

In NFTs, artwork is "tokenized" to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold

While NFTs soared in popularity last year when crypto-rich speculators sought to profit from rising prices, sales volumes have dipped in recent months

The

Robert Stone

Web3 gaming is attracting a lot of money Literally, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the last year to invest them into what the crypto industry sees as the future of gaming The problem with capital deployment is that gamers are not interested

Despite being well aware of cryptocurrency and gaming – 89% of gamers are aware of bitcoin, and 51% of gamers are aware of NFTs – a new survey commissioned by Coda Labs found that gamers (who play video games at least twice a month) have negative attitudes toward the asset class Generally, gamers have a positive view of crypto and a negative view of NFTs

The numbers appear bleak when it comes to the intent to play a Web3 game According to the

survey, only 52% of gamers are familiar with any Web3 gaming term, and only 12% have tried playing crypto games According to the survey, many gamers have not gotten involved with Web3 games due to practical challenges such as not understanding how they work Web3 games are not popular among gamers because of scams and start-up costs, according to those who know about them

There is also a conversion funnel for gamers, according to the data A 7.1/10 favorability rating is common among gamers who try Web3 games Gamers feel more positively when they give Web3 games a try, according to the CEO of Coda Labs, Ekip Can Gökalp

Unlike Americans, Brits, or Japanese, South Africans

and Brazilians have a much more positive perception of crypto in emerging markets

Will AAA Studios give NFTs a chance?

The survey indicates that crypto and NFTs have a chance to become part of the gaming industry, but are studios interested in taking a risk on this new paradigm when the first attempt failed so badly?

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint was Ubisoft's first title to launch NFTs last year, but only about 100 token transfers took place, according to on-chain data Ubisoft referred to Quartz, its NFT platform, as "the first building block of our ambitious vision for creating a true metaverse" at launch Yves Guillemot, the studio's CEO, said in a recent interview that the

studio is still in "research mode" regarding NFTs�

As a result of testing a few things recently, we have gained more insight into how it can be used and what we should do in the video game sector "We're testing some games to see if they satisfy players," Guillemot said "As a company, we've gone into VR early and tried the Wii early – we're always trying new things " Sometimes it works for us, and sometimes it doesn't, but we're always striving to provide new experiences to players "

One of Guillemot's two mediums, VR, turned out to be a niche market, while the other was a major commercial success While VR was initially perceived as "clunky" when it launched in 2016, it has continued to grow every year since its launch, but only 2% of PC gamers have a VR headset connected to their machines

Nintendo took a risk with the Wii, but its motion controller proved a crowd-pleaser, making it one of the top-selling game consoles of all time� Currently, we know that Web3 gaming will struggle to become anything more than a niche segment of the gaming market, whether it is a virtual reality game, a Wii game, or something in between

Developed on Secret Network, Shade Protocol consists of a network of privacypreserving Dapps Due to the high speed of the Secret Network, Shade has not only created a product that is privacy-friendly, scalable, and interoperable, but is also very easy to use

Despite their inherent security, traditional stablecoins, such as those pegged to gold or fiat, have a major weakness; they lack privacy Using a stablecoin means that the merchant knows far more about you than with a credit card or debit card, allowing them to discriminate against you

Based on the Secret Network and SNIP20 private and fungible token standard, SILK gives

holders the option to make their transactions private or public. With advanced flexibility and auditable privacy, SILK is a 4th generation stablecoin

Since inflation remains a growing concern globally, Shade Protocol offers a stablecoin that doesn't adhere to a single fiat currency or asset, but can react to global trends as they change With Shade Protocol, everything will be under one umbrella, including a decentralized exchange

As governments consider how to interact and use cryptocurrencies, and more nations adopt cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation, at the same time the world's population becomes more familiar with cryptocurrency, stablecoins will remain a major topic of discussion The answer to the question of what a stablecoin should be, can be found in SILK

A social game where you can collect, earn, win, and display your NFTs while playing and socializing with your friends The vision of Cryptopolis is to make managing digital assets fun Cryptopolis strongly believes in the future of crypto gaming Being able to have fun and make money at the same time is not a utopian dream anymore

It is here And Cryptopolis wants to make it the most fun for any adult to do so Play-to-earn is the approach we chose because Cryptopolis believes anyone should be able to acquire Cryptopolis NFT's Cryptopolis merges the Sims-like mechanics with room decorating

and social interaction In Cryptopolis your NFT collection and in-game experience get you to the top of the tower Make real money with the $CPO tokens by winning wager matches throughout the Tower, buying and selling NFT's, and winning tournaments The future of NFT gaming is here

Cryptopolis is free-to-play & play-to-earn An online social platform with a blockchain back end and an associated cryptocurrency ($CPO) - Cryptopolis has a progression system based on acquiring resources, items (as NFTs), and prestige - Where players connect with each other and perform activities together But they also compete with each other for ingame standing (prestige) and $CPO in various minigames. Cryptopolis is the first gamified social platform whose users can earn real money by playing and trading NFTs

Cookie Sale launched in February 2022, and aims to become one of the biggest launchpads for tokens on the BSC With its sleek design and easy-to-use interface, CookieSale looks to be adaptable and adoptable for developers and a safe environment for investors CookieSale works side by side with Kodi’s marketing & advertising agency Pitch. This benefits developers and holders of Kodi as well As a developer, you will be able to use CookieSale as an “A to Z” platform

From advertising to zhooshing up your “cookie” there will be something that satisfies almost anyone’s tastes As a Kodi holder, a percentage of the revenue generated through

CookieSale will be bought back into Kodi and then airdropped to holders, holding 10 million or more Kodi tokens

Backed by powerful auditing companies such as Certik, SpyWolf, Brewlabs, Dessert Finance, Contract Checker, and HashEx developers will be able to choose between three pre-audited contracts or create their own and have it audited separately Other key features include liquidity locking, anti-bot features, custom airdrops, visual cues to aid in identifying safer investments, and more

One notable feature that stands out amongst other launchpads is that CookieSale will only charge a flat fee for listing Developers will be able to launch the right way, without the fear of a large sell from the launchpad taking profit.

Kodi’s mission is to create a one-stop-shop IDO platform and provide investors with an interactive Entertainment Network that will keep users engaged, informed, and entertained while investing in the crypto space

Clear Vision

Kodi`s vision is to create an ecosystem that will be a driver in promoting a safer economic environment for crypto investors to participate in and for developers to grow their projects. Kodi is creating an industry-first Entertainment Network that will become THE place for crypto investors to socialize, have fun, win prizes, and learn about everything crypto Is there anything more about Kodi? How do you, as an investor benefit? Kodi by itself, is an entertainment project Kodi plays games post podcasts, do AMAs, have tournaments, live streams, and play plenty of music� At Kodi there are two subsidiaries� "Pitch" being the in-house advertising agency, which is a one-stop shop, all things content creation, both in crypto and fiat. Branding, websites, commercials, you name it Kodi does it The Pitch Advertising Agency and

CookieSale launchpad Cookie Sale will work in unison to become the go-to destinations for developers to build their brands and launch their projects With Cookie Sale, you can launch your project from A to Z Gone are the days of taking your token supply Kodi simply charges a flat fee, no strings attached.

So how do you benefit as a holder? Well, if you're, a holder of at least ten million KODI you receive BNB, rewards automatically deposited into your wallet You also can participate in Kodi`s weekly games where you can win, BNB for free But here's where things get really exciting Two percent of every transaction goes straight into the Kodi treasury contract

The treasury buys back Kodi tokens, creating an increase in price, and stores them in the treasury Twenty percent of these tokens are burnt and 80% gets used to top up the staking pools as needed revenue generated through pitch and cookie sale also gets added to the treasury contract This creates the everincreasing price floor, whilst also removing tokens from circulation Go say hi on their telegram community, or check out their website at Kodicoin com

Why are there so many cryptocurrencies?

Robert Stone

As of September 2022, there were 20,470 cryptocurrencies in existence However, not all cryptocurrencies are active or valuable Discounting many "dead" cryptos leaves only around 10,953 active cryptocurrencies and climbing

Globally, that's more than all fiat currencies combined Many people wonder why there are so many. The first cryptocurrency was eCash, created by David Chaum's company DigiCash in 1990 There was only Bitcoin nine years ago There were several attempts to create a viable and accepted cryptocurrency before Bitcoin. eCash was first,

and then there was B-money, Bit Gold, and Hashcash They were very influential in Bitcoin's creation Almost every sector of the economy now uses cryptocurrency

Regarding Blockchains, don't let them confuse you Blockchains are a primary foundation for the thousands of cryptocurrencies out there, but Blockchains are not cryptocurrencies - they number around 1000 with at least four different types of blockchain networks� The blockchain concept is one type of data transfer, but several platforms are available

The existence of so many cryptocurrencies begs the question, why is this

happening? Blockchain technology is one of the reasons we see so many cryptocurrencies today The goal of all these cryptocurrencies is to use blockchain technology to revolutionize areas such as finance, health, energy, data storage, privacy, machine learning, payments, social networks, supply chains, and content ownership By using different cryptocurrencies for different functions, developers can create a variety of cryptocurrencies�

As currencies, we have cryptocurrencies� Similar to traditional fiat, they can be used as a store of value Cryptocurrencies, such as what we have with Bitcoin, come in many

types and approach things differently, with many strengths and weaknesses Others have utility functions, which can come in multiple varieties and may serve different purposes This group of cryptocurrencies serves as an infrastructure for one thing or another Other cryptocurrencies can use the networks they provide On Ethereum's network, several token coins have been created using its Ethereum Virtual Machine This group will be explained in more detail later

App or platform cryptocurrencies are the other major type of cryptocurrency Cryptocurrencies based on utility currencies are

this type There are a lot of cryptocurrencies because of that No one controls blockchain technology Virtual currencies can be developed by anyone who knows how the technology works Satoshi Nakamoto was the first to use blockchain technology to create Bitcoin It wasn't long before other developers realized they could exploit the same technology to create better "versions" of the original Litecoin was one of the first altcoins created by experts like former Google engineer Charlie Lee His actions did not end there Following Bitcoin, many other companies tried to build something similar or better

The massive returns

Bitcoin and a few altcoins have also enjoyed great success, which may explain why many cryptocurrencies exist� Very few people paid attention to Bitcoin when it was first created. People ignored or didn't care about it because it had no value� Its value, however, continued to rise over time Up until early 2017, Ethereum was almost worthless This is despite the huge returns those who have invested in the Ether token have received over the last few years

Yet, in 2017, Bitcoin and almost every other altcoin

boomed People became wealthy overnight, as Bitcoin rose to around 20k per BTC at an all-time high for the time There was a great sense of panic among everyone who didn't have a clue Today, there is a wealth of online information about cryptocurrencies and easy ways to purchase them

Forking as a Method of Crypto Evolution

New cryptocurrencies have also emerged as a result of forking Even though forking may not be the main reason for the wealth of different cryptocurrencies, it still plays a role At least four cryptocurrencies "branched off" from Bitcoin, for example Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin Gold are among them The creation of new cryptocurrencies is being forced on even newer coins Zcash is a good example of this, resulting in Zclassic (ZCL) and Bitcoin Private (BTP)

Innovations are Constantly Being Discovered and Produced

As innovations and our desire for constant improvement continue, cryptocurrency prices keep rising Consider Apple or Google's millions of apps as an example of this Despite their similar functions, we still end

up with many of them Suppose there was an app that streamed music There are hundreds of them Some of us love them, while others dislike them Nevertheless, many others continue to be developed Cryptocurrencies work like this

Although we have cryptocurrencies with smart contracts that function essentially the same way, more and more are emerging The protocol is tweaked, and they promise a revolutionary smart contracts platform based on it Smart contracts work best on Ethereum The same type of network runs on numerous platforms now Ethereum is being challenged by a number of cryptocurrencies, including NEO, Cardano, Stellar, and EOS, to name a few Think along these lines if you are wondering why there are so many cryptocurrencies

ICOs are booming ICOs may also be responsible for the boom in cryptocurrencies More token sales have been spurred on by the success of some of these sales In addition, there are no regulatory checks on the ICO ecosystem, which has made this process even easier In 2013, Mastercoin was the first coin offering recorded

Several other crowd sales followed, spurred on by the success of Ethereum, NXT, IOTA, and Stratis, among others Crypto tokens are eventually listed on trading exchanges due to these coin offerings

Financial ICOs are followed by those in the supply and logistics sector, the gaming industry, the insurance industry, etc A proliferation of cryptocurrencies is the result, without a doubt ICOs can be built on host platforms like Ethereum, or they can launch their own blockchain platforms Transactions in the network are based on the native currency of each network Hence, if ten thousand ICOs are successful, ten thousand cryptocurrencies will be created Many others fail to make it out of the planning chamber, so don't worry about them

There is nothing wrong with having several thousand cryptocurrencies Ultimately, what matters is the role each plays in society's advancement

The main purpose of some is to be used as speculative tools There is a good chance that many of them will fade along the way, mostly when the bubble finally pops. We may only have a handful of mainstream adoptions in the end

What's Scaring the Needed Big Investors from the OftenForetold Crypto Rebound?

Robert Stone

rypto enthusiasts expect banks, pension funds, and other money managers to put massive amounts of money into crypto tokens and industries Still, thus far such firms have only really dabbled in it No big impression has been made on the sector that

spurs them on now It has been argued that their absence implies a fear that Bitcoin and other cryptos will one day take the place of the traditional financial system. But representatives from big institutions speaking at the biggest crypto

conferences of late have a different message: Crypto needs more regulation, infrastructure, and size before institutions will be willing to dive in and assume thy risks involved

While there has been interest taken among

some of the biggest players thus far, the crypto market continues to be dominated by retail traders Retail players even though the biggest of them understand the risks have been the motive force keeping crypto alive Though big investors withdrew support and helped to cause the initial crash this year they have returned Retail never stopped growing in fact The biggest whales of the financial and business sectors have held off on a return To the extent that institutional investors have gotten involved, it's been just crypto market makers seeking to make a quick profit on small price discrepancies rather than long-term buy-and-hold investments

One problem is size With a total market capitalization of less than a trillion dollars—less than half that of Apple Corporation— Institutions are reluctant to invest in the crypto

market because of the lack of liquidity� According to Crypto com's Shawn Egger, on a panel at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York a few weeks ago, the market cap is too thin for most major Wall Street firms. But another problem is that crypto lacks the clear guidelines that many institutions want to see

A potential crypto bill in Congress will be "an important marker for institutional funds entering the digital asset and crypto space," said S&P Global Chief Definitive Officer Charles Mounts.

This year, legislators have drafted a whirlwind of bills meant to establish how institutional investors and regulators should treat cryptocurrency In a bill introduced by Sens Debbie Stabenow (D , Mich ) and John Boozman (R , Ark ), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would regulate Bitcoin and

Ether, which make up the bulk of the crypto market As another draft proposal, Reps Maxine Waters (D , Calif ) and Patrick McHenry (R , N C ) set requirements for stablecoins, which are pegged to the dollar

Still, some crypto enthusiasts have viewed such efforts with wariness, fearing that more regulation will stifle

innovation Charles Mounts said institutional investors were waiting for those decisions before entering the crypto market Mounts, whose current position was only created a few months ago, says part of his remit is analyzing whether S&P can start doing risk assessments or even rating different crypto products such as stablecoins or DeFi protocols—another hurdle some institutions want to be overcome before investing�

There is much promise for the future regardless� Almost every bank on Wall Street is looking at this, said Edward Han, Bank of America's head of digital asset investment banking "Every bank seeks to help encourage future adoption in the sector "

of the week

What is the Potential of The Metaverse? The Crypto Mile explains

Brian McGleenon will take you on a tour of different metaverses. We will first head to Decentraland to check in with Brandon Johnson, CXO of TerraZero, who provided one of the world's first metaverse mortgages. We'll also be heading to Somnium Space to meet its founder Artur Sychov, to discuss immortality inside the metaverse. While there, we'll also catch up with Melissa McBride, CEO of Sophia High School and Co-founder of Sophia Technologies, to learn about the possibilities and advantages of VR education for children.

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