A proposal out of Stanford University to make crypto transactions reversible is adding a wrinkle to discussions of crime and fraud prevention. Researchers suggested that mutability — the ability to reverse blockchain transactions — would help prevent crime. One of the advantages of cryptocurrency is that it is possible for the market — individuals, traders and banks — to decide if reversibility is wanted. Not only would a new (reversible) cryptocurrency be able to test the acceptance or desire for reversible transactions, it would help to test the idea that reversibility reduces crime. Although cryptocurrency is not a tool of the dark web, it’s sometimes portrayed as such. Fraud, scams and other forms of crime do happen and are growing in proportion with the amount of money invested and th...
Members of the Parliament of the European Union voted in favor of a non-binding resolution aimed at using blockchain to fight tax evasion and coordinate tax policy on cryptocurrencies. In an Oct. 4 notice, the European Parliament said 566 out of 705 members voted in favor of the resolution originally drafted by member Lídia Pereira. According to the legislative body, the resolution recommended authorities in its 27 member states consider a “simplified tax treatment” for crypto users involved in occasional or small transactions and have national tax administrations use blockchain technology “to facilitate efficient tax collection.” For cryptocurrencies, the resolution called on the European Commission to assess whether converting crypto to fiat would constitute a taxable event, depending on...
On Wednesday, Matthew Ballensweig, managing director of cryptocurrency broker Genesis, announced via Linkedin that he was formally leaving his post after over five years of tenure. Ballensweig is also the co-head of sales and trading. As told by Ballensweig, he has been transitioning his core responsibilities to a handful of trusted colleagues who will be taking the front-line role. “I am forever thankful to both Digital Currency Group [Genesis’ parent company] and Genesis for giving me the opportunity to build a capital markets business from the ground up. We built an eight-person company huddled in a small office in New York City back in 2017 to a sell-side trading behemoth doing billions in volumes in multiple countries today.” Ballensweig will stay with the firm...
Kevin Shao, Executive President of the Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance (ABGA) says he’s holding out hope for three “triple-A” blockchain gaming titles that could help propel GameFi into the mainstream and rescue it from the bear market. Speaking to Cointelegraph during Asia Crypto Week, the Executive President said one obstacle preventing mainstream adoption is current GameFi titles often have a focus on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and play-to-earn (P2E) features without caring about “game performance,” and users’ enjoyment. In a P2E model, gamers typically buy an NFT in order to play the game and can win gaming tokens which can then beconverted into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), fiat currency, or stablecoins. While he acknowledges these current GameFi titles are enjoyable for a...
In five to ten years, almost every “real world” asset class could be tokenized in the form of a nonfungible token (NFT) according to Cynthia Wu, co-founder of digital asset service platform Matrixport. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Wu said the best case for NFTs would see the widespread representation of real-world assets to be stored and traded on-chain: “Eventually, all the major financial asset classes are going to be represented on this new financial infrastructure [and] NFTs could be our instrument to represent off-chain assets like real estate deeds, equities or bonds.” The move on-chain would make these real-world assets “more liquid and more tradable,” which would improve price discovery and transaction activity, Wu added. But Wu said that while it’s great that we’ve created over two ...
Chain, a blockchain infrastructure firm that offers developers Web3 services to build and maintain blockchain-based applications, will sponsor the New England Patriots football team as well as other venues and sporting clubs controlled by the Kraft Group. In a Thursday announcement, Chain said it will be the official blockchain and Web3 sponsor of the Patriots, the New England Revolution soccer club, Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts and the shopping center Patriot Place as part of a multi-year partnership deal with Kraft Sports + Entertainment, the marketing and events division of the Kraft Group. Chain will work to develop Web3 experiences for visitors to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place by “merging the physical with the digital.” Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Chain spokesperson decline...
Do Kwon, the co-founder of the Terra ecosystem, took to Twitter on Saturday asserting he’s “not ‘on the run’ or anything similar” after the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said Kwon wasn’t in the city-state. On Sept. 14, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other associates for alleged violations of the country’s capital markets laws. All were known to be in Singapore at the time, with prosecutors also attempting to revoke their passports a day later on Sept. 15. “For any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide,” Kwon tweeted. I am not “on the run” or anything similar – for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t hav...
The future of music production could very well live on the blockchain. One Web3 startup with promising potential has developed the first on-chain digital audio workstation (DAW), and in doing so, has attracted the attention of a number of major electronic dance music artists. Arpeggi Labs’ use case differs fundamentally from the vast majority of successful developments at the intersection of music tech and blockchain technologies, which may prove to be a key competitive edge. While many new platforms in the space are leading with a focus on facilitating the tokenized ownership of music, Arpeggi is focusing on revolutionizing the way the music itself is made and published. The platform accomplishes this while maintaining a proprietary crediting system that ensures samples ...
Whether you’re debating Jonathan Taylor’s astronomical weekly price tag or rolling the dice on a cheap defense, DraftKings is associated with making tough calls. Partnering with Steve Aoki, however, was not one of them. The company has partnered with Aoki as an official brand ambassador of DraftKings Marketplace, its branded NFT hub. DraftKings is betting on Aoki’s Web3 expertise to strategically expand Reignmakers, an “NFT-based fantasy sports series” allowing users to collect digital player cards and use them to draft lineups in daily contests. The real value of NFTs lies in their utility, and Aoki’s DraftKings Marketplace collectibles have plenty of it. According to a press release, holders of his tokens can unlock access to VIP events hoste...