Blockchain games are set to overtake decentralized finance (DeFi) as the number one contributor to decentralized application (DApp) activity in terms of uniquely active wallets. A new 18-page report by DappRadar surveys the nascent ecosystem behind this rise. Although still dwarfed by the traditional gaming industry, blockchain games, sometimes dubbed GameFi, have seen an early spurt of exponential growth, according to the report’s data. “The evolution of blockchain games” report, which discusses play-to-earn (P2E) as a new paradigm for gaming, is available on the Cointelegraph Report Terminal to purchase. It details how the play-to-earn model gained traction in the COVID-19 pandemic when players from emerging economies were seeking new sources of income. In Q2 of 2021, which was not...
Although NFTs have been a part of the cryptocurrency market since 2014, interest and adoption ha risen rapidly over the last two years. At their height in August 2021, the total trading volume of NFTs rose to over $5 billion, kickstarting what briefly came be to known as “NFT Summer”. According to a report by Coingecko, the NFT market is now expected to move more than $800 billion in the coming two years. The report, which mostly utilized investors from Asia and the Pacific, highlighted that of 871 respondents, around 72% of them already own NFT(s), with more than 50% of them declaring that they had 5 or more. As for investors, the report indicated a balance between the generations, suggesting 43.6% of NFT investors surveyed were between 18-30 years old and 45.2% are between 30-50 yea...
As Singapore continues to play an active role in boosting crypto adoption across the Asia-Pacific region, the country’s first licensed crypto exchange Independent Reserve conducted a retail-focused survey to better understand the underlying potential of the regulated market. Independent Reserve’s survey — conducted across all age groups and genders of the Singapore population — revealed a strong affinity for various financial opportunities brought forward by decentralized finance (DeFi) and other investment opportunities. As explained by Raks Sondhi, managing director of Independent Reserve Singapore, the country’s rapid crypto adoption is driven by high level of trust and confidence in the future of crypto: “58% [Singaporeans surveyed] perceive Bitcoin as an investment asset or a sto...
Interaction between the cryptocurrency industry and Capitol Hill is becoming ever more intensive as efforts to regulate crypto grow in tandem with its popularity. The surge in crypto industry lobbying last year was given some concrete parameters in February by crypto analytics startup Crypto Head. It released a report showing that the crypto companies that spent the most money on lobbying in 2021 were Robinhood, Ripple Labs, Coinbase and the Blockchain Association. These organizations were the lobbying leaders during the past five years as well, although with different rankings. Here is what the United States crypto-lobbying landscape looks like today. Metrics of influence Robinhood spent $1.35 million on lobbying in 2021 and was the only crypto-related organization to spend more than $1 m...
Nonfungible tokens (NFT) have taken the world by storm, resulting in mainstream interest and greater adoption of cryptocurrency. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, NFT popularity skyrocketed in 2021. Chainalysis’ “NFT Market Report” shows a minimum of $44.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency sent to Ethereum smart contracts associated with NFT marketplaces and collections last year. The report notes that this number was $106 million in 2020. While impressive, increasing scams and fraudulent activities have infiltrated the NFT space. For instance, major NFT marketplace OpenSea recently announced that its free minting tool was prone to misuse. As a result, OpenSea shared that 80% of NFTs created using this tool were either plagiarized, fake or spam. If that wasn’t bad enough, Ch...
Fidelity Digital Assets — the crypto wing of Fidelity Investments which has $4.2 trillion assets under management–shared their “two sats” on the future of the digital assets space. The key takeaways touched upon miners’ behavior and Bitcoin (BTC) network adoption. In the annual report released last week, the group shared some insights into the world of BTC mining: “As Bitcoin miners have the most financial incentive tho make the best guess as to the adoption and value of BTC (…) the current bitcoin cycle is far from over and these miners are making investments for the long haul.” The report stated that the recovery in the hash rate in 2021 “was truly astounding”, particularly when faced the world’s second-largest economy China banning Bitcoin in 2021. The rebound in hash rate s...
The British police on Tuesday said they have seized £180 million ($249.5 million) of an undisclosed cryptocurrency, as part of a money laundering investigation launched against organised crime groups that moved into cryptocurrencies in order to clean their money. The latest seizure happened in less than three weeks after the London police made a £114 million haul on June 24 as part of its money laundering investigation. By this, a cryptocurrency payload totalling £294 million ($408 million) has been reportedly seized so far under the money laundering investigation. “While cash still remains king in the criminal world, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” Reuters quoted Graham McNulty, a metropolitan P...
The Kaduna state police command has confirmed the abduction of the emir of Kajuru, Alhaji Alhassan Adamu. In a statement on Sunday, spokesman of the command, Mohammad Jalige, said the emir was abducted alongside 10 members of his family. However, a resident of the community said the emir, five members of his family and nine others within the community were abducted. The statement said, “The Kaduna Police Command through the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Kajuru, Kaduna is in receipt of an unfortunate report on the kidnap of the Chief of Kajuru, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Alhassan Adamu in the early hours of today 11th July, 2021. “The incident occurred about 0234hrs when armed wielding bandits in large numbers invaded Kajuru town, shot sporadically and gained access into the Chief’s resid...
The Lagos House of Assembly has commenced an audit exercise for all the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state. The Chairman, House Committee on Public Account (Local), Mojeed Fatai, made this known in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday. Fatai said that the committee was expected to submit its report to the House after the weeklong exercise. The lawmaker explained that the exercise was aimed at checking probity and accountability in the local government administration as provided in the 1999 (Amended) Constitution. He said: “The essence of the exercise is to allow the committee go through the 2019 report of the Auditor General without fear or favour to any local council indicted by the officials of the Auditor General. “Also, t...