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Gemini Report Shows Women Lagging Behind Men in Web3 Investments

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

There is a big difference between male and female Web3 investors, according to a report from cryptocurrency marketplace Gemini.

The report showed that women make up only 26% of Web3 investors; and 15% of bitcoin investors, even though a 2021 study by the personal loan company Stilt showed that 94% of people who own crypto are millennials or Generation Z.

The Web3 community has witnessed growth opportunities with the popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which have surpassed $22 billion in the global market since last year, DappRadar’s report showed.

However, a report from BTC Markets showed that the cryptocurrency market is witnessing an increase in women users.

The Australian bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange said that it saw a 175% increase in women users last fiscal year. The percentage dwarfed the 80% increase it saw in male users, the report stated.

Compared to the $2,060 average deposits from men, women made larger initial deposits of an average of $2,381, according to the report. But portfolio sizes for women were slightly lesser than men by about $400 on average.

The report also suggested that women followed a “structured trading strategy with a smaller range of more focused positions” as they traded fewer times a day. It added that women traded two times a day on average as compared to five by men.

The report stated that women are also more risk-averse than men in financial studies.

While another report from Gemini showed an increase in crypto investments among women in the Asia Pacific region and exponential growth of crypto adoption in the UK in 2021.

According to the report, around two in five crypto owners in Singapore (40%) and India (38%) are women. However, Australia trails behind, with only 27% of crypto owners being women, but it is expected to increase.

While 37% or more than one-third of crypto owners in Hong Kong are women, the percentage is higher than in the United States (32%) and the United Kingdom (35%); however, 51% or more than half of crypto owners in Indonesia are women.

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Oddity Tech Ltd Launches Security Token Offering to Democratize Investing

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Oddity Tech Ltd., an online beauty-care retailer, based in New York, announced on Tuesday the launch of its Oddity Token, a digital security token built on the Ethereum blockchain, to provide an opportunity for accredited investors to buy shares in the company in the form of digital security.

With the new crypto token, Oddity is providing investors with a new way to participate in the company’s strong performance.

The company opened ‘The Oddity Token offering’ on April 26, 2022, which is expected to run until May 11, 2022. The offering is being conducted under SEC Regulation D guidelines, which means it is a regulated offering open only to accredited investors.

The Oddity Token is digital security that automatically converts into Oddity Class A ordinary shares at the time of the company’s anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The firm mentioned that the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes.

Oddity is one of the first non-crypto-focused companies to provide such a method of security and the first to link directly to equity ownership.

Oran Holtzman, the co-founder and CEO at Oddity Tech Ltd, talked about the development and said: “By offering this trailblazing token, we are democratizing investor opportunity by broadening individual access to Oddity securities, as we continue to disrupt and redefine the beauty and wellness category.”

Holtzman further added: “Crypto and blockchain technology unlocks massive opportunity for consumers and capital markets. With this offering, we are building a new bridge to link traditional markets with the vibrant world of digital assets, where the innovation potential is huge.”

Innovating the Beauty and Wellness Sector

In January, Oddity raised US$130 million in a private funding round led by Thomas Tull, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, First Light Capital Group, and other growth equity investors. The funding gave Oddity a valuation of US$1.5 billion.

Launched in 2018, Oddity is the parent company of several d2C beauty brands, including IL Makiage and SpoiledChild. Oddity is a consumer-tech firm that builds and scales digital-first brands to disrupt the offline-dominated beauty and wellness industries. In 2021, the first brand of a consumer tech firm, IL Makiage, surpassed US$260 million in revenues.

Oddity raised the latest funding to continue innovating the beauty and wellness industries through technology. Oddity’s existing technology and roadmap have unlocked huge growth opportunities for the company in the beauty and wellness industries. These have enabled Oddity to continue disrupting traditional beauty and wellness sub-categories and drive a unique combination of scale, growth, and profitability.

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Tagged : Altcoins / DEMOCRATIZE INVESTING / ODDITY TECH LTD / Security Token Offering

Texas City Fort Worth Becomes First Government to Mine Bitcoin in the US

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

The adoption of Bitcoin has become more significant at the city level in the United States. Fort Worth, a city in Texas State, announced Tuesday that it has become the first city to mine Bitcoin in the US.

The city, which is ranked the 12th largest and home to over 800,000 residents, said this initiative is a partnership with Texas Blockchain Council – a non-profit association made up of companies and individuals that work in Bitcoin, Bitcoin mining, crypto and blockchain industries.

In its statement, the city government said initially it will utilise three S9 Bitcoin mining machines, placing them in its city hall for the mining operations, which are donated by Texas Blockchain Council. The government added that these facilities will be protected by a private network to “minimise security risk.”

“With blockchain technology and cryptocurrency revolutionizing the financial landscape, we want to transform Fort Worth into a tech-friendly city,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker.

Parker believes the city would be positioning itself to be the “capital of Bitcoin mining of Texas”. The administration aims at becoming a leading hub for technology and innovation, according to the statement.

Yet, the process of Bitcoin mining is regarded as not environmental-friendly enough, as mining methods are usually based on Proof-of-Work (PoW), instead of Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and PoW is considered more energy-intensive, requiring more energy input which could be harmful to the environment. The government said, “the city estimates each will consume the same amount of energy as a household vacuum cleaner,” based on the number and type of machines being used, adding that the energy it uses for mining would be less: “the nominal amount of energy needed for the program is expected to be offset by the value of Bitcoin mined.” The programme would be evaluated after six months, according to the official information.

More enterprises are trying to put efforts into mining Bitcoin, for instance, U.S.-based energy operator ExxonMobil recently launched a pilot programme to conduct Bitcoin mining by converting excess energy through the production of natural gas.

Texas itself is also becoming a Bitcoin-friendly State. More crypto services have been applied domestically. Last June, Texas state-chartered banks got permission from the state regulator to provide customer custody virtual currencies services.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / FORT WORTH / MATTIE PARKER / Mining / Texas

Robinhood Lays Off 9% Workforce, Shares drop

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Robinhood is laying off 9% of its full-time workforce, CEO Vlad Tenev announced, as the shares of the company’s stock hit a new low.

Tenev, in a blog post, said that the lay-offs came after a headcount growth that “led to some duplicate roles and job functions, and more layers and complexity than are optimal.”

According to Reuters, the online trading platform had 3,400 employees, so around 300 people may be affected by the cut.

Since the beginning of 202, Robinhood has witnessed an increase in its employees from 700 to 3,800.

Regardless of the lay-off, Robinhood claims that its financial position is strong. Tenev announced that the company has over $6 billion in cash on its balance sheet.

Tenev said, “after carefully considering all these factors, we determined that making these reductions to Robinhood’s staff is the right decision to improve efficiency, increase our velocity, and ensure that we are responsive to the changing needs of our customers.”

Following the news of the lay-off, shares of the company’s stock closed at $10 on Tuesday, the lowest price since Robinhood went public in July 2021.

Robinhood’s layoff announcement comes days before the company is expected to report its Q1 2022 financial performance.

The company posted a $423 million net loss for its last quarter.

In one of its major recent crypto developments, Robinhood officially rolled out its long-awaited cryptocurrency wallet in early April, providing access to more than 2 million customers on the waiting list for the digital product.

The release of the wallet shows the company’s commitment to the crypto space, Robinhood said. Robinhood’s wallet will allow users to experience crypto interaction outside the company’s trading platform, such as buying non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

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Tagged : Blockchain / Crypto / Enterprise / LAYOFF / Robinhood / Vlad Tenev

Fidelity Offers Bitcoin Portfolio Options to Retirement Investment via MicroStrategy

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

America’s largest retirement savings plans 401(k) provider, Fidelity Investments is set to permit the allocation of some of its client’s funds into Bitcoin (BTC), a move it said was based on popular demand.

As reported by the New York Times, the permission for subscribers to invest in Bitcoin-backed 401(k) plans is all dependent on whether the sponsors of the scheme favor such moves or not.

401(k) plans are a retirement savings scheme that is sponsored by an employer and supervised by the United States Department of Labor. Fidelity Investments controls over a third of the 401(k) plans in the US with more than $2.4 trillion held in such accounts as of 2020 per data from Cerulli Associates.

While the Department of Labor has expressed scepticism about the Bitcoin-hinged product, Fidelity said its move addresses some of the concerns of the regulator, including the room for employers to choose whether to subscribe to the fund or not.

Despite these allowances granted to employers who will also determine the maximum allocation that can be injected into BTC, Fidelity said its defined limit will be pegged at 20% of the total funds from any individual 401(k) contributor. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin-savvy MicroStrategy has already been onboarded into the scheme according to Dave Gray, head of workplace retirement offerings and platforms at Fidelity Investments.

“We started to hear a growing interest from plan sponsors, organically, as to how could Bitcoin or how could digital assets be offered in a retirement plan,” he said.

The move from Fidelity complements efforts by American asset management firms to float a crypto-linked product that can be subscribed to by the broader public. Fidelity has done its best to float a Bitcoin spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) product, however, continuous rejection of such application from the US SEC has stalled its progress in this regard. The Bitcoin-linked 401(k) plan will serve as one of the viable alternatives for the asset manager in the meantime.

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Tagged : 401(K) / Bitcoin / Enterprise / Fidelity

Coinbase NFT Partner Ox Labs Pulls $70m in Series B Funding Round

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

0x Labs, the blockchain startup that is in partnership with Nasdaq-listed Coinbase Exchange, has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round with Greylocks Partners at an undisclosed valuation.

The details of the financing round were revealed exclusively to Forbes who also reported that Pantera, Jump Capital, OpenSea, and Jared Leto also participated in backing the San Francisco-based decentralized exchange infrastructure provider.

The startup plans to use the new capital injection to power its entire protocol and platforms in its ecosystem, while also boosting its entire workforce.

“We’re planning to use this funding to continue the growth of 0x Labs, expanding our [62-member] team and doubling down on the current products and services that we’re offering,” Will Warren, co-founder, and co-CEO of 0x Labs told Forbes.

0x Labs is the founder of the 0x Protocol and the ZRX token. The protocol enables peer-2-peer exchange of digital assets on the Ethereum Protocol. The startup’s influence has continued to rise over the past few months as it floated a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) swap feature earlier this year. Through this feature, digital collectibles could be moved easily across any of Ethereum, Polygon, Celo, BNB Chain, Fantom, Optimism, and Avalanche respectively.

As reported by Blockchain.News, the Beta version of the NFT marketplace that was launched by Coinbase earlier this month was powered by the 0x Protocol, and the bigger exchange notably ranks among the backers of the budding startup. This latest funding round comes off as the third time the startup will be raising funds as it pulled $24 million in a token sales capital raise back in 2017 as well a succeeding $15 million in Series A.

Funding for innovative protocols powering the growth of decentralized platforms is taking a whole new momentum this year. In a related move, Bastion, an Aurora-based liquidity protocol also pulled $9 million recently in a bid to capitalize on the broader investor hype trend.

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Tagged : 0X Protocol / Coinbase / Finance / GREYLOCK PARTNERS

Standard Chartered Enters The Sandbox Metaverse

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Banking giant Standard Chartered has entered the metaverse with The Sandbox to build a virtual space for its clients and supporters.

The UK-based multinational banking and financial services company said that its virtual land for the Hong Kong branch will be located in The Sandbox’s Mega-City district.

The Sandbox is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands.

Standard Chartered said that the plan to enter The Sandbox metaverse is to experiment and develop immersive experiences for its customers and attract creatives and sports enthusiasts.

Mary Huen, Chief Executive of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong said in a statement “having acquired virtual land in Mega City, a natural choice for the Bank given its distinctive Hong Kong theme, perfectly fits with our promise of strengthening our continued presence in Hong Kong, whether physical or virtual”.

The Sandbox announced in January that it has created Mega-City – a cultural hub – following a successful partnership with multiple Hong Kong partners from various sectors.

It said that the partners joined The Sandbox’s virtual real estate by acquiring LAND NFTs similar to the one secured by Regal Hotels in the open metaverse.

Until now, The Sandbox has secured over 165 partnerships, including Adidas, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, South China Morning Post, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, CryptoKitties, Shaun the Sheep, Mcdull, and Hanjin Tan, to build a fun, creative play-to-earn platform that offers virtual worlds and game experiences owned and created by players.

Other prominent partners include Hong Kong tycoon Adrian Cheng, alternative investing leader Sun Hung Kai & Co, professional services firm PwC Hong Kong, blockchain-related investment and asset management company TIMES CAPITAL and other local investors.

Many other banks have also planned to enter the metaverse.

According to a report from Blockchain.News, HSBC Bank announced a partnership with The Sandbox on March 16, 2022, to build its presence in the Hong Kong-based company’s metaverse.

Through the partnership, HSBC acquired a plot of LAND, virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, which it will develop to engage, entertain, and connect with sports, esports and gaming enthusiasts, the report added.

Another banking giant JP Morgan has also stepped into the metaverse with the Decentraland platform, which has allowed visitors to interact with the digital space of the company and other clients.

In its most recent development, Hong Kong’s Regal Hotels Group announced its entrance into the metaverse with project MetaGreen in partnership with The Sandbox, scheduled for completion by October 2022.

Regal Hotels has said that MetaGreen is a project to build an environmental, social and governance (ESG) themed plot of “LAND” in Animoca Brands’ subsidiary, The Sandbox – a decentralised gaming virtual world.

More details regarding MetaGreen’s pioneering decarbonise-to-earn model will be released in the coming months. Regal hotels also has plans to invite additional ecosystem partners to join its initiative.

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Tagged : Blockchain / Metaverse / STANDARDCHARTERED / THESANDBOX

Fireblocks Adds Support for Terra-Based DeFi Services as Institutional Demand Soars

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Institutional investors can now access all of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications on the Terra blockchain protocol on Fireblocks, as announced by the firm on Tuesday.

According to Fireblocks, its broad-based corporate clients have sent as much as $500 million through to the Terra blockchain since mid-April when early access to the dApps was opened.

“Terra is a pioneer in the programmable stablecoin category and is underpinning one of the largest DeFi ecosystems in the world. Adding support for Terra on Fireblocks will give thousands of businesses and financial institutions the ability to securely interact with the dApps, money markets, liquidity protocols, and more that are powered by the public blockchain protocol,” said Michael Shaulov, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fireblocks.

Terra is recognized as the second-largest DeFi protocol in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), boasting as much as $29.47 billion, according to data from DeFiLlama. Designed initially as a stablecoin launching protocol, Terra has become the favourite hub for retail crypto investors, a category of investors that has helped bolster the innovative offerings of the blockchain’s native DApps, including Anchor, Lido, and AstroPort amongst others.

With direct access opened up to institutional investors through the Fireblocks platform, expectations mount that the Terra network will expand its reach across the board.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Fireblocks to enable DeFi on Terra for institutions. We’ve chosen to work with Fireblocks first as thousands of businesses already trust Fireblocks’ digital asset and crypto custody technology and use it daily to tap into the world of DeFi. Adding support for Terra on Fireblocks’ platform will greatly expand the transaction volume and activity in the Terra ecosystem. We look forward to welcoming this new community,” Matt Cantieri, General Manager.

Back in January this year, Fireblocks raised $500 million to make its platform the hub for institutional investors to connect to the growing DeFi world. Thus far, the unicorn, now valued at $8 billion, can be said to be living up to its potential.

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Tagged : DeFi / FIREBLOCK / Terra

Compass Mining Publishes Guidelines for Mining Cryptocurrencies at Home

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining is long tagged as a venture that is only profitable for institutional miners. The belief is that unless a miner has hundreds of mining machines in a specified location with access to cheap energy sources, the venture will be next to impossible.

Drawing on these myths, Compass Mining, an American Bitcoin mining company has published a Guideline that will help retail individual miners to set up their mining rigs at home. The new mining guideline from Compass can be accessed for free, and the firm said it is its own way of contributing to the democratization plans for the Bitcoin mining industry.

Compass Mining hopes that with the guide, anyone will be able to set up their machines and take notes of the details about heat control, electricity, and power management as well as the software requirements.

“There are so many stories of people getting miners and failing because they underestimate electrical requirements, heat or noise – or really all three. Our goal with this guide was to create a single resource accessible to everyone, rather than leave information scattered throughout the internet in places that some people don’t visit,” said Whit Gibbs, CEO of Compass Mining, adding that;

“At Compass, we want to help everyone get set up and hashing. We think this guide will help many people by enabling them to overcome common obstacles and providing them with realistic expectations for their mining effort. This guide is for both newcomers, and for anyone who wants to improve their home mining setup. We aim to be a trusted resource for the community, helping everyone succeed.”

The guide publication comes days after the company revealed that it is trying to sell off its mining equipment that is stranded in Russia in order not to incur sanctions from the United States Department of the Treasury. As reported by Blockchain.News, the mining gears listed for sale are worth $30 million, and the firm plans to send the accrued funds to all of its customers.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Compass / Mining

FTX Taps Eventus for Global Crypto Trade Surveillance and Risk Monitoring

by Blockchain NewsApril 27, 2022

Eventus Systems, Inc, a Texas-based global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced Tuesday that FTX.com has selected the company to offer trade surveillance and market risk management services and transaction monitoring capabilities to the global crypto exchange.

FTX, a Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange, will deploy Eventus’ flagship software, Validus, for trade surveillance and risk monitoring on all of its markets worldwide.

By deploying Eventus’ flagship surveillance and risk monitoring software, the Validus platform, FTX seeks to prevent market manipulation in the rising crypto assets ecosystem.

Eventus will offer surveillance and anti-market manipulation tools for all FTX markets across the world. This comes as recently regulators emphasized the need for safety of crypto trading services amid increased demands for the asset class.

The companies announced at the beginning of the FTX Crypto Bahamas conference, which started on Monday 26th and is expected to run until April 29. The conference features collaboration and networking among major crypto and traditional finance industry players.

Travis Schwab, Eventus CEO, talked about the development and said: “We’re incredibly honoured that FTX.COM has placed its full confidence in our platform after experiencing first-hand its power and versatility for meeting compliance and regulatory goals. The exchange has made abundantly clear the importance of a fulsome trade surveillance program to its overall mission.”

The move represents a continued expansion of the relationship between the two firms since late last year. In December last year, FTX US selected Eventus in order to deploy the Validus platform to conduct trade surveillance and risk monitoring on its crypto spot, futures and options markets.

Accelerating Expansion of Market Surveillance Tech

In September last year, Eventus raised $30 million in a Series B funding round to enable it to double its workforce and expand its capacity to monitor financial markets.

Since early this year, the firm has been hiring talents as the company expands geographically and technology-wise. In March, Eventus appointed Josh Bosquez as its Chief Technology Officer. Early this month, the company hired Nick Wallis as Managing Director for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

In January, Canadian digital asset exchange Bitbuy selected Eventus’ s help to ensure its market operates with integrity as regulators tighten rules and oversight in the cryptocurrency space.

Eventus recently entered the Australian market through collaboration with stockbroker Morrison Securities.

Eventus’ flagship software, the Validus platform, monitors high volumes of trading data across cryptocurrencies, equities, options, futures, foreign exchange currencies and fixed income markets. The platform is used by major banks, brokerages, exchanges, proprietary trading firms, and other financial institutions to more effectively manage financial risks and address regulatory challenges.

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Tagged : Crypto / Enterprise / EVENTUS / FTX