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EU Approves Brazilian Crypto Asset Management Firm Hashdex to List ETP Products

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Brazil-based global digital asset management company Hashdex announced on September 1 that it has been approved to list its exchange-traded product (ETP) in the European Union.

In May, Hashdex launched the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Europe ETP on the Swiss SIX securities trading platform.

This is a major milestone following the issuance of approval on the six major Swiss exchanges, laying the foundation for expansion in the European market.

Previously, the company launched a crypto ETF “Web3 ETF” which will be listed on the Brazilian stock exchange B3 from March 30 under the ticker symbol WEB311.

In May this year, Hashdex launched the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Europe ETP on the Swiss SIX securities trading platform.

Meanwhile, Bruno Sousa, Head of New Markets at Hashdex, also commented on the development, saying: “Receiving approval to list in the European Union in only three months is a testament to the tireless efforts of our talented team as we expand our suite of products that serve the needs of European investors. We are focused on building on the recent successful launch of the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Europe ETP in Switzerland, and we look forward to continuing to make strong strides in positioning Hashdex as the leading European crypto issuer with the ability to deploy innovative, diversified strategies using our proven ETP structure.”

In partnership with Nasdaq, Hashdex has launched a 12-part course designed to provide financial asset managers with information on the evolution of the digital asset ecosystem, investment considerations, regulation, taxation and more Educational Resources. Due to the increased interest of financial advisors in acquiring knowledge in the field of digital assets, Hashdex has launched this course as a resource for investment managers considering cryptocurrencies in their investment strategies.

In February last year, Hashdex launched the world’s first crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. The fund is traded on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) for accredited non-US investors. Investors provide institutional investors with an easy solution to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency market.

Hashdex has more than 125,000 investors globally and has approximately $467 million in assets under management.

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Ticketmaster Partners with Flow Blockchain to Mint Live Event Ticket NFTs

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

American ticketing company Ticketmaster announced that it will enhance the fan event experience through digital collectable NFTs, and will mint ticket NFTs for selected events on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain, providing users with a new experience.

Ticketmaster will issue NFTs for event organizers to provide fans with live events before, during and after the event.

At the same time, fans can share or activate online through digital souvenirs to receive unique loyalty rewards, VIP participation opportunities and more.

Ticketmaster previously partnered with Flow to distribute more than 70,000 one-to-one virtual commemorative ticket NFTs as souvenirs at Super Bowl LVI, which are marked with each user’s unique seating location.

Flow is a blockchain platform that originally was designed for gaming purposes, but has expanded since its launch in 2020. The flow blockchain enables fast, low-cost transactions and supports smart contracts. It powers blockchain applications including NBA Top Shot, a non-fungible token (NFT) offering. Ticketmaster EVP Brendan Lynch said

“Event organizers who choose to offer fans an NFT with their ticket have a real opportunity to make this new technology relevant and relatable at scale. This is why we are partnering with Flow because their blockchain is custom-built for fan engagement and frictionless consumer experiences.”

According to Dapper, in a pilot program, Ticketmaster minted more than 5 million Flow NFTs on the Flow blockchain in six months, including Apollo Theater, Gavin de Grau, Black Crow and Sebastian Maniscalco.

Mickey Maher, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at Dapper Labs, emphasized that the partnership with Ticketmaster will enable millions of fans of live events to immortalize, share and enhance their IRL experiences through digital collectables.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Flow / News / NFT / Ticketmaster

Al Jalila Foundation Gets Donations Worth $16M in Crypto

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Months after becoming the first healthcare charity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to accept charity in crypto, Al Jalila Foundation has received a donation in cryptocurrency worth $16 million.

As the first of its kind on UAE soil, the crypto donation will be channelled towards assisting Hamdan Bin Rashid Cancer Charity Hospital. The funds will specifically aid in the construction of a bone marrow transplant centre, which will be later renamed “QUINT Bone Marrow Transplant Centre” upon launch.

This move will make specialized medical treatment affordable to cancer patients.

Abdul Kareem Al Olama, the CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, pointed out:

“We are grateful to QUINT for their generous contribution that will have a great impact on the lives of adults and children suffering from cancer.”

He added:

“As a philanthropic organisation, we rely on charitable donations, and we are always seeking innovative ways to expand our donation channels for ease of convenience for donors from all around the world to support our programmes.”

QUINT founders made donations to support the Al Jalila Foundation’s objective of changing lives through medical innovation. QUINT is a revolutionary DeFi and crypto platform.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, QUINT’s chairman, stated:

“QUINT’s founders, developers, and partners support Al Jalila Foundation’s aim of transforming lives through medical research and are delighted to be able to contribute to this mission.”

Al Olama had previously stated that the Al Jalila Foundation was taking the crypto donation route to boost its capabilities, network, and channels per Dubai’s intention of becoming a leading cryptocurrency hub.

The foundation spearheaded life-changing healthcare programs in different fields like research, education, and medical treatment since 2013.

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Tagged : ALJALILA / Charity / Crypto / Cryptocurrency / Donations / News / Uae

Binance Launches Football Fan Token Index Perpetual Contracts Ahead of FIFA 2022

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Wednesday announced the launch of its Football Fan Token Index perpetual contracts.

The exchange stated that its new crypto price index is tracking the market performance of football club fan tokens listed on Binance’s spot market in USDT.

USDT, also known as Tether, is a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio.

The company said that the Binance Football Fan Token Index perpetual contracts are now available 24/7 trading hours, with up to 25 times leverage, and with settlement assets as USDT on the exchange’s derivatives market.

Binance said that based on market risk conditions, it may adjust the specifications of the contracts from time to time, which include the tick size, maximum leverage, initial margin, and/or maintenance margin requirements.

Today, the company has launched its USDC perpetual contracts for its fan token index – a new product that allows users to trade using their USDC balance on the Binance derivatives market.

Binance’s new USDC perpetual contract allows customers to use USDC as collateral and place long or short contracts with up to 25x leverage and no expiration date.

Users are able to place an order based on the quantity of the cryptocurrency they are using (e.g. Bitcoin, Ether, among others), and calculate the margin, profit, and loss based on USDC.

In a bull or bear market, investors majorly use perpetual contracts as a diversified trading product to help them make the most out of a volatile market. Users are expected to understand how the product works before beginning trading.

The Rise of Football Fan Tokens

The launch of the Binance Football Fan Token Index perpetual contracts is well timed as most football seasons have resumed, and the upcoming FIFA world cup 2022 is scheduled from 20 November to 18 December 2022 in Qatar.

Fan tokens are a type of cryptocurrency that allow holders to vote on mostly minor decisions related to their clubs.

Several top clubs, such as Manchester City, Porto, PSG, Lazio, Barcelona, Santos, AC Milan, and Atletico Madrid, among others, have launched their fan tokens.

Domestic leagues and international tournaments, football clubs have been competing in the digital world over the past few months.

As one of the main digital assets offered by football clubs, fan tokens have grown in popularity among football fans.

Many teams now have their own coins, with Binance and Socios remaining as the leading platforms for launching the fan tokens.

The tokens are increasingly seen by clubs as a source of new revenue, which provides tokens for such football clubs.

Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, fan tokens can be traded on exchanges. They also share similarities with other digital currencies, a tendency for wild price swings – events that often prompt some regulators to issue warnings to investors about digital assets.

Image source: https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/645a4b2808bd497dbb28d433a3134a89

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Tagged : Binance / FIFA WORLD CUP / FOOTBALL FAN TOKEN INDEX PERPETUAL CONTRACTS / News / USDT

Appetite for Crypto Amongst Institutional Buyers in Hong Kong is Low: New Report

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

The months-long headwinds in the cryptocurrency ecosystem are beginning to fuel disinterest amongst institutional investors in Hong Kong.

According to a report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), riding on an earlier report from Bitstamp which surveyed 253 Hong Kong institutional investors, as many as 9% said they will reduce their exposure to the nascent asset class or stop investing in it altogether.

This figure is significant because it is far above the 3% who held a similar view in the previous quarter.

“It is true that retail investors and the institutions who serve them are less active in crypto and perhaps looking for other assets in the short term,” said James Quinn, managing partner of Hong Kong-headquartered Q9 Capital, a crypto investment platform for institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Quinn added that “the ‘easy money’ is not so easy at the moment.”

It has been a roller coaster ride for the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.

The global economy was turned into chaos and this was further compounded by the collapse of Terra LUNA which lead to the bankruptcies of a number of established crypto firms beginning with Three Arrows Capital and later, Voyager Digital and Celsius Network amongst others.

While the survey still showcases a waning interest amongst investors, a good number of corporate buyers are still committed to investing in the industry. The Bitstamp survey showed that 29% of those surveyed still plan to commit additional funds to digital currencies.

The few institutional investors who still have an interest in injecting capital into the space will do so provided the funds are targeted at highly innovative protocols in the Web3.0 space. This model has guided the majority of new capital being injected into the broader cryptocurrency world today.

“The interest level remains high in further building the ecosystem, especially as it relates to proper investment products and solutions,” Quinn said. “[Institutions] are not changing course.”

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Tagged : Cryptocurrency / Hongkong / INSTITUTIONALINVESTORS / News

FTX CEO Says Crypto Winter Bailout had ‘Mixed’ Results

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried, the Chief Executive Officer of FTX Derivatives Exchange, has shared his hopes about the company’s bouts of investment in distressed crypto firms.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Bankman-Fried described the investment prospects as ‘Mixed’ noting that some of them may be profitable while some others may not.

Per his response when asked if he expects the investments to be profitable, the 30-year-old crypto billionaire said “mixed is basically the answer. I think some were going to turn out to be profitable, some won’t be. I mean, with Voyager, I think there’s $70 million there that we put in that I’m not sure we’re ever seeing again,” adding that the situations at the time pushed his team to make.

“..snap judgment calls, and we made them such that if things turned out well, they’d be good investments, and if they turned out badly, they’d be bad investments. But we sort of limited the amount that we could lose from it,” he added.

Bankman-Fried’s Take on Crypto Winter and Regulation

Despite the aftermath of the crypto winter which lead to a series of bankruptcy filings, the FTX CEO said he believes the situation could have been worse.

While Bitcoin plunged below $20,000 in the broader market route, Sam Bankman-Fried said the situation could have been unimaginable should the premier asset drop as low as $10,000. Acknowledging he does not calculate his net worth with the fall in price, Sam is optimistic about the prospect of the market overall.

On regulation, Sam said he is indifferent if either the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) takes charge of regulating the crypto ecosystem. He noted that he has continued to play a role, including lobbying politicians in Washington to help get functional regulations into the digital currency ecosystem.

Known as the Morgan Stanley of the crypto world, Sam recently clarified how FTX has no plans whatsoever to make a bid for the Huobi exchange.

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Tagged : #Huobi / Crypto / FTX / Industry Expert / SAMBANKMANFRIED

Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy to be Sued for Tax Fraud

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Michael Saylor, the founder and Chairman of businesses intelligence and software development firm MicroStrategy Incorporated, is about to get sued in Washington DC for tax evasion fraud. Karl Racine the Washington DC Attorney General took to Twitter to announce this move.

According to Racine, Michael Saylor did not pay any income taxes even though he lived in Washington DC for up to a decade.

“Today, we’re suing Michael Saylor – a billionaire tech executive who has lived in the District for more than a decade but has never paid any DC income taxes – for tax fraud,” Racine revealed in the tweet, adding that “We’re also suing his company, MicroStrategy, for conspiring to help him evade taxes he legally owes on hundreds of millions of dollars he’s earned while living in DC.”

It is not immediately clear what data Racine or the Attorney General’s office has to back up the claim, but the move is evident it will be incriminating enough. While Michael Saylor has not commented on this enforcement action planned against him by the Attorney General, the action has gotten the crypto community into a major frenzy.

Connecting the Impending Saylor Crackdown With Bitcoin Action

The agitation is not unfounded considering the fact that both Saylor and MicroStrategy have a sizable amount of cash logged in Bitcoin.

With the enforcement action, Saylor might be forced to liquidate some of his personal Bitcoin stack which is likely to send panic into the broader digital currency ecosystem.

While the likelihood of Saylor liquidating his BTC holdings is low, considering the digital currency is trading at a massively lower price than its peak, the thoughts of it will make investors to place attention on the activities of the company as the crackdown unfolds.

Saylor is a major Bitcoin bull and advocate and the tax evasion charges are bound to be followed closely by the industry.

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Tagged : AGKARLRACINE / Crypto / MICHAELSAYLOR / Microstrategy / Regulation

Ethereum Miner Addresses Hits 4-year High Ahead of the Merge

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 1, 2022

Ethereum miner addresses have continued to grow and are now at a 4-year high according to on-chain data.

As pointed out by independent crypto reporter, Colin Wu citing data from OKLink, “the balance of Ethereum miner addresses exceeded 260,000, with a total of 261,848, which has risen to the level of the same period in April 2018, a record high in four years, and is about 415 million US dollars at current prices.”

According to the charts above, the number of addresses is moving upward, and in an opposite direction to the current price of Ethereum which is on the decline. The rising number of Ethereum addresses has showcased the last attempts on the parts of Proof-of-Work (PoW) miners to accrue as many Ether as they can before the forthcoming The Merge.

With the Merge that is slated for September 15, a ‘Difficulty Bomb’ will be ushered in that will largely make mining more difficult and largely impractical.

With the difficulty bomb, mining will become largely unprofitable as miners will be expected to shift their roles in order to become validators in the newly ushered-in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

The miners have nothing to lose for getting involved with Ethereum mining at this time. In fact, some may consider the mining endeavours to be an avenue to accumulate Ethereum at a time when the odds are in the favour of the miners. As the date for the Merge draws nearer, there is a likelihood that we will see increased traction in the number of miner addresses that will be recorded on-chain as an attempt to put their mining resources to good use will be heightened.

The Ethereum network is setting very unique precedence for the PoW protocols at a time when the clamour for environmental sustainability is growing by the day.

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Tagged : #ETH / Blockchain / CRYTO / Ethereum / ETHEREUM2