Opensea now allows users to list and buy up to 30 items in a single flow on its marketplace, saying that it’s more convenient and way more gas efficient than buying individually.
Opensea, the largest NFT marketplace, announced in a short Twitter thread its new feature that allows users to bulk list and buy up to 30 items at once from the same chain in a cart before purchasing them all in a single transaction.
According to the team at Opensea, this would reduce gas fee costs, making the purchasing process more suitable and well organized.
The company explained, saying: “In your collected items tab, you can access bulk listings by clicking on the “+” symbol when you hover over an item card or by clicking “list for sale” in the “More Options” drop-down.”
Recently, OpenSea adopted OpenRarity – a scarcity tracking tool that allows buyers to check the rarity of a specific non-fungible token (NFT).
In addition, last week, Opensea announced its partnership with US-based global music and entertainment company Warner Music Group to help attract music fans through NFT drops.
While the marketplace continues to improve with innovation, its volume has plunged dramatically, with a lot of declines in the daily and monthly transactions on the platform.
According to data from Dappradar, Opensea went from processing $26.44 million worth of NFT transactions on June 5 to only processing $7.79 million worth of NFT transactions on October 4.
Over the years, Bitcoin’s lightning network has been growing so well, and according to recent data, the capacity of the layer-2 payments solution has crossed the 5,000 BTC benchmark.
In September 2021, the Bitcoin lightning network went parabolic and hit an all-time high of 2,738, and by October of the same year, it hit a new all-time high of 3,000 BTC for the first time.
Fast forward to October, the lightning rework has now crossed the 5,000 BTC Benchmark, which means the layer-2 payments solution increased by an additional 2k BTC in 1 year.
This data was revealed according to a Bitcoin lightning network chart by lookintobitcoin. It shows how the layer-2 payments solution capacity has grown over the years ever since 2018 when it was first created.
As illustrated above, the capacity increase started in the middle of this year despite the decline in Bitcoin’s price. It shows regardless of the plummet in Bitcoin’s price, the lightning network amplified in growth, increasing its adoption.
The lightning network is a layer-2 payment solution built to facilitate Bitcoin’s transactions. It enables users to send or receive BTC at lower fees and faster. A higher capacity in the network results in an increment in liquidity.
John Carvalho, CEO of Synonym, tweeted about this benchmark milestone and said a “lightning fairytale” has been made into “reality.” He pointed out another fad that states more than 20% of the bitcoin lightning network capacity is represented by Bitfinex. It has more than 1000 BTC in over 2000 channels.
Furthermore, last month, Strike, a leading digital payments platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, announced it secured $80m in funding to propel instant Bitcoin payments.
In addition, last week, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy disclosed it is seeking to hire a Bitcoin Lightning Software Engineer to build a Lightning Network-based SaaS platform. The software company also revealed that it was working on solutions to bring in a large number of people to the Lightning Network.
Crypto exchange Crypto.com has announced that Google Pay and Apple Pay are now available for Canadian users for their products.
Canadian users can now connect their bank cards when using the Crypto.com Visa card, link their digital wallets, and use Google Pay and Apple Pay for payments.
With the addition of Apple Pay and Google Pay, customers can use Visa or Mastercard debit cards linked to Apple Wallet or Google Pay to pay for purchases and withdraw funds, not just using Crypto.com Visa cards.
The exchange also said that iOS users with Apple Watches will also be able to use the service.
Despite the latest options are currently limited to Canadian users, the Crypto.com community is optimistic that the service will soon be available to users in other parts of the world.
Back in July, Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com officially announced that it will offer customers more ways to pay for transactions by allowing Android users to use Google Pay to buy crypto assets on its exchange.
Crypto.com has been actively expanding lately. It has received regulatory approvals in several countries. The exchange recently has additional registrations and licenses in France, expanding its footprints in Europe after Italy, the UK, and Greece.
Coinbase announced expanding its services in Australia to make accessing the crypto economy easier and safer, introducing three services to their Aussie clients.
The digital currency exchange, which first entered the Australian market in 2016, said it would be introducing a PayID feature to its Australian users.
The announcement was disclosed in a published blog post, “First, we are introducing PayID as a way for Australians to top up their Coinbase accounts using direct Australian Dollar transfers.” Said Coinbase in the announcement.”
PayID is a payment feature developed by the Australian financial services sector and the Reserve Bank of Australia, which permits individuals to link a mobile number or an email address to a bank account to receive payments.
Additionally, Coinbase also stated it would be releasing a Retail Advanced Trading feature. A tool that will allow Australian customers to access low, volume-based pricing and powerful trading tools with one harmonious balance. The firm also added that it would provide 24/7 chat support to customers in Australia.
Speaking about how Australians were some of the world’s earliest adopters of digital currencies and that they are savvy investors. The firm further called Australia a “hotbed of fintech innovation.” And it’s looking to elevate Australians’ experience using Coinbase.
Vice President of International and Business Development Nana Murugesan commented on the latest products in Australia. The post reads:
“Aussies were some of the world’s earliest adopters of digital currencies, and they are savvy investors. We know this because Coinbase was one of the first platforms Australians trusted with their crypto investments. Now, we want to elevate their experience using Coinbase. What’s more, Australia is a hotbed of fintech innovation – we looked hard across this space to better understand the market, and recently hired John O’Loghlen (Australia Country Director) to lead our local team.”
Furthermore, to push its Australian affair, Coinbase stated it has incorporated a local entity (Coinbase Australia Pty Ltd) and has obtained registration and enrolment with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) to provide digital currency exchange services.
Coinbase has now collaborated with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology on research about Web3 and the future of finance in Australia. The crypto exchange firm was also recently welcomed as a member of Blockchain Australia, the country’s peak industry network for businesses implementing or evaluating blockchain technology.
Notably, last month, Coinbase announced its official registration as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank — DNB). According to Coinbase, the license will enable it to offer its full suite of crypto products that will make it serve both its retail and institutional clients in the country.
Hamilton Lane, a global private markets investment firm, formed a partnership deal with digital asset securities firm Securitize to tokenize three of its investment funds on Wednesday.
Through the partnership, funds to be tokenized include unlisted equities, private credit, and secondary transactions.
Hamilton Lane, which has $835 billion in assets under management, plans to give qualified U.S.-based investors access to funds through providing exposure to direct equities, private credit, and secondary transactions, which will be tokenized via Securitize’s blockchain-based digital transfer agency.
Hamilton’s tokenized funds are expected to be available by the fourth quarter, enabling a broader investor base to access the funds. Customers will still need to be accredited, which means those with a net worth of more than $1 million or income above $200,000.
Victor Jung, Head of Digital Assets at Hamilton Lane, commented about the development: “This collaboration with Securitize is our latest step toward enabling access to the strong returns and performance opportunities generated within the private markets space for a newer set of investors while increasing usability and transparency through the use of blockchain technology.”
The new tokenized funds highlight Hamilton’s commitment to expanding ease of access to the private markets through the use of blockchain technology. Private-equity investments are generally accessible only to institutional investors or ultra-high-net-worth investors. But blockchain has opened up the access of private-market strategies to retail investors.
Therefore, converting funds into security tokens enables individual investors to place money in assets previously only accessible to institutions. It reduces issuance and administration costs and enables fractional ownership.
Hamilton Lane’s move follows the announcement last month when KKR tapped blockchain technology further to open its private equity strategy to individual investors. The developments signal a series of asset management firms using intermediaries to expand access to funds to high net-worth individuals and accredited investors.
Other asset managers, like Partners Group, Investcorp, and Temasek-backed Mapletree, also tokenized their funds recently, as they know that individual investors will increasingly drive their growth investments.
Crypto miner Greenridge Generation is on a mission to raise up to $22.8 million.
A US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing dated October 3 showed that the firm seeks to do so in an at-the-market offering.
The US-based bitcoin mining company has signed a sales deal with B. Riley Securities for the Class A common stock offer, which will give the investment bank up to 5% of the gross proceeds from the offer.
In the filing, Greenridge wrote, “we (the company) currently plan to use the net proceeds from this offering, after deducting B. Riley’s commissions and offering expenses payable by us, for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, paying or refinancing all or a portion of our indebtedness at the time, and funding acquisitions, capital expenditures and working capital.”
In March, the bitcoin mining company had secured $100 million in funds to help enlarge its operations in the US.
The total sum included $81.4 million as a loan from an affiliate of NYDIG and $26.5 million as a promissory note with a B. Riley Financial, Inc cohort.
Even though Greenridge announced that its mining production increased by about 18% in June, it is seemingly looking to raise funds as it reported a second-quarter loss of $107.9 million.
According to its monthly operating update from June, Greenridge said it produced approximately 230 Bitcoins, an increase of about 18%, compared to 195 Bitcoins it mined in May.
The miner disclosed that it increased its hashrate capacity to 2.5 exahash per second (“EH/s”) from 27,500 mining machines in June, an increase from 1.7 EH/s of mining capacity from 20,400 mining machines in the previous month.
Greenridge stated that it ordered an additional 200 mining machines, which are in transit, as they will be installed upon their arrival.
Following the company’s second-quarter losses, it announced in August that it would pause its expansion plans in Texas. It cited a “sudden change in mining economics” and said it would focus on its South Carolina and New York locations.
However, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation denied the bitcoin mining company’s air permit renewal in June as it did not meet the requirements of state climate laws.
In a statement, NYSDEC said that Greenridge’s application was inconsistent with the climate goals highlighted by the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which focuses on reducing New York’s greenhouse gas emission by at least 85% by 2050.
Speculations about crypto lender Nexo heading towards bankruptcy were squashed by the company’s top-ranking members.
In an ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ YouTube video on Tuesday co-founders of Nexo, Antoni Trenchev and Kalin Metodiev addressed a series of inquiries, where one participant asked whether their lending platform could be the next Celsius Network Ltd. or Voyager Digital Ltd., both of which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Metodiev replied, “Insolvency, bankruptcy is nowhere in Nexo’s reality.”
He added, “We work very hard that we deliver a very strong and sustainable future for our users for many years to come, enriched with a number of additional services and products through integration of technology and disruption of existing services.”
Following that, Trenchev echoed a similar opinion saying the company had “no exposure to the Terra and Luna debacle”. He also pointed out that Nexo has not lent to the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
In recent months, Nexo has positioned itself as a potential acquirer of ailing cryptocurrency companies. In August, Nexo approved a $50 million token buyback program. Nexo had previously completed a $100 million buyback in May.
The Switzerland-based crypto lending platform is instead heading towards expansion into industries like trading as well as the development of wealth and asset management solutions in traditional capital markets, the two co-founders said.
Yet, Nexo was called out by regulators from eight US states last month for offering interest-earning accounts without registering the investment products as securities. Following this Nexo had to fight against a cease and desist order filed by the regulators from California, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington.
Nexo’s yield accounts were marketed and used by retail investors.
In another development last month, Nexo announced the acquisition of a stake in Wyoming-based Summit National Bank, expanding its footprint in the US region.
Nexo has taken a stake in the US federally chartered bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency by acquiring a stake in Hulett Bancorp. Hulett Bancorp is a holding company that controls Summit National Bank.
Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public. The company stressed that the mutually beneficial impact the equity acquisition will have on the clients of both companies should be the focal point of the deal instead of the size of the deal.
Nexo will announce more plans in the coming months to expand its new customers in the US and expand its addressable market in the country, the company said.
Speculations about crypto lender Nexo heading towards bankruptcy were squashed by the company’s top-ranking members.
In an ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ YouTube video on Tuesday co-founders of Nexo, Antoni Trenchev and Kalin Metodiev addressed a series of inquiries, where one participant asked whether their lending platform could be the next Celsius Network Ltd. or Voyager Digital Ltd., both of which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Metodiev replied, “Insolvency, bankruptcy is nowhere in Nexo’s reality.”
He added, “We work very hard that we deliver a very strong and sustainable future for our users for many years to come, enriched with a number of additional services and products through integration of technology and disruption of existing services.”
Following that, Trenchev echoed a similar opinion saying the company had “no exposure to the Terra and Luna debacle”. He also pointed out that Nexo has not lent to the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
In recent months, Nexo has positioned itself as a potential acquirer of ailing cryptocurrency companies. In August, Nexo approved a $50 million token buyback program. Nexo had previously completed a $100 million buyback in May.
The Switzerland-based crypto lending platform is instead heading towards expansion into industries like trading as well as the development of wealth and asset management solutions in traditional capital markets, the two co-founders said.
Last month, Nexo was called out by regulators from eight US states for offering interest-earning accounts without registering the investment products as securities. Following this Nexo had to fight against a cease and desist order filed by the regulators from California, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington.
Nexo’s yield accounts were marketed and used by retail investors.
In another development last month, Nexo announced the acquisition of a stake in Wyoming-based Summit National Bank, expanding its footprint in the US region.
Nexo has taken a stake in the US federally chartered bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency by acquiring a stake in Hulett Bancorp. Hulett Bancorp is a holding company that controls Summit National Bank.
Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public. The company stressed that the mutually beneficial impact the equity acquisition will have on the clients of both companies should be the focal point of the deal instead of the size of the deal.
Nexo will announce more plans in the coming months to expand its new customers in the US and expand its addressable market in the country, the company said.
The number of non-fungible tokens (NFT) and other blockchain-related trademark applications filed in the United States this year has already outstripped the entire total from last year by 3-to-1.
In 2021, a total of 2,142 NFT-related trademarks were filed, but by the end of September 2022, there were 6,366 such trademarks submitted – a total that has already nearly tripled in 2022 compared to the entirety of 2021 – based on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data compiled by the trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis.
March of this year saw the most NFT-related trademarks filed in the US, with 1,080 submitted. While, every subsequent month in 2022 had lower filings, with a 15% decrease between August and September of this year.
The trading volume of NFTs between May and June fell 74%, previous data from The Block Research showed as per a report from Blockchain.News.
The trading volume for May was $4 billion, while June saw $1.04 billion.
The Block reported that, to date, the 74% decrease is the largest month-over-month drop in NFT marketplace trading volume; the previous low was 48%, which occurred between February and March this year.
The data showed that the dominant player in the NFT marketplace in June was OpenSea, with $696 million in total volumes for that month. It represented 67% of the month’s total monthly volume.
However, NFT-related trademark filings in March surpassed what 2021 had in its entirety and despite the month-over-month decreases until September 2022.
A few popular companies that filed trademarks this year include McDonald’s, Crocs, CVS and even the television personality Dr Oz.
Although web3-related trademark filings have increased, it does not necessarily mean that these companies intend to launch such products. These trademarks are primarily filed to protect their intellectual property from being misused in virtual spaces.
The NFT sector has become popular since around 2020, during the peak COVID turmoil, and it is expected to grow even further.
According to a report from Research and Markets, the capability of NFTs to authentic intellectual property will become the key driver expected to push the sector to a $97.6 billion valuation by 2028.
By ensuring that intellectual property is stored in a tamper-proof blockchain, Research and Markets expects NFTs to continue gaining steam. For instance, a fashion designer can have their garment embedded in a blockchain-powered smart contract.
Juniper Research reported that NFT transactions are expected to reach $40 million by 2027 as the metaverse trend continues to gain steam.
The study noted that a 66.6% growth would be recorded during the forecast period. Per the report: “NFT transactions will rise from 24 million in 2022 to 40 million by 2027. This is based on our medium scenario for adoption, with brands leveraging the metaverse to boost digital growth.”
For consumer-centred businesses, the research pointed out that creating NFT-based content would give them a competitive advantage based on the changing needs of the younger and tech-savvy demographic.
The number of non-fungible tokens (NFT) and other blockchain-related trademark applications filed in the United States this year has already outstripped the entire total from last year by 3-to-1.
In 2021, a total of 2,142 NFT-related trademarks were filed, but by the end of September 2022, there were 6,366 such trademarks submitted – a total that has already nearly tripled in 2022 compared to the entirety of 2021 – based on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data compiled by the trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis.
March of this year saw the most NFT-related trademarks filed in the US, with 1,080 submitted. While, every subsequent month in 2022 had lower filings, with a 15% decrease between August and September of this year.
The trading volume of NFTs between May and June fell 74%, previous data from The Block Research showed as per a report from Blockchain.News.
The trading volume for May was $4 billion, while June saw $1.04 billion.
The Block reported that, to date, the 74% decrease is the largest month-over-month drop in NFT marketplace trading volume; the previous low was 48%, which occurred between February and March this year.
The data showed that the dominant player in the NFT marketplace in June was OpenSea, with $696 million in total volumes for that month. It represented 67% of the month’s total monthly volume.
However, it still gathered NFT-related trademark filings in March that surpassed what 2021 had in its entirety and despite the month-over-month decreases until September 2022.
A few popular companies that filed trademarks this year include McDonald’s, Crocs, CVS and even the television personality Dr Oz.
Although web3-related trademark filings have increased, it does necessarily mean that these companies intend to launch such products. These trademarks are primarily filed to protect their intellectual property from being misused in virtual spaces.
The NFT sector has become popular since around 2020, during the peak COVID turmoil, and it is expected to grow even further.
According to a report from Research and Markets, the capability of NFTs to authentic intellectual property will become the key driver expected to push the sector to a $97.6 billion valuation by 2028.
By ensuring that intellectual property is stored in a tamper-proof blockchain, Research and Markets expects NFTs to continue gaining steam. For instance, a fashion designer can have their garment embedded in a blockchain-powered smart contract.
Juniper Research reported that NFT transactions are expected to reach $40 million by 2027 as the metaverse trend continues to gain steam.
The study noted that a 66.6% growth would be recorded during the forecast period. Per the report: “NFT transactions will rise from 24 million in 2022 to 40 million by 2027. This is based on our medium scenario for adoption, with brands leveraging the metaverse to boost digital growth.”
For consumer-centred businesses, the research pointed out that creating NFT-based content would give them a competitive advantage based on the changing needs of the younger and tech-savvy demographic.
