Founder and CEO of renowned cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, reportedly called the attention of regulators and asked them to form a unified framework for cryptocurrencies. He made this request during the Asian Financial Forum, an event organized by Hong Kong’s government to discuss potential innovative opportunities within the country’s economic landscape.
Bankman-Fried noted that rather than placing all their concentration on determining if assets are considered securities, regulators should instead focus on combining all the regulations and write them all down in a crypto rule book.
He also stated there’s something more essential than labeling assets as securities, such as creating a framework that focuses on disclosure and minimizing the possibilities of fraud. Although he didn’t specify which regulatory bodies he was pointing fingers at, many of them from across the globe mainly focus their time and attention on ranking tokens as securities. However, Bankman-Fried believes that doing so won’t help protect investors.
Among other things, the FTX CEO also emphasized the regulatory frameworks for other assets. He says that the same concept should be applied to digital assets, which is all the rage nowadays.
herbinisaac (CC0), Pixabay
Notably, this isn’t Bankman-Fried’s first time confronting crypto regulators. For instance, the young exchange founder and other executives from renowned crypto firms were asked to attend a committee hearing back in December 2021. In this committee hearing, they advised regulators from the United States to offer clarity regarding the regulation of digital assets.
On the other hand, experts believe that 2022 will bring in major advancements for regulatory standards. Hatu Sheikh, DAO Maker’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, noted in a Cointelegraph survey that regulators understand that the industry is evolving and growing. At this time, the industry has become too expansive to impose a blanket ban.
Among other things, Sheikh also noted that having regulations in place is a necessity. Restrictions, on the other hand, restrictions aren’t a requirement.
Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO of social media platform Twitter, recently revealed his plans to form a “Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund” with Alex Morcos, a co-founder for Chaincode Labs, and Martin White, an academic at the University of Sussex.
The announcement was sent on bitcoin-dev, a mailing list dedicated to Bitcoin developers, on January 12 at 00:13:45 UTC. Notably, the email address that sent the message appeared to belong to none other than Dorsey.
Cointelegraph reached out to the board members to confirm whether the email was legitimate. However, they didn’t receive a response right away. According to the announcement, the Fund will offer legal defense to Bitcoin developers who are in the middle of multi-front litigation.
The announcement continues by describing what exactly the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund is, saying it’s a non-profit entity that strives to lessen as many legal headaches as possible, which can “discourage software developers from actively developing Bitcoin and related projects.”
The Fund’s primary purpose is to defend developers from legal cases regarding their activities within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Developers can expect assistance in various ways, including “finding and retaining defense counsel, developing litigation strategy, and paying legal bills.”
The Fund will consist of volunteers and part-time lawyers that the developers can use whenever they need. However, the email also notes that the Fund’s board “will be responsible for determining which lawsuits and defendants it will help defend.”
The email also mentions that the Fund’s first project is to take over Ramona Ang’s “Tulip Trading Lawsuit” against developers, including Ira Kleiman, for alleged transgressions regarding a BTC fortune.
Dorsey has been one of Bitcoin’s proponents for quite a long time now. Stepping down from his role as Twitter CEO back in November 2021, it remains to be seen if the Twitter founder left the company to focus on Square’s plans to create a decentralized Bitcoin exchange.
The gambling industry in India is massive, with over 350M people taking part. Online casino owners have also increased to meet the need, which leaves players spoilt for choice. Indians view online gambling as a source of entertainment, and a means to earn extra cash. For this reason, here is a guide on how to play in online casinos in India.
Technology is the main reason behind the upsurge of smartphone users who are constantly looking for new ways to get entertainment online. One of these ways of entertainment online is through online casinos, which are now rampant in India. They create many job opportunities, enabling players from different walks of life to earn some revenue.
How to Play in Online Casinos in India
If you are a novice in online gambling in India, you will have to download an app or visit the official gambling website. The field is flooded with options, and it is upon you to trade carefully and avoid a rip-off. However, outstanding sites like Online-casinos.in have your back and provide all necessary information about playing online casinos in India.
An authentic site complies with all law requirements. It is well-designed and offers customers plenty of bonuses. However, let the design and bonuses not sweep you off. You need to look for other requirements.
Knowing online gambling laws will protect you from unscrupulous businesses and keep you safe. These laws have varied from one state to another, as shown in The Public Gambling Act, since the 19th century. Indians are not prohibited from gambling online, but they must adhere to the regulations below.
Indians can play in foreign online casinos.
Gambling is not illegal in India, whether in a registered casino or outside.
No specific laws against online gambling or betting beyond Indian borders.
How to Choose the Right Online Casino in India
Gambling goes back to the 19th century in India, and they have maintained this cultural practice since the Mahabharata days. The social activities surrounding gambling make it the epicenter of Indian history. Back in the day, Pandavas and Kauravas were mainly associated with gambling, where Lord Shiva played the famous game Chaupar.
These stories have religious backing by several authors, which shows a fondness for the game. You cannot separate Indians and gambling since it’s the origin of several card games. Before signing up for an online casino, here is a list of things you need to check.
Real money games – Various games from online casino points in the right direction. A good casino should have many games to embrace many customers.
Customer support – Conduct customer care for questions or requirements easily and quickly. A 24/7 support system should be in place with a live chat or email in the various Indian languages.
Licenses – A license is proof of a serious business owner and shows trust and safety. Ensure the license comes from recognized bodies like Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
Right software Developer – Online gambling involves a lot of activity which raises the need for a good software developer. If your casino of interest is powered by Microgaming, NetEnt, Playtech, or Evolution Gaming, then you are in expert hands.
Multiple Trusted deposits and fast Withdrawals – You want to be sure that the money you earn playing different games is not a charade but real. Therefore, the site should have links with several money platforms that work well in India like Ru Card payments, ecoPayz, Skrill, Indian Banking, to mention but a few.
Device Compatibility – The phone is the most common gadget used in betting because it is portable. Indian lookout for highly compatible sites with cellphones, and any serious online casino will make sure it fits the bill.
How to Play in Online Casinos in India
Once you have checked the boxes above, it is time to browse the many choices available and register with the best online casino for you. Follow these steps to sign up and start placing bets.
Open the site of choice and click on the registration tab.
Fill in your details as required in the provided spaces.
Substantiate your account, then specify your preferred deposit method.
Specify the deposit amount and tap on the confirm button.
Select your game of choice, then play.
Conclusion
Knowing how to play in online casinos in India is vital since the opportunities are endless. For you to have a wonderful experience, use the guidelines above to locate authentic dealers because the gambling market is flooded in India.
LCX, a crypto exchange based in Liechtenstein, recently confirmed that they were a victim of a hot wallet hack during the weekend, which took nearly $8 million worth of digital assets. The hacker compromised one of the hot wallets in the crypto exchange using the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, and they succeeded in taking massive amounts of ETH, USD coin, EURe, and SAND Tokens.
According to a detailed report published by LCX, the company’s team detected unauthorized access last January 9, 2022, on a certain crypto wallet. As a result, approximately $7.94M worth of crypto assets were taken, while $0.7M has been frozen.
The exchange still hasn’t revealed any plans they may have regarding reimbursement. However, it assured users that it would do everything it can to alleviate the hack’s impact “and restore full service as soon as possible.” Since the unfortunate event, LCX has stopped activities related to depositing and withdrawing.
Partnering with Monerium, a financial technology company, the crypto exchange froze approximately 611,000 stolen EURe tokens (around $692,000). As for the other wallets such as Bitcoin, HBAR, ADA, DGB, TIA, or DGMV, the platform assures users that the hack doesn’t impact them.
ImmuneFi, a renowned security platform, divulged in a recent report that both crypto and DeFi protocols had lost more than $10 billion in user funds back in 2021 because of hacks and security breaches. Notably, there have been 120 instances of crypto-related hacks in the past year alone.
As Meta Platforms’ Metaverse plans are going full steam ahead, more and more Microsoft and Apple employees have decided to jump ship and join the multinational technology conglomerate.
The Wall Street Journal quotes a former Microsoft employee who revealed that approximately 100 people from the tech giant’s AR team decided to join Meta Platforms in the past year. Notably, the former employee claims that Meta has focused particularly on picking up skilled individuals who helped develop Microsoft’s HoloLens AR headsets.
WSJ also mentions that the staffs’ Linkedin profiles show over 70 people who once worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens have since left the project in the past year. Now, over 40 of those employees have new positions over at Meta.
Microsoft is one of the pioneers of developing AR space, so its employees are valuable assets to Meta Platforms. Microsoft announced its HoloLens project over five years ago in 2016, and now, the technology for this project has turned into one of the most advanced headsets across the globe.
On the other hand, Apple is trying its hardest to counteract a massive employee emigration to Meta. For one thing, the company now offers worthwhile stock options to employees, along with incredible bonuses spanning between $50,000 and $180,000. In late December 2021, Apple offered these bonuses to a group of engineers within silicon design, hardware, and some software operations workers.
Facebook’s Journey to Become Meta
In October 2021, the company we knew as Facebook announced its major rebranding to Meta Platforms. This significant change in the company’s existence indicated that it was ready to explore more sectors outside of social media. Since its rebranding, Meta has been working hard in developing its virtual reality (VR) hardware business, “Reality Labs.” By mid-November 2021, they successfully created a prototype of its VR “haptic gloves.”
Although Meta has had several early successes already, the company’s attempts at dominating the metaverse space have been met with countless criticisms from the overall community. Even leaders within the NFT, blockchain, GameFi, and crypto spaces have expressed such criticisms.
For instance, Hodl Asset’s Jenny Ta previously said that it shouldn’t be Mark Zuckerberg to lead Facebook into the Metaverse. She also mentioned his history surrounding data mining, privacy, and content policies. During an interview with Cointelegraph, Ta said that the only way for Meta to have a clean slate or a fresh start is for Zuckerberg to step down and assign a new CEO.
Both Microsoft and Apple have set their sights on the Metaverse and what it could bring to the table for quite a while now. During the early days of November 2021, Microsoft announced a plethora of updates for Teams, along with upgrades to its Xbox gaming console. Not only that, but the tech giant also launched a new product called “Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces.”
Animal Concerts, a metaverse concert organizer, has recently partnered with South Korea’s Klaytn blockchain network. This coincides with the organizer’s plans to develop its exposure to the Korean entertainment industry and begin Klaytn’s plans for global expansion.
Klaytn announced the news on January 10, explaining that it expects its partnership with Animal Concerts to improve the number of NFT trading on the platform. Klaytn is one of three blockchains with native support on the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea. However, it has the lowest trading volume out of the three options. Kakao, Klaytn’s parent company, also has plans to develop and launch a brand-new NFT and Metaverse platform called Kakao Games.
Animal Concerts plans on organizing and promoting concerts within the Metaverse. Not only that, but it also plans on creating non-fungible tokens (NFT) and merchandise for world-renowned artists. This isn’t Animal Concerts’ first collaboration either, as the US-based brand already sealed a deal with Alicia Keys to promote her KEYS album.
Colin Fitzpatrick, the CEO of Animal Concerts, believes that NFTs could be an excellent way to improve revenues for the music industry, especially for those who lost quite a lot since the pandemic started. Thanks to COVID-19, artists had no choice but to cancel their shows and tours, causing them to lose out on revenue, not to mention the ability to interact with their beloved fans live.
By holding concerts in a safe and disease-free universe such as the Metaverse, artists could benefit so much by changing the way the audience experience concerts and preventing them from feeling disappointment due to a canceled show.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Fitzpatrick said that it makes sense to work with Klaytn since the major goals of the South Korean network involve NFTs and the Metaverse.
Powered by Binance Cloud, the up-and-coming X-Meta crypto exchange officially launched last December 30, 2021. The brand-new platform promises to provide user-friendly and incredibly secure crypto trading services for users worldwide, among countless other innovative features.
X-Meta functions as the main foundation of a crypto asset by Ih Bit Global LLC known as Inflation Hedging Coin (IHC), and it acts as a wall to inflation. IHCoin’s value has severely stabilized since its IEO in August after several upward adjustments.
By joining one of the most dependable liquidity pools, you are free to use any of the platform’s features, including spot trading. You can even invest in fiat, futures, and quantitative trading if you want. X-Meta’s Know Your Customer (KYC) security protocols are also impressive, as they offer high-quality protection from fraudulent attacks, phishing, and other possible threats that could emerge within the platform. What’s more, Binance Cloud gives its guarantee for all these features.
satheeshsankaran (CC0), Pixabay
Those IHC token holders on X-Meta can receive and access a plethora of advantages. For example, holders on the X-Meta exchange can receive a hefty 80% of Net Profit Sharing, which comes from the exchange’s trading fees. Not only that, the exchange initiated a registration promotion for those who signed up on X-Meta, giving away 2000 IHC. This special promo will take place for the entirety of January.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a crypto newbie or veteran; the new platform will allow you to make use of a full suite of trading tools. Thanks to the platform’s expansive range of powerful tools, these tools can greatly improve your investment performance. Not only that, but users also have access to many trading options. Meanwhile, the platform’s cross-border spot trading liquidity takes advantage of a couple of things. These include X-Meta’s powerful matching engine, fast transaction speeds, and risk control.
The features and benefits don’t end there, though. X-Meta will also be releasing a companion mobile app. By downloading this app on their smartphones, clients can stay connected to the market at all times and linked to their portfolios in real-time. As such, they can regularly monitor and quickly respond to trading activity even when they’re on the go.
The cryptocurrency market has continued to suffer in the aftermath of the holidays. Top assets such as bitcoin and ethereum have lost large amounts of value, with the broader market also falling to this trend. This has been highlighted by significant sell-offs in digital assets, resulting in even more downtrends. As a result, weekly withdrawals from digital assets have reached new highs, and the sell-offs continue.
High influx statistics for the crypto business dominated the year 2021. Bitcoin’s inflows established a new high, as did those of all digital assets combined. However, by 2022, this has changed dramatically, with outflows becoming the norm. Outflow volumes for digital assets have already reached a new high just two weeks into the new year.
The CoinShares digital asset fund flows weekly report, which was released on Monday, revealed tragic figures for the cryptocurrency sector. In sum, there were $207 million in withdrawals from investors during the last week, demonstrating that institutional investors are still quite negative on the market. It is the fourth week of market outflows, which have already totaled $465 million.
Market outflows are a continuation of the sell-off trend that began in early December 2021 and has continued into the new year. Investors are nonetheless hesitant, with many withdrawing funds from the market for fear of a further slump.
Compared to other individual assets and products, Bitcoin had the highest outflows for the week. With a total outflow of $107 million, the digital asset lead the crypto market outflows. According to the CoinShares article, this is due to the FOMC minutes, which indicated the US Fed’s concerns over inflation rates, causing investors to fear that the Fed may raise interest rates.
Ethereum experienced outflows throughout the same week. The altcoin had been experiencing withdrawals towards the end of the year, and last week’s losses took it to a five-week string of outflows totaling $200 million.
Crypto and digital asset-related products struggled across the board, with even blockchain equities investing products seeing outflows. In altogether, these goods cost $10 million to develop.
The crypto market is still struggling in the aftermath of the several declines that have shaken the field. The overall market cap has dropped more than $1 trillion from its all-time high of $3 trillion to its current value of $1.9 trillion.
Is Joe Rogan on the verge of becoming a Bitcoiner? The world’s top podcaster met podcasting pioneer Adam Curry, and the talk eventually turned to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. It was unavoidable in retrospect. Despite the fact that Andreas Antonopoulos appeared on Joe Rogan’s show a few times in the past, he appears to be naive about anything.
That is, nevertheless, totally acceptable. Rogan doesn’t need Bitcoin because he is one of the Internet’s biggest success stories. Fortunately, Adam Curry was there to assist. The new effort from the man known as the Podfather promotes the Value 4 Value paradigm and what he refers to as Podcasting 2.0. According to the plan, a new generation of podcasts will be “set up to collect Bitcoin payments in real-time over the Lightning network using compatible Podcasting 2.0 apps,” according to the plan.
Our sister site NewsBTC has addressed the Podcasting 2.0 phenomenon as part of their “Lightning Speed” series:
“You already know this, the Lightning Network allows for micropayments that are almost free. Anyone can use it, and it’s approaching mass adoption by the minute. “Not only can creators now plug into an open monetization platform with hundreds of millions of users, they can even access a new type of monetization that was never before possible.” Those new types are, “real-time payment streaming, micro-tipping, and other monetization strategies that simply aren’t possible on fiat payment rails.”
In any event, what did Joe Rogan and Adam Curry talk about in their recent interview?
Joe Rogan Discovers the Distinction Between Bitcoin and Ethereum
Adam Curry begins his Podcasting 2.0 concept by stating that many young people are “opting out” of the current system and “creating parallel networks.” That’s what the Value 4 Value model allows for: a direct-to-consumer strategy that eliminates the need for a middleman and avoids the current advertising and sponsorships model. The Lightning Network is responsible for all of this.
Adam Curry’s position as a Bitcoin maximalist makes sense. “I’m merely on the Bitcoin bandwagon because I believe my money is safer there,” he says, assuring that he is not an anti-US dollar. So, what is he up against? Curry feels that “the money system is broken.” It is costly and inefficient; it finances wars and requires armies to protect itself. Then there’s the banking system on top of it all. Another antiquated item that is causing more harm than good.
After that, it’s Joe Rogan’s turn. “I have a lot of hope for cryptocurrencies,” he says. He believes that they will either be the planet’s future or that they will go to zero. “Bitcoin and Ethereum appear to be the ones that people in the know talk about the most,” says Joe Rogan.
Adam Curry interrupts and informs him. “The difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum is that Bitcoin will only have 21 million coins.” It is unchangeable. It’s not possible to inflate it. The same cannot be said for Ethereum.”
“Oh,” Joe Rogan exclaims.
Is The Metaverse Humanity’s Future?
The Metaverse segment of the discussion begins with a revelation. Brian Cox of “Succession will commercialize an NFT.” Adam Curry is unable to provide additional information, but wow. Joe Rogan displays a Beeple item he owns and defends NFTs against Curry’s jokes. Adam believes that Non-Fungible Tokens fulfill Klaus Schwab’s ambition of “owning nothing and being happy.”
Curry doesn’t appear to enjoy NFTs, but he does give them this. “In the Silicon Valley-controlled metaverse’s ideal of the metaverse, NFTs will be extremely significant.” Then he presents some flowers to Ethereum. “The Ethereum community is constructing a more decentralized metaverse.”
Following that, Joe Rogan fantasizes about large corporations inventing private coins that function as types of shares. Curry interrupts him and informs him that Facebook attempted this, but the government refused to let it. “That isn’t the plan.” The Central Bank Digital Currency is the plan. You will have cryptocurrency. You’ll get a digital wallet. “It will come directly from the Federal Reserve,” Adam Curry said. They will then have complete control. However, Bitcoin solves this problem.
The video concludes with a description of the metaverse envisioned in Neal Stephenson’s “Snowcrash,” the transhumanist dream, and Elon’s alleged brain chip. What else did they talk about? It was a much longer chat. That isn’t in our wheelhouse. If you’re curious, you can check out Spotify.
Dez Bryant’s NFL career has been illustrious, with three Pro Bowl appearances, a season as the league’s leading touchdown receiver, and almost a decade of high-level football for three teams.
Bryant has recently emerged as a fervent proponent of cryptocurrency. In June, he bought a Bored Ape and used it as his Twitter profile photo. Bryant co-founded Personal Corner in 2016, which began as a hybrid media center for athletes and has subsequently developed to house Bryant’s own NFT initiative, ‘Juggernauts.’
This week, Bryant is collaborating with Chainlink to bring ‘dynamic’ NFT capabilities to the Personal Corner market. These NFTs will use Chainlink data feeds to change their appearance in response to NFL player performance. As a result, when Bryant, or any other NFL player who has been onboarded on the platform, scores a touchdown or reaches specific thresholds, the NFT’s appearance will change correspondingly.
It’s the newest twist in unique NFT capabilities, incorporating a blockchain in Chainlink that isn’t commonly addressed in the same phrase as most recent NFT efforts. Chainlink has previously worked with prominent names in industries where data speed is critical, such as AccuWeather and the Associated Press. While receivers assist in the movement of chains, Chainlink will assist in data movement.
In May, NBA superstar LaMelo Ball included Chainlink feeds in his NFT release, dynamically monitoring important events in Ball’s career.
As we discussed in our sports and crypto deep dive to begin the year, the NFL hasn’t been the most welcoming of the ‘big 5’ major sports leagues in the United States when it comes to crypto, but that hasn’t stopped NFL players from getting their hands dirty.
Some of the biggest stars in American football, like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Saquon Barkley, have been involved in the space.
On the other hand, Dez Bryant certainly wants to lead the league in terms of inventive NFT integration. To date, the Personal Corner platform has collaborated with NFL stars such as Maxx Crosby and Von Miller.
