Crypto – Page 2

Defiance Launches the First ETF Focused on NFTs, $NFTZ

December 2, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

“NFTs could be bigger than the internet,” says Sylvia Jablonski, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Defiance ETFs.

$NFTZ offers investors thematic exposure to the NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens), blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems, which include NFT marketplaces and issuers such as Coinbase and Playboy.

The NFT revolution will fundamentally change the economic model for artists, athletes, creators, and many more industries that we can’t even conceive of today. “In October, all time NFT trading volume surpassed $15 Billion,” says Jablonski.

About the Index: The BITA NFT and Blockchain Select Index aims to track the performance of a portfolio of publicly listed companies with relevant thematic exposure to the NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens), blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems. The index is rules-based and rebalanced on a quarterly basis.

Risk Disclosure
Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. As an ETF, the fund may trade at a premium or discount to NAV. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. The Fund is not actively managed and would not sell a security due to current or projected under performance unless that security is removed from the Index or is required upon a reconstitution of the Index.

The Index, and consequently the Fund, is expected to concentrate its investments (i.e., hold more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of Crypto and Blockchain Companies. As a result, the value of the Fund’s shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

The mechanics of using blockchain technology to transact in digital or other types of assets, such as securities or derivatives, is relatively new and untested. There is no assurance that widespread adoption will occur. A lack of expansion in the usage of blockchain technology could adversely affect Crypto and Blockchain Companies. Transacting on a blockchain depends in part specifically on the use of cryptographic keys that are required to access a user’s account (or “wallet”). The theft, loss, or destruction of these keys could adversely affect a user’s ownership claims over an asset or a company’s business or operations if it was dependent on the blockchain.

The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

Investments in non-U.S. securities involve certain risks that may not be present with investments in U.S. securities. For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer.

The BITA Next Gen NFT Index is a rules-based index that consists of the common stock (or depositary receipts) of companies that are building a platform or developing technology to use, or have at least one use or test case for using, NFT (Non-Fungible Token), cryptocurrency trading platforms, cryptocurrency mining, cryptocurrency banking or related services, or blockchain-related technology, as well as companies that have announced publicly that they intend to enter such space or have begun working on such products (collectively, “Crypto and Blockchain Companies”). The Index consists of companies listed on North American and European exchanges and aims to capture the potential upside generated by earnings related to the adoption of crypto- and blockchain-related technologies, including NFTs and cryptocurrency.

NFTZ is new with a limited operating history.

Go to defianceetfs.com/NFTZ to read more about NFT including current performance and holdings information. Fund holdings are subject to change and should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any securities.

The Defiance ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

The Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus contain this and other important information about the investment company. Please read carefully before investing. A hard copy of the prospectuses can be requested by calling 833.333.9383 or at defianceetfs.com.

SOURCE Defiance ETFs

Wanderlust Touched Down in Rome for Blockchain Week 2021 and Secured Their First Property

November 25, 2021 Published by Roboticulized.com

Wanderlust is a brand new and ingenious Crypto project designed to bridge the worlds of Crypto and travel together by creating an ecosystem around the $WANDER token that will facilitate all travel needs and services anywhere in the world.

Wanderlust have just been to Europe to showcase their project at Blockchain Week Rome 2021, during this conference Wanderlust were able to announce that they have signed the first of many travel properties to be offered through their ecosystem, this means that it’s now possible to book accommodation using $WANDER tokens which is a huge step in the right direction for this project, this property is located on the famous and beautiful North coast of Wales in the United Kingdom.

Over the course of 5 days, the ancient city of Rome was host to hundreds of industry professionals, speakers, large companies, start-ups and plenty of others who are all passionate about cryptocurrency. With the likes of David Princay from Binance and Paolo Ardoino from Bitfinex attending, this conference is a massive opportunity to get up close and personal to some of the leading experts in blockchain technology.

Providing a network for all travelers that provides direct access to booking, payment and marketing systems while also giving users the opportunity to earn rewards in the form of discounts and giveaways could set a new standard for the travel industry. What Wanderlust hopes to do is nothing short of extremely ambitious, bridging the gap and forging relationships with property owners directly instead of using online intermediaries is something that no one has attempted to do with blockchain technology. This will eliminate the inflated rates and commissions included when dealing with holiday companies meaning that users of the ecosystem will benefit directly from being a part of it.

Decentralizing the travel industry is no small task but this project seems up for the job, the team plan on building a list of big partnerships to include in their upcoming travel companion app while also travelling the globe in order to bring Wanderlust to untapped locations, set up scouting groups for properties worldwide and to spread the knowledge of crypto, blockchain technology and Decentralized Finance to the entire planet!

“BRIDGES: From Gold to Crypto”

October 13, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Triggering a wide-ranging, serious and objective discussion on Blockchain and Bitcoin technologies, laying bare their revolutionary potential within society, creating bridges between the world of technological finance and the community, that is, between awareness of innovation and understanding the opportunities it offers to individuals and institutions.

This is the goal of “BRIDGES”, to be held in Venice on the 6^th and 7^th of November, 2021.

Identified as the main drivers guiding innovation in this sector, these developments are having a major impact on social, political and economic systems. This change must be observed and understood in order to promote the development of emerging economies and the evolution of those already established towards more sustainable models.

BRIDGES is aimed at citizens, students, workers, decision-makers in the public and private fields, the media and institutions through a series of engagements that will feature, as guests, nationally and internationally renowned personalities who stand out for their active commitment in promoting and encouraging the understanding of all those phenomena that impact our society.

Opportunity, Innovation, Revolution

The meetings will cover three subject areas – Opportunity, Innovation, Revolution – curated by three outstanding personalities from the academic and business world, celebrated internationally for their independence and the richness of their contributions.

These exceptional curators will be: Ernesto Sirolli (economist, entrepreneur and lecturer) for the Opportunity section, exploring the issue of digital technology as a valuable tool not only to encourage the evolution of western economies towards more sustainable models but also to sustain the development of emerging economies; Fabio Fracas (lecturer and researcher who has collaborated with the CERN openlab in Geneva) for the Innovation section, illustrating the benefits of digital finance in everyday life and the need to develop tools and regulations for a correct and concrete adoption of Blockchain and Bitcoin technologies; Sara Roversi (entrepreneur and founder of the Future Food Institute) for the Revolution section, stressing the value of research and knowledge as effective tools to ensure the evolution of the new digital phenomena as a lever to attain the goals of Agenda 2030.

These are the three guiding principles identified, ranging from technology to the economy, from politics to sociology, from physics to sustainability, through which BRIDGES will make possible the creation of a pathway of personalised knowledge. Twenty-three encounters, with vertical webinars and events open to the public to foster the creation of communities with shared interests and passions, accommodating different points of view in order to enrich the scenario of opportunity and change.

Combining history and innovation

This event could only be held in Venice which, with more than 400 bridges and 1,600 years of entrepreneurial and commercial history, is one of the best known, open and inclusive cities in the world, the ideal setting for an event of international importance like BRIDGES. It will be held over two days at the University Ca’ Foscari on the campus of the faculty of Economics.

BRIDGES arose from the multifaceted potential of two driving forces that have operated for some time in the panorama of Bitcoin and blockchain-based technologies.

Satoshi Design, the event’s organiser, is the leading Italian company specialising in strategic marketing, design and creation for innovation in the ecosystem generated by Bitcoin and Blockchain technologies, with the aim of creating relationships and supporting connections between different groups and communities.

The project is supported by Bcademy, an international network formed in 2018 with the mission of teaching and consultancy in across-the-board expertise of relevance to the economic and technological world generated by the digital revolution.

The festival is supported by Knowledge Partners of international importance, including the Sirolli Institute, Future Food Institute and Coinlex.

PayPal Launches the Ability to Buy, Hold and Sell Cryptocurrency in the UK

August 23, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) today announced the launch of a new service enabling its customers in the UK¹ to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal. This new service starts rolling out this week.

Enables access to cryptocurrency for consumers in a secure and responsible way
Encourages customers to research and learn about the opportunities and risks in cryptocurrency before transacting
Marks first international expansion of PayPal’s cryptocurrency service beyond the U.S.

Customers can choose from four types of cryptocurrencies—Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. By accessing their PayPal account via the website or the mobile app, they can view real-time crypto prices, access educational content to help answer commonly asked questions, and learn more about cryptocurrencies, including the opportunities and risks.

This announcement marks the first international expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States. With a trusted brand like PayPal now making an entry, access, knowledge, and the exploration of cryptocurrency has the potential to become mainstream in the UK.

“The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager, Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrency. We are committed to continue working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”

Buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal
The introduction of this service offers customers a new way to explore cryptocurrency in the PayPal environment they know and trust. Customers can start by buying as little as £1 of cryptocurrency through PayPal. To purchase cryptocurrency, eligible customers can log into their PayPal account via the website or their mobile app, navigate to the new crypto tab to view the four cryptocurrencies available and view current pricing and trends.

Customers can choose from pre-determined purchase amounts or enter in their own purchase amount, before following the prompts to buy the cryptocurrency of their choice. Customers will be able to fund their PayPal account for the purchase using their bank account or debit card. If customers choose to sell cryptocurrency with this new service, funds are normally available quickly to spend in their PayPal account. There are no fees to hold cryptocurrency in a PayPal account. There are transaction fees and currency conversion fees for buying and selling applicable cryptocurrencies.

Create greater understanding and enable access
As part of this offering, PayPal provides account holders with educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the volatility, risks, and opportunities related to purchasing cryptocurrency. The company encourages its customers to do their research on the risks and opportunities for various cryptocurrencies before taking the step to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal.

Advancing the next generation of financial services infrastructure
PayPal is one of the largest companies globally to enter the market for digital currencies with its announcement last October that it would allow its millions of U.S. customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies. This March, the company announced ‘Checkout with Crypto’— enabling customers in the U.S. to use their cryptocurrency alongside other payment methods in their PayPal wallet to make purchases at businesses around the world. In April, the company introduced crypto services on its mobile payment service Venmo in the U.S.

In addition to providing these cryptocurrency services, PayPal has been exploring the potential of digital currencies through partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and with central banks around the world. For the past five years, PayPal has increased its focus on, and invested resources in its internal blockchain research team to explore the next generation of digital financial services infrastructure and enhancements to digital commerce.

The company has enabled its cryptocurrency offering through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company. PayPal’s venture capital arm has also made investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency-related start-ups including: TRM Labs, leading cryptocurrency risk management software; TaxBit, a provider of crypto tax software to customers and exchanges; and Talos, institutional-grade infrastructure technology for digital asset trading.

In the UK, PayPal’s new crypto offering which covers buying, holding and selling cryptocurrency will start to roll out this week and will be available within the next few weeks for all eligible customers directly in their PayPal account via the website and their mobile app. To learn more, visit our Newsroom or www.paypal.com/uk/crypto.

EQONEX Group announces the launch of EQONEX Lending and the execution of its first institutional crypto loan

August 17, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: EQOS), recently rebranded as EQONEX Group (“EQONEX” or the “Company”), a digital assets financial services company, today announced the launch of its institutional crypto lending platform, EQONEX Lending, and the execution of its first crypto loan to a European crypto native institution.

The launch of the platform follows a licensing agreement with Lendingblock, a lending platform for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, under which EQONEX has integrated Lendingblock’s lending exchange technology.

EQONEX Lending brings a uniquely safe and transparent offering to the market, capable of transforming the institutional crypto lending landscape. By providing a lending exchange with an open order book, its approach differs from many other crypto lending transactions which are currently undertaken on an over-the-counter (OTC) basis with little transparency over rates – a practice that stifles competition and impedes efficient markets.

The new approach enables institutional lenders and borrowers to interact directly via a lending exchange. The open order book allows exchange participants to view market rates being offered, and establishes market-competitive terms for collateralized transactions, bringing much needed rate transparency to the market. In addition to exchange-based lending, EQONEX will also offer an OTC lending service, with prevailing rates visible on the platform.

EQONEX Lending will also provide an automated workflow that manages the entire loan lifecycle, eliminating settlement risk, actively managing collateral to protect the lender from default risk and substantially reducing the operational risks normally associated with manual loan processing. The increasingly prominent risks associated with re-hypothecation are also eliminated as collateral assets are held in fully segregated storage in our FCA registered custodian.

Following a soft launch last month, EQONEX Lending has successfully originated and completed its first transaction, providing a Bitcoin (BTC) loan backed by USDC collateral. The platform has already developed a pipeline of loans to institutional counterparties, denominated principally in USDC, backed by collateral in BTC and Ethereum. The loans will service the fast-growing lending market, providing efficient financing for a wide range of institutions including funds, market makers, proprietary trading firms and crypto-specific firms such as miners.

The crypto borrowing and lending market has increased tenfold over the past 12 months. In 2020, crypto-backed loan volumes grew to well over $10 billion from just $1 billion in 2019, driven by increased investment activity from institutions. Much of this is conducted through a small number of custodial lenders. EQONEX Lending enables market participants to lend and borrow with EQONEX, but also directly with a broad range of other counterparties.

The EQONEX Lending platform seamlessly integrates with the rest of the EQONEX ecosystem including digital custodian Digivault, which provides fully segregated custody for loan collateral from the lending platform. Digivault recently received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority to register as a custodian wallet provider under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information of the Payer) Regulations. EQONEX Lending will also be integrated into the crypto exchange EQONEX to provide borrowing and lending services to both retail and institutional investors.

Richard Byworth, CEO at Diginex, said: “The crypto lending market is set to be one of the fastest growing segments of the industry in the coming months and years, as institutions look to manage their capital efficiently. Lendingblock’s technology is proven to provide state of the art settlement, collateral management capabilities, and transparent pricing. EQONEX Lending will be the only platform that provides the ability to view the whole loan book, allowing clients to have the full flexibility to set their own financial terms.”

Head of EQONEX Lending, Charlie Beach added: “We’re very excited to have launched what we think will be a transformational product for the institutional lending market, enabling a broad range of companies to come together across a safe and transparent venue that combines proven capital markets financial concepts with blockchain technology.”

CoinPayments Set to Remain Leading Crypto Payment Processor Finds D-Core Survey

April 13, 2021 Published by TheFintechBuzz.com

Emerging technology research company D-Core released its latest analysis reviewing the future of the cryptocurrency landscape, calling for CoinPayments to remain the leading crypto payments processor in 2026.

D-Core’s report surveyed 161 experts, asking them: “Which crypto payment processor will definitely be operating in five years time?” Of those surveyed, 37% picked CoinPayments, giving it the top spot. The other crypto payment processors included in the report were Bitpay (29%), BTCpay (19%), SpicePay (13%), CoinGate (1%), among others.

“It is great to be recognized as a top crypto payment processor among experts in the industry,” noted Jason Butcher, CEO of CoinPayments. “Since 2013, our aim has always been to fuel crypto adoption and the most effective way to give digital assets their rightful place as mediums of exchange is by enabling businesses and consumers to use them for everyday purchases.”

The report’s timely release comes as notable companies like Paypal and Tesla announce that they will be facilitating crypto payments for customers. Crypto adoption is steadily on the rise as more businesses come to understand the benefits that come with accepting crypto payments.

“D-Core’s focus is on providing unique information and insights into emerging technology companies and projects in blockchain, decentralized finance, and payments,” noted D-Core founder Kevin Mudd. “As more people look for information on crypto and payments, we aim to help to uncover tomorrow’s disruptors in the space to help institutional investors, family offices, hedge funds, and main street investors make wiser investment decisions.”

CCoin Network: Fiat/Crypto transfers at zero fees

March 15, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

CCoin Network was created as a real solution for banking and cryptocurrency issues: high fees, time required for payments execution, low security and loss of value.

CCoin Network Ecosystem is a Fintech group of companies with its own blockchain known as ‘SourceLess Hybrid Blockchain’, in which the main purpose is to change the financial functionalities to the benefits of its users. The system was created to have multiple functions, in which Cryptocurrency and FIAT, inside CCoin Network Core software allow almost instant interchange, without users interactions based on AI and SourceLess Blockchain .

The Blockchain MVP will be publicly released during the Public Sale of their token ccoinnet/CCOS (ERC20 on Ethereum Blockchain), starting 15 march 2021 .

Behind the project, there are 3 companies, CCoin Company LTD. – UK/Token Owner, SourceLess INC./USA Blockchain, and SourceLess Network SRL – Romania/Development.

As stated in CCoin Network’s Whitepaper, buyers will have not just a token but will also own stocks of the Blockchain – SourceLess INC corporation and personal/business – web addresses (STR.Domain). As they declared, CCOS are tokens, stocks-ownership proof and str.domain addresses-ownership proof .

The company held a Private Sale starting March 2020 which was successful, with a total 87% sold, to a +30000 members community from the entire quantity of CCOS disposed for the Pre-ICO. Now they are putting on the market an ICO, the quantity of 6.3 M CCOS .

CCoin Network will begin migration from Ethereum Blockchain to SourceLess Blockchain starting 15 July 2021 .

CCoin Network previously announced the following deals with other companies which will Beta-test payments through their Crypto-POS Systems, in which, fees are dissolved into the system and they are also testing the eligibility of – 5% fees based on post-mining additional tokens for each transaction so that can be used at cancelling negative value involved in each transaction. “The concept cannot be revealed at this point as we are getting the best version for financial sustainability,” stated founder Alexandru Stratulat.

The systems are now in testing. During the ICO, they will have weekly updates with test results.

CCoin Network’s team is growing and currently recruiting. Please visit their website for more information.

CCoin Founder Alexandru Stratulat created the architecture of the crypto-financial ecosystem in 2016.

Crypto Finance Group: Why Every Bank Will Need a Crypto Asset Strategy

February 15, 2021 Published by TheBlockchainExaminer.com

We live in an age of digital disruption that has accelerated over the last year. Central banks are unleashing record levels of monetary stimulus, while technology continues to rapidly reshape our global economy. It has shown us that conventional thinking will not bring the answers for what lies ahead. In the midst of this change, crypto assets are emerging as a ‘safe-haven’ asset for institutional investors looking for alternative stores of value for their investment portfolios.

This comes as the Crypto Finance brokerage has received the securities house licence from Swiss regulator FINMA. The timing couldn’t be better. CEO Rupertus Rothenhäuser explains why.

A new asset class is emerging – crypto assets. It is an asset class designed for the new digital age we are now entering. Bitcoin and other crypto assets have attracted retail investors and now the attention of institutional investors, who are drawn to the independence these assets enjoy from the policies of central banks and governments, and the blockchain technology shaping the future of finance.

Every bank will need a crypto asset strategy

Banks will need to both create the infrastructure for crypto assets and respond as trusted advisors to clients who are interested in investing in this asset class. This creates a challenging duality: the current financial system remains, and this new digital asset finance sector emerges. Securing the expertise of a specialised partner for trading and investing in crypto assets, and developing a digital asset strategy, is an efficient way to meet this need for innovation, in incremental steps.

Increasing regulatory clarity on crypto assets

With a new DLT law addressing crypto assets effective in February 2021, Switzerland is one of the few countries with this regulatory clarity. The securities house licence granted by FINMA to Crypto Broker AG – the brokerage firm of Crypto Finance Group – is one more step in making secure, reliable access to crypto assets possible for the finance sector.

Rupertus Rothenhäuser, CEO of the brokerage comments, “It’s now possible for banks to shape a crypto asset strategy within the regulated finance sector,” based on the full suite of crypto asset financial services the Crypto Finance Group provides professional investors. Read more: https://www.cryptofinance.ch/en/why-every-bank-will-need-a-digital-asset-strategy/

Tag: Crypto