| |
| Hey Insider! The tension related to the royalty payments in the NFT industry continues to grow as the week is halfway through. Today’s Inside Cryptocurrency issue covers another backlash from an industry player on this subject as well as some of the other most prominent stories in the crypto market, including Binance.US’ partnership with MoonPay, the decline in the trading volume of Ordinals NFTs since the peak in May, a three-month prison sentence against a former OpenSea executive, and more. Enjoy your reading, and if you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Binance.US, the U.S. arm of the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has started working with MoonPay as its new crypto payment service provider to achieve a steady U.S. dollar (USD) flow again. The move came more than two months after the exchange had to suspend USD deposits and withdrawals since its local banking partners cut ties with it amid an increased crackdown by the regulators. More: - The partnership with MoonPay offers an alternative way for Binance.US customers to convert dollars to crypto.
- Binance users in the U.S. can now buy the stablecoin Tether (USDT) through debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
- Users can then buy other crypto tokens on the platform using those stablecoins.
- Access to the MoonPay infrastructure has been immediately made available for Binance.US customers.
- Binance.US' banking partners in the U.S. cut ties with the exchange in June, closing USD deposit and withdrawal channels, shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a 136-page complaint against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) over U.S. law violations with 13 charges.
- Over the last several years, the platform also came under scrutiny by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and federal prosecutors in the U.S.
- The company said it still has several U.S. banking partners that allow it to hold the customers' USD funds without naming those banks.
Zoom Out: - Within the past several months alone, Binance also faced increased scrutiny by regulators in many other parts of the world, including Australia, France, and Belgium.
- Besides, the platform recently had to withdraw from some markets in the West, including Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Cyprus, the U.K., and Germany, mainly due to compliance issues.
Q: Do you believe MoonPay will become a permanent solution for USD deposits and withdrawals on Binance? Share your thoughts with us in the comments box. |     | |
| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: A recent report from the Web3 data platform DappRadar has shown that the trading volume of Bitcoin-based Ordinals NFTs decreased by 92% in July from its peak of $452M in May. The figure retreated only to $35M last month. The sales count of Ordinals NFTs also declined to 172,956 in July, down from 832,648 in May. The new figure represents a nearly 80% decrease. What it means: Ordinals refer to the digital assets permanently attached to a satoshi, or 1/100,000,000 of a full Bitcoin (BTC). Relevance: The Ordinals protocol, allowing developers to inscribe various data file formats onto the Bitcoin network, launched in January, paving the way for Bitcoin-based NFTs. Since its launch, the practice has gained massive popularity, and users have inscribed more than 26 million Ordinals. These NFTs experienced a golden age, especially in May, causing the daily transactions on the Bitcoin network to reach a new all-time high. However, as the hype dissolved, both the sales count and trading volumes saw a massive decline, disappointing investors. Brands that should care: Meanwhile, many NFT-related firms and trading platforms, including Yuga Labs, OKX, Binance, and Magic Eden, jumped on the bandwagon amid Ordinals NFTs' massive popularity by integrating related features or launching new platforms for Bitcoin-based NFTs. | | | |
| A message from our sponsor, VantagePoint. |  | | Introducing VantagePoint. This is the artificial intelligence platform that can predict cryptocurrency trends 1 – 3 days in advance… it’s also been pioneering A.I. in markets since the late 1980s, and now forecasting for over 2,300 stocks, ETFs, futures, and forex pairs (everything else out there is just riding the hype). And 2023 isn't our first rodeo – we’ve been forecasting cryptos for years. Check out the gains Bitcoin (BTC) has seen over the past 3 years alone. That’s over 642.37% in bullish opportunities BTC has seen. A.I.-fueled chatbots may be all the rage, but this cutting-edge technology is remaking investing just as much as college essays and legal briefs. Enter the era of AI trading. Sign up for VantagePoint’s FREE Live A.I. Stock Market Training! Save your seat now Please note examples are from past data and so are success stories. Trading involves financial risk and is not suitable for all investors. Past results do not guarantee future performance. | |
|
| 3 | | Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi has filed a new legal motion to avert the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) from attempting to claim funds exchanged between the three firms before they collapsed last year. The court's decision is expected to affect how much creditors of the firms will be repaid as part of their bankruptcy proceedings. More: - In the filing, BlockFi said it was the victim of FTX, and hence, the bankrupt exchange is not entitled to claim more than $5M.
- The collapsed lender also accused 3AC of conducting fraud by borrowing money from BlockFi, so the collapsed crypto hedge fund is similarly not entitled to a potential repayment.
- In addition, the company reiterated that the results of pending lawsuits against its commercial counterparties, including FTX, Alameda Research, and 3AC, would impact the repayment amount to the creditors and could make an over $1B difference for clients.
- The bankruptcy rules allow a company to recover transfers that occur within 90 days before going bankrupt.
- FTX recently requested to recover loan repayments made by its sister company Alameda Research, nearly $90M in withdrawals made by BlockFi from FTX, and other preferential payments.
- Last month, 3AC also claimed $220M BlockFi owes it.
Zoom Out: - BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November last year due to the volatility in the crypto market and its exposure to the collapse of FTX.
- The move made the firm one of the several other crypto-related firms, including Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, 3AC, and FTX, that went bankrupt after a prolonged crypto winter.
| | | |
| 4 | | NFT aggregator platform Rarible has announced that it would stop aggregating orders from NFT marketplaces OpenSea, LooksRare, and X2Y2 as of Sept. 30. The move followed a decision from OpenSea to lift its royalty enforcement tool, Operator Filter. More: - Operator Filter allowed creators to prevent their NFT collections from being sold on rival platforms where the royalty fees are optional.
- The lift, scheduled for Aug. 31, will make the NFT royalty fees fully optional for traders on secondary sales on OpenSea.
- LooksRare, X2Y2, Sudoswap, and Magic Eden also made similar moves last year.
- While explaining its decision, Rarible said it always has supported and will support royalty fees, adding that it had the opportunity to redefine how creativity is valued and compensated in the industry.
- Rarible co-founder Alex Salnikov also stated that it would no longer support marketplaces neglecting royalties since they stand in solidarity with creators and artists, urging other platforms to make similar decisions.
- Yuga Labs, the firm behind the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFTs, also recently announced that it would gradually halt its use of OpenSea's SeaPort smart contract, which is used for the sales of Ethereum-based NFTs, as a response to the lift of the royalty enforcement tool.
Zoom Out: - NFT royalties refer to the payments made to the original creator of an NFT for every secondary sale of the digital collectible, and they usually account for a certain percentage of the sales amount, typically 2.5% to 10%.
- These fees have lately become a source of tension between marketplaces and NFT creators, as the leading trading platforms like OpenSea and Blur adopted policies that make creator payouts optional for the collectors.
| | | |
| A message from our sponsor, Fount. |  | | Fount brings you elite-level performance optimization and longevity strategies, without the gimmicks or hype. Leveraging proven methods based on our work with Special Operations and top-tier athletes, we analyze your bloodwork, wearable data, and lifestyle factors to craft tailored plans. Our focus encompasses sleep, nutrition, custom supplements, hormone balance, longevity, and stress resilience. Begin a 4-month comprehensive life transformation now. Use code FOUNDER to receive $500 off your first month. Get Started | |
|
| 5 | | E-commerce giant Shopify has integrated Solana Pay, a decentralized payment protocol built by the developers behind the Solana blockchain network, into its platform. The move will allow millions of businesses on Shopify to use Solana Pay to accept payments through crypto. More: - Solana will charge entrepreneurs and merchants on the platform zero transaction fees until 2024.
- The initial payment option for the integration will be USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin by market cap.
- However, the two firms are expected to add support for SOL, the Solana network's native token, to the integration in the upcoming months.
- The businesses on Shopify will need to activate Solana Pay in their merchants' dashboard to start accepting payments through the protocol.
- The move will help businesses reduce transaction costs, while credit card processing fees usually cost a business 1.5% to 3.5% per transaction.
Zoom Out: - Shopify represents 10% of total U.S. e-commerce.
- Several other leading brands, such as Circle, Phantom, Checkout.com, and Citcoin, also previously integrated Solana Pay into their services.
| | | |
| 6 | | NFT marketplace OpenSea's former product manager, Nathaniel Chastain, has been sentenced to three months in prison in the first insider trading case involving NFTs. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the sentence would serve as a warning to other corporate insiders that insider trading will not be tolerated in any marketplace. More: - The sentence came more than three months after Chastain was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering.
- At the time, the court concluded that the former OpenSea executive used confidential information inside the company about the assets to be listed on the home page to make a profit by trading NFTs.
- The lawsuit also claimed that Chastain bought at least 45 NFTs he had decided to list on OpenSea using anonymous OpenSea accounts and sold them in a short while, gaining over $50,000 in illegal profit.
- Chastain will face another three months of home confinement and three years of supervised release after his prison term.
- Lawyers for the former product manager plan to appeal the decision, requesting bail.
Zoom Out: - In May, Ishan Wahi, the former product manager at the largest U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, was also sentenced to two years in prison for insider trading.
- The court charged Wahi with sharing confidential information about the new tokens to be listed on Coinbase before the public announcement with his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and their friend, Sameer Ramani, generating $1.5M of illegal profits through the trade of 55 digital assets between June 2021 and April 2022.
| | | |
| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Toptal's world-class talent lets you future-proof your business with their experts in blockchain, AI, and software development.*
- Crypto exchange Binance has reportedly continued to process transactions for at least five Russian lenders blacklisted by Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine.
- A former Chinese government official, Xiao Yi, has been sentenced to life in prison for secretly assisting a large-scale Bitcoin mining operation within China's borders.
- A recent paper from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has pointed out that crypto assets increase financial risk in developing economies.
- Join the 10 million+ who have transformed their travel adventures with the power of language. Get 55% off Babbel.*
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | OCT
10 | | Optimizely is bringing back its annual conference, Opticon, to San Diego! Inside readers get a discount by using the code InsideDeal.* | | | | | | | OCT
16 | | Meet Our Fund 5, Building and Investing in AI | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
Term of the Day S&P 500: The S&P 500 is a stock market index that consists of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Comments
Post a Comment