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NFTs to Support End Violence Against Women
Filmmaker Charlotte Colbert is launching NFT, titled “Why are we taught to fear the witches?”, based on her horror film “She Will.” The proceeds from the sale of the NFT that portrays the film’s star Alice Krige’s short video will go to support the charity End Violence Against Women.
Queen’s NFT Tribute Project Holds Final Auction
QueenE, an NFT project that was launched in early July as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, held its last auction of the Gen 1 collection following the demise of the monarch. QueenE, which has released over 70 pieces of artwork, is a fork of profile pic NFT project Nouns.
Bellatrix Upgrade Kicks Off The Merge
Earlier this week, the Ethereum developers launched Bellatrix, an upgrade that commences the proof of stake transition on the beacon chain’s consensus layer. Immediately following the update, there was a significant spike observed in the “missed block rate,” resulting from over 9% of the blocks failing to be validated on the first try. The core developers emphasized that the spike was the result of node operators who had not yet upgraded the software upgrade to accommodate the merge.
LG Launches NFT Marketplace
Consumer electronics company LG follows Samsung into the NFT space. It is launching an NFT marketplace called LG Art Lab, which is built on the Hedera network. LG TV owners with the most recent software will be able to buy, sell, and display their Hedera NFTs on their TV screens.
New Crypto Terms in Dictionary
The oldest dictionary publisher in the US, Merriam-Webster, has added a new set of crypto terms. Now the dictionary includes “Altcoin” and “Metaverse.” in addition to “Unbanked.”
Animoca Brands Raises $110M for Metaverse
Animoca Brands, an investor focused on the open metaverse startups, has raised another $110 million through the sale of convertible notes to institutional investors. The investors include Temasek, Boyu Capital, and GGV Capital.
GCP Joins Ronin
Cloud infrastructure provider Google Cloud (GCP) has become the 18th validator of the play to earn game Axie Infinity’s Ronin network. Now GCP will be involved in the governance of the network and validate transactions.
MicroStrategy to Sell Stocks to Buy Bitcoin
In a filing with the US SEC, the business intelligence firm MicroStrategy has disclosed that it intends to sell over $500 million of stock. It plans to use the money for general corporate purposes that include buying bitcoin.
Upbit Publishes Listing Delisting Process
Giving in to the government pressure, South Korea’s Upbit crypto exchange has published its token listing and delisting procedures. The listing process includes examining the transparency of the project, whereas the delisting considers the violation of laws, among other things.
Renault Arrives in Metaverse
The Korean subsidiary of carmaker Renault is teaming up with the metaverse platform, The Sandbox. Renault’s customers can gain virtual automotive experience with Renault’s brand presence in the metaverse.
US Recovers Axie Infinity Hack Funds
The US government, with the help of crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, has managed to recover over $30 million of the $600 million stolen from the play to earn game Axie Infinity earlier this year. The funds were stolen by North Korea based Lazarus Group and laundered using Tornado Cash.
Crypto Patrons Sue US Treasury
Six crypto patrons, including Coinbase employees, Prysmatic Labs founder, and crypto investors, have sued the US Treasury. The lawsuit, supported by crypto exchange Coinbase, claims that Treasury watchdog OFAC has overstepped its authority in sanctioning crypto mixer Tornado Cash.
India to Trial CBDC With 4 Banks
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will reportedly run a trial of the digital rupee with four state owned banks – State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Bank of Baroda. Furthermore, RBI is also consulting with fintech and other service providers for the CBDC.
South Korea’s Imminent Security Token Guidelines
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to issue security token guidelines in the last quarter of the year. Initially, these digital securities would have to comply with the same regulations as traditional ones and be traded via Korea Exchange. Meanwhile, FSC is also considering trials in a sandbox to determine changes to the Capital Market Act to suit crypto.
Australia Now Has a New Dedicated Crypto Police
Australian Federal Police has rolled out a new unit dedicated to crypto crimes. The newly formed team will work on tracing and seizing crypto from criminals and will be part of the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce.
Thai SEC Files Complaint Against Zipmex
Thailand’s regulator SEC has filed a police complaint against crypto exchange Zipmex and its co-founder and CEO, Akalarp Yimwilai. The SEC says this move was the result of Zipmex’s failure to meet the deadline for sharing the information about its transactions with the regulator after Zipmex halted withdrawals in July.
SEBA Bank Launches Ether Staking
SEBA Bank, the crypto friendly bank based out of Zug, Switzerland, has launched Ether staking for its institutional investors. The bank states that “growing demand” from these investors made it decide to start this service ahead of “The Merge.”
HIVE Explores Alternates to Ether Mining
Crypto mining company HIVE Blockchain announced that it has hit record crypto mining figures in August and is mining close to $350,000 every day. Yet, anticipating the effect “The Merge” is going to have, it plans to diversify and explore alternate digital tokens to mine instead of Ether.
Bitcoin’s Roller Coaster Week
Earlier this week, the world’s premier crypto fell below $19,000 for the first time since July and ended at $18,644.47. But, within 24 hours, it rebounded to $19K and eventually crossed the $20K mark. At the time of writing, one bitcoin was worth $21,370.32.
Ether Jumps
Bellatrix update brought “a fresh life” to Ether, as its price jumped over 6% within 24 hours of the upgrade. Ether climbed from $1,500 to $1,660 after Bellatrix. At the time of writing, Ether has further jumped to $1,716.66.
Voyager to Auction Assets
Troubled crypto lender Voyager Digital is auctioning off its remaining assets on September 13 as a part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Bidders have already submitted their offers. Meanwhile, a hearing is scheduled for September 29 to approve the results of the auction.
Binance’s “Soulbound” Tokens
Crypto exchange Binance will issue a “soulbound” token to all its customers who have completed the KYC process. These unique, non transferable tokens act as identity passports across the BNB Chain, allowing users to participate in building projects and earning rewards.
Binance to Delist USDC, USDP, and TUSD
Binance is also going to auto convert existing and new deposits of stablecoins USDC, USDP, and TUSD into its native BUSD. The crypto exchange says this move would improve liquidity and efficiency. It has also confirmed that users’ withdrawals will not be impacted as they can still take their funds out in USDC, USDP, or TUSD.
FTX To Buy 30% of SkyBridge Capital
FTX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange FTX has agreed to take a 30% stake in Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital for an undisclosed amount. SkyBridge intends to use $40 million to buy crypto, which it plans to hold as a long term investment.
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