Author: Ibiam Wayas

Ibiam is an optimistic crypto journalist. He loves to associate with like-minded individuals and collaborate with them on similar projects. He spends much of his time honing his writing and critical thinking skills.

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Crypto News NFTs Sports

Retired Chinese Basketballer Yao Ming Launches NFTs for Wines

Retired Chinese Basketballer Yao Ming Launches NFTs for Wines

Yao Family Wines has reportedly become the first winery to offer non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles for its wines at auction.

The Napa Valley-based winery was founded back in 2011 by the retired Chinese NBA star, Yao Ming. Yao Family Wines’ move to issuing NFTs is part of the direction to bring the cryptocurrency and winery space together, according to the president at Yao Family Wines, Jay Behmke.

The CHOP DROP NFTs

The Winery issued a limited edition of non-fungible token contents during the auction of its most exclusive wine dubbed “THE CHOP” last month. According to the announcement, THE CHOP is a limited 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon produced by Yao Family Wines. The NFTs paired with the auction of THE CHOP contained images of the retired basketballer, Yao Ming, and short info about the wine.

Pairing this exquisite wine with a limited edition NFT should appeal to wine collectors, sports memorabilia collectors, NFT collectors, early adopters, and anyone who appreciates the value of one-of-a-kind assets.

Jay Behmke, President of Yao Family Wines

The auction was held on April 19 “in the spirit of experimentation” and it attracted about 33 bidders.

Yao Family Wines to Donate Part of Proceeds

Yao Family Wines didn’t disclose the proceeds from the auction, but it planned to donate some of the proceeds from the auction to the Asian American community, which includes the Chinatown Community Development Center, The Museum of Chinese in America, Asian Health Services, Lucky Chow, and many others.

As a Napa Valley-based winery with a Chinese founder, we’re also pleased to dedicate a portion of proceeds from THE CHOP DROP to the Asian American community at this critical time.

Jay Behmke, President of Yao Family Wines
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Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining Crypto News

Bullish: Bitcoin Long Term Holders And Miners Are Still Accumulating BTC

Recent market data shared by Glassnode, a cryptocurrency on-chain analytics platform, suggests the Bitcoin (BTC) has reached its top for the cycle yet, given that the rate of BTC accumulating is still increasing especially amongst Long Term Holders (LTHs) and miners.

Bitcoin’s Top is Not in Yet

Over the past few days, some people had panic-sold their Bitcoin following the recent drop of Bitcoin’s price below the $50,000 USD. Since the correction, the cryptocurrency is yet to reclaim the $60,000 USD level, which spurred some sentiment that Bitcoin’s top is in. However, Bitcoin’s LTH accumulating rate and miners’ net position change suggest otherwise.

In a tweet on Thursday, the analytics platform noted that Bitcoin accumulated back in 2020 is still increasing and that the BTC supply held by the long-term holders is up by over 67 percent. The Bitcoin positions of LTHs need to decline significantly in order to put the top in for the leading cryptocurrency, according to Glassnode.

Miner Are Not Selling Either

A separate data from Glassnode also confirmed that Bitcoin miners have been accumulating Bitcoin. Despite the recent dip, the accumulation rate for miners increased even further, as seen in the net position change below.

Bitcoin miners’ net position change. Source: Glassnode

Miners were known as sellers, as they needed to sell their Bitcoin mining rewards to cover expenses incurred during operation. However, they have been HODLing their rewards for the past month. This trend somewhat indicates that miners are still bullish on the cryptocurrency over the long term.

Another cryptocurrency analytics platform, Santiment, confirmed this growing rate of accumulation among BTC whale investors, precisely BTC addresses HODLing at least 10,000 BTC. About 90,000 BTC has been added to these addresses since April 5.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Japanese Gaming Company Nexon Buys $100 Million Bitcoin

Japanese Gaming Company Nexon Buys $100 Million Bitcoin

Popular Japanese video game publisher, Nexon, announced on Wednesday it purchased about $100 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as part of its treasury reserve. This is quite bullish for the Asian crypto market, as major companies in the continents are likely to follow suit.

Nexon Allocates Less Than 2% in Bitcoin

As Reuters reported, the gaming company purchased the Bitcoin at the average price of $58,000 USD per coin. Nexon’s Bitcoin reserve represents less than two percent of its cash reserve.

Following the words of Nexon CEO, Owen Mahoney, the company’s decision to buy Bitcoin comes amid their desire for a better hedging asset, not as investment speculation. This is the same reason that drove major companies like MicroStrategy to Bitcoin.

Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash asset. […] We believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments.

Mahoney commented.

Nexon is a publicly traded company and a pioneer in the world of interactive entertainment software development. Its decision to allocate part of its cash reserve in Bitcoin is a milestone for the Asian crypto market, as many industry players believe it will cause some other companies in the Japanese and Asian countries to consider buying Bitcoin, as seen with Tesla.

Recent Corporate Bitcoin Investors

The Japanese gaming company now counts as the latest company to allocate part of its cash reserve to the leading cryptocurrency. Many companies have invested in Bitcoin this year in an effort to hedge against inflation. Some of these companies include Meitu, MicroStrategy, Purpose Bitcoin ETF AUM, Aker ASA, Square, Tesla, and so on.

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Coinbase Crypto News Stablecoins Tether

Coinbase Pro Delays Launch of USDT Trading Amid API Issues

Smartphone with Coinbase app logo and black keyboard on wooden background
Smartphone with Coinbase app logo and black keyboard on wooden background

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently announced it will debut Tether (USDT) trading on its trading platform, Coinbase Pro, this week. However, the launching of the stablecoin has been postponed till May 3, according to the exchange’s notice on Tuesday.

Coinbase Cites API Issues

In a tweet, the crypto exchange cited API issues, precisely saying that they are working to “make sure that we have fully remediated any issues on our core APIs and exchange”.  Besides the API issues, Coinbase is also preparing to bolster its trading platform to make it more robust for users while trading.

USDT trading was previously slated to open on April 26. Following the update, however, Coinbase Pro users are expected to start trading USDT next week.

Coinbase will support the ERC-20 version of USDT, which is based on Ethereum. It began accepting inbound transfers for the stablecoin immediately after the announcement last week.

Coinbase Could See Increases in Trading Volume

The addition of USDT on Coinbase Pro will expand its available coin trading pairs. Precisely, the exchange will support the following trading pairs: BTC-USDT, ETH-USDT, USDT-EUR, USDT-GBP, USDT-USD, and USDT-USDC.

At the time of writing, USDT is the largest and most-traded USD-backed stablecoin in the crypto market. Therefore it seems reasonable for Coinbase to plan scaling its trading platform ahead of the launching of USDT trading, as that could result in more more trading volume.

On Monday, the market capitalization of USDT in circulation crossed $50 billion USD. TRON is currently the largest blockchain network with the highest number of USDT.

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Binance Crypto News Investing Markets

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance listed the tokenized version of Apple stock (AAPL) on its new “stock token” market. At the moment, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens for trading on its platform.

Binance is Bringing the Stock Market Closer to Crypto

Binance confirmed the listing of the Apple stock in a tweet on Wednesday, which means crypto users interested in buying AAPL can now access it in the form of a token. These stock tokens are pegged in the ratio of 1:1 to the underlying stock. Holders of these tokens will qualify for economic returns on the underlying shares, as well as potential dividends.

At the time of writing, the AAPL token was trading at the price of $133.51 USD, which represents about a 0.60 percent decrease over the last 24 hours.

Binance Stock Tokens are tokens of stocks (i.e., shares of public companies) that trade on traditional stock exchanges. Each Stock Token represents one ordinary share of the relevant stock. These Stock Tokens are fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities held by CM-Equity AG, Germany (“CM-E”).

Binance

Binance Now Supports Four Stock Tokens

So far, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens, which include Apple (AAPL), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and Tesla (TSLA). Binance is open to tokenizing more stocks on its new market. On Friday, the exchange will list Microsoft stock (MSFT) tokens for trading, according to an announcement earlier this week.

All these coins are available for trading with Binance’s USD-backed stablecoin, BUSD.

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Binance Crypto News NFTs

Major Crypto Exchange, Binance Prepares to Launch its NFT Marketplace

Binance NFT Marketplace
Binance NFT Marketplace

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, is planning to launch a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace amid the growing interest of creators and crypto enthusiasts in the market. The crypto exchange wants to build “the world’s leading NFT marketplace and trading platform”, according to their announcement.

Binance NFT to launch in June 2021

The NFT marketplace known as Binance NFT is slated to launch in the next two months, bringing together global content creators to make NFT contents and digital collectibles at minimal fees. The marketplace will support content from diverse spaces, including visual arts, gaming, music, and sports.

Our aim is to provide the largest NFT trading platform in the world with the best minting, buying, and exchanging experience by leveraging the fastest and cheapest solutions powered by Binance blockchain infrastructure and community.

Helen Hai, Head of Binance NFT

Binance wants its NFT marketplace to launch as the cheapest platform for creators to mint and auction their contents with high liquidity. As announced, Binance NFT will debut with two trading venues, namely Premium Event and Trading Market.

Under “Premium Event”, which is dedicated to the most sought-after collaborations, creators will receive about 90 percent of profits from sales. “Trading Market” instead is designed for everyday artists – the creators will only have to pay a nominal one percent processing fee.

Binance serves millions of users around the world, many of whom will now be able to access the booming NFT space. In line with our commitment to the freedom of money globally and building an inclusive ecosystem, the Binance NFT marketplace will also support small value creators by providing the highest liquidity and cheapest fees for users.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance

Major Crypto Firms are Joining NFT

Binance’s announcement today indicates how active and big the NFT market is growing. Crypto.com and Gemini are two other major crypto companies already involved in the NFT market.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Sports

Top Quarterback, Trevor Lawrence Signs Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal with Blockfolio

Top Quarterback, Trevor Lawrence Signs Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal with Blockfolio

A popular American football quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Blockfolio, a cryptocurrency portfolio tracking and management company. Under the agreement, the footballer can choose to receive his future bonuses in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Blockfolio Now Sponsors Trevor Lawrence

As reported on Monday, the development marks the first crypto sponsorship deal ever bagged by the Clemson Tigers’ quarterback.

We believe that Trevor is the future of football, and we think that crypto is the future of finance. Trevor represents a lot of the promise and potential of football at the highest level, and we think that crypto represents the same thing at the highest level of finance.

Sina Nader, COO of Blockfolio

Although Blockfolio did not disclose the exact number of cryptos – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana – paid to the footballer, the company said the player’s first bonus was paid in cryptocurrencies on Friday. As per the report, the cryptocurrencies deposited to Lawrence’s Blockfolio account are worth more in today’s price.

Lawrence’s interest in cryptocurrencies led him to choose the crypto company amongst other companies in the banking and stock trading sector.

When it comes to my crypto portfolio, I wanted a long-term partner in the space that I could trust.

Trevor Lawrence

The Sports Industry is Loving Crypto

Interest in digital currencies in the sports industry seems definitely on the rise. For example, one of the top English football teams, Southampton FC, recently scored a new sponsorship deal with Coingaming Group. It will enable the club to distribute performance bonuses to players in Bitcoin at the end of every season until the next three years.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Market Analysis Markets

ASX Prices Climb as Bitcoin Price Plummets On Anzac Weekend

ASX Prices Climb as Bitcoin Price Plummets On Anzac Weekend
A board displaying stock prices is seen at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray

Over the weekend, Australia’s leading share market index S&P/ASX 200 saw a notable increase in price. Interestingly, the gains in ASX coincides with Anzac Day public holiday. This raises some questions on whether the increase in the Aussie market was related to the nation’s remembrance day.

Meanwhile, the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) declined within the week, while the S&P/ASX 200 gained.

Anzac-ASX Market Move

The 25th of April is the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day, dedicated to commemorate the soldiers “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations”, especially those in the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I.

It seems Aussie traders and investors got optimistic about Anzac Day as S&P/ASX 200 increased by almost one percent in two days leading up to the remembrance day.

ASX 200 chart. Source: Market Index

Within the same period, Bitcoin declined by over three percent from $51,739 USD on Friday to $50,052 USD on Sunday.

Bitcoin price chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

ASX Drops 0.2% on Monday

On Monday though, the Australian share market lost some points. The ASX/S&P 200 dropped by about 0.2 percent of its opening value. The market closed at 7045.6 points, according to data from Market Index. The drop may be attributed to the fact that there was a low trading volume on the market.

ASX 200 chart. Source: Market Index

Bitcoin, however, gained some points on Monday. At the time of writing, it was trading at $53,772 USD on CoinMarketCap, which represents about an 8.11 percent increase over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin maintains a market capitalization above $1 trillion USD.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Quantum Computers Are Not a Threat To Bitcoin (Yet), Expert Explains

Quantum Computers Are Not a Threat To Bitcoin (Yet), Expert Explains

Andreas Antonopoulos, a Bitcoin advocate, and expert Bitcoin technologist said in the recent interview that a quantum computer would not pose any threat to the Bitcoin (BTC) network, provided that technical updates and developments don’t stagnate.

A Question on Bitcoin’s Security

Bitcoin is the first successful decentralized digital currency for transferring value, and it currently has a market capitalization of $929 billion USD during press time. Presently, it’s believed that BTC transactions or networks cannot be compromised by an adversary, thanks to blockchain, which is the technology behind every cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin. 

In the future, however, some claimed that Bitcoin security could be cracked using a more complex and powerful system, like quantum computers. Such a computer is capable of breaking the mathematical difficulty and key cryptographic protocols used in securing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Antonopoulos spoke on this, saying that a quantum computer would possibly break into the BTC network only if quantum-resistant updates weren’t made to the Bitcoin network. 

Are Quantum Computers a Threat to Bitcoin Security?

I don’t think so. Not in the short term simply because we don’t have a quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin’s key size. In the medium to long term, possibly, but only if Bitcoin development stagnated, and there weren’t upgrades to quantum-resistant signature algorithms.

Antonopoulos answered.

Quantum computers can only impact Bitcoin’s key signature algorithms, not the hashing. This is because BTC ASIC mining machines are extremely fast compared to the estimated clock speed of near-term quantum computers, meaning that hashing is more robust compared to quantum computers. So, upgrades are needed for the BTC key signature algorithm, “if/when quantum computers get fast enough,” Antonopoulos added. 

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Crypto News NFTs

Eminem is Dropping His NFTs “Shady Con” on Sunday

Eminem is Dropping His NFTs on Sunday
AUSTIN, TX – OCTOBER 11: Eminem performs in concert during the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on October 11, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/FilmMagic)

Eminem, one of the biggest American rappers of all-time, recently revealed he would be dropping his digital collectibles in a few days.

This makes Eminem the latest artist to join the non-fungible token (NFT) market, which has gained massive traction since the beginning of the year.

Eminem Joins The NFT BandWagon

On Thursday, the US rapper revealed on Instagram that he would release his digital collectables on Nifty Gateway, one of the leading NFT marketplaces, on Sunday April 25. The NFT contents dubbed “Shady Con” will provide the collectors access to the rapper’s one-of-a-kind beats made explicitly for this release.

“Not much has changed for me as an adult…I’ve attempted to re-create some of those collections from that time in my life, and I know I’m not alone. I wanted to give this drop the same vibe of, ‘Oh, man, I gotta get just that one or maybe even the whole set!’ It’s been a lot of fun coming up with ideas from my own collecting passion,” 

Eminem commented

Eminem has an interest in collectibles. While speaking on his move to the NFT market, the rapper admitted that he has been collecting lots of items, including comic books, toys, and baseball cards, during his childhood. 

Eminem joins other artists such as Boy George, Snoop Dogg, and The Kings of Leon join the NFT space.