Author: Phil Stafford

Phil is a long-standing Australian journalist with specialised experience in business, finance, travel and popular culture.

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Blockchain Crypto News Market Analysis Tokens

$AUDIO Token Surges 200% After DeFi Music Streaming Service Partners With TikTok

Audius, a music streaming platform based on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, has partnered with popular Chinese video-sharing and social media app TikTok to create TikTok Sounds.

Source: Twitter.com

Audius is the first streaming platform to allow direct sharing to TikTok, a coup for a music site that only recently crossed the five million users threshold.

The decentralised service is driven by the Ethereum-based $AUDIO token, which users can stake in the Audius platform to participate in governance decisions, as well as earn rewards for securing the network. $AUDIO is also given out as rewards for top artists and active users, and token staking unlocks advanced features too, such as displaying NFT collectibles on the site.

Within 24 hours of the announcement, the $AUDIO price spiked over 200 percent (see chart below).

AUDIO Token Price Surge – Source: Tradingview.com

The partnership aims to streamline TikTokā€™s current music upload and selection process. Audius users can simply upload tracks and share them to TikTok, a process said to take less than a minute.

Roneil Rumburg and Forrest Browning, the platformā€™s founders, say they followed up on personal contacts at TikTok to facilitate the integration.

Weā€™re proud to be one of the earliest launch partners for TikTok Sounds and to give the artists on Audius a chance to increase their exposure.

Forrest Browning, Audius co-founder

Founded in 2018, Audius is the largest decentralised consumer blockchain application and boasts a roster of over 100,000 music artists. Last month, it announced a partnership with the Solana Creator Fund to attract new artists to its platform.

TikTok Claims 750m of its US Users Find New Artists on the Platform

Audius Music Platform. Source: audius.co

Like TikTok, Audius does not pay royalties to artists but provides them with a platform to engage with fans and attract new listeners. TikTok, with over 1 billion monthly users, claims that 75 percent of its US users find new artists via TikTok videos.

The partnership with Audius is a surprising move for TikTok given the appā€™s decision last month to ban cryptocurrency-based promotional content as well as ā€œthe promotion of all financial services and productsā€.

For its part, Audius claims its integration with TikTok is more about the music rather than spreading the word on cryptocurrency or decentralised finance. According to Browning, roughly 95 percent of Audius users ā€œhave no idea that blockchain is even involvedā€.

The TikTok sharing feature went live on August 16 for all Audius users. 

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

Floyd Mayweather is Back Promoting Crypto, This Time Launching Floyd NFTs

The latest edition of Floyd Mayweather’s NFT collection went live on August 13 with the champion boxer talking up cryptocurrency to encourage as many takers as possible to get on board.

“Everybody should have their own mind and choose what cryptocurrency they wanna choose,” Mayweather told Newsweek magazine ahead of the sale. “What I believe in is being independent and doing what you wanna do, and it’s about people winning in life. And I push people to be winners in life. ‘Cause I’m a winner.”

Mayweather’s Portfolio Now Worth More Than $1B

Mayweather has claimed his financial portfolio to be worth “over a billion dollars”, a substantial slice of it invested in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency is the new wave, it’s what everybody’s doing. And if cryptocurrency is the new wave, you know what, be the best. I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s supported me throughout the years.

Floyd Mayweather

In what’s claimed to be the most comprehensive community program ever built, Floyd Mayweather World (FMW) is a collection of 11,111 NFTs underlining the now-retired boxer’s undisputed No 1 status (50 fights, zero losses).

Illustrated by renowned artist Rui Duarte, the FMW NFTs are stored as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and hosted on IPFS. In the spirit of altruism, for each NFT sold on the primary market, 15 community meals will be donated (a total of 166,665 meals).

Each token sold also entitles the buyer to merchandise including signed gloves and photos, a replica belt, free passes to TMT (The Money Team) events and discounted TMT jewellery.

Mayweather Promoted His Coin EthereumMax at Bitcoin 2021

Ethereum-based cryptocurrency EthereumMax (EMAX) sponsored Mayweather in his June 6 fight against YouTuber and boxer Logan Paul, since described in at least one report as ā€œthe easiest $150 million ever madeā€.

The Mayweather collection has inspired fellow boxer Tyson Fury to launch his own NFTs celebrating his two world heavyweight titles. Fury has already made over US$1 million after partnering with artist George Rollo and FomoLabs to create his premium boxing NFTs.

The first of six open editions, Lineal by Tyson Fury, sold last month for an eye-watering US$987,000.

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Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

People Are Going Apeshit for Bored Ape NFTs as One Sells for $1.29 Million

The NFT craze is officially out of its tree with a Bored Ape Yacht Club token selling this week for the equivalent of US$1.29 million, a new record price for the BAYC collection.

BAYC #3749

On August 11, BAYC #3749 – one of 69 in the current series – sold for 400 ETH on OpenSea. It last changed hands on July 16 for US$318,771, with the seller pocketing more than a million dollars’ profit in less than a month.

To put these prices in appropriately wacky context, a simple grey and black NFT of a ā€œpet rockā€ sold for over US$100,000 earlier this month to emphasise the fact that prices for collectible tokens of dubious artistic merit are off the scale.

The distinctive BAYC #3749 NFT (above) was bought by OpenSea user Boothy, who also purchased BAYC #9507 for US$175,140 on August 9. What is claimed to make his latest buy unique is its combination of rare features: it’s one of 3 percent of Bored Apes that sport a black T-shirt and a sea captainā€™s hat, and one of 4 percent with a grin on its face. It’s also the only one of the series with laser eyes and one of 46 of the 69 with “solid gold” fur.

Other examples of the BAYC collection. Source: fractional.art

The BAYC collection launched in April with a minting price of between US$200 and $300 depending on gas fees. Other distinctive features of Apes in the collection include crucifix earrings and robot eyes. A dagger in the mouth can add more than 70 ETH (US$220,000) to the asking price of a single Ape.

The cartoonish simian traits are all randomly generated using an algorithm designed by Yugo Labs.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Donates 66 ETH to Orangutan Charity

Last week, Bored Ape Yacht Club donated 66.45 ETH (US$208,000) to Orangutan Outreach, making a total of US$850,000 it has gifted to the charity so far. The donation was made via an Ethereum transaction through crypto philanthropy platform The Giving Block.

Founded in 2007, Orangutan Outreach is a New York-based non-profit devoted to protecting orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.

In further positive news involving otherwise seemingly frivolous tokens, NFTs are set to play a key role in wildlife conservation, specifically the endangered Seychelles magpie robin.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum

Alex Saunders’ Woes Continue: $479,000 Lawsuit Filed Over Unpaid Crypto Loans

Australian crypto influencer Alex Saunders, who went to ground last month after rumours of multiple defaulted loans went wildfire on Twitter, is the subject of a near half-a-million dollar lawsuit filed this week.

New Zealand investor Ziv Himmelfarb is seeking A$479,270 in losses and damages for cryptocurrencies he allegedly loaned Saunders to invest in a putative stablecoin project:

In the statement of claim filed by lawyers for Himmelfarb in the Supreme Court of Victoria, he alleges that Saunders contacted him via Facebook in February and offered him an interest in a “long/short crypto fund”.

Himmelfarb claims he transferred 4 bitcoins to Saunders, which at the time were valued at A$269,682.14.

In April, Saunders allegedly asked Himmelfarb to invest in a “DCB project” and was transferred the equivalent of $65,282.67 in USDC.

No Goods, No Services, No Reimbursement

Saunders is alleged to have provided no goods or services to Himmelfarb for the digital currencies transferred, nor has he reimbursed the funds despite several requests to do so.

Himmelfarb further alleges he transferred to Saunders 30 ETH coins worth A$144,305.35 in May by way of a loan, which also remains unpaid.

The A$479,270.16 in loss and damages Himmelfarb seeks includes the monetary value of the combined digital currencies loaned to Saunders, plus interest and costs.

“Wrongfully, the defendant has failed and/or refused to transfer to the plaintiff the bitcoins, USDC and ETH coins,” states the writ lodged in the commercial division of the Victorian Supreme Court.

Nugget’s News founder Alex Saunders. Source: twitter.com

Saunders (above), who is based in Launceston, Tasmania and is the founder and CEO of digital media channel Nuggetā€™s News, has yet to file a defence and remains silent on this and other matters relating to unpaid crypto loans.

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Australia Crypto News NFTs

Aussie Legend Adam Gilchrist Set to Digitise Cricket Moments to NFTs

Swashbuckling former Australian Test wicketkeeper/batsman Adam Gilchrist is the public face of a new strategic alliance to market cricket-related sports memorabilia and digital collectibles.

Pickstar Group and Sportemon-Go announced the alliance this week, respectively combining an online marketplace with a digital sports platform to sell moments and merchandise via NFT collectibles and virtual experiences.

Together, the two entities have global access to over 60,000 current and former professional athletes, cultural icons and celebrities.

Gilchrist, who has worked as an on-air cricket commentator since retiring from international cricket in 2008, has been confirmed as the official global cricket ambassador for Sportemon-Go.

The technology and creativity that sits behind this is incredible and I look forward to being part of the team that paves the way for athletes, fans and organisations to create, commercialise and obtain this next generation of sports-related assets.

Adam Gilchrist, official cricket ambassador, Sportemon-Go

Sportemon-Go Aims to Simplify NFTs in Australia

Sportemon-Go plans to create sports-related NFTs and other digital products while making the technology more accessible to fans. ā€œWe want to make the use of NFTs and cryptocurrency as simple as possible,” said CEO Ricky Jackson in a recent interview.

Our mission is to help people understand how to use this tool. We want to change the game through digital and interactive assets and experiences, such as AR [augmented reality] experiences for fans at stadiums or NFT hunting on game day at venues.

Sportemon-Go CEO Ricky Jackson

Since its June public announcement, Sportemon-Go has set its sights on producing Australia-focused NFTs through sports including cricket, NFL, NBA, EPL and NRL. The project also has its eye on related industries such as AR, eSports and betting, all utilising the power of blockchain technology and smart contracts.

The Sportemon-Go’s mobile app is planned to launch in September and until buying SGO, acquiring the native Sportemon-Go token was a lengthy process via Pancakeswap and Binance Smart Chain BNB.

In related news, Indian tech startup Rario will launch the worldā€™s first cricket-based NFTs on August 15, ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for October-November. Crypto News Australia also recently reported the August 20 launch of an NFT collection based around superstar footballer Lionel Messi. ā€œThe Messiverseā€ will be made available on blockchain platform Ethernity Chain (ERN).

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Coinbase Crypto News Fan Tokens Market Analysis Tokens

PSG Fan Token Surges Over 50% Amid Messiā€™s Departure From FC Barcelona

Lionel Messi’s departure from Barcelona to a rumoured new destination at Paris Saint-Germain has caused PSG Fan Token to surge almost 62 percent, while its volume ballooned 500 percent.

Argentine Messi, widely acknowledged as the world’s greatest footballer, is reportedly in talks with the French club and is on the verge of signing a contract.

Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility, yes. At the moment nothing is confirmed, I received a lot of calls after the Barcelona statement. Weā€™re talking about it.

Lionel Messi

The PSG fan token ($PSG), listed on the blockchain-led ERC-20 platform of the Ethereum network, is a proof of membership for the Paris-based football club. The token, available for trade in a limited number, also provides holders with the clubā€™s governance rights. 

$PSG, ranked 406th on CoinMarketCap, is trading at US$51.59 with a 24-hour trading volume of US$786 million against its current market cap of $66 million. It has a maximum supply of 20 million tokens, with 100 per cent of coins currently in circulation.

Price Still Up 20 Percent After Retracement

The price moved from US$29 to over $44 in 24 hours after the Messi news broke. It has since retraced slightly but is still up more than 20 percent.

PSD USDT token price

Messiā€™s contract with Barcelona expired on June 30, at which time he became a free agent for the club. Although both parties agreed to a five-year contract extension, La Ligaā€™s salary cap rules preclude a renewal.

I gave everything for this club from the first day I arrived to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye as I didnā€™t think about it. Whatā€™s clear is I did everything possible, and they [Barcelona] couldnā€™t do it because of La Liga.

Lionel Messi

Multiple sources suggest Messi is moving to France to join former Barcelona teammate Neymar da Silva Santos at Paris Saint-Germain.

Token Set to Break US$100 Barrier

$PSG is expected to break the US$100 mark when Messi officially joins Paris Saint-Germain. Since its release in June 2020, the token has risen over 821 percent and yielded 855 percent returns in the past year.

PSG tokens are available for trade on Binance, Gate.io, Paribu, Upbit and HitBTC. It is exchangeable through Tether (USDT), Binanceā€™s stablecoin (BUSD), Bitcoin (BTC), Chiliz (CHZ) and Trias (TRY).

Last week, it was announced that a Messi-themed NFT collection dubbed ā€œThe Messiverseā€ will be available from August 20 on blockchain platform Ethernity Chain (ERN).

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Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum Real Estate

$8 Million Brisbane Mega Mansion Accepting Crypto Buyers

Two Brisbane property developers will accept digital currency as payment for a mansion to be built by their company in the city’s affluent inner north.

Brothers Rob and Andrew Gray of Graya have revealed renders of the lavish new trophy home they are building on Hamilton Hill, overlooking the Brisbane River.

Interior render of Scorpia, Hamilton Hill, Brisbane. Source: Graya/realestate.com

The Spanish-Greek styled home, dubbed Scorpia, will be built on Prospect Terrace next door to Larc, another Graya-designed mansion that sold off the plan last year for more than A$8 million.

Exterior render of Scorpia, Hamilton Hill, Brisbane. Source: Graya/realestate.com

According to Graya managing director Andrew Gray, prospective buyers can purchase the home using whatever their preferred mode of payment, but he says offering the alternative of cryptocurrency will open up the property to a wider market.

We want to market this property to all buyers, and many younger investors have a lot of their wealth tied up with cryptocurrency. Why limit the property’s selling potential? Bitcoin and ethereum have become reliable forms of investment and there is a whole market of buyers out there who are asset-rich in the crypto space. These are the buyers we want to connect with.

Andrew Gray, Graya

Real Estate Owners Are Increasingly Accepting Crypto

Gray offered the example of Miami, Florida as a market that has thrived since local real estate companies began accepting crypto as payment. “There are currently 16 oceanfront properties for sale in Miami that are accepting bitcoin and ethereum as payment. Itā€™s only a matter of time until this becomes commonplace in Australia.ā€

Recently published Realtor.com data indicates that the number of people selling property for crypto assets is on the rise, with 14.3 crypto-accepting listings per 100,000 homes currently in the company’s database, up from 12.7 per 100,000 since 2018.

Last month, Crypto News Australia reported on the first-ever bitcoin-backed real estate refinance loan. And in April, American businessman and real estate manager Rick Caruso announced his company would allow tenants to rent his properties with bitcoin. Caruso Properties partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to handle all of its crypto payment operations and invested one percent of its treasury in bitcoin as a show of good faith.

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Blockchain ChainLink Crypto News Ethereum NFTs

AccuWeather Brings Weather Data to Smart Contracts Using Chainlink

US media company AccuWeather is launching a Chainlink node to place its application programming interfaces (APIs) directly onto blockchain-based smart contracts, the specialist weather information provider announced this week.

AccuWeather APIs include information such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed and natural disaster classifications. A few potential uses for AccuWeather-powered smart contracts include:

  • non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can change depending on weather forecasts
  • weather prediction market hedges against natural disasters
  • automatic supply chain shifts correlated with the weather

Chainlink, an Ethereum-based network of decentralised blockchain oracles, allows off-chain data to be placed into smart contracts.

ā€œAs one of the first weather-related data products to join Chainlink, we are thrilled to expand our reach in bringing value to the emerging blockchain-based market,ā€ commented Kurt Fulepp, AccuWeather’s global chief product officer.

Innovation is in our DNA at AccuWeather and integrating Chainlink demonstrates another way in which we deliver best-in class products to users and consumers in a diverse and growing number of platforms and spaces.

Kurt Fulepp, AccuWeather

How It Will Work

The ability to connect premium weather data to blockchain networks is critical to supporting the many new smart contracts being built on-chain for the forecasting industry. Smart contracts are data-driven applications that automate processes such as product pricing and contract settlement based directly on data feeds.

Smart contract developers need high-quality weather data from sources like AccuWeather to ensure outcomes accurately reflect weather conditions.

AccuWeather data can enable parametric crop and natural disaster insurance for regions where it is otherwise unavailable, hedging against future droughts, floods or associated sea level rises.

In March this year, cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale added Chainlink to its suite of investment trusts. Shortly after, proof-of-work interactive blockchain Bytom announced it would integrate Chainlink as the oracle solution for its dApps, thus providing high-quality data and decentralised security.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs Sports

World’s First Cricket-Based NFTs Launching Ahead of T20 World Cup

Indian tech startup Rario is set to launch the worldā€™s first cricket-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on August 15, well ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for October-November.

Subcontinental business website The Economic Times reports that Rario has already secured the Lanka Premier League Twenty20 competition as a partner and is in negotiations with three more major leagues.

Rario claims it has initially signed male and female players from India, South Africa and Bangladesh to offer their digital collectibles to fans. Big names cited include former India fast bowler and official Rario ambassador Zaheer Khan, South African batsmen AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, plus Smriti Mandhana, a star of India’s women’s team.

Other Players, Leagues and Cricket Boards To Be Announced

Rario co-founder Ankit Wadhwa told The Economic Times: “We are in the process of signing [other] players, leagues and cricket boards. We are trying to create an ecosystem before making it a global play.”

We are living in a mobile-first world and all our interactions are primarily digital; we buy, sell and help each other online but fandom is still predominantly offline. Rario aims to change all that.

Ankit Wadhwa, Rario founder

The Rario move makes cricket the latest sport to leap aboard the NFT bandwagon. It comes after the International Cricket Council (ICC) invited companies to express interest in developing and launching a digital collectibles platform for cricket fans globally.

Other sports such as the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and Formula One teams Red Bull and McLaren have their own NFT agreements in a collectibles market now worth over US$2.5 billion and rising.

The Rario platform will not only issue digital collectibles, but also offer games and a marketplace for fans to trade their assets.

No doubt Rario will find a foothold in a cricket-mad market such as Australia, which has already shown keen interest in sports trading cards, as reported by Crypto News last month.

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Australia Blockchain Crypto News NFTs

Aussie DJ/singer Alison Wonderland Drops NFT ‘Dragon Eggs’ on Decentraland

Australian DJ, singer and recording artist Alison Wonderland, born Alexandra Sholler, has gone down the non-fungible token (NFT) rabbithole with a new blockchain project called WonderQuest.

Alison Wonderland in DJ mode. Source: theurbanlist.com

The fantasy-inspired project, launched August 1 on Decentraland, a blockchain-powered 3D virtual reality platform, allows investors to purchase a dragon egg – at a cost of 0.0888 Ethereum (ETH) – approximately A$300, with more than 6,500 already sold and another 3,500 minted leading up to the launch – as anĀ NFTĀ from the WonderTown market.

The on-sale period ends with a “hatching” event at which owners can figuratively hatch their dragon eggs, allowing further interaction with the virtual fantasy realm.

Alison Wonderland Plays Live Inside the Metaverse

The project incorporates virtual gift quests, discussions and musical performances, the VR game itself climaxing with a live performance from Alison Wonderland inside the metaverse.

Sales for the NFT project have already gone past A$2 million, with the full extent of the 34-year-old singer/DJā€™s earnings to be revealed after the project concludes.

Decentraland describes WonderQuest as ā€œan immersive exploration of Alison Wonderlandā€™s virtual world of dragons and black magicā€.

It starts with a single egg and ends with an epic musical odyssey in Alison’s very own Temple of Wonderland. Those brave enough to embark on this journey will be treated to money-canā€™t-buy experiences, live performances, fireside chats and epic quests through Decentraland.

Decentraland announcement

Aussies Catch the NFT Bug En Masse

Last month, Australian pop star Tones And I featured on Rolling Stone Australiaā€™s first NFT magazine cover. Aussies are also showing wild enthusiasm for sports trading cards, with several businesses hoping to cash in by offering famous sporting moments as NFTs.

NFTs generally are a trend that most exchanges are keen to exploit. In June, Binance launched its ā€˜100 Creatorsā€™ campaign, which features Australian artists, sports stars and musicians contributing work sold as NFTs. Crypto.com also recently launched its own NFT marketplace, with contributions from music and sports celebrities.