When payment solutions company MoonPay announced it was allowing its users to buy NEAR tokens worldwide, the price of NEAR Protocol skyrocketed 28 percent in 24 hours, with trading volume up more than 125 percent in the same period. Since then, the NEAR token has recorded an overall increase of 48 percent in a week.
The future is NEAR! š®$NEAR by @NEARProtocol is now available for purchase via MoonPay worldwide! š
NEAR is a development platform built on a sharded, proof-of-stake, layer-one blockchain that offers drastically lower transaction fees while maintaining high throughputs. The simple explanation for NEAR’s sudden boost is that MoonPay has a crypto trading app with around five million users.
By announcing its support for NEAR, MoonPay made the pool of potential investors that much deeper, which also explains NEAR’s increased trading volume. NEAR Protocol is further seeking to facilitate a shift to Web 3.0. With a daily transaction rate of 300,000 – just a fraction of its almost limitless capability – developers see a need for NEAR to transition to a more efficient system called Nightshade.
Phase one of the transition is scheduled to begin in early 2022, with phase two set to be implemented by the end of next year.
A String of Recent Announcements
In the first week of December, NEAR Foundation and WOO Network announced the completion of a US$5 million token swap to create a strategic partnership between ecosystems.
4. š¤WOO + NEAR = Scalable infrastructure + smart liquidity
WOO Network has partnered with @NEARProtocol with a $5M token swap, with WOO Network becoming a key builder in the NEAR ecosystemhttps://t.co/BFx07JO3rw
Last month, Ardana – Cardanoās growing stablecoin hub – also announced a strategic partnership with Near Protocol. It will allow for asset transfer between the two protocols in which Ardana will provide the bridging infrastructure:
Novi, a new crypto wallet for sending digital payments through WhatsApp, is available now and being trialled for a limited number of people in the US. Transferring money to friends is now as easy as sending a text message and you can do it all within the WhatsApp chat app, instantly and with no fees.
Novi is a new way to send and receive money – instantly, securely, and with no fees. With Novi on WhatsApp, you can transfer money without ever leaving your WhatsApp chat.
Stephane Kasriel, Metaās head of cryptocurrency and fintech at Novi, officially announced the rollout of Novi via Twitter on December 9:
There's a new way to try the @Novi digital wallet. Starting today, a limited number of people in the US will be able to send and receive money using Novi on @WhatsApp, making sending money to family and friends as easy as sending a message. šøš¬ pic.twitter.com/dGz3lejri7
It’s no secret that Meta head Mark Zuckerberg has huge ambitions for his company, formerly known as Facebook, to claim its space in the world of crypto and fintech. Facebook first launched its cryptocurrency project, Libra, in 2019. Then it was rebranded to Diem, a stablecoin to be pegged to the US dollar.
Despite facing opposition from regulatory parties who have concerns over giant tech companies entering the world of blockchain-based finance having too much power, Novi has partnered with stablecoin provider Paxos and is now live through WhatsApp.
The company says the goal is for multiple platforms to embrace the protocol – including, eventually, its own website. First step in the process is launching an offshoot called Kickstarter PBC, which will begin development of the protocol.
Kickstarter going ādecentralizedā and help launch āan open source protocol that will essentially create a decentralized version of Kickstarterās core functionality. This will live on a public blockchainā @perrychen@Kickstarterhttps://t.co/55eood4j9N
Kickstarter is funding the project itself, appointing an initial board and committing to be one of the first platforms on the protocol, though there are no specific timelines as to when such a transition might take place.
The company also announced the establishment of an āindependent governance labā, which will publish research and engage with the community on protocol governance.
Kickstarter to Proceed With Caution
Kickstarter intends to proceed with caution in terms of how the protocol will impact the user experience. āAs a user, the Kickstarter experience youāre familiar with will stay the same,” according to a company blog post. “You wonāt āseeā the protocol, but you will benefit from its improvements.ā
Not everyone is convinced, with the above tweet just one example of a widespread pushback (see also the tweet below from Christian Hoffer of comicbook.com). Plenty of mainstream users still have problems with Web3 technology due to controversy around energy usage of some of the more popular networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kickstarter is aiming to sidestep these concerns by placing its new vertical on the Celo blockchain, which is billed as ācarbon negativeā.
Kickstarter is switching to a blockchain platform, which likely means a lot of people will be moving their crowdfunding campaigns to a different platform in 2022: https://t.co/zF3L2hAt5L
Other than highlighting that the protocol will leverage Celo, Kickstarter has not gone into specifics about how it envisions Kickstarter PBCās work developing in the short or medium term.
SCOOP: They do this, I know a whole lot of folks (including myself) never backing via Kickstarter again āØ https://t.co/j6vzDE6q23
Kickstarter Not Alone in Taking the Decentralised Route
Kickstarter isnāt the only ātraditionalā tech giant looking to develop an open source protocol that its own platform will eventually adopt; Twitter has been working on Bluesky, its own project to develop a decentralised social media protocol.
The move by Kickstarter mirrors that of Roman Coppola when in August this year the scion of one of Hollywoodās most influential families co-founded a decentralised film financing platform based on blockchain technology. However, Coppola didn’t face quite the same level of opposition.
After its valuation shot up earlier this year, Reddit intends to expand its Community Points beta, allowing any subreddit to request the ability to create its own token. Reddit released a waitlist for subreddits who wish to do so and has provided additional information regarding its Community Points on its website.
Subreddits Can Have Own Points, Name, Symbol and Token
Reddit Community Points are handed out as rewards for active users in the community and can be given based on the number of upvotes a member receives within a subreddit, whether for a post they had made themselves or a post made on somebody elseās. The expanded Community Points programs will allow each subreddit to have its own Community Points, with a custom name, symbol and token.
According to Reddit, Community Points are about building a reputation. āBut it's not limited to Reddit either. Because your Points are on the blockchain, you can take your reputation anywhere you want on the Internet,ā the company says on its page. https://t.co/Z7bPqMqTDD
Points can have value too and may be sold for other cryptos. The crypto points have value within each respective community/subreddit and can be used to purchase features or engage in community governance. Additionally, the points can also potentially be swapped for other cryptos or tokens at exchanges, or used for external purposes.
Tokens Retain Community Ownership
Reddit adds: āCommunity Points are the first step towards a different future for online communities … these tokens live on the blockchain, which means they are truly owned by the community. Over time, your community will benefit from even greater control and independence -on and off of Reddit.ā
Currently, Community Points run on a test net version of Ethereum, but Reddit is working with Ethereum layer two scaling solution Arbitrum to see if it can run a version of that instead. As it stands, Reddit offers Community Points in the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit, called Moons, and in the r/Fortnite subreddit, called Bricks.
Reddit adds that the goal of introducing tokens to Reddit is that they can be used to incentivise good behaviour or content creation without a specific community. Community Points can also potentially be used in the future to run a community itself ā a theme that some users are not entirely happy with.
Iāll get to the point: there are now better ways to get feedback, build community, and to have fun with players as a dev without ever touching Reddit. I donāt foresee many game devs subjecting themselves to the old ways much longer.
The news of tokens to additional subreddits comes during a welcome time as Reddit busies itself in the crypto world. In October, Reddit fuelled speculation it was getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) craze. A new job posting for a senior back-end engineer even had many wondering whether the social media giant might be building its very own NFT platform.
As the non-fungible token (NFTs) boom continues to explode, new projects are popping up left, right, and centre. One of the more recent developments in this burgeoning market is the use of NFTs as digital avatars, along with some meme projects set for imminent launch.
Follow this guide for the inside scoop on 10 bizarre meme avatar NFT projects ready to launch this month:
1. Chimp Club
Chimp Club NFTs are fully customisable. Source: Chimp Club
Set to launch on December 10, Chimp Club is a collection of 10,000 handcrafted and randomly assembled chimps who all live on the Ethereum blockchain. Out of a wide variety of personalities – from hackers and artists to degens, boomers and zoomers, with each chimp built from a unique combo of hair, hats, eyes, mouths, and outfits – owners are able to fully customise their chimp’s profile.
Chimp Club is a community-driven initiative, which will allow holders of Chimps to take part in coordinating the clubās treasury, development and direction. By purchasing a chimp, buyers will be granted full and complete rights to do whatever they want with the NFT and the artwork included, commercially or otherwise. To mint a chimp, holders can use MetaMask, Wallet Connect or Wallet Link.
2. Eraser Heads Lead Rebellion
Unique, generative Eraser Heads. Source: Eraser Heads Lead Rebellion
Eraser Heads is a collection of 11,111 unique, generative NFTs that exist on the Ethereum blockchain. From the December 8 presale, Eraser Heads also exist on the Polygon blockchain network, which means there are no gas fees associated with minting so holders are able to keep more of their initial investment. These NFTs have some additional utility, with buyers earning tokens just by holding.
3. Eternal Utopia
A Utopian living on the Ethereum blockchain. Source: Eternal Utopia
The Eternal Utopia is a collection of AI-generated humanoid characters (Utopians) that are residents of an alternative planet Earth on the Ethereum blockchain, doubling as ERC-721 tokens. Each NFT is hand-sketched using a different colour palette and shading group by the artist, Shoeb. Utopians are created by using generative arts randomly shuffled from 101 different traits, including skins, accessories and expressions.
4. Ghetto SharkHood
Ghetto Sharks gain holders lifetime membership to the club. Source: Ghetto Sharkhood
Already available for purchase on the OpenSea marketplace, Ghetto SharkHood is a limited collection of 10,000 Ghetto Shark NFTs stored on the Ethereum blockchain as ERC-721 tokens. By purchasing a Ghetto Shark, holders gain lifetime membership to the SharkHood, along with members-only benefits. Each Ghetto Shark is unique and programmatically generated from 180 possible traits, including expressions, headwear, accessories and skins.
5. Foxtoons Club
Randomly generated “Boodles”. Source: Foxtoons Club
Launched on December 8, Foxtoons Club is a collection of programmatically generated NFTs built on the blockchain. The first generation consists of 3333 random Foxtoons, which are randomly assembled and picked from a pool of 500,000 possible outcomes. The club derives from a variation of faces, bodies and hats, with each āBoodleā randomly generated and unique. Ten percent of all sale proceeds generated will be sent to a community safe, which will be returned to holders in the form of contests and raffles.
6. Axolols NFTs
Axolols. Source: Axolol NFTs
Axolols are a collection of 8,888 hand-drawn and algorithmically generated axolotl profile pictures on the Ethereum blockchain, living as ERC-721 tokens. Each Axolol is generated from more than 120 individual traits of varying rarities, with rankings to be created after launch. Axolols will be available to mint for 0.03 ETH (plus gas) at up to 20 each time, and will be 3000 x 3000 pixels and stored decentrally in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The project intends to use funds generated from the sale of the NFTs to help fund various conservation efforts.
7. Birds āNā Blades
Game-esque avian characters. Source: BirdsNBlades
Dropping December 8, the Birds ‘N’ Blades NFT project is a collection of unique avian warriors in a style of roleplaying game-esque characters. Developed by Polynode Studios, 3,333 randomly generated pixel NFTs will represent the first stage of Project Aves, with the collection inspired by famous pop-culture characters. After the first stage of the project is completed and every bird is minted, it will move toward phase two with an extended universe collection.
8. Sol Amphibians
Hold two of these for a month and they’ll ‘breed’. Source: Sol Amphibians
Living on the Solana blockchain, Sol Amphibians are a collection of 4,444 unique 3D NFTs handcrafted using AI and algorithmic attributes. Users will enjoy Breeding Functions, which are built in by simply holding any two for a period of four weeks to receive a free baby amphibian delivered to the holder’s Solana wallet. All Amphibians are metaverse-ready.
9. Mr.Uncommon
“Uncommon” NFTs that “refused to be common”. Source: Mr.Uncommon
Mr.Uncommon (who refused to be common) is a collection of 10,000 handcrafted generative art portraits that all live on the Ethereum blockchain, created by industry-leading artists. The aim is to highlight the hidden talents or attributes of individuals to help holders achieve their desired state of life, or at least one matching their aspirations.
Each āMr.Uncommonā NFT has its own vibrant colour scheme, 277+ traits and many rarities, and is a singular masterpiece that conveys a novel message. The NFTs are available for purchase on the OpenSea marketplace.
10. Everyday Sloths
Everyday Sloths, directly interactive within OpenSea. Source: Everyday Sloths
This groundbreaking collection of 7,777 unique sloths hangs on the Polygon network. Everyday Sloths are the first of their kind, fully customisable and directly interactive within OpenSea. Monthly drops of limited item collections are available with owners allowed to continually customise their sloths beyond minting. Every token sale will include a portion that goes to the Sloth Conservation Foundation.
On purchase, each owner will receive a virtual adoption package including:
a personalised adoption certificate;
full biography and sloth history;
high-resolution photos; and
two original sloth illustrations.
As NFTs and meme avatar projects continue to boom, Crypto News Australia has published guides to help users navigate among them.
Bitcoin penny stock BitTorrent has soared 80 percent ahead of its Mainnet Launch on December 12. News of the mainnet of BitTorrent Chain (BTTC), the worldās first heterogeneous cross-chain interoperability protocol, going live has sent the price up 35.56 percent in 24 hours.
š #BTTC Mainnet and #BTT Redenomination Plan will be launched on Dec 12, 2021!
šWhile maintaining current market cap, old BTT tokens will be redenominated and swapped with the new at a ratio of 1:1000. The total supply will be increased to 990,000,000,000,000. pic.twitter.com/HGLCFM7KXr
BitTorrent (BTT), the leading torrent software site, launched its BitTorrent token native currency on the TRON (TRX) blockchain in 2019 using its TRC-10 standard. The mid-cap altcoin, however, surged after the announcement of its impending mainnet launch.
BTT is a file-sharing protocol token built atop TRX that allows users to share files peer-to-peer by paying for access to faster download speeds, more storage resources, and more bandwidth.
BTTC comes in as the worldās first heterogeneous cross-chain interoperability protocol that adopts Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanisms and leverages sidechains for the scaling of smart contracts. The chain allows interoperability with the public chains of Ethereum, TRON and BSC, with more chains to be supported in the future.
According to the developer community of BitTorrent, the mainnet will launch with BTT redenomination implemented. Since the company took to Twitter to announce the official launch date of BTTC, BitTorrent Inc has been exploding:
šBitTorrent Chain (#BTTC) Mainnet will be launched on Dec 12, 2021!
š¢At the same time, BTT Redenomination Plan will be implemented at 1:1,000 with the market cap unchanged. The new #BTT will be issued as #TRC20 tokens on the #TRON mainnet and mapped to the #BTTC Mainnet. https://t.co/OconFdFdf6
When announcing the BTTC launch in early November, the project further explained what the chainās new capabilities would be. According to the press release, BTTC will also be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine:
āFurthermore, BTTC will support and be compatible with TRON, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) upon its release, allowing users to transfer mainstream assets among TRON, Ethereum and BSC in a decentralised manner without any restrictions.ā
While maintaining its current market cap, the old BTT token will be redenominated and swapped with the new BTT tokens at a ratio of 1:1000. The total supply of BTT tokens will be increased from 990,000,000,000 to 990,000,000,000,000. The new tokens after redenomination will be referred to as BTT, while the old ones will be renamed as BTTOLD.
š§What is #BTT Redenomination? There will be 2 tokens: #BTTOLD and #BTT. The total supply will be increased from 990B(#BTTOLD) to 990000B(#BTT), wāiāth the market cap unchanged. New Token(#BTT) will be issued as TRC20 tokens on the TRON mainnet and mapped to the BTTC mainnet. pic.twitter.com/Cawr4pb0lm
š”Why Redenomination? The low total supply of only 990 billion comes with certain limitations and brings inconveniences to the subsequent collection of assets and the exchange of tokens. As #BTTC arrives, the #BTT ecosystem will be more diversified with expanded use cases.
The announcement of the specifics of the launch date triggered BTT to surge about 78 percent from a low of US$0.0023 to a high of US$00.41. Tron, the blockchain on which BTT is built, also saw positive price action in response to the announcement.
A partnership between an Australian pearl farming and retail business and blockchain technology company Everledger will bring greater transparency to the sale and transfer of rare, high-quality pearls.
In an industry first, buyers of rare pearls produced by Pearls of Australia will gain a Statement of Provenance that guarantees certainty around the gemsā origin, attributes, sustainability practices, and journey from farm-to-market.
Sea pearls of the WA Kimberley coast. Source: Pearls of Australia
Immutable Digital Records on the Blockchain
Pearls of Australia has partnered with Australian blockchain platform Everledger – specialists in supply chain traceability – on a pilot program to provide accessible and immutable digital records for its pearl jewellery, via a platform called Provenance Proof.
In a December 6 statement about the pilot, James Brown, managing director of Pearls of Australia and Australian Farmer of the Year 2021, said the impetus for the project was a perceived “erosion” of pearlsā value in the eyes of consumers:
We needed a way to make the value of pearls more visible and enduring beyond the dialogue we have with customers at a single point of time.
James Brown, Pearls of Australia
The Provenance Proof platform will make each pearlās unique provenance and ownership data available to retailers and end consumers from a mobile phone or computer.
Verifiable Gems Add Value and Support Conscious Consumption
Known for its commitment to sustainability and quality, Pearls of Australia grows premium saltwater pearls across three farming operations in Western Australia and NSW, and also designs and sells luxury pearl jewellery online, at boutiques located on-farm, and through retailers.
Everledger states that blockchain-enabled proof of provenance will add value for end customers by providing peace of mind and informing insurance or estate planning, making it easier to transfer ownership of pearl jewellery across generations.
Everledger CEO Leanne Kemp also argues that unlike the problematic supply chains associated with diamonds, Australian pearls have a more sustainable story that can now be articulated for consumers.
āWhere diamonds needed to counter conflict and human rights issues, pearls needed a platform to share their unique journey of harmonious collaboration between man and living nature,ā Kemp says, adding: āThere are exciting plans ahead, including how we ensure the positive impact of pearling is captured and shared.ā
Blockchain solutions are increasingly being adopted to increase confidence in Australian products, including red meat and native superfood, the Kakadu plum.
Ever wanted to ‘own’ a football club, build your own squad of players and earn rewards in the process? Now you can do it with Footium, a soccer strategy game where ‘managers’ can mint players from their academy and compete to win prizes.
Gamers Empowered Through Ownership
Co-founded in 2020 by Jordan Lord, a former software engineer at Netcraft, and Oxford economics graduate James O’Leary, Footium claims to improve on existing football games by empowering gamers through ownership.
“By introducing NFTs and a native token, weāve brought play-to-earn characteristics to the kind of game that millions of users around the world spend hours playing each day,” says Lord, formerly a game developer for Multiverse and in real life a Derby County fan, while O’Leary is a smart contract developer with a passion for gaming.
Millions of people around the world spend hours each day playing football management games purely for fun. What if those hundreds, sometimes even thousands of hours spent playing could also generate revenue and improve their player and club value?
Jordan Lord, co-founder, Footium
Stake Tokens to Improve Club Morale and In-Game Performance
As Lord and O’Leary were building Footium, they realised the value-adding potential of token staking to improve club morale and in-game performance. As Lord says, “We decided to build the game we’d always dreamed of.”
Footium Division 1 has 1 league with 12 teams in and every division you go down, all the way to 8 the number of teams/leagues doubles. With Division 8 having 255 leagues in. Each club has a badge, kit and stadium. The badge will be based on a number of traits, the rarity of which determines their starting position in the league, along with the stadium size.
Initial Clubs Sold Out, But Plenty More Available on Secondary Market
Twice a day, your team plays in your league against other clubs. The game moves fast, with seasons of 20 games finishing inside two weeks. While the initial round has sold out, there is a total of 3060 clubs to choose from in the Footium universe, with plenty available on the secondary market. Go to footium.club for details. You can also follow Footium on Twitter and join the Footium Discord.
For information on three more new and exciting play-to-earn games, see September’s Crypto News Australia report regarding the growing Solana ecosystem. With nearly US$24.8 billion generated to date, 2021 was even then close to surpassing 2020ās full-year revenue (US$30 billion) and on track to overtake 2019 (US$43.6 billion) as the highest-grossing year ever for commercial gaming.
Last month saw the launch of MonkeyBall, a next-gen esports metaverse also based on the Solana blockchain. Like Footium, it’s a play-to-earn soccer game that combines high-production values, multiplayer gaming, NFTs and decentralised finance.
Jack Dorsey’s digital payments firm Square has rebranded as a symbol of its growth and continued movement into the blockchain industry.
On December 1, Square said it would be changing its name to ‘Block’. According to the announcement, the rebadge is a symbol of its continued growth and will act as an umbrella term for the various services created since its inception in 2009.
Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.
Jack Dorsey, Block CEO and co-founder
The legal name “Square, Inc” is expected to be legally changed to “Block, Inc” around December 10, once all applicable legal requirements have been satisfied.
The Square’s new name has various associated meanings for the business. According to the announcement, the name Block represents ābuilding blocks, neighbourhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcomeā.
The company has already expanded its crypto services to Australia with its A$39 billion purchase of Afterpay to make bitcoin purchases on a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) basis.
Dorsey Moving Further into Crypto
Square’s name change follows Dorsey stepping down as Twitter CEO late last month, with many believing he now wants to spend more time working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
The Square rebadge announcement also mentions blockchain technology and further reveals that Squareās subsidiary, Square Crypto, will also change its name.
As a result of the name change, Square Crypto, a separate initiative of the company dedicated to advancing Bitcoin, will change its name to Spiral.
Block press release
Oh! Obviously Square Crypto no longer makes sense, so the team is changing its name to Spiral (@spiralbtc). This rebrand reflects their focus on #bitcoin as it continues to grow like a spiral from a single point, encompassing more and more space until it touches everything.
Spiral and TBD are two initiatives under the Block umbrella that focus entirely on Bitcoin. Spiral is dedicated to building and funding “open-source projects aimed at making bitcoin the planetās preferred currency”, while TBD is currently focused on developing a decentralised bitcoin exchange to “build bridges between the fiat and cryptocurrency worlds”.
Tornado Cash is a fully decentralised protocol for private transactions on Ethereum and is now ready to integrate with Arbitrum, the layer 2 solution that leverages optimistic rollups for Ethereum dApps. Faster speeds, lower fees, and transaction privacy. What’s not to love?
The Ethereum-based crypto mixer lets users swap ERC20 tokens over the Ethereum network while providing on-chain privacy by breaking the transaction link between the sender and recipient address. Tornado Cash allows withdrawals to be deposited to a different address, which cannot be linked back to the original deposit address.
Lower Transaction Fees Seal the Deal
Arbitrum’s L2 scaling solutions will not only allow Tornado Cash to process Ethereum transactions at a much faster rate, it will also make transactions cheaper for users. On-chain layer one transaction costs are notoriously expensive on the Ethereum network and can become even more so when the network is heavily congested during busy times. According to l2fees.info metrics, L1 fees on Ethereum are around US$35.41 per transaction, whereas on Arbitrum, users pay only around US$4.85 per transaction.
Arbitrum has already collaborated with other blockchains such as Polygon, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, and xDai.
Tornado Cash is growing in popularity and volume. Last week xDai tweeted that total deposits for Tornado Cash had crossed the US$1 million threshold.
Total deposits for @TornadoCashšŖļøon xDai just crossed $1 million!š
Crypto mixing services have attracted the concern of authorities because they allow people to trade in goods and services anonymously with cryptocurrency. This anonymity makes it possible for criminals to “wash” their crypto from transactions on darknet and illegal online marketplaces such as Silk Road.
In April this year Crypto News Australia reported that the operator of Bitcoin Fog had been arrested in Los Angeles after the IRS investigated transactions that went through the Bitcoin mixing platform over a period of 10 years.
