In an effort to raise funds for the foundation’s activity, Edward Snowden sold an NFT representing “the entirety of a landmark court decision ruling the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance violated the law, with the iconic portrait of the whistleblower by Platon”. Snowden’s face is superimposed over it and his signature can also be seen in the bottom right corner.
We have a winner, internet friends. I want to extend a very special thanks to everyone who followed this over the last 24 hours, and the deepest gratitude from EVERYONE at our @FreedomofPress to those who bid on our charity event. You help us make a better world. Stay free! https://t.co/A5SJDs5Sjp
The NFT was sold to someone who goes by @pleasrdao, who purchased it for a total of 2,224.00 ETH. According to Edward Snowden, this sum exceeds the FPF’s annual budget by a sizable amount — and has exceeded it a few bids prior to it being finally sold.
The @PleasrDAO juggernaut crashes into the lead with $4,300,000. This is practically the annual budget of @FreedomOfPress, and a real monument to charity. And then immediately overtaken by @xaix2k with 2,021.1337 — $4.9M! By any measure, tonight is a landmark. https://t.co/jqVhQxXrBH
At the moment, this is the only NFT endorsed by Snowden and it is not known if any more will be released in the future.
A Brief History Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden is known worldwide for spilling the beans on the NSA’s snooping — on American citizens, as well as on people of interest worldwide — and consequently being forced to flee to Russia after being accused of violating the US 1917 Espionage Act.
A man who has been called both a hero and a traitor, Snowden stands true to his beliefs to this day, stating that “if this is treason, what they call loyalty is a crime.”
He then fled to Russia — where he was granted permanent residency in 2020 — and since 2017, he has been the president of the Freedom of Press Foundation (FPF), a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that fights for free speech.
Blockchain Week kicks off in Australia this week across 4 days, with over 120 speakers in a series of live events (in person) in Melbourne and Sydney, and online Zoom webinars.
The live events start today (Monday 19th April through to Thursday 22nd April) and include speakers from around the world to promote blockchain and digital currencies in Australia. See the full agenda.
To save you some time, we’ve created a list of the most interesting events below with the direct Zoom webinar registration links.
On the weekend, WWE released six Undertaker NFTs, preserving some of the wrestler’s most memorable moments for posterity.
NFTs are one-of-a-kind tokens fast becoming one of the leading ways for artists to connect with their fans.
The NFTs sold at auction for prices between US$100 and $100,000, in partnership with crypto wallet provider Bitski.
The Undertaker NFTs sold on auction
Several Tiers of NFTs
The NFTs were sold in four tiers, with two bronze NFTs, two silver NFTs, and a gold and platinum-tier NFT each.
For the platinum tier, bidding started at $10,000 but it sold for $100,000. The buyer will also receive two front-row tickets for Wrestlemania 38 and 39, taking place in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Aside from VIP access and an all-expenses-paid stay at a hotel, the buyer will receive a personal thank-you recording from the Undertaker – real name Mark William Callaway – as well as “an original Paul Bearer urn out of the WWE Vault, used by Paul Bearer and the Undertaker, to be signed by the Undertaker, as well as a personalised WWE Championship title belt with the winner’s name engraved on the side plates”.
Nick Khan, WWE president and chief revenue officer, stated that the creation of the NFTs will help expand the wrestling phenomenon, honouring the longest winning streak of any WWE wrestler – which stands at 21-0.
WWE’s first-ever NFT collection presents an opportunity to own a digital piece of history featuring the Undertaker, one of the most iconic superstars in sports entertainment. This will also allow WWE to deepen our connection with the WWE universe during our biggest event, WrestleMania.
Nick Khan, WWE president and chief revenue officer
With the auction over, avid WWE fans will find their very own pieces of wrestling history stored safely within their Bitski wallets.
In a recent post, The Oasis Foundation – which sprung from the roots of Oasis Labs, the team behind the Oasis Network – stated that DeFi insurance provider Tidal Finance will be bringing their services to the Oasis Network.
As a company known for providing a selection of pools with risk assessments, Tidal Finance allows investors to hedge their bets depending on how much risk they are willing to take.
More Security For Investors?
The aim of implementing insurance policies on a DeFi network is to protect investors who, although interested in DeFi, may dither due to the relative immaturity of the decentralized business sector. Although DeFi is attracting more and more investors – with over $100 billion worth of assets locked into DeFi ventures – certain issues in the not-so-distant past may still give prudent investors reasons to look elsewhere.
According to the blog post, Tidal Finance will be providing cross-chain insurance for Oasis customers. In return, Tidal Finance will be able to expand the scope of their activity, taking advantage of the confidential smart contracts that are one of the major selling points of the Oasis network.
This integration will go beyond just providing insurance capabilities. The Oasis Network’s unique ability to keep smart contracts and their data confidential, will also allow Tidal to explore expanding their claims process to include anonymous, democratized voting on claims processing with their community. In short, their community could vote on whether a particular claim should be approved in a privacy-preserving manner.
Oasis Protocol Foundation
Confidential smart contracts also have uses outside of the financial sector. For example, a hypothetical medical establishment allowing payment in cryptocurrencies could receive payments this way, ensuring the relationship between the doctor and the patient remains confidential – a cornerstone of medicine ever since the Hippocratic Oath was put to paper.
As we all know, the world of cryptocurrency moves at an alarming rate, with new coins and asset classes constantly going in and out of fashion. One of the hottest crypto trends to have taken the market by storm in early 2021 is Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs for short.
But what are NFTs all about? Why are they considered so important? And why has this new asset class taken off?
From super-rare CryptoKitties (don’t worry – we’ll explain) to famous tweets selling for millions of dollars, this guide will take a detailed look into NFTs and bring you up to speed as quickly as possible.
What is a NFT?
A Non-Fungible Token is a unique digital asset which cannot be subdivided in smaller parts, which makes it different from cryptocurrencies. Although NFTs can be stored on a secure database, they are most commonly developed to leverage the Ethereum blockchain because of its benefits, so this guide is focused on that case.
The main point of NFTs is that they cannot be exchanged with one another because each item is a unique, one-of-a-kind digital asset – hence the term ‘non-fungible’. To explain this property, imagine NFTs as airline tickets: each ticket has specific information like passenger details, flight’s date and destination. These unique sets of data make it impossible for flight tickets to be used as if they were currency.
Physical
Digital
Fungible
Money, gold, casino chips
Loyalty points, Bitcoin, Ethereum
Non-Fungible
Artworks, tickets to an event, houses
Trademarks, videogame skins, CryptoKitties
Applications of NFTs can vary greatly, from sporting collectables to “virtual real estate”. However, what has recently put NFTs under the spotlight globally is digital art, as it fits particularly well to NFT’s intrinsic features. Just like an original piece of physical art, all NFTs are unique by design. Contrary to regular pieces of artwork, which can be copied or forged to be passed off as original, NFTs are practically fraud-proof as they can be instantly verified via the blockchain. The ownership the token can be verified, tracked and transferred like other blockchain transactions, opening the possibility for trading.
What are some important NFT characteristics?
After an introduction to NFTs and how they work, let’s look a little closer at some of their key characteristics.
Unique – each token has a unique set of properties stored in its meta data.
Verifiable – their rarity can be verified on the blockchain, making them fraud proof.
Indivisible – they cannot be split into smaller denominations so it’s impossible to transfer or buy a fraction of a NFT.
Guaranteed ownership of the asset – when purchased, the buyer holds the right to claim ownership of that unique token but not the rights to its distribution.
Easily transferable – NFTs have been standardised on public blockchains, making transfers across different digital ecosystems quick and simple.
Indestructible – as data is stored on the blockchain via smart contracts, NFTs cannot be removed or destroyed.
What are some different types of NFTs?
Sales for the booming crypto ‘niche’ are estimated to be well over a billion dollars, with over $250 million of NFT traded last year alone, but what are some examples of digital tokens that are hot at the moment?
Here is where CryptoKitties come into play as mentioned earlier. These cute, collectible digi-kittens were the first token to really put NFTs on the map back in 2017. Since then over $42 million have been spent acquiring different CryptoKitties according to Non Fungible, with one digital cat being purchased for $170,000.
Despite CryptoKitties being the trailblazers of the NFT world, it is argued that the first NFT was developed in around 2013 with Colored Coins. To emphasise how far things have come since then, earlier this month, international auction house Christie’s sold a JPG file by famous digital artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, named “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for US$69.3m.
The concept of art is somewhat subjective and digital art is no exception, as it seems that there are no real boundaries restraining where this industry will go next. For instance, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is currently selling his first ever tweet that read: “just setting up my twittr” for an estimated US$2.5m.
Musicians are also getting in on the act too, with the band Kings of Leon releasing their new album, When You See Yourself, as a NFT. Exclusive artwork, limited edition vinyl access and also the potential to win lifetime front-row tickets was included in the $50 NFT album package which was on sale for just two weeks.
Where can I buy NFTs?
Having understood what NFTs are and what they are used for, when it comes to buying them there are a few options to consider.
There are many NFT marketplaces such as Crypto.com NFT Marketplace, often dedicated to specific categories of tokens. For example, if you were interested in buying the Kings of Leon NFT album mentioned previously, most music-related tokens can be found on YellowHeart. OpenSea is a very popular marketplace that can be used for purchasing all sorts of collectibles and gaming items. Sought-after NBA highlight reels are available at NBA Top Shot, where US$230m has already been spent for “Top NBA moments”. Other digital goods marketplaces include Decentraland, Nifty Gateway, Rarible and SuperRare.
Purchasing NFTs, for example a piece of digital art, is quite straightforward in general. You only need a digital wallet that is compatible with the marketplace you are purchasing from. Fund your wallet with the supported currency options and you are pretty much ready to go ahead. Remember to check for specific instructions as they may differ from marketplace to marketplace.
Senegalese singer, Akon, has received the green light from local government to construct a futuristic city in Uganda, with its own Akoin currency powered by Stellar.
As per a report by NBS Television, Akon is planning to build a futuristic, crypto-based city in Senegal that is going to operate on Akoin. Akoin is a Stellar-based cryptocurrency. In the interview Akon did not state the cost of the project.
International artist, Akon has revealed plans to build a futuristic city dubbed Akon city in Uganda.
I know if I put it there, they’re going to find a way to afford it because it’s going to motivate them
Akon
Akon plans to build malls, schools, police departments, waste management services, hospitals, and other buildings for recreation and culture. This will be done to uplift communities and “bring opportunities” to the people that live within them.
But ultimately when you create an opportunity, people grow with that opportunity, people learn with that opportunity, people are motivated with that opportunity.
Akon
Stellar Blockchain For Economic Inclusion
According to a press release by AkoinOfficial they are aiming to improve Africa’s financial infrastructure and lower costs by removing intermediaries and increasing transparency through the use of blockchain technology. The partnership with Stellar Organization and their Stellar Consensus Protocol can enable Akoin to reach this goal.
The Stellar Development Foundation can support Akoin initiatives through a wide network of charities that accept Stellar Lumens as a form of donation. Also, coupled with its work with Saldo on providing solutions for migrant workers to send funds back to their families, and developments made with IBM Worldwire, to send any currency anywhere in the world using Stellar. These made Stellar a winning choice for Akoin.
Additionally, launching on Stellar means that Akoin can be traded on the Stellar Decentralized Exchange (DEX). By immediately giving users access to several pairs beyond Akoin and XLM, participants are given the ability to explore the cryptocurrency world in ways that the current financial infrastructure limits them.
Akoin wants to remove barriers keeping Africans from participating in the world economy by empowering them with blockchain technology and services.
Shopify – an online platform that allows users to quickly build their own eCommerce store – has recently posted on Twitter about DeFi, asking for suggestions on how he can help the DeFi movement be pushed to the forefront of economic transactions.
Suggestions Requested
Hey #DeFi Twitter👋. What are the commerce related opportunities that you are most excited about? What role do you want Shopify to play?
Although Shopify has been accepting crypto integrations since around 2014 – and an Aussie dev has been working independently on a Cardano integration, whose source code is freely available on GitHub, this tweet seems like a request for ideas to make DeFi a more official part of Shopify – which would most likely also come with support from the platform. This would in turn make investors more likely to consider supporting both Shopify and the DeFi ecosystem.
Several DeFi bigshots eagerly responded with suggestions, including Nansen’s Alex Svanevik’s suggestion to allow stablecoin payments and yields on cash stored in Shopify accounts.
ConsenSys’s Corbin Page also pointed to a project he and Jordan Lyall had made at the Ethereum Denver event a year back that would allow willing eShop owners to do just that.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke went on to say that his ethos coincides with decentralization – and that he’s been a fan of the concept even before crypto was a thing.
“Shopify is a product of pre-crypto times and spiritually aligned with decentralizing opportunity. Over a million businesses use us around the world. Usually, companies see a market like retail and say “cool, I’ll go win that market”. Shopify did “cool, let’s make sure everyone can participate”. So, in spirit (not by your definition) we are helping push against centralization. Makes sense?”
As one of the top companies in Canada – ranked in Forbes’s top 50 Canadian companies – the adoption of blockchain by Shopify could be a major landmark for the banking industry and DeFi investors alike.
Jay Clayton – a former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission – has given CNBC an intriguing soundbite regarding possible future regulation of Bitcoin, which he sees as a real possibility lurking just beyond the horizon.
Similar To Gold In The 30s
Just about a week ago, big-league investor Ray Dalio hinted that in the not-so-distant future, Bitcoin may actually be banned in the US for private purposes, similarly to the ban on private ownership of gold in the 1930s.
Now, the former chairman of the entity currently going toe to toe with Ripple in court has stated that he sees tighter regulations placed on Bitcoin – and maybe cryptocurrencies in general – as a thing that may be coming pretty soon. He also added that during his stint at the SEC, he did not seek to declare BTC a security – but also that it was already classed as a non-security before he took up the position.
"Where digital assets land at the end of the day–will be driven in part by regulation both domestic and international, and I expect that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly," says Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton on #bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/voWcgCFqOH
Currently, Mr Clayton is a crypto advisor for investment firm One River Asset Management.
Although Clayton has reasserted that he is not privy to any insider information regarding future regulation, his career has certainly provided him with enough insight to make an educated guess – and probably more.
“Where digital assets land at the end of the day […] will be driven in part by regulation—both domestic and international—and I expect, and I’m speaking as a citizen now, that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly whether it’s through how these are held at banks, security accounts, taxation and the like. We will see this regulatory environment evolve.”
The debate surrounding the amount of regulation cryptocurrencies should be subjected to is generally between those who want crypto to become increasingly more mainstream and the ones who want their own private realm of finance. Provided the restrictions speculated about become a reality, it remains to see which of the camps will be proven right – if either of them.
Russian-Australian blockchain entrepreneur Sergei Sergienko won his recent case at the Supreme Court against Oliver Roths – who was already convicted for fraud in the past. The dispute was over an ASX-listed financial entity – PLC Financial Solutions – which Sergienko had paid for, aiming to repurpose it for another one of his projects.
Transaction Failed
Sergei Sergienko – better known for his blockchain fintech firm Chronobank, among other projects he’s been involved in – took Roths to court back in 2018 when he negotiated a deal with Roths and his business associates – such as AXL Financial – worth $1.58 million to take over PLC Financial.
At least $530k of that money was used to purchase 6.33 million shares in PLC, with each share costing 5.5 cents on average.
However, a dispute appears to have taken place between Oliver Roths and Harry Fung – the chairman of the company in question.
Whatever the dispute was, Mr. Sergienko never received the shares he had paid for. He promptly took Roths to court – and the Supreme Court has ruled in his favour. The company was also unlisted by the ASX in 2020.
In addition, AXL Financial was obliged by the court to provide Mr Sergienko with a mortgage in deliverable form on a property in Sydney’s Killarney Heights.
Mr Roths previously spent 7 years in jail for fraud and perjury – and the deal was allegedly brokered by a mutual business associate, namely Ian “Rocky” Chalmers, who also did time for attempting to import 30 kilos of cocaine from Bolivia.
Bytom, a proof-of-work interactive blockchain, will integrate Chainlink as the oracle solution for all Bytom dApps. The integration of Chainlink will provide Bytom’s ecosystem with high-quality data and decentralised security.
As explained in Bytom’s official blog on Medium, Chainlink will enhance several applications on Bytom by providing price feed oracles. MOV, a Bytom-based dApp, will use Chainlink’s BTM/USD to secure BTM staked as collateral in their DeFi products.
We selected Chainlink as the preferred oracle provider to the Bytom blockchain because it has a proven track record of securing billions of dollars in value on mainnet for various other leading DeFi protocols.
From Bytom’s official blog
Tokenizing Real-world Assets
Chainlink’s Price Feeds have been praised by the DeFi space for allowing a fast and effective method to connect smart contracts to real-world market prices of assets.
These Price Feeds will bring several benefits to a broad range of smart contracts and DeFi products on Bytom’s ecosystem. The integration of Chainlink aligns with Bytom’s plans to tokenize real-world assets.
By integrating Chainlink oracles, Bytom developers can get premium off-chain data in a highly secure and reliable manner, including real-world asset prices.
James Zhu, CTO at Bytom
Chainlink has provided high-quality data and a solid oracle infrastructure to several DeFi applications. The team behind Bytom expects to continue to work with the oracle and expand the number of dApps supported by the blockchain.
Chainlink was also integrated into the mainnet of Origin Protocol, becoming the sole provider of real-time price data for OUSD.
