Category: Crypto News

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Australia Binance Blockchain BNB Crypto News Play to Earn Solana Tokens

Move-To-Earn Token STEPN Has Soared 217x in 2022  

Active types can now get paid to exercise and breathe in the fresh outdoor air with new Australian fitness app STEPN – an NFT-based play-to-move Web3 crypto “game” powered by the Solana blockchain.

Following in the footsteps of Genopets – the first move-to-earn NFT crypto game developed on Solana – STEPN is basically a mash-up of Apple’s step-counting Health app with Axie Infinity-style play-to-earn (P2E) tokenomics.

With over half a million downloads so far on Android alone, STEPN has taken off and so has its governance token, $GMT.

STEPN’s Green Metaverse Token (GMT) has sprinted upwards, increasing five-fold in value over the past month, from US$0.65 to an all-time high of US$3.79. $GMT is the token required for making upgrades to the App’s in-game NFT virtual sneakers. GMT’s market cap is now over US$2 billion and the token is currently ranked #60.


STEPN price chart (GMT). Source: CoinGecko.com

The most recent 26 percent spike came after STEPN announced a partnership with Japanese sports apparel giant Asics on April 18 via Twitter, launching a sneaker sale on the Binance NFT marketplace. Selected subscribers will be able to purchase the first STEPN sneakers on the BNB Chain version of the game:

Earn Crypto Exercising Outside

Users can earn crypto by walking or running with the STEPN App. The app tracks movement via your phone’s GPS and rewards are paid in STEPN’s game token: Green Satoshi Token (GST), which can be traded for USD Coin (USDC) or Solana (SOL).

Players begin by choosing a fitness level that suits their goals, which also determines how many tokens can be earned using the app. The four tiers are divided by different types of virtual sneakers: walker, jogger, runner or trainer. STEPN sneaker NFTs can be found and purchased from the in-app marketplace. Check the stepn.com website for full instructions on how to play.

Since the game has taken off, the price to get started playing has elevated accordingly. Currently the floor price for a pair of sneakers is 13.67 SOL (US$1,400+). Participants in the upcoming STEPN Shoebox sale on Binance will be offered mystery boxes containing a pair of NFT Sneakers of random quality and type, for 0.5 BNB (US$210).

STEPN plans to implement a sneaker-rental feature, coming soon to combat the high cost to entry.

How to Start STEPN

  1. Download the app from the App store (available for Android and Apple) and log in with your email address and verification code.
  2. Get verified. Join the official Discord and Telegram channels and get your activation code to enter the app on your phone. Note: due to popular demand, the development team is only releasing 1000 activation codes per day via Discord and 1000 per day via Telegram. You have to be quick, as codes refresh at midnight AEDT. You can also follow @Stepnofficial on Twitter for more activation code releases.
  3. Link your Solana wallet in the STEPN app and purchase your first pair of virtual sneakers from the STEPN marketplace. Sneakers can be customised and enhanced to increase token rewards.

STEPN buzz continues to gain traction amid rumours of further upcoming partnership announcements with other big shoe brands, including Nike and Adidas. Since the STEPN token sale in March, the app is off to a flying start, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Whether the move-to-earn model can prove sustainable over time will be the real test, but for now STEPN is showing no signs of slowing down.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law DeFi Uniswap

Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against Uniswap for ‘Promoting Scam Coins’

US-based decentralised exchange (DEX) Uniswap has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges the “sale of unregistered securities”.

The plaintiff in this case is Nessa Risley, a North Carolina resident who filed the class-action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. Risley claims to have purchased roughly US$10,000 worth of “fraudulent” ERC-20 tokens via Uniswap between May and June of 2021.

The lawsuit names Hayden Adams, Uniswap’s founder, as defendant along with his company Universal Navigation Inc (formerly Uniswap LLC). Co-defendants are venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Union Square, Ventures and Paradigm.

Guidance Lacking in Risk Assessment

The lawsuit states that having received the necessary disclosures, the plaintiff and other investors would have the necessary guidance to assess the risks of their investments.

Had the tokens been registered as required, the Plaintiff and other investors would have received necessary and meaningful disclosures that would have enabled them to reliably assess the representations being made by the Issuers and the riskiness of their investments. Without these disclosures, they were left to fend for themselves.

Risley v Uniswap lawsuit

Decentralised exchanges, unlike their centralised counterparts, don’t require AML (anti-money laundering) or KYC (Know Your Customer) checks to list tokens on their platforms. Risley claims that Uniswap failed to conduct proper identity checks before listing the tokens on its platform:

Not the First, Nor the Last

Lawsuits against crypto companies are not uncommon. A month ago, Crypto News Australia reported how Coinbase had been dragged into a class-action lawsuit which, among other things, claims that it sold 79 different digital assets that constituted unregistered securities.

Controversial tokens can also place exchanges on hot water. In November 2021, an Australian law firm filed an A$100 million class-action suit against the issuers of Qoin, promoted by the backers of 30-year-old trading exchange Bartercard.

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Crypto News Monero Privacy

Monero (XMR) Rallies Amid Plans of Hard Fork in July

Privacy-focused protocol Monero is set to undergo a hard fork in July which would improve network security and fee changes, according to an announcement on GitHub. A testnet is set to be deployed next month.

Monero says the proposed hard fork would see version 15 of the privacy-focused coin launched with several upgrades for improved security. Since the announcement, its native coin XMR has rallied 11 percent. No separate coin will be issued after the hard fork at a block height of 2,668,888 expected in July. (Hard forks refer to a change to a blockchain protocol that would render the one previous to it invalid.)

The Monero protocol masks the wallet addresses of users, making it difficult to trace and track transaction behaviour.

What Happens After V15?

The hard fork set for July will usher in software iteration V15, with two previous versions going live in 2020 that introduced marginal upgrades. V15 will see an increase in Monero’s ring size from 11 to 16, along with fixes to its multi-signature mechanism.

Multisignature refers to a transaction that needs multiple signatures before it can be submitted to the network and executed, with ring size referring to the total number of signers in a ring signature. A ring signature is a form of digital signature in which a group of possible signers is merged to produce a single and distinctive signature that can authorise a transaction.

V15 will also introduce a “bulletproof+”, an upgrade to the bulletproof technology deployed on Monero in 2018 that ensures the information stored within a confidential transaction does not contain any false data.

News of the hard fork is welcome, considering the trouble Monero faced earlier in the year. The protocol’s biggest mining pool, MineXMR, approached 51 percent of the hashrate, which raised some serious alarms.

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Australia Blockchain Crypto News The Sandbox

Sandbox Creator Buys a Major Stake in Australian Digital Agency ‘Be Media’

Australian digital marketing agency ‘Be Media’ has sold a significant stake in the company to Animoca Brands, the crypto investment giant behind the Sandbox. Be Media is said to be already filling positions for blockchain-based development:

Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands now has a particularly large stake in the Perth-based digital marketing agency. This comes as the company pivots towards crypto after prioritising the provision of Web2 companies for its digital strategies.

Be Media Stake Part of Animoca Expansion Plan

Animoca appears to have purchased its stake as part of its incursion into Australia with aspirations of inducting more companies into Web3. Although Be Media is not strictly crypto-related, the agency makes a good starting point for Animoca’s expansion plan. Be Media has already begun “aggressive hiring” for project management and blockchain-based development positions.

Be Media founder and CEO Jordan Fogarty will retain his current role and a minor stake in the company. Fogarty is reportedly enthusiastic about the pairing and “honoured” to be a part of the introduction of Web3 to local companies.

High Performing Sales

The Sandbox’s token SAND has performed well since its release, hitting an all-time high in November 2021. Animoca announced its intention to release Metaverse Alpha the following month, which had a knock-on effect on token sales. The play-to-earn game hosted the event for just a month.

More recently, NFT gaming platform Balthazar raised US$3 million through an Animoca Brands token sale. The sale valued the DAO at US$30 million and elevated Balthazar to its status as one of the leading platforms in the metaverse.

Animoca has also partnered with the Australian Football League to mint its new NFT collection.

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Australia Crypto News Metaverse NFTs Sports

Fans Push Back as AFL Launches NFT Marketplace

In the same week that the Australian Football League (AFL) cracked down on players dissenting the on-field decisions of umpires, fans of the indigenous code have registered their own disapproval of the league’s recent move into the NFT space.

Earlier this month, the AFL announced a five-year partnership with Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands to bring both the men’s and women’s leagues into the metaverse. In a unique revenue-distribution deal, players stand to receive 20 percent of the spoils from the sale of NFTs associated with the sport, Australia’s most popular football code in terms of supporter numbers.

NFT Fatigue Seeps into Sports

Star English Premier League team Liverpool FC launched its own NFT collection earlier this month. It was a spectacular failure, with only 6 percent of the offering sold.

Providing further evidence of growing fatigue within the NFT space, AFL supporters have greeted news of the code’s upcoming NFT mint with indifference and derision, if not outright hostility:

A Twitter war of sorts has been declared, with some punters going as far as to express their “embarrassment” on behalf of the AFL’s dalliance with NFTs:

One disgruntled punter accused the “suits” within the AFL of ruining the code:

Too Much, Too Soon?

Perhaps the AFL’s deeper engagement with crypto is happening all too quickly for some supporters of the code. In January this year, the league secured a major sponsorship deal with Crypto.com, worth A$25 million over five years. It’s one of the biggest sponsorships of any kind in Australian sport, eclipsing the AFL’s partnership with major sponsor Toyota, worth A$18.5 million.

Several AFL clubs – including the Sydney Swans, Western Bulldogs and reigning premier the Melbourne Demons – now have direct sponsorship deals involving cryptocurrency companies other than Crypto.com. Late last year, Australian digital assets exchange Swyftx entered a major two-year partnership with the Brisbane Lions.

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Avalanche Crypto News Elrond Market Analysis THORChain Trading

Top 3 Coins to Watch Today: AVAX, EGLD, RUNE – April 21 Trading Analysis

Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.

1. Avalanche (AVAX)

Avalanche AVAX is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time-to-finality, and has the most validators securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol. Avalanche is blazingly fast, low-cost, and green. Any smart contract-enabled application can outperform its competition on Avalanche. AVAX is the native token of Avalanche. It is a hard-capped, scarce asset that is used to pay for fees, secure the platform through staking, and provide a basic unit of account between the multiple subnets created on Avalanche.

AVAX Price Analysis

At the time of writing, AVAX is ranked the 10th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$78.44. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

AVAX‘s 60% gains during Q1 ended with an almost 25% retracement as the rest of the altcoin market dropped in early April. Bulls stepped in near the 50.8% retracement of Q2’s move, creating a consolidation that ended with last week’s bullish impulse to resistance near $97.35.

With the 9, 18 and 40 EMAs stacked bullish and a bullish higher-timeframe trend, it’s reasonable to anticipate retracement to possible support before further bullish expansion. 

Near the 40 EMA, a broad zone from $73.15 to $68.45 could see interest from bulls before further expansion. If this level fails, bears might capitalise on any sharp moves down in Bitcoin, aiming for possible support near the 65% retracement, at $64.70, and potentially lower to a higher-timeframe support zone between $60.42 and $57.80.

If the higher-timeframe bullish trend resumes and the current resistance near $99.35 breaks, the wicks near $120.84 and the new monthly highs might see profit-taking.

2. Elrond (EGLD)

Elrond EGLD is a blockchain protocol that seeks to offer extremely fast transaction speeds by using sharding. The project describes itself as a technology ecosystem for the new internet, which includes fintech, decentralised finance, and the Internet of Things. Its smart contracts execution platform is reportedly capable of 15,000 transactions per second, six-second latency, and a $0.001 transaction cost. The blockchain has a native token known as eGold, or EGLD, that is used for paying network fees, staking, and rewarding validators.

EGLD Price Analysis

At the time of writing, EGLD is ranked the 39th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$162.73. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

EGLD‘s 60% rally during March reversed with many other coins in April, retracing nearly 35%.

Just above the current price and near the April weekly open, $190.68 could provide resistance before a downward move. This level has confluence with the 18 EMA.

Bears might consider $169.94 as a higher probability resistance to hunt shorts for a longer swing downward. However, higher-timeframe charts suggest that the price could reach $153.45 at the top of an inefficiently traded area before any future bearish breakdowns.

Resistance might also rest near $210.45, above the 2022 yearly open. However, the price is less likely to reach this level unless the overall market starts a bullish swing.

The price is finding support between $150.44 and $143.586. This zone might continue to hold, while overlapping higher-timeframe levels from $138.44 to $135.81 could provide the most substantial support inside this area. 

3. THORChain (RUNE)

ThorChain RUNE is a decentralised liquidity protocol that allows users to easily exchange cryptocurrency assets across a range of networks without losing full custody of their assets in the process. The native utility token of the THORChain platform is RUNE. This is used as the base currency in the THORChain ecosystem, and is also used for platform governance and security as part of THORChain’s Sybil resistance mechanisms – since THORChain nodes must commit a minimum of 1 million RUNE to participate in its rotating consensus process.

RUNE Price Analysis

At the time of writing, RUNE is ranked the 44th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$9.14. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

RUNE abruptly rallied after retracing nearly 83% from its November highs, climbing 128% from its late February low.

Bulls are currently taking profits in a contested area between $9.28 and $9.13. This area saw inefficient trading on higher timeframes. It could serve as support if the price trades through its high end and retests it – or as resistance if the price breaks back below.

The closest support rests just below, near $8.31. The old high at this level could support a rally into resistance near $9.52.

A move through the closest resistance might target the consolidation midpoint near $10.40, near the 27% extension of the current rally. If this level breaks, bulls might target an inefficient area near $12.38 and beyond.

If the price rejects from this level and breaks the closest support, it could find support near the midpoint of the current range and 2022 yearly open, near $7.98. The price might also find support slightly below near the 61.8% retracement level, around $7.28.

Learn How to Trade Live!

Join Dave and The Crypto Den Crew and they’ll show you live on a webinar how to take your crypto trading to the next level.

Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?

These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Crypto News ETFs

Australia’s First Bitcoin ETF Gets Green Light for Imminent Launch

According to a report by the Australian Financial Review, the long-awaited Australian bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) has been given the go-ahead by regulators and may be open for trading within a week on the Cboe equities trading venue:

Bitcoin ETF Approved … Finally

As reported by Crypto News Australia last week, one of the major obstacles holding up approval of a local spot-based bitcoin ETF was the high margin requirements required of ETF providers – 42 percent against each trade.

ASX Clear, Australia’s equity clearing house, has now revealed that of the 35 applicants, only four were willing to stump up the tough margin requirements needed to cover the settlement risks of a bitcoin ETF.

We are now at our minimum number of clearing participants and that means we are good to go.

Hamish Treleaven, ASX chief risk officer

ASX chief risk officer Hamish Treleaven is expected to issue a notice today giving brokers, clearers, market makers and investors sufficient time to digest the news. Estimates vary, but some speculate that over A$1 billion could flow into Australia’s first bitcoin ETF – the Cosmos Asset Management bitcoin ETF (CBTC) – which may begin trading as soon as April 27.

Just the Beginning

Rather than having local bitcoin custodial services, CBTC has opted for the Winklevoss-powered exchange, Gemini:

Furthermore, as one half of the Winklevoss twins notes, the product is essentially a “fund of funds” as it invests in Canada’s Purpose Bitcoin ETF:

Expect the Floodgates to Open

Risk-averse regulators have treaded cautiously to date as they wade into uncharted territory, perhaps explaining why it has taken upwards of two years for a bitcoin ETF to be approved. Now that the mould has been broken, expect a slew of competitors to follow suit, each with its own custody and fee structure.

Although unconfirmed, it’s been reported that other fund managers are already working on a bitcoin ETF, including ETF Securities, VanEck Australia, BetaShares and Monochrome Asset Management.

While individuals in search of financial self-sovereignty may scoff at the notion of a bitcoin ETF – not your keys, not your coins – for many institutional investors, it is precisely the investor product (and green light) they were looking for:

The approval of the CBTC is a vote of confidence in the asset. Investment professionals wanting exposure will likely view the approval as reducing their career risk.

CBTC opens the door to Australian asset managers and superannuation funds that have sat on the sidelines pending a local regulatory stamp of approval. Now they’ve got it, it will be fascinating to see whether the uptake is as strong as predicted.

Categories
Crypto News Metaverse NFTs

Hyundai Enters NFT Ecosystem with its Community-Based ‘Metamobility Universe’

Leading Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company has released a short film announcing its NFT Universe concept. Dubbed ‘Metamobility Universe‘, it will be followed by a collection of 30 NFTs whose profits will be used to fund the project.

Hyundai has partnered with NFT brand Meta Kongz to launch the limited-edition collectibles, with a release date set for April 30:

As per a blog post, the carmaker will be focusing heavily on the NFT community, launching an official website and channels on Discord and Twitter:

The Hyundai NFT universe will extend the Hyundai brand experience, especially with MZ generation, in a completely new way, further reinforcing our commitment to innovation in both the real world and in the metaverse. We are extremely excited to introduce ‘Metamobility’ through our own NFTs and start this journey with Meta Kongz.

Thomas Schemera, global chief marketing officer, Hyundai

Hyundai Drives into the Metaverse

Other car manufacturers have entered the NFT space with only limited collections. But Hyundai is taking a step further by becoming the first (for now) to launch a community-based NFT collection for its own metaverse.

Two months ago, German prestige carmaker Mercedes-Benz partnered with Art2People to launch a digital collection of its signature car, the G-Class:

Another renowned German marque, Audi, was ahead of most car manufacturers when it launched a token collection last August in collaboration with decentralised protocol xNFT.

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Crypto News Decred Ethereum Zcash

Decred (DCR) Token Soars 45% in a Day Following Imminent Shift to Proof-of-Stake

Under-the-radar altcoin Decred (DCR) has defied the odds by soaring 45 percent in less than a day as the overall crypto market saw only red.

As most digital assets have undergone downward price action, DCR has confounded market conditions. The upsurge in price is mostly due to the protocol moving from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

When blocks are mined on the DCR, a portion of the fees goes to PoW miners while the stake voters also get a cut. A third, smaller portion goes to a Project Treasury fund, which is used to develop the protocol. But recently the community voted to change its current model.

PoS to Weed Out Malicious Actors

The community voted on a proposal to reduce the PoW mining rewards from 60 percent down to 10 percent in order to defend against “malicious miners” with a history of price manipulation. The community also agreed to raise the rewards for Decred’s PoS validators from 30 percent to 80 percent, suggesting that consensus wants to move away from PoW to PoS.

This simply means that Decred users would be incentivised for locking up their DCR for a certain amount of time, thereby reducing their active supply from the market, which could bolster the price:

Jake Yocom-Piatt, project lead for Decred, tweeted the motivation behind the update:

A hidden risk we found with Decred’s PoW is that a malicious mining cartel can, instead of selling at market prices, accumulate a vast inventory of coins, which can then be wielded as a weapon against positive price action. While this risk has been exposed specifically with Decred, a similar strategy has likely been applied for every notable majority-PoW coin. People who care about PoW and its fairness should be aware of this hidden risk.

Jake Yocom-Piatt, project lead, Decred

Many Protocols Move to PoS

Protocols that have announced a move to a PoS consensus have subsequently surged in value. Last year, Zcash soared 30 percent when it announced its move to PoS. Ethereum also recently flagged a move to PoS but its so-called ‘Merge’ has been delayed until Q3 of 2022.

Categories
Crypto News Ethereum

Ethereum Foundation Treasury Discloses $1.6 Billion in Assets, 80% in ETH

In its first annual financial report, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has declared that its treasury holds US$1.3 billion in ETH, US$11 million in other cryptocurrencies and US$300 million in non-crypto investments.

As of March 31, 2022, Ethereum constituted 80 percent of the foundation’s holdings, amounting to nearly 0.3 percent of the entire ETH supply.

EF Treasury holdings as at March 31, 2022. Source: ethereumworldnews.com

More Resource Allocations to Third Parties

According to EF director Aya Mayaguchi, the foundation has been supporting third-party allocators as the network matures. “[We believe] that more decentralised funding is important for the future of the Ethereum ecosystem,” she wrote in the report. “We continuously try to allocate resources to third parties that we believe can make better decisions than us within certain domains.”

In announcing the EF report, Miyaguchi tweeted that she would provide more details on the foundation’s vision and principles at an upcoming Devconnect event in Amsterdam:

Layer One R&D Accounts for Almost Half of EF Spending

Last year the foundation spent a total of US$48 million, with layer-one research and development accounting for nearly half that figure (US$21.8 million), including the Ethereum mainnet upgrade and external grants for network stress testing.

The remaining expenditure broke down as follows:

  • Community development accounted for US$9.7 million;
  • developer platform, US$5.9 million;
  • internal operations and support, US$5.1 million; and
  • applied zero-knowledge (ZK) research and development, US$3.6 million.

The proposed Ethereum ‘Merge’, set to transition the network to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model, has been officially delayed until Q3 of 2022.