Category: NFTs

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Crypto Exchange Crypto News Fan Tokens NFTs Regulation Tokens

Thailand Bans Meme Coins, Fan Tokens and NFTs

New regulations for Thai crypto exchanges have been introduced that ban specific digital assets, including meme coins, fan coins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and tokens issued by exchanges.

According to a release from the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), new rules have been implemented that will prohibit crypto exchanges in Thailand to offer digital assets that have any of the following characteristics:

  • 1)  Meme token: having no clear objective or substance or underlying, and whose price [is] running on social media trends
  • 2)  Fan token: tokenised by the fame of influencers, such as the Juventus Fan Token (JUV)
  • 3)  Non-fungible token (NFT): a digital creation to declare ownership or grant of right in an object or specific right. It is unique and not interchangeable with digital tokens of the same category and type at the equal amount
  • 4)  Digital tokens which are utilised in a blockchain transaction and issued by digital asset exchanges or related persons

DOGE no exception

There has been no specific mention as to which coins will and won’t be allowed. Meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) are likely to be among those prohibited by the ban.

The final item on the list refers to tokens issued by exchanges. This is designed to make it hard for crypto dealers to create tokens they use to trade among themselves, or that their customers can use to make payments for exchanges’ services.

Thai Exchanges “Tokens Must Comply Or Be Delisted”

Additionally, the SEC has called for crypto exchanges to set requirements that token issuers need to meet with their whitepaper and relevant rules; if they can’t comply, the token will be delisted.

The SEC stated that exchanges need to comply with the guidelines prescribed in order to “enhance protection of digital asset traders’ interest”.

The exchanges are required to comply and revise their listing rules in accordance with the Notification within 30 days from the effective date thereof.

Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission press release

Individual Thai investors remain free to use any of the tokens prohibited by the SEC if they wish to, providing they can find someone, or some exchange, willing to handle their trades.

Last year we saw Australian exchanges be forced to delist privacy coins to prevent users performing anonymous transactions.

Crypto: Restrict or Prohibit?

Although Bitcoin is over 10 years old, many countries still do not have declared systems that either restrict, regulate or ban cryptocurrency. Several are still analysing ways to regulate these digital assets. Overall, Bitcoin and crypto in general remain in a legal grey area for much of the world.

This move from the Thailand SEC aims at regulation with the vision of protecting the money of Thai citizens. India had previously indicated it wanted to ban Bitcoin, but has since stated that India would rather regulate it. This is a positive move, considering the millions of dollars India has received in crypto for COVID-19 relief.

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Crypto Art Crypto News NFTs

World Record Price Paid For CryptoPunk at Auction: $11.8 Million

Sotheby’s sold a non-fungible token (NFT) artwork for a whopping US$11,754,000 this week, setting what the London auction house described as “a new world record [price] for a single CryptoPunk”.

Sotheby’s tweet, June 11

Titled “Covid Alien”, CryptoPunk 7523 is considered to be a rare NFT collectible, one of nine “alien punks” in a series and the only one with a COVID-appropriate mask.

The buyer is believed to be Israeli entrepreneur Shalom Meckenzie, the largest shareholder of online sportsbook and daily fantasy sports company DraftKings. Meckenzie has a net worth of US$1.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Once Free, Now Worth Millions

There are a total of 10,000 CryptoPunks, with no two exactly alike. When launched in 2017 by Larva Labs, original CryptoPunks were made available for free but several have changed hands recently for millions of dollars.

Two other “alien punks” sold for more than $7.5 million each, according to CryptoSlam, and seven more have gone for over a million each. In May, a collection of nine CryptoPunks sold for almost $17 million at Christie’s.

CryptoPunks are now among the most sought-after NFTs on the market … We’re excited to continue to explore new and interesting ways to present these cutting-edge works.

Michael Bouhanna, contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s

Anyone can view the artworks represented by NFTs, but only the buyer has official status as owner. Do NFTs have value? It is debatable whether NFTs actually have value, especially at the prices they are being sold for. All manner of digital objects – images, videos, music, text and tweets – can be turned into an NFT. American rock group Kings of Leon released their latest album in NFT earlier this year, allowing fans exclusive access to limited-edition vinyl or future concert seats.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Ethereum NFTs

Solana is Raising Up To $450 Million to Challenge Ethereum

Solana is challenging Ethereum’s lion’s share of the decentralised applications market after rumours emerged it will receive a funding injection of between US$300-450 million.

Solana is making real progress towards positioning itself as the preferred blockchain on which the next generation of dApps are built, powering DeFi, NFTs and gaming. We also saw recently that SOL was listed on Coinbase Pro, which also boosts its tradability.

While Ethereum has struggled to meet the booming demand in the market as increased adoption has resulted in painfully slow transaction wait times and soaring gas prices, the current congestion issues have opened up the space for new contenders.

Solana website

Cheaper, Faster and Highly Scalable

Solana’s open-source proof-of-stake blockchain aims to solve the traffic bottleneck on the Ethereum network. Solana’s advanced scalability offers dApps built on its blockchain lightning-fast performance at significantly cheaper costs to those built on Ethereum. Currently, Solana can handle more than 50,000 transactions per second, while Ethereum averages only 10-15 transactions per second. On its website, Solana boasts a low average fee of only $0.00025 per transaction.

The funding round for Solana was due to close in March but was extended due to strong interest. Solana has not released an official statement but, in a recent interview, executives did not deny it, commenting:

This information wasn’t shared by our team …We won’t be able to assist with any additional commentary around this as it’s not officially being released by Solana.

Solana spokesperson

According to Forbes, if the rumoured sum raised amounts to even $300 million, that would place it in the top six venture capital rounds in crypto and blockchain to date. It will be interesting to see if Solana comes under scrutiny from the SEC, who may deem the SOL tokens as securities and thus subject to regulatory challenges.

Learn more about the Solana project on the Solana Podcast.

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NFTs Sponsored Article Tokens

SafeGem Token – Bringing Innovation To the Jewelry Industry with NFT Digital Authentication Certificates

The existence of blockchain technology opens the door to a set of innovative solutions that never existed before. Blockchain technology is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as the block, of the public in several databases, known as the “chain” in a network connected through peer-to-peer nodes. Typically, this storage is referred to as a ‘digital ledger.’, meaning that once something is in the blockchain, cannot be removed or altered.

SafeGem’s vision is to conceive a brand-new use case exploiting the unique benefits the blockchain can offer by creating an exclusive platform that will authenticate precious stones by providing NFT digital certification for gems.

Innovations of the Contract

Besides its unique use-case, SafeGem welcomes state-of-the-art technology, by including never-seen-before qualities in the smart contract called tokenomics. SafeGem’s native token, $GEMS, is a high yield generating, hyper-deflationary protocol. 6% of every transaction completed on the platform is re-distributed to all users holding $GEMS in their wallets generating a considerable passive income, and 5% of each transaction is permanently erased from the blockchain. This type of burning technology differentiates itself from other smart contracts where the burning process will not remove the tokens from the blockchain but sends them to a separate wallet, called a dead wallet. The deflationary connotation given to the platform ensures a gradual decrease in supply and increase in value. The passive income combined with the continuous burn will benefit the long-term token holders the most.

Revolutionizing the Jewelry Industry

Currently, a precious stone is associated with a paper authenticity certificate. An NFT digital authentication certificate can never be copied, altered, or modified, and there will be no need to be deposited in a safe because it can never be lost. The blockchain is the one safe place where one can know, once something is there, it cannot be taken back. Being able to store the authentication certificates in the blockchain gives that peace of mind to the buyer that never existed before. Paper certificates are not safe enough and SafeGem holds the key to revolutionize this aspect.

SafeGem is working on developing a far-reaching partner channel throughout the world that produces and/or deals with jewelry and precious stones and is strategically acquiring partners that show interest in joining the innovative world of NFTs, a trend that has been blowing up the crypto world since their introduction in 2015. 

Product Ecosystem

SafeGem’s rich product ecosystem is built to reflect the project’s conception and core values. 

The SafeGem Mobile Application‘s purpose is two-fold. It will serve as a mobile wallet for cryptocurrencies, and will also contain a crypto academy educating people on the crypto world.

The NFT Partner Portal will enable partners to mint their own custom-made NFTs (outlined in the partnership contract) with a series of indicators specific to the authentication process of the precious stones they produce/market. This provides our partners and their customers with an easy to keep and highly-secure authentication process of their products.

The NFT charity marketplace will enable artists to upload various NFTs created for sale or bidding. Depending on the artist’s specifications when uploading an NFT, all or part of the income from the sale of such NFTS will be used to support families that have been negatively impacted by the blood diamond fields.

$GEMS – SafeGem’s Native Token

Together with the release of the NFT partner portal and marketplace, $GEMS will be transformed to the utility token of such platforms. Similar to other NFT launchpads, one will need to have $GEMS to be able to navigate (upload, vote, bid, purchase) on the NFT marketplace.

The Advisory Program

SafeGem is currently conducting an advisory program and working together with Jewelry Industry participants in perfecting their use case and business strategy that will fill the gap between bleeding edge technology and a $300B industry. Jewelry Industry participants can join their advisory program by sending them an email to [email protected].

Find out more about SafeGem at safegem.finance and safegemfinance.medium.com. 

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Australia Crypto News NFTs

Art World Launches Australia’s First Physical NFT Gallery Exhibition

The popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has surged in Australia, and traditional and digital artists are embracing the movement. 

Australia’s First NFT Gallery

Hobart’s Museum of Art & Philosophy (MAP) has launched Australia’s first NFT gallery in the Tasmanian capital, where digital and traditional artists from all around the world will display their creations later this month. 

The first exhibition is scheduled for the week of June 16-22, coinciding with Hobart’s annual Dark Mofo festival, and it will showcase the work of artists featured in the magazines New Philosopher and Womankind. Antonia Case, curator of MAP and editor of Womankind, says NFTs can bridge the gap between traditional and digital artists. 

NFTs enable digital artists to compete in the art world alongside fine artists in more traditional media.”

Antonia Case, MAP curator

Artists Making a Living out of NFTs

Case outlined the advantages of tokenising digital content and promoting it on decentralised marketplaces. For instance, NFTs have a certificate on its property — it can’t be destroyed, deleted or replicated. Besides, artists can make better revenues through royalties.

“In the past, digital artists whose work was emailed to publishers via JPEG, GIF, or TIF struggled to show ownership as digital files could be reproduced at will. If a JPEG of a digital work goes online, anyone can download it, which puts digital artists at a disadvantage compared to artists whose work is tangible, such as paintings on canvas, or sculpture.”

Antonia Case

NFTs are giving artists the opportunity to make a living with their work in a more free and decentralised way. An example is Lushxus, a Melbourne street artist famous for his controversial and unique paintings on walls across the city. As reported, Lushxus has earned over $500,000 by auctioning his work on marketplaces like Rarible. 

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Crypto News Ethereum Gaming NFTs

GameStop is Building an NFT Platform and $GME Token on Ethereum

GameStop – an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, has announced that they plan to build an NFT platform on Ethereum and introducing a new token called $GME.

What GameStock’s GME Token Could Potentially Do

GameStock’s NFT platform will use the GME token – built on Ethereum’s ERC721 standard protocol. An animated image on the GameStock webpage states: “Power to the players. Power to the creators. Power to the collectors.“.

The news of the GME token comes as the company moves from being essentially, just a brick-and-mortar store to cryptocurrency, digital collectables and e-commerce.

GameStop is Hiring

On their website they declare “We are building a team!” as they look to develop this new NFT platform and tokenomics.

“We welcome exceptional engineers (solidity, react, python), designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders. If you want to join our team, send your profile or something you’ve built to: [email protected].”

GameStop Stock Price

It’s not just in crypto that can go bananas. Earlier this year we saw the GameStop stock almost 100x, from $4 a share to $347 on January 27, 2021. After a coordinated pump from Reddit-ers the price fell as quickly as it rose, but is now slowly and steadily climbing upwards.

Robinhood Suspend $GME Trading

Robinhood is in hot water again after suspending the ability for retail investors to trade $GME, while still allowing hedge funds to continue trading; stating that their reasons for doing so was that the price volatility posed a risk for buyers and that they were “protecting customers”. Isn’t the name “Robinhood” supposed to stand for Taking from the rich and giving to the poor? Their actions prove that they were actually protecting the rich from getting poor. Their move to stop people from buying stock, while still allowing sellers to sell; was solely in the best interests of the company’s large investors- who held short positions.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev interview on CNN over GameStop freeze

The SEC has given a statement on the matter, saying the commission will continue working to “protect investors, to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and to facilitate capital formation.” The matter is under scrutiny from congress, with a tweet from Ocasio-Cortez saying:

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Binance Crypto News NFTs

Binance NFT Marketplace To Launch With Celebrity Creators: eStarPro, Michael Owen, Lewis Capaldi And Others

Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has unveiled the first batch of the “premium event” creators for its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace ahead of its June 24 launch. The list includes celebrities in diverse industries, including music, sports, and art.

The lineup of Binance NFT Content Creators

Following the announcement on Thursday, the first batch of creators includes Esports team eStarPro, two-time BRIT Award winner Lewis Capaldi, top professional football stars Michael Owen and Alphonso Davies, and visual artist.

The NFT collection by Lewis Capaldi will be made available through Bondly on Binance NFT, while Michael Owen’s NFT collection will be made available through TopGoal and eStarPro Esports club NFTs exclusively through NFKings Productions.

Binance wrote

Binance NFT Marketplace Launches Next Month

Binance NFT marketplace is coming at a time where interest in NFTs is skyrocketing. As Crypto News Australia reported in April, the exchange initially disclosed its intention to launch an NFT marketplace following the increase in interest and trading volume for NFT contents.

The marketplace is scheduled to launch on June 24 and will feature content from both celebrities and small value creators, according to Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance. At the time, the Head of Binance NFT, Helen Hai, informed that the Binance NFT marketplace would allow issuing and selling of NFT contents at minimal fees.

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

Helen Hai commented
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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs

Gary Vee Launched “VeeFriends” NFT Platform

Gary Vee NFT VeeFriends
Gary Vee NFT VeeFriends https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/how-to-buy-your-first-veefriends/

Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as Gary Vee, launched an NFT platform which he plans to use in order to offer fans something more than other NFT creators.

All artworks were created by Gary himself, and focus on human traits that Gary holds in high esteem.

NFTs Can Be More Than Just Art

Offering 10,225 NFTs and powered by Nameless, VeeFriends NFTs will be adding extra utility to the artwork sold on the platform. For instance, some NFTs will give you access to VeeCon in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Gary Vee is an entrepreneur who, during his career, has made many investments in companies such as Uber, Snapchat, Venmo and Coinbase. After the creation – and subsequent selling – of successful food industry companies Resy and Empathy Wines, he currently focuses on his company VaynerX.

Offering SEO and marketing services to various high-profile companies, VaynerX is a respected name in the industry – whose creator has become well-known for his hands-on approach to social interaction. With his new platform VeeFriends, he attempts to reshape the way NFTs are used in order to fit his vision.

I have always been about building businesses and creating value for my community – this NFT project allows me to do both. When I saw this macro human trend the only way for me to help others understand it was to be a part of it. I know that NFTs will be here for the rest of my life and I will be actively consulting, investing and advising in this space and I wanted to do it from actually being on the field – doing it myself. I have always believed in being a practitioner of the craft I believe in.

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO and Creator of VeeFriends [source]

The VeeFriends NFTs can be purchased using MetaMask, Portis, and WalletConnect compatible wallets.

Part of the income sourced from the sale of these NFTs will be going to various charities supported by Gary Vee.

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Crypto News NFTs

Fox to Create NFT Studio For Rick and Morty Creator’s New Show

Fox Entertainment has created a new company called Blockchain Creative Labs to create NFT’s – with the aim to help fans connect directly with their TV shows.

The American broadcaster’s NFT studio will launch with the premiere of new animated series Krapoplis – an animated comedy set in mythical ancient Greece from Emmy Award-winning creator Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty, Community).

First Ever Blockchain TV Show

It will be the first series ever to be curated entirely on the blockchain.

Fox’s adoption of NFTs is a great way to cash in on the show’s popularity, giving fans the opportunity to become collectors, through by buying NFTs based on characters from the show. It’s also about advertising:

“Just as we’re doing this for our own animation, we will also help your brands connect directly with fans and enthusiasts through NFTs. With and for you, Fox will help art meet brands meet technology.”

Charlie Collier, Fox CEO

NFT TV Characters

Fox could release “trading card” like NFTs based on their TV shows such as The Masked Singer and Rick and Morty. Fans can then collect these NFTs and buy, sell and trade them on open NFT marketplaces.

Example of Fox NFT – The Masked Singer

Look’s like the NFT craze is not over yet, as we recently saw Melbourne Street Artist Lushsux Has Made Over $500,000 From NFTs and Edward Snowden Sells NFT For $5.4 Million To Raise Funds For Freedom Of Press Foundation.

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Crypto.com How-to NFTs

How to Buy, Sell and Transfer NFTs on Crypto.com

This article explains how to buy, sell and transfer NFTs on the popular NFT Marketplace by Crypto.com.

Launched in 2021, the Crypto.com NFT platform is committed to delivering unique content from top celebrities, artists, athletes and sports. They are already working with some big names such as Aston Martin, Boy George, Snoop Dogg, Lionel Richie, Boss Logic and more, to develop enthralling content for this new medium.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique collectable crypto assets stored on the blockchain to verify ownership. The tokens can be used to represent any type of real world or virtual item including artwork, video games items and land/real estate, music, digital trading cards, real-world tokenized assets, video footage and many more.

Crypto.com NFT allows users to browse NFTs in fiat currency, make purchases by using their credit/debit card,Crypto.com Pay via the Crypto.com App, or a wallet that supports ERC20 tokens (ex. Metamask, WalletConnect).

How to buy an NFT

  1. Go to Crypto.com NFT Marketplace.
  2. Click “Sign Up” to create a free account.
  3. Choose a username and password and complete the sign up by verifying your email address.
  4. Browse the NFT marketplace items and choose an item which you want to buy and click “Select” then “Buy for $x”. If the item is on a bidding auction, you can place a bid (similar to eBay).
  5. Choose your payment option (Credit/Debit Card or Crypto.com Pay) and confirm your payment.
  6. Once the on-chain transaction has completed, the item will appear in your account in “Collectables” tab. Click “My NFTs” to see it.

How to sell an NFT

  1. Login to your Crypto.com NFT Marketplace account.
  2. Click “My NFTs” and go to the “Collectables” tab.
  3. Select the item you wish to sell and click “Sell”.
  4. Select one of the 2 pricing models:

Fixed price model

  1. The seller sets a fixed price for the item.
  2. The buyer purchases the item at its fixed price.

Auction model

  1. The seller puts an item up for auction by inputting the end date and minimum bidding amount.
  2. The buyer places a bid, which has to be higher than the previous highest bid by 5% or $10, whichever is higher. Bids can only be made in cryptocurrency through Crypto.com Pay (credit/debit cards not supported currently) and full payment is required upfront. If a bidder gets outbid, the amount will be refunded immediately in the currency the purchase was made through Crypto.com Pay. The highest bidder cannot cancel his/her bid.
  3. Sellers can choose to end the auction earlier by a) cancelling the auction, and the current top bidder gets a refund or b) terminating the auction early, and the current top bidder wins the bid**. When the auction ends, the current top bidder wins the bid. If it ends without any bids, the item goes back to “Not for sale” status.

How to transfer an NFT

The transfer feature is coming soon.

Available Payment Methods

The Crypto.com Marketplace currently supports the following payment methods:

  • Pay with Credit/Debit Card
  • Pay with Crypto (BTC, ETH, DOGE using Crypto.com pay)
  • Pay using Crypto.com App
  • Pay using Metamask Brave Browser Wallet

Further Help

For further help check out the Crypto.com NFT support page or watch the video below.