The price of ICP coin, the native cryptocurrency of the Internet Computer blockchain, has been nosediving since reaching an all-time high of over US$700 in the past month.
Some ICP holders still believe in the tech, and they are ready to HODL regardless of claims that the development team might have caused it to drop over 95 percent from ATH by dumping a huge amount of the coin.
ICP Coin Hits All-Time Low of US$20.08
A day after the ICP coin launched in May, it spiked to as high as US$737, according to CoinMarketCap. This momentum couldn’t last as ICP began declining soon after the ATH price, reaching an all-time low of US$20.08 per coin.
The Internet Computer was designed by the Dfinity Foundation to serve as a decentralised layer of web infrastructure. The downtrend of ICP coins was quite disappointing, given that the network had an intriguing tech proposition and it attracted major VC companies.
Is Dfinity Behind ICP Coin Crash?
Many people have relayed several claims concerning the declining value of ICP coins. For the most part, the development team was blamed for reportedly dumping as much as 90 million ICP coins since its inception – nearly two months ago.
I have a few friends who were in the Dfinity presale.
They put in 5-6 figures in 2017/2018 and were looking at life changing gains on ICP when it came out a few months ago.
They were up 7-8 figures on paper.
They were unable to sell, but the foundation made billions.
— Brad Mills ✍️🔑 #FreeRoss (@bradmillscan) June 27, 2021
Meanwhile, some prefer not to sell their holdings but accumulate more via dollar-cost averaging. This is mostly to do with the proposed tech of the Internet Computer.
1) The DEVs dumped so we could accumulate at lower prices. 2) The most important inventions of the modern age are: 1- The Computer & 2- The Internet… Internet Computer combines the two.
The head of research at Synergia Capital, Denis Vinokourov, thinks the Internet Computer still has a long way to go in proving its tech.
As great as the tech is on paper, it is, to a large extent, unproven. Also, there is little evidence of teams actively building on the Internet Computer.
Denis Vinokourov, Synergia Capital
At the time of writing, the ICP coin was trading at $43.73.
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.
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.
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].
English Premier League leaders Manchester City officially announced partnership with Socios Fan Token App on Friday 19th March.
The Manchester City digital fan token is called $CITY and will allow supporters around the world access to VIP rewards, club promotions, games as well as augmented reality-enabled features.
The announcement follows other big soccer club names that have already joined such as Juventus ($JUV), Paris-saint Germain ($PSG) and Barcelona ($BAR).
The Socios App is powered by the Chiliz Token (CHZ) which has already mooned 7,000% in the past 3 months.
We are delighted to announce a multi-year global partnership with @socios to become the club’s official Fan Token partner.
“We are excited to launch the new Manchester City Fan Token, which will provide another opportunity for our fans all over the world to get even closer to the Club they love. Fans will have access to fantastic competitions and VIP experiences and be able to vote on Club initiatives.
Manchester City Blog Announcement
The Manchester City Fan Token is available to purchase via the Socios.com app. Registered Cityzens will receive an offer to claim their free token through a voucher code in due course.
Chiliz’s native token CHZ saw over 7,000 percent increase over the past 3 months, going from just US $0.012 to $0.87 between 13th December to 13th March 2021. It’s currently sitting at around $0.66.
The Chiliz token exchange platform powers the Sports Fan Tokens, which are digital assets that allow users to participate and vote in club polls, as well as provide access to VIP rewards, exclusive club and sponsor promotions.
This new sports token ecosystem could be a win-win for fans and clubs alike. With fans disconnected physically from their fandom, and this helps bridge that gap and engage more with their favourite sports. And for the clubs it’s essentially a new revenue stream.
Chiliz Token Exchange
Some facts:
Chiliz runs its own exchange. You can see the live token transactions on its blockchain explorer.
The Chiliz token ($CHZ) is both an ERC-20 utility token on the Ethereum blockchain and a BEP-2 token on Binance Chain.
There are 8,888,888,888 $CHZ (8.8 Billion) tokens in total supply, with 5.5 Billion in circulation.
Binance has invested directly into the Chiliz project. This might explain why the sports club tokens such as PSG/BAR got listed on Binance so quickly.
The Chiliz blockchain relies on a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) side chain consensus mechanism for security (as opposed to PoW or PoS).
Socios App
Promoted as “the worlds first fan influence platform”, the Socios App is where you can buy the Official tokens of sports clubs that have partnered with them.
Socios Soccer Partnerships
The Socios app has some big names as Partners including the following Football (Soccer) teams.
It looks like a pretty amazing advertising opportunity for them, leveraging their brand, banners and TV coverage at sports events to promote their token.
Formula 1 – no official announcements yet, but they have started to pre-sell tokens via Locker Rooms. motorsport.com interview
Fan Token Offering Pre-Sale Partner Tokens via “Locker Rooms”
You can pre-buy your fan tokens through the Fan Token Offerings, although the term “locker rooms” might be a bit misleading to fans thinking they are actually getting to be in the locker room of their favourite sports people. That’s not the case. Instead, it’s basically a token pre-sale, opened before they have even sealed the deal with the sports clubs.
How the pre-sale works:
You buy the CHZ token and they lock it up for 120 days (giving you a 10% yield).
Should the potential partner club decide to launch on Socios.com, Locker One Tokens are transformed into official Fan Tokens at a 1:1 ratio.
Should the potential partner decide against launching a Fan Token, users who have purchased Locker One Tokens will receive a full refund of the $CHZ pledged to their Socios.com account once the 120 day window has elapsed or the Locker closes.
This provides the platform an indication of the demand for a sport/club while reserving the CHZ token (which in turn helps price support levels). It might also incentivise the company getting the deal over the line if they can demonstrate enough demand on the pre-sale of the potential Partner token.
$50 Million Investment to Expand Into the USA
“We head to the U.S. with a proven track record in generating millions of dollars of revenue for some of Europe’s biggest sporting organisations. In 2020, we shared more than $30 million with our partners, but this year we’re targeting a minimum of $60 million,” said Chiliz CEO Alexandre Dreyfus to Reuters.
There are rumours that the purpose of this investment is to venture into USA to form a partnership with the NFL. But that is yet to be seen.
Socios VISA Card
There are plans for Socios to launch a VISA card. You can apply for the waiting list. Perks include cashback in CHZ token and extra rewards when shopping at various sport shops.
Conclusions
The CHZ token has seen incredible gains over the past few months, but buying when FOMO peaks and price is at an all-time high usually doesn’t look like the best idea.
Personally, I think the token economy is coming, and this is just the start of it. At this pace, it seems pretty much everything will be tokenised soon.
Binance Australia will now allow Aussies to trade three new bullish tokens in its platform: XLM, AVA, and ATOM. Trading will go live on March 10, at 10:00 Sydney time.
These three coins experienced considerable growth in the crypto market since January, up to 10-15% in price, and 24h trading volumes reaching levels of 80%.
Aussies Looking to Hold $AVA
The community seemed excited to trade these three tokens, especially AVA, the native asset of Binance-backed Travala, one of the first blockchain-based travel agencies. The company implemented this blockchain technology along with crypto-payments in 2017.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak started, the travel industry suffered approximately 42% (nearly $500 billion) in losses, according to the U.S. Travel Association. But Travala has provided a blockchain infrastructure and support for crypto-payments for a while, helping the company avoid the effects of the pandemic and attracting crypto enthusiasts.
It’s worth noting that Travala recently allowed support for payments in LINK (Chainlink’s token).
Likewise, XLM, the native token of the open-source DeFi protocol Stellar, also experienced positive growth in January this year. And 24h trading volumes nearly reaching 30%.
On the other hand, ATOM, the native asset from the interoperable blockchain ecosystem Cosmos Network, has also seen positive community support. The platform reached January this year with a market cap of over $4,500,000, and trading volumes are currently 30% up in the last 24 hours.
The American rock band Kings of Leon has announced their next album “When You See Yourself” will be NFT-based, with tokenized tickets. This makes them the first rock band to release an NFTs album with underlying blockchain technology.
The album, besides launching on traditional music platforms like Spotify, will be released on YellowHeart, a blockchain-based ticketing platform.
The group is also offering fans unique products by launching “NFT Yourself”, a series of special items integrated into the album, including:
Tokenized tickets, which the band calls “Golden Tickets” for the chance to win a front-row seat for life, during all of the band’s tours.
Exclusive audiovisual materials.
Live show perks.
NFTs Being Sold for Thousands of Dollars
The band isn’t the only one rushing in to become part of the massive sales of the NFTs industry —a few days ago, the musician 3LAU recently sold his NFT album for US$11 million using the Ethereum blockchain.
It might not be a surprise that more artists are jumping in on the digital art NFTs trend, as they become a valuable representation of unique items, such as crypto-collectible, or crypto gems, which are computer-made representations of gems being sold in online DeFi marketplaces.
NFTs Industry Booming with Big Profits
These representations are currently being sold for thousands of dollars on several markets. Even a Canadian investor paid $20,000 for CryptoPunks, computer-made avatars.
The NFTs industry made over US$100 Million alone last month, and it is growing at a fast speed as collectors are paying large sums of money for crypto-collectibles and other kinds of unique items.
Digital art NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are being sold for thousands of dollars on online marketplaces such as Rarible. And considering some of them are computer generated at low to no cost – why are they selling at such high prices?
An example of NFTs for sale are these Crypto Gems – which are photo realistic unique creations of digital gems handcrafted by Lux Expression.
The price is shown in WETH – essentially a wrapped Ethereum token which has the same price of ETH, but it can be used on DeFi much more easily.
Mozambique Ruby NFT latest bid $1,205
What are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a special type of cryptographic token which represents something unique; non-fungible tokens are thus not mutually interchangeable. This is in contrast to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and many network or utility tokens that are fungible in nature. Non-fungible tokens are used to create verifiable digital scarcity, as well as digital ownership, and the possibility of asset interoperability across multiple platforms. NFTs are used in several specific applications that require unique digital items like crypto art, digital collectibles, and online gaming.
According to billionaire investor Mark Cuban, the value of an NFT is determined by its community and the size of the artist’s following. Cuban also estimates that NFT’s adoption will grow to become a $100b marketplace used for music, photography, sports, moments, or even memes.
People seem to be buying NFTs for a variety of reasons, like:
“I like collecting things”
“It’s fun”
“I like the artist”
“I like the art itself and want to own it”
“I want to put the art in my virtual home in the future”
“There is a limited amount of them and I want to resell for a higher price and make a profit”
Celebrities Promoting NFTs
There are many celebrities promoting NFTs such as Gary Vaynerchuck and Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda. From Gary’s perspective, NFTs will be huge, not really as investments but more as collectables.
An example of auto generated NFTs are these 10,000 unique collectible avatar characters called CryptoPunks, with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum blockchain.
At the time of this writing, some of them are selling for even $55,000 USD, arguably an insane amount of money to pay for an auto-generated image.
The source code that generates these images is on GitHub and you can see them all in the image below.
DeFi tokens and altcoins have accumulated considerable gains of up to 30 % in price in the last few days. While Bitcoin still struggles to break the $32K barrier, several tokens have surpassed previous price records and setting new all-time highs, considering the increased volumes of DEXs —decentralized exchanges—, and traders looking for Altcoins with limited supply, but greater performance.
DeFi Tokens Doing Better Than Bitcoin
Despite a generally bearish market for the DeFi ecosystem at the end of 2020, DEX volumes have increased 8X by project, according to data from Dune Analytics, sparking DeFi-related tokens like Curve DAO and Uniswap UNI.
From June 2020 to this month, the DeFi ecosystem has increased considerably surpassing $35B in total value lock with Uniswap —one of the most popular decentralized protocols— leading the charts.
Besides UNI, other tokens like Chainlink’s LINK and Aave have surged with double-digit gains in the last seven days. LINK has accumulated 15 % in price, outranking Litecoin as the number 7 per market capitalization.
Similarly, UNI and Aave have outperformed Bitcoin in the last few days with both tokens gaining 30-37% in price. Likewise, despite the recent price surge this month, holders are still accumulating large amounts of UNI tokens, setting the scene for a larger bull run.
On the other hand, Bitcoin still struggles to break the $32K, despite MicroStrategy recently purchasing $10M worth of BTC. The consolidation is viewed as institutional exhaustion and the uncertainty of the upcoming institutional weather under the Biden administration.
As for the top DeFi tokens in the market, LINK, UNI, and Aave are leading the top 5, together with Wrapped BTC in the #3 spot.
Top DeFi tokens per market cap. Source: Coinmarketcap
Despite the recent bearish week for Bitcoin, traders are expecting a recovery in price considering that this January 25, leaders from the World Economic Forum will discuss digital currencies as part of their Davos 2021 Agenda. Cryptocurrencies will be one of the main issues to be discussed in a session called “Resetting digital currencies”.
The panel will focus on the current environment for Bitcoin and other cryptos and the opportunities they present compared to the decreased cash use and considering how several central banks globally are issuing CBDCs —Central Bank Digital Currencies—.
Get Involved with DeFi
In Australia, there has been an increased interest in DeFi tokens now that Kraken is trying to expand its presence in the country and in the United Kingdom. The U.S.-based exchange will introduce 26 new trading pairs, including LINK and Aave that Aussies can trade with AUD.
Likewise, there are several popular Australian platforms where people can buy and trade numerous pairs, like the Brisbane-based Swyft, an exchange that offers over 200 trading pairs, including LINK and Aave — or Binance Australia, one of the largest crypto-platforms in the world, that host more than 700 pairs.
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique cryptographic tokens – usually representing an artistic piece – that have been gaining attention for quite a while now.
In Australia, some NFTs have been sold to raise money for charity, such as this true blue F1 race car. The profits have gone towards reducing the impact of the bush firres that tore through Australia in early 2020.
Although they became widely known due to the CryptoKitties project, there is an older project whose artworks are becoming more and more expensive – namely CryptoPunks.
A 75x Increase In Value
Developed by Larva Labs, these unique tokens were created long before the ERC 721 standards and hearken back to the old days of retro pixel art.
Following some intense bidding, Punk #2890 has been sold for a whopping 605 ETH to a group of investors – including FlamingoDAO – who are interested in collectible NFTs.
Although each punk is unique, some are especially rare, especially the ones that are Aliens or Zombies.
This particular NFT represents a blue alien punk that has increased 75x in value since its last sale.
According to a spokesman for the investment group, the enormous valuation that the piece currently has will increase over time – especially as the world becomes more and more digitalized.
“It’s simple: Cryptopunks is a groundbreaking project; it pre-dated the ERC 721 standard and crypto kitties. Aliens are the rarest form of Cryptopunk and we believe that the acquired Alien will be prized by collectors over time and mature into an iconic digital art piece.”
@gmoneyNFT – an NFT collector who also recently purchased a Cryptopunk for 140 ETH – dismissed the criticisms regarding the artworks high price, comparing it to high-priced items found in everyday life.
“Why would someone pay millions of dollars for an original Andy Warhol screen print when you can buy the same one online for $20? Why would someone buy a pair of yeezy’s for $300 when you can buy a fake from the same factory, made with the same materials for much less? Humans like to feel special. The provenance has value.”
Whether NFTs will slowly replace physical artworks at Tate Gallery auctions is up for debate – nevertheless, the interest in them does not seem to be slowing down.
