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2022-03-02 12:49:19 ​​From lunch to Solana: Here’s the story of the NFT ATM in New York

NFTs would enable artists to create new ways to build relationships with and monetize their audience, says Jordan Birnholtz.

In a new twist for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), Solana-based NFT marketplace Neon deployed an NFT ATM in the financial district of New York, giving people a very familiar way to acquire NFTs.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, the Co-founder and CMO of Neon, Jordan Birnholtz shared the story of how the NFT ATM came to life. According to Birnholtz, the idea came as their team members were having lunch.

Birnholtz himself is a growth marketer, and his business partner Kyle Zappitell is a former Xbox Mobile gaming engineer "who is passionate about using software to create fun and accessible experiences," he explained. But the idea of an NFT ATM was pitched over lunch with the team's intern Drew Levine last fall.

The NFT ATM works very similarly to traditional ATMs machines. You can purchase NFTs through the machine with your credit or debit card. It will dispense boxes that contain unique codes that you can redeem through Neon’s platform. Much like Easter Egg capsules, buyers will not know what NFT they’re getting until they redeem it.

User Drifter1117 shared his experience and some photos of the NFT ATM on Twitter:

The Neon CMO explained that they picked the Solana blockchain for their marketplace because it was inexpensive. “We think Solana is the best chain to build on because it is inexpensive to use, opening up huge opportunities for more creators, and carbon neutral.”

He also noted that they are planning to bring more artists to their platform and open more NFT ATMs in different cities. “NFTs are going to let a variety of visual, multimedia, and performing artists create new ways to build relationships with and monetize their audience,” says Birnholtz.

“I think this is part of a broader trend that is merging crypto techniques with the focus on supporting creators more directly we see at Substack and Patreon. We're excited for the explosion in NFT opportunities in the coming years.”

Meanwhile, despite the recent crypto market dips, NFT sales continue to grow. According to recent reports, NFT trading generated $11.9 billion in the last quarter of 2021. The growth corresponds with recent reports of China taking an interest in NFTs and separating it from crypto. Open / Comment

2022-02-28 14:04:44 ​​Bitcoin network’s carbon emission jumped 17% after China ban: Report

The research report blamed the increase of Bitcoin’s carbon footprint on the China mining ban and claimed Chinese miners were more renewable-energy-focused.

Bitcoin network’s proof-of-work mining consensus has been a topic of environmental, social and governance debates for a long time, and a new study may only add to the growing controversy around Bitcoin’s carbon footprint.

A new research report titled “Revisiting Bitcoin’s carbon footprint” published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Joules has highlighted that the Chinese crypto mining ban might not have contributed to the reduction in the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin network as propagated by many Bitcoiners; on the contrary, it has increased by 17%.

China was the primary hub for Bitcoin miners before May 2021 and accounted for more than 60% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate. However, the blanket ban imposed by the government led to the migration of most of the mining farms out of the country. China’s Bitcoin mining hash rate share fell from over 60% in May to near zero in August, with miners moving to the United States, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Crypto pundits predicted that the migration of miners out of China would not only make BTC mining more decentralized as well as greener, but the new Joule report shows otherwise. The new research report highlighted that the amount of renewable energy used to power BTC mining has declined from 42% to around 25% since last August.

The study tracked the source of electricity powering mining operations to calculate the carbon emissions of the Bitcoin network and found that the top crypto blockchain emits 65 megatons of carbon dioxide annually. The study concluded that miners in China were more renewable energy-focused than most of the top mining countries today.

Alex de Vries, one of the authors of the report, told Cointelegraph:

“The study in general highlights how Bitcoin mining got even dirtier after the Chinese mining crackdown of last year. A lot of the hydropower miners previously had access to here have now been replaced by natural gas (in the U.S.). On top of that, the coal-based electricity in Kazakhstan is also dirtier than Chinese coal-based electricity. Altogether, that makes proof-of-work mining even more carbon-intensive than it already was.”

The Joule journal study further contradicts a report pushed by the Bitcoin Mining Council led by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, which claimed that the Bitcoin network utilizes up to 66% sustainable energy. Open / Comment

2022-02-25 13:54:30 ​​Block nets $1.18B Q4 gross profit marking a 47% YoY increase

In total, Block generated $4.42 billion worth of gross profit in 2021 marking a total YoY growth of 62%, however, net profit totaled just $77 million.

Crypto-friendly digital payments tech firm Block, Inc. (formerly known as Square) posted $1.18 billion worth of gross profit in Q4, representing a growth of 47% over the same period in 2020.

The firm led by Bitcoin maxi Jack Dorsey has multiple business arms including Cash App, Square, and the freshly acquired buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay after the $29 billion deal officially closed at the end of last month.

Block’s 2021 Q4 report was posted on Feb. 24, and the firm revealed significant gross profit increases across Cash App and Square, with each firm generating $518 million and $657 million apiece to mark YoY gains of 37% and 54% respectively.

In total, the company generated $4.42 billion worth of gross profit for the entirety of 2021, marking a YoY growth of 62% compared to 2020. The impressive figures do require a pinch of salt, however, as Block’s net profit after expenses for Q4 tallied just $77 million ($166 million for all of 2021) suggesting hefty operating costs for the firm.

The company pointed to Cash App’s Cash Card and Square’s seller ecosystem as key metrics behind the Q4 growth, noting that the Cash Card saw more than 13 million active users in December with 38% of sellers using four or more Square business products.

Moving forward in 2022, Block also highlighted the significance of the Afterpay deal as it will enable the firm to significantly scale up its offerings and products this year. The firm stated:

“On January 31, we completed our acquisition of Afterpay, a global “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) platform. We believe this acquisition will further Block’s strategic priorities for Square and Cash App by strengthening the connections between our ecosystems as we deliver compelling financial products and services for consumers and merchants.”

Block has been ramping up its presence in the crypto space of late, with Cointelegraph reporting in mid-January that Cash App had integrated the Lightning Network to speed up BTC transfers, while Dorsey confirmed that Block was rolling out open-source Bitcoin mining systems.

After stepping down from Twitter in November, Dorsey is reportedly said to be mainly focused on scaling the Block’s crypto initiatives. Open / Comment

2022-02-21 12:45:26 ​​Intel unveils 2nd-gen Bonanza Mine chip for efficient Bitcoin mining

Intel's new chips are powered by a high-performance miner to deliver up to 40TH/s in a balanced environment.

Computer chip manufacturing giant Intel Corporation shared details of a new mining chip that will be coupled with a high-performance 3,600 Watt miner with the ultimate goal of improving Bitcoin (BTC) mining efficiency.

Intel revealed its second-generation BTC mining setup during the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2022, a conference dedicated to the electronics and chip manufacturing industry.

According to the company, Bonanza mine (BMZ2) is an ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC that can deliver 40 Terahashes per second (40 TH/s) performance.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Intel’s patent related to “high-performance Bitcoin Mining” dates back to November 2018, which had proposed to reduce overall power consumption by approximately 15%. Intel representatives at the time showed confidence in competing against established players including Bitmain, MicroBT and Nvidia:

“Intel has done design work around SHA 256 optimized ASICs for several years beginning with pathfinding work done in Intel Labs.”

The BMZ2 chips are expected to follow an architecture similar to its 1st-gen mining chip BMZ1, wherein over 300 chips, powered by a 3600W miner, work together to deliver up to 40TH/s in a balanced environment.

Intel’s next-generation BTC miner will be able to deliver a balanced performance of 40.4 TH/s by drawing 2,293W of power — recording a low energy consumption of 56.97 joules per terahash (J/Th). When compared to Bitmain's hardware, Antminer S19j ASIC Bitcoin miner consumes 3,100 Watts for delivering up to 90 TH/s at room temperature, resulting in an efficiency of 34.5 J/Th.

In addition, the hardware will also have the option to operate in high-performance and power-saving modes to optimize the energy-cost ratio across various degrees of mining efficiencies.

The Bitcoin network mining difficulty maintains an upward trend, showcasing a strong indication of growing resilience against network attacks.

At its peak, Bitcoin recorded a hash rate of 248.11 EH/s on Feb. 13 after jumping 31.69% from 188.40 EH/s in just one day. Open / Comment

2022-02-16 12:46:48 Aussie trading platform SelfWealth to offer crypto trading to its 325K users

BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler emphasized that the partnership with SelfWealth demonstrated further legitimacy of broad-scale crypto adoption.

Publicly-listed company SelfWealth (ASX: SWF) has reportedly become the first Australian online share trading platform to offer cryptocurrency investing after announcing a deal with the local crypto exchange BTC Markets.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler stated that investors will be able to trade five primary crypto assets from Q2 2022, pending approval from Australian financial regulator AUSTRAC.

Both SelfWealth and BTC Markets were unable to provide a comment on which crypto assets would be available for purchase until regulators give the green light, but it is reasonably likely that market leaders such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) will be among them.

Selfwealth, Australia’s fourth-largest online brokerage platform, announced its journey into crypto in July last year with the $8-billion-dollar broker releasing a report outlining that 30% of its users were already investing in cryptocurrency, while another 38% were looking to invest in the future.

When asked if the current fears of “crypto winter” would dampen the enthusiasm of retail crypto buyers on the platform, Bowler responded confidently that “anyone who’s been around for the long-haul knows that crypto is volatile,” and that looking at the crypto markets from the lens of a few months is impractical

Further tempering any potential fears, Bowler drew on her own experience when she added that:

“I’ve been through a crypto winter before and I don’t think that’s what we’re in now… what we’re seeing now is more of a reasonable response to market conditions than a fully fledged crypto-winter.”

Rather than being concerned with the expected volatility of crypto markets, Bowler said that what she found most impressive from a trading standpoint was "the wall of interest on the buy side… no one in the broader market really wants to sell.”

Bowler said that SelfWealth and BTC Market’s partnership demonstrated even further legitimacy to the broad-scale adoption of cryptocurrency. Open / Comment

2022-02-14 13:56:11 ​​UK tax authority makes first NFT seizure in VAT fraud case

The tax authority made three arrests in connection with a suspected tax evasion using shell companies and false identification.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the chief tax authority in the United Kingdom, have seized three nonfungible tokens (NFTs) associated with a suspected tax evasion fraud.

The tax watchdog claimed it was the first U.K. law enforcement agency to seize NFT. The NFT seizure came along with the arrest of three people who are suspected of evading taxes using various sophisticated means, reported BBC.

The arrested suspects in the case reportedly used fake identities and created 250 fake ‘shell’ companies to evade £1.4 million ($1.8 million) in value-added taxes (VAT).

HMRC obtained a court order to confiscate $6,765 (£5,000) worth of digital assets along with three NFTs from the suspects. HMRC deputy director Nick Sharp said that the recent seizures of NFTs and digital assets in the tax fraud case serve as a warning to those looking to hide money from the tax authorities. He said:

"We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets."

While the tax authority’s warning to the common public is routine, it is essential to note that the confiscated digital assets and NFTs were seized as assets, which is common in tax evasion cases for authorities to make up for the losses post-court proceedings. These seized digital assets and collectibles weren’t used as a tool for the crime by themselves.

NFTs have bloomed to peak popularity in 2021 and have become a trend among brands and the common public. With a rise in popularity and use cases, lawmakers have also become a common regulatory topic. These regulatory discussions are quite common and in-tune with the traditional financial market. Open / Comment

2022-02-11 12:09:28 ​​EU finance chief says digital euro bill coming in early 2023

The European Union’s finance chief announced that a bill introducing a digital euro will be hitting tables in European parliament as early as 2023.

The European Commission has announced that a bill for a digital euro will be proposed in 2023.

As first reported by Politico, EC finance chief Mairead McGuinness officially disclosed the EU’s formal consideration of digital euro legislation at a fintech conference on Wednesday.

"Our goal is to table legislation in early 2023,” the Commissioner for Financial Service said. “A targeted legislative consultation in the coming weeks."

The European Central Bank (ECB) is already experimenting with designs and systems for a digital euro, with a prototype expected sometime in late-2023. If a digital euro is to be implemented, it will require the seal of approval from Eurozone governors. If they give the green light, then the digital euro could be ready for issuance by 2025.

The digital euro is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) — a financial instrument that central banks around the world are exploring very seriously. The increased interest in CBDC’s has emerged from growing concerns that domestic currencies will eventually be undermined by the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies.

"If we don’t satisfy this demand, then others will do it," ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said in mid-November, pushing for the implementation of a digital euro.

Last year, the ECB conducted research and published a report on digital currencies. It found that a digital euro may help lower interest rates, speed up transaction processes and decrease cash use.

Irrespective of the reported benefits, central bankers face an uphill battle to win over the public. Research conducted by the UK economic affairs committee and Germany’s central bank shows that the majority of respondents oppose government-backed digital currencies citing skepticism of benefits and fears of government snooping.

But official interest in CBDCs around the world has taken off with Kenya’s central bank recently seeking public input around a digital shilling, while Thailand has already begun implementing regulation for a future retail CBDC. The Central Bank of the Bahamas was one of the first to roll out a CBDC, the Sand Dollar in October 2020.

China however, maintains the first-mover advantage in the world of digital currency. The country has outstripped the international community with continued and significant leaps forward in the CBDC space. Open / Comment

2022-02-09 12:49:27 ​​Russian gov't and central bank agree to treat Bitcoin as currency

Cryptocurrency transactions of more than 600,000 rubles (roughly $8,000) will have to be declared or be considered a criminal act.

The government and central bank in Russia have reached an agreement on how to regulate cryptocurrencies, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Russia's government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an "analogue of currencies" rather than digital financial assets, set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries.

Kommersant notes that Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation are not prohibited; however, they must be done through a "digital currency exchange organizer" (a bank) or a peer-to-peer exchange licensed in the country.

The report also highlights that cryptocurrency transactions of more than 600,000 rubles (roughly $8,000) would have to be declared or be considered a criminal act. Those who illegally accept cryptocurrencies as payment will attract fines.

This news comes after months of speculation about how the Russian government would handle digital currencies. While it is still unclear what this decision will mean for businesses and citizens in Russia, it seems that the country is slowly warming up to the idea of cryptocurrencies.

In January, the Bank of Russia called for a nationwide crypto ban in a report that warned about the speculative nature of the industry. The bank also stated that financial firms should not facilitate crypto transactions as part of that proposal to ban digital assets.

However, the proposal generated opposition from the Russian Ministry of Finance. A few days after the central bank's call for a ban, Ivan Chebeskov, a ministry official, said that the government should regulate crypto rather than prohibiting it entirely. He warned that a total ban might result in Russia falling behind in technology

Reports have also emerged that President Putin supports efforts to regulate the country's crypto mining sector. Open / Comment

2022-02-07 12:35:51 ​​RSS3 aims to be the decentralized information processor of Web3

The developers behind the project noted that the deployment of RSS3 could take up to 6-8 months.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS), the first information distribution protocol that saw massive adoption across the internet is all set to take on Web3 with a decentralized information processing protocol called RSS3.

In a technical whitepaper released on Monday, RSS3 laid out plans for taking its popular internet feed update to Web3. RSS3 would offer every entity an RSS3 file that will act as source data and be updated continuously. The source data file then can be used as an aggregation of all the cyber activities, which can then be used to build out social media, content networks, games and other data-driven applications. The source data would have control on which information to broadcast and which to keep private.

RSS is a feed file containing a summary of a website's updates, usually in a list of articles with hyperlinks. These feed files were meant to be decentralized and played a key role in exchanging information across the internet. However, the monopoly of centralized web hosting services providers has led to the creation of the decentralized RSS3.

The official paper noted that building a decentralized information processing protocol from scratch was quite a complex task and might take another six to eight months for building RSS3 nodes. The developers are in the process of building a DAO system as well, but believe a true decentralization would take time.

The development team has partnered with Ethereum, Arweave, Polygon, BSC, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Flow, and xDAI to roll out the protocol across various decentralized networks.

The team behind the decentralized protocol has closed two funding rounds until now that saw participation from the likes of Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs, Dragonfly Capital, Fabric Ventures, and several others. Open / Comment

2022-02-04 13:50:47 ​​NFT battles: Nike takes seller of unlicensed NFT sneakers to court

StockX is an online reseller estimated to be worth $3.8 billion, and its NFT sneakers in dispute are still online.

Popular sneaker maker Nike has started the “licensed NFT” wars by taking an online reseller called StockX to court for trademark infringement or sale of unlicensed nonfungible token (NFT) sneakers.

According to a Reuters report, Nike has filed a lawsuit against the reseller in a New York Federal court, demanding an undisclosed amount in damages and a halt of sales on such virtual collectibles. StockX reportedly started selling Nike sneaker NFTs in January and promised buyers they can redeem the real-world version of the sneakers in the near future.

Nike, in its 50-page complaint, claimed StockX has sold nearly 500 NFT sneakers with the Nike branding, which has dented its reputation and legitimacy. The shoemaker brand also alleged the NFT sneakers were being sold at inflated prices with very “murky terms of purchase and ownership.”

StockX is a popular online reseller estimated to be worth $3.8 billion, and its NFT sneakers in dispute are still online. The collection is called “The Vault” and comprises nine premium Nike sneakers and deals with NFTs tied to their real-world asset.Nike claimed NFTs are a way for brands to interact with their customers, but some of the players in the market are trying to “usurp the goodwill of some of the most famous trademarks in the world and use those trademarks without authorization to market their virtual products and generate ill-gotten profits.” The shoemaker is set to launch its own NFTs collection later this month in association with recently acquired art studio RTFKT.

The popularity of NFTs has made it a primary PR and marketing tool for brands and celebrities. However, as with any popular use case in the decentralized world, NFTs have reached a point of exploitation. Apart from Nike, there have been several other lawsuits around NFTs involving big brands and celebrities. Pulp Fiction’s film production company, Miramax, sued the director of the film, Quentin Tarantino, for selling NFTs of the movie, calling it copyright infringement. Open / Comment