Konami, a Japanese game developer and software publisher, raised more than $160K in its first foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) scene. This was the result of an NFT auction related to the 35th anniversary of Castlevania, one of its most popular franchises. The end result contrasts with what other companies have experienced so far, […]

Retail giant Walmart is planning to create its own cryptocurrency and collections of non-fungible tokens, filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows. On December 30, the retailer filed for several trademarks, revealing plans to start selling virtual goods, including electronics, toys, appliances, sporting equipment, apparel, home decor, and more. In another separate filing, the company detailed the possible ‘physical fitness training services’ and ‘classes in the field of health and nutrition’ that could take place in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) environments. Commenting on the development, Gerben Law Firm founder Josh Gerben told CNBC: “There’s a lot of language in these, which shows that there’s a lot of planning going on behind the scenes about how they’re going to address cryptocurrency, how they’re going to address the metaverse and the virtual world that appears to be coming or that’s already here.” In August 2021, Walmart posted a job listing for a cryptocurrency product specialist. Two months later, the company announced hosting Bitcoin ATMs across some of its stores in the United States. After Facebook rebranded itself to Meta and signaled an intention to foster into the metaverse, there has been a rush among major brands to enter the space with currencies, NFTs, or both. For instance, Nike last year sought a trademark on its downloadable virtual goods, including footwear, virtual sneakers, clothing, accessories, and retail store services featuring virtual goods. Another footwear giant Adidas too cashed out on NFTs and sold out it’s Into the Metaverse NFT collection for millions. Recently, clothing retailer Gap also announced offering NFTs for its hoodies.

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Bitcoin attempted to reach $44,000 a few hours ago but was halted. The majority of cryptocurrencies are marginally in the green, with Cardano being the largest gainer among the larger-cap ones, up 8%. According to Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, five altcoins will perform well this year, with layer-1 altcoins and interoperable blockchains shining brightly. …

The Northwest Arkansas Council, a non-profit organization, is offering $10,000 worth of Bitcoin to professionals who move to live in the region. Regarded as one of the top places to live in the United States due to its job opportunities and low cost of living, the region currently consists of merely 540,000 inhabitants. To lure tech professionals and entrepreneurs to settle in the area, the local authorities initially offered $10,000 cash but recently decided to add the option to accept the amount in bitcoin instead. However, they can still choose to accept the amount in cash if they prefer. “While we’ve had overwhelming interest in the initial incentive program, we’re continuing to seek out unique and in-demand talent in the STEAM and blockchain professions,” the website reads. Commenting on the development, the President and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, Nelson Peacock, said: “We’re offering remote tech professionals and entrepreneurs $10,000 in bitcoin to bring your talents to the region. Why bitcoin? Northwest Arkansas is experiencing explosive growth in the tech sector, specifically within blockchain-enabled technologies, and this incentive embraces the growing trend of cryptocurrency as a payment option by employers.” To be eligible, applicants must relocate to Northwest Arkansas within six months of acceptance to the program and sign a one-year lease or buy a home. Furthermore, he/she/they must be at least 24 years old and have at least two years of work experience. Additional conditions include living outside of the state of Arkansas and being a US citizen or having the credentials required to work legally in the U.S.. In addition to the Bitcoin incentive, the NWA Council is also offering to give remote workers a bicycle to navigate the region’s mountain biking trails including free membership to local theaters and museums. So far, over 35,000 people have applied from over 115 countries and 50 states, the NWA Council said.

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Grammy nominee Akon plans to release his next album through a non-fungible token, or NFTs. In an exclusive interview with Esquire magazine, the singer discussed the potential of digital assets and how NFTs could help artists in the music industry. He pointed out that artists in recent years have often complained that music streaming services don’t pay them enough for their songs. “Throughout my career, I have always believed that artists never really got their fair share of the profits for the work they produced and people listen to,” he began. “My next album is going to be an NFT album. What that means is that it opens the door to full transparency where your music is being played, who’s playing it, where they’re playing, and how many times it is played. Financially, you get the royalty every time someone shares it, so it makes sense to me, and that’s the route I want to go for all my future music releases.” Akon says that NFTs or digital representations of music and other collectibles offer full transparency about where a piece of music is being played, who’s playing it, and how many times it’s been played. “With that, I’ll be able to monetize it from the day it drops on every platform that exists,” he added. 2021 was a blockbuster year for NFTs with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimating that the market has surpassed a $41 billion valuation.

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Payments giant Visa conducted a survey of small businesses and found that almost a quarter of them plan to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payments this year, the company said in a press release on 12 January. Conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021, the survey included 2,250 small business owners with 100 employees or fewer in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the US. “Of those surveyed, 24 percent said they plan to accept digital currencies such as the cryptocurrency bitcoin,” the report said. The same study found that 82 percent of the small businesses plan to accept some form of digital option in 2022. Also, 73 percent see that accepting new forms of payments is fundamental to their business growth. Visa also expanded its poll to include consumers which consisted of 1,000 adults from the United States and 500 respondents from each of the other eight participating countries. The response from consumers who expect to use crypto payments this year was much higher with 46 percent. While the Visa survey found that small businesses are planning to adopt a new form of digital payment in 2022, several other multinational companies also seem to be embracing digital currency. For instance, Elon Musk’s Tesla recently announced plans to adopt Dogecoin (DOGE) as a payment option for the company merchandise. Even Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky recently hinted that the rental company could soon accept crypto payments. In December 2021, Visa launched crypto advisory services. Furthermore, Visa’s head of crypto recently revealed that the company partnered with 60 cryptocurrency platforms to allow consumers to spend digital currencies at over 80 million merchants worldwide.

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The ostensible first cryptocurrency ATM machine has been installed in Uruguay, developed as a joint initiative between Urubit and Inbierto, two national crypto companies. This represents a milestone for the country, which according to estimates has between 40K and 50K cryptocurrency users, whose primary avenue for purchasing crypto relies on peer-to-peer markets. Uruguay Enters the […]

Crocs, the leading footwear brand is stepping into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a trademark application filed on January 11 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark filing requests the right to use the Crocs name on NFTs of ‘footwear, clothing, bags, accessories, and charms for decorating’ as well as the software needed to create and sell them. In fact, the application is marked for ‘Downloadable computer software for creating, managing, storing, accessing, sending, receiving, exchanging, validating and selling digital assets, digital collectibles, digital tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).’ The filing indicates that the footwear brand is preparing to issue NFTs, according to a well-known crypto-intellectual property lawyer. Its counsel, WilmerHale, filed on an ‘intent-to-use’ basis, meaning Crocs has a bona fide intention to use it in commerce. This is not the first time a show brand is moving into digital wearables. In December 2021, Nike bought NFT collectibles startup RTFKT, a virtual shoe company that makes NFTs. Even Adidas scooped up $23 million in sales after its first NFT drop. NFTs could spell a lucrative new business for the publicly traded Crocs, which posted 67 percent revenue growth year over year in 2021. Executives initially spoke of the company’s digital focus in its Jan. 11 earnings call but made no mention of the metaverse. Founded in 1999, Crocs has a market cap of $7.4 billion. The shoe company sells its products in approximately 80 countries through wholesalers, retail stores, e-commerce sites, and third-party marketplaces.

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Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has launched a $2 billion venture fund focused on backing Web3 projects and the overall digital asset ecosystem. Dubbed FTX ventures, the fund will be headed by Amy Wu, a former partner at $10 billion investment firm Lightspeed Ventures Partners. FTX Ventures will invest in multi-stage companies and projects and is particularly excited about the number of talented teams in the Web3 gaming space. In fact, Wu stated that she’s “particularly excited about web3 gaming” and it’s potential to go mainstream. She has previously led multi-million-dollar investments in blockchain software company Alchemy and crypto-gaming firm Faraway. “I am thrilled to be joining FTX to work alongside Sam and some of the smartest people disrupting the financial services industry. With FTX Ventures, we are looking to support entrepreneurs building generational businesses. We’re particularly excited about web3 gaming and its ability to bring mainstream audiences into the ecosystem,” Wu said. In November 2021, FTX, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Solana Ventures even teamed up to create a $100 million blockchain gaming fund. Commenting on the development, FTX CEO, Bankman-Fried said in a statement: “Our investors at FTX have made a deep impact in supporting our growth and development. We strive to do the same at FTX Ventures and are excited to find the brightest minds and disruptive innovation in tech.” As part of FTX Ventures, Wu will lead a team of eight people, which includes general partner Ramnik Arora who has worked as FTX’s head of product since October 2020. Advisor Armani Ferrante, is also part of the team who has previously worked as a software engineer at Alameda Research, a quantitative crypto trading firm and liquidity provider founded by Sam Bankman-Fried himself. With the launch of FTX Ventures, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange has now joined the likes of Binance Labs and Coinbase Ventures, both of which have been in existence for several years.

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A group of Wikipedia editors has voted against categorizing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a form of art-at least for now. A debate started on the platform last month on ‘the most expensive art sales by living artists’ and whether NFT art sales should be deemed as ‘art sales’ or ‘NFT sales.’ The discussion involved whether an NFT represented the art or was just a token that was separate from the underlying art. “Wikipedia really can’t be in the business of deciding what counts as art or not, which is why putting NFTs, art or not, in their own list makes things a lot simpler. NFTs have their own list, which should be linked in the article, and entries generally shouldn’t be listed in both,” editor “jonas” wrote. Out of the six editors, five voted against classifying NFTs as art. For the time being, the discussion has been shelved until a later date. Since anybody can write on Wikipedia, perhaps members of the NFT community could contribute to the classification debate. According to Wikipedia’s guidelines, neither unanimity nor a vote is required to form a consensus. Instead, the group must confirm that the participating editor’s legitimate concerns fall within the platform’s policies. Meanwhile, the lone editor who voted otherwise pointed out that even large publications, including the New York Times, had referred to Beeple as the ‘third-highest selling artist alive’ following his record-breaking NFT sale. In fact, Griffin Cock Foster, the co-founder of NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway took to Twitter to say: “Wikipedia is a global source of truth. Having NFTs categorized as ‘not art’ would be a disaster!” 🚨 Art Emergency!! 🚨 There is a debate happening rn on @Wikipedia that has the potential to * officially categorize NFTs as ‘not art’ on all of Wikipedia. * Wikipedia is a global source of truth. Having NFTs categorized as ‘not art’ would be a disaster! 🧵: — Duncan Cock Foster (@DCCockFoster) January 12, 2022 Responding to Griffin, Everipedia, a decentralized equivalent of Wikipedia stated that it’s time to move towards decentralized alternatives which supports art and innovation: “Everipedia editors have created over 100 pages on #NFT collections while Wikipedia is moving to mark NFTs as ‘not art’ across their platform. It’s time for NFT projects to move to Everipedia $IQ, a Web 3.0 encyclopedia which supports art and innovation.” Everipedia editors have created over 100 pages on #NFT collections while Wikipedia is moving to mark NFTs as "not art" across their platform. It's time for NFT projects to move to Everipedia $IQ, a Web 3.0 encyclopedia which supports art and innovation.https://t.co/tL5beVDCN9 https://t.co/SsNFoQmyBd — Everipedia (@Everipedia) January 12, 2022

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A group of U.S.-based banks is launching their own stablecoin, USDF. The stablecoin will be issued by the USDF Consortium, which will allow its members (financial and banking institutions) to issue USDF. The proposed stablecoin will be the first currency of its kind to be minted by FDIC-insured institutions and compliant with the recommendations on […]

North Korean hackers stole almost $400 million worth of cryptocurrencies from at least seven attacks on crypto platforms last year, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis said in a report. The report noted that it was one of the most successful years on record for hackers to steal such large amounts of crypto with the attacks mainly targeted at investment firms and centralized exchanges. “From 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks jumped from four to seven, and the value extracted from these hacks grew by 40 percent,” said the report, which was released on Thursday. Many of last year’s attacks were likely carried out by the Lazarus Group, a hacking group sanctioned by the United States, which is believed to be controlled by North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau, the Reconnaissance General Bureau. The attackers used a number of techniques to launder the stolen cryptocurrencies including mixers, or software tools that pool and scramble cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses to siphon funds from the organizations’ hot wallets and then move them into North Korean-controlled addresses, Chainalysis said. “Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out,” the report added. Per the report, Bitcoin now accounts for less than one-quarter of the stolen cryptocurrencies or 20 percent of the stolen funds. In contrast, Ethereum makes up the vast majority of stolen funds with 58 percent. The report also identified $170 million in old, unlaundered cryptocurrency holdings from 49 separate hacks from 2017 to 2021.

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