Author: Angela Wang

The crypto ecosystem has always been built on the principles of decentralization, with no single entity in control of the finances of any given individual. With the shutdown of banking giants such as Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Silvergate Bank, however, it has become clear that when it comes to crypto, traditional banking is often still a bridge between centralized finance and decentralized finance. This can create a serious obstacle for the industry in the short-term, as crypto companies often need to find new banking partners.

The immediate repercussions of these bank closures are already being felt. Dennis Adkins, a digital asset advisor and analyst, described the situation as a ‘fear-based reaction’ from the investors, who are uncertain of their options in the face of the banking turmoil. Silvergate and SVB were the more traditional banking institutions and had access to more resources, making them the favored option for crypto companies and their large sums of deposits. The subsequent uncertainty has rocked the industry and sent crypto liquidity into a downward spiral.

However, things are not all doom and gloom. The absence of large banking entities may also reveal some alternative solutions – such as smaller, more innovative banks that can bridge the gap and offer banking services to crypto companies that may have been previously excluded. There are still banks available in the US such as Cross River Bank, BankProv, and Western Alliance Bank that could potentially provide liquidity and help the industry. Even more, crypto companies can look abroad for other options, as well as utilize various strategies involving stablecoins.

Furthermore, this potentially positive turn of events presents the opportunity for crypto to fully realize its potential and aims of being completely decentralized. This can be achieved through on-chain banking, where banks resemble blockchains more so than centralized entities, allowing for greater on-chain metrics for cash management activities. With the emergence of new and improved technology, however, it also means that banking institutions that do not adapt quickly can be left behind.

It has been a common experience with each crypto bear cycle for the industry to experience shortfalls, though it is also the solutions implemented that allow for it to come out the other end stronger. This may ultimately be the case once more. Boris Revsin, managing partner at Tribe Capital, remarked that “The crypto industry has gone through banking shifts like this every cycle. We won’t see a shortfall of banks. More so, we will see a shortfall of legacy banks that support this tech.”

Throughout the chaos of banking closures in the crypto industry, there is a definite ray of hope – not only will the sector survive this current challenge, but it will come out stronger and more robust on the other end. Although the industry has been put at a disadvantage by the recent turnovers, the search is still on for alternative options and solutions that can provide a viable and resilient banking platform for the crypto world.
As Joshua Frank, co-founder and CEO of provider of information services for digital assets, The Tie remarked, “It would be shortsighted to assume that the events of the last few days will lead to a total divorcing of crypto and traditional banking.”
Crypto banking disruption may still be a tumultuous experience in the short-term, but if solutions can be found that can truly diversify and branch out, there is definite potential for a brighter future for the crypto industry.

Conclusion
The recent banking closures have put a serious dent in the operations of the crypto industry, but the silver lining to this cloud is that it also presents an opportunity for development, adaptation, and a brighter future. As crypto companies search for banking partners and solutions that can help the sector move forward, they must also remain open minded to ideas such as on-chain banking, the use of stablecoins, and even alternative options abroad. Every bear cycle comes with a set of obstacles, though as long as the right solutions can be found, the crypto world is likely to come out stronger on the other side.

Cryptocurrency has been having a rough week. Last Friday, the now-infamous Silicon Valley Bank failure set off a ripple effect reining chaos across the US crypto market. By Sunday, Signature Bank—one of the few crypto friendly institutions—was shut down by regulators, leaving much of the industry not knowing who it could trust.

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank resulted in a massive drop in the price of USDC, with the stablecoin falling to as low as $0.87 for a gold coin. Meanwhile, investors and firms began to wonder who would emerge unscathed from the crypto crisis.

Paxos, a stablecoin issuer and crypto brokerage firm, led by the charge, providing details of its $250 million held at Signature Bank. The crypto firm said it held insurance for deposits in excess of its balance, and expects to recover the funds when the bank reopens on Monday.

Coinbase, the leading US crypto exchange, confirmed that it held a balance of $240 million with Signature Bank. The exchange said that it also anticipated recovering the funds due to the “extraordinary measures” taken by the government.

Signature Bank Chicago, a business bank not affiliated with the New York-based institution, said it had no crypto exposure. The bank added that its logo had been incorrectly used during preview feature on ABC news, before issuing a statement that its Chicago branch “stronger than ever.”

Binance had disclosed its relationship with Signature Bank some time ago when it warned users of its inability to process Swift transfers of less than $100,000. It is unclear how much money the leading crypto exchange holds with the institution.

The news of the bank’s closure was accompanied by a pledge by federal regulators to strengthen the US banking system through decisive actions and loan programs to alleviate financial pressure in light of the multiple bank failures.

The government’s promise seemed to work, as USDC climbed above its pre-crisis levels on Sunday night after Circle assured token holders that it would “cover any southfall” of USDC assets, currently valued at $40 billion.

Not all corporate victims, however, were as fortunate. Multiple companies said they had exposure to Silicon Valley Bank’s demise, including Ripple, BlockFi, Pantera, and Avalanche.

Stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Crypto.com both emerged unscathed from the chaos. Both companies released statements that they had no exposure to either Silicon valley Bank or Signature Bank.

The Signature Bank shutdown presents the craziest crypto crisis yet, with regulators willing to take drastic measures to protect depositors and stabilize the market. Companies that survived this time are sure to come out of this stronger for the wear, but only time will tell who’s left standing.

With the proliferation of blockchain technology, the need for on-chain analytics data has become increasingly important as teams and projects in the crypto industry attempt to make better customer, product, and investment decisions. To meet this demand, blockchain analytics platform Nansen recently announced the launch of Nansen Query, a comprehensive data solution designed for the purpose of multi-chain data access.

Nansen Query was built on the Google Cloud platform and can be easily integrated into any active tech stack. The scalability and responsiveness of the solution provides businesses with secure and reliable pipelines with the capacity to handle large data sets in real-time. The platform is designed to alleviate the trade-offs between time, value, and reliability for teams in the crypto industry. It does this by having the ability to cover multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Solana.

Several crypto entities have already incorporated Nansen Query into their tech stack and have been running their businesses in stealth mode for more than a year. Notable entities that have already adopted Nansen Query include Google, OpenSea and MakerDAO.
Karina Qian, Head of Business Analytics at NFT marketplace OpenSea expressed their satisfaction with Nansen Query:
“We rely on Nansen for high-quality, fresh, and reliable on-chain raw data that we’ve easily integrated into our production data pipelines for use in anomaly detection and market analysis. It is already an integral part of our infrastructure and decision-making processes.”

The prevalence of Nansen Query is symptomatic of a trend within the crypto industry to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into crypto applications in order to streamline user experiences on crypto platforms. This conversation was recently echoed in Episode 8 of the podcast Hashing It Out, where Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen, detailed the importance of on-chain data and the use of AI in crypto. Svanevik was certain that Bing-like applications that integrate ChatGPT will do wonders in helping users find the information they seek quickly and easily.

Proof of reserves has been mooted as a standard to ensure transparency on crypto platforms. Svanevik argued that this would be useful if combined with “proof of solvency” to truly provide users with real insights on the financial health of an entity. “Many of last year’s collapses could have been avoided if users had more information on how the exchanges and lending platforms were managing deposits through on-chain data”, he said.

The Nansen CEO also predicted that 2023 would be challenging for crypto startups that raised their funds recently, as their money is beginning to run out. Despite an uptick in the NFT sector, these companies will have to be prepared to ride the wave that is sure to come.

With Nansen Query, crypto-focused teams and projects gain access to reliable and high-quality crypto data sets. As the crypto industry continues to deepen its roots with AI and other technologies, platforms like Nansen Query will be key in helping entities harness on-chain data and make informed decisions.

Vitalik Buterin, the visionary behind Ethereum and Web3 luminary, is making quite a splash on the crypto scene. His stamp of approval on the NFT collection known as ‘Quality Drop 01’ has set Crypto Twitter ablaze and the secondary sales have soared to several million dollars. This open edition mint launched on March 1, causing sales to surge as the floor price rose to 0.58 ETH ($905). In the past 24 hours alone, The Quadratic Funding Collection has amassed an astonishing 4,692 ETH ($7.3 million) in trading volume.

What makes ‘Quality Drop 01’ such an exciting project? It celebrates Buterin’s contributions to the innovative quadratic funding model. This mathematical formula prizes projects based on both the individual and collective support they receive, rather than let the whales decide through size of contributions. The platform has awarded around $70 million across the Ethereum ecosystem to date, and this NFT drop has further expanded the contributions, raising $781,000 for public goods.

What’s included in this collection? Each NFT looks like an album cover, and features a digital version of the ‘Liberal Radicalism: A Flexible Design for Philanthropic Matching Funds’ whitepaper, co-authored by Buterin and economists Glen Weyl and Zoë Hitzig. The 12 signature editions come with hand-signed physical copies that were sold via Dutch auction format. Additionally, included are two essays on quadratic funding from Gitcoin’s co-founders, Kevin Owocki and Scott Moore. The first edition appeared last week at the low price of 0.05 ETH ($78 today) and, of the 9,209 standard NFTs minted, all were snapped up.

Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter, and Rob Kalin, co-founder of Etsy, are the brains behind Metalabel, a platform that helps artists monetize their work with Web3 technologies. It combines elements from DAOs and NFTs to form a new collaborative framework, allowing creatives to share newsletters, music releases, and more without having to start a new company. Strickler remarked that the overwhelming response to the Quality Drop was an exciting new way for creators to release and fund works.

This NFT drop serves as an incredible reminder of the revolutionary power of Web3. The collection highlights not only Vitalik Buterin’s innovative achievements, but also the potential for blockchain-based models to benefit a diverse range of projects. With celebs like Donald Trump, Scottie Pippen, and now Vitalik Buterin taking up the NFT mantle, the crypto space is pushing the envelope and pushing the boundaries of technological development. We look forward to the continued growth and advances of this exciting industry.

The world of Web3 has ushered in a new era of online accessibility and wealth creation, opening unprecedented opportunities for individuals to have a stake in this emerging decentralized web. Yet the crypto industry has been marred by a lack of diversity, especially when it comes to the involvement of women in Web3 startups.

A recent study by BGC and People of Crypto Lab concluded that women make up only 13% of Web3 startups and hold only 27% of jobs, which is lower than those in other major tech and financial services industries.

Women also face obstacles that make it more difficult to succeed, such as bias and stereotypes. Women often have to work harder than their male counterparts to be considered for the same roles and challenges, with many noting that they are subject to different expectations due to perceived gender roles. But there are many organizations and communities that are actively supporting female crypto professionals and providing resources to help them learn the necessary skills to thrive in the Web3 space.

It’s time to shed light on the hurdles, challenges and successes of the amazing women who are playing a part in shaping the future of the crypto industry, and to celebrate their incredible stories. Cointelegraph spoke with some of these “She Dragons of Web3” about their unique career paths, struggles, and motivations for doing what they do.

Take Seema Khinda Johnson, for example, co-founder and COO of Nuggets, a decentralised identity wallet. Khinda’s story starts in 2016 when her husband’s credit card information was stolen – a security incident that opened her eyes to the potential of crypto and led her to pioneer the Nuggets project. Rebecca also contacted Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, an approach that 10 years ago most people would have assumed would never get a response – yet, 20 minutes later, she got her reply with a developer recommendation.

This example highlights the importance of taking risks, even in the face of overwhelming odds. It also demonstrates how having strong male allies in the Web3 space can help women break into the industry and make a significant contribution. Khinda believes it’s also important to fund and support female entrepreneurs in order to boost crypto adoption.

Sandra Leow, a researcher analyst at Nansen, was introduced to crypto by her sister and has since invested in altcoins and NFTs. While Leow still sees many of the same stigmas from Web2 embedded in Web3, she believes the tide is starting to turn and more women are becoming involved in the industry.

Devon Martens, principal blockchain engineer at Sweet, is also a huge advocate for women in the crypto world. She argues that a diversity of role models can inspire more women to consider Web3 as a career option and create wealth for themselves. She also highlights the unique opportunity for women to change the world through blockchain technology. (https://perfumesample.com)

Daniela Barbosa, executive director of the Hyperledger Foundation, points to the tremendous potential of diversity in technology, noting that “study after study reveals that diversity in technology creation produces better outcomes and more robust technologies – that diverse communities are simply stronger communities.” She also addresses the need for organizations to get more women involved in the space in a variety of roles, and not just as developers.

Finally, we spoke with Sandy Carter, COO and head of Business Development at Unstoppable Domain, who has made a strong impact on the web since the dawn of Web2. Her experience in the tech industry has demonstrated to her the need for greater diversity, as the lack of it creates a bottleneck for innovation and creativity. She is now using her experience and knowledge to power the Unstoppable Women of Web3 initiative, which focuses on the education and mentoring of the next generation of female crypto leaders.

Women are increasingly taking a prominent role in the crypto industry, and their stories give us insight into the challenges faced by those who pursue a career in Web3. Despite the social and structural challenges faced by women in the Web3 space, there are numerous resources and communities available to support them, and the potential rewards of even a small amount of representation in this nascent industry are great. As Alicia Kao, managing director and head of Strategic Partner Development at KuCoin, put it “The more women get involved, the more likely these challenges will start to dissipate and more effective industry solutions can be achieved.”

This is why Cointelegraph hopes to do their part in acknowledging, honouring and celebrating the She Dragons of Web3 for the incredible work they do and hope to inspire others to join their ranks. They have the power to reshape the industry and create a more vibrant, innovative, and prosperous Web3 ecosystem.

Soccer superstars Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas are kicking off a $21 million Matchday venture, recently launched with support from their own venture capital firms. The mission? To bring Web3 Soccer Games to the masses.

Messi and Putellas, along with successful venture capitalists from firms like Greylock, HackVC, and Capricorn Investment Group, are investing in this new gaming startup to create a suite of blockchain-based soccer games. On board, too, as the founding global ambassador is Alexia Putellas—the Spanish soccer star and midfielder for FC Barcelona Femení.

The article continued with Derrick Ko, one of the co-founders of Matchday, expressing his belief that their games will be accessible to all while providing true ownership of digital items—currencies, such as NFTs, that signifying ownership over digital assets like in-game items, characters, and skins. Indeed, Matchday has already released a mini-game during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, moreover dishing out two million player cards to some 600,000 users who ventured into their world.

The venture comes on the heels of numerous genuine efforts in Web3 by soccer giants, with Sorare—the NFT fantasy soccer game—raising some $680 million, FIFA rolling out an NFT platform on Algorand, and a slew of teams issuing their own fan tokens. Fans can now put their money where Messi’s mouth is, investing in and owning collectibles that proudly represent their favorite teams or players, while also competing against others in a virtual arena.

Confirming the significance of the new venture and its move towards mass adoption, Upland recently entered into a licensing agreement with the Argentine Football Association to gamify fan engagement between Argentine soccer fans, teams, and players. The deal extends to the official Liga Profesional de Fútbol, with virtual offers including teams, clubs, players, tickets, highlights from games, and other exclusive items. Even more noteworthy, Upland also now host highlight videos from LPF matches as NFTs on its platform. (mclaneedgers.com)

Sorare—one of the biggest names in Web3 gaming—has continued to make strides this year, seemingly setting their own benchmarks. Formula 1, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, and even Cristiano Ronaldo have all joined in the global crypto and blockchain revolution, forming unique partnerships and making efforts to continuously build hype in the new realm of fantasy football.

The Matchday venture hopes to further that hype and drive the industry further, to a level where boasting and trading coveted digital assets become the norm. Superstars like Messi and Putellas, by putting their names and brand behind the project, are helping to attract attention and garner confidence in the venture.

Many have attempted to spark mass adoption in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, but perhaps the soccer giants, with the help of Messi, Putellas, and others, are the ones to propel it to a level it has never reached before.

Since the start of the pandemic in late 2020, the crypto market has demonstrated both an unprecedented surge and a significant sell off as investors scrambled to pinpoint what’s next for the virtual currency. While it followed the same ebb and flow as the broader stock market – climbing when prices rose, and dipping when the Federal Reserve began its aggressive monetary policy – this past year has further seen stronger bearishness for digital assets. Much of this has been due to the hard line the SEC has taken on the industry, the collapse of key crypto-friendly bank Silvergate, and the ongoing regulatory FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) that has kept many investors frozen on the sidelines until they see which way the winds of the market will turn.

The SEC has been taking much harder line on the crypto industry since the start of 2020, charging a brokerage and the exchange Gemini for offering unregistered securities, and fining the exchange Kraken a hefty $30 million for violations of securities laws. Binance, world’s biggest crypto exchange, is currently in the eye of the storm and is expecting fines to settle a series of regulatory probes. Then there’s Silvergate, the crypto-enabling bank which abruptly announced it will wind down operations amid rumors of bankruptcy, sending its stock plunging. The shift in investor sentiment that followed is evidenced by Bitcoin funding rates hitting their lowest level of the year while liquidity has stalled due to the overall deterioration of market conditions.

The decreasing sentiment may also be a reflection of the high profile collapse of major exchanges such as FTX late last year, where its ex-CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is now facing criminal charges for mismanagement and fraud. Coinbase Head of Research James Butterfill has pinpointed the problem on the mix oftightened regulatory action, and the lingering question of which entities the regulators will go after next.

While investors have been pulling out from crypto funds for fourth week in a row, leaving them in a state of limbo, traders understand that the “FUD” that surrounds regulatory uncertainty and banking within the crypto sector can make for an uncomfortable rollercoaster ride even as there is more room for upside in Bitcoin with a lack of overhead supply and a recent golden cross to help fuel price appreciation in the short-term. The weekly jobs report due out on Friday from the U.S. government is also certain to stoke up enough volatility for the market – should the Fed decide to raise interest rates even further, cryptocurrency prices are likely to take a big tear.

Crypto bearishness is evident, with investors concerned that the current regulatory crackdown and the collapse of major crypto-friendly banks like Silvergate will keep prices subdued. Not helped by the fact that 2020 ended with a suspect mega digital asset exchange FTX going bust, leaving cautionary tales of mismanagement and fraud. Amidst all this dense FUD, investors need to consider the macroeconomic headwinds on the horizon, especially with the upcoming US jobs report and the potential for further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve that could easily swing sentiment in the other direction. All eyes will be on the crypto market for the rest of 2023, particularly in the second half of the year for signs of stabilization and hopefully, a chance to hit new highs.

As the Financial Services and Markets Act looms over the United Kingdom, the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is in the midst of an ambitious reset, tackling complex issues that includes how to approach crypto regulation. The Financial Services and Markets Act, if passed, will grant the FCA new powers to regulate crypto businesses, but would not be able to stop the risks involved in investing in cryptocurrencies.

On March 8, FCA chair Ashley Alder, who was appointed this February, appeared before the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee and spoke about his view on the crypto sector. Alder told the committee that crypto businesses have the potential to engage in money laundering and were “deliberately evasive.” During his discussion, he highlighted that online casinos often bundle a “whole set of activities which are normally segregated,” creating “massively untoward risk.” Alder also agreed with former FCA chair Charles Randell, who previously wrote a letter to the committee calling crypto “speculative crypto” as “gambling pure and simple and it should be regulated and taxed as such.”

The FCA is currently registering crypto companies to enable them to comply with its anti-money laundering rules. Yet, warning consumers that this does not negate the risks of investing in crypto. According to the regulator, “41 crypto firms have gained registration and shows these standards are achievable.” They confirm this by telling investors that “they should be prepared to lose all their money when investing in crypto.”

It is worth noting that the most popular crypto exchange in the U. K., Binance, is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on suspicion of a breach of anti-money laundering rules. Alder explained that such investigations were important as they help “discipline the behaviour” of the crypto sector, which he believes had created “great transparency of fraudulent or illegal financial activity.”

The FCA is not just providing the registration service but has also urged firms to do “more to protect customers” by taking steps such as improving customer due diligence, setting up controls to prevent suspicious deposits and checking the source of funds. By doing all these, the FCA is ensuring that the Financial Services and Markets Act won’t be an excuse for crypto firms to start operating without any regulation or having customers without any protection.

When the Financial Services and Markets Act does eventually pass it will be interesting to see how the FCA will use its new powers to regulate the crypto sector. While the regulator’s warnings to consumers should always be taken into account, the FCA will hopefully use these powers to ensure the crypto industry is regulated and tax compliant – offering an environment that both protects customers and promotes responsible growth and innovation.

DeFi protocol Lido Finance has caught the attention of the crypto community once again, this time with its intention to sunset liquid staking on the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems. On Tuesday, Lido’s partner and decentralized finance applications developer firm, MixBytes, proposed the cessation to take effect from August 1, 2023.

The proposal, written by MixBytes’ Chief Product Officer Kosta Zherebtsov, cited a number of challenges facing the protocol, including market conditions, protocol growth, and limited capacity with regard to priority alignment. Nevertheless, despite the imminent change, Lido has successfully become the world’s largest DeFi protocol, with roughly $9 billion worth of digital assets locked within the platform.

This growth can be attributed to the popularity of yield-earning strategies through crypto-based staking. Essentially, crypto holders can lock up their tokens and delegate them to secure proof-of-stake blockchains in exchange for a reward. With liquid staking, this process can be conducted without sacrificing all of one’s capital, as investors can maintain liquidity in the form of derivatives.

Lido’s proposed timeline would have investors stop investing in DOT and KSM for liquid staking by March 15, with unstaking tokens to take place automatically in June. If this proposal takes effect, it would affect over $25 million worth of assets, according to DefiLlama. Before then, however, the protocol has recently introduced its V2 update, focusing on staking Router Smart Contracts to modularize node operator registries and test withdrawals of ETH.

The recent news of the protocol’s upgrade was met with overwhelming excitement, with the price of the LDO token increasing by 15% at press time. Additionally, following the transition of Ethereum’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake back in September, 2021, liquid staking has boomed on platforms such as Polygon and Solana.

On Polygon, MATIC stakers can earn annual yields of between 6.4%-9.55% via Lido, ClayStack, Ankr, and Stader. The protocol enjoys the highest volume of staked MATIC, with over 73 million MATIC locked. On Solana, over 2.4 million SOL has been staked on Lido for up to 6.43% in returns.

In regard to DOT and KSM, 2.2 million DOT has been staked on Lido, while the platform also accounts for 84,000 KSM. Likewise, Karura, the main DeFi hub for Polkadot’s Kusama network, has 192,000 KSM staked in its protocol.

Going forward, Lido Finance’s liquid staking shake-up on Polkadot and Kusama may result in a shift in the DeFi sector in terms of yield-earning strategies. For the time being, close monitoring of the protocol’s proposals and updates will be required in order to ensure that investors make informed decisions regarding staking their digital assets.

Everyone on the lookout for high yields knows they come with a certain level of risk. Yield farming, a form of investing with cryptocurrency, has recently seen a surge in popularity, with some investors seeking annualized returns as high as 21%. (www.christophechoo.com) Conic Finance has been at the forefront of this push, recently launching a tool that can provide users with high rewards and capital gains with relative ease.

The entire cryptocurrency market has had a volatile ride in recent times, with Bitcoin falling to it’s lowest in nearly a month while other tokens have experienced similar declines. Yet, in spite of the turbulence and doubt from observers, Conic has attracted an impressive $60 million in under a week since its launch.

The tool, called omnipools, works by pooling multiple tokens in order to gain exposure to the Curve Ecosystem, where users can lock in rewards and increase their stake yields. Curve uses smart contracts to offer low fees, low slippage and hands out rewards in the form of its own tokens (CRV), which can also be used in voting and governance. Of the three pool options available, the USDC pool has attracted the most funding at over $50 million, with FRAX and DAI trailing at $7 million and $5 million respectively.

The omnipools are tied to a native token, conic (CNC), which provides holders a way to participate in Conic Governance and control how liquidity is allocated across the Curve pools. The current price for CNC is set at $8, with a market capitalization of $32 million, but liquidity providers stand to benefit from additional airdrops and fees if they buy and lock up the token.

The entry of Conic into the yield farming pool appears to be providing traders with an opportunity to take advantage of higher returns without locking their tokens up for long periods, which is the norm in most other platforms. Although the trade off is certain risk, the allure of 21% annualized yields has been driving demand with over $60 million in merely a week.

However, this is not to say investors should take such promises without a pinch of salt. China’s decentralized layer 1 blockchain Conflux has demonstrated that there is much at stake, with the success of its proxy token CFX linked to digital collectibles and trading of its tokens not allowed in the country. This serves as a reminder of the inherent risk associated with the ever-evolving yield farming cryptocurrency markets.

Yield farming is still a relatively new concept and there is much to consider before jumping in, not least its legality in certain countries. Nevertheless, Conic’s arrival provides an exciting way for investors to explore the possibilities of high yield investments. It remains to be seen whether the platform can live up to its promise of 21% yields, but one thing is for sure – the potential rewards are vast and could be a great incentive for cryptocurrency traders to put in the hard work.

Astar Network, a leading parachain and blockchain innovation hub of Polkadot, is taking Shibuya City to the next level with the signing of a basic agreement to nurture the development of Web3 strategy in Tokyo. The partnership marks the first collaboration between a Japanese blockchain firm and one of the hottest tech hubs in the city.

Touted as Japan’s Silicon Valley, the special ward is home to two of the world’s busiest railway stations and a world-famous fashion district. It is also the location for the Japanese arm of the Google headquarters. The new partnership with Astar will help launch educational programs and hackathons to drive the growth of Web3 within the city.

The CEO of Astar Foundation, Sota Watanabe, commented on the collaboration saying, “We’re honored to have opened our office in this tech hub and to have signed a basic agreement with the city to utilise web3.”

Since 2019, Astar Network has been playing an imperative role in fostering the growth of the Web3 space in Japan. To promote the adoption of Web3, the platform hosts educational sessions for developers and business leaders to get fresher insights into the expanding sect.

The recent collaboration with Sony Network Communications is designed to offer an incubation program that targets projects focusing on the utility of NFTs and DAOs. As part of the program, participants will get to engage in educational sessions with venture capital firms such as Fenbushi Capital, Dragonfly, and Alchemy Ventures to name a few. Moreover, Sony Network will also take charge of tech support, resources, and financial assistance for the approved projects.

Apart from that, the company recently launched its XVM functionality on the public testnet Shibuya. The feature allows the connection of different project’s smart contract environments, further expanding the development of complex applications with more use cases.

The Polkadot ecosystem’s parachain also partnered with the blockchain entity Alchemy last summer to ramp up the development of decentralized finance. On this note, Sota Watanabe mentioned, “ We hope to share the knowledge and resources of both organisations to provide value to the participants selected for the program and create new use cases and projects.”

The recently announced Web3 Hackathon by Toyota Motor Corporation that is sponsored by Astar Network is yet another step towards fostering the growth of the Web3 space in the country. Developers from around the world can join the event and create an intra-company DAO support tool on the Astar Network to simplify the team building process and voting procedure. If the program proves successful, Toyota employees will be actively interacting daily with the Astar platform. (https://www.redmanpowerchair.com)

With its collaboration with Shibuya and other forward-thinking firms like Sony and Toyota, Astar’s mission to accelerate the growth of Web3 in Japan is already well under way. This partnership is a unique opportunity for developers worldwide to explore and understand Web3 technology and put their skills to good use.

Undoubtedly, the contribution from Astar Network in the Web3 space will usher in a new wave of digital innovation, paving the path for tomorrow’s digital businesses.

Once derided and laughed off as a failed startup, Open Exchange (OPNX) has proved the skeptics wrong and hit their fundraising goal of $25 million. With the backing of mystery benefactors, former Crypto CEOs of defunct businesses, and rebranded tokens, OPNX looks poised to be the next wave of the crypto wave.

Founded by Su Zhu and Kyle Davies of the now defunct Three Arrows Capital (3AC) hedge fund, as well as Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam – formerly of CoinFLEX – OPNX’s mission statement is deceptively simple: Enable people to trade bankruptcy claims of once fallen exchanges and Crypto firms.
In an effort to make these claims more fungible, the exchange is tokenizing the claims and plans to issue them on the order book exchange. These tokens will be unavailable to American citizens, as OPNX has implemented a strict KYC policy to ensure that no U.S. citizen can access them.
To incentivize liquidity, OPNX is setting up a system where 20% of their revenue is used to buy and burn FLEX tokens. This means that the FLEX token will be rebranded 1:1 with a new token – much like the tokens AAVE/LEND – and used to pay fees.

As part of their path to launch, OPNX had to acquire assets from CoinFLEX. On Tuesday, the Seychelles Court approved CoinFLEX’s restructuring plan, allowing OPNX to acquire all assets from CoinFLEX – including its people, tech, and tokens. Among these assets is the native CoinFLEX token – FLEX – which it will be using as its main token for fees. Currently, there are 100 million FLEX tokens in circulation and 2 million of these have already been burned through fees.

In addition to acquiring the assets of CoinFLEX, OPNX is allegedly planning a lawsuit against Genesis and Grayscale in order to maximize the value of the bankruptcy estate. This follows similar actions from Alameda, which sued Grayscale on Monday for denying customers the ability to redeem their shares for Bitcoin or Ethereum.

It appears that OPNX is not just about new beginnings for Crypto’s fallen heroes. Many also view it as a way to create a global supercycle and further the growth of DeFi and CeFi markets. This can be seen in the vision of OPNX’s founders, which is to create an ideal “combo of cefi + defi”.

In order to do this, they plan to expand beyond the scope of claims trading and derivatives, and build a transparent platform to act as a fully decentralized custodian. This platform will facilitate trading in stocks and foreign exchange while only needing to abide by KYC/AML regulations.

Social media has become more involved in the Crypto world as lawsuits against famous Crypto CEOs become more common. For example, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO, faces eight criminal charges related to the misappropriation of FTX customer funds and is currently banned from using encrypted messaging services to tamper with witnesses in an ongoing case against him.

These stories of resurrection are truly captivating. It is clear that the spirit of collaboration and innovation that originally drove the Crypto industry still remains alive and well. With the launch of OPNX and the revival of FLEX tokens, we can look forward to many other exciting Crypto projects and new beginnings.
Perhaps, it is finally the time for Crypto CEOs, revived tokens and Genesis-Grayscale busting moves to have their moment of glory!