Crypto companies are reversing course on sports sponsorships — and European soccer’s governing body is just the latest victim.
Crypto.com backed out of a five-year sponsorship deal worth $100.6 million annually for the UEFA Champions League this summer.
A drop of over $2 trillion in value in the crypto markets from November to June, plus another major hit last week, has caused a course correction among crypto exchanges.
- Rival crypto exchange FTX reportedly pulled out of a jersey patch deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Another crypto company backed off a deal with the Washington Wizards.
- The bankruptcy of crypto exchange Voyager left a deal with the NWSL — one of the largest in the league’s history — in limbo. Voyager was also a partner of the Dallas Mavericks.
Crypto’s Big Sports Play
The canceled transactions represent a reversal on what had been the biggest emerging trend in sports deals: Crypto companies were spending billions of dollars on sports sponsorships.
The category rocketed to the NBA’s second-largest sponsorship category in the 2021-22 season, after being 43rd the previous year.
Crypto.com and FTX each made a major splash with an arena naming rights deal, with the former landing the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks in a 20-year, $700 million deal, and FTX snaring the Miami Heat’s arena for 19 years for $135 million.
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In the hunt to build a successful Web3 gaming infrastructure, many companies are taking advantage of fast-developing blockchain technology in novel and creative ways. One of the leaders in this is Web3Games, which earlier this year secured $4M in funding to launch its integrated platform for blockchain gaming.
Established in June 2021, Web3Games demonstrated its bona fides by working with Alibaba to complete their so-far only NFT issuance through one of their brands (See details). Building on this success, and having secured the necessary funding, Web3Games will soon launch its IDO on DaoMaker.
According to its founder, Web3Games’ vision is to “Bring back the digital ownership of in-game items to players”.
“I’m also a gamer and understand the problems of traditional gaming. A lot of games will remove all player information after the game is shut down. Those are all gamers’ memories and achievements. That makes me realize the importance of digital ownership.” – KK Chen
By tapping into the potential of NFTs and DeFi, Web3Games offers a next-gen gaming ecosystem where players and developers can take ownership of their gameplay. The project provides a number of solutions – such as blockchain networks, development frameworks, and tools that allow developers to manage and players to play their own games.
Web3 Game Development
One of the primary challenges in creating this ecosystem is providing Web2 developers with the necessary infrastructure to adapt to Web3. Many Web2 developers do not have experience in Web3, an obstacle which can make the changeover seem difficult.
Web3Games helps developers overcome this hurdle with their API-as-a-service Protocol, specifically built to help Web2 gaming companies seamlessly integrate into the blockchain. The Protocol allows developers to conveniently access and distribute on-chain assets like NFTs and game tokens, and provides high efficiency and low cost for games integrated on Web3. Through the Web3Games Protocol, game developers are given the freedom to access and distribute blockchain assets, encouraging game studios without Web3 experience to make the jump by massively simplifying the process.
Attracting Gamers to a Web3 World
Beyond attracting developers, Web3 Gaming is also working hard to attract players. Web3Games has developed its Studios as a hub to foster up-and-coming blockchain games and digital culture by attracting developers who’ve worked on successes like Call of Duty, Diablo, and more. Their experience and talent are seen as a key draw for new players.
Web3Games Studios is set to launch over 6 games in 2022, including a Match-3 battle game– CryptoEmpire; a poker NFT game– W3POKER; a tower defence game– Guardians of Arcanum; and a web3 music game –DEBEATS. The variety of genres and gameplay is designed to suit all different kinds of players, expanding the user base.
In addition to the record of the developers working in the Web3Games Studios, the Portal also aims to draw in new players by serving as the Web3 version of Steam – a one-stop-shop where gamers can share, discuss, upvote projects, and easily access games produced by Web3Games studios and other gaming companies.
On the Portal, the players’ profile – their Player ID – is connected with users’ emails, social media, and wallets in various chain networks. Gamers can log in via email and don’t have to import private keys. This offers more convenience and security, and a straightforward way for users to access their virtual assets. Both ease of access for gamers and the launch of a wide variety of games are designed to encourage players to join the Web3 revolution.
A Web3 Gaming Ecosystem
The Web3Games platform is designed for playing, creating, developing, and “all things blockchain gaming.” Web3Games is based around 4 core products: Protocol, Portal, Studios and Chain;
Protocol is designed for developers to use in conjunction with blockchain technology, and Studios offers further support and collaboration with game developers to create streams of immersive blockchain games. The games are distributed and accessed by players through the Portal, which also provides a setting for token and NFT sales. Web3Games proprietary Chain is the backbone of the platform, a substrate-based solution for a faster, more secure, blockchain gaming experience.
Web3Games is dedicated to lowering barriers for entry into the Web3 world, simplifying blockchain integration for developers and attracting gamers with first-rate products. Web3Games is delivering on the promise of increased accessibility and convenience offered by Web3 by creating a full gaming ecosystem, a hub and support system for both players and creators.
About Web3Games
Web3Games is an integrated blockchain gaming ecosystem that includes 4 core products: Portal, Protocol, Studios, and Chain.
We aim to help traditional game developers integrate their gaming products with blockchain, making gaming assets decentralized and permissionless, and bringing back the digital ownership of in-game items to players.
Aada Finance, a crypto assets lending platform, announces the imminent launch of the Aada Finance V1 lending and borrowing protocol on the Cardano mainnet. The release is scheduled for Sept. 13, making Aada V1 the first lending and borrowing protocol to launch on the Cardano mainnet.
Aada V1 leverages the first-mover advantage
After months of public testnet, Aada Finance is finally ready to deploy its eagerly anticipated app. The release brings lending and borrowing to Cardano, introducing decentralized finance (DeFi) primitives to the network for the first time. The event marks a significant milestone in the blockchain’s development, which will surely benefit the entire ecosystem.
Aada Finance plans to launch in anticipation of the Vasil hard fork, which will update the Cardano network. The team aims to leverage the first-mover advantage thanks to its V1 protocol’s peer-to-peer approach. While it provides a straightforward and efficient solution, the smart contract concept will mitigate future risks associated with hard fork migration.
A successful external audit to ensure high-level protocol security
A crucial aspect of the protocol’s security was the external audit. It was carried out by Vacuumlabs, a crypto and fintech company and a subset of WingRiders with extensive audit experience. Some of their accomplishments include finding security flaws in two top 10 cryptocurrencies and developing security guidelines for a renowned hardware wallet.
The Vaccumlabs’ thorough code review was a necessary step to ensure robust and risk-free smart contract implementation before the mainnet launch. It also aligned with Aada Finance’s product-first approach, which will allow users to lend and borrow safely and seamlessly without putting their funds at risk.
About Aada Finance
Aada Finance is a fully decentralized lending and borrowing protocol built on the Cardano blockchain. Its smart contracts allow users to lend and borrow assets in a peer-to-peer manner using the unique nonfungible token bond strategy.
Other unique features introduced by the platform are multi-asset lending and borrowing and the Aada 3-Node Liquidation Oracle. The latter plays an essential role in enabling lenders to liquidate their loans in the event of rapid loan health factor downfall.
The upcoming Aada Finance release culminates several months of work and development. The team acknowledges and is thankful for the community’s patience and support during the project’s early stages. To this end, it pledges to continue to follow its core principles of community-centric commitment and a build-first approach to Cardano DeFi.
For more information about Aada Finance and the Aada Finance V1 app, please follow the links below:
Website | Application | Twitter | Telegram | Medium | GitBook | GitHub | Discord
The largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), were trading with gains on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, today’s most trending crypto was Ethereum, for the second consecutive day in a row.
The global crypto market capitalisation went up by 1.77 per cent to $1.12 trillion as of 8.50 am. The global crypto volume was up by 71.22 per cent to $70.6 billion, according to Coinmarketcap data.
The trading volume in the decentralised finance coins section is about $9.6 billion or 13.59 per cent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins is $67.37 billion or about 95.42 per cent of the total crypto market volume in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin (BTC)
As of 8.50 am, Bitcoin rose 2.26 per cent to $23,779.54 and currently commands a 40.49 per cent dominance in the crypto market.
Regarding price analysis, BTC started its upward journey sometime around 11 AM on August 8 and reached a high of $24,203.69 around 5 PM. However, the price could not sustain and fell. But its trading volume jumped by 80.62 per cent at $28,967,092,187.
Ethereum (ETH)
The price of Ethereum this morning was $1,774.71 and it was up by 3.66 per cent.
Regarding price analysis, ETH saw strong support. Although prices fell slightly in the negative territory on August 8 at $1,711 around 10 AM but sometime after 1.49 PM, ETH started inching upwards and for the next two hours it kept on touching new highs. The highest price ETH touched was $1,806.82.
ETH’s trading volume jumped by 72.08 per cent at $17,219,473,899.
Other Altcoins
Solana’s price today was up by 1.77 per cent at $42.19.
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FMFW.io (“Free the Money, Free the World”) Exchange is thrilled to announce its third-anniversary celebration with an official NEARStarter partnership announcement and series of campaigns that will positively impact and expand the Near and FMFW.io ecosystems.
In April, the FMFW.io team announced the development of a tokenized incubator and a launchpad on the Near blockchain — NEARStarter. NEARStarter is a launchpad component of FMFW.io’s incubation, acceleration and funding system for projects deploying on the Near Protocol. The launchpad will provide its community access to the latest and greatest projects launched on Near and Aurora.
NEARStarter’s journey was ignited by a $50,000 grant offered by the Near Foundation Grant Program. Ever since, NEARStarter has gained more than 10,000 members, welcomed 10 international Near guilds, and entered into strategic partnerships with companies, such as Atocha Protocol, Near Tinker Union, Tonic DEX, Few and Far, Tracer and others.
FMFW.io celebrates its third anniversary joined by a select group of notable partners including Bantu Blockchain Foundation, FILMCOIN, Wallex, Tune.FM and Trade The Chain, so watch out for their upcoming AMAs, podcasts, giveaways, and competitions in the coming weeks across all FMFW.io channels.
The FMFW.io community is 1.2 million members and counting worldwide. The exchange offers 500+ spot trading pairs across five base currencies, as well as a wide variety of markets and instruments to fulfill the needs of every trader. With its high liquidity, FMFW.io offers up to 12x leverage for margin trading and up to 100x for futures trading. Currently, the exchange offers over 90 margin pairs and 20 perpetual futures contracts.
“I’m thrilled and proud of what our entire FMFW.io team has been able to accomplish in these past three years, which have been interesting, to say the least. I’d like to thank our partners, the community, and everyone who continues to support and work with us. We are super excited, and there’s lots more to come, so watch this space.” – Danish Chaudhry, CEO of FMFW.io
Enter the epic NEARStarter contest!
NEARStarter will kick off FMFW.io’s birthday celebrations in a big way: a contest where community members can win exclusive and limited-edition NEARStarter x FMFW.io merchandise and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), trading discounts, tier access, VIP perks and more! You can learn more about the NEARStarter x FMFW.io contest here.
NFT Vicious Fishes Collection
Vicious Fishes is NEARStarter’s exclusive NFT collection. Each of the initially released NFT beasts will grant its holder an allocation of NEARStarter native token NSTART equal to the listing price of each NFT.
For more information on the Vicious Fishes Collection, please check further details here.
FMFW.io Anniversary competitions
FMFW.io thanks its loyal partners for coming together and taking part in the anniversary activities, including the launch of brand new features, trading competitions, NFT and merchandise giveaways and AMAs across twitter, telegram and discord.
Traders and crypto enthusiasts will be able to compete for prizes up to $100,000 equivalent in tokens. To make it all sweeter, FMFW.io offers new traders a whopping 70% discount on trading fees.
Join FMFW.io now and trade with 70% OFF on trading fees.
Take a closer look at all the action that will happen during FMFW.io’s three-year anniversary, including some incredible prizes to be won: click here.
Referral Program
Traders and crypto enthusiasts can take advantage of the anniversary activities by inviting their friends to join FMFW.io Exchange and earn together. Learn more about how you and your friends can make the most out of the FMFW.io three-year anniversary here.
About FMFW.io
The mission of FMFW.io is to empower people worldwide to trade cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence, from first-time traders to advanced trading professionals. With high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support and dozens of trading pairs complemented with a high level of security, it offers an easy to use and robust platform for trading cryptocurrency.
Telegram | Twitter | Blog | Website
About NEARStarter
NEARStarter is a next-generation launchpad and tokenized incubator with full capabilities and resources to support the world’s best decentralized finance and Web3 entrepreneurs to hyper-scale and launch their projects on the Near blockchain.
Telegram | Discord | Twitter | Blog | Website
The women behind Web3 Summit announced today that Wendy O, who runs The O Show on YouTube and Yu-Kai Chou, author of Octalysis and founder of MetaBlox, will be the keynote speakers at the first Web3 community event to headline Art Basel in Miami from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, 2022.
Among the 5,000 attendees, journalists and influencers from Cointelegraph, Entrepreneur, and Crypto Slate will be in attendance. A press room will also be available for speakers and exhibitors to make announcements and take interviews. This is one of the largest community events to headline Art Basel, with JChains as MC. Doors open at 9:30 am on Nov. 30 and close at 5:30 pm on Dec. 1, 2022.
Web3 Summit founder Kimberli Bruce said “Our goal is to promote and support women in Web3, and by doing so, we hope to bring more balance between women and men, not just in Web3 but as a whole. Our planet is off balance, but equilibrium begins with us, then everything else around us comes together.
In addition, women really need to be recognized for the difference they make and everything they inadvertently bring to the table. To quote Josh Stern, ‘behind every successful man is a woman.’”
About Web3 Summit
The Web3 Summit aspires to spread the power of optimism. We strive to ensure everyone who attends our event walks away feeling they have become a part of a great community, having gained knowledge to grow as better people, in business and in our personal lives. We value and honor each and every individual’s contribution and support to making this event become a reality.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine accused MicroStrategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor of evading $25 million in district taxes in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit also names MicroStrategy as a defendant. Racine alleges the company conspired to help Saylor evade the taxes. The AG’s office said it’s seeking to recover a total sum of over $100 million in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Shares of MicroStrategy were down more than 6% Wednesday afternoon on the news. Saylor, who oversaw the company’s push into bitcoin, stepped down as CEO earlier this month. Under his leadership, MicroStrategy spent close to $4 billion acquiring bitcoin at an average price of $30,700, and he has said he considers the company’s stock a sort of bitcoin ETF.
Saylor allegedly claimed to reside in Virginia or Florida, which have lower or no personal income tax rates, while actually living in several different homes around D.C., including a penthouse apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood or on his yacht on the Georgetown waterfront or Potomac River when the apartment was undergoing renovations, according to the lawsuit. The suit includes several screenshots of posts that appear to be from Saylor’s Facebook page dating back several years and referencing the view from his “Georgetown balcony” and discussing his “home” while tagging Washington, D.C.
MicroStrategy allegedly “had detailed information confirming that Saylor was in fact a DC resident,” according to a press release, but it chose to withhold that information.
In a statement, MicroStrategy said, “The case is a personal tax matter involving Mr. Saylor. The Company was not responsible for his day-to-day affairs and did not oversee his individual tax responsibilities. Nor did the Company conspire with Mr. Saylor in the discharge of his personal tax responsibilities. The District of Columbia’s claims against the Company are false and we will defend aggressively against this overreach.”
Around 2014, the AG’s office claims in the lawsuit, MicroStrategy’s then-chief financial officer confronted Saylor about his alleged tax evasion being a potential liability for the company. Saylor and MicroStrategy ended up reaching an agreement where Saylor’s salary would be reduced to a nominal $1, the lawsuit claims, in order to reduce the risk authorities would discover the alleged scheme. Still, the AG alleges, Saylor continued to benefit from “fringe benefits” with a “high cash value,” such as use of the company plane.
“A decade ago, I bought an historic house in Miami Beach and moved my home there from Virginia,” Saylor said in a statement. “Although MicroStrategy is based in Virginia, Florida is where I live, vote, and have reported for jury duty, and it is at the center of my personal and family life. I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia, and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts.”
The suit is the first to be brought under a recently passed law called the False Claims Act, according to Racine’s office. The district law incentivizes whistleblowers to report tax fraud and allows the court to impose penalties up to three times the amount of the evaded taxes, according to the AG’s office.
The district suit follows a separate complaint filed by whistleblowers against Saylor in April 2021, accusing him of failing to pay income taxes from 2014 through 2020. The complaint was filed under seal but made public on Wednesday.
The AG’s office said it independently investigated the whistleblower case and found MicroStrategy had filed inaccurate W-2s with his Florida-based address and had failed to withhold taxes allegedly owed to the district. The new lawsuit alleges Saylor failed to pay income tax he owed to the district starting in 2005.
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Although the value of bitcoin has fallen by over 60% from its record highs as of August 2022, this “crypto winter” isn’t reducing interest in purchasing digital currency.
About 56% of consumers say they’re at least somewhat interested in buying cryptocurrency within the next year, according to PYMNTS and BitPay’s August “Paying with Cryptocurrency” survey.
Nearly 42% of millennials say they are either very or extremely likely to buy crypto in the next year. For Gen Z, that number drops to about 26%.
What’s behind the continued fascination with crypto? While nearly 50% of respondents are motivated by the possibility of making money from their crypto investments, about 15% of respondents say the “fear of missing out” is driving their decision.
“History has shown us that the market has defied all odds even during downward periods, so investors remain positive about the ability of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to remain resilient,” says Iyandra Smith-Bryan, chief operating officer of Quantfury, a global broker-dealer that provides exchange spot prices on global and crypto exchanges.
Additionally, belief in the underlying blockchain technology continues to fuel investors’ optimism about the adoption of cryptocurrency in the future, Smith-Bryan says.
Investors also tend to see the silver lining to crypto winters. “It eliminates the weaker players, leaving the best players on the field; giving those best players an opportunity to concentrate on advancements in technology, product development, and heightening support and service,” Smith-Bryan adds.
While plenty of people hope to earn a profit from their crypto holdings, many want to be able to use it to make purchases too.
Around 40% of 18 to 35-year-olds plan to use crypto to pay for goods and services this year, according to Checkout.com’s “Demystifying Crypto” report.
As the process of using crypto to make purchases becomes more seamless, “we will see hockey stick-like growth — much like the speed of growth of the internet,” says Max Rothman, head of crypto and digital assets at Checkout.com.
Currently, the fluctuations in the value of many forms of cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ether, make it challenging to use as a payment method.
However, stablecoins, which is cryptocurrency that’s value is pegged to the price of another asset such as gold, can present both consumers and retailers with the price stability they’re seeking, Rothman says.
Stablecoins “offer all the benefits of a digital asset — transparency, decentralized data and immediate availability of funds — but are better able to withstand the volatility of markets,” Rothman says.
Although interest in crypto remains high, there are real risks that should be taken into account.
Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile digital asset that is subject to erratic fluctuations in value. There are no guarantees of earning a profit, which is why experts recommend only investing as much money as you’re willing to potentially lose.
Additionally, cyber thieves can sometimes hack the virtual wallets that store your crypto and steal your funds, so it’s important to be extra diligent about security.
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The premier crypto event World Blockchain Expo announced Dubai as its next destination, with the event to be held on Oct. 15, 2022. History is repeating itself again, but this iteration of the event will be in Dubai.
The World Blockchain Expo will bring an opportunity for blockchain business owners, startups and individuals who are thinking about moving their businesses forward onto the blockchain by means of funding opportunities and expert guidance.
The World Blockchain Expo Dubai 2022 (WBE) will feature technology leaders and concept advocates within the blockchain industry. The event’s organizers recently announced over-subscription in terms of sponsors and investors, which has exceeded expectations. The event now anticipates attracting over 30 sponsors.
In addition to sponsor and investor interest, WBE has managed to attract some industry heavyweights in terms of speakers like Metaverse speaker and NFT tech founder Mario Nawfal, Huobi Global business development manager Michela Silvestri, Luna PR founder and CEO Nikita Sachdev and Yard Hub CEO Yaroslav Shakula.
The list continues to grow in every sense, as the organizers have indicated that they are in talks with many more speakers. With all these ingredients in place, World Blockchain Expo should be on the to-do list of every fintech professional or those looking to start their Web3 path.
“It is imperative for all blockchain and technology enthusiasts to have platforms for knowledge-sharing and discussion of adoption strategies, and The World Blockchain Expo Dubai 2022 is an event that offers just that. I am delighted to be a part of an event that promises to be a conduit in the development of this global tech phenomenon,” said the operational manager of World Blockchain Expo.
“Events of this nature are of critical importance in exploring the widespread utility of blockchain, and I stress that all like-minded individuals put it on their To-Do list,” he added.
Innovators from this emerging tech environment will be traveling from countries worldwide including the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Russia, Malaysia and India.
Attendees can expect an exciting program and insights from visionary speakers working with blockchain, participation in roundtable discussions and networking sessions to connect with key industry leaders and investors, and facilitated business meetings.
The event is open for registration, with early bird tickets available until Oct. 13.
The leading digital asset and cryptocurrency trading platform MEXC firstly is introducing a 0 maker fee rate offering for all spot traders from August 31. The 0 maker fee policy applies to all spot trading pairs on MEXC. This marks a ground-breaking level of user experience that has been brought to the crypto space for all traders.
For now, reports show that MEXC reaches a spot daily trading volume of $1.6 billion, and more than 1,500 trading pairs are listed on MEXC, according to CoinMarketCap. While the 0 maker fee policy is introduced, more than 7 million users worldwide will benefit from the promotion in every single spot trading activity.
With the value of “users first, service foremost,” MEXC keeps making efforts and remains competitive regarding the user experience in the ever-changing cryptocurrency market since being founded in 2018. Especially over the past months, the MEXC team has successfully pushed the boundaries. In April, MEXC firstly introduced its NFT Index product to help people around the world take part in nonfungible tokens (NFTs) more affordably. In August, MEXC introduced MX/USDT perpetual trading and then launched a trade mining feature on the platform, with more still to come.
MEXC Global vice president Andrew Weiner commented, “As the first exchange in the industry to announce zero maker fees for all spot trading pairs, MEXC continues to win support and trust from our user community every time the market changes. We are dedicated to making the user experience more effortless and seamless.”
The promotion opens on Aug. 31 at 15:00 (UTC) until further notice. For more details, please stay tuned to the MEXC website for official announcements.
About MEXC
MEXC is the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, providing one-stop cryptocurrency trading services for spot, exchange-traded funds, futures, staking, NFT Index, etc., and serving more than 7 million users worldwide.
The core team has a solid background in traditional finance and has professional financial product logic and technical security guarantees in terms of cryptocurrency products and services. In October 2021, MEXC Global won the title of “Best Cryptocurrency Exchange in Asia.”
Currently, it supports the trading of more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies and is the trading platform with the fastest launch speed for new projects and the most tradable categories. Visit the website and blog for more information and follow MEXC Global and MEXC Research.