FZE, a subsidiary of crypto exchange FTX, has been awarded Dubai’s first Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license, allowing full operation of the exchange in the region.
Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued the operating license to FZE under the MVP program, which according to Helal Saeed Almarri, the director general of Dubai WTC Authority, is designed for secure and sustainable growth in Dubai. For now, the FTX FZE exchange’s operations are in the test phase and will be focused on providing various crypto services.
According to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the newly licensed exchange will operate under a model incorporating regulatory oversight and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliance controls catering to Tier 1 international financial markets. In addition, Almarri revealed that the exchange’s operations will be used as a regulatory trial for future commercial services using virtual assets.
“The MVP Phase, exclusive to select, responsible international players like FTX, will allow VARA to prudently structure guidelines and risk mitigation levers for secure commercial operations,” said Almarri.
With the license, FTX FZE has been approved to deploy regulated crypto derivatives products and trading services to qualified institutional investors. In addition, the exchange can also act as a clearing house, operate a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, and provide custodial services across the region.
Back in March 2022, FTX was the first to receive Dubai’s virtual asset exchange (VAX) license soon after the regulators signed off the virtual assets law and established the Dubai VARA. Crypto exchange OKX also received a provisional license from Dubai’s regulatory authorities to provide additional services to local investors and financial services providers.
Dubai, and the rest of the UAE, have been taking steps towards cryptocurrency adoption at a fast pace this year. The emirates went a step further on its bet for innovation earlier this year with the launch of Dubai Metaverse Strategy.
Follow Crypto Intelligence on Google News to never miss a story
US crypto exchange FTX is continuing to acquire and expand in the crypto space, with reports emerging that the exchange is in talks to acquire Bithumb. The exchange has also backed a slew of crypto firms, including the likes of Voyager Digital and BlockFi.
Rumoured Bithumb Acquisition
According to several reports, FTX is in talks to acquire South Korea’s second-largest exchange, Bithumb. The companies have reportedly been in talks for the past few months, sources close to the matter revealed. The source declined to come on record due to the confidential nature of the dealings. While FTX has not commented on the matter so far, A spokesperson from Bithumb stated that they could not comment on anything at this stage.
While there is no official confirmation, if the deal is successful, the Sam Bankman-Fried-led exchange could gain a strong foothold in one of the most important markets in the crypto ecosystem.
Acquisition Spree Despite Crypto Downturn
Sam Bankman-Fried, in an earlier interview, had stated that he plans to spend billions on the acquisition of other firms in the crypto space. The crypto exchange is reportedly looking to raise further funds after spending significantly during the bear market. The company had carried out significant acquisitions and bailouts, which were a result of the bear market spawned by the collapse of the UST.
Both FTX and FTX.US are looking to raise funds at the same $32 billion valuation that was made in January 2022 for the primary platform and $8 billion for its American subsidy. Both arms of the exchange have already raised $400 million each.
Sam Bankman-Fried also revealed that FTX had set aside a few billion dollars to continue supporting crypto projects if their collapse could have a significant impact and destabilize the crypto industry. However, he stated that he believed the worst of the liquidity crunch and bear market was over and that things could get better from here on.
He also stated that he believed the current crypto downturn is good for the industry in the long term since it has eliminated the majority of leverage in the industry.
“I think what we’ve seen so far might be healthy. You know to the extent that what it is doing is flushing out some of the leverage that had to get flushed out. Flushing out some of the players that just were not capitalized well enough, you know. I think that could ultimately end up being moderately healthy for markets.”
Bithumb’s Market Share In South Korea
Upbit dominates the crypto market in South Korea. However, Bithumb is in a relatively strong position, holding the second largest market share among crypto exchanges in the country at 13%. The exchange was founded in 2014, has a daily trading volume of $569 million, and supports over 188 coins and 290 trading pairs.
However, Bithumb’s executives are also facing criminal charges for fraud to the tune of 100 billion won. The lawsuit resulted in the indictment of several company executives, including the exchange owner.
Follow Crypto Intelligence on Google News to never miss a story
The TRON DAO Reserve (TDR) has officially answered some frequently asked questions from the community about USDD, the decentralized over-collateralized stablecoin on TRON.
The USDD stablecoin is currently the most over-collateralized stablecoin across the entire cryptocurrency market. The core mission of USDD is to provide the blockchain world with a decentralized cryptocurrency of stable value. USDD represents true decentralization across the stablecoin market. Other stablecoins such as USDC or USDT are pegged to a central platform’s U.S. dollar (USD) reserves. By nature, the fundamentals of USDC and USDT are considered centralized stablecoins with strict supervision by regulators worldwide.
Current market conditions have brought fears of assets being subject to liquidation and freezings without the consent of the holders. USDD overcomes these fears from multiple different angles. Whitelisted institutions of the TRON DAO Reserve (TDR) are authorized to mint USDD.
The value of USDD is supported by the over-collateralization of highly liquid crypto assets consisting of, but not limited to, BTC, USDT, USDC, and TRX. This allows USDD to be free from centralized intermediaries so users do not have to worry about their assets being frozen with or without notice. This enables holders of USDD to truly have full ownership of their stablecoin.
Stability is an important aspect of a successful stablecoin. Centralized stablecoins such as USDC and USDT are bound by regulators to maintain a 1:1 reserve ratio to the USD. If the centralized authorities of these stablecoins are unable to meet their reserve requirements, this can cause the centralized stablecoins to lose its 1:1 USD peg. USDD is immune to such issues due to its decentralized nature. USDD is not designed to strictly peg to the USD; instead, it floats up and down around it. The price stability of USDD is maintained through monetary policies adopted by the TDR based on market conditions.
Under volatile market conditions, USDD is not considered depegged when it is within 3% up or down from the USD peg. This allows for further flexibility for the TDR to make the necessary monetary policy adjustments if needed. With recent volatility in the markets, USDD has adjusted properly through TDR’s monetary policy tools which have strongly held up against recent concerns. This methodology is known as a Linked Exchange Rate System and has successfully allowed USDD to properly scale.
The recent controversy surrounding stablecoins arose due to the LUNA and UST crash. USDD fluctuated below its USD peg partly due to market misconceptions tied to the LUNA/UST fiasco. LUNA and UST do not follow the TDR policies that USDD is subject to; instead, LUNA and UST function strictly off an algorithmic arbitrage system of burning and minting. This means that UST did not have to rely on any reserve system to support the 1:1 USD peg.
This whole process relied heavily on LUNA’s liquidity, when market conditions worsened, causing UST to lose its peg, it resulted in a major shock driving prices down for LUNA and in turn UST because there was no reserve system backing it. This is what ultimately caused the collapse of the LUNA and UST prices. On the other hand, USDD is completely supported by a reserve system filled with liquid assets run by the TDR as mentioned earlier. The details of the TDR assets are published in real-time on tdr.org.
The TDR adopts four monetary policy instruments to ensure the stability of USDD, creating further growth in the TRON ecosystem. The four policy instruments are setting benchmark interest rates, open market operations (OMO), window guidance, and the minting-burning mechanism of TRX and USDD.
The TDR will also explore more monetary policy tools to foster further stability and growth of the USDD ecosystem. The end goal of TDR’s monetary policy adjustments is to maintain a stable price of USDD while further empowering it to be the most reliable and decentralized stablecoin on the market.
Follow Crypto Intelligence on Google News to never miss a story
Since the first Daybreak testnet released in March this year, Dusk Network developers have been working hard to iron out bugs and improve quality and usability. Now, with the launch of the second, Daylight testnet, many improvements have been integrated.
Upgraded Staking Contract
The new Daylight testnet will enable network participants to make transactions for the first time. Together with the wider blockchain community, they will help to stress-test the network and give feedback on performance and potential improvements.
At launch, the Daylight testnet will hit the deck running, with more than 100 nodes. All these nodes will be integrated into the network and will have no adverse impact on stability. More community nodes will be onboarded going into the near future.
The community participation on the Daylight testnet is not quite ready yet, given that the Dusk team will first test network resilience with purposely malicious nodes in addition to some community-run nodes.
More Improvements
Significantly faster CLI wallet
A new command line interface wallet incorporates faster synchronisation times and has a stable cache mechanism which fetches user balances quickly. This update will resolve connectivity issues.
Block Explorer Tweaks
The TPS statistic has been replaced to show the total number of transactions in the last 100 blocks, and in addition, gas expenditures can now be tracked in real time.
Community involvement
Dusk Network’s team would love to see the community become more involved with testing by making transactions. Also, the team welcomes feedback on the CLI wallet. The newest version of the wallet is available on Linux and macOS, and can be downloaded here.
Follow Crypto Intelligence on Google News to never miss a story
Saddle Finance, a multichain decentralized automated market maker (AMM), ended the first vesting stage for its native token, Saddle Finance (SDL) on Thursday, June 23, 2022.
All community members that helped Saddle by providing funds to its liquidity pools are receiving access to their tokens so tokenholders can trade and transact SDL.
Users can stake SDL, earn rewards on Saddle Exchange and receive vested SDL (veSDL) tokens. They can also trade SDL or provide liquidity to SushiSwap’s SDL and Ether (ETH) pair on SushiSwap
Saddle’s tokenomics and community governance
Inspired by the popular vote-escrow model, veSDL is the governance token that allows the Saddle community to manage the protocol. Stakers can vote on SDL-provision to liquidity pools and manage the supply.
Saddle’s tokenomics were designed for veSDL’s linear decay: Users are incentivized to keep funds staked, as staking at lower token prices maximizes yield returns. Another benefit is that pressure to sell SDL diminishes, fostering sustainable price actions.
Saddle has further initiatives with the support of its community. These milestones include the migration to on-chain governance, adding liquidity to SDL through Tokemak and introducing a new gauge for stakers to unlock extra yield boosts.
Saddle also intends to issue bonds through Olympus Pro to generate more protocol-owned value, launch a borrowing function against liquidity providers, add leveraged-yield farming with Rari Capital’s Fuse protocol, and collect airdrops and admin fees from select Sempi — Saddle ecosystem maximum-proliferation initiative — partners.
In its roadmap, the team includes virtual swap improvements, the launch of new liquidity pools for SDL stakers and a new service for users to deploy customizable Saddle pools.
About Saddle
Saddle is an AMM decentralized exchange (DEX) available on the Ethereum, Fantom, Arbitrum, Optimism and Evmos blockchains. It has facilitated more than $2 billion in transaction volume to date.
Saddle’s DEX is optimized for trading stablecoins and pegged-value crypto assets, including Wrapped Ether (WETH) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). The protocol features an easy-to-use interface, ideal for beginners and seasoned decentralized finance (DeFi) investors. All trades are swift, cost-efficient and have minimal slippage.
The Saddle team’s values are rooted in community-building, decentralization and expanding the DeFi space. Saddle wants to help bring AMMs onto any blockchain and pegged-asset swap primitives to DeFi. It’s backed by several renowned venture capital firms such as Coinbase Ventures, Framework, Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital and more.
Saddle’s code is 100% open source, and the team welcomes anyone to contribute to its protocol. Through the recent Sempi initiative, Web3 developers can join Saddle’s mission and develop with the protocol or, alternatively, fork the code.
Another selling point of Saddle is its robust security: All smart contracts have been thoroughly audited by leading blockchain-security companies such as Certik, Quantstamp, and OpenZeppelin.
To celebrate the brand’s 22nd anniversary, VERTU Paris has unveiled they’ve partnered with Binance to launch the new VERTU Constellation X Ulm smartphone through an exclusive sales process.
1,000 NFTs will be on sale on the Binance NFT platform. The rest of the NFTs will be available for purchase on the decentralized platform Galler.io and the official VERTU Paris website. For this occasion, VERTU will set up a unique launch operation on Monday, June 20th: only 10,555 smartphones will be available for sale via the purchase of an NFT, on the official Vertu Paris website.
After purchasing an NFT, the 10,555 owners will have until September 23, 2022 to choose whether to convert their NTF to the Vertu Constellation X ULM™ smartphone in order to receive it no later than February 2023, or if they decide to keep it as an NFT and thus become part of the new VERTU 3.0 business club bringing together the brand’s historical customers and the new web 3.0 community.
VERTU Constellation X ULM™
In the desire to bring the extraordinary within reach, the new VERTU Constellation X ULM™ is a blend of cutting-edge technological innovation and high fashion craftsmanship.
With an Octa-core processor, coupled with 12GB of RAM, the Vertu Constellation X ULM™ offers ultimate performance to meet the user needs.
The VERTU Constellation X ULM™ is a true everyday companion with its main camera. It features a 50 MP (f/1.9) main lens, a 12 MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide lens and a 48 MP (f/3.5) telephoto lens to capture the best experiences of your life. Not only shots, but also high-definition videos: 4K@30fps or 1080p@30/60fps.
Combining powerful technology that offers global connectivity with dual SIM, 5G compatibility, a stunning 6.71-inch 120Hz display and a fingerprint sensor for biometric security, the Constellation X Ulm is the perfect companion for those looking to get the latest luxury smartphone on the market or international travelers who are often on the go.
A New Smartphone That Offers All The Luxury Services Of VERTU Paris
To create its centerpiece, VERTU Paris has partnered exclusively with COMMUNITAKE, an innovator and leader in the world of confidentiality and communication security. COMMUNITAKE’s advanced technology will encrypt all voice and messaging exchanges to prevent interception of voice and data, as well as location. All VERTU Paris security services can be found on the COMMUNITAKE website.
Each VXCP NFT holder will also have access to exclusive, private events that bring together the most influential and successful people on VERTU’s 300,000+ private buyer list and new VERTU3.0 Club members, as well as Hall of Famers (like Elon Musk, Stephen Joseph Squeri and other successful entrepreneurs).
A Large-Scale Marketing Operation For VERTU’s 22nd Anniversary
The VERTU Constellation X Ulm™ 22nd Anniversary will be produced in limited quantities of only 10,555 units total, and available exclusively through the purchase of the VERTU Non-Fungible Token (VCXP). Starting this Monday, June 20, 2022, 10,555 NFTs go on sale for $5,175 (Constellation X Ulm™ selling price: $14,890).
In this way, VERTU combines luxury with the new world of crypto and the privacy of the Blockchain.
To celebrate its 22nd Anniversary, VERTU is also offering the VERTU community a system of extraordinary prizes offered to all owners of this first NFT collection. In total, no less than $4.68 million will be redistributed to the community in two forms:
VERTU will award crypto-currency prizes ranging from $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000 for every 79 NFTs sold When the 10555 NFTs will be sold, a contest will be held to award 4 grand prizes totaling $1 million (4 Bentley Bentaygas in VERTU colors and VERTU interior edition). Winners will be drawn at an event during Fashion Week 2022 live streamed worldwide from Paris for 3 smartphone/NFT owners, and 1 winner will be drawn from the live stream viewers of the event.
At the same time, VERTU Paris will make a donation of $500,000 to Médecins Sans Frontières (an international, independent medical humanitarian organisation).
Ternoa is a carbon neutral blockchain that is designed for minting NFTs. Specifically, it is a cross-chain NFT network and allows developers to build decentralised apps (dApps) and Web3 games on their network.
It is the first blockchain ecosystem that offers secure data encryption and transmission through the use of non-fungible tokens. As a result of this technology, users can gain full control over their private data, with the option of long-term storage of 20, 50, and even over 100 years.
Ternoa is powered by Polkadot, and it is one of the most promising cross-chain NFT networks in existence.
READ: AstridDAO announces partnership with Microsoft as they look to become the ‘dominant stablecoin’
Their native token, CAPS, is listed on a number of exchanges, including Bybit, HotBit, Pancake Swap, and Gate.io.
It is one of the 1,000 largest tokens in the world by market cap, with it currently trading at around $0.01455 according to CoinMarketCap (CMC) data.
Earlier this month, Ternoa launched a staking feature for their native token which allows holders to earn up to 116 percent on their CAPS.
NAGAX is bringing its popular crypto trading hub to mobile users with the launch of its first Android and iOS apps today.
With them, NAGAX platform users will now be able to keep up to date on the latest cryptocurrency price fluctuations, trade, chat with other users and learn from anywhere through their mobile device.
Crypto traders love NAGAX because it’s one of the first-ever social trading platforms for the crypto markets. Social trading refers to a popular strategy among investors, where they simply copy the trades of other users, rather than spend hours trying to analyze where the market is going and generate a profit off their own back.
NAGAX can be thought of as a trading platform crossed with Facebook, with its main feature being the NAGAX Feed, where any trader can post anything they want related to the markets, their trades and strategy, and discuss their favorite coins and stocks.
Building on this social aspect is NAGAX’s centerpiece Autocopy feature, which enables users to copy another user’s trades with a zero slippage guarantee, for a flat fee of just $1. The idea with social trading is that it allows unprofitable traders to follow the strategy of seasoned users who do make regular profits from their trades. It means users can simply pay to succeed, rather than spend hours trying to analyze charts and trends.
The mobile version of NAGAX provides access to both of these features as well as more than 70 cryptocurrency trading pairs, plus additional markets such as stocks and derivatives. Users can open the app at any time and access their NAGAX Wallet, where they can manage their crypto assets and send and receive tokens to other wallet addresses.
Users can make a trade at any time through the NAGAX Exchange tab, whether they’re on the bus riding to work, drinking coffee in a cafe during their lunch break, or laying in bed about to sleep. Other features include a search function to quickly discover assets, and analysis charts that cover seven different time frames, designed to help users hone their trading strategies.
Just like its main desktop trading platform, the NAGAX mobile apps also provides access to NAGAX Academy, which is home to a trove of educational material. Here, users can read about various cryptocurrency assets, discover new trading strategies and learn how to analyze price charts properly to spot signals. The Academy also explores other aspects of the blockchain economy such as DeFi, GameFi, the metaverse and NFTs.
NAGAX said its goal with NAGAX Mobile is to build a user-friendly app that enables anyone to trade on the go. It will continue adding new features to the mobile version until it’s on a par with its comprehensive desktop app, with capabilities such as crypto staking set to be made available in the near future.
After a successful edition in Limassol, the Singapore Blockchain Fest led a real awakening of Asian and European leaders from DeFi, mining, payment systems and crypto exchanges for two rush days. It was one of the most anticipated crypto events in Singapore, taking place from June 2 to 3 at Marina Bay Sands.
Attendees faced a unique earn-and-learn platform for the Asian crypto community to exchange insights and experiences, and pick up firsthand skills from market leaders with options for peer-to-peer communication.
One of the most vital aspects of the Singapore Blockchain Fest 2022 was the tremendous networking opportunities that the casual environment garnered. Participants got a chance to use networking lounges, expo spaces, conferences and workshop halls to represent themselves and get to know each other in a pleasant and comfortable format.
The producers of Blockchain Fest Singapore formed an exceptional agenda with renowned and respected speakers lined up for the event to bring up the hottest matters of the year: DeFi, the future of digital money and assets, governance and law, decentralized blockchain protocols and smart contracts, NFTs and Meta.
Here are just some of the topics and associated names:
NFTs
- Alvin Leong — Bybit NFT ambassador
- Arvin Khamseh — NFT marketing expert
- Bobby Bhatia — chief operating officer of Fellaz
- Terence Ting — Nex10 Labs founder and managing director
- Adrian Jones — founder of Yorze Group
- Kishor M. — founder of Crowd Fund Junction, CEO of Mad for NFTs
- James Park — co-founder and chief operating officer of Revolve Games
The future of blockchain
- Zennon Kapron — director at Kapronasia
- Jack O’Connor — sales director ASEAN at Snowflake
- Mike Chiam — founding board member of Asia Blockchain Association, lawyer at PDLegal Advocates and Solicitors
- Julian Hosp — CEO of Cake DeFi
Governance and law
- Ronald Wong — director at Covenant Chambers
- Andy Meehan — chief compliance officer of Gemini APAC
- Shaun Tham — legal director at ChainUp
- Collin Cheong — director of corporate development at Coinhako
Women in blockchain
- Belinda Lim — co-founder of Avarta
- Soh Wan Wei — founder of Ikiguide Metaverse Collective
- Megan Lee — founder and CEO of Regtank Technology
- Ida Mok —founding president of WIBA
- Shu Hui Choo — founder and CEO of Bedrock
The conference served as a platform for discussing the newest issues within the crypto space making up the modern dialogue between regulation authorities, businesses, developers and even startups.
The event was powered by cryptocurrency exchange ByBit, an online streaming service and sponsor of the event’s gala dinner. The grand sponsor of Blockchain Fest 2022 was Fireblocks.
Web3 NFT platform Fellaz, all-in-one blockchain solution suite ChainUp and digital asset bank JPex were the platinum sponsors. Some companies such as global digital asset platform Amber, crypto platform Coinstore, decentralized exchange AnchorSwap and CR Square Guardian Platform joined as gold sponsors.
IoTeX is an Internet of Things (IoT) crypto and blockchain project based in Silicon Valley.
The open-source project was launched in 2017 and founded by Dr Raullen Chai, who previously worked for Google and more recently Uber.
The project focuses on empowering the machine economy and leading the transition to Web3, in a way that benefits businesses and consumers alike.
In late 2021, IoTeX launched MachineFi, in a milestone achievement that caused the price of its token to surge to an all-time high and attracted thousands of new retail investors.
IoTeX’s chief rival is IOTA – another open-source IoT blockchain project which was founded a short while prior to IoTeX.
What IOTX?
IOTX is IoTeX’s native token, and it is currently ranked as the 108th largest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalisation.
IOTX reached an all-time high of circa $0.23 in November 2021 following the launch of MachineFi.
READ: NY Attorney General warns investors are ‘losing billions’ in crypto
Its price has since dropped to $0.0349, according to CoinMarketCap data, as the crypto market as a whole has declined due to interest rate hikes (and the threat of further increases) and global political and economic uncertainty.
How can I buy IOTX?
IOTX is listed on a wide selection of centralised exchanges (CEX) and decentralised exchanges (DEX), including Binance, Huobi Global, Uniswap, and HitBTC.
It can only be purchased crypto-to-crypto, so you’ll first need to exchange some fiat for USDT, Bitcoin, Ethereum or BUSD, and then trade this crypto for IOTX.