bitcoin: August 2021

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approves $150M Bitcoin Trust

El Salvador's government has set aside $23.3 million toward rolling out crypto ATMs and $30 million to incentivize use of the state-backed "Chivo" wallet.

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has passed legislation creating a $150 million dollar Bitcoin Trust and supporting the development of crypto infrastructure and services across the country.

The bill passed on Aug. 31, with 64 officials voting in favor and 14 opposing the trust’s creation. The Trust is designed to facilitate conversion of Bitcoin into U.S. Dollars, and support the roll out of vital technological infrastructure enabling widespread adoption of crypto assets.

The news comes just one week before the country’s controversial Bitcoin Law is set to take effect. The impending legislation will recognize BTC as legal tender across El Salvador and is slated to take effect on September 7th. Currently, U.S. dollars are used as legal tender in the country.

The Development Bank of El Salvador (Bandesal) has been appointed to oversee the trust’s operation

The $150 million will be redirected from the country’s $500 million loan with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The CABEI loan was originally taken for the purpose of economic recovery for small and medium sized businesses.

Of those funds, $23.3 million is earmarked to support the installation of government-backed crypto ATMs — allowing local citizens to exchange between Bitcoin and USD. $30 million has also been designated to offer incentives to encourage adoption of the Government’s digital wallet, Chivo.

In June, President Nayib Bukele announced the government would airdrop $30 worth of Bitcoin to every Salvadoran adult who downloads the Chivo wallet. However, El Salvador’s current population is 6.5 million, suggesting the government either believes adoption will be lower or has not allocated enough Bitcoin to go around.

In related new today asset tokenization and financial infrastructure company Koibanx announced it had signed a deal with the government of El Salvador to develop the country’s digital currency infrastructure with Algorand’s open source block chain at the core.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law has been met with some serious criticism and skepticism from international organizations and its own citizenry.

Minister of Economy, María Luisa Hayém Brevé said the government was focused on crypto currency education and using crypto incentives as a means to soothe the high amount of uncertainty within its population.

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Korean firm will become first BSN portal operator outside of China

China’s Blockchain Service Network is going global, with Korean blockchain firm MetaverseSociety announced as the first BSN portal operator outside of China.

Red Date Technology, one of the four founding members of the Chinese Government-backed Blockchain Service Network (BSN), has announced Korean firm MetaverseSociety as the first BSN portal operator located outside of mainland China.

Twitter account “BSNbase” broke the news on Sept. 1, announcing that MetaverseSociety expects to launch its BSN portal during November of this year.

According to the tweet, the Korean portal will allow local developers to “build and operate blockchain applications quickly and effectively” on top of the BSN once live.

Thrilled to introduce MetaverseSociety @MarX_Metaverse, the exclusive BSN portal operator in Korea. The portal will launch in Korea in November 2021 and will empower Korean developers to build and operate blockchain applications quickly and effectively. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/NcebpSDUEV
— BSN (@bsnbase) September 1, 2021

MetaverseSociety, also dubbed MarX Project, describes itself as seeking to build “a virtuous ecosystem: boasting direct connections between value generators and consumers on a nonfungible token (NFT)-powered decentralized finance platform.

The project offers unique token standards for digital asset and NFT issuers, and has launched a decentralized exchange enabling swaps between MetaverseSociety tokens.

China announced the launch of its BSN in April 2020, with the centralized blockchain network comprising a joint initiative between the National Information Center, China Mobile, China UnionPay and Red Date Technology.

Within two months, the project had splintered into two networks, BSN China and BSN International. Red Date is heading BSN International’s development.

In June, Red Date Technology announced it had completed a $30 million Series A equity financing round. The round was led by Prosperity7Ventures and Kenetic, and also saw participation from Switzerland’s Bank Pictet and Thailand’s Bangkok Bank.

At the time, Red Date CEO Yifan He asserted that “The Internet’s ‘golden age’ was only made possible when the cost of building websites was reduced to near zero.” adding:

“The BSN makes the cost of creating and running applications exceptionally low, with the added benefit of multi-frameworks and interoperability, and larger customer bases."

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Original $4M Doge NFT meme auctioned off in 17 billion pieces

PleasrDAO will offer exposure to the Doge NFT via 16,969,696,969 fractionalized ERC-20 tokens named “$DOG”.

The $4 million NFT depicting the original Doge meme is set to be fractionalized into ERC-20 Tokens, and auctioned off in pieces.

The owner of the Shibu Inu depicted in the beloved meme, Atsuko Sato sold the Doge NFT for 1696.9 Ether, or $4 million on June 12 to art-focused decentralized autonomous organisation, PleasrDAO.

Starting from Sept.1 at 5pm UTC PleasrDAO will offer exposure to the Doge NFT via a fractionalization that will see the nonfungible token broken down into 16,969,696,969 ERC-20 tokens named “$DOG”.

According to a blog post from PleasrDAO, 20% of the total $DOG supply will be available for purchase initially, with the sale being hosted on open-source smart contract platform, Miso.

https://t.co/9c9899X73H https://t.co/osEMZpxkg3

blog: https://t.co/wE7yDLC3xu pic.twitter.com/vtiC7IFsdv
— ✨ PleasrDAOGE (@PleasrDAO) August 31, 2021

After the launch, $DOG will be available for trade on fractional.art, or via decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap and SushiSwap. The idea behind the $DOG tokens is based on its price increasing as the original Doge NFT goes up in value.

Holders of $DOG will even be able to vote on what they think the valuation of the original NFT should be, which is set to be re-auctioned at a date determined by the PleasrDAO community in the future.

“We will ensure The Doge NFT does not go up for auction until we feel $DOG has reached full meme escape velocity and is coupled with a strong, thriving community,” the blog post read.

However, the regulatory framework surrounding fractionalized NFTs appears to be in a gray area. SEC commissioner Hester Peirce —also known as “Crypto Mom” — warned NFT issuers back in March to be careful with selling “fractional interests,” as they could be deemed as investment products:

“You better be careful that you’re not creating something that’s an investment product — that is a security.”

Doge is attracting top talent

In other doge related news, Japanese-American tennis star Naomi Osaka told Bloomberg on Aug. 31 that she was considering investing in crypto after her interest was piqued by DOGE.

Osaka’s agent suggested investing in crypto, but she said she had already started learning about crypto after seeing the abundance of hype surrounding DOGE that was flooding her social media feeds.

“I was actually just talking with my agent about cryptocurrencies,” Osaka said. “I know that online, everything is getting bigger. I remember reading about Dogecoin … there’s going to be something new and interesting that’s going to pop up.”

The 23-year-old has won consecutive Grand Slam titles for the past four years, and has already entered the NFT space via a partnership with Tom Brady’s Autograph platform, to drop a series of tokenized collectibles late last month.

Don’t miss out on the chance to grab one of my first NFTs Autograph Premier Preseason Access Passes drop today at 3PM ET: https://t.co/xO2J34D5Gu pic.twitter.com/HppYN63775
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 25, 2021

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Offchain Labs launches Arbitrum One mainnet, secures $120M in funding

More than 400 teams are already building on Arbitrum One.

Offchain Labs, the team behind the highly anticipated Ethereum layer two platform, Arbitrum One, has completed the public mainnet launch of its optimistic rollups solution.

Announced on Aug. 31, Offchain Labs also revealed that it has secured $120 million in a Series B fundraising round. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and also saw participation from heavyweight crypto investors Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, Alameda Research and Mark Cuban.

Lightspeed partner Ravi Mhatre also joined Offchain Labs’ board as part of the round. Amy Wu, also a partner at Lightspeed, stated:

“[Offchain Labs’] dedication to the Ethereum developer community is second to none and they have the best, easiest-to-use scalability product. That’s why over 400 projects have chosen to launch with Arbitrum, including Reddit.”

In May, Offchain Labs, completed its beta launch of Arbitrum One for developers, allowing developers to begin building on the platform.

Many leading DeFi protocols are already building on Arbitrum One, including Aave, MakerDAO, Chainlink, and Uniswap. Last month, popular social media network Reddit also announced it will launch its own layer-two rollup based on Arbitrum’s technology.

Offchain Labs are not alone in pushing to scale Ethereum, with rival rollups solution Optimism onboarding developers in recent weeks, while the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance protocols on the Polygon sidechain appears to have found a floor at $5 billion since the recent crypto downtrend.

Arbitrum One’s public launch comes as gas fees have been persistently high on the Ethereum mainnet as a result of the surging popularity of nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

According to Etherscan, average gas prices have exceeded 100 gwei over the past week, with regular token transfers costing more than $7 while transactions using decentralized exchanges exceed $65 on average. By contrast, gas prices were just 15 gwei one year ago.

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CryptoPunks creators sign with top Hollywood agents, as sales top $305M in a week

Larva Labs' blockchain-created IP is set for Hollywood after the firm signed a representation deal with United Talent Agency for CryptoPunks, Meebits and Authoglyphs.

Larva Labs, the team behind the outrageously popular NFT project CryptoPunks, has penned a deal with Hollywood agents United Talent Agency (UTA).

According to an Aug. 31 article from the Hollywood Reporter, UTA will represent Larva Labs for intellectual property (IP) deals in TV, film, video games, licensing and publishing. Two other NFT projects from Larva Labs, Meebits and Autoglyphs, will also be represented by UTA.

CryptoPunks was launched back in 2017 and is one of the first NFT projects created on Ethereum. The IP-related deal with UTA marks a significant milestone for Larva Labs, as it is one of the first examples of content created in the blockchain sector that has entered the mainstream entertainment industry.

Lesley Silverman, head of UTA Digital Assets told the Hollywood Reporter:

“I would say that it is one of the first opportunities for an IP that fully originated in the crypto-world to enter a broader entertainment space, and they earned it.”

“They really have hit the zeitgeist in a tremendous way,” he added.

The CryptoPunks project maintained a relatively niche following for most of its short history, before exploding in popularity this year amid a growing wave of interest in the NFT sector which saw $2.5 billion worth of sales in the first six months of this year.

According to data from the CryptoPunks website, the Larva Labs OG NFTs have generated a whopping $1.18 billion worth of total sales since 2017, with $304.8 million worth of sales in the past seven days alone. The cheapest CryptoPunk on sale is currently priced at 115 Ethereum (ETH) worth around $391,000 at the time of publication.

Public figures such as rapper Jay Z, electronic dance musician Steve Aoki and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk all reportedly own CryptoPunks. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 23 that payments tech giant Visa purchased CryptoPunk 7610 — a female figure with a mohawk, clown green eyes and lipstick — for 49.50 ETH worth $150,000 at the time of purchase.

The Cryptopunks have done ~$140M worth of transactions in the past 24 hours, and have now passed $1B in lifetime transaction volume. pic.twitter.com/SCBY6F22Ho
— Larva Labs (@larvalabs) August 28, 2021

There are 10,000 CryptoPunks NFTs in total, all of which were computer-generated from a set of unique features to create the individual pixel art avatars. They were initially claimed for free, with TechCrunch reporting in April this year that a collector who goes by the name “mr703” online snatched 703 Punks at initial launch — keeping hundreds of the NFTs in a collection now worth tens of millions at current prices.

With a Punk now being a VISA mascot we are living through the end of an era: a fringe art experiment is turning into a corporate marketing tool. Happy, as it will propel #cryptopunks valuation through the roof.
— mr703 (@mr703_punks) August 27, 2021

Larva Labs’ other NFT projects also follow the computer-generated route of CryptoPunks. The Meebits NFTs were launched this May, and consist of 20,000 unique 3D voxel characters that are built for use in the Metaverse and NFT gaming.

Autoglyphs launched in 2019 and is a generated art project that is limited to 512 NFTs, where users generate a “Glyph” by donating a creation fee of 0.20 ETH ($687) to the chosen charity of Larva Labs, 350.org — an organization aimed at combating climate change.

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Data suggests Uniswap is 36% overvalued and SushiSwap trades at a discount

An exchange token valuation methodology suggests that SUSHI trades at a 33% discount and that UNI price is 36% overvalued.

Just looking at Binance Coin's (BNB) reported market capitalization, one might conclude that the token is the dominant asset when compared to other exchange tokens.

Although there is no direct relationship between Binance's exchange volume (or revenue) and token economics, traders seem to use it as a proxy. The controversial burn mechanism has been losing impact since April 2019, when the exchange changed the BNB whitepaper.

Initially, the whitepaper proposed a plan where BNB tokens equivalent to 20% of the exchange's profit would be bought under a "repurchasing plan", but the new version scrapped that plan.

*Exchange tokens market cap and volume. Source: Messari Screener and CoinGecko*

However, excluding the 60 million BNB that have never been in circulation drastically changes the outcome because these excess tokens are meant to be burned over time.

The remaining exchange tokens are inflationary, meaning the issuing rate is very steep. For example, Uniswap (UNI) has 611 million tokens in circulation, but that number is expected to reach 1.14 billion in 10 years.

*BNB price (above) and Binance exchange daily volume (below). Source: TradingView and Nomics*

How BNB differs from the other exchange tokens

BNB has an actual use case apart from trading fee rebates, and it is the primary asset pair on the Binance Smart chain. BNB captures a portion of the $17 billion total value locked in the BSC smart contracts, and it has decent market share and representation on decentralized exchanges. As a result, the network creates perpetual demand for BNB.

Based on these simple figures, should analysts discount BNB's value by 50% compared to other exchange tokens? As mentioned earlier, the market appears to be pricing BNB based on Binance exchange's volume, and thus it makes sense to use that as a valuation proxy.

Uniswap has been averaging $1.63 billion daily volume, although it offers exclusively spot markets. Hence, the figure is comparable with Binance's $24.3 billion average, not factoring derivatives markets.

Using Uniswap's 93.3% lower volume, the gross estimate accrues a $10.3 billion market capitalization based on 50% of BNB's reported $76.7 billion. Thus, the prediction comes out 36% below UNI's actual data.

PancakeSwap, the leading Binance Smart Chain's DEX, has been handling a $750 million in daily volume. Using the same 50% of BNB's market capitalization methodology, CAKE's estimated valuation should be $4.73 billion, which is surprisingly in line with the current figure.

FTX and SUSHI are trading at a discount

Moving to a centralized exchange, FTX has amassed $1.7 billion in daily volume, including derivatives markets. Consequently, the indicator can be compared to Binance's $54 billion average. Despite its 96.8% lower volume, FTX's gross estimate valuation is $4.83 billion — 11% below the actual number.

Using Huobi's adjusted $5.4 billion volume and Binance's entire $54 billion daily average volume, including its derivatives products, results in a $15.34 billion estimated valuation. When considering Huobi Token's unprecedented inflationary model, applying a heavy discount for the reported market capitalization makes sense.

Lastly, Sushiswap aggregates a daily $305 million transaction volume. Considering Binance's $24.3 billion spot-only data, the same estimate yields a $1.92 billion valuation roughly 33% above the actual figure.

It is worth noting that this estimate does not imply an investment recommendation. This unrefined and primitive methodology simply aims to show that traders are effectively using exchange volume as a proxy for native token valuation.

While this may have worked in the past, the current regulatory, KYC, and removal of leverage trading options at centralized exchanges could impact the efficacy of this analysis method in the future.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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3 reasons why Polkadot could be the next altcoin to hit a new all-time high

Rising trading volume, investor excitement over the upcoming parachain auctions and the success of KSM, have investors looking at DOT as the next altcoin to hit a new high.

Layer-1 smart contract platforms increased their market share throughout August after the Ethereum network London hard fork did little to solve the major issues of high transaction fees and network congestion.

One top-10 protocol that has been gaining momentum, but has yet to experience a significant price breakout to new highs like some of its competitors is Polkadot (DOT), a multichain protocol focused on facilitating the creation of cross-chain bridges between separate blockchain networks.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after bottoming out at $10.36 on July 20, the price of DOT increased 205% to an intraday high at $31.70 on Aug. 31 as the chatter of an impending altseason begins to rise.

*DOT/USDT 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

Three reasons for the increasingly bullish outlook for DOT are its upcoming parachain auctions, a rapidly growing ecosystem of projects interested in launching on the network and a steady increase in daily trading volume.

Parachain auctions excite the community

One of the biggest drivers of momentum for the Polkadot ecosystem is the upcoming parachain auctions where projects vie for community votes to obtain one of the limited slots available to launch on the network.

The upcoming $DOT parachain auctions should drive up demand for Polkadot.

The token rewards for the $KSM auctions have been amazing, and I'm accumulating and staking $DOT in anticipation of this. pic.twitter.com/AehiTuyfSw
— CRYPT0SM0G (@Crypt0Sm0g) August 27, 2021

Polkadot’s “wild cousin” Kusama has been in the process of conducting its auctions, with the first batch having been chosen at the end of July and the second batch of auctions scheduled to begin on Sep. 1.

As part of the parachain crowdloan process, users vote for projects by locking up DOT tokens for a designated term as a way to bootstrap funding for projects that are chosen to fill one of the limited slots.

This has the effect of reducing the circulating supply of tokens available adding pressure on the price of DOT. The Polkadot network will undergo its own parachain auctions once all auctions are complete on the Kusama network. The process has been fully audited and to date, the Kusama-bas parachains are running smoothly.

An entire ecosystem of projects are competing for a parachain slots

Another reason for the recent strength of DOT is the large number of projects interested in obtaining a parachain slot and launching on the network.

*Polkadot ecosystem. Source:* *PolkaProject*

As evidenced by the graphic above, the Polkadot ecosystem has seen extensive growth in terms of protocols and supporting infrastructure over the past year and this is outmatched by only a small number of competing networks in the space.

With the Polkadot parachain auctions expected, it’s likely that the ecosystem will continue to expand and welcome new projects and proof of this comes from the fact that the Kusama parachain process has thus far been a relatively smooth .

24-hour trading volume on the rise

A third reason for the bullish outlook for DOT has been its surging 24-hour trading volume which is now back at levels not seen since the market-wide sell-off in late May.

$DOT Also seeing large relative breakout volume today pic.twitter.com/ricI5dvppp
— Traderhank (@Traderhankhill) August 31, 2021

According to data from CoinMarketCap, DOT's 24-hour trading volume surged more than 300% on Aug. 31 to a high of $5.41 billion as anticipation for the upcoming Kusama parachain auctions excited the Polkadot investors who view KSM's success as a proxy of what can occur with DOT price.

If the Kusama network can continue the smooth rollout of its auction process and clear the way for the process to begin on the Polkadot network, the demand for DOT could rise and this could translate to higher prices for the asset.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Surge in activity and token prices show ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’ already started

DeFi platforms have seen a steady surge in user activity and token prices, leading some analysts to say that the ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’ is well underway.

After a blistering start to 2021 saw token valuations and trading volumes surge to ignite the current bull market, the DeFi sector as a whole took a break while the NFT sector stepped into the limelight.

While investors' attention was elsewhere, DeFi prices have had time to consolidate and project developers were able to focus on protocol upgrades and in the past month, DeFi-related tokens have been gaining traction and look poised for a breakout in September.

*DeFi Index perpetual futures 4-hour chart. Source:* *TradingView*

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that multiple DeFi tokens, including Aave (AAVE), Synthetix (SNX), YFI and SushiSwap (SUSHI) have rallied nearly 40% since May 10, while the price of BTC is still 27% away from its all-time high.

The recent bullishness in DeFi tokens prompted some analysts to point out that the ‘DeFi summer 2.0’ did in fact take place, and at a much larger scale than anyone anticipated.

Y’all wanted DeFi summer 2.0? Well it’s here, but at much larger scale and multichain.

First Matic with its $40M incentive program (1% of supply)

Then Avalanche with $180M (now worth ~$450M)

Today Fantom and Celo with $300M and $100M, respectively.

Solana and Terra next?
— Ryan Watkins (@RyanWatkins_) August 30, 2021

On-chain metrics show DeFi is heating up

Evidence that the DeFi space is heating up can be found in various on-chain metrics that indicate a healthy amount of trading activity and an increasing number of new users interacting with DeFi and DEX protocols.

According to data from Dune Analytics, the number of new participants coming into the DeFi ecosystem has risen non-stop over the past year reaching a record 3,285,643 total users as of Aug. 31.

*Total DeFi users over time. Source:* *Dune Analytics*

The steady addition of new users has helped to keep activity on DeFi lending protocols and decentralized exchanges (DEX) elevated, with data from Dune Analytics showing that the weekly DEX volume in August reached levels not seen since late May.

*Weekly DEX volume. Source:* *Dune Analytics*

For those who are concerned that high transaction fees on the Ethereum (ETH) network may limit the ability for smaller investors to engage with the sector, the growing field of layer-two (L2) solutions like Loopring (LRC) and cross-chain bridges to competing networks like the Solana, ensure that portfolios of all sizes will be able to partake in DeFi investin.

One of the best examples of this has been the rapid rise of the Polygon (MATIC), a layer-2 network that has emerged as a top-ranking blockchain in regards to total value locked (TVL). Data from Defi Llama shows that Polygon is now the fourth-ranked chain in terms of TVL with more than $4.93 billion locked in the network.

*Total value locked rankings. Source:* *Defi Llama*

With Bitcoin still struggling to gain momentum below $50,000, it’s possible that the market is headed toward an altcoin season and if that occurs, the top DeFi protocols with strong long-term fundamentals are likely to benefit from the bullish momentum.

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Illuvium hits new highs as interest in NFT-based blockchain gaming skyrockets

Attractive staking options, gameplay teasers and the overall strength of the NFT sector back the massive rally seen in ILV price.

The world of nonfungible tokens and blockchain gaming has seen immense growth and progress towards mainstream adoption in 2021. Recently, the movement picked up steam as an array of celebrities and internet influencers jumped on the hype train by purchasing premium digital collectibles.

One project that has quickly risen in value over the past two months as details about its ongoing development trickle to the public is Illuvium (ILV), an open-world fantasy battle game built on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.

*ILV/USD 1-day chart. Source:* *CoinGecko*

Data from CoinGecko shows that after hitting a low of $29.32 on June 22, the price of ILV skyrocketed 1,765% to post a new all-time high at $545.26 on Aug. 13.

Three reasons for the tremendous price growth seen in ILV include the introduction of multi-asset staking features on the ILV protocol, the steady release of teaser clips and NFTs that provide a glimpse into how the gameplay will look and the general strength of the NFT sector which has been gaining momentum since July.

Multi-asset staking opportunities increase token demand

Decentralized finance and its ability to offer users and token holders a yield on their investment has been one most successful trends in the crypto sector.

In an effort to capture some of this momentum, as well as improve the tokenenomics of the ILV token, the team at Illuvum introduced staking capabilities for ILV on June 30, and later they expanded its capabilities to include other popular projects like Axie Infinity (AXS) and Synthetix (SNX).

Get ready, all AXS holders. We’re opening up the Axie Flash Pool on Weds July 28th, at 7am AEST. You can stake now, but rewards don't start until the pool opens.

To get started, go to https://t.co/iXq8uR8CmH

We hope that the Axie Pool will be exciting and beneficial for you!
— Illuvium (@illuviumio) July 27, 2021

At the time of writing, the flash pools for staking AXS and SNX are sold out but ILV token holders can earn a 39.77% yield from flexible staking that can be withdrawn at any time, or 79.53% for those willing to lock their tokens on the protocol for 52 weeks.

Users who provide liquidity for the project on SushiSwap can earn a yield that ranges from 283% to 566% depending on the amount of time locked.

Product teasers excite the community

A second reason for the increased attention and excitement Illuvium has received over the past month has been the steady release of new project details and character graphics that have given community members an idea of what the gameplay will look like.

Updated UI for wild encounters! pic.twitter.com/kvgZxOLva3
— Illuvium (@illuviumio) August 26, 2021

As part of its outreach efforts, the team has also designed custom characters for different influencers like Chico Crypto, Satoshi Stacker and Clix.

This strategy of specialized NFTs for influencers helped drive up interest in the project as the influencers promoted Illuvium to their communities and gave them an opportunity to win one of the custom NFTs.

NFT and blockchain gaming sector strength

A third reason for the growth seen in Illuvium has been the overall growth in the wider NFT and blockchain-based gaming sectors, which have been the best performers over the past two month

Some of the breakout stars of the summer include Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based trading and battling game where some players earn enough money to pay their monthly living expenses, and Audius, a decentralized music-sharing and streaming protocol that enables direct transactions between listeners and creators by converting songs into NFTs.

Evidence of the skyrocketing demand for NFTs can be found in the daily trading volume on OpenSea, the most popular marketplace for NFTs, which saw a record $3 billion in sales volume during the month of August.

. pic.twitter.com/totfvAjlWv
— OpenSea (@opensea) August 31, 2021

To add a little perspective, as of Aug. 2 the total year-to-date accumulated volume on OpenSea was $1.02 billion, meaning that the volume seen during the month of August was nearly three times higher than the total volume traded between January 1 and August 2 of 2021.

A word of caution is warranted at these times, however, because the NFT sector has been known to reverse direction at the drop of a hat and send token values plunging as traders race for the exits.

Recent examples of this include Alien Worlds (TLM) and MyNeighborAlice (ALICE), which both experienced significant price increases ahead of their full product launches, only to have their values collapse by more than 90% once released.

If the Illuvium protocol can avoid these pitfalls and make good on its promise to become the first AAA-rated game on the Ethereum blockchain, ILV has the potential to see further price appreciation as the blockchain-gaming industry goes mainstream.

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Major job postings from the crypto space in 2021

Some institutional players, online retailers, and media organizations have called for recruits with experience in crypto or blockchain.

As crypto and blockchain firms grow and need to navigate regulatory and economic challenges for the industry, many have to hire outside to find the best workers. This year, major companies, financial institutions, and even government agencies announced they were searching for fresh blood to help them adapt to the ever-changing crypto space.

In February, major online retailer Amazon posted it was seeking a software development manager in Mexico to help launch “a new payment product.” The Digital and Emerging Payments project was aimed at allowing residents of Mexico to buy cryptocurrencies with cash so they could spend digital currency while shopping on Amazon.

Though there are reports the online retailer intends to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments by 2022, the company has not officially announced such plans. In July, Amazon said it was looking for a Digital Currency and Blockchain Product Lead for its Seattle office, hinting at a possible change as to how customers pay on Amazon’s websites.

Apple, the largest company in the world by market capitalization, seems to also be focusing on crypto payments based on a recent job posting. In May, the major tech firm said it was recruiting for a business development manager specializing in alternative payments, specifically preferring someone with experience in “alternative payment providers,” including cryptocurrency.

Reaching across industries

Though two of the Big Four may be considering a shift to digital payments, some financial institutions seem to require workers be able to work within regulatory guidelines while still growing the business. In April, the Bank of England announced it was looking for 7 people to fill new positions related to a central bank digital currency, despite the fact it has not officially reached a decision on releasing one. Japan’s Ministry of Finance was reportedly considering increasing its staff to address growth in the crypto market, including regulations concerning fiat-pegged stablecoins.

It seems as though job seekers with both a knowledge of cryptocurrencies or blockchain and the experience to back it up may have their pick of the litter when it comes to employment, given the industry is barely a decade old and has the potential to make money in a variety of companies. In July, major U.S. investment bank JPMorgan started accepting applications for blockchain-focused software developers, engineers, marketers and auditors.

Other firms simply seem to be responding to a growing industry in job postings. The crypto arm of asset management firm Fidelity Investments reportedly wanted to increase its number of staff by 70% in response to additional interest from institutional investors. Major crypto exchange Coinbase is also attempting to gain greater access to some of the 1.4 billion people of India by hiring locals for its engineering, software development and customer support operations in the country.

Reporting on crypto

Even media outlets don’t necessarily have the staff to properly report on the crypto space. News organizations like Bloomberg have dedicated journalists on crypto and blockchain, but Time Magazine is still looking for a chief financial officer who has "comfort with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies."

According to Neil Dundon, the founder of crypto-focused job agency Crypto Recruit, “one or two years” experience is usually good enough for the industry, given it was only created in 2009. However, just as with the dawn of any new technology like radio, television, or the Internet, interest in and from candidates will likely grow as more institutions offer more options for cryptocurrency and blockchain education to meet demand.

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Bitcoin price turns to test lower support levels as $50K stays out of reach

It's a frustratingly sideways market for Bitcoin bulls as August ends and September, which is typically a boring month for BTC price, looms.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to range below $50,000 on the last day of August as analysts demanded higher levels in order to continue the bull run.

*BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView*

$51,000 remains the deal-breaker for BTC

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView painted a dull picture for investors Tuesday as BTC/USD continued to trade in a four-day-old descending channel.

Despite highly encouraging on-chain metrics and fundamentals, BTC price action disappointed the market throughout the weekend and beyond as a lack of momentum kept $50,000 at bay.

Major resistance, now solidified on exchanges at $51,000 and above, remains firmly in place and analysts say the outlook remains muted until this level is turned to support.

According to Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, "We clearly stated that $51,000 is the level that Bitcoin has to break through.''

According to van de Poppe:

"...If that happens, we most likely are going into a new impulse wave back to $58,000 at first and then probably a new all-time high."

Despite historic highs being just $17,000 away, these levels seem to be a distant target at the time of writing.

A look at buy and sell levels on major exchange Binance confirmed the need for significant buyer support in order for Bitcoin to exit its current trading zone.

*BTC/USD buy and sell levels (Binance) as of Aug. 31. Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter*

Accumulation set to stave off a major price dip

Others shared the view that Bitcoin was drifting not towards resistance, but to a retest of demand which nonetheless has cemented itself thanks to the previous accumulation phase.

"Slowly but surely, BTC is inching closer and closer toward its next major demand area," said popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital.

The extent of accumulation in the $40,000 range is significant and data suggests that it is unlikely that a significant price drop will ensue.

"With prices pushing above $50,000, and some notable profit-taking covered last week, the market currently sits at the top end of a very high on-chain volume node," analytics firm Glassnode wrote in its latest weekly report on August 30.

The report showed that 1.65 million BTC has a cost basis between $45,000 and $50,000.

"On net, this indicates that a fairly strong set of high conviction investors remain in the market and is a powerful signal for the bulls," analysts added.

*Bitcoin UTXO realized price distribution annotated chart. Source: Glassnode*

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3 reasons why a Bitcoin ETF approval will be a game changer for BTC price

A Bitcoin ETF approval will open the door for more conservative investors and this could have an irreversible impact on BTC price.

Some financial experts believe that the price of cryptocurrencies is solely driven by investors' speculation, and in the past few years detractors have suggested that fixed income instruments like treasury bills have no relation to do with digital assets. This point of view is fairly accurate because, at this time, most investors from the asset class are not allowed to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins.

Public pension funds, retirement plans, fixed income and most non-leverage equity and multimarket mutual funds can only invest in certain asset classes. These limits arise from the fund class regulation, the fund's own bylaws, and the administrator's risk assessment.

Not every fund can invest in Grayscale's GBTC Trust

Unbeknownst to most, the mutual fund manager does not have absolute control of the investment decision. The fund administrator is a third-party company that acts as an intermediary between the fund manager and investors to verify and distribute assets tied to investments.

Therefore, the fund administrator might rule that a particular instrument poses a significant risk and either limit the exposure or deny access to it. The trust fund, in this example, is the investment vehicle used by the Grayscale Bitcoin (GBTC), and it involves an issuer credit risk.

*Amundi funds breakdown by asset class. Source:* *Amundi.com*

Global asset managers will typically have a 30% to 60% fixed income exposure, so it is very unlikely to have any exposure to cryptocurrencies. Amundi, the leading European investment firm with over $2.1 trillion of assets under management, is a good example.

According to BCG Group, the global asset industry has surpassed $100 trillion, with North America holding nearly 50% of this figure. Unfortunately, these astronomical figures cause analysts to incorrectly relate those numbers to the Bitcoin ETF instrument.

#Grayscale has partnered BNY Mellon, the world's largest custodian bank with $41 Trillion in assets in custody. In Feb 2021, #BNYMellon announced they were entering the #Crypto space. Big move by Grayscale in the battle for a #Bitcoin ETF.@Grayscale @BNYMellon #etf #bitcoinetf pic.twitter.com/RfSO7UOKGS
— Thinking Crypto - YouTube Channel & Podcast (@ThinkingCrypto1) July 13, 2021

According to Reuters, more than half of all investment-grade corporate bonds in the eurozone now trade with negative yields. This includes $7.7 trillion worth of government debt and accounts for 70.8% of the total.

Financial Times has reported that the value of the global negative-yield debt has surpassed $16.5 trillion, fueled by investors' more pessimistic outlook and bond purchases by central banks.

Investors will gradually exit fixed income strategies

There's reason to believe that investors getting negative yields will eventually move to riskier assets, although it is improbable that a total shift to cryptocurrencies will occur. However, the most likely beneficiaries are non-leverage multi-assets and alternative investments as these instruments usually carry lower risk than equities and high-yield structured assets and bonds.

Consequently, an eventual Bitcoin ETF approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will open the doors for a vast array of funds that are currently shut out from cryptocurrency exposure.

Even if the ETF is exclusively reserved for a part of the equities and multi-asset classes, the new instrument doesn't need to capture $500 billion to propel Bitcoin's market capitalization above $2 trillion. Less than 2.5 million coins are deposited on exchanges, equivalent to $125 billion readily available for trading.

Commodity funds are the best candidate

According to iShares, the value of global commodities exchange-traded products adds up to $263 billion. Considering not every mutual fund is listed, it is reasonable to assume that the actual number surpasses $500 billion.

This means that a mere 1% allocation from this specific asset class is equal to $5 billion, and such an investment would surely be enough to propel the Bitcoin price above its $65,000 all-time high.

If and when a BTC ETF is approved, traders will front-run the potential inflow as soon as the approval is announced, regardless of whether the products capture only $5 billion in the first couple of months.

As long as governments and central banks continue injecting liquidity, buying bonds and issuing stimulus packages, there will be a gradual inflow to riskier assets, increasing the demand for the ETF.

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Former US president calls crypto a 'disaster waiting to happen'

He seemingly dismissed the crypto market's potential in favor of strengthening the U.S. dollar in a recent interview.

In an interview with Fox Business released today, former U.S. President Donald Trump was questioned about his views on the health of the Wall Street markets, the current administration's progress, as well as the potential of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market.

In response to the latter question, the former President stated: “I like the currency of the United States, but I think the others are potentially a disaster waiting to happen.” He continued:

“They may be fake. Who knows what they are? They [cryptocurrencies] are certainly something that people don’t know very much about.”

He also spoke of protecting the sovereignty of the US Dollar as first priority, rather than advancing the stagnant financial system and grasping the overwhelming benefits that crypto and blockchain technologies have to offer.

Despite these less-than-favorable comments, crypto prices appeared unaffected at time of publication. Bitcoin (BTC) has recorded a decline of 1.17% for the day, Ethereum (ETH) has risen 6.30%, whilst the third-ranked asset Cardano (ADA) is down 1.1%.

In contrast, current US President Joe Biden has adopted a seemingly more favorable stance on the cryptocurrency space, yet still remains diligently cautious.

Earlier this year, President Biden appointed former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, Gary Gensler as the new Securities and Exchange Commission’s, or SEC, lead.

Gensler has so far adopted a stern regulatory approach which focuses on striking a balance between aiding innovation and protecting the interests of market participants.

Earlier this month, Gensler expressed his beliefs that the market needs “additional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks,” as well as “more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector.”

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Altcoins rally to new highs after the ETH/BTC pair flips bullish

MTL, RGT and KSM post gains in excess of 36% after the ETH/BTC pair turned bullish and Bitcoin price trades in a range-bound pattern.

Signs that an altseason is underway are beginning to increase across the cryptocurrency market after numerous altcoins posted double-digit gains on Aug. 31. Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) continued to face headwinds and the digital asset trades at $47,100.

The top altcoin Ether (ETH) looks poised to stage a 40% rally against BTC according to analysts, and a 5% gain in the ETH/BTC pair on Tuesday is thought to be the fuel behind altcoins which rallied more than 30% today.

*Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Metal (MTL), Rari Governance Token (RGT) and Kusama (KSM).

Metal Pay expands to Georgia

MTL, the top-performing token, is the native cryptocurrency of the Metal Pay platform which touts itself as “the easiest way to buy, sell and trade crypto.”

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for MTL on Aug. 27, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. MTL price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for MTL first turned green on Aug. 25 and then proceeded to climb to a high of 76 on Aug. 27, around 82 hours before its price spiked by 98%.

The surge in momentum came following a Aug. 31 announcement that the project had received its money transmitter license for the U.S. state of Georgia, meaning residents in the state can now legally utilize services offered by Metal Pay.

Governance launches at Rari Capital

The Rari Governance Token is the native token of Rari Capital, a non-custodial DeFi robo-advisor that allows users to deposit crypto-assets and automatically begin earning the highest yield.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for RGT have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. RGT price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

The VORTECS™ Score for RGT spiked into the green and reached a high of 80 on Aug. 29, around 36 hours before the price increased 59% over the next day.

The uptick in price and sentiment comes following the release of a governance proposal for the protocol that looks to create an NFTX Vault pool on Fuse.

Kusama rallies after integrating with Bifrost

Kusama is an experimental blockchain platform designed to facilitate interoperability between separate networks andit looks to bring a new level of scalability to the crypto ecosystem.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for KSM on Aug. 30, prior to the recent price rise.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. KSM price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for KSM climbed into the green zone on Aug. 30 and reached a high of 70, around 10 hours before its price began to increase by 45% over the next day.

The increase in interest for KSM comes on the heels of the release of an update that further integrated the token with Bifrost, a Polkadot-based parachain designed to provide liquidity and staking without nominating delays.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.091 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 42.6%.

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Slovenian finance authority proposes 10% tax on crypto income

Slovenian financial authorities have announced a proposal to tax cryptocurrency participants 10% on their asset income, specifically on purchasing and selling activities.

According to local media reports, the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, or FURS, is considering imposing a 10% taxable income bill on cryptocurrency asset activity in the near future.

Under the current legislation method, the authority analyses an individual's digital asset activity on a case-by-case basis by trawling through their buy and sell transactions. This can result in a stagnant and tedious crypto administrative process.

The introduction of this progressive initiative aims to digitally streamline the process, focusing solely on the purchase of goods and services, or the conversion of crypto assets into fiat currencies. Within these parameters, individuals will be taxed at a rate of 10% on their income.

In the STA news report, FURS shared additional information on the proposal:

“We would like to emphasize that it is not profit which would be taxed but rather the amount a Slovenian tax resident receives on their bank account on turning the virtual currency into cash or when buying a thing.”

French government pushes for one agency to regulate crypto across the EU

Slovenia has been a consistent voice in spearheading the adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology across Europe in the last few years.

An aggregated cryptocurrency index created by the financial research firm Crypto Head ranked Slovenia 7th in their capacity to fully adopt cryptocurrency assets calculated using a variety of metrics including Google searches, crypto ATM saturation and legislation.

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New NY Gov. taps former Obama official to head state's financial regulator

Adrienne Harris said she aims "to ensure we have a robust and fair financial system, and an equitable economy" in her role at the NYDFS.

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York who has been in office for only a week since the departure of Andrew Cuomo, has nominated Adrienne Harris to lead the state’s Department of Financial Services.

According to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report, Hochul tapped Harris to lead the New York Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, following the resignation of superintendent Linda Lacewell. Harris is currently a senior advisor at the PR firm Brunswick Group, but prior to that was a Special Assistant for Economic Policy to U.S. President Barack Obama and a senior advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Department.

Harris has had few public statements on the crypto and blockchain space, but she was part of an Obama-era meeting with leaders in the fintech ecosystem to discuss government support for the sector. According to the Wall Street Journal, she aims “to ensure we have a robust and fair financial system, and an equitable economy” in her possible role at the NYDFS.

Former New York governor Cuomo resigned on Aug. 10 after multiple allegations of sexual harassment, paving the way for Hochul to take office two weeks later. Lacewell, first nominated by Cuomo in 2019, served as the state’s financial regulator for two years and had the full authority to issue Bitlicenses to crypto and blockchain firms seeking to operate in the state. She helped streamline the process for licensing in an effort “to reduce burdens on industry while protecting consumers.”

The prospective NYDPS must be confirmed by the state senate before she takes office.

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Decentralized exchanges and aggregators drive DeFi growth

In the DEX segment, aggregation services are likely to continue gaining a bigger piece of the pie at the expense of decentralized exchanges.

As the decentralized finance segment continues to gain steam despite an overall slump in the crypto space, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and aggregation services have recently shown sustainable growth. Meanwhile, within the DEX segment, aggregation services have made remarkable progress.

DeFi still running strong

When Bitcoin’s (BTC) exchange rate dropped dramatically in May, some observers feared it could deal a major blow to the entire crypto sector. However, that didn’t happen. A few months later, the industry is still chugging along, and its, arguably, most promising area — decentralized finance — continues to grow.

Within DeFi, decentralized exchanges have recently been the main growth driver, pushing aside centralized exchanges (CEXs).

Between January and May, the total trading volume generated by decentralized exchanges tripled from approximately $100 billion to $300 billion, before dipping to about $200 billion in June, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, during the same period, the CEX segment saw much more modest growth from $1.2 trillion to $1.3 trillion.

The DEX segment has also reported an uptake in user numbers. Currently, Uniswap is the segment’s leader with about 2.5 million unique users (addresses), followed by 1inch, which has 600,000 users, and Compound with about 360,000 users.

Meanwhile, the user bases of lending/borrowing protocols, such as Compound and Aave, have hardly grown since the beginning of the year.

The rise of DEX aggregators

But even within the DEX segment, growth has been unevenly distributed, with automated market maker-based protocols and DEX aggregators — such as Uniswap, 1inch, SushiSwap and 0x — reporting stronger numbers than most other projects.

One major trend observed in recent months is that more and more users prefer to use outside aggregation services, such as MetaMask or DEX aggregators, as opposed to trading directly on DEXs. As a result, trade volumes on services of this kind have been on the rise.

DEX aggregators have been able to offer users better swap rates than what they would get by swapping directly on Uniswap, SushiSwap and other DEXs. Therefore, users have been increasingly opting for DEX aggregators, boosting their market share. Since the beginning of 2021, the share of DEX aggregators in terms of total swap volume has doubled from 7.5% to 15%.

Lower fees as a factor

One of the reasons that users are increasingly choosing DEX aggregators over DEXs is lower fees. Overall, two types of fees are involved in swaps: trading fees charged by projects and gas fees automatically applied to any transaction on the Ethereum network.

If you swap crypto assets using a DEX aggregator, you still have to pay the DEX’s trading fee, but aggregation services don’t normally charge anything on top of that. However, DEX aggregators often take extra steps to enable users to reduce their gas costs, which can be quite substantial.

The chart below displays gas costs incurred by the users of several projects as total gas cost in U.S. dollars divided by the July 2021 swap volume.

Moving forward

Despite all the hurdles, the DeFi segment is running strong, and there are no signs that it will slow down substantially.

However, as DeFi services gain more mass adoption, the competition for customers will become tougher, and projects offering higher efficiency, more attractive conditions and a better user experience will be the winners.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Sergej Kunz is the co-founder of the 1inch Network, a distributed network of decentralized protocols. From 2015 to 2019, Sergej worked for consulting firm Mimacom, running projects for major customers such as Bosch, Siemens and Porsche. After joining Porsche on a full-time basis, he gradually shifted toward cybersecurity. He also co-hosted the YouTube show CryptoManiacs. At a 2019 hackathon, Sergej and the 1inch Network's eventual co-founder, Anton Bukov, developed a prototype crypto exchange aggregator that became the basis of the entire network.

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Treasury attempts to squeeze further crypto-related data sharing provisions in budget bill: Roll Call

Further requirements on crypto firms could be on the way as the administration is looking for new revenue streams.

U.S. Department of the Treasury will reportedly push to extend the reach of new rules designed to govern the cryptocurrency space. Closely following the infrastructure package freighted with last-minute crypto taxation provisions is the upcoming budget reconciliation bill that could also see additional requirements for cryptocurrency businesses.

Citing an unnamed official within the Biden administration, Roll Call reported on Monday that the administration is looking to append provisions to the budget bill requiring U.S. digital asset firms report information on their foreign clients.

As with the infrastructure bill, the purpose of the potential regulation is to enhance tax compliance and boost tax revenues at the expense of the crypto industry. As per the official’s account, the U.S. government would then exchange the data on foreign nationals’ cryptocurrency-related activity with the respective governments to obtain information on U.S. citizens’ crypto operations overseas.

This information would be then used to improve tax compliance.

Turning to the crypto sector for new sources of revenue is one of the measures suggested within the Improving tax administration rubric of Treasury’s strategic Revenue Proposals or the fiscal year 2022.

Along with other proposed means of closing the “tax gap” — the delta between what taxpayers owe to the government and what is actually paid — the prospective data sharing provisions are aimed at helping Democrats fund the ambitious budget package that is expected to include massive social welfare and healthcare expenditures.

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Anthony Scaramucci: $100K per BTC by year-end is still within reach

Exponential monthly growth in demand should propel Bitcoin to $100,000 by the end of 2021, according to the CEO of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci.

Anthony Scaramucci, CEO and founder of SkyBridge Capital, thinks Bitcoin (BTC) can reach $100,000 before the end of the year, mainly due to the exponential growth in demand every month.

“The bottom line is you have the limited and fixed supply of Bitcoin and you have every month exponentially more demand,” Scaramucci told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. “As long as I see that, I see those prices rising. So, we’re going to stick with the $100,000 price target,” he explained.

Once a Bitcoin skeptic, Scaramucci launched SkyBridge Capital's first BTC fund last year with a $25 million dollar investment. Since then, the firm has been steadily accumulating the digital gold.

“We now have probably $650 to $700 million dollars worth of Bitcoin across our product portfolio,” said Scaramucci.

Scaramucci is a long-term believer in Bitcoin, and he is convinced that the main cryptocurrency is growing faster than tech giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Thi is why he believes Bitcoin will reach 1 billion users by 2025.

“This is a technology and a product of the future, and the future is going to come more quickly than people expect.”

Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe!

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a16z shines the spotlight on DAOs by leading Syndicate’s Series A

Syndicate’s vision for decentralized autonomous organizations was one of the biggest selling points for Andreessen Horowitz.

California-based venture fund Andreessen Horowitz announced Tuesday that it is leading a Series A investment round for Syndicate, a decentralized platform with the lofty vision of democratizing investing by allowing users to create decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs.

Ali Yahya, one of Andreessen’s general partners, said that the company was attracted to Syndicate’s vision of DAOs being at the center of economic coordination between people. DAOs, which are internet-native organizations that are collectively owned and managed by community members, have the potential to replace the archaic legacy systems currently in use.

The Andreessen executive compared DAOs with corporations, arguing that the former “are a better, digitally-native mechanism for human coordination” because they replace existing enterprise functions with software code.

Syndicate launched a private beta version of its platform in June after raising $800,000 from several investors. In March, the company generated $1 million in seed investments led by Ideo CoLab Ventures.

Series A funding is often pursued by budding startups that are looking to scale their operations through outside investments. Companies that reach this stage have developed a solid track record or established a promising user base. While Andreessen Horowitz didn’t specify a target for the Syndicate investment round, most Series As raise less than $20 million.

Venture funding has poured into the blockchain industry this year, as investors look to capitalize on promising use cases involving distributed ledger technology. Andreessen Horowitz has been at the forefront of these capital raises, having recently launched the biggest-ever crypto venture fund at $2.2 billion. More recently, platforms devoted to cryptocurrency trading and nonfungible tokens have seen some of the biggest funding rounds to date.

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Chinese banks explore e-yuan for selling investment funds and insurance

Bank of Communications and China Construction Bank are working with fund managers and insurers to facilitate e-yuan payments for Chinese citizens.

Government-backed Chinese banks have reportedly started exploring new use cases for the digital yuan by allowing citizens to use it to buy insurance products and investment funds online.

South China Morning Post reported on Aug. 31 that leading Chinese banks such as Bank of Communications (Bocom) and China Construction Bank (CCB) are working with fund managers and insurers to enable e-yuan payments for sectors beyond the retail landscape.

The report states that CCB has collaborated with an investment funds platform, Shanghai Tiantian Fund Distribution, for allowing citizens to make online fund investments with the digital yuan. JD.com, a China-based e-commerce company will also be a part of this collaboration. CCB executive vice president Zhang Min said:

“We have since 2017 been participating in the research and development of the central bank digital currency, which we view as significant for our payment system due to its ability to enhance payment efficiency.”

CCB has reportedly opened a total of 8.42 million e-yuan wallets, dedicated to 7.23 million individual users, and 1.19 million companies. Bocom executive vice president Qian Bin said that the bank is currently exploring numerous use cases for the e-yuan in fund management and the insurance space.

The efforts of the state-backed banks go beyond the original blueprint of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) set by China’s central bank, which was intended to power the low value, daily retail payments landscape only.

Despite China’s aggressive move to make the digital yuan mainstream, the government has been keen to rule out the use of Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currencies within its jurisdiction.

Yin Youping, the deputy director of the Financial Consumer Rights Protection Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, recently stated that the government intends to maintain a “high-pressure situation” on crypto transactions.

Moreover, Chinese Bitcoin miners from Yingjiang County have also been delisted from the local hydropower grids as the crackdown continues.

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