Adoption

UK economic secretary commits to make country a crypto hub under new PM

“We want to become the country of choice for those looking to create, innovate and build in the crypto space,” said MP Richard Fuller.

Richard Fuller, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the government wants the United Kingdom to be the “dominant global hub for crypto technologies.”

In a parliamentary debate on crypto asset regulation in the U.K. on Wednesday, Fuller spoke in favor of “powerful” use cases for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, including using distributed ledger technology for customs and international trade and storing medical records on the blockchain. Alexander Stafford, the parliamentary private secretary to newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss, added the prime minister “reaffirmed” her commitment to providing internet connectivity for U.K. residents, which could allow access to buying, selling and mining crypto.

“As crypto technologies grow in significance, the U.K. Government are seeking ways to achieve global competitive advantage for the United Kingdom,” said Fuller.

The economic secretary added:

“We want to become the country of choice for those looking to create, innovate and build in the crypto space […] By making this country a hospitable place for crypto technologies, we can attract investment, generate new jobs, benefit from tax revenues, create a wave of groundbreaking new products and services, and bridge the current position of UK financial services into a new era.”

Fuller said that under Truss, the U.K. government plans to move forward with the Financial Services and Markets Bill, legislation introduced in July which aimed to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins. In addition, he suggested support for the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, which would grant law enforcement “new powers to seize and recover cryptoassets.”

“The U.K. can either be a spectator as this technology transforms aspects of life, or we can become the best place in the world to start and scale crypto technologies,” said Fuller. “We want the U.K. to be the dominant global hub for crypto technologies, and so will build on the strengths of our thriving fintech sector, creating new jobs, developing groundbreaking new products and services.”

Fuller became economic secretary following the resignation of John Glen and other top officials in the U.K. government in July in response to allegations of misconduct in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, shaking up positions with the potential to affect crypto policy in the country. On Tuesday, Truss also appointed Kwasi Kwarteng as the chancellor of the exchequer, or chief financial minister.

NFT NYC 2022: A look inside a massive NFT conference

NFT NYC 2022 was filled with emerging NFT projects and industry experts.

Cointelegraph senior reporter Rachel Wolfson spent a day exploring NFT NYC 2022 to learn about emerging nonfungible token (NFT) projects and how the sector may advance. A recent market report published by Verified Market Research (VMR) predicts that the NFT market could reach a value of $230 billion by 2030. NFT NYC 2022 certainly demonstrated the potential of the NFT sector, highlighting some of the most promising use cases and industry experts.

For instance, Camila Russo, founder of The Defiant and author of The Infinite Machine, told Cointelegraph that NFT products should advance to bring value to holders, whether that comes in the form of community building or funding for new projects.

Cointelegraph also visited offsite houses hosted by Ripple and Doodles. David Schwartz, chief technology officer of Ripple, told Cointelegraph about the advantages and disadvantages of NFT projects, while Julian Holguin, CEO of Doodles, explained the importance of a physical NFT minting experience. Cryptocurrency influencers “Girl Gone Crypto” and “Tech Con Catalina” also shared their thoughts on the advancing NFT ecosystem.

Watch the full video here.

Cardano outranks Bitcoin in global top intimate brands in new report

The blockchain developer ranks 26 out of 600 global brands in a new report which analyzes consumers’ emotional connection to brands.

Blockchain developer Cardano represents the crypto space with a top spot in a new report on global brand intimacy. Cardano ranks 26 among 600 brands and holds the top spot in the crypto industry, according to a report released by brand relations agency MBLM.

According to the report, brand intimacy refers to the emotional connections brands are able to create with their user base and audience. MBLM utilized artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to understand consumer relationships with some of the world’s leading brands, including Disney, Tesla and Apple.

Across 19 industries analyzed, crypto was among the top 10 perform, with Cardano in the lead, followed by Bitcoin as a brand at #30. Whereas crypto brands such as Uniswap and Solana took #261 and #265, respectively.

In comparison to last year, the surveyors said Cardano is not only a new entry but the highest ranked in crypto and the highest performing financial services brand in the study.

In a statement to Cointelegraph, Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano, said the company was born of a simple belief that everyone is equal and should live in a fair society. Cardano works towards this through decentralization and merit, he added.

“What’s nice about that is that it doesn’t require a founder, a particular culture or country. Now we have people in the Cardano ecosystem from more than 100 different countries working together towards this end.”

On Twitter, users reacted to Cardano’s ranking, outpacing legacy brands like Google and eBay. One user tweeted that Cardano is not just a subject for internet memes but in a “league where the big boys are.”

Reflections from the report also highlight the impact of the global pandemic stating that brand performance has increased by 19% since before the pandemic.

Cardano’s high performance comes as the blockchain developer prepares for a major network upgrade. It is currently preparing for the long-awaited Vasil hard fork, which aims to reduce the size of transactions, lower costs, and allow more network activity.

The top ranks of the crypto industry as a whole speak to the increasing mass adoption of Web3 and decentralized technologies. A recent survey of parents in the United States revealed that 64% want crypto-related content taught in schools.

The number of crypto billionaires is growing fast, here’s why

As Bitcoin continues to grow in value and crypto companies become widely accepted, leading to the rise of crypto billionaires.

Bitcoin whales: who are the largest BTC holders?

Satoshi Nakamoto has more than 1 million BTC, making him the largest Bitcoin holder. He is followed by the founders of Grayscale and Binance, who together have about the same amount of BTC as Satoshi Nakamoto.

When looking at the largest Bitcoin holders, there are a few parties that stand out. Of course, Satoshi Nakamoto, with a total of 1,100,000 BTC, has more significant holdings than number two and three holders of Bitcoin, namely Grayscale and Binance. These companies have over 600,000 BTC and 400,000 BTC, respectively, numbers that most Bitcoin investors can only dream of.

Behind these top three Bitcoin holders are the cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex and OKX, both of which hold over 200,000 BTC. Then, with MicroStrategy and Block.one, there are two more parties that own more than 100,000 BTC. Below the magic limit of 100,000 BTC are a lot of anonymous wallets, but also well-known figures like the Winklevoss brothers.

All these huge amounts are not stored in one wallet, but multiple wallets are used. For example, Satoshi Nakamoto uses about 22,000 wallets for storing his BTC, while Bitfinex and Binance both use a handful of wallets. In total, there are only five wallets where more than 100,000 BTC are stored, totaling more than 4% of the total amount of Bitcoin in these wallets.

It is important to note that a huge amount of BTC allows Bitcoin whales to create a buy or sell wall effect. A buy or sell wall effect is a significant buy or sell order that causes a sharp change in price. With a sell wall, there is a good chance that the price will fall hard, while the opposite can happen with a buy wall.

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Who is the youngest crypto billionaire?

The latest crypto billionaire is Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO and founder of FTX Exchange. When the price of Ether (ETH) rose, Vitalik Buterin, the CEO and founder of Ethereum, became the youngest crypto billionaire.

Two familiar faces are fighting the battle for who is the youngest crypto billionaire within the crypto world. There are periods when Vitalik Buterin is the youngest crypto billionaire, but he alternates the title with Sam Bankman-Fried. Both men are more than two years apart in terms of age, with Bankman-Fried being the older of the two. However, age is not the most important factor, but the popularity and value of ETH is the deciding factor.

When the price of ETH rises, the value of Vitalik’s assets rises with it. This is because Vitalik Buterin owns over 290,000 ETH, which is by far the largest portion of his assets. However, when the price falls, Vitalik is no longer a billionaire. With a favorable ETH price, Vitalik is the title holder, but otherwise, the title of the youngest crypto billionaire is for Sam Bankman-Fried.

The owner of FTX Exchange has a wealth of over $22 billion. The speed at which Sam is growing his money has not only earned him the title of youngest crypto billionaire, but he has also become the fastest billionaire. This title was previously held by Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta. Of course, Sam Bankman-Fried himself also owns the necessary ETH tokens and other altcoins, which makes his assets worth a lot more.

Who is the richest crypto billionaire?

The CEO and founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, is the richest crypto billionaire. He has assets of over 20 billion and is among the richest people on earth.

The richest crypto billionaire is Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance, who is also known as CZ. He is said to own over 70% of Binance’s shares, and these shares represent quite a bit of value. Indeed, Binance is one of the crypto companies that owns a huge amount of BTC, as well as keeping the crypto millionaire dream of many crypto investors alive by providing millions of people with the ability to trade and invest in Bitcoin and altcoins.

In addition to its stake in Binance, CZ himself has Bitcoin in his investment portfolio. However, BTC is not the only cryptocurrency that CZ owns; he also privately holds a lot of BNB Coin (BNB). Following CZ on the list of richest crypto billionaires are Sam Bankman-Fried and Brian Armstrong, who are the founders of FTX Exchange and Coinbase, respectively. So, offering services that meet the needs of people in the crypto industry can be a profitable business.

In addition to these crypto exchange founders, there is one more possible billionaire, Satoshi Nakamoto, who seems to be the hodler of Bitcoin. With a total of 1.1 million BTC, Satoshi holds by far the most Bitcoin. Whether this huge amount of Bitcoin would be enough to depose CZ from Binance is still up for debate.

Not only is Binance also one of the parties that hold the most Bitcoin, but CZ’s total assets are also substantial. For instance, his wealth comes close to Mark Zuckerberg and Satoshi Nakamoto.

How many crypto billionaires are there?

In total, there are 19 crypto billionaires, but the future will tell if Satoshi Nakamoto and Vitalik Buterin are also among this group of wealthy crypto investors.

To determine what a crypto billionaire is, it is helpful to first define this term. A crypto billionaire may have earned wealth by directly investing in cryptocurrencies or crypto-related companies. The crypto market is relatively young, so there is also a chance that crypto billionaires have become so wealthy through a combination of both possibilities. Therefore, we do not distinguish between billionaires as long as they have earned their wealth through the crypto world.

Of these 19 crypto billionaires, almost all of them have earned their wealth from Bitcoin investments or their own blockchain-related companies. For example, you can find Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer of OpenSea, Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb of Ripple and Brian Armstrong of Coinbase among the 19 billionaires. Vitalik Buterin, perhaps the twentieth crypto billionaire, could be added to the list, but his wealth fluctuates too much to be structurally included.

Of the 19 wealthy crypto investors, as many as 16 have United States passports. Because the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is unknown, no one cannot determine if there is another seventeenth American crypto billionaire on the globe. If the unknown creator of Bitcoin turns out to be one person, then, of course, they also belong on the crypto billionaire list.

Why are crypto billionaires rising every year?

The adoption of the crypto market is increasing, which means that more money is going to various crypto projects. Due to the wealth potential, people invest in cryptocurrencies, leading to the rise of billionaires.

Many people have started investing in crypto because of the great success stories that can be found all over the internet. From cryptocurrency investors, who bought Bitcoin (BTC) worth tens and hundreds of dollars and chose hodl for years, to crypto whales who started a crypto-related business are among the key crypto enthusiasts.

It is feasible to become a crypto whale by trading well, building a business, investing well or already having a decent fortune, so that being significantly active in the crypto market with large corporations is possible. The crypto market is growing and every day, there are many opportunities for crypto investors and crypto whales to grow their assets and become crypto billionaires.

The crypto market is a very volatile market, however, which brings with it inevitable risks and opportunities. Despite this, money is finding its way to the many new crypto companies and relatively young companies developing decentralized applications (DApps). These DApps focus on Web3, the evolution of the existing World Wide Web.

Vitalik: People still ‘underrate’ the superiority of crypto payments

The Ethereum co-founder suggests that cryptocurrency payments are a “big boost” to international business, charity, and even payments within countries.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggests the superiority of cryptocurrency for payments is often “underrated” compared to fiat, pointing to the convenience of international payments and payments to charities as key examples.

Buterin made the comments in a Twitter thread on Wednesday, explaining that it’s not just resistance to censorship but also convenience that makes cryptocurrencies “superior” when it comes to international business, charity and even payments within countries.

People continue to underrate how often cryptocurrency payments are superior not even because of censorship resistance but just because they’re so much more convenient.

Big boost to international business and charity, and sometimes even payments within countries.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 24, 2022

Cryptocurrency adoption in payments has been growing globally. A report from data platform PYMNTS titled “Paying With Cryptocurrency” in July found that among businesses surveyed with annual income exceeding $1 billion, 85% said they are adopting crypto payments to find and gain new customers.

The availability of crypto debit cards has also been growing quickly, with Binance recently partnering with Mastercard to announce a prepaid card for Argentinians. Many of these cards, such as Wirex’s, even reward users with crypto cashback for paying through the card and facilitate spending of several major cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, as well as the withdrawal of cash from ATMs.

As pointed out by Vitalik, cryptocurrencies are also particularly useful when transferring money internationally and for charitable donations. Traditionally when done using fiat currency, international payments can take a long time to process and results in large fees. The war in Ukraine is one great example of its usefulness in this regard, with Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov having tweeted on Aug. 18 that $54 million has been raised by nonprofit and activist group Aid For Ukraine alone.

However, not everyone has been as bullish about crypto’s use as means of payment, with common objections including price volatility, ease of use, and regulatory risk, as well as high-transaction fees and long processing times for certain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

While it can vary, the Bitcoin blockchain handles approximately five transactions per second (TPS), and averages fees of $0.819 as of Wednesday, while Ether is currently handling around 29.3 TPS with average fees of $1.57. Visa, on the other hand, claims to be able to handle 24,000 transactions per second and charges between 1.4 and 2.5% per transaction.

The development of the lightning network, a layer-2 solution built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain, could be a solution for Bitcoin’s lagging TPS, while the Ethereum Network has been looking to layer-2 roll-up technology, such as zk-Rollups to vastly reduce fees and processing times.

Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to be pegged to another asset (such as the United States dollar), have also become a popular medium of exchange, particularly in emerging economies.

Vitalik: People still ‘underrate’ the superiority of crypto payments

The Ethereum co-founder suggests that cryptocurrency payments are a “big boost” to international business, charity, and even payments within countries.

Buterin made the comments in a Twitter thread on Aug. 24, explaining that it’s not just resistance to censorship, but also convenience that makes cryptocurrencies “superior” when it comes to international business, charity, and even payments within countries.

People continue to underrate how often cryptocurrency payments are superior not even because of censorship resistance but just because they're so much more convenient.

Big boost to international business and charity, and sometimes even payments within countries.

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 24, 2022

The availability of crypto debit cards has also been growing quickly, with Binance recently partnering with Mastercard to announce a prepaid card for Argentinians. Many of these cards, such as Wirex’s, even reward users with crypto cashback for paying through the card and facilitate spending of several major cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, as well as the withdrawal of cash from ATMs.

While it can vary, the Bitcoin blockchain handles approximately five transactions per second (TPS), and averages fees of $0.819 as of Aug 24, while Ethereum is currently handling around 29.3 TPS with average fees of $1.57. Visa on the other hand claims to be able to handle 24,000 transactions per second and charges between 1.4 and 2.5% per transaction.

The development of the lightning network, a layer-2 solution built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain, could be a solution for Bitcoin’s lagging TPS, while Ethereum has been looking to layer-2 roll-up technology, such as ZK-rollups to vastly reduce fees and processing times.

Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to be pegged to another asset (such as the United States dollar), have also become a popular medium of exchange, particularly in emerging economies.

Who accepts Ethereum as payment?

What makes Ethereum a reliable mode of payment? Find what makes Ether qualify as money, its advantages and the process of accepting ETH payments.

Is there a possibility of a refund like traditional banks?

If an ETH transaction fails or someone mistakenly sends it a wrong address, is there a provision of a refund?

Ethereum does not refund gas costs for failed transactions. The fundamental design of an open blockchain like Ethereum renders such a provision improbable. Fees paid by the sender for adding transactions to blocks are paid directly to miners on Ethereum network, the status of the transaction as successful or failed notwithstanding.

In case of a failed transaction, the Ether the person attempted to send is returned to the wallet. However, if anyone ends up sending ETH to a wrong address, they would lose the fees as well as tokens, unless they know the receiver and they agree to return the amount.

If the funds have been sent to an address associated with an exchange, these could be recovered at the exchange’s discretion. One would need to share the transaction’s details with the exchange, such as the address one wanted to send ETH to and the hash of the wrong transaction.

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What are gas costs in Ethereum?

Gas costs in Ethereum were exorbitant before the Merge with the Ethereum consensus layer. What has been the impact on gas costs?

The concept of gas was introduced in Ethereum to compensate for the computing energy the ecosystem requires to process and validate transactions. All computing requirements for processing a transaction are sourced from miners and the gas fees associated with specific transactions is distributed among the miners involved in block formation.

A gas limit indicates the maximum amount of gas one is willing to spend on a particular transaction. A higher gas limit means one needs to spend more to execute the transaction. The cost of gas goes up and down with the supply and demand for processing power.

The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) can execute a diverse kind of smart contracts including swaps, options contracts, coupon-paying bonds, bets and wagers, employment, escrow and more. This enables businesses to collect funds in an automated manner without any human interference. Earlier, gas costs in Ethereum shot up when demand was high, often to exorbitant levels. After the introduction of the Ethereum consensus layer, the issue eased up.

Where to store ETH?

Merchants as well as users need a secure and convenient place to store ETH.

Depending on factors such as security and convenience, one could store ETH in hot or cold wallets. A “hot” cryptocurrency wallet is accessible online and facilitates transactions with the help of public and private keys. On the other hand, a “cold” wallet, also termed a hardware wallet, is a physical item that keeps cryptocurrencies offline. Cold wallets are considered more secure than hot wallets, while the latter are more convenient.

Most people holding ETH tend to store it in hot wallets, which are basically software programs capable of interacting with Ethereum blockchain. Hot wallets include desktop, mobile and most exchange custody wallets. Though these wallets make transferring crypto easy, they are vulnerable to hackers. For anyone holding ETH in large amounts, keeping the bulk of their crypto in a cold wallet while keeping just enough in a hot wallet to execute regular transactions might be an ideal solution.

Cold wallets, not connected to the internet, are at a lesser risk of being compromised compared to hot wallets. A USB drive device, used for storing ETH and other cryptocurrencies, stores a user’s private keys. Anyone holding ETH could also keep it in custody through a paper wallet, which they can generate on certain websites. A paper wallet has public as well as private keys regarding ETH on hold.

How to accept payment in Ethereum?

Any merchant looking to accept payment in Ethereum needs to take certain steps.

A merchant looking to receive payments in ETH needs to set up a payments infrastructure that facilitates transactions in an easy and convenient way. They can create a business account with a payment processor like BitPay, Flexa or CoinRemitter, and begin accepting ETH through their app. The process usually includes

Sign up for a business account.
Enter an Ethereum address.
Create an API key.
Add an integration method (API, plugins, invoices, payment widget or a payment link) to checkout.
Start accepting payment in Ethereum.

Web infrastructure platform Cloudflare supports the deployment of Ethereum for taking payments through its Ethereum and IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) gateways. One can log into the dashboard and configure a zone for Ethereum. Cloudflare’s Ethereum Gateway enables users to read and access all information validated by the existing nodes on the blockchain without restrictions.

What are the advantages of accepting payment in Ethereum?

Taking payment in Ethereum brings in a gamut of advantages for both users and entrepreneurs.

Transitioning to a blockchain-based ecosystem brings in a string of advantages for users as well as entrepreneurs. Here is a drop-down detailing why accepting payment in Ethereum works well for the customers of an enterprise:

Additional payment option

In a world that is fast adopting cryptocurrencies, providing customers with an additional payment option gives businesses an advantage over their competitors. Cryptocurrency gateways enable merchants to accept digital payments and receive the amount in fiat.

Transparency

A decentralized ecosystem is inherently transparent, giving customers more confidence while making the purchase. Crypto transactions get executed on a blockchain where they are written irrevocably, without any prejudice of a centralized authority.

Less fraud

Ethereum transactions in such purchases get routed through a smart contract, making fraudulent activities less likely. When smart contracts are audited, scamsters have negligible chances of succeeding.

Quick transactions

Global transactions in Ethereum are considerably quicker, compared to conventional international payments. Crypto transactions get executed in minutes, while fiat transactions routed through banks might take days to reflect in the account.

Enterprises too have a set of strong reasons to begin accepting ETH.

Finality

Finality refers to a transaction’s status when it is part of a block that cannot change. In Ethereum, conventionally working on proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm, the average time for achieving finality is six minutes (25 confirmations) while the average time to mine a single block is 15 seconds.

This is considerably lower than Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, which takes 60 minutes (six confirmations) to attain finality with the average time of 10 seconds to mine a block. When the Merge (the implementation of Ethereum’s consensus layer) is complete, the time it takes for an ETH transaction to reach finality will further decrease.

Data coordination

Ethereum has a decentralized architecture designed to allocate information and trust without prejudice, eliminating any need for a central entity to coordinate data. The decentralized system seamlessly manages the system and processes transactions.

Incentive layer

The ecosystem facilitates the development of mechanisms that reward supportive activities like verification and availability, while punishing activities that negatively affect the blockchain and surrounding mechanism. Incentives to promote honest behavior help to meet security requirements.

Tokenization

Any asset that has been registered in a digital format can be tokenized on Ethereum. Tokenization helps fractionalize previously cumbersome assets such as real estate, which had become simply too expensive and unravel new economic models such as crowdsourced data management.

Decentralized domain

Merchants with no prior exposure to crypto assets could find it overwhelming to send and receive cryptocurrencies. Crypto wallet addresses are a long string of digits and letters. Moreover, one requires a different address to collect each cryptocurrency payment.

Thanks to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), users can create a universal nickname for all their public addresses. Rather than using an unreadable array of keys for receiving crypto payments, they could have a single ENS domain, like ‘Joseph.eth.’

What makes Ether qualify as money?

Ether satisfies all three major criteria for a currency: store of value, medium of exchange and unit of exchange.

Any currency fits the bill as a payment unit if it fulfills the above three features of money. Store of value is an asset that retains its purchasing power in future. The value could be stable or increase over time, but it won’t go down. Risk aversion is a key concept behind a store of value, and prices rise steadily if there is a perpetual demand for the asset.

As a medium of exchange, money serves as an instrument that facilitates the sale, purchase or trade of goods or services between parties. For settling economic transactions, currency is the most common medium of exchange. As a unit of account, money should be divisible, fungible and countable. Divisibility refers to the division of a unit of account into its component parts, which equal the original value. Fungibility is the property where a unit of currency has the same value as any other unit.

Ether scores well on all these parameters. ETH is a scarce digital money that is held and exchanged over a blockchain. Units of Ether can be used for measuring the value of goods and services, and later for purchase. An individual can use Ethereum for investment purposes as well. They could buy ETH and hold it to redeem in future, hoping for an increase in its value.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is the first-generation blockchain technology for building DApps, holding assets and transacting in a decentralized environment.

Powered by blockchain technology, Ethereum is a decentralized platform designed to be scalable, programmable and secure. It facilitates a peer-to-peer (P2P) network for the secure execution and verification of application codes via smart contracts. These are automated software blocks that enable participants to transact in the absence of a central authority.

Transaction records in Ethereum are immutable and transparent, while giving participants full ownership. To send transactions via user-created accounts, a sender has to spend Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the blockchain.

Thanks to its acceptability, Ether has emerged as a popular currency with which to make payments. Decentralized applications (DApps) use ETH to interact with apps based on Ethereum blockchain and execute transactions. The apps use bridges to work with cryptocurrencies other than ETH. This is termed cross-chain compatibility in blockchain parlance.

Wealth managers and VCs are helping drive institutional crypto adoption — Wave Financial execs

“Things are much more encouraging, even though this is clearly a time of pain,” said Wave Financial’s head of business development Mike Jones.

Two executives at Wave Financial, an asset management firm providing bespoke strategies to high-net-worth individuals and entities, have reported seeing increased institutional demand for crypto products amid the bear market.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto on Wednesday, Wave Financial’s head of business development Mike Jones said institutional investment in crypto could be driven by the high end of wealth management firms, including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, looking for ways to allow their clients to get exposure to the space. Jones cited the example of BlackRock partnering with Coinbase on Aug. 4, a move that will give users of the asset manager’s institutional investment management platform Aladdin access to crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting capabilities.

In addition to wealth managers, the Wave exec said venture capital may see “a lot of growth” in part due to demand for innovative investment vehicles. Wave Financial’s investment and venture principal Gerard Berile added that VCs giving clients exposure to crypto without going through centralized exchanges and still dealing in large-scale volume has been a “net positive for the industry as a whole.”

“On the venture side of the house, the bear market has been somewhat of a positive thing,” said Berile. “Over the past year, year and a half, we’ve seen valuations of a lot of different companies get incredibly high — a bit frothy, you could say. In the past six months or so, we’ve seen valuations on companies come down to a bit more realistic valuations, and it’s become a great time to begin allocating capital.”

*Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, Canada*

“What’s encouraging from a market perspective in general is that you think about the last cycle — a few years ago, a lot of the chatter that was surrounding the ecosystem then was: ‘Is this the end of crypto? Is crypto dead?’” said Jones. “From an institutional adoption standpoint and an institutional demand standpoint, the question now seems to be much more surrounding ‘Is this the right time to get in?’”

He added:

“Things are much more encouraging, even though this is clearly a time of pain. That comes with opportunity as well, particularly for people that are building in the space.”

Data from the blockchain seem to support some of Berile’s and Jones’ claims. Crypto intelligence firm IntoTheBlock reported in March that the number of large transactions on the Cardano blockchain increased more than 50-fold in 2020, suggesting “increasing institutional demand.” However, United States regulators have not approved certain crypto investment vehicles like an exchange-traded fund with direct exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) — many have said such a listing could attract new investors to the market.

Blockchain technology can help create safe and inclusive adult platforms

The adult entertainment industry is known to be one of the first to try new technologies, and the blockchain seems to be the next on the list.

The cryptocurrency market is no stranger to speculation. Consider that despite this industry’s growth, many continue to view these assets and associated technologies as a bubble that is about to burst.

As history has proven, overcoming the technology adoption curve comes down to a major use case, or the so-called “killer app.” Although there is no clear frontrunner, the adult entertainment industry has proven to significantly advance new technology iterations in the past and presents an interesting proposition for the future of cryptocurrencies.

The adult entertainment industry is believed to be worth billions of dollars, giving it significant influence over the world’s leading technologies. Although it doesn’t create these new technologies, it is often the first to adopt and do so successfully.

For example, the industry was among the first to make money on the internet, where it continues to rake in over $1 billion a year. In part, this is because, unlike other industries that must go head to head with “big box” retailers, the adult entertainment industry doesn’t need to engage in traditional distribution issues.

Although just one example, this industry has continued to demonstrate a history of adopting the newest forms of media to get their content across to viewers. To illustrate, let us consider the transition from VHS to Blu-ray to internet streaming.

From Betamax to Blu-ray

Taking a trip back to the 1970s, users will become familiar with the debate between the Betamax and the VHS, two devices that could run a film, thereby presenting a standard in viewing technology.

In one corner, the Betamax has a wide format that enabled the device to have a better quality recording, although only one hour of video footage could be held. In contrast, the VHS offered poorer quality but with triple the storage capacity (up to three hours.) The result was that the VHS prevailed, with adult entertainment viewers now gaining access to 180 minutes of content.

In an industry as large as this one, this small transition extended the longevity of the VHS and effectively put an end to Betamax.

Looking forward to a more recent example, consider the technology transition between the HD DVD and Blu-ray. The HD DVD was already largely successful when Blu-ray was introduced, presenting a tough market to compete in. However, Blu-ray had more capacity to hold things like deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage and other actor commentaries, a reality that was realized in the adult entertainment industry. Therefore, like Betamax, the HD DVD was dead.

As technology moves past Blu-ray and into Web3, it is only logical to conclude that the adult entertainment industry will once again pioneer a new era of technology evolution.

Ushering in a new era for decentralized payment

Today, the adult industry has evolved far past studio-controlled content distributed by Blu-ray, into a model where creators are in charge of their creations. Despite having more autonomy, creators still face one barrier, how they will receive payment.

Creators have little choice but to accept funds through traditional banking solutions, subjecting them to high fees, payment cancellations, chargebacks and account closures. Not to mention audience restrictions due to privacy concerns.

Cryptocurrencies aim to resolve this, operating without an intermediary to ensure creators and clients can transact directly with one another. Due to their anonymous nature, cryptocurrencies also enable users to keep their identities concealed.

A metaverse where adults come to play

With a potential solution to the gap in the market, it is not uncommon to see adult entertainment websites incorporating cryptocurrencies as a payment method into their website. However, newer platform releases have taken the application of blockchain technology and utility tokens one step further, creating entire ecosystems to maximize the fan experience.

The Pleasure Network is demonstrating this by releasing a series of safe and inclusive adult platforms, powered by the Pleasure Coin utility token, NSFW. With NSFW, creators can be compensated for their content without the risk of a chargeback. The platform will effectively become a new way for fans and creators to connect, combining some of the highest-quality features from existing platforms.

The token will also gain utility in the adult metaverse, Pleasureland. Pleasureland will include the Pink Tower, the first building in the metaverse, which will double as a place to store NFT assets, play, design, party or enjoy personal space. Users will also have the option to rent out their space to earn NSFW tokens.

NSFW is said to be one of the fastest-growing tokens in the Polygon ecosystem — blockchain technology scaling transactional speeds to degrees beyond traditional credit card processing.

And due to Pleasure Coin being designed as an ERC-20 token, it allows both creators and users to transact freely while keeping their identities and other personal information concealed.

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Bitcoin tackles unique challenges in emerging markets

The adoption of Bitcoin continues to be driven by case-by-case needs as Blockchain Economy Istanbul hones in on emerging markets.

The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) in emerging markets was a focal point on the first day of the Blockchain Economy Istanbul event, with calls for a focus on the case-by-case use of Bitcoin to maximize its reach.

The two-day summit sees prominent speakers from the cryptocurrency ecosystem converge with the likes of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin proponent Michael Saylor on the panel list at this year’s event.

Cointelegraph caught up with Ben Caselin, vice president of the global market and communications at cryptocurrency exchange AAX, to explore some of the concepts after his keynote address on the Satoshi Standard and emerging markets.

Caselin believes a logic-based focus on emerging markets is crucial, considering it is made up of some six billion people accounting for 85% of the global population. He also questioned the notion of mass adoption, primarily because different countries face drastically different realities:

“The people in Nigeria are dealing with a very complicated banking system that doesn’t actually help them. The government may have rolled out a CBDC project but it’s not interesting. People care about Bitcoin, people care about non-government money.”

Caselin also highlighted another anecdotal example from Afghanistan, where Roya Mahboob made headlines by paying her Afghan Citadel Software Company employees in Bitcoin as a solution to the obstacles women in that country face in accessing bank accounts.

Emerging markets also offer a unique challenge as cryptocurrency firms and service providers grapple with onboarding people who are unfamiliar with Bitcoin, stablecoins or decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. A focus on challenges unique to a country or group of people is often the main driver of adoption:

“You are afraid of your government? Okay, maybe Bitcoin is good for you. If your challenge is that your local currency is bad because it is low quality, maybe there’s a different conversation about Bitcoin that we can have.”

Caselin believes the cryptocurrency space has moved out of the decade-long emergent stage of its life cycle from 2009 and 2019. He drew parallels to the early days of the internet, when Jeff Bezos was initially mocked for his online-book store, which eventually became the current ubiquitous Amazon.

Caselin believes that a move into an adoption phase calls for the cryptocurrency industry to shape up. Recent market turmoil, exacerbated by the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) — now renamed Terra Classic (LUNC) ecosystem and the failure of a handful of cryptocurrency lenders and hedge funds, detracts from the greater importance and utility of the space:

“If Bitcoin is not helping women in Afghanistan, or the people in Cuba, or the bankless communities in Nigeria, then Bitcoin is not that interesting.”

Data from Chainalysis backs up Caselin’s assertion that emerging markets are more focused on “legacy” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, while institutional investors from major economies have driven recent investment in more complex assets and products powered by DeFi.