SongCoin(SONG)

Peter Schiff issued a stark warning of impending doom for Bitcoin, again.

Grimes’ manager Daouda Leonard and music platform Slip.stream explain the importance of artists owning their data and controlling their rights to stay ahead in their approach to AI.

The final Beatles song “Now and Then” has been released and made possible with a little help from AI to produce John Lennon’s vocal track.

The new partnership between Universal Music Group and BandLab Technologies focuses on ethical AI usage to protect artist and songwriter rights.

Here's what Jimmy Song shared with CryptoPotato in a recent interview conducted during the Bitcoin Conference 2023 in Amsterdam.

Eligible customers of Japan's GMO Coin will receive the yen equivalent of 0.1511 Songbird tokens (SGB) for every 1 XRP held.

The handouts are part of a token airdrop whose snapshot took place in 2020.

The Record Academy executive clearly stated that the track is “not eligible” and cited that the vocals were not legally obtained nor were they clear by the label or artist.

Justin Bieber's 2015 hit song "Company" has taken a digital turn, allowing fans to own a piece of it through NFTs and potentially earn royalties in the future.

A hit track made from an AI-generated vocal track of the rapper Drake has been submitted to the Recording Academy for Grammy nomination in two categories.

Justin Bieber’s hit song from 2015 “Company” has been turned into an NFT by another from which fans could earn royalties from future streams of the track.

While AI-generated songs are flooding the music market, blockchain technology can ensure transparency and ethical standards are maintained within the industry.

The company aims to help artists make a living for their music by minting their songs on-chain and selling them directly to fans.

Flare Network announces strategic partnership with Oracle Daemon. Oracle Daemon developers will build and develop several user tools. The collaboration aims to enhance the user experience and data quality on the network. Flare Network, a highly scalable Layer 1 blockchain providing high-integrity data to developers, has announced a strategic collaboration with Oracle Daemon, a group of talented developers working on blockchain and Web 3 solutions. The Oracle Daemon developers have previously been original data providers for the Flare Time Series Oracle on both the Flare and Songbird networks. Announced Monday, the collaboration aims at developing a new suite of user tools that enhance the user experience, provide better quality data, and introduce new features on Flare’s network. Speaking on the latest collaboration with Oracle Daemon, David Pangerl, CEO & Founder of Oracle Daemon, said: “We have been building on Flare from the start, and with this collaboration, we will develop a number of important new tools to benefit the growing network.” The developer group will build out three main user tools, namely the multi-wallet management tool, advanced data provider analytics tools and the auto-claiming executors. The multi-wallet management tool aims to streamline users' accounts and provide a detailed overview of all their balances in multiple wallets. The tool will allow users to manage funds in multiple wallets and accounts, offering simplified access to monitor and control their wallets. The advanced data provider analytics tool is the crop of the three features set to be added to the Flare network. Oracle Daemon will develop a detailed analytics tool specifically tailored to data providers. By leveraging the tool, data providers can gain valuable insights into their performance metrics, including data quality, reliability, and usage. As a data oracle, Flare aims to provide the highest quality of trustless data, and this tool will help data providers achieve this. “I’m most excited about the advanced data provider analytics,” Pangerl said on developing the advanced data providers analytics tool. “Flare is the only blockchain focused on giving developers access to quality data at scale. So, whatever we can do to support and optimise the data provision process will benefit the whole network.” Finally, the collaboration will see the addition of auto-claiming executors, which will automate all existing token-claiming processes. These executors help users collect rewards and later on disburse the rewards to the user. With multiple rewards up for grabs, manual token claiming can be some work for the user. The auto-claiming executor will encompass several rewards, including data provider rewards, validator rewards, FlareDrops, FTSO delegation rewards, and escrowed fund unlocks. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

“This would be a game-changer in how we think about money and how transactions take place,” said the central bank group’s Head of Research Hyun Song Shin.

The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market in 2023 shows strong signs of recovery after the uncertainty and volatility of 2022. What are NFTs? Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets on a blockchain representing anything from artwork to music to in-game items. The NFT market landscape has been transformed by the emergence of new projects, platforms, and technologies and changing trends in the cryptocurrency space. How to Mint NFTs To mint an NFT, you must create a digital asset and then "mint" it or turn it into an NFT. Here are the steps on how to mint an NFT: Choose a blockchain. Many blockchains support NFTs, such as Ethereum, Solana, and Flow. Each blockchain has its advantages and disadvantages, so you must choose one that is right for you. Create a digital asset. This can be anything from artwork to a song to a video. The digital asset must be unique and cannot be easily copied. For example, you can create unique DUCKIES NFTs in an educational NFT minting & melding game to turn common NFTs into legendary and mythic ones. Choose an NFT marketplace. There are many different NFT marketplaces where you can mint and sell your NFTs. Some popular marketplaces include OpenSea, Rarible, and SuperRare. Connect your wallet. To mint and sell NFTs, you must connect a crypto wallet to the NFT marketplace. Some popular crypto wallets include MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, and Trust Wallet. Mint your NFT. Once you have connected your wallet to the NFT marketplace, you can mint your NFT. The minting process will vary depending on the marketplace but typically involves paying a gas fee. Where to Sell NFTs Once you have minted your NFT, you can sell it on an NFT marketplace. There are many different NFT marketplaces, so you must choose one that is right for you. Some factors to consider include the marketplace's fees, the number of users, and the type of NFTs typically sold. Here are some of the most popular NFT marketplaces: OpenSea: OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace, with over 2 million users. It supports various NFTs, including artwork, music, and in-game items. You can host entire NFT collections. Here’s an example of DUCKIES NFTs hosted for sale at OpenSea. Rarible: Rarible is a popular NFT marketplace that allows users to create and sell their NFTs. It also supports a wide variety of NFTs. SuperRare: SuperRare is a high-end NFT marketplace that focuses on high-quality artwork. It has a smaller user base than OpenSea or Rarible but also has higher prices. Tips for Selling NFTs Here are some tips for selling NFTs: Set a fair price. When setting a price for your NFT, it is important to consider the value of similar NFTs sold. You do not want to price your NFT too high, or it will not sell. For example, the Mythic DUCKIES are sold for over $1,000 at OpenSea. Promote your NFT. Once you have listed your NFT for sale, you must promote it to attract buyers. You can do this by sharing it on social media, listing it on other NFT marketplaces, or joining NFT communities. Be patient. It may take some time to sell your NFT. Do not get discouraged if it does not sell immediately. Just keep promoting it, and eventually, you will find a buyer. Conclusion Minting and selling NFTs can be a great way to showcase your creativity and make money out of it. However, it is important to research and understand the risks involved before you start. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The bet made at Consensus 2018 hinged on how far Ethereum adoption would get by now. Crypto analysts say the blockchain appears to have met a key threshold, or at least got very close.

2022 was marked with some major shocks to the global blockchain industry that encountered another enduring ‘crypto winter’, the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna, and FTX’s filing for bankruptcy. But despite this, the technology itself is here to stay for good and keeps improving, promising even more disruptive use cases for digital banking, finance, and cybersecurity in 2023. This year is supposed to become transitional for many since the blockchain sector will only strengthen its positions in society and the economy, reaching the market size of $4.7 billion. All that would be impossible without substantial and meaningful contributions from blockchain and Web3-oriented innovators. Today Crypto Daily is delighted to celebrate the most promising of them by unveiling our premiere edition of 35 Under 35 list – we scoured crypto Twitter, LinkedIn and Product Hunt to pick up far-sighted startup founders, developers, C-level and media executives, as well as bloggers, marketing and PR adepts. So without further ado, sit back and check out the honorees for 2023. Mike Ermolaev, Founder, Outset PR Mike Ermolaev gained recognition for his trailblazing work in blockchain PR and journalism. His most notable work includes in-depth market analytics for Cointelegraph and exclusive signature series ‘Crypto Opinion with Mike Ermolaev’ for Benzinga.com, under which Mike has interviewed blockchain influencers like Jimmy Song and world-famous celebrities including Prince Philip of Serbia and French Montana. Meanwhile, Ermolaev has handled PR and communications at ChangeNOW, FutureComes, and Kikimora Labs. This joint expertise resulted in launching his own Outset PR agency. Taras Dovgal, VP of Products, Münzen Taras Dovgal is a serial entrepreneur with years of coding experience. Before stepping into the crypto space in 2017, Taras founded several successful fintech startups. Having led a range of industry-defining initiatives, from DeFi projects to CBDCs to venture studios, he is a prominent figure among crypto entrepreneurs. Currently, Dovgal is the VP of Products at Münzen, an enterprise-focused crypto processing platform. He has achieved this ambition through prolific networking, innovative content, and vocal advocacy for the blockchain movement. Serge Baloyan, Founder, X10 Agency Serge Baloyan is the visionary founder of X10 Agency offering crypto and NFT marketing services. With an impressive portfolio boasting collaborations with over 150 projects, Serge's extensive experience positions him as one of the most seasoned experts in the field. Baloyan's insightful predictions, like the NFT boom before many even knew what it is, highlight his deep industry knowledge. He is also a keynote speaker at global conferences, shaping the future of blockchain and inspiring others along the way. Marat Minkin, Founder, TONBanking Marat Minkin is a successful entrepreneur and blockchain evangelist. He founded TONBanking, a banking services startup that connects sellers with buyers on Telegram, authored the TON Community Manifesto, and created the Dubai TON community. Alongside his work in blockchain, Minkin is committed to philanthropy, environmental activism, and a healthy lifestyle as a passionate golfer. Marat’s expertise in marketing and blockchain-based financial services has made him a sought-after speaker and thought leader, driving the adoption of decentralized finance. Aler Denisov, CEO, Tookey Aler Denisov brings a wealth of experience to his role as CEO of Tookey.io, an open-source private key management infrastructure fortified by MPC-TSS, backed by Aave DAO and Stacks Foundation. Prior to this, as CTO, Aler spearheaded secure key management across numerous crypto projects. His portfolio includes Oxygen, Solana's first lending platform; Eywa, a groundbreaking decentralized oracle network; and GP7, a robust wallet for both private and corporate use. With Tookey.io, Denisov democratizes access to top-tier security technologies, safeguarding crypto assets from unauthorized access. Gleb Alekhin, COO, FinchPay Fueled by the profound experience in IT digital projects, strategic management and service delivery, Gleb Alekhin is currently maintaining operational excellence as COO of FinchPay, a crypto on-and-off-ramp platform. Since moving to the position in 2022, he has streamlined the company’s in-house processes, while also having upgraded customer experience and overall quality of service. Apart from his tech expertise and hard skills, Alekhin proved to have two more superpowers which are building and managing high-performing teams and mentoring. Oleg Pivovarenko, CEO, 2PMarketing In his role as CEO of 2PMarketing agency, Oleg Pivovarenko is in charge of curating the development of marketing campaigns for Web3, blockchain, fintech, and gambling brands. Having worked in digital marketing for 14 years, 8 of which he has been engaged in blockchain marketing, Oleg has implemented data-driven strategies for over 130 projects, including the world’s leading crypto exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, and Nominex. With 2PMarketing, Pivovarenko’s mission is to drive tangible results, connecting cold numbers with audience psychology. Eugene Ipatko, Member of the Board of Directors, EHOLD Since entering the crypto market in 2017, Eugene Ipatko’s influence on blockchain can’t be understated. He co-founded WeWay, the platform that has catalyzed crypto adoption faster than ever thought possible with the best base of KOLs and influencers in the world. Subsequently, Ipatko’s creation of WePad broke new ground in community-driven, transparent IDOs. Eugene has also enjoyed huge successes in his role as CEO at TrendLine Global and Member of the Board of Directors of EHOLD. Leon-Ardo Salamatin, CMO, 2PMarketing Leon-ardo Salamatin has over 7 years of experience in digital marketing, representing industries such as blockchain, fintech, gambling, adult, and SaaS. In 2020, Leon-ardo launched MediaManager, a company that drives sales for businesses using tailor-made marketing strategies. In parallel, as CMO of 2PMarketing, he is involved in developing creative and practical approaches for each client individually. Salamatin’s portfolio includes the blockchain industry’s giants like Huobi and OKEx, two premier crypto exchanges; as well as Mtrading, a major stock market broker. Vivian Cheng, CEO, Relatance As the CEO of Relatance, a global PR agency, Vivian Cheng has been instrumental in helping brands in the blockchain space achieve unparalleled success through effective communications strategies. Vivian's commitment to excellence has empowered her to assemble and lead a talented global team of professionals. Her expertise in go-to-market strategy and execution has enabled major brands to achieve recognition and growth in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and beyond, driving results and impact in the fast-paced world of new technology. Raghav Sawhney, Founding Director, Wasserstoff Over years of experience in the industry, Raghav Sawhney has catered to the marketing and technical needs of more than 350 companies and individuals. In his founding roles, he is running Wasserstoff, a tech incubation company that ensures frictionless growth of tech startups; BTC Wires, a blockchain news platform; and Blockchain PR Buzz agency. Raghav is also working on UATU, a backend solution for developers, but doesn’t plan to stop there, as ChainScan and Wires Media are scheduled to launch soon. Filip Maloca, Founder, TopDog Society Filip Maloca started out his Web3 career in 2017, from there building and running nine successful marketing campaigns for Ethereum-based NFT collections as well as progressing to devising marketing campaigns for DAOs, DeFi Protocols, and an L1 Multichain network. Recently he’s taken on the role of co-founder at SourceFeed, an AI-driven news platform for Web3, solving the problem of information overload and discovery in the industry. The project is currently fundraising and building a community via the launch of the TopDog Society NFT. João Fouad, CEO & Founder, Highline Venture Builder Diagnosed as a rebel by his parents, João Fouad always seeks to break the status quo and build new realities based on innovations in the companies he went through and founded. An international cutting-edge speaker and mentor, João has been a disruptive entrepreneur since he was 16, specializing in finance, investments, business intelligence, e-commerce, and the startup ecosystem. Fouad now leads Highline Venture Builder, an international hub dedicated to promoting new millionaire businesses and technologies for the Web3 and blockchain era. Simon Cowell, André Neves and Christian Moss, Co-founders, ZEBEDEE Inspired by the thesis that virtual activity will represent the majority of the future metaverse economy, Simon Cowell, André Neves and Christian Moss joined their efforts to establish ZEBEDEE in 2019. The company aims at streamlining blockchain game payments, creating tools and infrastructure for the interaction and exchange of value between players, creators, streamers, and watchers. The founders’ executing, engineering, and Bitcoin game developing skills complement each other well, giving a boost to a rapid rise of their common brainchild. Nikita Bogdanov, CEO, SpiritMe Nikita Bogdanov is a result-focused entrepreneur and product owner who has dedicated over 9 years of his life to building world-changing projects across some emerging industries like AI, machine learning, and metaverse. Bogdanov’s portfolio features managing several digital products such as Visper and BestVision. An outstanding startup mindset helped him to launch and untwist SpiritMe, the service that is currently making waves, generating realistic videos where look-alike digital avatars say users’ texts and mimic their voices and emotions. Mounir Laggoune, CEO, Finary Mounir Laggoune worked at Trainline, Captain Train and Yoopies before becoming the CEO of Finary. His compelling vision of blockchain technology and unique approach to entrepreneurship allowed Mounir to introduce a startup that reimagines private banking and makes financial success available to a new generation of funders. Laggoune is also an angel investor to a number of digital products including Freetrade, a commission-free investment platform. Outside of the office, he advocates a healthy lifestyle, often cycling and playing tennis. Rohit Sharma, Anurag Meena and Viren Baid, Co-Founders, Fitmint In early 2022, Rohit Sharma, Anurag Meena and Viren Baid launched Fitmint, a killer move-to-earn app that rewards users with crypto and NFTs for staying fit. The founding trio divided between them the responsibilities for product and finance, technology and marketing, respectively, delivering a global product built out of India. Prior to this, in August 2021, Rohit and Anurag teamed up to embark on their crypto entrepreneurial journey by co-founding Cryptonuke, a news-based cryptocurrency trading tool. Tomas Jasovsky, CEO, AhoyConnect With over a decade of experience and 9 companies under his belt, Tomas Jasovsky has been working as CEO of AhoyConnect and AhoyTeam for about 2 years. Both these rockstar startups are dedicated to boost growth of Web3 communities by offering holistic and easy-to-use analytical tools. Jasovsky’s business success was honored by Forbes Slovensko 30 under 30 where he got featured as one of the most influential Slovacs for redefining and setting trends in the startup and technology fields. Greg Mustreader, Blogger, Co-founder, TGS Greg Mustreader is known for his blogs and podcasts, with 130,000 subscribers on TikTok and featured topics such as AI, Web3, and tech trends. Guests of his podcast, also available in video form on YouTube, include Aubrey DeGrey, Robert Sapolsky, Peter Singer, and many others. The podcast is dedicated to tech trends and the future of humankind. Greg is also a co-founder at TGS, a marketing studio focused on growing Web3 companies by producing content and influencer collaborations. Chris Maddern and Christine Hall Brown, Co-founders, Floor Chris Maddern, ex-Button, Venmo and LinksDAO, and Christine Hall Brown, former crypto COO at Robinhood, started Floor in 2022, with the mission of making NFTs understandable and accessible en masse. The entrepreneurial duo partnered with the Solana Foundation to provide Web3 newbies with a full-service app for enjoying intuitive experience with Solana and Ethereum-based NFTs. Maddern’s and Brown’s hallmark is a passionate belief that they build the products and community that bring real value to Web3 and foster its global adoption. Abhishek Kumar, CEO, NeoFi Abhishek Kumar takes on the CEO position at NeoFi, a brand new platform that empowers retail investors with secure and easy management of their long-term crypto portfolios. Being responsible for strategy and product development, Abhishek leverages his extensive expertise in building global projects to attract the next billion users to the blockchain space. Kumar’s previous experience includes working as a senior engineer at Oracle, a cloud tech company, and developing next-gen web applications as software engineer at Senseforth Technologies. Shant Kevonian, CEO & CTO & Founder, EtherMail Shant Kevonian is a tech-advanced entrepreneur who is incredibly versed in bringing early and medium-stage companies to mass-markets. Shant was previously recognized for his analytical, managerial, and technical skills across a number of C-level positions such as CTO of eco-conscious brands cang.eco and Youtiful.net. Now Kevonian combines the functions of CEO and CTO of EtherMail, a Web3 email solution ensuring fully anonymous P2P communication. Here, he is in charge of executing the company’s growth strategy and everyday operations. Alexander Thomsen, Founder, Moonbit Alexander Thomsen is the founder of Moonbit, a robo-advisory platform rocking the cryptocurrency investing arena. The startup aims to build intelligent portfolios that use on-chain, technical, statistical and macro data for optimizing risks and returns. Having invested himself in various digital assets since 2017, Alexander is well aware of how to create an excellent solution that will facilitate onboarding of Web2 users to crypto investing. So at Moonbit, Thomsen is dedicated to making investment management as stress-free as possible. Patrick and John Collison, Co-founders, Stripe The Collison brothers, Patrick and John, are out to amplify the future of Stripe, a global payment provider that has recently introduced its fiat-to-crypto on-ramp. At his role of CEO, Patrick oversees engineering and fulfills representative functions, while John serves as the company’s president. They fleshed out the idea of Stripe when both studied at MIT and processed their first payment while vacationing together in South America. Today Stripe keeps growing exponentially, securing partnerships with tech giants like Meta. Ilan Rakhmanov, Founder, ChainGPT Ilan Rakhmanov is keen on developing cutting-edge technology solutions that transcend all imaginable boundaries. In late 2022, Ilan kicked off ChainGPT, a sophisticated AI model for the blockchain industry which is applicable in trading, risk management, and analytics. Rakhmanov is confident that strong collaboration determines success of any emerging project, so he brings together a high-end team to foster the rapid rise of ChainGPT and expand the opportunities of blockchain users and developers with a multitude of handy AI tools. Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, Co-founders, Brex Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi are Brazilian entrepreneurs who met each other through a Twitter discussion, being ahead of graduation from high school. As soon as in 2013, Dubugras and Franceschi built their debut payment startup called Pagar.me, before moving on to start Brex, the first-of-its-kind corporate card for startups, four years later. Since 2021, their Silicon Valley-based company enables its customers to convert Brex reward points into Bitcoin and Ether, ranking Henrique and Pedro among the most forward-looking blockchain adopters. Maciej Baj, CTO & Founder, t3rn Maciej Baj is an open-source developer involved in the blockchain ecosystem for 6 years. Over this time, his expertise has gradually shifted from sidechain development to building cross-chain bridging solutions. Seduced by the role of composability and reversibility from single ledger executions across Ethereum, Maciej launched t3rn to integrate these two utilities into the cross-chain environment. At his position as CTO, he also aligned rewards for open-source developers to their contributions, bringing unique dynamics to the t3rn ecosystem itself. George Gor, CEO, Coin Idol Former chief editor, acting CEO of Cointelegraph and versatile top manager, George Gor has cultivated nümerous thriving media stars, while also contributing to business development of projects in advertising, PR, marketing, education, government relations, and insurance. Today George is the CEO of Coin Idol, having successfully managed this prominent blockchain news outlet for over 7 years. Gor’s other accomplishment highlights building international teams dispersed across more than 20 countries worldwide, from the USA and Europe to Asia and Africa. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Flare Network, a Ripple-supported Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) protocol, has announced its partnership with Google Cloud. The collaboration integrates Flare's API Portal with the Google Cloud Marketplace, making it accessible to anyone with a Google Cloud account. Flare Network, a Layer 1 blockchain protocol designed to offer developers decentralized access to high-integrity data from other chains and the internet, has taken a significant step forward by integrating its API Portal with the Google Cloud Marketplace. This move marks the introduction of some of the first blockchain APIs on the platform, providing developers with easy access to blockchain transactions and up-to-date state data from Flare's nodes and Connected Chain nodes. #Flare has integrated its @APIPortal on @googlecloud Marketplace, launching some of the first #blockchain APIs on the platform. Developers can use the Marketplace to easily access nodes of the top blockchains, including BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP & FLR.https://t.co/c3dFq6R0Oh — Flare ☀️ (@FlareNetworks) May 3, 2023 The integration expands Google Cloud Marketplace's built-in support for blockchain APIs, now encompassing Algorand, Binance’s BNB Smart Chain, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Flare, Litecoin, Songbird, and XRP. Future blockchain APIs added to Flare's API Portal will also be accessible to Google Cloud developers.By leveraging blockvchain APIs, developers can create applications that perform transactions and query on-chain data relating to the chain's latest state without the need to run their own node for each blockchain they want to interact with. This feature is particularly useful when developing cross-chain applications that require data from multiople sources. Major exchanges and wallets utilize the API Portal as a safeguard for their infrastructure. The integration enables Google Cloud users to easily access all of Flare's current APIs through their existing Google Cloud account. Furthermore, expenses on Flare APIs through Google Cloud Marketplace can count towards a customer's committed spend on Google Cloud. Flare's VP of Engineering, Josh Edwards, highlighted the importance of the integration, stating that it reduces barriers to Web3 participation and enables developers to experiment with blockchain technology without incurring high hardware costs and maintenance. James Tromans, Head of Web3 Engineering at Google Cloud, expressed excitement about supporting and promoting Web3 partners in their ecosystem, citing Flare's high-performance APIs integration into the Marketplace. Flare's EVM-based Layer 1 aims to enhance the utility of blockchain by offering decentralized access to high-integrity data from other chains and Web2 sources. Every blockchain connected by Flare's data and interoperability infrastructure will ultimately be added to Google Cloud, granting developers access to the top 100 chains. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The music streaming platform has removed tens of thousands of AI-generated songs from the platform created on the AI music-making platform Boomy.

Buffett labeled BTC as a “gambling token” with no intrinsic value.

It has been an exciting week in crypto, as the charts have been picking up. Dogecoin’s mid-week spike due to the temporary Twitter mascot change has affected other cryptos as well, boosting prices across the board. Let’s find out more. Bitcoin Russia’s crypto mining generating capacity rose to 1 gigawatt in Jan-Mar 2022, making it the second biggest crypto miner in the world, just behind the U.S. Binance announced earlier this week that Argentinians can now buy crypto directly with the Argentine peso. Swiss Government-owned PostFinance Bank has stated that it would offer its customers various regulated crypto services. One of the world’s largest peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, Paxful, has announced that it is shutting down its operations. Ethereum Leading blockchain security auditing firm DeDaub has uncovered a Solidity compiler bug that affects function equality and provides insight into its mechanics and planned resolution. Ethereum re-staking protocol EigenLayer has initiated its testnet launch, aiming to establish a decentralized marketplace. After huge backlash from the community and token holders, Ethereum Layer-2 solution provider Arbitrum has backtracked on its proposed governance voting system. In a recent post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delved into the potential integration of zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines at Ethereum's base layer, which could expedite the verification process without sacrificing decentralization and security. DeFi In a big blow to Canadian users, dYdX announced that its decentralized derivatives exchange would no longer be accessible to users in Canada. After an arguably arduous back and forth with the threat actors of its exploit, Euler Finance has revealed that the recoverable funds worth roughly $31 million have been returned safely. Altcoins Ultra has announced that its Ultra Games Store will go public on 25 April, resulting in a 40% spike in the price of its $UOS token. The familiar Twitter mascot has been replaced for the time being, with the Dogecoin logo taking its place, resulting in a 20% hike in its price. Technology Solana has recently announced the introduction of state compression technology to significantly reduce the storage costs associated with NFTs on its network. A new proposal attempts to introduce ZeroSync, a privacy implementation for the Bitcoin blockchain-based zero-knowledge proof (zk and/or ZKPs) stacks. Business China's only regulatory-compliant public blockchain, Conflux, has submitted a proposal to deploy Uniswap v3 on its network following the expiration of the Uniswap v3 code license. Tech entrepreneur and serial crypto investor Evan Luthra has accused Bitget, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, of being involved in a widespread scam. Dragonfly Capital has announced a $10 million strategic investment in the derivatives exchange Bitget. The stablecoin provider, Tether, has been accused of accessing U.S. financial system through the Signature Bank. Many crypto investors in the U.S. are struggling to figure out how to pay their taxes and, as a result giving up and failing to file. Regulation The Department of Justice announced that it seized $112 million worth of digital assets found to be related to cryptocurrency scams. Binance's derivatives license has been revoked by ASIC, affecting the crypto exchange's operations in Australia. The Binance crypto exchange has denied rumors of its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) being served with the infamous Red Notice by Interpol. Elon Musk is facing a staggering $258 billion racketeering lawsuit as Dogecoin investors accuse him of running a pyramid scheme to boost the cryptocurrency. NFT An unreleased song by the late iconic musician David Bowie has recently been transformed into a music NFT by Gala Music. Former President Donald Trump’s arrest in New York City has resulted in renewed interest in his NFT collection, with sales quadrupling in volume. OpenSea has announced the launch of OpenSea Pro, a marketplace with advanced features aimed at the growing market of professional NFT traders. Security Citing North Korea's "unlawful weapons program and "malicious cyber activities," Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo reiterated the 2017 UN resolution to send back North Koreans working abroad. The attack that targeted the DeFi lending platform, Sentiment Protocol, has siphoned funds in the $500,000 to $1 million range. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

SEC chairman Jay Clayton recently said, “I have yet to see an ICO that doesn’t have a sufficient number of hallmarks of a security.” If token issuance looks like a claim on the future value of an enterprise, that is true. The problem is, among the scams that have emerged from what can be called the “token-layer” of the crypto hierarchy, investing in unproven applications (“ideas”) is the most prevalent. If it's agreed that Bitcoin is more like a gold reserve existing in/on the blockchain, and that Ethereum forms a platform floating above it, enabling applications and currencies to be more easily used as cash, then ICOs give investors nothing more than the opportunity to “speculate on the progress of a startup”. That’s all it is. When most of them fail, investor dismay might lead to money exiting the overall crypto market cap. Or, as Jimmy Song fears, the scammers will flock back to the Bitcoin homeland, where they were hanging out before the ICO opportunity presented itself. He says that ICOs pumped up Ethereum as a platform and now the same is going to happen with Bitcoin, as people anticipate free hard-fork coins, as with Bitcoin Cash. At present the rise in the value of Bitcoin is not the bubble: it’s the ICOs. There is also emerging evidence that Bitcoin goes up when economies are in trouble. Buying a crypto-currency can arguably be seen as shorting the main money-markets. It’s rather like an option that will be in the money when the stockmarket crashes. But with “Bitcoin As An Option” soaring, not only is there no effective expiry date, but the option is paying out already - it’s already in the money. With conventional money-market options so very overpriced, Bitcoin looks like a bargain at any level, especially since, when the next debt disaster comes along, Bitcoin’s notional out-of-the-money position will reap additional rewards.

SEC chairman Jay Clayton recently said, “I have yet to see an ICO that doesn’t have a sufficient number of hallmarks of a security.” If token issuance looks like a claim on the future value of an enterprise, that is true. The problem is, among the scams that have emerged from what can be called the “token-layer” of the crypto hierarchy, investing in unproven applications (“ideas”) is the most prevalent. If it's agreed that Bitcoin is more like a gold reserve existing in/on the blockchain, and that Ethereum forms a platform floating above it, enabling applications and currencies to be more easily used as cash, then ICOs give investors nothing more than the opportunity to “speculate on the progress of a startup”. That’s all it is. When most of them fail, investor dismay might lead to money exiting the overall crypto market cap. Or, as Jimmy Song fears, the scammers will flock back to the Bitcoin homeland, where they were hanging out before the ICO opportunity presented itself. He says that ICOs pumped up Ethereum as a platform and now the same is going to happen with Bitcoin, as people anticipate free hard-fork coins, as with Bitcoin Cash. At present the rise in the value of Bitcoin is not the bubble: it’s the ICOs. There is also emerging evidence that Bitcoin goes up when economies are in trouble. Buying a crypto-currency can arguably be seen as shorting the main money-markets. It’s rather like an option that will be in the money when the stockmarket crashes. But with “Bitcoin As An Option” soaring, not only is there no effective expiry date, but the option is paying out already - it’s already in the money. With conventional money-market options so very overpriced, Bitcoin looks like a bargain at any level, especially since, when the next debt disaster comes along, Bitcoin’s notional out-of-the-money position will reap additional rewards.