Crypto Weekly Issue 44

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Welcome, this is the 44th issue of Crypto Weekly Rumors of wars have laid a heavy hand on the crypto industry, much less all of us combined with pandemics and cataclysms worldwide We all, the people, go about our days and do what we do to live our lives in peace as best we can

Why are we here? I have my reasons, and I am sure all of you have many different reasons for participating in the crypto revolution For me, it is the power of immutable truth that crypto holds Encoded meticulously, smart contracts and all manner of interactive applications have created a way for humans to be held accountable to the truth All I have ever wanted in a government is honesty, and we all know as the people being imposed upon, that we never get it We never get it, but now we have it It is in our hands, and we can use it We should all take it because it is ours That is why I am here Maybe you have a different story Being a man of the world, I have heard the stories of the ages, and all I know is this man belongs to no one but himself� We should all take that power� It is yours to have, but remember, we live in a world of free beings We must hold all of this in certain respect honoring all who live and breathe in this world and the world itself These are the systems that give us life� Of course, that is what we should do�

Crypto Weekly will answer all of your questions Whether you're new to crypto or have some experience, we're here to help� I hope you all have fun� Now that we have reached the end, it is time to turn the page, but let us know your thoughts If you would like to see something featured, please get in touch with me

Chinese Investors Will Likely Snap Up Crypto as the Yuan Declines

As a bitcoin enthusiast would say, the reason bitcoin was created in the first place - to hedge against fiat currency volatility - has arrived Now is the time to pick up digital assets

According to Patrick Tan, CEO of Novum Alpha, Chinese investors may use MAS-regulated funds catering to accredited and institutional investors as a means to invest in digital assets

Tan wrote in a note published Monday that decades of decay will eventually result in the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan "In the same way that ordinary Chinese have circumvented strict capital controls with cryptocurrencies, they may do so again in order to cope with a rapidly devaluing yuan "

TradingView data shows that the Chinese Yuan (CNY) fell to 7 1244 per U S dollar (USD) early Wednesday, the lowest level since 2008, bringing the year-to-date decline to nearly 14%

The gap between domestic and overseas interest rates has caused the Yuan to depreciate nearly 5% this month alone Even as interest rates rise, the People's Bank of China maintains a cooling economy in the exact opposite way as the Federal Reserve of the United States and other major central banks�

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is not quite the same as central banks are tightening It is easing monetary policy and removing the shine from the Yuan," Tan noted. Inflation is often introduced to the economy when a fiat currency suddenly devalues.

Consumer spending is weighed down, as a result, resulting in lower purchasing power for the monetary unit Due to BTC's pace of supply expansion halving every four years, many cryptocurrency pundits believe decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are better than major bankowned fiat currencies.

As a result, governments and central banks can artificially inflate asset prices by exponentially increasing the supply of fiat currency. This is what the Federal Reserve and other central banks did after the coronavirus crash of 2020 According to reports, the resulting money supply bubble fueled global inflation, which is rampant today

Chinese investors are seeking shelter overseas via cryptocurrencies due to the CNY decline this time, coupled with jitters in the housing market CNY's weakness has long been believed to increase capital flow into Bitcoin Previous instances of Yuan devaluation have coincided with bitcoin rallies in 2015 and 2016 According to Tan, it isn't just capital flight that may motivate

Chinese investors to invest in cryptocurrencies against a rapidly falling yuan; it's also the collapse of confidence in a real estate asset they have only known to rise He said that real estate accounts for the bulk of wealth generated by families and generations in China

According to Reuters, China's house prices have fallen steadily since the property giant Evergrande Group announced a year ago that its cash flow was under pressure. As a result, home buyers are now occupying unfinished properties.

It is unlikely that China has experienced a real estate bubble burst that could cause a flight to safety� Tan says that if and when such an event occurs, cryptocurrencies could also be affected�

Investors can exchange crypto tokens for dollarized assets once the money has crossed political boundaries Cryptocurrency could be used to move money overseas without using traditional banking channels —Crypto Weekly

CEO of JPMorgan Calls Bitcoin a Ponzi Scheme

T here is no question that Jamie Dimon is well known for his distaste for bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies, claiming they serve no purpose beyond sucking up new buyers' money and paying it out to their existing holders via profits "My position on cryptocurrency tokens, which you refer to as currency, like bitcoin, is that I am a major skeptic of them," Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said during a hearing before the U S House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday

"Cryptocurrencies are dangerous," he said� They facilitate theft, money laundering, sex trafficking, and other crimes� No individual can profit from these decentralized Ponzi schemes," Dimon said during the hearing, which focused on holding America's largest banks accountable

Digital coins are purely speculative, while blockchain, decentralized finance, and tokens, which simplify processes or serve another

purpose, are "real" technologies, according to the billionaire banker "Stablecoins," which are digital currencies backed by stable assets such as the dollar, would not be an issue for Dimon

He pointed out that JPMorgan has a cryptocurrency that can be converted to dollars at a fixed rate and moved just like cryptocurrencies - a stable value and low fees "We are big proponents of blockchain," he said

In May 2021, Dimon spoke to the same Congressional committee, advising investors not to buy crypto assets and urging regulators to monitor them closely� Furthermore, JPMorgan's boss has said that bitcoin is a scam and the hype around it will end in disaster

Crypto has been a topic of concern for many prominent executives, including Warren Buffett, who said in April he would not buy all bitcoins for $25 The business partner of Buffett, Munger, said

the crypto was worthless, undermined the U S financial system, and made the country look foolish compared to others that have banned it

Over the same period, bitcoin's price has fallen nearly two-thirds from $64,000 to below $20,000� The global crypto market cap has plummeted from $2�8 trillion to $930 billion�

At Wednesday's hearing, Simon also discussed the U S economy, warning that rising gas and food

prices were straining American households As concerns loomed over the country, he noted lingering supplychain issues, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the Fed tightening its monetary policy�

"While these storm clouds loom on the horizon, even the brightest economists disagree on whether they could develop into a major storm or something much less severe," Dimon told CNBC

—Crypto Weekly

U.S. Congress Boosts CFTC's Crypto Watchdog Role

With a bill introduced in the House of Representatives supporting a Senate companion bill, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken a step toward becoming the U S cryptocurrency regulator

In August, Senate legislation was introduced by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and senior Republican John Boozman (R-Ark ) It aims to establish the CFTC as a leading agency that oversees digital asset trading and exercises new authority over crypto spot markets, but it is relatively narrow in scope� Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N Y ), chairman of the Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit Subcommittee and a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee member, has joined those efforts�

To ensure strong customer protections, we must have robust oversight and regulation, said Maloney, who introduced the bill along with Virgin Islands

Earlier this week, a hearing was held in their committee on the Stabenow-Boozman bill It was clear from their introductions that the lawmakers were serious about passing the bill� As a result, they focused the language in a way that could be done in their single committee, limiting their ability to define crypto commodities and securities more comprehensively

While it is unclear whether the Senate legislation will

be able to reach a floor vote in this dwindling congressional session, Maloney's bill also needs approval from the House Agriculture Committee and the overall House before it can unite and be considered by the White House The process is streamlined and speeded up when both chambers approve the same legislation, thereby increasing the speed at which the president receives it�

Several months ago, Republicans on the House agriculture committee introduced

a similar bill, the Digital Commodity Exchange Act The CFTC's Rostin Behnam is already preparing his agency to become a top crypto regulator, assembling his staff as "the right regulator" for the industry while lawmakers debate their approaches � A flood of new funding will flow to the CFTC through industry fees authorized by the legislation, and Behnam says the commission will need $112 million to get up and running in the first three years

—Crypto Weekly

Democratic delegate Stacey Plaskett

Crypto Miners Have it Rough These Days

By hooking up powerful computers to cheap power, cracking fiendishly complex maths puzzles, and selling newly minted coins, there was a surefire way to profit

During the crypto winter and global energy crisis, bitcoin mining revenue has dropped 72% from $62 million per day last November, according to Blockchain com "Miners have seen margins squeezed as bitcoin prices have declined, the difficulty has increased, and energy prices have shot through the roof," said Blockware Solutions analyst Joe Burnett

The rise in bitcoin prices has put serious pressure on some players who purchased expensive mining machines or rigs

At $19,000, bitcoin has not broken above $25,000 since August, let alone regain its all-time high of $69,000 set in November

In addition, more miners have made it more difficult to solve puzzles to mine tokens For those without long-term power pricing agreements, this means they have to consume more computing power, which further raises operating costs Bitcoin miners earned about $0 119 a day

in July for one Terahash of computing power, compared to $0 45 in November of last year This grim state of affairs could continue: Luxor's Hashrate Index has fallen nearly 70% for the year to date

Compute North, a crypto-mining data center operator, filed for bankruptcy in the last few months, and Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital, and Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF shares have fallen more than 60% Despite this, mining is a long-term venture; the last bitcoin will be mined in 2140, a century from now

"A good time to buy is when the market is low, so you can get the same mining rigs that cost $10,000 earlier this year for 50% to 75% off," said William Szamosszegi, CEO of Sazmining Inc, which plans to build a bitcoin mining business powered by renewable energy Consequently, many miners are cutting back on rig purchases, forcing makers to lower their pricing

According to Luxor analysts, the S19J Pro rig, which last month sold for $10,100, is now selling for $3,200 Bulk orders of some machines have also fallen by 10% in recent days�

To avoid repercussions from climate changerelated regulations, miners will have to be "hyperfocused" on reducing energy consumption, according to Chris Kline, co-founder of Bitcoin IRA "Miners will strive to stay afloat regardless of market conditions by managing their balance sheets, processing units, and energy costs," he said

—Crypto Weekly

During a podcast earlier this year, Sam Bankman-Fried gave an eye-popping ballpark estimate of how much money he might donate to political candidates In response to the host's question about whether he might spend up to $1 billion, he said, "Yeah, I think that's a decent thing to look at," describing the number as "a sort of soft ceiling" for his potential generosity The 30-yearold crypto billionaire will likely put down at least $100 million, making him one of the country's most important donors�

Despite the outlandishly unrealistic $1 billion figure, the comments still seemed to promise a huge tailwind for

Democrats According to Bloomberg, BankmanFried, who founded the global crypto exchange FTX, reportedly backed Joe Biden's 2020 campaign in a big way

Despite not pledging to fund Democrats exclusively, he said he supports pandemic preparedness and "sane governance," issues where Republicans are less strong In addition to pandemic preparedness, Bankman-Fried is a major financial backer of the philanthropic movement known as effective altruism

As one of the largest individual campaign players in Democratic races, Bankman-Fried's

Billionaire FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Holds Back His Political Support from Demanding Politicians

Protect Our Future PAC gave $40 million during primary season

In the run-up to the general election, Democrats are beginning to look like political losers � According to Politico, Bankman-Fried has "turned off the spigot" in a number of House races and is walking back his promises to spend big In response to his suggestion that he might donate $1 billion, Bankman-Fried told the publication, "That was a dumb quote � " When Democratic parties face many tight races, he must have felt like a stab in the back when he told the publication that "you can't do much more

once you've delivered your message to voters "

Bankman-Fried's decision to sit on the sidelines as election day approaches has hurt many feelings, but I don't blame him It's his money and his business The political types are always crying for more, like a nest of frenetic baby birds wanting to be fed They treat him as though he has become some resource to be tapped at will, like they deserve what they are looking for irrespective of Fried's impulses or personal business sense They don't give a damn that the sweat of his brow is his to be used as he sees fit.

—Robert Stone

Regulators Propose First Global Rules for Crypto

some functions may need to be separated to ensure that they are equally regulated regardless of whether they are cryptoasset providers, banks, or payment service providers

Regulators proposed setting aside capital for cryptoasset companies on Tuesday when undertaking similar activities following a "crypto winter" that wiped $2 trillion off the sector, losing investors money

G20's Financial Stability Board (FSB), which coordinates financial regulation, made nine recommendations for members to apply� Regulators warn investors that the sector is largely unregulated in most countries, only following the rules to guarding against money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to Klaas Knot, the Dutch central bank president who chairs the FSB, the recent drop in

cryptocurrency prices has reinforced the board's assessment of existing structural vulnerabilities

A likely recovery in crypto value is not large enough to threaten financial stability, according to the FSB, which says the $835 billion cryptocurrency market is not as large as the $3 trillion it had at its peak in November last year�

"They are therefore likely to return to the forefront sooner rather than later as concerns about their effects on financial stability grow " Knot wrote to G20 finance ministers in Washington DC, this last week As part of the FSB's recommendations, firms should put in place a framework for oversight, risk management, and data management and

be prepared to shut down cryptoasset companies with problems

Several crypto-asset lenders failed during the recent market turmoil because they were vulnerable to runs, lacked capital, were exposed to risky entities, and took on risky business ventures, which led to failure, according to the Financial Stability Board In particular, the proposals seek to ensure crossborder consistency when regulating crypto-assets during a period in which the European Union will prepare groundbreaking financial regulations for the sector beginning in 2024

For crypto firms to ensure this, according to the FSB,

There will be a public consultation of the proposals until December 15, after which their finalization will be expected by mid-2023 when FSB members should begin implementing them as soon as possible As part of its review, the FSB also looked at its guidance on regulating stablecoins, backed by assets and currencies

As a result of the crash of the dollar-backed Terra stablecoin in May, the FSB warned that stablecoins without stabilization mechanisms are highly susceptible to loss As a result, the watchdog recommended revising its guidance, including strengthening governance mechanisms, establishing a stabilization mechanism, and clarifying and strengthening redemption rights for stablecoins

Disney Has Big Plans for the Adoption of NFTs and Crypto

A posted job listing by the Walt Disney Company last week indicated that the company was expanding its Web3 capabilities across the entire Disney ecosystem, including non-fungible tokens (NFT)

An experienced corporate lawyer will be needed for the full-time position in Walt Disney Company's legal department to work on transactions involving new technologies, including NFTs, blockchains, metaverses, and DeFi "

Disney Media and Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products would benefit from this position because it will provide guidance on "global NFT products" and ensure compliance with U S and international regulations and laws As part of this position, securities law issues relating to the promotion and sale of NFTs would be evaluated

Additionally, the listing mentions that it provides legal guidance on digital currency and blockchain technology, as well as vetting NFT projects, blockchain networks, third-party marketplaces,

and cloud providers In addition to collaborating with other legal and business teams, the hire would work closely with product, engineering, tech, and IP It will "partner with business teams as new global emerging technology projects are planned, usually on an accelerated timeline "

A growing number of Disney business branches are integrating crypto elements, and the company has increased its hiring of Web3focused executives in the last few months In February, it appointed Mike White as senior vice president of nextgeneration storytelling and consumer experiences to lead its metaverse strategy

As CEO Bob Chapek wrote in a memo to

staff obtained by Variety, White would be responsible for integrating digital and physical experiences, calling the metaverse "storytelling's next frontier " The company's CEO, Chapek, outlined its Web3 ambitions in an earnings call around the same time, stating it is "less of a passive experience where you just have playback" and "more of an active engagement experience � "

According to Variety, Mark Bozon, a former Apple gaming executive, was hired as the company's vice president of next-generation storytelling, responsible for implementing plans across various business areas, including "gaming, film, television, toys, parks, and more " Disney's metaverse strategy

includes digital, physical, and virtual elements

The Disney accelerator program announced in July that it would focus on "building the future of immersive experiences" this year, including augmented reality, NFTs, and AI characters The Accelerator program has added several companies to this year's list, including blockchain layer 2 network Polygon, social media app FlickPlay, storytelling platform Lockerverse and others

Throughout the article, language emphasizes blending in-person and online experiences with blockchain as the foundation � A long-term partnership with digital collectibles marketplace VeVe will offer a collection of "Golden Moments" featuring iconic characters from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and classic Disney brands � The company has already tinkered with Web3 by releasing NFTs and has already partnered with VeVe to produce digital collectibles

—Crypto

Japan Eases Crypto Regulations – The Impact and What Comes Next?

George Smith

Japan is a country that has been notoriously restrictive when it comes to cryptocurrency and government regulations This may soon change with several regulations being eased, allowing for further mass adoption within the country

Financial Japanese legislation has previously restricted crypto and trading with a tight iron grip, with the overall industry falling under the strict regulations of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) Digital tokens are liable to either the FIEA or the Payment Services Act (PSA), but with the government announcing the lifting of some restrictions, cryptocurrency in Japan looks set for a new era

The first step in this new attitude towards the crypto industry is to ease the token vetting

process which, in turn, will allow for heightened crypto offerings within the country - an exciting prospect that might have a larger impact on the worldwide industry than one might realise

These new regulations fall under Japan’s Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) which aims to lessen screening processes for new and current tokens, making it easier for consumers to access exchanges and trade more coins

As early as December, crypto exchanges will be able to list tokens without being heavily screened and reviewed The catch, however, is that this only applies to tokens that have already been

traded within the country Traders will have to wait until as late as March 2024 for the screening process to be dismissed entirely, as stated by JVCEA vice chairman Genki Oda

The Japan Times mentions how there are only about 50 crypto tokens currently being traded in Japan, a shockingly low number considering over 10,000 different tokens are being traded worldwide This stark contrast highlights a distinct issue between global mass adoption of the industry and tight

government regulations that restrict the industry in several major countries

The JCVEA's easing of regulations comes as a direct effort from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is aware of the growing industry and an active supporter of digital finance and web 3 0 development

The crypto industry will be a core part of his plans for a new Japanese economy, with plans to lessen taxes on crypto assets and firms.

Kishida's new and open-minded approach to the crypto industry comes as the first step in a "new capitalism" Japanese economy, a plan that is set to reinvigorate the country's economy and position Japan at the forefront of the digital revolution

Where Japan has traditionally been a cash-based society in the past, Kishida looks to heighten the use of digital finance in a bid for Japan to return to the technological haven it once was

The easing of Japanese regulations on crypto will also have an impact on the worldwide industry If the plans are successful and crypto is adopted by the mass public, other countries will begin to look at Kishida's approach and perhaps lessen their own regulations This only means that the industry will continue to grow and reach new heights previously unimaginable

With more tokens available in global countries, more trades will occur, and the overall market cap will keep increasing

The digital revolution is here, and Japan wants to be at the forefront of it The only question is which country will be next?

Fed Chairman Powell Wants Stablecoin Regulation Along with Control of Our Crypto Wallets

T he central bank should regulate U S dollar stablecoin issuers along with the crypto wallets that hold them, Fed Chairman Powell said in a speech last week He said, "the central bank should take the lead in regulating stablecoin issuers and widening crypto regulation to control all digital wallets effectively "

Powell spoke at a Bank of France conference about the digitization of finance and emphasized the importance of regulating stablecoins if they are

widely used as an assetbacked by another currency Cryptos are built on stablecoins, but stablecoins are primarily used for liquidity in trading and lending, not as payment methods� Stablecoins such as those issued by Tether Holdings and Circle Internet Financial are supposed to be backed 1:1 with cash or cash-like assets, like Treasuries

Like in the current dualbanking system, there is an important role for state regulators, Powell said— but there's also a role for commercial banks to

play in issuing stablecoins and the licensing of these banks' operations by the Fed or another federal agency� Powell said that if private money is created across the country, the federal government should play a role� "As far as stablecoins are concerned, which create money, we think it should be the Fed that plays that role "

A draft bill before the House Financial Services Committee, which the central bank chief referred to, proposed that banking regulators would regulate

asset-backed stablecoins issued by banks In contrast, nonbank-issued stablecoins, like those from Tether and Circle, would be regulated by states and the Federal Reserve� Specifically, Powell said he sees some aspects of digital aspects and decentralized finance, or DeFi, as being similar to traditional areas of finance that can be regulated fairly easily� "However, there are also some novel activities that are really a paradigm shift," Powell said "There's still a lot to do on both the

Robert Stone

traditional-looking parts and the novel aspects of DeFi," the Fed chairman added "The unhosted wallet provides users with the facility to store their own crypto assets, but also makes it possible to evade sanctions and engage in money laundering " European Union crypto regulations, which are ahead of U S regulations, initially aimed at tightening rules around this type of wallet, but the final sweeping bill governing digital assets in the bloc mostly dropped them Who would blame them? When governments start thinking they can see inside the wallet you carry in your purse or hip pocket any time they like, there will be a fight on their hands Governments want our freedom and autonomy because we are much harder to

minutely control�

Another element of DeFi that poses a challenge for regulators are smart contracts, Powell said, referring to a software tool that verifies and executes an agreement between parties on the blockchain Decentralized governance structures are no different, according to the Fed chief The DeFi protocol is led by Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are community-led and independent from any central authority "These novel structures create potential new risks, which we need to address," Powell said

Speaking of the prospect of a Fed-issued digital currency—which President Joe Biden

asked federal agencies to research in his sweeping executive order on crypto earlier this year—Powell kicked the can down the road He said the Fed is looking at central bank digital currencies, evaluating the policy and technology implications with a broad scope According to Powell, "We haven't

made a decision yet, and we won't make that decision until some time later " The central bank plans to issue a digital currency requiring legislative and executive approvals, and if it is accomplished at all, it will take a few years

The Crypto Market is Expected to Perform Better than the S&P 500

The value of cryptocurrencies has performed better than the S&P 500 index and bonds after plummeting in the first and second quarters and has remained on par with the Nasdaq between July 1 and the end of the third quarter� "Fiat currency chaos is making crypto look more attractive," said Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya "Despite the panic selling occurring across a range of risky assets," Bitcoin's modest

weakness is impressive�"

Coinmarketcap reports that the total market capitalization of crypto assets currently stands at $932 billion (+6�4%) after swinging between a high of $1 17 trillion and a low of $872 billion� At the start of the final week of the third quarter, the largest cryptocurrency is trading around $19,000 per coin with little change (-1%)

As a result of inflation fears and central bank

decisions, as well as a high level of leverage and poor risk compliance by many major crypto firms, the quarter's performance was worse than other asset classes for the first half of the year

After the Federal Reserve announced that 75 basis points on Wednesday would raise interest rates, bitcoin briefly fell 6 8% to $18,290, its lowest level since June However, over the past five days, the price has gained 2%

while dropping 1% since July 1 While bitcoin has experienced only half the losses it has suffered since July 1; the Nasdaq Composite has declined by half a percent and trades below 1 8% of its July 1 value

Inflation data and monetary policy events like last week's Fed action have heightened the correlation between crypto and equities In a Friday note, Fundstrat digital asset strategist

Sean Farrell said the correlation between ether (ETH-USD) and $QQQ, an ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100, has changed since the Merge upgrade

A significant increase in the price of ETH (ETHUSD) in the past five days has been over $1,300 from $1,263 per coin, an increase of over 25% since Q3 Farrell noted that crypto often reaches near-term bottoms and peaks first because crypto is largely more

risky than stocks� In the next few weeks, "this relative strength may lead to a relief rally for stocks "

Despite a decline of more than 3% since July 1, the S&P 500 has performed better than crypto and the Nasdaq year to date In addition to selling pressure on the domestic bond market, global government bond markets are also experiencing their worst year since 1949, according

to Bank of America strategists�

Since the beginning of July, the U S dollar index (DX-Y NYB) has gained nearly 8 5% in value against other currencies and risk assets In contrast to the first half of 2022, crypto's near-term performance indicates a "lack of leverage" in the market "It is not unreasonable to speculate that if we had seen the price action we saw the past two weeks in Q1 or Q2, there would have been cascading liquidations throughout the crypto market, causing further declines," he said

According to crypto prime broker Genesis, market watchers should note Friday's end-ofmonth and quarter option expirations Bitcoin may not be as affected by the occurrence of

these telltale moments Despite an increase in open interest in bitcoin options contracts since the third quarter started, they are still about half the level they were in the first and second quarters, according to crypto options aggregator Coinglass

However, the open interest in Ether options has risen by $3 8 billion to $6 59 billion, the highest level since 2021 Fundstrat's Farrell, however, offered some hope about bitcoin's seasonality even as macro forces dominated the crypto markets Historically, bitcoin's median return in October is 28%, with just two instances of a negative October "Granted, the last one occurred during the 2018 bear market," he said

—Crypto Weekly

Robert Stone

My name is Robert Stone I am the Editor at Crypto Weekly and editorial staff for Crypto Magazine I entered the blockchain revolution back in May of 2011, and I had little clue about what I was getting myself into when I invested in a single Bitcoin for about 15 U S dollars for the first time. I was also only just beginning my

journalistic career� All of this was from the back of an old United States Army Deuce N half truck we used as a chuckwagon on the Spanish Ranch, where I worked for a time as a buckaroo and cook on the North Nevada range

I had just been introduced to my first computer. We used it to keep track of things and get in touch with the main ranch by

satellite� With plenty of time on my hands out on the range, I became quite adept with that computer� By the time I was ready to leave my work there in late fall, I had accomplished my first successes at what I call pulling money from the sky, writing for companies, and publishing articles for them online with the biggest, most well-trafficked web publications in the world

Ten years later, I have evolved with my expertise and become a part of the blockchain revolution, which can only be called the inevitable future of world finance. It's how I have been making a living for over a decade now� I feel incredibly fortunate to be an active participant in changing the world for the better This publication has given me the outlet to share

ideas that people would have thought were crazy to have only a decade ago� Cryptocurrency is for action-takers and people who believe in the future

My colleagues and I are proud to serve all of you as curators of the best information we know how to dig up to give you what you need to keep abreast of the industry's most recent

developments We explore how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are solving some of the most significant issues of our time We discuss smart contracts, decentralization, IDOs, ICOs, and Defi, along with the regulatory environments that rule them We cover the top crypto influencers in social media and teach

you, as they say, how to DYODD "do your own due diligence " We cover newsworthy moments happening in the space We talk about exchanges and platforms, and wallets

At Crypto Weekly and Crypto Magazine, we address all the questions anyone may have about the crypto industry� If

you're new to crypto, we're here for you, no matter your level of understanding

I dare say I am an expert, and if you are one of those people I described in the title of this selfaggrandizing article, telling you about all of my experience making a living online and investing in promising technologies

like Blockchain and Crypto and writing about them, then I have something very special for you today

You want to make money in crypto, right? You probably would not have read this far if you didn't, so here goes.

The Word on the Street: Bitcoin is on a wild ride.

During the month of November, the world's largest cryptocurrency surged to $68,990 From its peak, it has fallen 72% to around $19,000 now However, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor remains optimistic I, as a crypto expert who actually makes a living and feeds himself eating, sleeping, and dreaming crypto, highly recommend you listen to him As a

matter of fact, he expects plenty of upside for the cryptocurrency over its previous high According to Michael Saylor, Bitcoin is "100x better than gold" as a store of value Within ten years, he predicts Bitcoin will soar by 2,500% I believe him, and so should you If you don't or cannot, you will miss out on your chance for one of the best financial opportunities of the century

Saylor's actions back up what he says According to him, he owns 17,732 bitcoins he's owned for "about two years" and bought for about $9,500 Given bitcoin's current price, $500,000 implies an upside of over 2,500% Despite this, his company MicroStrategy bought about 130,000 more bitcoins for a total price of about $3 98 billion just last week Michael

said, "I believe bitcoin will institutionalize between 2020 and 2030," adding that "it will be a wild ride "

Here is all you need to do to invest in Bitcoin and take your place in the future of the industry along with Michael and I Buy bitcoin directly

The first option is the most straightforward: If you want to buy bitcoin, hold it long-term Bitcoin will go up and down The trick is just to hold onto it It's the long term where people make real money If you can't hold it or can't afford to hold then don't even start Cryptocurrency can now be bought and sold on many platforms by individual investors Despite bitcoin's fivefigure price tag, you don't have to buy the entire coin If you are willing to

spend the money, you can start with as much as you wish

Investing in Bitcoin ETFs

It has become increasingly popular to invest in exchangetraded funds in recent years Buying and selling them are convenient since they are traded on stock exchanges As a result, investors can now get a piece of the bitcoin action through them

For example, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO)

began trading on NYSE Arca in October 2021, making it the first U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF With an expense ratio of 0 95%, the fund invests in bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange A few days after BITO, Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) was

launched� With an expense ratio of 0 95%, this Nasdaqlisted ETF invests in bitcoin futures contracts�

Investing in bitcoin stocks

Shares of companies that tie some of their growth to the crypto market often move along with the coins A bitcoin

miner is the first thing we need to consider Costs associated with computing power and energy can be high If bitcoin prices rise, miners such as Riot Blockchain (RIOT) and Hut 8 Mining (HUT) will likely attract more investors' attention

Coinbase Global (COIN)

and PayPal (PYPL) are intermediaries Platforms like these benefit from increased crypto purchases, sales, and usage Lastly, there are companies whose balance sheets simply contain a lot of crypto As an example, Saylor's company stands out MicroStrategy is an enterprise software

company with a market cap of $2 2 billion Despite that, it has around 130,000 bitcoins worth approximately $2 47 billion Do your own due diligence and find out what's best for you With the information I gave you above, you have all you need to make your own path

The Largest Combined DEFI & NFT Web3 Conference

DCENTRAL Miami Nov 28-29

record turnout is expected for 2022, with more than 100 exhibitors and five stages filled with industry leaders and speakers from across DeFi, DAO, Metaverses, Gaming, NFTS, and more This means no shill marketers or inexperienced speakers who haven't built anything Some speakers include Polygon Technology's Michael Blank, Probably Nothing Talent's Adam Posner, Morgan Creek Digital's Mark Yusko, Ready Player Me's Stan Georgiev, Ripple's David Schwartz, Lightspeed Venture Partners' Mark Xu, and The O Show's WendyO�eth� This year's event will focus on a multi-chain, cross-chain future and an inclusive learning environment for the entire Web3 and NFT communities�

Art, Sports, Music, Entertainment

3 DeFi & DAO Summit

- Let's talk about the tech Deep dive into decentralized finance, DAOs, protocols, and the tools that will change the future of finance.

4 GM Summit Stage (Games + Metaverse)

- Learn about the growing Metaverse(s), the world of Gaming, Digital Fashion, and even Phygital

5 Workshop Stage

- Longer talks & sessions Open forum to ask questions to the speakers/panels as well

Get Your Tickets Here

The crypto culture and Web3 events facilitator DCENTRAL Global Inc. announced its first wave of speakers for its flagship DCENTRAL Miami conference Taking place at the James L Knight Center

in downtown Miami, the conference kicks off Miami Art Week on November 28 and 29

Bloomberg, NBC, and Vice News covered the conference last year, attracting over 5,000 attendees and exhibitors A

There will be five stages where DeFi & NFT builders all come together.

1� DCENTRAL MainstageAll Web3

2 NFT CON StageFocused on the world of JPEGs & beyond

Those interested in attending the conference can purchase tickets on the DCENTRAL Miami website� A special discount is available for students

Crypto Marketing Company owners Nathan Hill, Colin Woolley, and I,

Robert Stone

Robert Stone, look forward to meeting our readers of Crypto Weekly and Crypto Magazine on the main floor.

In 2022, the crypto market provides a great opportunity for long-term investors and dedicated builders to unite DCENTRAL CEO Justin Wu stated, "We are excited to offer attendees and newcomers to the industry this celebration that cements crypto culture under one roof and focuses on the future path forward " DCENTRAL will bring fans, FRENS, and crypto Degen’s closer to the community and technology that is

advancing humanity beyond anyplace dreamed of even in recent history "

Key conference themes across the stages include:

Combined Web3: DCENTRAL brings the major and minor Layer One protocol ecosystems on the main stage to discuss the issues impacting the industry at large while learning from each other

DEFI: As the world of decentralized finance continues to grow and evolve, presenters reveal what new tools, trends, and threats to look out for

that are emerging on the horizon�

NFTs: Discover fresh ideas and projects advancing crypto culture and artistic expression

About DCENTRAL Miami: The DCENTRAL Miami conference is a twoday crypto and Web3 conference organized by DCENTRAL Global INC

Over two days, Web3 fans, industry leaders, artists, creators, operators, builders, and investors will collaborate, network, and program

Interactive art displays, hands-on product

demonstrations, workshops, and networking opportunities await attendees in the space It cements Miami's position as one of the world's leading crypto hubs by empowering participants to shape and reimagine crypto culture

Join the DCENTRAL Miami community

Telegram: https://t me/ DeFiSummit Twitter: @DcentralCon YouTube Channel: https://www�youtube� com/c/DcentralCon

The Trials and Tribulations of Monero and How Privacy Must be Taken Because it`s Ours

Robert Stone

The whole financial structure of society is about to suddenly flip in a big way. Major adjustments in how we spend the sweat of our brow will be spewing across our consciousness in constant steam� It really is time to educate yourself and take some time to handle the situation before you are washed over the edge in the coming flood of change Crypto is about to take humanity beyond all normal and accepted

ways of dealing with life up to this point� When we begin to use digital money, you will soon begin to understand how anything you do will soon be recorded and visible forever on the blockchain Big brother will know what you bought last summer: However, there are cryptocurrencies out there that are private by design and while they are a dying breed, they are as important now as they have ever been If we want to keep our privacy

we had better take action now� All of us will have to live with the future we bring forth in the world, and it is up to all of us because our privacy is ours and doesn’t belong to anyone else but us�

Today, i'm going to tell you about Monero. This is one story you don't want to miss out on.

Monero is what is termed a privacy-enhancing cryptocurrency or privacy coin It's a cryptocurrency that was built from the

ground up to be 100 % anonymous� Now, this is in stark contrast to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have transparent and publicly viewable blockchains where absolutely everything we do is available to be scrutinized� Anyone can crack open a blockchain explorer and see exactly what is going on Cash and gold are more anonymous than the likes of publicly trackable

cryptocurrencies In fact, the public nature of their blockchains makes them the antithesis of anonymity by most objective measures

That's unless, of course, you're using a cryptocurrency like Monero, which exists on a completely hidden blockchain You can crack open the Monero blockchain explorer right now, and you won't be able to see any information about the amount of a transaction or anything about the sender or recipient This also means that Monero's currency, XMR is the most akin to digital cash because it is fungible However, unlike paper money in our wallet with a tracking number, every coin is indistinguishable from the rest because there's no transaction history, and that's a very important point So how the heck is Monero able to remain private and still verify the authenticity of transactions?

When it comes to those anonymous addresses, Monero uses what are called stealth

addresses, and yep, there is nothing for anyone to see Thanks to some pretty cutting-edge cryptography, some of the most advanced in the crypto space today

These addresses are as cool as they sound Basically, they allow for the creation of unique one-time public addresses on behalf of the recipient Every single transaction will have a unique public address that cannot be linked to one receiving party However, the really cool part is that it still allows you to publish only one inward address while having all your transactions sent to unique addresses on the blockchain Now, if that sounds

complicated, you haven't seen anything yet� That's because Monero also employs what are called ring signatures

Ring Signatures

Ring Signatures are a mechanism designed to obscure the individual signing the inward transaction and hence receiving the funds Essentially, Monero transactions are signed with a ring of random "other potential signers," which ensures that transaction outputs are untraceable

The final piece of the puzzle hides the transaction amount itself, which are called Ring Confidential

Transactions or "Ring CT�" It's been termed an improved version of Ring Signatures, a "multi-layered linkable, spontaneous anonymous group signature "

Now I'm not going to try and explain that all here

The point is that Monero's privacy and anonymity are thanks to insane levels of highly complex tech that has been constantly evolving since Monero was first launched back in 2014 This of course makes it one of the OG cryptocurrencies

A cryptocurrency that doesn't have a centralized development team controlling it More, a global collection of very smart, open-source developers, who've been honing its tech for years Cypherpunks, with no real promise of monetary reward Pretty noble if you ask me

So that's a bit of an overview of Monero� However, a lot has happened in the year since I last covered the project

in Crypto Weekly I have followed the project since it's inception and privacy has always been of utmost importance to me

In March last year, it was revealed that Grayscale, the issuer of numerous cryptocurrency trusts, was actively considering one for Monero This news was confirmed by filings from earlier in the year, which showed that Greyscale had registered a Delaware trust for a Monero variant This was considered bullish news at the time, and that's because, as many of you all know, buyers of Greyscale's funds are mostly institutions So it's well worth diving into some of these updates

If Grayscale were considering listing a fund

like this, it could indicate strong institutional interest Sadly, no fund has yet been launched, but it's still being considered, according to Grayscale's website, then in july it was discovered that there was a bug in Monero's decoy, algorithm Mixins refers to the number of decoy transactions used in a Ring Signature As I mentioned earlier, these decoy signatures obscure the true signer According to a tweet from the official Monero account, the bug occurred when a user spent their funds within 20 minutes of receiving them

This bug would give a quote good probability that the output for a new transaction could be identified as the true transaction However, the bug did not reveal

anything about the transactions and the amounts It's not ideal if i'm honest, but definitely not catastrophic All the users required to avoid the bug being an issue was to wait an hour or more before spending the newly received Monero A hard fork of Monero was not deemed necessary

Moving on in August, it was announced that the long-awaited Monero Atomic Swaps were live on the mainnet This was something that a number of development teams had worked on for over a year One of the most promising of these was the solution being developed by the folks over at the Commit Network Now, for those who don't know, Atomic Swaps allow users to

convert Bitcoin into Monero all on-chain There's no need for a centralized exchange to broker the transaction I'll get back to this in a bit Then, at about that time, Cipher Trace revealed that it had developed some tools that could offer governments enhanced tracking abilities for Monero Now for those unfamiliar with Cipher Trace It's a blockchain tracking company� While this may have alarmed some users, many were skeptical because there was no real disclosure of what the tech was or how it worked

It's quite likely that the tools referred to were the patents that Cipher Trace had filed a few months earlier: titled "techniques and probabilistic methods

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for tracing Monero " From my reading of it, given that these are probabilistic, it implies that the tools can give the best guess as to the flow of funds but not establish a conclusive link Not long after this, Monero tracking was in the spotlight again Thanks to leaked Slides from Chanalysis, another blockchain tracking company, this presentation was given to Italian regulators back in September "Of the cases that Chanalysis worked on in collaboration with law enforcement, we were able to provide usable leads in approximately 65% of cases involving Monero

Now, of course, this statement doesn't claim to have broken any sort of encryption on the Monero blockchain According to Justin Ehrenhofer, a Monero space work group member, "usable leads is very non-specific and can mean a wide variety of things " Moreover, there

are other questions about whether the term cases could be quite broad It could include people who merely use Monero but were caught, thanks to being tracked while using other cryptocurrencies

On to the next update, though, which came back in November as Kraken disclosed that it would be removing XMR for all users in the U K While this action frustrated some Monero users, the CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powel, explained that it was not really his choice in response to a Reddit post� He said that this was because of the fact that Kraken had recently acquired a company called Crypto Facilities that granted the exchange an FCA license�

There was a chance that this could not have been renewed, given the listing of XMR He said, "we have to pick our battles and look out for the broader business in the country It's unfortunate but

understandable You can't really blame Jesse for taking this step

Regulators have constantly been battling against privacy-enhancing cryptocurrencies, and reports like Cipher Trace's recent "Trends in Ransomware" don't paint them in the most flattering light The report claimed there was a growing use of Monero among ransomware groups in 2021� Chanalysis made similar arguments in its 2022 crypto crime report That report highlighted the extensive use of Monero in ransomware, cryptojacking, and darknet markets What's interesting, though, is that the same report shows that the vast majority of criminals still prefer bitcoin as their currency of choice This does show that Monero is perhaps a bit unfairly targeted

So that's some of the

most important news and updates that have occurred over the past year, some good and some bad, which is pretty well mirrored in XMR's price action over the period So, let's jump into that, shall we? XMR, was trading at about 234 dollars which was incredibly bullish on its potential, and within less than six weeks it had reached a new all-time high of over 517 dollars

Now of course, this was at a time of general bullishness in the market, as the combined crypto market cap was breaking its own all-time highs, then came a shakeout of epic proportions This was across the board and, of course, impacted the likes of Monero, causing it to tumble all the way down to $200 in less than a week Ouch! However, as the rest of the crypto market managed to recover and chase new all-time highs, Monero lagged behind I can only assume that this was as a result of the continual FUD that was being spread combined with the exchange de-listings

When you remove liquidity from the market This will impact the price of the asset� Fewer avenues to trade It, mean less price discovery and less certainty around its future This culminated in Monero reaching a yearly low of

140 in late January of this year which is also where it is now we at the middle of October The market has had a hard time regaining its past glories So what the heck was driving this well a number of factors First, there is the general awareness that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not the cryptocurrencies that many thought they were, at least in terms of privacy and anonymity at a time when we have the powers that be inflicting sanctions on Tornado cash and considering the sane for Privacy Tokens This is especially true today in the rise the age of sanctions, where exchanges, regulators, and blockchain tracking companies can easily monitor the movements of most coins and tokens�

More Upgrades Coming

Now there are numerous upgrades that will

come with this hard fork occurring right now for Monero , but let me run through just a few of them Firstly, we'll have an increase in the number of Mixins used in a typical transaction, as I mentioned earlier These are the number of decoys that are used in the ring signature transactions, the more mix-ins there are the more obfuscated it is The ring size will increase from the current 11 up to 16, which will further increase privacy, it'll, also lessen the impact of that decoy bug that was discovered last year Next, another upgrade Monero is adding, is Bulletproofs Plus for those who don't know

In 2020, Monero was one of the first cryptocurrencies to implement Bulletproofs, which replaced the previous Range Proofs

There was a dramatic increase in efficiency

on the network, as transactions were much lighter and the network was much more scalable

Well, Bulletproofs Plus takes things to the next level It ensures smaller proof, sizes, faster proof, generation and faster verification with aggregation of multiple proofs This will result in even lighter transactions and faster generation of wallets� Estimates of the reduction in size of transactions are about five percent.

Now, lighter transactions will mean a more scalable chain with lower fees and faster transactions So you'll have an upgrade that could make Monero more private and more usable, something that could aid in that adoption and further reinforce the narrative of anonymous digital cash

Moreover, if the hard fork and these upgrades go as planned, then Monero will hard fork again to a second-generation protocol called Seraphis and a new addressing scheme called Jamtis sometime in 2023-24 Now these changes are likely to be so extensive That they've been referred to, as "Monero 2 0 " So these coming upgrades could have a positive price impact on Monero as more people start buying in anticipation

Moreover, if the upgrades go through, utility and transactional demand are both likely to also pick up, thanks to how much more usable Monero will be now Of course, this still doesn't address the challenge we face regarding exchange support, and liquidity�

It's likely that more centralized exchanges are likely to de-list Monero It's not up to them Regulators and global agencies have

declared war on privacy coins�

Now, of course, it's not all bad news and that's because of these other solutions that will allow Monero to be traded cross-chain in a trustless and permissionless manner For example, we have those Atomic Swaps that I talked about earlier I'll admit that these are pretty technical and definitely not user-friendly However, there are graphical Dex, front-end tools being developed that should address this If the Monero developers can build a cryptocurrency this advanced at the protocol level, a simplistic and secure swap feature shouldn't be beyond them

Then, on top of this, there could be another opportunity for crosschain liquidity, and that's with the help of another really exciting project called Thor Chain it's main MO is to be a trustless non-custodial cross-chain liquidity protocol It has already integrated a number of cryptocurrencies However, one that I’m really looking forward to is, of course, is Monero integration, this will come with the integration of Haven, another privacyfocused cryptocurrency, and you can actually see the work that's been done on Thor chain's Monero

multisig implementation

Now it seems likely that this integration could be the next big thing that drops after that hard fork, and I for one, cannot wait

Conclusion

Privacy coins are one of the last bastions of financial anonymity. We live in an increasingly surveillance-heavy world for many people Anonymity is the freedom to use money without worrying about who might be watching� As one of the largest and oldest privacy coins, Monero has become public enemy number one of politicians, regulators and the mainstream news They would all like to see it brought down or compromised� Unfortunately, a perception has been created that one's mere use of a privacy coin is tantamount to criminality

We all know the tired mantra If you have nothing to hide, then why worry?

Now, of course, these philosophical imperatives won't change The current narrative's trajectory is that it will become much more burdensome for an exchange to offer Monero when the regulators tighten the screws However, the hope is that by the time that comes, there are already effective solutions for a trustless decentralized exchange, whether they be directly through Bitcoin, Monero, Atomic Swaps, or whether it be through a crosschain liquidity protocol like Thor Chain�

I hope that these solutions are able to provide Monero with the liquidity it needs in order to thrive Beyond this, though, I’m also looking forward to those upgrades Nothing

is better for the adoption of Monero as a digital peer-to-peer cash than it is scalable and usable Something that the hard fork will achieve

I hope, if it all goes to plan this could be a boon for the price of XMR However, I will also caution that there are a lot of risks The macro environment is not looking good and if the bear market is sustained in the next few months, no amount of hardcore tech can sustain crypto prices� There's also the risk that the upgrade doesn't go to plan or that one of those blockchain tracking firms Is finally able to crack the Monero protocol� All of these are risks that need to be built into your expected value calculations�

All I can say for certain is that it's going to be an interesting next few Months

A Heads Up About the Revolutionary Smart Finance Omni DEX

Smart Finance is an Interoperable MultiChain Omni Dex that splits transaction fees with their Smart NFT Holders Smart Finance is revolutionizing the conventional DeFi space to elevate web3 to the next level Sometimes things we wish we knew about are right in front of us, and we don't see them This is one of those times you will want to pay attention

If you do any investing or trading in crypto, not only will Smart Finance save you a lot of headaches dealing with all of the multiple access points and applications we have

been forced to use for so long, but you will have a greater degree of security not having to use so many different systems Besides that, you may also get paid to use the resources available if you choose to participate If you regularly use Uniswap, Poocoin, or any of the other dozens of swap sites out there and you try Smart Finance, you will literally never go back You will find that you only ever used them because they were all you had at the time

The Omnidex Smart Finance is proud to bring you streamlined interoperability through the Smart OmniDex! The

Watch this video that will clearly and quickly show you how important the Smart Finance Omni DEX will be for you.

"Smart OmniDex" is the marriage of two Smart Finance products, Smart Swap Dex for local swaps and the New Smart Finance Cross Chain Smart Bridge Technology� This integration grants users the capability to either swap or trade tokens internally on a local network or bridge any tokens between different networks Smart Finance has made the biggest impact by making your target coin easier to acquire by boasting the industry's fastest time to finality, lowest slippage, and smallest price impact

Currently, the company is integrating the Smart Finance Cross Chain Network Bridge, allowing users to trade any coin from any chain to any other coin on any other chain! One-click!

First, you need to understand what Smart Finance is right now There are a lot of different sites for buying or swapping crypto So if you want to swap BNB into a smart contract, you need to go to Pancake swap If you want to swap or buy Ethereum, you may need to go to Uniswap or one of the

Robert Stone

hundreds of centralized or decentralized exchanges worldwide

The biggest, most important thing Smart Finance is doing is to bring accessibility to tokens from all chains across all networks and streamline them into one user-friendly DeFi DEX Ecosystem The tokens we all must go to multiple places to buy, or swap are all in one place on the "Smart OmniDex " Smart Finance is in the midst of adding multiple chains right now and has many to choose from The company wants to give the Uniswaps and Poocoins of the world a run for their money! With the launch of Omni-Dex,

Smart finance lays the foundation of complete blockchain interoperability The technology enables fast, efficient, and highly secure liquidity aggregation, paving the way for its utilization in use cases such as an Omni-chain payment gateway, cross-chain commodity transfers, asset management, and many other Defi solutions� Smart Finance envisions that the present and upcoming blockchain products, should not be restricted by a particular chain in terms of their user base or their tech stack The user should be

able to transact on the chain of their choice, and through their preferred token, irrespective of any project's blockchain, with the best possible solution Smart Finance aims to fully launch all of its smart products by the end of 2022

Users may also have shares in this DeFi Exchange company simply by holding NFTs to earn a percentage of Dex fees There will be more revenue-generating developments in the future, as well as LPs, Farming & Staking soon to come Smart Finance is an Interoperable MultiChain Omni DEX that splits transaction fees with our Smart NFT Holders! The

Smart Finance Omni Dex is inspired by the leading DEX'S, focusing on current pain points and barriers for everyday swap users Smart Finance strives to meet their needs and wants to be at the forefront� Streamlining ease of access to DeFi usage, Smart Finance is continuing to build out the most Interoperable DeFi ecosystem known! The founders are DeFi experts with a vision for creating sustainable passive income sources for the Community

The guys at Smart Finance would like everyone to know that what the company is doing is an upfront opportunity that doesn't come around very often The DEX is built, and the Community is huge! The Fees share is real! Imagine if your favorite DEX/Swap/Exchange would have offered to split 51% of their daily transaction fees with their NFT's How much would a UNISWAP NFT that splits 51% be worth now today? Answer – ALOT!

Crypto Traders That Make Millions

T he first NFT artwork ever minted on OpenSea, the world's largest cryptocurrency marketplace, was minted by a 22-year-old Indonesian student on January 1, 2022 Ghozali Ghozalu spent the last four years taking pictures of himself (almost) every

gaming chair with headphones on, and another with his sleeve rolled up, probably having been vaccinated against Coronavirus The few he created wearing headphones are now considered quite rare and fetch a premium price

success seems arbitrary, based on manufactured hype and speculation How about the selfies taken by Ghozali Everyday? I think they're both right and wrong - and that's where the degens come in

What in the world is a

other esoteric references and ironic imagery in recent months, though some have backfired on groups like Bored Ape Yacht Club You could be called a degen' when you buy or "ape'" into a project without doing your own research ('DYOR')

However, the definition

picked it up if some local degens hadn't stepped in to help out and get things moving with their seed money

Jeffry Jejouw, an Indonesian streetwear entrepreneur and self-declared degen, promoted Ghozali's collection on January 12, days after he listed his first NFTs. In response to Ghozali's invitation to view the collection online, Jejouw bought around nine for nearly $3 each

As far as I can tell, this is a big part of the degen strategy if there is such a thing It is more common to buy digital assets without conducting research beforehand to make sure they are a good investment, then to create a buzz afterward to

memes featuring edited versions of Ghozali's face after he snapped up some of the NFTs. A floor price increase would be achieved by "sweeping the floor" or buying up all the lowest-priced NFTs

"There is no such thing as a degen community, but there is a degen way of life," says Jeffry Jouw

NFT trading, particularly degen flipping, is essential to boosting the price of meme currencies and JPEG collections The rules constantly change in this hyper-competitive environment, so someone will always get hurt

As Poernomo writes in a January 12 tweet promoting Ghozali, "Everyday," "This space has changed a lot of people's

once laughed at him for spending "100-200K" on JPEGs, and now they are laughing at him for his massive returns He claims his friends started with 1 ETH and earned enough within six months to buy a house�

It goes without saying that all of these claims should be viewed with a grain of salt Many crypto supporters outside of the crypto space can't seem to stop selling Jejouw says, echoing the hyperbolic language of blue chip galleries, "I see Ghozali as a superstar " "He should win the Nobel Prize "

Additionally, he discusses his own journey in an effort to minimize the risks In 2021, he began with 7 ETH "Even if I lose everything, it only costs me 7 ETH and some expensive JPEGs " He describes this as the "Degen lifestyle�"

NFT Collecting is Risky

Since crypto tokens are largely unregulated and decentralized, some "really bad" crypto tokens exist, according to Nadya Ivanova, COO of L'Atelier BNP Paribas The same applies to NFT art, according to OpenSea's listings This is just one

example of the pitfalls buyers must watch out for due to Ghozali's success According to Ivanova, a virtual art market is often a place for knowledgeable buyers A $3 million sale of a Dune book earlier this month, in which crypto group Spice DAO fundamentally misunderstood the reproduction rights, illustrates the difficulty of determining legal permissions

People with this knowledge can obviously make a lot of money, but they must often take younger, less

knowledgeable traders along for the ride to success Additionally, they're more susceptible to scams and sketchy practices such as wash trading because they want to beat others to the punch and dump assets at the wrong time

In other words, would more experienced influencers like Jejouw warn younger traders on the degen side of things since they have less money to fall back on?

"Definitely not," he says, adding that "degen is a lifestyle, not a community " Of course, it's probably best to DYOR first.

Blockchain's Evolution

Marked by Cardano's Historical Vasil Upgrade

As Ethereum just completed its longawaited transition to a proof-of-stake validating system, the average crypto watcher might wonder what the overall lesson is from Thursday's Vasil hard fork on the Cardano blockchain, which began at 21:44 UTC and ended on September 27 With Plutus v2, Vasil updates Cardano's smart contract scripting language

Taking a broader view of Vasil's technical changes, which improve the

ledger's programmability and throughput capacity, may require some zooming out

It is important to remember that Cardano, sometimes claimed as a "Ethereum killer," is playing a long game

Despite hosting thriving decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems and locking billions of dollars in value, it has been criticized for lagging behind other smart contract blockchains

The protocol is divided

into "eras" named after Romantic poets, computer scientists and thinkers the the Enlightenment

Cardano uses Bitcoin's "unspent transaction output" (UTXO) system, which calculates what is held in users' wallets based on the change left over after coins are spent, while Ethereum uses an account-based model�

By modifying the Cardano ledger, Vasil will allow inputs and UTXOs to be used in scripting

contracts without having to spend them� By doing so, information stored on the blockchain can be accessed without spending UTXOs and re-creating them Through a change in the way reference scripts are handled, the size of transactions that run them can be drastically reduced, resulting in a reduction in processing times

Known as "extended unspent transaction outputs" (EUTXO), Cadano uses Bitcoin's accounting methodology to handle

smart contracts that are meant to keep as much functionality off the blockchain as possible, both for scaling and to reduce the risks of security breaches and attacks

A blockchain is characterized by its capabilities as a ledger, not as a software platform, game engine, or database, as some people think they are However, they are ledgers that keep track of transactions, said Matthias Benkort, Cardano's technical director As such, keeping critical on-chain executions at a minimum is crucial for security and audit purposes, he added

The first achievements of Ethereum, the most prominent smart contract platform, may be "brilliant, but unstructured," explains Chief Scientist Aggelos Kiayias of Cardano builder Input Output Global� Cardano smart contracts are "different," says Kiayias, a University of Edinburgh professor of cryptography

Smart contracts on Cardano

Its algorithms are based on functional programming, a mathematically precise way to write code that utilizes immutable data to give instructions to the program, rather than changing the state of the program through objects

"When smart contracts were first launched in Cardano, many people were hoping there would be a way to quickly port complex Ethereum contracts to Cardano," Kiayias said in an interview "But it requires an understanding of functional programming, as well as rethinking, " What would be the best way to program things here in this totaly new and little explored yet engineered environment?"

Besides being a natural and straightforward approach, functional programming makes perfect sense to Kiayias when it comes to critical infrastructure

A computer program's intent becomes clearer and easier to verify as a result This simplicity also makes it possible to automate the verification process� Kiayias said that while the Plutus script requires some time to learn, domainspecific languages like Marlowe can simplify Cardano's intricacies�

The Tezos blockchain, as well as Cardano, places an emphasis on formal verification. As a result of the frenetic rush of DeFi, however, these concerns may have fallen out of fashion

Cardano's use of a design borrowed from Bitcoin is another fundamental

difference from most other layer one smart contract chains

As opposed to Ethereum, which uses an accountbased model like a bank, Cardano relies on "unspent transaction output" (UTXO) a way to calculate what's in bitcoin wallets by keeping track of how much change is left over when fractions of coins are spent It is called "extended unspent transaction outputs" (EUTXO) that extends this practice so it is not constrained by the Bitcoin blockchain's data limits

Kiayias explained that this design is an ideal match for a deterministic functional approach and offers important advantages "Either a transaction fits the extended UTXO set and spends some UTXOs and introduces others, or it does not�" Consequently, I have faith that my transaction will interact deterministically with the blockchain state and will not affect other transactions�"

Kiayias noted that a model based on accounts, such as Ethereum, would not fall into this category "Due to the possibility that other transactions can be 'sandwiched' before my transaction, modifying it, I cannot fully predict how my transaction will interact with the

blockchain state in this case� So my transaction is basically engaging with a state that did not exist when it was issued In fact, it has a significant impact on smart contracts "

A scaled approach to security

With Vasil's changes, Cardano's UTXO model will be more easily recognized, reducing load on the chain, which is better for scaling and safer According to Kiayias, the Vasil upgrade will make it possible to refer to UTXOs, resulting in significant space savings "Though it's a minor bookkeeping issue in theory, it makes a significant difference in practice "

As Kiayias pointed out, it's nothing new for people to rush forward in technology, creating a kind of hacker's paradise Defending Cardano's methodical approach and painstaking academic peer review process, Kiayias said, "if I want to improve usability or speed, I can sacrifice security�" "I still believe that security needs to be assessed scientifically," he concluded�

At the time of publication, Cardano's native cryptocurrency, ADA, is trading at 38 cents, up around 3 5% over the past 24 hours

Developed on Secret Network, Shade Protocol consists of a network of privacypreserving Dapps Due to the high speed of the Secret Network, Shade has not only created a product that is privacy-friendly, scalable, and interoperable, but is also very easy to use

Despite their inherent security, traditional stablecoins, such as those pegged to gold or fiat, have a major weakness; they lack privacy Using a stablecoin means that the merchant knows far more about you than with a credit card or debit card, allowing them to discriminate against you

Based on the Secret Network and SNIP20 private and fungible token standard, SILK gives

holders the option to make their transactions private or public. With advanced flexibility and auditable privacy, SILK is a 4th generation stablecoin

Since inflation remains a growing concern globally, Shade Protocol offers a stablecoin that doesn't adhere to a single fiat currency or asset, but can react to global trends as they change With Shade Protocol, everything will be under one umbrella, including a decentralized exchange

As governments consider how to interact and use cryptocurrencies, and more nations adopt cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation, at the same time the world's population becomes more familiar with cryptocurrency, stablecoins will remain a major topic of discussion The answer to the question of what a stablecoin should be, can be found in SILK

A social game where you can collect, earn, win, and display your NFTs while playing and socializing with your friends The vision of Cryptopolis is to make managing digital assets fun Cryptopolis strongly believes in the future of crypto gaming Being able to have fun and make money at the same time is not a utopian dream anymore

It is here And Cryptopolis wants to make it the most fun for any adult to do so Play-to-earn is the approach we chose because Cryptopolis believes anyone should be able to acquire Cryptopolis NFT's Cryptopolis merges the Sims-like mechanics with room decorating

and social interaction In Cryptopolis your NFT collection and in-game experience get you to the top of the tower Make real money with the $CPO tokens by winning wager matches throughout the Tower, buying and selling NFT's, and winning tournaments The future of NFT gaming is here

Cryptopolis is free-to-play & play-to-earn An online social platform with a blockchain back end and an associated cryptocurrency ($CPO) - Cryptopolis has a progression system based on acquiring resources, items (as NFTs), and prestige - Where players connect with each other and perform activities together But they also compete with each other for ingame standing (prestige) and $CPO in various minigames. Cryptopolis is the first gamified social platform whose users can earn real money by playing and trading NFTs

Cookie Sale launched in February 2022, and aims to become one of the biggest launchpads for tokens on the BSC With its sleek design and easy-to-use interface, CookieSale looks to be adaptable and adoptable for developers and a safe environment for investors CookieSale works side by side with Kodi’s marketing & advertising agency Pitch. This benefits developers and holders of Kodi as well As a developer, you will be able to use CookieSale as an “A to Z” platform

From advertising to zhooshing up your “cookie” there will be something that satisfies almost anyone’s tastes As a Kodi holder, a percentage of the revenue generated through

CookieSale will be bought back into Kodi and then airdropped to holders, holding 10 million or more Kodi tokens

Backed by powerful auditing companies such as Certik, SpyWolf, Brewlabs, Dessert Finance, Contract Checker, and HashEx developers will be able to choose between three pre-audited contracts or create their own and have it audited separately Other key features include liquidity locking, anti-bot features, custom airdrops, visual cues to aid in identifying safer investments, and more

One notable feature that stands out amongst other launchpads is that CookieSale will only charge a flat fee for listing Developers will be able to launch the right way, without the fear of a large sell from the launchpad taking profit.

Kodi’s mission is to create a one-stop-shop IDO platform and provide investors with an interactive Entertainment Network that will keep users engaged, informed, and entertained while investing in the crypto space

Clear Vision

Kodi`s vision is to create an ecosystem that will be a driver in promoting a safer economic environment for crypto investors to participate in and for developers to grow their projects. Kodi is creating an industry-first Entertainment Network that will become THE place for crypto investors to socialize, have fun, win prizes, and learn about everything crypto Is there anything more about Kodi? How do you, as an investor benefit? Kodi by itself, is an entertainment project Kodi plays games post podcasts, do AMAs, have tournaments, live streams, and play plenty of music� At Kodi there are two subsidiaries� "Pitch" being the in-house advertising agency, which is a one-stop shop, all things content creation, both in crypto and fiat. Branding, websites, commercials, you name it Kodi does it The Pitch Advertising Agency and

CookieSale launchpad Cookie Sale will work in unison to become the go-to destinations for developers to build their brands and launch their projects With Cookie Sale, you can launch your project from A to Z Gone are the days of taking your token supply Kodi simply charges a flat fee, no strings attached.

So how do you benefit as a holder? Well, if you're, a holder of at least ten million KODI you receive BNB, rewards automatically deposited into your wallet You also can participate in Kodi`s weekly games where you can win, BNB for free But here's where things get really exciting Two percent of every transaction goes straight into the Kodi treasury contract

The treasury buys back Kodi tokens, creating an increase in price, and stores them in the treasury Twenty percent of these tokens are burnt and 80% gets used to top up the staking pools as needed revenue generated through pitch and cookie sale also gets added to the treasury contract This creates the everincreasing price floor, whilst also removing tokens from circulation Go say hi on their telegram community, or check out their website at Kodicoin com

guide

What are Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering Laws?

Robert Stone

Crypto Exchanges Use KYC to Prevent Money Laundering and Fraud Know-your-customer (KYC) checks are very likely to have been required of you before buying a cryptocurrency exchange or purchasing an NFT if you have ever used a cryptocurrency exchange or bought an NFT

How does KYC work in crypto?

Anti-money laundering (AML) due diligence begins with Know Your Customer (KYC) Global financial systems rely on KYC checks to maintain compliance with antimoney laundering (AML) regulations, and cryptocurrency businesses are no exception� Financial institutions use KYC procedures to identify and verify the customer's identity when onboarding a new customer to assess a customer's risk profile based on their propensity for financial crime.

Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet

providers must now integrate KYC processes into their anti-money laundering programs since they are regulated as financial institutions.

The KYC process involves cryptocurrency exchanges going through the following steps:

• Verify the personal information of their end users and customers

• Verify the legitimacy of potential customers by gaining a clearer understanding of their activities

• Assess the likelihood of money laundering by their customers�

Human trafficking, money laundering, and terrorist financing are crimes that can be prevented through KYC requirements, KYC requirements are an essential tool for states and regulators to implement to stop crypto from being used for these crimes�

Many cryptocurrency advocates, however, believe that centralized entities should not be

allowed to supervise crypto transactions, as it goes against the founding principles of the cryptocurrency community As far as cryptocurrency exchanges are concerned, KYC and AML are not going anywhere any time soon, as they are a part of the global financial system.

Why do KYC and AML exist?

A Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedure identifies and confirms a customer's identity KYC seeks to determine the legitimacy of customers' sources of funds and assess the risks associated with money laundering This process involves various steps to

prevent fake accounts from being created and used

During the 1990s, the United States introduced know-your-customer policies to combat money laundering The KYC process can be as simple as requesting a name and email address or including photo identification and an address According to their supporters, identity theft and fraud prevention are among the primary reasons for KYC policies

Money laundering policies have been in place since 1970 when the Bank Secrecy Act was passed Banks and exchanges have antimoney laundering policies to prevent criminals

from laundering money or cryptocurrencies� US Treasury Department sanctions list cited Tornado Cash's use in money laundering and cybercrime when it added it to its list in August 2022

Money laundering can be detected and prosecuted by law enforcement agencies by keeping records and filing reports The USA Patriot Act of 2001 made knowyour-customer policies mandatory in the United States A KYC requirement for all U S banks was finalized by the Secretary of the Treasury in October 2002

KYC and Crypto

Cryptocurrency exchanges dominate the crypto ecosystem In compliance with KYC regulations, US-based exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance�US, Gemini, and Kraken use "Identity Verification" just like a bank or stock exchange "As a regulated financial services company, Coinbase must identify its users Our users must verify their identities in order to continue using Coinbase," the company's website states

The first step in setting up a U S exchange is providing basic customer information

This information usually consists of a name, e-mail

address, and date of birth

For transactions involving more than a token amount of cryptocurrency, customers need to provide additional information, such as governmentissued identification.

Privacy and crypto advocates view KYC policies as invasions of privacy that create honeypots for cybercriminals, even though KYC and AML were introduced to protect consumers and the financial system. As a result of filing for bankruptcy protection, the documents of a crypto company can be made public

Chapter 11 bankruptcy was filed by the crypto-lending platform Celsius on July 11, 2022 Information about its users and accounts was provided to the bankruptcy court On a website called Celsius Networth," users ranked on a "leaderboard" the losers who lost the most money� In the wake of the public release of this data, individuals' identities could be tied to their on-chain activity, and by extension, to their blockchain transactions�

What are the AML requirements for cryptocurrency?

Anti-money laundering legislation is established by the Financial Action

Task Force (FATF) FATF published cryptocurrency AML guidance in 2014, and policymakers acted quickly Many of FATF's cryptocurrency AML recommendations have been legally codified by FinCEN, the European Commission, and other regulatory agencies

The FATF defines DeFi protocols and NFT marketplaces as virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and, on a case-by-case basis, on cryptocurrency exchanges and stablecoin issuers

To thwart nefarious transactions linked to money laundering and terrorist financing, VASP's Compliance Officers must mandate know-yourcustomer (KYC) checks and monitor suspicious activity on a regular basis

A VASP is also required to report suspicious activities to relevant regulators and agencies, which analyze and trace the flow of funds using tools, including blockchain analysis, to real-world identifiers.

Web3 and KYC

Doxxing, in which a person's identity and location are revealed, is a real concern for many people A newer, Web3friendly version of KYC that relies on reputation

and limited identity verification has been proposed in recent years Civic offers online identity solutions for enterprises and consumers The company was founded in 2015 in San Francisco "We have a suite of products for the enterprise called Civic Pass, which includes uniqueness verification," JP Bedoya, Civic's chief product officer, explained in a recent interview

The company has also launched Civic me, a blockchain-based platform that allows users to manage their online identity, NFTs, wallet addresses, and reputation in one place

There are also other projects looking to provide Web3 KYC services, such as Polygon ID, Astra Protocol, and Parallel Markets, all of which provide easy-to-use customer identification methods� KYC remains a touchy subject, particularly in an industry built on privacy and permissionless transactions However, with governments becoming increasingly interested in crypto and Web3 activity and the legacy financial system becoming increasingly integrated with the crypto space, KYC is here to stay It can at least be made as painless as possible by developers

of the week

What is the Potential of The Metaverse? The Crypto Mile explains

Brian McGleenon will take you on a tour of different metaverses. We will first head to Decentraland to check in with Brandon Johnson, CXO of TerraZero, who provided one of the world's first metaverse mortgages. We'll also be heading to Somnium Space to meet its founder Artur Sychov, to discuss immortality inside the metaverse. While there, we'll also catch up with Melissa McBride, CEO of Sophia High School and Co-founder of Sophia Technologies, to learn about the possibilities and advantages of VR education for children.

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