Requests for comments on a proposal urging the Wikimedia Foundation to stop accepting donations in cryptocurrency have closed, with the majority of users voting in favor.
According to a Tuesday update on the proposal, roughly 71%, or 232 out of 326, Wikimedia contributors who responded requested that the Wikimedia Foundation — the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia — stop accepting cryptocurrency donations. The arguments in favor of the proposition included environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and “the risk to the movement’s reputation for accepting cryptocurrencies.”
The community first opened the proposal to comment on Jan. 10, expanding the discussion to include topics like El Salvador adopting BTC as legal tender, crypto as a tool for illicit financial activities, and digital assets’ role in financial inclusion. However, the majority of the topics seemed to focus on the energy usage and potential environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.
“Cryptocurrencies may not align with the Wikimedia Foundation’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” said the original proposal. “Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two most highly-used cryptocurrencies, and are both proof-of-work, using an enormous amount of energy […] the current models continue to be extremely damaging to the environment. While there are eco-friendlier cryptocurrencies, they are less widely-used.”
Among those arguments in opposition of the proposal included proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies that are “way less energy-intensive” and using tokens to provide “safer ways to donate and engage in finance for people in oppressive countries.” One user cited the Ukrainian government accepting crypto donations as an argument against the technology carrying a bad reputation.
“Crypto should remain an option for Wikimedia to accept donation,” said user C933103 on March 14. “Wikimedia is accepting donations in crypto not giving crypto out. If a country’s law banned donation to [the Wikimedia Foundation, or WMF] through banks then it is the country in the wrong not WMF. Accepting donations instead of giving them out also mean it won’t be used to facilitate any new economic activities that could be target of sanction or be funding other illegal activities, as all the received currency will immediately be converted to fiat currency in WMF’s account.”
what’s that rumbling noise in the distance, slowly growing louder, you ask?
it is the stampede of crypto zealots who have never once donated to the wikimedia foundation, shouting “guess i’ll take my money elsewhere!”
However, Wikimedia contributor TrueAnonyman supported the proposition, adding:
“The financial effect of no longer accepting crypto donations would be minimal, and far outweighed by the reputational harm to the Wikimedia project of being seen to endorse a technology so strongly tied to various environmental and social harms.”
The foundation reported in January it received roughly $130,000 worth of crypto donations in the last financial year, roughly 0.08% of its revenue. Bitcoin was the most used cryptocurrency among the 347 individuals who donated, but the nonprofit also accepts Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Bridging assets could help solve issues like scalability, speed and high fees. Bridging means users can move their tokens between blockchain networks quickly and cost-effectively.
The Polygon bridge is designed to connect different blockchains with fast and cheap transactions so that users can easily transfer tokens back and forth. It also enhances the Ethereum ecosystem through efficient tools that help build scalable decentralized applications (DApps).
The Polygon Bridge allows users to move tokens from Ethereum ERC20 to Polygon Matic, Polygon’s native token, which is the cheapest way to bridge ETH to Polygon.
There are two Polygon bridges: the proof-of-stake (PoS) Bridge, which is the official Matic Bridge, and the Plasma Bridge.
Both bridges can be used to transfer tokens from Ethereum to Polygon and vice versa, but they are different in their approach to security methods.
The PoS Bridge is the most popular and straightforward for transferring ETH and most ERC tokens. It uses the PoS consensus algorithm to secure its network.
Deposits on the PoS Bridge are instantly secured, but withdrawals may take a while to confirm. A PoS Bridge withdrawal usually takes between 45 minutes and 3 hours, while the Plasma Bridge can take as long as seven days.
The Plasma Bridge is more suitable for developers that require higher security. It uses the Ethereum Plasma scaling solution and supports the transfer of MATIC, ETH, ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens.
To bridge tokens from Ethereum to Polygon, the first requirement is access to a compatible cryptocurrency wallet, such as MetaMask, but other options can also be used, as shown below.
2. Next, you need to connect your Ethereum wallet. In this example, Metamask is used, but other options, as mentioned in the image below, can also be employed.
3. A digital signature is required to connect your MetaMask wallet to your Polygon wallet. Ensure the URL is correct before clicking on sign in to proceed to avoid any scamming attempt.
4. To send your tokens from Ethereum to Polygon, go to the deposit tab and click on the required token you want to bridge. Enter the amount and click transfer. Read the notes on the following page and click continue. You will then be directed to agree to the estimated gas fees and click continue.
5. You can review your transaction details, such as the token amount and the estimated transaction fee, on the following page before completing the operation. Then click continue to sign and approve the transfer.
6. Once confirmed, you can check the transaction status on Etherscan.
You can also use Polygon Bridge Matic to run the inverse transaction to transfer MATIC to Ethereum. Similarly, you’ll need a compatible crypto wallet such as MetaMask.
To transfer tokens from Polygon to Ethereum blockchain via the PoS Bridge, follow the following steps:
You can view the status of the transaction on Etherscan. It might take up to three hours for the transaction to be verified by PoS validators and completed. Once validated, you will need to claim the tokens to the MetaMask wallet. Click continue to allow the withdrawal to complete.
How to use the Plasma bridge on Polygon
The Plasma Bridge can help you transfer MATIC or other Polygon tokens to Ethereum. However, it only supports the transfer of ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, including ETH and MATIC. It uses the Ethereum Plasma scaling solution for higher security, which is why it’s the preferred tool by developers.
To transfer Matic, for instance, from Polygon to Ethereum, any Ethereum wallet such as Metamask can be used. You need to add the Polygon network to your wallet before you can view your MATIC and start the process. It’s easy to add the Polygon network, just follow the instructions.
For example, on Metamask, make sure that you’re connected to your MetaMask wallet. Then click the Switch to Polygon button on the top.
A pop-up from your MetaMask extension with the Polygon network details will appear, then click approve.
To see Matic on your Metamask wallet, you need to switch your MetaMask from the Ethereum Mainnet to the Polygon network. Just click on the switch network.
To bridge MATIC to Ethereum using MetaMask, you can follow the following steps:
Please note that the process involved in Step 5 is more burdensome than the PoS Bridge as you need to confirm three transactions manually for a Plasma Bridge transfer. The first will initiate your withdrawal from the Polygon wallet, which could take up to three hours.
Ethereum gas fees have been a significant issue in the last couple of years since NFTs and DeFi have become popular due to network congestion. Layer-2 systems (L2s) are a secondary layer or protocol built on top of an existing blockchain system. Their main goal is to solve the transaction speed and scaling difficulties faced by the major cryptocurrency networks.
Extreme fear is once again the dominating sentiment across the cryptocurrency community after Bitcoin (BTC) faced another day of trading below the $40,000 level and the United States grapples with the highest Consumer Price Index (CPI) print since 1981.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that an early morning attempt to rally above $40,000 ran into a wall of resistance at $40,650 and BTC price eventually tumbled back below $39,600.
BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Here’s a look at what several analysts are saying about the current state of Bitcoin and what could potentially come next as financial markets grapple with an increasing amount of uncertainty.
Bitcoin is simply re-testing a major S/R zone
The current price action for Bitcoin is largely seen as a retest of a major support and resistance (S/R) zone according to crypto analyst and pseudonymous Twitter user ‘Credible Crypto’, who posted the following chart outlining the multiple retests of this level going back to 2020.
BTC/USD 1-week chart. Source: Twitter
According to Credible Crypto, both the middle green circle and the last red circle provide past examples of intra-week movements that went above or below the weekly level, “but it means nothing without a close to confirm.”
Credible Crypto said,
“Give me a close below BLUE and I’ll change my tune, but for now there is no reason to.”
Some analysts project a lackluster recovery
Insight into the on-chain behavior of Bitcoin investors was discussed in the most recent weekly report from Glassnode, which noted that there has been “a modest volume of profit-taking by investors” following the BTC breakout-out from a multi-month consolidation range.
According to Glassnode, “the market has seen around 13,300 BTC in profits realized each day since mid-February” and while this value is not “historically extreme,” it does appear to “be providing sufficient headwinds to prices.”
Bitcoin realized profit. Source: Glassnode
Overall, the recent recovery for Bitcoin has been relatively subdued with the market waiting for some major catalyst to help bring fresh momentum and new inflows into the cryptocurrency market.
Glassnode said,
“Especially across on-chain activity metrics like transaction counts and active users, the recovery has thus far been relatively lackluster and continues to suggest Bitcoin is a HODLer dominated market, with few new investors flowing in.”
A strongly bullish narrative was highlighted by crypto trader ‘BTCfuel’, who posted the following chart outlining the possibility of an impending “mega pump” from Bitcoin.
BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: Twitter
BTCfuel said,
“When looking at the RSI, the 2022 Bitcoin correction is very similar to 2021. Strong BULLISH move imminent.”
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.850 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 40.9%.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Voyager Innovations, the firm behind the Philippines’ top digital payments app Paymaya, has announced it has achieved unicorn status after a recent round of funding, surpassing a $1 billion valuation.
Voyager Innovation announced Tuesday that the new $210 million capital boosted its valuation to $1.4 billion. The company highlighted that the new funds will be used to develop crypto offerings that it recently added to its flagship digital payments app PayMaya.
According to the news release, the recent financing round was led by SIG Venture Capital. It included well-known firms such as KKR, First Pacific Co., Tencent Holdings Limited and PLDT Inc., the Philippines’ largest telecom provider.
As reported by Cointelegraph, PayMaya recently introduced crypto services into the app, allowing consumers to buy, sell, and earn crypto using it. The money will be used to develop the crypto offerings further. PayMaya also recently obtained a Virtual Asset Services Provider (VASP) license from the Philippine Central Bank. The firm will also invest the cash in PayMaya-branded digital bank services, such as savings and credit.
According to Voyager, most of the Philippine population is “underserved” in terms of internet and digital finance. It aims to take advantage of this by extending its market reach. As of March 31, PayMaya has over 47 million users.
Over the past two years, Philippine’s digital economy has increased, thanks largely to Voyager and its rival Mynt. According to a study by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co., the Philippines ‘ digital economy increased 94% from 2020 to 2021 and it is projected to reach $40 billion by 2025.
The expansion of internet commerce in the country will likely increase cryptocurrency adoption. The Philippines does not have any regulations restricting the trade of digital currencies currently. However, the central bank has repeatedly warned investors about the risks in the nascent market.
Protocols in the Cosmos ecosystem have seen a significant amount of growth in 2022 due to the intensifying focus on blockchain interoperability and compatibility with the Ethereum network.
One protocol that has seen a buildup in momentum since the middle of March is Kava, a project that is developing a co-chain architecture for the Cosmos and Ethereum network.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of Kava’s native token KAVA has climbed 72.3% after hitting a low of $2.92 on March 13 to establish a daily high of $5.03 on April 8.
KAVA/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Three reasons for the increase in price and momentum for KAVA include the Ethereum Co-Chain beta launch, the launch of a $750 million developer incentive program and a series of partnerships and protocol launches that have expanded the size of the Kava ecosystem.
Ethereum Co-chain beta launch
One of the most anticipated developments to come out of the Kava ecosystem was the successful completion of the alpha phase of the Ethereum Co-chain launch.
The Ethereum Co-Chain enables support for Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts while the Cosmos Co-Chain enables support for the Tendermint consensus engine and the Inter Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC). A translator module connects the co-chains and allows for seamless interoperability between the networks.
The mainnet launch of the Ethereum Co-Chain is expected to take place on May 10.
Kava launches a $750 million developer incentive program
A second reason for the building strength of KAVA was the March 3 launch of Kava Rise, a $750 million developer incentive program designed to help onboard developers from decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming and nonfungible projects into the Kava community.
Kava Rise is an on-chain incentive mechanism that will distribute 62.5% of all block rewards to developers who are building on Kava’s Ethereum and Cosmos Co-Chains as part of the protocol’s effort to become a builder-owned network. The remaining 37.5% of block rewards will be distributed to stakers.
The incentive program is expected to go live with the Kava 10 upgrade, which will also include the launch of the Cosmos and Ethereum Co-Chains on the Kava mainnet.
A third factor helping to boost the demand for KAVA has been the addition of new partnerships and protocols for the Kava network.
Some of the newest protocols to launch on the Kava co-chain architecture include the NFT marketplace OpenBiSea, the decentralized finance launchpad DexPad and the DeFi piggy bank WePiggy.
Other recent launches on Kava include the multichain DeFi lending protocol ForTube, the Ruby Protocol that brings the first algorithmic stablecoin to the Kava Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and an Ethereum Co-Chain integration with the Ren protocol.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for KAVA on April 1, prior to the recent price rise.
The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for KAVA began to pick up on April 1, around 94 hours before the price increased 25% over the next three days.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Italian professional soccer club AC Milan will be releasing its first-ever nonfungible token (NFT) project in collaboration with the BitMEX crypto exchange. Proceeds will go to Fondazione Milan, the clubs’ charity arm.
The limited-edition collection will feature 75,817 NFTs, a number representative of the capacity of the club’s home ground, San Siro stadium. It will depict a 3D image of a jersey found in South Sudan by Danish war photographer Jan Grarup who was in the country documenting widespread flooding last December.
BitMEX partnered with AC Milan to contribute to the project by providing trading discounts and “other benefits” to the first 10,000 pre-orders. BitMEX will also donate to Fondazione Milan by purchasing a “large number” of the NFTs.
As per the announcement, the club says the proceeds will contribute to funding its charitable causes around the world, specifically mentioning the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and a UNICEF project in South Sudan.
Magic Eden to accept tokens from DeGods and Aurory projects
Magic Eden, the largest marketplace by volume for Solana NFTs, according to DappRadar, has confirmed it will accept the tokens from popular Solana NFT projects “DeGods DUST” and Aurory’s “AURY” within the coming weeks.
The marketplace first teased integration of the DUST token in late March, tweeting “brb integrating $DUST” on March 31. On April 1, a drawing of a Magic Eden-themed bar with the caption “$AURY” was tweeted.
— Magic Eden Solana’s Leading NFT Marketplace (@MagicEden) April 1, 2022
“DeGods” is the most traded collection in 30 days on Magic Eden, according to its own statistics, and has an all-time trading volume on the platform of 307,121 Solana (SOL), or $33.8 million at the time of writing. “Aurory” is in third place overall in sales volume for a Solana NFT project according to DappRadar, with an all-time volume of $79.5 million.
The integration of the tokens may be the latest attempt by the platform to solidify itself as Solana’s native NFT marketplace after OpenSea announced it will integrate Solana, putting the two platforms in direct competition.
According to reports, Tiffany Huang, head of content and marketing at Magic Eden, stated that the platform was looking to integrate tokens from other “blue chip” NFT collections.
Solana NFT sales are gaining momentum
Solana NFTs are seeing a significant gain in volume. In the last 24 hours, the NFT sales volume on the Solana blockchain has hit over $9.2 million — an increase of 51.5% — according to analytics firm CryptoSlam.
It comes after a drop was seen in the trading volume of Solana NFTs following the March 30 announcement that OpenSea would integrate the blockchain when OpenSea announced the Solana integration. On April 6, the day before the integration was live, trading volume decreased by 34.4%.
Ethereum is still the top network when it comes to NFTs, with $49.4 million in sales made in the last 24 hours.
Other Nifty News
Starbucks has announced its foray into NFTs, with CEO Howard Schultz stating that ”sometime before the end of the calendar year, we are going to be in the NFT business.”
Autograph, the NFT platform co-founded by Tom Brady, has signed a multi-year partnership with ESPN to create a docuseries and NFT collection titled “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady,” which details the career of the NFL legend.
Metaverse events at ancient and historical sites could soon shape up to be an alternate future for tourism.
Owners of physical castles and villas who have drafted up augmented reality blueprints of their properties think their ambitious plans to attract visitors in the metaverse will work, as virtual events can help them pay the hefty maintenance bills for their aging properties and also offer a chance to change historical narratives.
The metaverse tourism model was expedited by downturns in tourism brought about by COVID-19, but the industry may have already been heading that way.
Currently, major metaverse platforms are clunky, difficult to use and waiting for more “real estate” development, but firms are concentrating on what could be. Brands seem to be entering the metaverse en masse just for PR bragging rights.
So, it seems the possibility of learning existing, new and revised histories through the metaverse is not so remote.
Nonfungible castles, villas and chateaus
Michelle Choi, founder of 3.O Labs — a Web3 venture lab — turned to digital opportunities to finance the upkeep of physical paintings, such as selling nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, as fundraisers to preserve illiquid assets.
Choi was a product manager at Google when she noticed the downturn in museum tourism due to COVID-19, seeing it as an opportunity for future metaverses. She subsequently quit her job and started her own metaverse experiments.
She began by working with a team to launch Non-Fungible Castle, an NFT exhibition and auction at Lobkowicz Palace, a real-life castle in Prague, held in October 2021. The event saw NFTs displayed next to 500-year-old paintings and had the goal to “broaden accessibility to cultural heritage.”
The launch raised enough to cover the restoration of all urgent projects at the property. Motivated by this proof-of-concept, Choi and 3.O Labs are now busily curating metaverse tourism experiences globally.
With the broader mission of making Web3 accessible to all users, 3.O Labs is already incubating an array of Web3 projects ranging from NFTs to decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs. Within its metaverse vertical, the venture lab is already building a project in a castle in Germany, which will be followed by a villa in India and then possibly a museum in Ghana.
Lobkowicz Palace. Source: Prague Morning
Choi told Cointelegraph about her long-term vision for metaverse travel:
“Travel will be augmented as a teaching tool. In the past, tourism meant visiting a place. Photos were 2D, but 3D travel then emerged with virtual headsets. 4D time experimentation is now possible. Now, we can mesh different time periods. There’s a teaching angle.”
This raises a series of questions regarding what new histories will be created in the metaverse.
Will history be rewritten in the metaverse?
For better or worse, tourism businesses, education platforms and museums could reimagine history in the metaverse.
Priyadarshini Raje Scindia’s family owns Jai Vilas Palace, a 200-year-old palace-turned-museum in Madhya Pradesh, India. She is planning an NFT collection produced by local artists to fund a metaverse experience. COVID-19 shut her museum for two years, allowing time for some needed — but expensive — restoration work.
Scindia told Cointelegraph that NFTs should be embraced as art, as “Every generation has its art and the interpretation of it. This is a new medium and a new platform for hungry, emerging Indian artists.” She added that there “should be no barriers around art creation.”
Scindia is convinced that the metaverse is the future, as “A person usually visits a museum once,” but they can visit multiple times in the metaverse. She says that in India, especially, museums are not the first destination people think to go to for entertainment. Private museums in small towns can be taken for granted, especially when compared with shopping malls and cinemas. So, she is working with 3.O Labs to “create immersive experiences — for example, animations that allow you to put yourself in short history documentaries.” It’s about opening more doors for conversations and education.
Scindia also has a story to tell the world via the metaverse:
“I disagree with my family history. We have rooms of research documents in the palace. Now is the right time and the right platform to correct history.”
She told Cointelegraph that the historical narrative she would like to paint with her immersive experiences is “to tell the real story of my clan, the Maharatas. Retelling the story told by the British, which sounds like a Game of Thrones book — dark and barbaric. We fought for independence from all exterior forces, yet it was made out that we were fighting Indians in India. It is a historic fact that the Maharatas were the rulers of India, post the Mughals. And their narrative and value system are even more essential to study and understand today. I would like to use the platform to change the narrative through art, culture and history.”
“I disagree with the way Maratha history is portrayed. However, today there is a renewed interest, maybe because of the glamor of cinema, but there’s also a new world out there. People have a deep interest in history today and are rediscovering art and history. The metaverse may be the right platform to inform and educate people, to generate interest, so they may start their own journey of a deep dive into history, art and culture through this amazing world.”
Prince Heinrich Donatus of the Schaumburg-Lippe family owns Bueckeburg Castle, a castle in northern Germany, 45 minutes from Hannover. Schaumburg-Lippe was one of the 16 reigning families of the German Empire until 1918. Later, the British Army of the Rhine confiscated the castle to use as its headquarters from 1948 to 1953. It had previously been under American control following the end of World War II in 1945 until Germany’s occupation zones were established.
A bullet hole in the outhouse serves as a reminder of the castle’s recent history. Americans were the first to arrive at Bueckeburg during the war, and their tank shell that penetrated the dome is still viewable in the castle’s museum. The family exhibits the shell and has left the hole in the ceiling as a reminder of the war.
Donatus has the same idea as Scindia: a metaverse for historical preservation.
Bueckeberg Castle. Source: Trip Advisor
Donatus, who co-founded 3.O Labs with Choi, will soon operate an NFT exhibition and a DAO-focused hacker house at the castle. He told Cointelegraph that “The metaverse isn’t a virtual reality world. It is a new economy. For example, the incentivization to enter the metaverse could be to protect a castle.”
But why support noble families in 2022?
For illiquid assets like sprawling estates, the cost of maintenance can outweigh a family’s cash flow. The preservation of privately owned sites of historical significance is, therefore, a significant challenge for owners and a national or global public good.
In 2001, Donatus’ grandfather sold a castle for 1 euro, and the new owner’s latest two attempts to sell the same castle for 1 euro failed to find a buyer. Donatus added:
“Foreigners who buy European castles give up after a year when they realize what is involved.”
“The Bueckeburg castle is not meant to be lived in anymore — it is primarily a cultural site,” Donatus said, “We have the sole responsibility to maintain this history working with limited resources, and suddenly resources can be vastly enhanced and crowd-sourced.”
“Virtual tours could be profitable, though metaverse ideas could take several years to pay back,” noted Choi. “But long term, there are no maintenance or air conditioning expenses for the metaverse.”
Donatus said he foresees a launching DAO treasury for renovations, akin to a “people’s UNESCO” — a reference to the United Nations agency tasked with protecting sites of cultural and historical significance.
DAOs are not constrained by borders, and this can create network effects for new models of tourism. “A sort of PleasrDAO for castles,” said Donatus.“They will include decentralized access/stewardship to castles, and castle hackathons — as castles are a cool place for meetups.”
Augmented 4D metaverse events
Historical storytelling and experiences can also be augmented to create surreal and impossible scenarios.
“Under no circumstance do I want to experience things I can experience in the real world,” said Donatus. “The Metaverse can recreate and preserve the past.” He said one could create a “tennis match in a ballroom in the Palace of Versailles as a great tourist drawcard.”
Choi said, “In the metaverse, we can upload guns and recreate wars for historical teaching purposes.” Historical reenactments with reconstructed weapons happen all over the world, including in the United States, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and Italy, and there may be many future teachable moments in the metaverse.
If metaverses truly are the future, the planning for their rules and composition starts now. This is why, for example, a group of Indigenous Australians plan to set up an embassy in the metaverse. Mixing the ancient and the new is seemingly tenuous, but it all depends on how bullish one is about the significance of the cultural totems in the metaverses of the future.
As metaverses become new models for tourism, they may also rewrite history in the process.
The outlook for projects in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has begun to improve in recent months as a combination of global events have highlighted the benefits of holding funds outside of the traditional financial systems.
One project that has rallied over the past few months is Kyber Network (KNC), a multi-chain cryptocurrency trading and liquidity hub that aims to offer users the best trading rates.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after bouncing off a low of $2.83 on April 6, the price of KNC jumped 55.4% to hit an all-time high of $4.04 on April 8 amid a 253% spike in its 24-hour trading volume.
KNC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Three reasons for the building momentum of KNC include the integration of support for ten separate blockchain networks, the launch of a liquidity mining program with Avalanche (AVAX) and an expanding list of partnerships and protocol integrations that expand the reach of the Kyber Network.
Kyber Network adds multi-chain support
One of the biggest factors providing a boost to Kyber Network is the protocol’s push to integrate with the top chains across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
KyberSwap, the main decentralized exchange interface on the network, now offers trading across ten separate networks, including Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche, Polygon (MATIC), BNB Smart Chain (BSC), Aurora, Arbitrum, Fantom (FTM), Oasis (ROSE), Velas (VLX) and Cronos (CRO).
Interoperability has become one of the main themes driving growth not just in DeFi, but in all sectors of the crypto economy because the ability to send assets and data across multiple chains is a necessary feature in the future of DeFi, the NFT sector the Metaverse.
As more chains come online, the ability to access them through one protocol is a desirable feature that many crypto and DeFi investors will come to expect.
KNC joins Avalanche Rush Phase 2
Another significant development that has helped attract increased attention and trading activity on the Kyber Network is the project’s partnership with the Avalanche Network and the Avalanche Rush Phase 2 liquidity mining program.
The liquidity incentive program kicked off on March 21 and it includes a total of $1 million in rewards for liquidity providers.
Avalanche is one of the fastest-growing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible networks in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and it has helped to attract more users and liquidity to the Kyber Network users by offering a low-fee alternative to Ethereum.
New partnerships and protocol integrations
A third reason for the building momentum behind KNC is the continued addition of new partnerships and major protocol integrations that are helping to spread the reach of the network.
On April 7, it was announced that KyberSwap integrated with Uniswap v3 on the Ethereum and Polygon network, bringing the most active decentralized exchange into the KyberSwap ecosystem.
The project has also revealed a new partnership with the Bondex professional network and Kyber Ventures, the investment arm of the Kyber Network, established a working relationship with Pegacy, a popular NFT racing game.
VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for KNC on April 6, prior to the recent price rise.
The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.
As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for KNC spiked into the green on April 6 and hit a high of 75 around nine hours before the price increased 55.4% over the next two days.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has become a stress test for crypto in many tangible ways. Digital assets have emerged as an effective means of directly supporting humanitarian efforts, and the crypto industry, despite enormous pressure, has largely proved itself a mature community — one ready to comply with international policies without compromising the core principles of decentralization.
But there is another vital role that crypto has filled during these tragic events: It is becoming more and more familiar to those who have found themselves cut off from the payment systems that had once seemed unfailing.
Traditional financial infrastructures don’t usually work well during military confrontations and humanitarian crises. From hyperinflation and cash shortages to the destruction of ATMs, crises can disrupt the banking system’s ability to function and threaten the money supply for millions of regular individuals.
Cointelegraph spoke with some of the people who experienced these disruptions firsthand during the first days and weeks of the war. Some of them didn’t know much about crypto and had to learn fast, while others were lucky to have had some experience with digital assets that they could fall back on.
Some of these people are from Ukraine and have directly experienced the struggles of war, while others are from Russia and had to leave the country as their ordinary lives collapsed overnight. Their stories reveal that when the world comes crashing down, it is ordinary people for whom crypto provides the last line of support, not the corrupt elites.
“Crypto was originally created so that no single government or individual could control it”
Viktoria Fox is a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Polaris Capital, a cryptocurrency mining company. Her parents moved from Ukraine to the United States during the tumult of the post-Soviet Union 1990s. When the war broke out on Feb. 24, her U.S. family started receiving uneasy phone calls from their relatives in Ukraine. As Russian troops advanced into the country, the National Bank of Ukraine immediately stopped the circulation of all securities and limited cash withdrawals, creating a nationwide frenzy.
Although the central bank claimed that banking and financial systems remained “resilient” following the Russian invasion, Fox’s relatives told a different story from the ground:
“What I’ve been told is that banks are closed and all ATM machines have no more cash. After two weeks of war, my relatives, like most families, were completely out of cash.”
Since then, Fox has been sending them Bitcoin (BTC), which started to function as a cash substitute for vendors and fellow citizens — a means to pay for almost anything from food to taxis. Viktoria’s uncle used Bitcoin to compensate a driver who traveled six hours to get him from Kharkiv to the Western part of the country.
In Fox’s experience, most Ukrainians prefer to transact via established global exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance, though some rely on Ukrainian exchanges as well.
“I think it’s important to remember that crypto, particularly Bitcoin, was originally created so that no single government or individual could control it,” Fox noted. “While it would be tempting to punish the ‘bad’ Russians and reward innocent Ukrainian civilians, it defeats the whole purpose of a decentralized currency or asset.” She doesn’t believe that tightening government control over crypto would help ordinary people during this or any future war.
“For me, as an anarchist, it was a matter of ideological choice, not of comfort”
Until several weeks ago, “Andrey” lived in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, where he was born. Andrey is a front-end developer and has some professional experience with blockchain platforms. “I probably couldn’t write a smart contract, but I sure know how to use crypto in daily financial operations,” he said. “I have experience withdrawing USDT here and there, and I never did it through bank cards. For me, as an anarchist, it was a matter of ideological choice, not of comfort.”
As Andrey headed for Berlin on the fourth day of the war, the entirety of his belongings consisted of a laptop, a pair of t-shirts and a hardware wallet holding some hard-earned stablecoins:
“I had to use them to buy plane tickets to travel inside Europe. The last thing I managed to do with my Visa card was to rent a flat on Airbnb for two weeks. I was lucky enough to have a bunch of friends in Europe, and now they help me to pay with cards when necessary. I just send them the coins.”
In the long run, Andrey admitted that he still needs fiat to buy groceries and other necessities. He has yet to learn the peer-to-peer withdrawal tools available in Europe. Still, he regards the decision to get a hardware wallet for crypto as one of the smartest moves in his life. “It’s not like I was preparing for something like this, but, you know, when living under authoritarianism, you’d better be independent of the local banks.”
Andrey admitted that withdrawing crypto in a new jurisdiction could pose a major problem as well. He said:
“Despite my overall knowledge of the industry, right now I’m in a difficult position. In Germany, very stringent requirements are applied to cash withdrawals, and I’m still researching the ways to do it.”
It is not only about personal needs. Andrey is a Russian citizen whose father was born and raised in the south of Ukraine. He doesn’t have a legal way to donate money to support the relief effort for Ukrainian civilians — such an act could be considered a criminal offense or even high treason by the government. Andrey noted:
“Like many others in Russia, I have friends in Ukraine. Some of them are in Kyiv now, sleeping in bomb shelters under artillery fire. My problems are nothing compared to theirs. To help them, I had to find someone on the ground who would agree to exchange my USDT for hryvnias [Ukraine’s currency]. After I made sure my friends’ banking cards worked, I used this opportunity. The sum wasn’t huge, but I hope it was at least some help.”
“We could not receive international transfers to Ukrainian accounts”
Anna Shakola, a native of Kyiv, began to work as an NFT project manager at Cointelegraph in November 2021, several months before the war broke out. She had not used crypto as a payment method until the crisis began: “Honestly, I had never paid by crypto, except for transacting in NFTs. I used these assets only as an investment tool.”
Shakola had to learn fast, as during the first three weeks of the war, the fiat financial system was partially frozen: “We could not receive international transfers to Ukrainian accounts and had some problems with domestic fiat transfers as well.” After becoming accustomed to performing everyday transactions using digital currencies, she learned about Unchain, a charitable project founded by Ukrainian blockchain activists.
Unchain began to channel donations to Ukrainian civilians on Feb. 27, after a network of local crypto-fiat exchanges supported the initiative. The next step was to issue virtual debit gift cards known as “Help Cards” in cooperation with Kyiv-based Unex Bank and Weld Money. The cards are designed to help families — mothers and children — who might not have the time to learn to use crypto in the middle of a war. Unchain accepts donations in crypto and converts them to hryvnias on the receiver’s end. It plans to finance up to 10,000 Help Cards.
The war has undoubtedly shattered the global economic order, and it has also become a profound stress test for the crypto industry. Despite suspicions that digital assets could undermine the international sanctions regime, they have emerged freshly branded as a resilient, flexible payments system with the potential to help millions of people on their hardest day.
It’s no accident that the Ukrainian government has championed measures that would develop its digital economy after the war. On March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law to build a legal framework for the country to establish a regulated crypto market. Given the need to rebuild the country once the hostilities are over, the nation’s hard-earned experience with crypto will likely be instrumental in developing a thriving digital economy.
UK-based blockchain infrastructure firmApplied Blockchain has filed an initial public offering (IPO) application on Apr. 8 to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to issue 3,236,245 shares of common stock onto the Nasdaq Global Select Market with the ticker symbol APLD.
The firm currently operates a stock on OTC Pink — the lowest of three tiers within the over-the-counter market as per financial volume and the disclosure of company information required — under the same tag with share price of $18.84.
The document of application was keen to emphasize that the public offering price would not be determined, or entirely indicative, of the current market value of OTC Pink, but rather by through diligent assessments conducted by themselves and the underwriters.
Saying this, the firm did outline a guidance valuation for potentially interested parties of between $16.54 and $20.54 per share, a range which provides a median of $18.54.
There is no official timeline for an SEC response, but in usually circumstances it takes months.
In April 2020, the distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm raised $2.5 million in their second seed round led by Hong-Kong venture capital firm QBN Capital, the first being a $1.5 million raise in early January 2018 led by Calibrate Management and energy giant Shell Trading International.
More recently in mid-February this year, Applied Blockchain became the recipient of an undisclosed-sum grant from the Algorand Foundation for the research and development of a reciprocal-flow Algorand to Ethereum bridge titled the London Bridge. The platform is hopeful of enhancing the liquidity and interoperability of the two networks with an inherent focus placed on “security, cost and user experience.”
On the 21st of April our CEO @adi_benari will be presenting at the “After the Bell” event in London, an event titled “The Impact of DeFi: What’s Next in Tokenization, NFTs, DAO & the Blockchain Economy.”
