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Final Fantasy creator reveals ‘aggressive investment’ in blockchain games
The company behind the Final Fantasy franchise says blockchain games will be a major focus of its strategy going forward.
Final Fantasy creator Square Enix is set to double down on blockchain game development despite turbulence in the crypto market, according to a Jan. 1 letter from the Japanese company's president, Yosuke Matsuda.
The letter, titled “A New Year’s Letter from the President,” aimed to recap the company’s major accomplishments in 2022 and explain its plans for 2023. Out of 15 paragraphs, seven were about blockchain gaming, showing that blockchain gaming is a major focus of the company’s investing strategy going forward.
Matsuda stated that “blockchain entertainment” is the investment field his team will be most focused on in the medium term, to which they have devoted “aggressive investment and business development efforts.”
After summarizing the ups and downs of the crypto market in 2021 and 2022, Matsuda sought to make sense of its decline. He said that new technologies often cause “confusion” but eventually become accepted as a normal part of everyday life. Read More
Decentralized social media can change content ownership in 2023
NEAR Foundation’s Marieke Flament believes that Web3-based social media platforms could gain popularity in 2023.
Decentralized social media could change content ownership:
“One of the things I’m super interested in for 2023 is the reinvention of social media and what will Web 3.0 do for that? And when you look at the current debacle we’re having with Twitter, thinking through Web3 gives real hope for changing the ownership of content and of data from that space… When we think of other innovations, definitely anything related to reinventing social media.”
DeFi innovation will create more transparency:
“In terms of DeFi (decentralized finance), what will be interesting for next year is the continuous innovation we see in this space. Because we’ve seen in 2022 that what actually doesn’t work is centralized finance. The things we’ve seen are very much linked to third parties which rely on humans being in the middle. So in 2023, more transparency, more on-chain data and more innovation in DeFi are what we’re going to continuously see to enable Web3.” Read More
New Project Pairs NFTs With Real Diamonds
333 limited edition art NFTs, each paired with a high quality, GIA-certified Cape diamond, will go on private sale on January 11, followed by a public sale on January 18.
A first of its kind, Diamond Dawn is an NFT project created by Mike Moldawsky, with the collaboration of Moldawsky Diamonds, renowned artist David Ariew, and Tony Herrera, an experienced entrepreneur and innovator in the web 3.0 space.
The project uses blockchain and NFT technology to promote the transparent and ethical sourcing of diamonds.
It is the brain-child of entrepreneur Mike Moldawsky, of the well-known Moldawsky family, steeped in the history of the diamond industry.
David Ariew is one of the most prominent NFT artists in the world, recently selling an NFT artwork at Sotheby's for $224,000. He designed 2 of the 3 Beeple X Madonna NFTs, and has collaborated with top artists who include Katy Perry, Zedd, and Deadmau5.
Tony Herrera is a visionary with a long track record of building and innovating in the fields of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs. He is a founding member of Galaxis, and of several DAOs dedicated to the metaverse, including MeebitsDAO, NeonDAO, and ReadyPlayerDAO. Read More
Lightning Network gets physical form in Australia with Bitcoin ATM
Lightning-enabled Bitcoin ATMs promise to offer instant transaction support and a significant cut in cost from traditional crypto ATMs.
The Australian city of Coolangatta has gotten its first Bitcoin ATM with integrated Lightning Network capabilities. The new ATM has been installed at The Strand shopping centre in Coolangatta and is now available for use by the public.
A Bitcoin Lightning ATM works quite similarly to traditional Bitcoin ATMs but saves significant time because of the instant transaction capabilities of the layer-2 Lightning solution. It also allows for purchasing very small amounts of Bitcoin, mostly in satoshis — the lowest denomination of Bitcoin, with 1 satoshi equal to 0.00000001 BTC.
At the moment, cryptocurrency ATMs settle transactions on the blockchain directly, but this has restrictions of its own. For instance, operators had to adapt to batching transactions when miner fees on the Bitcoin network considerably increased between 2017 and 2018.
In practice, this means that even though a user purchases BTC via an ATM, it is not immediately transmitted to them. Operators have processes in place that wait for other ATM network users to utilize the machines before grouping and sending out transactions for several users at once in one bulk transaction. This problem can be resolved to a significant extent with the help of the Lightning Network. Read More
HVC is poised to triumph in the crypto economy.
Markethive is a monolithic blockchain project currently operating as a social network, an entire inbound marketing platform with email, blogging, and digital media capabilities that broadcast to the vast internet. It’s a complete Market Network and the first of its kind.
Markethive is predominantly a free system where users can access a platform that can cost more than $2,500 offered by other marketing platforms. There are, of course, upgrades that open up more tools and monetization opportunities, the first being the Entrepreneur One Loyalty Program, and coming soon is the Premium Upgrade.
The many domains Markethive has and its autonomous cloud systems that ensure its sovereignty and longevity make it untouchable and immune from the tech giants’ rule and biased agenda. But can still remotely infiltrate the social media platforms and reach the multitudes either locked in or looking for an alternative meritocratic medium.
In other words, wherever you go, Markethive is there, anywhere and everywhere, delivering its message via its community of entrepreneurs to a far-reaching audience. This next-generation social market media is poised in the wings, and when the time is right, it will emerge as a shining light to lift people up and bring financial sovereignty and hope in this gloomy and uncertain world.
The video platform, conference rooms, the unique four specific news feeds currently in development, and many other projects and incentives add to the credibility and need for an ecosystem in the social media and digital marketing space. Read More
Crypto Crystal Ball: Biggest Trends to Watch in 2023
Poised to deliver clarity on post-FTX fallout and major legal and regulatory questions, 2023 is already shaping up to be a critical year for the crypto industry.
If 2022 made one thing clear about crypto, it’s that there’s absolutely no point in predicting anything.
Overnight collapses of multi-billion dollar companies, historic technological achievements, industry-wide crashes, blockbuster confrontations with world governments, shocking revelations of corporate malfeasance, billionaires on the run, surprise arrests: 2022 had it all—if not too much.
Where does crypto go from here? While the future may not be certain, it's too tempting not to make some educated guesses. A number of 2022’s seismic events will certainly reverberate well into the new year; some new trends, too, are poised to play a major role in shaping what already looks to be another critical year for crypto.
Here are some potential answers to a few questions likely to have major implications for the industry in 2023. Read More
Indonesia to launch national crypto exchange in 2023: Report
The platform comes as a part of the plan to shift the regulatory oversight from the commodities agency to the securities authority.
As a part of its reform of crypto regulation, Indonesia will create a crypto exchange in 2023, according to reports. The platform is planned to be launched prior to a shift of regulatory power from commodities to securities authority.
On Jan. 4, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (Bappebti), Didid Noordiatmoko, stated that a crypto exchange should be set up this year. The move comes as a part of broader financial reform launched in December 2022.
In accordance with the reform, in the next two years, the crypto oversight will be taken from Bappebti, a commodities-focused agency, by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Read More
Ripple CEO optimistic about US ‘regulatory clarity for crypto’
Support for cryptocurrency regulation in the United States is “bipartisan & bicameral,” according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Ripple's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, shared in a Jan. 3 Twitter thread that he's “cautiously optimistic” about the United States gaining “breakthrough” regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry in 2023.
To mark the first day of the 118th Congress, Garlinghouse shared his hopes of 2023 being the year the U.S. gained regulatory clarity for crypto, adding that support for regulation is “bipartisan & bicameral.”
Garlinghouse said the U.S. was not starting with a “blank slate” for regulation, referencing bills such as the Securities Clarity Act, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act and the Clarity for Digital Tokens Act as examples.
According to the Ripple CEO, “the stakes couldn’t be higher.” He added that “no bill is perfect and there likely never will be one that satisfies everyone” and attempts to pursue a perfect bill shouldn't stall Congress’ progress in creating crypto regulations and legislation. Read More
100 crypto lobbyists prepare for the fight of their lives as Congress resumes
Battle lines are being drawn over crypto in Congress but industry executives remain optimistic.
Cryptocurrencies will be a hot topic as the United States Congress resumes and the battle lines are drawn between lawmakers for and against the fledgling financial industry.
But the Blockchain Association reports that more than 100 crypto industry advocates are fighting to help strike the right balance between protection and innovation.
The 118th U.S. Congress convened in Washington D.C. on Jan. 3. It’s scheduled to continue until Jan. 3, 2025, during the final two years of President Joe Biden’s first term.
The crypto industry is currently in the crosshairs following several high-profile meltdowns last year, the largest being the collapse of FTX in early November.
In a Twitter thread on Jan. 3, the director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, Ron Hammond, highlighted the challenges and opportunities for Congress on the day it resumed. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
