Kategorie: Crypto Business

VeChain Foundation, the organization behind the smart contracts layer 1 blockchain VeChainThor, has announced a groundbreaking multi-year partnership with the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization UFC.

As a result of this first-of-its-kind deal, VeChain is now the official Layer 1 Blockchain Partner for UFC – the first ever for the global brand.

 “It is a historical moment when VeChain, the Layer 1 public Blockchain with the most enterprise adoption, joins forces with the fastest growing sport to raise awareness that blockchain technology is critical in helping deliver major global objectives, such as sustainability,” said Sunny Lu, co-Founder and CEO of VeChain. 

Commenting on the deal, UFC Senior VP of Global Partnerships Paul Asencio said the partnership is strengthened by “VeChain’s expertise in using real-world blockchain applications to help the public and private sector achieve their carbon-neutral goals.”

Noting that this was an effort UFC was proud to associate with, he added:

“We’re looking forward to working with VeChain to leverage UFC’s worldwide popularity to promote a positive message that blockchain technology can be used to protect our environment for future generations.”

Branded integrations and other benefits

VeChain will use the partnership to integrate into some of UFC’s major assets, including live events, original content distribution and promotions across the sports body giant’s digital and social channels.

VeChain will own the rights to the UFC Rankings Powered by VeChain, the official titleship rankings. The platform will also have brand presence at the iconic Octagon®, benefiting from visibility at all of UFC’s 42 annual events.

Access will also be granted to UFC’s Performance Institute and APEX, where VeChain could hold corporate activities and events.

Leveraging the deal could see VeChain get brand visibility across 175 countries and 900 million TV households, according to details of the partnership shared on Thursday.

Promotions and an athlete ambassador fund will also see UFC fighters benefit from paid marketing events. Fans will benefit from sweepstake promotions.

Crypto sports partnerships on the rise

The partnership with UFC adds to the many sports deals crypto companies have sealed over the past few years. In 2021, crypto platforms struck 72 sports sponsorship deals, with millions of dollars poured into multi-year arrangements as crypto met sports glitz.

For VeChain, Saturday, 11 June marks its brand debut at UFC® 275: TEIXEIRA vs PROCHAZKA. The event, the first numbered UFC PPV in Southeast Asia, will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The price of VET, the native VeChain token, has jumped 7% after the news. VET/USD currently trades around $0.03.

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Binance has sought the virtual assets service provider (VASP) and e-money issuer (EMI) licenses.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says that the platform, the world’s largest in terms of trading volume, is looking to secure key crypto licenses from Philippines’ Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The exchange targets the virtual assets service provider (VASP) license, as well as the e-money issuer (EMI) license, he said.

With the two licenses, Binance will be able to offer services that involve conversion of fiat into pesos and the disbursement of electronic money.

Approval within months

According to Zhao, Binance is also eyeing an expansion of its operations across the country, including making strategic investments in payment service providers and banks. He noted that the objective is to bring these services onto the blockchain.

He added that he had met regulatory officials and that Binance could secure the licenses within months.

Binance is a ‘resposnsible’ platform

Zhao’s comments also included a go at Reuters over its recent claims of money laundering schemes carried out via the exchange.

And in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, he reiterated Binance’s responsible trading, noting that it “probably” is the only platform to work towards this for the benefit of its customers.

Apart from trying to establish a customer’s risk knowledge in relation to leverage, Binance will also suspend new accounts that make losses when leverage trading.

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Valkyrie Investments, a leading investment firm focused on digital assets, has raised more than $11 million in a new strategic fundraising.

The round, which was oversubscribed, saw the firm secure $11.15 from several investors, including BNY Mellon, Coinbase Ventures, Wedbush Financial Services and Clearsky. Other participants were Zilliqa Capital, SenaHill Partners, C-Squared Ventures, and Belvedere Strategic Capital.

Valkyrie co-founder and CIO Steven McClurg said in a statement that the funding round is an indicator of the huge interest investors have in crypto as well as what the company is building.

The funds will go into further developments of the company’s proprietary technology infrastructure as well as into hiring new staff.

According to McClurg, the new strategic funding will allow the firm to provide better services across the market. The firm also plans to better integrate its services with traditional platforms, he noted.

Valkyrie is a key player in the crypto market, offering several products that give institutional investors exposure to crypto assets. Its Bitcoin Futures ETF debuted last year, and it is among multiple firms looking to launch a Bitcoin spot ETF.

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The Polkadot Hacker House event will take place at the Industrial City in Brooklyn, New York.

The Polkadot Hacker House, whose first-ever edition is set for New York City from 23-28 June, has opened applications for seasoned engineers and developers new to the Polkadot ecosystem.

Interested parties are encouraged to sign up for the six day event via the Polkadot Hackathon: North America for a chance to be part of the exciting event. It will be held at the Industrial City in Brooklyn.

Prize pool of over $600,000

According to the Polkadot team, the Hacker House event in New York will offer participants an opportunity to benefit from different activities. As well as technical workshops, organizers will provide access to in-person support and mentorship. There will also be networking opportunities.

But participants will also stand a chance to win cash prizes from the Polkadot Treasury and other partnering projects. The prize pool tops $600,000.

Part of broader hackathon

While the Polkadot Hacker House event in NYC ends in six days, it is part of a wider hackathon launched in 2021 in APAC.

The event runs until 11 July and sees participants apply in five categories of interfaces & experiences, DAO & governance, Web3 & Tooling, decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs.

For the New York event, participants will have a chance to dive into topics such as Substrate, ink! and XCM. Parachain development will also feature.

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FTX will not be scaling back on its staff, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The company is “going to keep pushing forward,” he said.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says the cryptocurrency exchange will “zag” where other crypto firms “zig.” In short, he does not see the crypto platform freezing its hiring process or laying off staff as has happened in recent months across the industry.

This, he noted in a Twitter thread, is “regardless of market conditions” that has most crypto firms nursing losses in line with the bear market.

FTX to ‘keep pushing’

Bankman-Fried notes that FTX can continue to grow because it adopted a careful hiring approach, and over the last couple of years, scaled its revenue and productivity – not expenses.

“A lot of reporters have reached out asking if we’re going to be scaling back. And our answer is the same as always: We’re going to keep pushing forward,” the FTX chief wrote.

He says instead of cutting jobs, the platform looks to employ more. However, this will be done at a more sustainable rate. Bankman-Fried and team will also look to uphold the same high standards adhered to during previous hiring.

And again, FTX never froze hiring. It just slowed down after hitting 250 employees to have enough time to fully integrate the new staff into the company’s culture.

19) Sometimes, when others Zig, you Zag.

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) June 6, 2022

Bankman-Fried’ thoughts on hypergrowth companies

Several crypto firms have announced job cuts amid the crypto winter, including Gemini and Coinbase. Past bear markets, notably in 2018, also saw several companies send employees packing – many after a hiring spree during the bull market.

According to Bankman-Fried, this kind of hypergrowth does not always lead to more productivity or growth. Instead of having the 10x productivity targeted, it all backfires to a point nothing gets done.

Why?

Because “coordination becomes really hard,” with diffusion of responsibility also hitting as more people join. 

When it becomes hard to align incentives to employees, then the firm is in trouble. He explained further why some of the most successful companies then end up decaying.

“It’s a race–between how quickly new employees understand the company’s culture, and how quickly people are hired. The faster you hire, the harder it is to keep everyone on the same page.”

And this is how a company can quickly descend into a Moloch, he added.

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