Schlagwort: crypto business

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NFTs worth $100 million lost to scams in past year: Elliptic

  • The average NFT theft was valued at around $300,000.
  • A record 4,600 NFTs stolen in July 2022.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) worth more than $100 million were stolen in the past year, London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said in a report published Wednesday.

According to the firm, the figures represent NFT thefts that were publicly reported between July 2021 and July 2022, suggesting it could be higher.

$300k per NFT scam

During this period, scammers netted an average of $300,000 per theft, with July 2022 seeing a record 4,600 NFTs stolen. This suggests that NFT scams continue to increase despite the impact of the crypto winter to the broader market.

Sanctioned Tornado Cash appears to have been use to process the NFT funds stolen from marketplaces, which Elliptic puts at around 52% of all transactions.

In the report, Elliptic also notes that NFT-based platforms have helped launder more than $8 million in illicit funds since 2017. According to the analytics firm, these amounts account for 0.02% of trading activity tracked to known sources.

NFT sales

The report covers that period of the previous bull market when surging crypto markets and the availability of easy money propelled the NFTs sector to new news. With only a few hundred million dollars’ worth of sales seen in 2020, last year’s rally – particularly between July and November – pushed sales volumes in the NFT market well over $40 billion for the year.

The outlook has been somewhat different in 2022, with the bear market contributing to a significant decline in sales. 

But even so, a recent report from blockchain analysis platform Chainalysis shows the number of NFT buyers as of Q2 this year was only bettered by those seen in Q3 2021 and Q1 2022.

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Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton joins crypto VC Electric Capital as an advisor

  • Ex-SEC Chair Jay Clayton, who left the US securities watchdog in December 2020, joins Electric Capital as an advisor.
  • Electric Capital has also tapped Kevin Warsh, a former Federel Reserve Board of Governors member and Meta Platforms’ Pratiti Raychoudhury.
  • Crypto is seeing a new trend with these kind of appointments and hires.

Jay Clayton, a former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, has joined Electric Capital as an advisor, the venture firm announced on Wednesday.

The firm, which focuses on early-stage investments in the crypto, blockchain, and fintech sectors, also named two other high-profile individuals to its advisory team – former Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Kevin Warsh aand Meta VP and Head of Research Pratiti Raychoudhury.

According to Electric Capital, the three are expected to support the firms’ Web3 founders, providing regulatory insight among other aspects as the team looks to build scalable crypto-enabled products eying billions of users.

Electric Capital recently announced a new capital injection of $1 billion, which the company plans to invest in early-stage Web3 projects whose investment size is between $1 million and $5 million. The firm has investments in several top crypto platforms, including Bitwise, dYdX, NEAR, Hashflow, and Magic Eden.

A new trend in crypto

Electric Capital’s appointment of Jay Clayton as part as an advisory team adds to a trend that has seen many former regulators and other top government officials jump into the crypto space. These appointments have increased over the past year, largely amid the sector’s push for regulatory clarity.

The moves have also come amid growing attention on crypto from across the global regulatory community.

Among those to join projects in the industry include Brian Quintenz, a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner. Quintenz is currently an advisor at Andreessen Horowitz.

Crypto platform Bitfury also tapped Brian Brooks, a former regulator at the Comptroller of the Currency, while former UK chancellor Lord Philip Hammond joined crypto startup Copper as an advisor in 2021.

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Moonbirds and Bored Apes to feature in The Sandbox’s Alpha Season 3

Holders of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from thirteen popular collections including Moonbirds, Bored Apes, and World of Women will be playable as avatars in The Sandbox’s Alpha Season 3 that launched today (Wednesday).

During a walkthrough of the platform, the co-founder and COO of The Sandbox Sébastien Borget explained:

“If you own those NFTs, those 2D images, you will be able to see them become a 3D character on the avatar creator and immediately interact with them.”

Boget went ahead to add:

“We are excited to develop new use cases for the owners of these collections, starting with digital identity and the ability to create the worlds for these NFTs to be played with and evolve.”

The Sandbox’s commitment to interoperability

The sandbox said that the decision to roll out this option was part of its commitment to interoperability. As a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, The Sandbox was a founding member of the Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3 (OMA3) DAO.

The first Alpha season, Season 1, was released in late 2021 while the second season, Season 2, was released in March 2022 and it has attracted 350,000 players.

In Alpha Season 3, The Sandbox will feature about 100 experiences in a period of ten weeks. This will include collaborations with popular brands like Ubisoft’s Rabbids, Snoop Dogg, Atari, and Care Bears. It will also feature user-generated content and twenty experiences on the Sandbox Game Maker Fund.

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Bluzelle price prediction: Here’s why BLZ and STG are rising

Bluzelle price rebounded on Wednesday as investors waited for the upcoming integration with Stargate and Gamma 4 launch. The BLZ token rose to a high of $0.100, which was the highest level since August 17. It has rallied by over 33% from its lowest level this month, giving it a market cap of over $32 million.

Bluzelle making important strides

Bluzelle is a relatively small but fast-growing blockchain project that is at the intersection of gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFT), and decentralized finance (DeFi). It was created by former employees of leading gaming companies like Nintendo, Zynga, and Electronic Arts.

Bluzelle has three key products. First, it has BluzelleNet, which is a delegated proof-of-stake platform based on the Cosmos technology. It is an extremely fast platform that can handle over 10,000 transactions per second. BluezelleNet aggregates DeFi products in the Cosmos ecosystem to offer lending, staking, and yield strategies for game assets.

Bluzelle is also building Gamma 4, which is a play-to-earn game that will be launched in the coming months. Users will be able to play and earn rewards. 

Finally, it has Bluzelle R2, which is a decentralized storage platform for files and non-fungible tokens (NFT). 

The BLZ price has done well as investors wait for its integration to the Stargate ecosystem. Developers moved the testnet to Stargate and are now set to move it to the mainnet soon. This also explains why the Stargate (STG) price has jumped by more than 15% in the past 24 hours.

Further, the developers have continued building the Gamma 4 game and they expect that it will be launched in the coming months. They have already completed most parts, including the design, art, battle mechanics, card illustrations, and elementis functioning.

Bluzelle price prediction

The four-hour chart shows that the BLZ price has performed well in the past few days. In this period, the pair managed to move above the ascending trendline that is shown in black. The coin managed to move above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) moved to the overbought level. 

The coin will likely continue rising as bulls target the next key resistance level at $0.1113, which was the highest point on August 11. A drop below the support level at $0.090 will invalidate the bullish view.

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AVA price prediction as Travala demand booms

AVA price went parabolic on Wednesday as demand for traveling jumped. The Travala token rose to a high of $1.2400, which was the highest level since August 1. This price was about 81% above the lowest level this month, giving it a market cap of over $50 million.

Travel demand continuing

Travala.com is a relatively small but fast-growing company that is using the blockchain technology to disrupt the vast travel industry.

The company operates a portal where people can book over 2.2 million hotels and accommodations using cryptocurrencies. It competes with the likes of Priceline, Expedia, and TripAdvisor.

As a blockchain-first company, Travala launched AVA, its native token. AVA is a cryptocurrency that people can use to pay their hotels and accommodations. It is a token based on the Binance Chain (BEP-2), Binance Smart Chain (BEP-20), and Ethereum (ERC-20). 

AVA holders get more perks when they use it to book their accommodations and flights. For example, they receive a 3% discount on the total booking fee. They also receive up to 2% giveback. Other benefits of using AVA are voting rights and access to the proof of travel NFT program.

AVA price has done well in the past few months as global travel rebounded. According to its website, Travala users booked 8,433 room nights in July and 2,057 flights. Its revenue rose by 48% year on year while the number of Smart members rose to 6,568. 

Further, over 16.7% of the circulating supply of AVA has been locked by Smart users to earn rewards. 75% of all bookings in Travala were made in cryptocurrencies.

Therefore, the Travala price has risen as investors anticipate more growth as the travel industry stages a strong comeback. Indeed, most similar companies like Trip and Priceline have seen their shares climb.

AVA price prediction

The four-hour chart shows that AVA price has been in a bullish trend in the past few days. In this period, the stock managed to move from June’s low of $0.4570 to today’s high of $1.2490. It has moved above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages and the ascending trendline shown in black. 

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has moved above the overbought level. Therefore, the coin will likely resume the bearish trend as sellers target the next key support at $0.8487.

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