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The Open Network, Toncoin’s blockchain of choice for Telegram 

What is The Open Network: the blockchain of TON coin and Telegram

What is The Open Network? Discover the Toncoin (TON) crypto blockchain, chosen by Telegram for its Web3 projects!

Among the social networks looking to integrate with the blockchain is Telegram! The messaging service started to develop its decentralised network in 2019. However, due to legal issues it decided to discontinue the project. The Open Network has thus passed into the hands of developers who have built a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that aspires to become a benchmark for dapps. The Telegram team remained committed to The Open Network, to the extent of integrating the Toncoin crypto into the app. Find out what The Open Network is and what Toncoin, Telegram’s cryptocurrency of choice, is for!

What is The Open Network?

The Open Network is a Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain founded in 2019, also known under its acronym TON. Although the initial idea for the project was developed by Telegram’s team, the messaging app shelved The Open Network in 2020. The development of TON was in fact blocked by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, The Open Network is a community-driven blockchain, reborn through the efforts of its developers, via the TON Foundation.

Telegram vs. SEC lawsuit over Gram’s crypto ICO 

In 2019, the Telegram team, led by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, began exploring blockchain solutions for the messaging app. Thus, in 2019, the first testnet of The Open Network was launched with an ICO of the network’s crypto, which was then called Gram. On this occasion, the SEC opened an investigation to verify that Telegram had not sold the Gram crypto without authorisation as if it were a security. After several legal battles, applying the Howey test, the SEC ruled that Gram’s purchasers reasonably expected profits to be derived from the company’s entrepreneurial efforts and that Gram’s was therefore an unauthorised sale of securities. The lawsuit stopped the distribution of Gram. Telegram was ordered to pay a fine to the SEC of $18.5 million and to return $1.2 billion to those who had participated in the ICO. 

At this point, we are in 2020, Telegram decides to abandon the project. In a post, Pavel Durov expresses his displeasure at the outcome, sarcastically pointing out that the United States has the power to decide not only whether a coin can be distributed in its home state, but also worldwide: ‘perhaps even more paradoxically, the US court has declared that Grams cannot be distributed not only in the US, but globally. Why? Because, according to the court, a US citizen could find a way to access the TON platform after its launch. Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, Gram crypto should not be distributed worldwide, even though every other country on the planet seems to be perfectly OK with TON’.

The Open Network: blockchain reborn thanks to community

After Telegram left the scene, the project was taken over by the developers themselves. From the original core of TON, two parallel projects were born, one of which kept Telegram’s way via the TON Foundation: ‘a decentralised community started by Anatoliy Makosov and Kirill Emelyanenko after Telegram walked away from the project’. 

The second project born from the ashes of Telegram’s crypto experience is FreeTON, which is now called Everscale, another Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain. Everscale works mainly on scalability, with over 200 secondary and parallel chains processing transactions together.

The restoration of The Open Network blockchain began in January 2021. After ten months, the blockchain was brought back to life with the basic infrastructure and tools. In November 2021, The Open Network was inaugurated and during 2022, the efforts of the developers were concentrated on providing The Open Network with the appropriate technology and security. Most of the assets and services on the network were created this year: tokens, non-fungible tokens, staking, domain names, marketplaces, multifunctional wallets, DEX and other decentralised finance services. TON also has two bridges, one on Ethereum and one on the Binance Smart Chain. The network’s native crypto is no longer called Gram but Toncoin (TON) and is used to pay fees to execute smart contracts, to use dapps, to participate in governance, and to be staked and contribute to the consensus mechanism. To date, The Open Network is operational with 200 validators and has 1.4 million accounts.

Toncoin (TON) has become Telegram’s cryptocurrency

Although Telegram is no longer actively involved in The Open Network, TON still remains linked to the app. The crypto TON has become Telegram’s crypto. Thanks to Wallet Bot developed by Telegram’s developers and launched in April 2022, it is possible to buy TON and send crypto to users via chat and without fees. With Wallet Bot, it is also possible to buy cryptocurrencies with a credit card and perform peer-to-peer transactions. 

The Open Network is also used by Telegram for its ‘TON domain name service’. Via the Fragment platform, users can buy crypto TON names for Telegram in the form of non-fungible tokens, names that are in effect NFT domains. The biggest sale was of the Telegram name @news, bought on the 18th of November for 994,000 TON (almost $2 million). This was followed by @auto at 900,000 TON and @bank at 850,000 TON. 

Like any NFT domain, a telegram name grants exclusive ownership of a username and a digital identity. 

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How to create and sell NFTs on OpenSea: the ultimate guide

Come creare e vendere NFT: la guida definitiva

Do you want to create an NFT project but don’t know where to start? OpenSea is a really simple tool to create and sell NFTs for free in 10 minutes

If there is one thing the NFT market of the past year has taught us, it is that anything can be sold on the blockchain. Or rather, any work that is completely original. You have probably heard of NFTs being sold at stratospheric prices on OpenSea or other marketplaces and wondered if creating and selling NFTs is within your reach. The answer is yes! If you have a unique idea and would like to turn it into a non-fungible token, you will find everything you need to get started in this guide. Wanting to monetise your creations is legitimate, but creating an NFT is not enough to start earning money. Making your way in this field requires commitment and hard work, such as building a community.

Generally minting an NFT, i.e. registering a piece of work on blockchain, requires a cost to pay in fees. However, there are platforms on which you can create and view NFTs for free in as little as 10 minutes. This is the case with OpenSea, the most popular NFT marketplace! OpenSea offers easy and intuitive tools to make your NFT project come true, and is often chosen by beginners because it is a giant showcase due to its large audience. The process for creating and selling NFT differs between platforms, although they share some steps. In the following 5 steps you will discover how to use OpenSea, the industry standard.

Ready? Let’s get started!

1. Create your crypto wallet

If you don’t already have one, now is the time to create a decentralised crypto wallet. Your wallet allows you to connect to the blockchain network and keep the key to your cryptocurrencies safe. One of the most popular wallets is MetaMask, also available as a Chrome extension or Firefox add-on. Metamask is one of the wallets recommended by OpenSea for creating and selling NFTs on Ethereum. If you intend to use the Solana network instead, OpenSea recommends the Phantom wallet. In the next section we will elaborate on the choice of which blockchain to use.

At this point, you may also want to buy cryptocurrencies. NFTs are usually minted using the Ethereum blockchain network, so having Ether is ideal to pay the fees to create your NFT. In some cases it is possible to create NFTs for free on OpenSea, i.e. without paying these fees.

Once you have created your crypto wallet, associate it with OpenSea and create your account.

2. Choose the blockchain on which to create your NFT

In contrast to NFT platforms such as SuperRare where NFT projects must be approved by the team, OpenSea is open to all. OpenSea is currently compatible with the Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Klaytn, Arbitrum and Optimism blockchains. Each of these blockchains has its own characteristics and different gas fees associated with transactions on their networks. To choose a blockchain for minting, take these costs into consideration. However, OpenSea is a great way to start your venture into the world of non-fungible tokens because, thanks to the ‘lazy minting’ mechanism, you can create NFTs for free, i.e. without paying fees if you choose Ethereum or Polygon. When you decide to use this option, your NFT is put up for sale but is also not yet registered on the blockchain. The latter step will only be taken when the work is actually purchased. In this manner, the payment of fees falls on the buyer.

3. Upload your NFT artwork

Of course, you will need your own creation to put on sale. NFTs can be associated with anything: a drawing, an MP3, or a three-dimensional image. Be creative! Opensea supports various file types including JPG, PNG, GIF, MP4, OGG but the file size of a non-fungible token must not exceed 100 MB.

In the ‘My Collection’ section, accessible from your account, click on ‘Create’. Create your Collection, it will be the showcase for your artwork. From here you can start creating your NFTs by filling out the “Create New Item” screen, you will need to enter:

  1. the file of the piece;
  2. the name of the piece;
  3. a link to the website or social page of your collection (not mandatory);
  4. the description of your NFT;
  5. the collection in which your NFT will be contained.

Next, you can also add other characteristics such as the attributes for the NFT (such as the available traits if it is a PFP collection), or the number of copies available. In this step, you will also have to select the blockchain you chose to create and sell your NFT on OpenSea. At this point your non-fungible token is ready and you can share it on social media. This is a crucial step, we will see why in step 5.

You can also set a ‘creator fee’, i.e. a percentage you will receive for each sale of your NFT work. This is known as a ‘royalty’. The percentage can be as high as 10%.

4. Choose the price of your NFT

After you have minted your NFT, all that remains is to choose the price at which you want to sell it. Go to your item’s page and click on ‘Sell’. Here, you can select the price of the NFT, and how long to leave it available on the market. A 2.5% commission from OpenSea will be subtracted from the selling price.

5. Advertise your collection!

Now your NFT is available on OpenSea, but it is not enough to simply create an NFT in order to earn money. As in real life, competition between artists is particularly fierce. For this, you will need to advertise your work effectively.

As you continue to expand your collection, you will have an increasingly interesting portfolio to show. In addition, consider also using art or social platforms such as Reddit, Instagram and Twitter: the more people like your work, the more possible buyers will want your NFT!

Cultivating a community is crucial for creating a successful NFT project. So is offering works with exclusive advantages that can attract collectors. Some of these advantages could be the possibility of using NFTs in the Metaverse, participating in a DAO and deciding on key aspects of the collection, or associating physical goods with the purchase of NFTs.

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Young Monday: Bored Ape with Adidas and Beeple, CryptoPunks on display at the museum

Bored Ape Yacht Club in the Adidas World Cup 2022 commercial

Bored Ape Yacht Club in the Adidas commercial for the 2022 World Cup, Beeple becomes an advisor for Yuga Labs and CryptoPunks arrive in museums!

The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has finally started and it’s not missing out on getting NFTs involved! After the collaboration between Algorand and the FIFA World Cup in September, the World Cup 2022 also welcomes the Bored Ape Yacht Club, thanks to Adidas. Adidas has been the main sponsor of the World Cup since 1930, and in this year’s commercial they have also involved the Bored Apes. The Adidas-owned Bored Ape, number #8774, appears in the commercial in the company of champions Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi.

Let’s stay on the NFT theme and talk about the star of the week: Yuga Labs, the Web3 company that created the Bored Apes. Yuga Labs teamed up last week with Beeple, one of the most famous NFT artists in the industry, and launched a plan to donate some NFT CryptoPunks to contemporary art museums around the world, starting with the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami.

The Adidas Bored Ape in the 2022 World Cup commercial

In the Adidas commercial for the 2022 World Cup, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is also present. In the advertisement, ‘Catch our family reunion all World Cup long’, the Bored Ape of Adidas, Indigo Hertz, can be seen on a cereal box in the shape of footballs. This cereal was named ‘Indigoool’, in honour of the ‘bored monkey’. In the commercial, the cereal is eaten by French footballer Karim Benzema.

Adidas bought its Bored Ape in September 2021 for 46 Ether, about $156,000, and subsequently dubbed it Indigo Hertz, creating a Twitter profile for the occasion. Starring in the Adidas and Bored Ape Yacht Club advert are some famous footballers, including Lionel Messi, Heung-min Son and Serge Gnabry immortalised as they prepare, to the tune of Opus’ ‘Life is life’, to set off as one big family for Qatar. The commercial is narrated by English rapper Stormzy, who is also the driver of the ‘hippie’ style bus on which the footballers board at the end of the commercial.

The Adidas commercial in collaboration with the Bored Ape Yacht Club is not the German brand’s first NFT and Web3-themed initiative! Almost a year ago, on the 17th of December 2021, Adidas launched the ‘Into the Metaverse‘ initiative with the aim of bringing the sports brand into the metaverse. Adidas also recently released a capsule collection of NFT clothing. The collection is called ‘Adidas Virtual Gear – Genesis Collection’ and consists of cyberpunk-style digital clothes, which can now be purchased on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. These clothes, which will also be released in a physical version in the near future, are designed using state-of-the-art technology like 3D printing.

Beeple becomes advisor of Yuga Labs

Beeple, the digital artist who produced one of the most expensive NFTs ever, the Everydays NFT, has become an advisor to Yuga Labs. The relationship between the digital artist and the Web3 company came about through Yuga Labs’ acquisition of WENEW Labs. WENEW Labs is Beeple’s NFT fashion startup and has already established important partnerships with industry giants such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

Yuga Labs seems particularly interested in 10KFT, the NFT marketplace built on Ethereum by WENEW Labs. 10KTF is a shop set in the fictional city of New Tokyo and allows users to create and purchase NFT clothing that will, in the future, be able to be worn as their PFPs within metaverses. The 10KTF NFT marketplace is run by Wagmi-San, a garment designer who describes himself as a ‘digital artisan’.

Greg Solano, co-founder of Yuga Labs, said in a comment about the acquisition: “Beeple and the WENEW team have found a way to tell the Web3 story, while at the same time harnessing people’s passion for digital avatars and desire to personalise them. WENEW co-founder Figge, who co-founded the start-up with Beeple, will join Yuga’s management team as CCO (chief content officer), while Beeple, who’s real name is Mike Winkelmann, will act as consultant.

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CryptoPunks come to the museum!

Yuga Labs is unstoppable! It has also devised a plan to donate CryptoPunks to modern art museums around the world. They are starting with CryptoPunks #305, which was given to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami. CryptoPunks are one of the most expensive and iconic NFT collections ever, created in 2017 by Larva Labs, a startup by Matt Hall and John Watkinson. This NFT collection is inspired by London punk culture and are true ideological and philosophical icons of the Web3. CryptoPunks #305 was not chosen at random by Yuga Labs, this number is actually the area code of the City of Miami, one of the main hubs of the NFT industry.

A few months ago, in March 2022, the intellectual property of CryptoPunks and Meebits (another Larva Labs collection) was bought by Yuga Labs together with most of the Crypto Punks and Meebits NFTs owned by the founders. Since then, Yuga Labs has been in charge of project development, planning initiatives to make CryptoPunks and NFTs in general more mainstream.

The Punks Legacy Project initiative, which started with the donation of CryptoPunks #305, aims to donate and create ad-hoc installations for more CryptoPunks in contemporary art museums around the world. The aim of the initiative is to promote NFTs and reinforce the idea that identifies these digital artworks as works of art in their own right. “Just as Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol led the renaissance of contemporary art, I hope that CryptoPunks can lead the charge for NFTs,” said Noah Davis, CryptoPunks brand manager.

Number 305 is not the only CryptoPunks in the possession of the ICA Miami, the museum in fact already holds Crypto Punk #5293, nicknamed “Priscilla” which was donated by a private collector named Eduardo Burillio in July 2021. Punk #305 will be “installed” inside the ICA in Miami on the 2nd of December 2022 and the installation will remain in the Florida museum until the end of the year.

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Nike dotSWOOSH and other NFT news on Polygon

Nike NFTs on Polygon with the new dotSWOOSH platform

Nike’s NFT projects move from Ethereum to Polygon, here’s dotSWOOSH, a platform to buy and create wearables for avatars in video games and the Metaverse

After Starbucks, Disney and Adidas, Nike is also taking part in the list of brands building on Polygon‘s blockchain! Nike continues its exploration of the NFT world with dotSWOOSH, a Web3 platform that will host all the collections of Nike and the most creative users of its community. And the founders of Polygon are crying out for adoption! Discover Nike dotSWOOSH and the latest NFT news on Polygon.

Nike chooses Polygon for its next NFT projects

Nike has launched dotSWOOSH (or “.SWOOSH”), its new platform for non-fungible tokens. From the 18th of November, dotSWOOSH will be available in beta version to be tested by selected users from strategic areas of the US and Europe. The platform has been conceived as the home of all Nike NFT collections, relating to different disciplines and moments in sports culture. Specifically, Nike’s digital creations are so-called ‘wearables‘, i.e. clothing and accessories for avatars in video games and the Metaverse. On dotSWHOOSH, non-fungible Nike tokens can therefore be purchased. However, the highlight of the project is the possibility to create your own Nike-branded NFTs and put them up for sale while also receiving royalties. With .SWOOSH, Nike wants to expand its definition of sport and give birth to a new generation of sportspeople. The platform will be fully active and available to everyone in 2023 and will be inaugurated with an NFT collection created together with the community. And all this will happen on Polygon!

“Polygon’s ecosystem continues to grow at an exciting pace, be it DeFi, Gaming, NFT, Brand, Big Tech adoption or anything else,” commented Sandeep Nailwal co-founder of MATIC blockchain about the collaboration. Nailwal went on to reiterate that this kind of news about cryptocurrency adoption is a sign that events like the FTX epilogue will not have a long-term impact on Web3.

The dotSWOOSH project has been on the back burner for a few months. Last May, in fact, Nike bought an NFT domain on Ethereum Name Service: ‘dotswoosh.eth’ for 19.72 ETH (about $35,000 at the time).

Nike’s first NFTs and the digital store on Roblox

At the launch of dotSWOOSH, the Nike team thanked the ‘friends and mentors’ of RTFKT (pronounced ‘artefact’) for their support. Nike’s NFT adventure began just a year ago with the acquisition of RTFKT, a startup dedicated to making wearables in the form of non-fungible tokens. Nike’s first NFT collection with RTFKT is ‘CryptoKicks’. These tokens depict trainers and were minted on Ethereum. Nike in 2021 also opened a virtual shop on the Roblox metaverse, the Nikeland store hosted more than 7 million visitors in its first two months.

According to Vogue Business, Nike has so far earned $185.3 million with its Web3 products, overtaking its direct competitors in the NFT field: Adidas ($11 million) and Puma ($1.3 million).

The NFT of Steve Jobs’ Birkenstocks was sold for $200,000

Steve Jobs on the other hand was not a fan of trainers, he preferred Birkenstock sandals! Apparently the mind behind Apple had a soft spot for German footwear, whose practicality and functionality he admired. Between the 11th and the 13th of November, an auction was held to bid for a pair of sandals worn by Steve Jobs and the corresponding NFT mint on Polygon.

The auction run by Julien’s Auction fetched $218,750, and the anonymous (and lucky?) buyer took home the 1970s Birkenstocks with Steve Jobs’ footprint prominently displayed, along with the NFT that digitally represents them in full and guarantees ownership. The Birkenstocks in question are considered valuable because they were worn by Jobs at historic moments in Apple’s history and were also on display at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2017 and at Birkenstock’s headquarters in Germany. It really is true that everything is built on Polygon!

Bangalore Airport has its own Metaverse

In collaboration with Polygon, Amazon Web Service and Intel, Bangalore Airport in India released its Metaverse: Metaport on the 11th of November.

The Metaverse on Polygon gives airport visitors the opportunity to create their own avatar, visit virtual art exhibitions, go shopping, organise meetings and interact with other users, and access various types of entertainment.

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Young Monday: Subway, Messi, Polkadot reach agreement with SEC

Subway accepts Bitcoin Lightning Network payments and Messi on Sorare

At Subway, you can pay with Bitcoin using the Lightning Network, Messi collaborates with the NFT Sorare card game, and Polkadot makes a deal with the SEC!

The collapse of the FTX exchange has destabilised the crypto world, but during this delicate time there is also some positive news. Let’s see what happened with Young Monday! In the Subway restaurant chain, one of the largest restaurant franchises in the world, you can pay in Bitcoin using the Lightning Network. Polkadot on the other hand seems to have convinced the SEC that it is a software and not a security, i.e. a financial instrument. The latest news on this Young Monday is crypto football-themed and it concerns one of the greatest footballers ever: Lionel Messi, who has partnered with Sorare, the Web3’s most popular sports NFT card game.

Can you pay in Bitcoin at Subway?

Subway was one of the first shops in history to accept Bitcoin as a payment method. The owner, Daniel Hinze, is a big supporter of Bitcoin and had already allowed his customers to pay in BTC in 2013 at a store in Moscow. However, payments then were very slow. Customers who paid in Bitcoin at the time complained of waits of dozens of minutes for transactions to be processed. Recently, the situation has changed thanks to the possibility of paying in Bitcoin from Subway via the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 of Bitcoin, created in 2016 that is able to process transactions extremely quickly and cheaply. It is now possible to pay in Bitcoin from Subway at three shops in Germany, all located in Berlin.

During the first month since the introduction of the Lightning Network, a record number of Bitcoin transactions were processed: more than 120 within Subway stores. For the occasion, a special offer was proposed: a 50% discount to those paying in BTC at Subway. The new solution implemented by Subway was much appreciated by supporters of the first ever cryptocurrency, who shared pictures of tasty sandwiches on social media with the hashtag #usingBitcoin. Another fast food chain, after McDonald’s thus jumps on the bandwagon, for Bitcoin holders it is starting to become difficult to choose where to eat.

Polkadot gets vocal: I am not a security!

The Web3 Foundation, a foundation set up by Polkadot founder Gavin Wood, which aims to promote and protect the technologies behind the decentralised web, has recently concluded its debate with the SEC on the legal terms with which to refer to DOT: is Polkadot a security or software? Securities are exchangeable assets commonly referred to as financial instruments or securities. Various commissions oversee these assets to ensure their safety and compliance with current regulations. In the United States of America, the commission of reference is the SEC (Security and Exchange Commission). The dialogue between the Web3 Foundation and the SEC began in 2019. During the discussions, the Web3 Foundation stood in for Polkadot, with which it shares the founder, seeking to protect its interests.

The aim of this dialogue was to convince the US regulatory commission that Polkadot is neither a security nor a financial instrument but a software. The back-and-forth, which took the form of a real negotiation, ended a few days ago, exactly three years after it began. The verdict? Polkadot and its DOT crypto are not securities! Relations between the two parties do not end with this verdict but will continue with the aim of trying to define an unambiguous regulation for all blockchains.

After Chiliz, Lionel Messi arrives on Sorare

On Wednesday, the 9th of November 2022, Lionel Messi joined the Sorare team as an official ambassador. “The flea” will find himself in good company in this Web3 team built by Sorare, which includes such big-name sportspeople as tennis player Serena Williams and her ‘real world’ teammate Kilian Mbappè. The Argentinean Paris Saint-Germain player will help Sorare reach even more football fans, and get them onto the number one decentralised (dapp) application for crypto fantasy football. Sorare CEO Nicola Julia said that the collaboration with Lionel Messi represents a turning point for the Web3 platform.

Leo Messi is considered the world’s most powerful active player and is the third most followed sportsman on social networks, after his ‘colleagues’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. This is not the first collaboration that Lionel Messi has signed with companies in the crypto sector, as in April 2022 he had already signed a partnership with Socios.com, the most important platform for fan tokens built on Chiliz, for USD 20 million. Fan tokens are a daily part of the Argentinean star’s life, with part of the player’s salary from Paris Saint Germain being paid to Messi in $PSG, the French team’s fan token. With Lionel Messi concluding deals with two competitors, will he keep one foot in two shoes (or boots) forever or will he sooner or later choose his favourite crypto team?

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Binance and FTX: what’s happening in the crypto world?

Binance and FTX: What's happening in the crypto world?

The Binance and FTX case explained point by point. What is happening in the crypto world? How is the community reacting?

2022 is turning out to be a busy year for the cryptocurrency sector. In recent days, a succession of events, from Binance’s sale of FTT tokens to the news of the FTX exchange’s bankruptcy, has shocked the market ; which is currently experiencing a major decline. In this article, you will find an account of the story in all its passages and the reactions of the community. What is happening in the crypto world?

Who is involved in the affair?

Before getting to the heart of the matter, let’s summarise who the main actors involved are:

  1. Binance: one of the largest and most widely used centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, founded in 2017 and based in the Cayman Islands;
  2. Changpeng Zhao: CEO and founder of Binance, also known as CZ;
  3. FTX: another centralised exchange, founded in 2019 and based in the Bahamas. Its utility token is FTT;
  4. Sam Bankman-Fried: also referred to by the initials SBF, founder of FTX and Alameda Research;
  5. Alameda Research: a trading company whose CEO is Caroline Ellison. Alameda Research was founded by SBF and is these days accused of being not so transparently connected with FTX.

The relationship between Binance and FTX over the years

Binance and FTX are two of the leading centralised exchanges (CEXs) competing for supremacy in the crypto sector. Last year they generated 30% of all trading volume on CEXs together, totalling $27.5 trillion. Binance and FTX have not always been business rivals, in fact the two companies have been very close in the past. In 2019 Binance was one of FTX’s earliest backers and investors, and the partnership between the two exchanges continued until 2021 when FTX bought back its shares in Binance for $2.1 billion, most of this sum was settled in FTT tokens.

The crucial moments of the Binance vs FTX saga

Twitter has become the stage for all the key events in the crypto world. In order not to get lost in the memes, let’s clarify by following all the steps of the Binance-FTX affair.

• 6/11: CZ announces that Binance will sell all its FTT tokens

With a tweet on his personal profile, CZ announced on the 6th of November that he would be selling all FTT tokens held by Binance, due to ‘recent revelations that have come to light’. On this occasion CZ assured that the Binance team would try to minimise the impact on the market of this transaction (spoiler: the crypto market devolved into chaos) and that the decision was made looking at the mistakes that were made in the past with LUNA, the crypto that collapsed in May 2022. The founder of Binance also explained that this was in no way a move to harm a competitor.

Within hours of the publication of this tweet, the price of the FTT token dropped more than 10%. CZ’s decision threw users into a panic (ever heard of FUD?) and in 72 hours more than $6 billion was withdrawn from FTX.

• What are the ‘recently emerged revelations’ CZ is talking about?

The ‘revelations’ referred to by CZ are rumours about the financial difficulties of FTX and Alameda Research. On the 2nd of November, CoinDesk published a report on the financial state of FTX and Alameda Research. Alameda’s balance sheet showed that the trading company is ‘heavily’ dependent on the FTT token, which it uses as collateral. In other words, the FTX exchange would be involved with Alameda much more than SBF has always claimed. For CZ this proved problematic, as the lesson learned from the collapse of Terra (LUNA) is: “never use a token that you created yourself as collateral”. In general, FTX and SBF have been accused of a lack of transparency.

Reinforcing these allegations, Reuters claims that FTX secretly transferred USD 4 billion to Alameda between May and June.

• 6/11: Caroline Ellison of Alameda denies everything

The managing director of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, denied the rumours circulating about the trading company, explaining that Alameda also owns other assets besides the FTT token. Ellison also proposed that CZ buy Binance’s FTT tokens for $22 each. 

• 7/11: SBF’s denial makes an appearance (now deleted from Twitter)

On the 7th of November, SBF wrote on Twitter that all rumours are unfounded: ‘a competitor is trying to attack us with false rumours. Assets are fine’. The tweet, however, was deleted.

• 8/11: FTX blocks withdrawals and news of takeover arrives

After the blocking of withdrawals on the FTX exchange, news came of a possible takeover by Binance. CZ stated that FTX had asked for Binance’s help and that the acquisition would have the protection of users as its primary purpose. The founder of Binance then signed a non-binding agreement.

• 9/11: Justin Sun at work with FTX

On the 9th of November, Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain, said he was working with FTX to find a solution and protect the holders of Tron tokens on FTX.

• 10/11: Binance backs off

‘Following corporate due diligence and the latest news regarding the mismanagement of client funds and alleged investigations by US agencies, we have decided not to pursue the potential acquisition’. With these words, CZ announced that Binance would no longer buy FTX. In a series of tweets, CZ went on to explain how the failure of FTX is a defeat for the entire industry and that regulation of crypto is likely to be increasingly aggressive from now on.

• 11/11: FTX files for bankruptcy

After scrambling for funds (about $9 billion) to solve liquidity problems, on the 11th of November, SBF resigned as CEO of the exchange and FTX filed for bankruptcy.  

The secondary effects of the FTX crisis

On the 10th of November, the crypto market opened with -16.1% for BTC, -24.1% for ETH and -43% for SOL. The uncertainty of the situation made itself felt. The crypto that seems to be suffering the most in this situation is SOL, Solana’s coin. Why SOL in particular? SBF has always been a supporter of Solana, almost becoming its unofficial ‘ambassador’. In recent years, SBF has supported Solana and helped the project to grow. This close relationship has contributed to the drop in the price of SOL. Anatoly Yakovenko, founder of Solana, reported on Twitter that Solana Labs has no equity in FTX.

Among the companies that instead have dealings with FTX are venture capital firm Sequoia, which has alerted its shareholders to a $213.5 million exposure in FTX, and Galaxy Digital with $76.8 million. Amber Group said it has 10 percent of its funds locked up on SBF’s exchange, while Crypto.com has $10m (an insignificant amount according to CEO Kris Marszalek). Kraken stated that it has 9,000 FTT tokens but is not in contact with Alameda.

The FTX crisis has mainly affected user confidence, we see the issues raised by the community.

The reaction of the crypto community

The first topic discussed by those in the crypto world is the enormous power CZ and Binance have shown themselves to have over the markets. For some, it was CZ that engineered the whole affair that led to the collapse of FTX, starting with the insolvency rumours circulated. Beyond that, as in the case of Elon Musk and Twitter, CZ’s actions influenced the market. On this consideration, there are those who have dusted off the issue of the crypto world’s cult of personalities, suggesting that what is needed is true decentralisation that does not make the future of projects depend on the decisions of individuals. Isn’t that why Satoshi Nakamoto chose never to reveal his identity?

On the challenge of centralisation versus decentralisation, Stani Kulechov of Aave and Hayden Adams of Uniswap spoke out. The former argued that the only regulation for crypto is decentralised finance itself.

Adams also expressed himself in the same vein: ‘the basic financial infrastructure, such as the ability to exchange value, is too important to be controlled by corruptible centralised entities. This is one of the many reasons why I work on DeFi and decentralised exchanges.

For some, the collapse of FTX was the perfect opportunity to reaffirm the supposed superiority of the ideals of decentralisation. On the other hand, there are those who point out that these ideals at the moment seem to remain unchanged. Even for the most established dapps, security remains a challenge. At the moment, CEXs remain the connecting link between users, cryptocurrencies and traditional systems. It is up to the latter to ensure the security of users through regulations.

Could a single crypto regulation make a difference?

The absence of clear and unique rules for all industry players is another perspective from which to look at recent events. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, pointed out that the FTX crisis is a symptom of this lack in the US. A country from which cryptocurrency exchanges flee because of oppressive policies, and that paradoxically find themselves with full freedom once they move abroad.

On the European side, Stefan Berger, a member of the European Parliament’s economic committee, explained that with the MiCA (Market in Crypto Assets) in place, an episode like FTX would never have occurred.

Meanwhile, in a press release from the 10th of November, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced that it had opened an investigation into the collapse of the FTX exchange.

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What will happen if Elon Musk brings crypto to Twitter?

Cryptocurrencies arrive on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk?

What role will cryptocurrencies play in Elon Musk’s new Twitter? Can it really become a decentralised social network?

Twitter is the platform on which the crypto community moves and also where the main topics of the sector are discussed. With over 300 million active users, it is one of the social networks with the most cultural and political influence. Since the social network has a new owner, some have wondered whether cryptocurrencies will arrive on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk. The entrepreneur’s ideas about Twitter’s crypto future are currently unclear. And that is why there are those who are beginning to move on to alternative, decentralised social networks.

The story of Elon Musk who (maybe) wanted to buy Twitter

After months of back-and-forth and twists and turns, Elon Musk finally bought Twitter for $44 billion. It all started in April 2022 when Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder with a 9.2 per cent stake. The entrepreneur at first wanted to join the board of directors, then offered to buy the social network at $54.20 per share. However, after signing a binding agreement, Musk had second thoughts, complaining about the excessive presence of bots and scam profiles on the social network. In July, Musk announced that he would buy Twitter because the social network had meanwhile sued the entrepreneur to force him to comply with the agreement. Musk could not change his mind so easily! So in October the deal was finalised.

On the 29th of October, the day of the official takeover, Twitter’s shares closed trading up 0.3% at $53.86 and the following Friday Twitter was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Elon Musk entered the headquarters of the social network and the first thing he did was to fire some Twitter managers and employees.

After the takeover: Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter

After buying Twitter and becoming its owner, Elon Musk shared a series of tweets to explain his future plans. It would appear that Musk wants to create an ‘all-in-one’ app that is not only a social network, but also a platform for shopping, messaging and money transfers.

The changes being discussed are:

  1. Ensuring maximum freedom of speech and expression;
  2. Fight against scam profiles and eliminate scams;
  3. Review policies on advertisements and advertisers;
  4. Monetising content to favour creators;
  5. Establish a paid subscription for verified accounts at $8 per month;
  6. Enabling payments in Dogecoin.

Musk has not yet announced a precise roadmap, the possible innovations for the social network are all sketched out in tweets and statements. The community and Twitter users have been commenting and asking questions for days, and several controversies have arisen. The one that stands out (and is most worrying) is the possible rehabilitation of censored accounts like Donald Trump‘s.

What happens if cryptos enter Twitter?

Is Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter good for the crypto world? There are reasons to think that the answer is ‘yes’, however the hopes of seeing Twitter decentralised are not high. We know that in the crypto world, Elon Musk is capable of moving the markets, and his entry into Twitter has boosted the price of Dogecoin (DOGE). After all, it is no mystery that Musk is a holder of DOGE and BTC (through Tesla).

However, the link between cryptocurrencies, blockchain and Twitter remains very vague. The most plausible option is to introduce crypto as a payment system and dedicate sections to NFTs. Twitter in fact already offers functionality for non-fungible tokens and the use of cryptos could be facilitated by the collaboration with Binance, which participated financially in the acquisition. On the issues of monetisation of content, data ownership and governance there are still no indications. Therefore, many are sceptical about the possibility of Twitter becoming a Web3 social network.

The decentralised alternative to Twitter: Mastodon

On hearing the news of the change of owner, many users moved elsewhere, to less centralised ‘social’ solutions. In the four days following the takeover, 120,000 people registered with Mastodon, a decentralised and open source (but not on blockchain) social network. Mastodon was born in 2016 from the idea of Eugen Rochko who was disappointed with Facebook’s data management and security policies.

Mastodon is organised in ‘lists’ or ‘interest groups’ to which one can subscribe and write and read ‘toots’ (the equivalent of ‘tweets’). Mastodon has a strong policy on data ownership and proudly states that ‘It is not for sale’. Nothing on Mastodon can be decided by companies or advertisers, all decisions are up to the users. Just as content is not determined by algorithms or advertising. At the moment Mastodon has about 4 million users. Other decentralised social alternatives are making their way, but the most eagerly awaited is Bluesky. The social on blockchain that is being planned by Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter.

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Who stole Sex.com? The domain that took everyone to court

Sex.com: the internet domain theft worth 14 million dollars

In 1995, one of the most expensive domains in Internet history was stolen under mysterious circumstances. Here is the story of the theft of Sex.com!

Would you expect drama, mystery and bounty hunters from the affairs of an Internet domain? The reports from the Web are surprising, especially those from the beginning of its history. Similarly to the Crypto.com domain, Sex.com was disputed by many. At stake were court cases, millions of dollars and an epic scam. If blockchain had been involved in this story and if Sex.com had been an NFT domain, would things have turned out differently?

The mysterious theft of the Sex.com domain

This story takes place mainly in a US courtroom. On one side we find Gary Kremen, an engineer and businessman, who was clever enough in the 1990’s to register a series of generic domains such as Jobs.com, Housing.com and Sex.com. On the other, Stephen Cohen, a hardened fraudster, who became his worst enemy. Kremen had registered the domain Sex.com in 1994, the year he also founded the online dating site, Match.com.

Eight months after registering the domain, the engineer received an unusual message informing him that the email associated with the Sex.com domain had been changed. For Kremen, this was suspicious and upon checking, he realised that the domain ownership information had been changed. In other words, Kremen was no longer listed as the rightful owner of Sex.com. The engineer immediately called the indicated helpline number to ask why instead of his name there was that of a stranger, on the phone he found Cohen’s calm voice: ‘because the domain is not yours’. From here on, for the next twenty years, Kremen and Cohen will chase each other playing cops and robbers between the United States, Mexico and the rest of the world.

Could blockchain save the Sex.com domain?

It was initially unclear how Cohen had managed to pull off the theft of Sex.com, a domain worth millions of dollars even then. Apparently, Cohen cheated Network Solutions, the company that had sold the domain to Kremen, by posing as the new owner with a forged letter. Once he had obtained the domain, Cohen started to run the site by selling advertisements and earning half a million dollars a day. All this at a time when there was no Google or search engines, and people surfed the Internet using domain names directly. And not surprisingly, the word ‘sex’ attracted many curious people. Daily visitors to the Sex.com site hit record figures for the time.

Would the theft of the Sex.com domain happen with blockchain? Unlike traditional internet domains managed by centralised providers, the certification of ownership of NFT domains is immutably recorded on the blockchain and therefore difficult to falsify. Perhaps it would not have been so easy for Cohen to steal Sex.com if it had been an NFT domain. You cannot send letters to the blockchain and ask it to modify a smart contract. As with all NFTs, the NFT domain information is transparent and certifies that it is unique and in your possession. And anyone at any time can verify this. This is why NFT domains are used to keep your identity safe on the Internet. 

Manhunt in Mexico and Sex.com today

After five years of litigation, Kremen won the case and a precedent was set. Domains are in effect property, even if intangible, and therefore can be stolen. In 2001, Sex.com was returned and Cohen was ordered to pay Kremen $64 million in damages for lost profits from the use of the site. Here begins the second part of the incredible story of the Sex.com domain. Cohen, in order not to reimburse Kremen, fled across the border to Tijuana. The engineer then plastered the Mexican city with ‘wanted’ signs worthy of an old western film and thus unleashed bounty hunters who were unsuccessful. Kremen is still looking for Cohen.

Meanwhile, in 2006, Kremen auctioned Sex.com, which was bought by Escom for USD 14 million. After just four years, Escom was forced to sell the domain because it could not repay its debts and was about to face a lawsuit for insolvency (another trip to court). In 2010, Sex.com passed to Clover Holdings for USD 13 million. Currently, the domain is associated with a pornography site where users can upload and share with other users.

The story of the internet domain Sex.com is key to understanding why the internet needs the blockchain. On the Ethereum Name Service, a platform to buy NFT domains on Ethereum, the NFT domain “Sex.eth” was registered in 2019. While Unstoppable Domains‘ “Sex.crypto” was sold for 230 ETH (about $90,000) in 2020, making it the most expensive “.crypto” domain to date.

Will history repeat itself? Maybe even NFT domains with a ‘sex’ theme will be contested like Sex.com, for sure there will be a blockchain to support them with all its advantages.

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6 ways to use your Monuverse NFT

6 ways to use your Monuverse NFT

In preparation for the release of Episode I of Monuverse’s NFT collection, let’s explore 6 ways of using them

Let’s recap how the collaboration between Monuverse and Young Platform works, explained in full in this article.

By the 9th of November at 5 p.m. (UTC), Club members who want to attempt to be whitelisted must register with their wallet address on the whitelist page (check your email for link and password).

Those who are on the whitelist will be able to purchase and mint a maximum of 3 NFTs at the advantageous price of 0.07 ETH each on 11 November from 5 pm to 7 pm (UTC).

Once purchased, you can display your NFTs on OpenSea and similar applications.

Remember you will be able to see the real image or video you have purchased  only after the Reveal phase is completed.

Once you have obtained the NFT and discovered its contents, there are 6 benefits and uses to which you have access.

1. Protection and promotion of cultural heritage

You are officially a Web3 philanthropist: by purchasing an NFT, you are helping to fund the preservation of the Peace Arch. And, by purchasing future Episodes, you will do the same for other monuments.

For Episode I, the Milanese monument protection organisation will receive 12% of the royalties from your purchase in the primary market (minting), while in the secondary market it will receive 1%.

In metaverse galleries, on compatible social networks and on your screens at home, you will be able to display and promote your work freely. The blockchain will irrefutably tell your story about how you helped preserve an artistic work.

2. Web3 Community

Crypto communities are typically found on messaging and social apps, e.g. Discord, Reddit, Telegram, while projects and teams communicate mainly on twitter (for now). Monuverse also has a Discord server for its patron community and a Twitter profile for official communications.

As is often the case, the possibility of participating in events and conversations with the team is much higher for owners of rare NFTs.

3. PFP and Avatar

There are different types of NFTs. Among them, PFPs are very popular on social media. They are simply NFTs used as profile pictures, so they are usually static images representing the face of a character. The NFTs of the Bored Ape Yacht Club for example are widely used as profile pictures.

An Avatar, on the other hand, is a 3D version of a character. It is usually used in video games or simply in a metaverse and is often customisable through accessories and skins.

Monuverse gives its community a PFP and an Avatar in the metaverse it is building, and you can use them not only on Monuverse, but on most Web3 applications.

Each Episode corresponds to PFPs and Avatars that reflect the historical period or culture of the chosen monument. So, for example, for Episode I, centred on the Arch of Peace, characters from the Napoleonic era will be distributed.

4. Whitelist

Owning a Monuverse NFT grants you priority access to the whitelist of future episodes. This means that you can mine your NFT at a cheap price compared to the public sale price. The rarer your NFT is, the more likely it will be to be whitelisted.

5. Voting rights

You can vote with the rest of the community to choose the next monuments that Monuverse will commit to replicate and protect. From the roadmap, the team also plans to create a more extensive voting system for the community and a DAO to reward active user participation.

6. Buying and selling

Of course you can resell your Monuverse NFTs either before the Reveal phase or afterwards, on the secondary market of OpenSea and other aggregators such as LooksRare, Rarible, x2y2. You can sell as many as you want; giving up ownership of all NFTs. However, this also means giving up the community and its benefits.

Moreover, selling is only an option if you think that the NFT you own may be in such demand on the market that it will bring you a significant profit for you in the chosen period. 

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Young Monday: Instagram, JP Morgan and Microsoft

Instagram NFT marketplace, JP Morgan gets involved with DeFi

Instagram and Game Stop’s NFT marketplace, JP Morgan and Microsoft get involved in Web3, the Premier League chooses Sorare

For this first Young Monday of November 2022, our protagonists are ‘traditional’ companies grappling with Web3 adventures. The first of these is Instagram, which plans a ‘leg-up’ entry into the non-fungible token market through the development of its NFT marketplace. Then we move on to JP Morgan, one of the most important banks in the United States. They debuted in the world of decentralised finance (DeFi) with their first transactions on Aave, while Microsoft invests in crypto gaming. Concluding with another news item on mass adoption, Young Monday unveils the plans of the English Premier League. The world’s top football league is in fact negotiating with Sorare for the production of an NFT collection.

Gamestop and Instagram launch their NFT marketplaces

Buying NFTs on Instagram? It’s almost a reality! On Wednesday, the 2nd of November 2022, Meta announced the integration of an NFT marketplace on Instagram. Meta’s plan to bring non-fungible tokens to the social network is proceeding step by step. Already in August 2022, in a test phase, some users started to post and display NFTs on their profiles. But soon, it will be possible to create and sell NFTs directly on the app.

Users who create NFTs on Instagram will do so thanks to Polygon’s blockchain. In Instagram’s NFT marketplace, it will also be possible to link their OpenSea account and transfer their tokens from one platform to another. This option will initially only be available for NFTs built on Polygon and Solana (thanks to the collaboration with Phantom).

Instagram’s marketplace will initially be tested by a few sectioned creators. And, according to the official announcement, the Instagram marketplace will not charge commissions in its initial phase. Following the important announcement, on Thursday 3rd of November 2022, the price of MATIC (the crypto on Polygon’s blockchain), drew a green candle on the chart with a price increase of more than 10%.

GameStop also has some updates on its Web3 adventure. This adventure began a year ago now, in November 2021, with the purchase of an NFT domain (nft.gamestop.com). Subsequently, the video game store started building its NFT marketplace and developed its self-custodial crypto wallet. A few days ago, GameStop’s NFT marketplace finally concluded its beta phase, allowing the final version of the NFT marketplace to be activated on the ImmutableX blockchain. ImmutableX is an Ethereum sidechain dedicated to crypto gaming. The partnership between ImmutableX and the famous video game store started in February 2022. The beta version of Gamestop’s NFT marketplace went live 5 months later. To date, the platform provides access to Web3 games built on the blockchain, such as Gods Unchained, Guild of Guardians and Illuvium.

JP Morgan and Microsoft take their first steps into the Web3

For our “institutions join web3” paragraph, this week, we take a look at JP Morgan. The world’s largest bank is part of the American Big Four in the financial sector, along with Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. In finance jargon, these kinds of giants are called institutional investors. By ‘institutional investors’ we mean organisations that are the benchmark for a certain sector and make periodic and systematic investments using large amounts of capital.

Last week, precisely on Wednesday the 2nd of November 2022, JP Morgan carried out its first transaction on a decentralised finance platform (DeFi). The transaction was processed with the help of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and is part of a pilot programme called ‘Project Guardian’, which was set up to explore the potential of decentralised finance in financial markets populated by large capital. This is the first case of a traditional bank using a DeFi platform in a public blockchain.

JPMorgan deposited Singapore dollars and Japanese yen tokens on the Aave liquidity protocol. These tokens were used for trading and the transactions were finalised using Polygon’s network (preferred to Ethereum for its low fees). According to Aave’s spokespersons, JP Morgan’s first DeFi transaction is a ‘milestone’ for the industry, as it ‘represents a huge step towards moving traditional financial assets to DeFi’.

Bill Gates‘ company Microsoft has also recently invested in Wemade, a Korean play-to-earn video game company. Wemade, which was founded in the early 2000s, recently received some USD 46 million from Microsoft and other companies to devote to the development of crypto games. This is not Microsoft’s first investment in Web3, in February 2022 the company had invested in the blockchain software company Consensys. In September, it participated in a funding round for the decentralised data platform Space and Time.

Sorare and Premier League: one step closer to collaboration

The English Premier League has decided to enter the NFT market through a partnership with Sorare. The partnership has not yet been made official, but if it goes through, it would be Sorare’s third international partnership in a few months. It would follow those with American sports leagues the National Basketball League (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB). According to rumours, the English football league’s collection could be similar to NBA Top Shot, and thus represent iconic moments of the world’s most popular and followed football league. A similar crypto football-themed collection already exists, it is the one between Algorand and FIFA dedicated to the World Cup.The uncertainty about the success of the deals is mainly related to the economic part of the question, will Sorare accept the Premier League’s current $34.7 million offer? The English football league, before knocking on Sorare’s door, sounded out the market through relations with some competitors such as Dapper Labs and Consensys. However, it seems that the proposals made by the Web3 companies did not take root. For Sorare, this could be an opportunity to improve on its already incredible performance in 2023.