Young Platform wins the ‘Startup of the Year 2022’ award from I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino
Here at Young Platform we ended the year on a high note with an award that we’re really proud of! In December, we received the ‘Startup of the Year 2022′ award during the 23rd edition of the ‘Festa delle Startup I3P’, the annual event of the Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino that celebrates innovative Italian start-ups.
The Startup Party
Every year at the ‘Festa delle Startup I3P’, the new companies selected to enter the Politecnico di Torino incubation programme are introduced and awards are presented to the start-ups that have distinguished themselves through their successful journey.
The event was an opportunity to discover innovative products and services ready to conquer the market, and to tell the story of start-ups that took their first steps from the Politecnico di Torino and have proven their value over time. During the ‘Festa’ on 21 December 2022, Young Platform received the ‘Startup of the Year 2022’ award, tied with epiCura, the first digital platform providing home care services.
🎉 Sono state decretate le due #Startup dell'Anno #I3P ex-aequo: @EpiCuraMed, primo provider digitale di assistenza domiciliare in Italia e @youngplatform, la piattaforma #fintech che semplifica l’accesso al mondo delle #criptovalute
There are years made for dreaming and planning, others for building, and some for reaping the fruits of one’s labour. In 2022, we at Young Platform expanded and gave our all, we became one of the top three cryptocurrency trading platforms in Italy, with a 36% market share and over a million active users on our products. We launched our YNG token, inaugurated the Clubs and concluded a 16 million euro funding round led by Azimut. Throughout all this, we stayed focused on our goal: facilitating access to the world of cryptocurrencies through simple and clear applications and through intensive educational activities on blockchain technology and its solutions.
Thank you I3P!
In the course of our history there has always been a fundamental figure who never stopped believing in us. We could not have achieved these milestones without the support that I3P has guaranteed us since 2019, when we joined its incubation programme for fledgling start-ups.
Last December, Giuseppe Scellato, the president of I3P, commented on our award as follows: ‘Young Platform, with its crypto exchange features, is operating in a sector that is constantly evolving and is thus able to address the new generation of investors.’ and referring also to epiCura: ‘we are proud to have supported these start-ups on their path to growth: our goal is to continue to be a point of reference for innovation in Italy, supporting and promoting ideas and projects with high technological potential that work on services with a direct impact on the lives of citizens’.
Even today, after three years: thank you I3P!
The Startup of the Year award put the fintech sector in the spotlight, once again at Young Platform we raise a glass with our community to going even further together. An unforgettable 2023 awaits us!
Aptos is a brand new Layer 1 blockchain. What is it and how does it work?
This October, Aptos was launched. It is a new Layer 1 blockchain developed by former Meta employees. Only a few days after its debut in the crypto world, Aptos has already been making waves, both in a positive and negative sense. On the one hand, there are those who present Aptos and its APT crypto as the possible Solana Killer, due to the large amount of transactions per second it promises to be able to process. On the other hand, Aptos’s launch has been criticised due to several factors, such as the ‘premature’ listing on well-known crypto exchanges prior to the release of APT’s tokenomics. Find out what the Aptos project is, and what the main controversies surrounding the launch are!
The birth of of a brand new crypto: Aptos
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain founded by a group of former employees of Meta (formerly Facebook). The group of developers founded the Aptos Foundation in August 2022, which is responsible for defining the guidelines of the project. The new blockchain uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm to validate transactions on its network. The new Aptos crypto is programmed in Move, a smart contract writing language developed by Facebook in 2019. Move was created to build Facebook’s native blockchain, Diem. However, the project was abandoned in January 2022.
Even before its launch, Aptos’s Layer 1 blockchain and its APT crypto have been the talk of the town. How come? A great amount of interest in the project was shown from major venture capital funds, who also decided to invest in the project. Aptos raised 350 million through three different funding rounds between March and September 2022.The funds came from some of the most important venture capitalists in the crypto market such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Jump Crypto, FTX Ventures and Binance Labs.
How does Aptos work? The new Layer 1 blockchain
The new Aptos Layer 1 blockchain underwent an intensive testing programme during the months leading up to its launch. Using a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, Aptos works thanks to 102 validators who are responsible for the security of the network. The project wants to distinguish itself by its ability to process more than 160,000 transactions per second, a number far greater than that of other Layer 1 blockchains. To date, the competitor to beat is Solana. On paper, this Layer 1 blockchain can process the largest number of transactions per second, reaching a maximum of 65,000. For this reason, Aptos was called a possible Solana Killer at its launch.
The Aptos Foundation wants to ensure a high amount of usability of the network for its users. One of the main weaknesses that Web3 is facing is complexity of use. Thanks in particular to the Move programming language, Aptos wants to improve this! Move has been designed to build more user-friendly smart contracts and DApps, which can also be used by those who are not familiar with the technologies involved.
In this first week since its launch, the Aptos network became very active. Especially so with regard to NFTs, which have recorded considerable volumes. For instance, the Aptos Monkeys collection, which was launched on the NFT marketplace Topaz, raised nearly 300,000 APTs (around $2.7 million)in the first 24 hours after its launch. The main wallet for storing and using APT tokens and NFTs on Aptos is a web extension called Petra, which has already exceeded 300,000 downloads on the chrome web store.
Aptos: an opaque beginning?
The launch of Aptos has undoubtedly broken the monotony of this bear market, generating much controversy but also some appreciation. Let’s proceed in order. The first criticism arose in the hours before the launch. Users who had participated in the Aptos testnet (an almost identical copy of the main blockchain being used for experimentation), received avery substantial airdrop. The rewards distributed via the airdrop were either 150 or 300 units of the new Aptos cryptocurrency, depending on the tasks the users performed on the testnet. The Aptos Foundation distributed 20.1 million crypto APTs, representing approximately 2% of the total supply. This amount of APT was, at the time of distribution, worth between 200 and 260 million dollars. It was divided among 110,235 crypto wallets.
The criticism in this case was that the airdrop was excessive and benefited the so-called ‘airdrop hunters’. They are users who complete tasks required by blockchain protocols using different wallets. Once they receive the airdrop, they instantly sell the crypto they have received.
The second wave of criticism concerns the choice of Aptos and some exchanges including Binance and FTX tomake trading available before the tokenomics were officially released. This choice by the Aptos Foundation put potential investors in an uncomfortable position. On the one hand, they would not have wanted to miss the launch of Aptos, but on the other hand, they felt insecure given the lack of transparency shown by the project.
It’s exciting to finally bring Aptos to mainnet.
Acknowledged that it could have gone better. Building a decentralized protocol from the ground up is tough! Aptos is fortunate to have a fantastic community that's constantly evolving together.
The tokenomics publication, which came only after listing on some of the best-known exchanges, provides for a total APT supply of one billion tokens. 510 million are held by venture capital companies, and 410 million are held by the Aptos Foundation. These 410 million tokens are locked as of today, and will be unlocked progressively over the next 10 years. The remaining part of Aptos’ supply, a total of 80 million APTs, have partly been distributed through airdrops and partly will be made available to projects that will be created on the blockchain.
If the delay in the publication of tokenomics generated controversy, the structure of tokenomics itself only increased it. The price of APT has suffered as a result. The main factor that created discontent is the amount of APT owned by venture capital companies and the Aptos Foundation. According to users, there are too many tokens held by institutional investors and the Aptos Foundation. This could generate strong sell pressure on the APT token in the future.
The influence on the price could be seen immediately after the launch. The starting price of the Aptos crypto was around $14. In the first hours after the launch, it marked a downward movement of more than 40%. In the days following the launch, the price of APT ‘stabilised’ at around $9.
PancakeSwap is the first DeFi DApp to land on Aptos
On Monday the 24th October 2022, PancakeSwap, the decentralised exchange (DEX) built on the Binance Smart Chain, announced that its platform will also be available on Aptos. The decision was made following a vote within PancakeSwap’s DAO. PancakeSwap’s ecosystem on Aptos will be similar to the one already present on the Binance Smart Chain.
🗳️ Voting is live for PancakeSwap deployment to Aptos
PS: We'll publish the AMA recap soon where Chefs answered the community questions on Aptos deployment so take your time and Vote. https://t.co/qD3IVnjzEc
Thus, Swaps will be enabled. These are a mechanism through which tokens built on the Aptos blockchain can be exchanged. Farms and Pools, where you can stack your tokens in exchange for rewards, will also be made available as well as the IFO section.The acronym stands for Initial Farm Offering, and it is a kind of ‘Initial Coin Offering’ (ICO). IFOs have the dual purpose of allowing to raise development fundsfor emerging projects, and incentivising users to hold crypto in the ecosystem. To participate in an IFO, it is necessary to lock your tokens in an LP (liquidity pool), which consists of 50% CAKE crypto and 50% APT.
The Aptos deployment vote has passed!
PancakeSwap and the CAKE token will be deploying on Aptos shortly, with all our beloved products.
The integration of PancakeSwap, which is the eighth DeFi ecosystem in terms of TVL, is certainly a good achievement. We will see if the new Aptos Layer 1 blockchain will continue to integrate new features at this pace, and if it will one day be able to compete with Solana in the challenge for creating the most scalable network.
What is ChatGPT? Discover the artificial intelligence of the moment that can answer complex questions and that writes poetry and computer programmes
A few days ago, ChatGPT was released, a new application based on the GPT-3 deep learning model developed by Open AI, a San Francisco-based company founded by Elon Musk in 2015. ChatGPT is a chatbot, or artificial intelligence designed to process any text: from an article like this one to a string of html code. All thanks to the almost infinite pool of resources it gathers from the web and consults in milliseconds, as well as its ability to understand human language.
Since its release, it has been the talk of the internet, with posts by programmers and copywriters who fear being replaced by AI, users trying to figure out whether ChatGPT is in any way sentient, and those who post screenshots of the absurd requests they have made of OpenAI’s chatbot.
Opinions on ChatGPT are mixed. There are those who are enthusiastic because they see artificial intelligence as a tool that will simplify everyday work. And those, probably influenced by the countless science fiction films that deal with the issue, fear a dystopian denouement of the situation.
How does ChatGPT work?
OpenAI’s artificial intelligence is one of the most advanced AI for natural language processing. This chatbot is designed to be ‘linguistically generic’. This means that it is able to generate texts similar to what a human being could write using a very wide range of content. Just ask and ChatGPT will answer you.
It can write fantastic short stories, lyrics for songs, social media posts and poems in the style of the greatest poets. It doesn’t matter what language you formulate questions or requests in, as it can also instantly translate texts. To give you an idea of what it can do, we asked it to write a poem dedicated to Bitcoin in the style of Dante. This was the result:
“There, the value is not determined
By bankers or the laws of the market,
But from faith and trust
That users have in their system.
And so I came to Bitcoin, a new currency
that reigns over the world’s markets
with unparalleled power and strength.
O Bitcoin, you who are the future in search,
guide our steps towards the light
and give us the wisdom we need’.
ChatGPT is also capable of writing lines of code using popular programming languages, and is therefore also an interesting tool for developers.
Although it is a complex tool, using it is very simple. You just log on to the site and sign up. Once the registration is complete, you can indulge yourself by asking the AI complicated questions, such as “explain to me how a quantum computer works”. Or you can use this artificial intelligence to write Python code for a simple game.
Can artificial intelligence create smart contracts?
Artificial intelligence can also be used within Web3 in different ways. For instance, AIs are used to create NFT collections of generative art. Or, as in the case of ChatGPT, to write smart contracts or find any vulnerabilities in them. To check whether a smart contract has weaknesses, you simply have to go back to the code that makes it up and ask the chat if it has weaknesses. Finding the text of the code of a smart contract that manages a function of a dapp for example is very easy, since practically all Web3 applications are open source, i.e. can be consulted by anyone.
Yes, you got that right! ChatGPT is also able to read and write in programming languages for the development of blockchain applications, such as Solidity, the programming language in which Ethereum is programmed, or Rust, that of Solana. If you don’t believe this, you can try it yourself, for instance by asking it to write a smart contract that generates an NFT.
The debate: does artificial intelligence belong to the people?
The potential of this technology has sparked a series of debates within Crypto Twitter. There has been discussion about the ability of artificial intelligence to detect vulnerabilities within codes, an ability that some users see as a threat. Once the weaknesses have been identified, thanks to ChatGPT, some malicious parties could attack the smart contracts of decentralised applications (dapp) and thus take possession of users’ money.
AI (ChatGPT) can exploit a solidity smart contract.
However, there are also those who have opposing views on the subject, such as the developers of Open AI. Their view on the issue is that artificial intelligence is not a threat. It will help benefit Web3 developers by enabling them to programme more secure smart contracts more quickly.
Finally, there are those who believe that such powerful and complex tools should not be handed over to the hands of individuals or companies, but should instead be directed by DAOs (decentralised autonomous organisations). This idea was given by one of the co-founders of Polygon, known on twitter by the handle sandeep.
— Sandeep | Polygon 💜 Top 3 by impact (@sandeepnailwal) December 5, 2022
DAOs exploit smart contracts for collective decision-making through voting where participants can cast their votes using the protocol’s cryptos. Entrusting artificial intelligence to DAOs could ensure a high degree of decentralisation, transparency and innovation while avoiding handing these powerful tools over to the hands of individuals or companies that might act to the detriment of the common good.
As is often the case when it comes to cutting-edge technology, there remain many more questions than answers. One certainty, however, is that ChatGPT is already an excellent tool that improves and speeds up the work of a large number of professionals. Moreover, being an artificial intelligence, it is also able to improve itself on a daily basis thanks to the feedback and questions posed to it by users. In short, it is potentially an unlimited resource of knowledge. And you, do you think that with AIs you can conquer the world? Or, will they conquer the world without us realising?
You can now donate to Save the Children through Young Platform. Here’s how to do it
The smallest unit of BTC is called a satoshi and it corresponds to one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin. It is a very tiny figure. To give you the idea, let’s write it down with all the zeros: 0.00000001. It is said that small things can change a life: smiling at strangers, eating pizza with friends, children. Maybe even a satoshi.
You can now use your crypto to send donations to Save the Children Italia Onlus via the Young Platform app.
This Christmas, save their future
This collaboration comes at a special time of year. On the occasion of Christmas, Save the Children Italia Onlus launched a campaign to collect donations for children in conflict zones, such as Syria or Yemen. We are happy to announce that Young Platform has been chosen as its official partner to make it easier for those wishing to make crypto donations.
Worldwide, 1 out of 6 children live in a war zone. With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, another 7.5 million children have been added to the tally. The funds raised through this initiative will be used to recover food supplies (a family needs 41€ for a fortnight), personal hygiene kits or school supplies (a package to educate eleven children is worth 275€). We at Young Platform are renewing the path taken in the field of charity, specifically those dedicated to children.
Why donate through crypto?
We know that cryptocurrencies are not physical coins, but they can still do a lot. Lately, their reputation has not been great. Chances are, you’ve heard on the news that crypto is a dangerous game. One played by kids who fiddle with theirPCs and then scam thousands of people. Even if someone is using blockchain technology for these questionable purposes, there are also virtuous examples of how cryptos can be useful and have an impact on people’s lives.
When Ukraine was invaded in late February, for the first time in history, a nation publicly called for crypto donations when its banking system was beginning to collapse. Millions and millions of coins and tokens, including NFTs, arrived from all over the world to help people cornered by war. Cryptocurrency donations are borderless, they can bemade anywhere and they go everywhere. Even to those without a bank account. Also in the case of Save the Children, crypto donations made with Young Platform will make an important project come true.
How do donations work?
You can make crypto donations to Save the Children Italy with a simple withdrawal. Here are all the steps you need to take.
Before you start, open this link to the NGO’s website and choose the crypto you want to donate from all those available. The wallet address will appear in the form of an alphanumeric code and as a QR code. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum PoW, Cardano, Polygon, USDT, USDC and Tezos are available.
Open the Young Platform app in the Wallet section;
From the central button ⇆, select ‘Withdraw – send funds in euro and crypto’;
Choose a cryptocurrency, select the amount and click ‘Continue’;
Paste the Save the Children wallet address you copied from the link provided or scan the QR code. We advise you not to type in the address manually to avoid mistakes and remember to only select the address of the crypto you want to donate! To donate Bitcoin you need a Bitcoin address, for Ether you need an Ethereum address and so on.
Confirm the withdrawal via the e-mail you will receive at your address.
If you want to view the status of your transaction on the blockchain, you can paste the TxID in the search bar of a blockchain explorer like Blockchair. The beauty of charity and crypto is that you can independently verify and track all your donations to Save the Children.
A partnership between Young Platform and Save the Children kicks off to facilitate crypto donations and help children in Italy and around the world
The organisation chose the Italian exchange community leader’s platform to open a wallet;
Users can send Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptos to support Save the Children projects;
The collaboration will be ongoing and will continue after the Christmas campaign.
Turin, the 21st of December 2022 – Bringing immediate support to where it is most needed, taking advantage of the security and speed of blockchain, helping families and children who, even during Christmas, will have to face hunger and the cold of winter. These are the objectives of the partnership that Young Platform has entered into with Save the Children Italia. This charity is an international organisation that has been fighting for over 100 years to save the lives of girls and boys in order to guarantee them a future. The partnership will enable anyone to use cryptos and donate to the organisation, which is present in over 120 countries worldwide.
Save the Children wasthe first international organisation ever to accept a Bitcoin donation in 2013. The goal was to raise funds and take action in response to the dramatic aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan that struck south-east Asia, devastating the Philippines. Now, Save the Children Italy has chosen Young Platform to open a wallet, by virtue of the scrupulous regulatory compliance of the Italian exchange community leader (over one million members in terms of tax issues, anti-money laundering procedures as well as KYC.
To donate, all you need to do is hold a crypto wallet, even on other exchanges. Connect to the appropriate webpage (donaora.savethechildren.it/crypto/), scan the QR Code or copy the address of the Save the Children wallet indicated to send the desired amount of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Pow, Tether, Cardano ADA, Polygon, Tezos or USDC. The donation will be converted into fiat currency, to protect the amount from possible crypto market fluctuations. It will then be used to provide protection and immediate aid in areas affected by humanitarian emergencies.
Worldwide, some 774 million children – one third of the world’s child population – experience the dual impact of poverty and climate risk.. Every year globally, 1 million children under the age of five die from malnutrition. Moreover, children living in conflict zones are more than twice as likely to suffer from malnutrition as children living in countries at peace.
Vulnerable children often lack everything, from drinking water to food and psychological support to regain their lost serenity. This is also why the collaboration between Young Platform and Save the Children will continue after the current Christmas campaign, for all crypto collections.
Young Platform reconfirms its commitment to social issues, following its past collaborations with Dynamo Camp, the Italian Red Cross and Helperbit, in similar campaigns. On the other hand, Save the Children is increasingly looking to the Web3 community, having launched the #CryptoArt4Children project last spring to donate the proceeds from the sale of NFT works created by crypto-artists to support children and families affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
“Blockchain is unfortunately still a technology that is often misunderstood on many levels. However, leaders and vanguards throughout the world, such as Save the Children among other organisations, have immediately understood its potential for the best purposes,” explains Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform. With this partnership we are happy to be able to do our part by providing the means and technological support to anyone who wants to use cryptocurrencies to make a donation and help children in areas facing humanitarian crises due to conflict, extreme weather events or an economic crisis For this reason, we at Young Platform do not want to limit ourselves to an occasional initiative. We will stay ‘in the field’ together with Save the Children, hoping that this will be the beginning of a long collaboration between our two organisations. .
“Save the Children has always been an organisation open to change, looking for new ways to respond to the needs of children,” – says Lorenzo Catapano, head of Innovation, Digital Technology & Data at Save the Children Italia – “We think that at the stage Web3 is at today, understanding and experiencing it is the best way to be part of it. We decided to do this together with Young Platform, an Italian business extremely attentive to young people and to the positive impact of new technologies. On the occasion of Christmas we want to invite the Young community to be at the side of children, to build a better future for them.”
On Young Platform, there is a new type of Wallet dedicated to bonuses and all future promotions
As of today, all bonuses on Young Platform will become cashback bonuses in the new Bonus Wallet. You may already know that if you invite a friend to Young Platform, you both receive a Friend Bonus. Those who sign up for the exchange with a referral code from a sponsor or promotional campaign receive a Welcome Bonus.
You now can receive these and all future bonuses directly in your Bonus Wallet. They will come in the form of cashback, to be used to pay for fees on the exchange.
You will be able to see the Bonus Wallet within the Wallet section, but only after you have received a Bonus, or to manage Bonuses that are still pending from the previous system. But for now, let’s see how the promotions work. There are two currently available: the Friends Bonus and Welcome Bonus.
1. Obtain and redeem your Bonus
If you are a newcomer to Young Platform, and have signed up via an invitation or referral code, you will find the wizard to activate your account and receive your bonus highlighted on the Home page. Once your identity has been verified and you have made a deposit of at least €50, you will find the button to redeem your bonus in the “Invite your friends” section (available from the Home page).
On the other hand, if you already use the app and want to invite someone to receive a bonus, go to the “Invite your friends” section in the Home page to share your code and view the status of your invitations. Once you have both completed the necessary actions indicated, you will see the button to redeem the bonus in the invitation section.
Important news: Unlike the previous mode, it is no longer necessary to make a purchase to receive a bonus.
2. Discover the Bonus Wallet
After redeeming the bonus, continue through the wizard to read the Bonus Wallet introduction stories, which will explain how it works.
The Bonus Wallet will then open for the first time. After the first bonus redemption, you can always find it again in the Wallet section.
There, you can view all bonuses that you have redeemed and can use to receive cashback.
Important news: bonuses will no longer be credited to your Spot Wallet, but to your Bonus Wallet.
3. Receive cashback
How does cashback work? In the case of these 2 bonuses, it only applies to trading fees paid for Euro-Crypto trades (so it does not apply to Crypto-Crypto trades).
This means that after you have completed a purchase with Euros or a sale in exchange for Euros, and paid the fee, the fee amount will be deducted from your Bonus Wallet and credited to your spot Euro Wallet.
Let’s take a practical example, for a user who is not a member of any club:
You redeemed a €5 Invite a Friend Bonus
You make a BTC purchase of €100
You pay a €2,50 fee
Your receive €2.50 cashback in your wallet, which is deducted from your Bonus Wallet
You have €2.50 left in your Invite a Friend Bonus Wallet Bonus
You can use this remaining bonus for cashback on other fees.
If you have only € 0.50 total bonus remaining and pay €1 of fees, you will receive a cashback of only €0.50.
The new bonus regulation
Not only will the form of the bonus change, but the same goes for the rules for redeeming and receiving them.
If you already have invitations sent before today that have not yet been completed or unredeemed bonuses, they will be converted to this new cashback mode from today.
As mentioned above, it is no longer necessary for the users involved to make a minimum purchase in order to obtain the bonus, but a deposit of 50€ will suffice.
Bonuses expiration:
They must be redeemed within 90 days from the date of the new user’s signup using the invitation or referral code.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested last night in the Bahamas. What happened? What will be the next developments?
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested on the morning of the 13th of December (at 5:00 a.m. GMT) in the Bahamas, at his residence in Nassau. Local police forces detained him one day before his testimony before Congress that was scheduled for Wednesday the 14th December 2022. It is now likely to be canceled. But why was SBF arrested today specifically, after weeks of being left free?
There are two main hypotheses. For some, the arrest comes with the fear that Bankman-Fried might move to a country where the US could not extradite him. Others speculate a connection with new allegations made by Do Kwon that were picked up by the media. They concern a possible involvement in the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem.
According to the New York Times, there are five charges for the founder of FTX: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and money laundering. What will be the next developments? Will Sam Bankman-Fried’s collaborators Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco also be arrested soon? Are SBF and Alameda Research really responsible for the collapse of the Terra-LUNA ecosystem?
What will happen now to Sam Bankman-Fried and his co-workers?
After being ‘at large’ for quite a long time (it has been about a month since the FTX exchange declared bankruptcy on the 11th November 2022), as of yesterday morning, Sam Bankman-Fried is being held in custody in a Bahamian prison. The FTX founder’s arrest came at the request of the US government, which plans to extradite him to a US federal prison.
Commenting on the incident, the Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said: ‘The Bahamas and the United States have a common interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with the FTX failure who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.
In these first hours after the arrest, uncertainty reigns. It is not yet clear how many years in prison SBF faces, just as it is not yet known whether he will testify before the US Congress tomorrow as scheduled, although this seems unlikely.
Another question on the minds of many concerns the future of Sam Bankman-Fried’s associates, Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco. For the two, respectively CEO and co-CEO of investment fund and market maker Alameda Research, the same fate is probably in store. In the meantime, statements by the FTX founder are circulating again. A few days ago in an interview, he said was sure that he could not be arrested. On that same occasion, he had revealed his commitment to working on a new project with the aim of returning the money lost to his users.
Was it SBF and Alameda that brought down Terra (LUNA)?
What does Terra (LUNA) have to do with the SBF affair? In recent days, there has been talk about the possible responsibility of Alameda Research in the failure of the ecosystem. Alameda was the trading company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, that has strong ties to FTX for reasons linked to fund management. A large amount of these funds were allocated to FTT, the token of the FTX exchange.
According to these allegations, Ellison and Trabucco’s hedge fund allegedly attacked Do Kwon‘s blockchain in order to destroy its competitor: Three Arrow Capital (3AC). They were heavily exposed to the blockchain’s two main assets: the LUNA crypto and the UST stablecoin.
The accusation, which originated from former Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon and Three Arrow Capital co-founder Su Zhu, has not been ignored by US prosecutors. They have launched an investigation that will result in a market manipulation charge against Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research. Should evidence be found of Do Kwon’s and Sun Zhu’s allegations, the charge of market manipulation could be added to SBF. This would aggravate the legal situation of the FTX founder in no small measure.
There is currently no conclusive evidence to support these allegations. The investigation by the US government will shed light on the facts as it takes course. In short, as of today, there are very few certain answers. Many questions about the future and past of the former FTX CEO remain.
The opinion of crypto Twitter
Meanwhile, on crypto Twitter, all hell has broken loose. Thousands of users are rejoicing and making sarcastic comments about the FTX founder’s arrest. Some wonder how many years in prison he will have to serve, and how he will pay for a good lawyer.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas.
In particular, the crypto Twitter users are summoning the extraordinary lawyer Saul Goodman, star of the series ‘Better Call Saul’. He isthe only one, according to them, capable of saving the defendant.
Nothing is sparing SBF in the world of crypto Twitter. A series of tweets have also surfaced that bring up his alleged relations with the US Democratic Party.
Tomorrow, Sam Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. @HouseGOP was ready to grill him six ways to Sunday.
Now breaking tonight, SBF was just arrested!🧐
Why not allow him to 1st testify tomorrow and answer our many questions?
Bankman-Fried had secretly given donations to Joe Biden’s party during the election campaign of late 2020 and early 2021. These tweets underline the strange timing of this arrest. Perhaps his statement under oath to Congress could have been quite uncomfortable.
In light of recent events, the plot of the movie that Apple plans to produce is also thickening. Now that he has been arrested, will Sam Bankman-Fried be convicted? Is the founder of FTX really involved in the collapse of Terra (LUNA)? And what will happen to Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco?
“Fear Of Missing Out” is one of the most common forms of anxiety of our time. But what does it really mean? Here are some examples from the crypto world
The word FOMO stands for ‘Fear Of Missing Out’. FOMO is the feeling of anxiety that you may experience when you fear that you have missed out on something important. It could be an event, an opportunity or a conversation. With the arrival of social networks,this fear has become more widespead although it has always characterised human behaviour. In other words, FOMO is the constant feeling of being excluded from experiences that everyone else but us is experiencing. The term has also become very popular in the context of trading and cryptocurrencies. In this context, it could involve a fear of missing out on an upward price movement or a potential profit opportunity more generally. In this article, you will find out what FOMO is, its origins and what the term means in the world of crypto!
What is FOMO? Meaning and origins
The term FOMO was created in 2004 by Patrick J. McGinnis, a Harvard Business School scholar, as part of his research on the social behaviour of first-year university students. From 2010 onwards, psychologists have taken up the concept of FOMO to describe a condition found in individuals who are constant users of social networks. These people, who spend a lot of time observing the lives of others, find themselves obsessively comparing their own experiences with those of others. By constantly comparing themselves, they feel like something is lacking, that they are mistaken or lagging behind in certain aspects of life. Psychologists have described this psychological condition as a constant apprehension that others might have experiences from which the person experiencing FOMO was personally excluded.
Is FOMO just social media anxiety?
The ways in which FOMO manifests itself can be different and vary mainly depending on the intensity of the sensation. You may experience it once in a while during a conversation or more continuously, which may turn this feeling into a real pathology. Suffering from this fear on a continuous basis can cause a worsening of mood, feelings of social inferiority, loneliness and anger.
As we stated before, FOMO became particularly popular after the emergence of social networks.This gave birth to a new culture based on influencers but also everyday friends, who share their dream life online. This can lead people to compare themselves and feel inadequate. Måneskin‘s bass player Victoria De Angelis also spoke about this recently. In an interview with Radio Deejay, she said that she suffers from FOMO, and that she can’t stop going out for fear of missing out on an experience. In fact, the fear of being cut off turns into a schedule full of commitments and hectic days spent chasing experiences. Often without feeling truly satisfied anyway!
You may have just come home from a hard day and you can’t wait to settle down on the couch, but you see all your friends on Instagram getting ready for a concert. If FOMO arrives, your only thought is ‘I can’t stay at home while the most important concert of the year is just a few steps away from me’. You get ready and go out. When the concert is over, the feeling comes back: ‘maybe I could follow my friends to that club and have a drink instead of going to sleep’. In the mildest cases, people in this situation just crawl into bed with some discomfort. For others, the thoughts become obsessive and limiting.
FOMO in the crypto world
In the crypto world and in trading, the meaning of FOMO remains the same. However it applies to missed profit opportunities rather than experiences. People get convinced that they have forever missed the chance to buy the next crypto that will explode. Everyone but themselves is guaranteed stratospheric gains. The venture into the crypto world of a person suffering from crypto FOMO is conditioned by thoughts like “why did I sell at that price?”, “I should have bought more” or “I absolutely cannot miss out this token’s presale”. This psychological condition usually affects those who have recently got interested in the market and who therefore do not have enough experience to know and control their anxiety. These users often buy and sell impulsively for fear of losing a potential profit opportunity.
Those who get caught up in FOMO when approaching the crypto world are engaging in outright fear, and emotions can hinder the pursuit of a rationalstrategy.Behavioural finance explains how rash actions, triggered by emotional aspects, can negatively affect the achievement of your goals.
Examples of FOMO with cryptocurrencies
To better explain what FOMO is in the context of crypto, we can use some practical examples. The term is for instance particularly appropriate in the case of new crypto launches. These launches always come together with presales that allow those who participate in them to financially support a crypto project before the official launch by purchasing the native cryptocurrencies. One feature of presales is that they have limited access. Only the quickest users to purchase can actually participate in the launch. This aspect generates crypto FOMO in those who want to participate and fear being excluded.
Dogecoin’s bullish movements linked to Elon Musk‘s tweets can also explain crypto FOMO. Every time Musk posts a DOGE-themed tweet, the price of the crypto goes up thanks to so-called FOMO buyers. These people decide to buy DOGE in fear of missing out on the price rise.
The JOMO (Joy of Missing Out)
The opposite psychological phenomenon is JOMO ‘Joy of Missing Out’. JOMO can be defined as the pleasure of enjoying your interests and passions without worrying about the fact that other individuals are pursuing more satisfying activities.
Instead of despairing over untapped crypto opportunities, those who live in the name of crypto JOMO simply disregard them. In fact, the term JOMO is usually used by no-coiners, those who do not hold crypto. While those in the throes of FOMO feel the need to spend hours and hours in front of charts looking for the next opportunity, the JOMO team doesn’t even bother to give it any thought.
Now that you know what FOMO means and how it differs from JOMO, you might ask yourself: which of the two is the best attitude for experiencing the world of crypto? Probably neither, both FOMO and JOMO are extremes. On the one hand we have a tendency to get too emotionally involved, on the other hand we have a tendency to avoid situations completely. Knowing the latest trends and cryptos on the upside, in short ‘being on your toes’ about all the industry news is certainly not a bad thing. So is learning to be more detached like JOMO fans.
Do you know about the most important bearish phases in history? What does the crypto bear market of 2022 have in common with past ones?
Following Confucius’ maxim ‘study the past if you want to predict the future’, we are here to analyse past bearish phases with the aim of understanding the dynamics of the bear market we are experiencing now.
If you too are wondering: how long will the 2022 crypto bear market last? Will the price of Bitcoin collapse again? Unfortunately there are no certain answers. However, in this article, you can find information that can help you look at the current state of the market in perspective. For example, we can look at the duration of bearish phases, the elements involved or understand what caused them.
1. The American stock market crash of 1929
The New York Stock Exchange crash of 1929 isthe first major crash of a contemporary financial market and the first major crisis caused by free markets and financial speculation. Before the crash of ’29, The United States of America was experiencing one of the most prosperous and economically prosperous periods inhistory, the so-called ‘Roaring Twenties’. The great economic prosperity of the States seemed unstoppable, made possible by victory in World War I as well as liberal economic policies. However, this economic growth suddenly came to a halt, due to the progressive saturation of the market. Factories closed, products remained unsold and companies began to lay off employees. The crisis of the real economy was reflected on the New York stock exchange through the collapse of the stocks held by both the big capitalists of the time as well as the middle class and small bourgeoisie, who suddenly found themselves without savings.
The real crash came on Thursday 24th October, the infamous Black Thursday. That moment started an intense bear market, nicknamed in retrospect: ‘The Great Depression’. The Great Depression triggered a recession that resulted in a 60% drop in world trade and generated 15 million unemployed people. The Dow Jones, the main US stock index, collapsed by 75% of its value in a few months.
2. The ‘dotcom’ bubble
One of the bear markets in history worth mentioning is the one following the ‘dotcom bubble’. The term ‘dotcom bubble‘ is used to describe the phenomenon of unprecedented growth in the share valuations of technology companies, known as ‘dotcoms’, which occurred in the late 1990s. This juncture wascharacterised by an exponential growth of investments in internet start-ups. It all started with Netscape, the first Internet browser start-up, whose price per share jumped from $28 to $147 in five months. This strong bullish movement brought incredible enthusiasm to the markets, and in particular to the ‘dotcoms’. Alongside Netscape, Yahoo, Amazon and Apple, hundreds of other fledgling companies exploded on the stock exchange.
However, the bubble burst in April 2000, shortly after theall time high (ATH) of the NASDAQ, the stock market index that tracks the prices of the major American technology companies, at 5,048 points. The bubble burst because, in most cases, the dotcoms had no intrinsic value or viable product but were nothing more than aggressive marketing campaigns. This bear market lasted about two years, during which time the NASDAQ index hit 1,111 points, losing more than 75% of its value.
3. The 2008 subprime crisis
The 2008 bear market can be included in the list of major bear markets in history. The economic crisis of 2008 is the one that has most affected our most recent past. Once again, it was the US that started this recession, with the subprime mortgage crisis that erupted at the end of 2006. Subprime mortgages were financial loans granted by major US banks and financial giants, including Chase, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers to high risk defaulters, i.e. bad debtors. The crisis exploded in September 2008, when the insolvency situation generated by subprime mortgages was combined with a bubble in the housing market. This bubble was the result of accommodative policies by the Federal Reserve (FED), the central bank of the United States.
The bear market of 2008 did not remain confined to the Statesbut obviously extended to Europe as well. The central banks of the countries found themselves forced to inject huge amounts of money into their economies, through monetary policies of Quantitative Easing, in an attempt to stem the collapse of the global economy. During the 2008 bear market, the S&P 500 (Standard and Poors) stock market index, which tracks the performance of the 500 most capitalised US companies, plummeted 38.5% and the US financial giant Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. The bear market of 2008 had a much bigger impact than can be guessed from the charts. The effects of the systemic crisis generated by the bursting of the subprime bubble are still being felt today.
4. The first crypto bear market: the Mt. Gox hack in 2014
The first real crypto bear market arrived in 2014. Sure, Bitcoin existed since 2008, but until 2013, it had no real market. The only way to buy it was through peer-to-peer exchanges, and its use was relegated to Dark Web sites like Silk Road. However, from 2013 onwards, the buying and selling of BTC was building a real market, mainly due to the growth of the then largest crypto exchange in the world, MT Gox. It was responsible for processing the majority of Bitcoin transactions worldwide.
This period was characterised by the emergence of many exchanges and wallets and is nicknamed the ‘Hack Era’. Between March 2012 and October 2013, numerous exchanges including Linode, Biconica and Bit floor were hacked. The first hacks did not affect the price of Bitcoin, which continued to rise undaunted. From $5 in March 2012, the price of BTC reached $1,150 in November 2013.
At this point, however, came the first black swan event in crypto history happened: the Mt. Gox hack, through which 850,000 Bitcoins were stolen. This black swan event kicked off the first real crypto bear market that lasted 391 days. From a price of $1,150 BTC reached $150, losing 73% of its value.
5. Bear market 2018: ICOs
The spirit of the crypto market cycle from 2016 to 2019 can be summed up in one acronym: ICOs. The term is an acronym for Initial Coin Offering, and it is the equivalent of initial public offerings in the cryptocurrency world. They are pre-sales of tokens that allow those who participate in them to financially support a crypto project before it is launched, through the purchase of native crypto.
This way of selling to the public was popularised by Ethereumin July 2014. ICOs have been simultaneously the curse and delight of this crypto cycle. On the one hand, they allowed the Web3 world to grow and many projects to find supporters. On the other hand, they generated a major speculative bubble, comparable in the way it inflated to the dotcom bubble. The proliferation of ICOs and the great enthusiasm for this new market allowed for many fraudulent projects to raise huge amounts of money. Due to the global macroeconomic situation, in particular the restrictive monetary policies including Quantitative Tightening, the ICO bubble burst at the end of 2017. This caused the beginning of the bear market. Quantitative Tightening is an abrupt tightening of a state’s monetary policy that results in an increase in interest rates with the aim of limiting inflation.
Bitcoin’s price collapsed from the $19,100 ATH to the $3,200 level, losing 84% of its value. Ethereum fared even worse, as the value of Vitalik Buterin‘s crypto went from $1,400 to around $150, registering a downward movement of -95%. The bottom, i.e. the lowest point reached by a crypto in this cycle, was reached exactly one year after the ATH was reached, on the 17th of December 2018.
6. The crypto bear market of 2022
The particularities of this market cycle are the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, an event of global magnitude that affected the economy and society, and the entry of institutional investors into the market.
The latter increased speculation, a double-edged sword for all kinds of markets. On the one hand it generates rapid growth, on the other it creates the conditions for an equally rapid descent. This collapse actually occurred on the 12th of May 2021, the day when the price of Bitcoin dropped from around $60,000 to $30,000 in just a few hours. However, this collapse did not signal the start of a bear market as it was reabsorbed in the following months, allowing Bitcoin to reach another high in November 2021. The crypto bear market of 2022 began in the spring, the first catalyst for this bearish phase being the Terra-Luna ecosystem collapse of May 2022. As the months went by, events such as the FED raising interest rates and the failure of the centralised exchange FTX a few weeks ago further fuelled this bear market.
The biggest news in the latest phase of the crypto market, which runs from 2020 to today, concerns adoption. In past bear markets, so-called mass adoption, which was resolved in the number of traditional companies adopting Web3 technologies and the number of users using them, came to an almost complete standstill. The cycle we are currently experiencing seems different. Adoption is continuing despite the conditions of this bear market. An example of this trend is Polygon‘s blockchain, which signed important partnerships with companies outside the world of crypto.
The price differences between the 2018 and 2022 bear markets
So, what are the main differences between this bear market and that of 2018? Let’s look at it from the perspective of the price of the two highest market cap cryptos: Bitcoin and Ethereum. We can start by looking at the price level from which the two bear markets started: in 2018, Bitcoin’s price at ATH was $19,100 while Ethereum’s was around $1,400.
The bearish movement from the highest point reached by the price of Bitcoin to its lowest point in 2018-2019 lasted 364 days, causing BTC and ETH to capitulate at $3,200 and $150, respectively. The price swing was -84% in thecase of Bitcoin and -95% in the case of Ethereum.
In the 2022 bear market crypto, the bottom for Bitcoin is for now, is around $15,500. Itwas reached on the 21st of November 2022, 375 days after the ATH was reached. For the price of Ethereum the situation is somewhat different. The ATH was reached on the 15th of November 2021 but the bottom is located, for now, at around $880, which was reached in July 2022.
Now that you have some information at your disposal, how much longer do you think the 2022 crypto bear market will last? Could the bearish phase have ended a few days ago with the drop to $15,735?
Fan tokens are cryptocurrencies created to bring sports teams or artists closer to their supporters and to offer exclusive benefits
In recent years, fan tokens have catapulted a lot of new users into the crypto world, specifically fans of sports teams or music groups. At the moment, these are mainly used in the fields of sports and music, but they can potentially be exploited by anything that involves interaction between a brand and a fan base. Non-sports tokens are also often referred to as ‘social tokens’. In this article, to explain what they are, how they work and what they are used for, we will use the example of the most popular fan tokens : the football tokens on Socios.
What are fan tokens and how do they work?
Fan tokens are a type of cryptocurrency, so in essence they are cryptographic digital coins built on a blockchain. They grant the holder access to a range of benefits or experiences related to the sports team that issues them. The working mechanism of fan tokens is simple: a fan buys them and the team grants rewards such as merchandise, match tickets, experiences with players, and the ability to vote on certain team decisions. Fan tokens were created precisely with the intention of improving and enlivening the relationship between fans and their favourite teams.
So, are they cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? Technically speaking, fan tokens are created on existing blockchains and use standards developed by third parties. For example if they are based on Ethereum, the standard of reference is ERC-20. In contrast, Bitcoin runs on its own native blockchain. This is precisely why they are ‘tokens’ and not ‘coins’ as in the case of Bitcoin. However, fan tokens share the characteristic of fungibility with Bitcoin. In other words, they are not unique to each other but are interchangeable (so to speak ‘one is as good as the other’). In turn, fungibility differentiates them from NFTs, which are actually an abbreviation of ‘non-fungible tokens’. Fan tokens are therefore not used for collecting.
Are fan tokens utility tokens?
Tokens in the crypto sector are generally classified into utility and security tokens. Utility tokens have a specific utility within the ecosystem that issued them. For example, UNI is the utility token of the Uniswap decentralised exchange, which is used to participate in project governance. On the other hand, security tokens promise a future profit to their holder. In what category do fan tokens fit?
According to the Chiliz team, which actually launched the first tokens of this kind on the Socios platform, they are neither utility tokens nor security tokens. Fan tokens constitute a ‘third’ and new token with specific characteristics, which emerged from the need to unite fans and teams with Web3 tools.
Where can you buy them?
Fan tokens can be bought from platforms that issue them, such as Socios on the Chiliz blockchain. To buy fan tokens on Socios you need to sign up and buy $CHZ. In exchange for this crypto, you then can get your team’s fan tokens. Fan tokens are bought like any other cryptocurrency. Once the purchase is complete, you will find the fan tokens directly in your wallet. In some cases, fan tokens are listed in crypto exchanges.
What can you do with fan tokens?
Fan tokens were created to increase the participation of fans in the events of their team. With them, football clubs can offer direct involvement, making the relationship with fans reciprocal.
Why is this needed to bring fans closer together? As Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz and Socios says, 99.9 percent of fans don’t even go to the stadium. Teams therefore need channels to interact with the entire fan base, not just those who can physically go to the games.
What are fan tokens actually used for? Let’s look at a few examples. Holders can choose how to decorate the team’s dressing room with motivational phrases, or the motto on the captain’s armband (as in the case of F.C. Barcelona). Or, decide the song with which to celebrate anniversaries or the design of the kits (in the case of Inter). Napoli fans these days are voting on the new name for the team’s training ground.
Azzurro, Vesuvio, Partenope o Passione: scegli il nome del campo d'allenamento dell'@sscnapoli 💙
Registrandoti sulla nostra app entro il 4/12 riceverai un Fan Token $NAP in omaggio per partecipare alla votazione!
Fan tokens are mainly bought by fans. On the other hand, like all other cryptocurrencies, they can be used by traders for buying and selling transactions. The market for fan tokens has proven to be very much linked to the performance of matches as was evident in the case of the 2022 World Cup and national team fan tokens.
Now that you know what fan tokens are, how they work and what they are used for, you may be wondering what their true value is within the crypto landscape, but also within the sports landscape. Their relevance depends on the importance given to fan tokens. If a team sees its fans only as people who go to games, fan tokens do not seem so interesting. When, on the other hand, fans are the lifeblood of the entire football club, fan tokens are a tool for building relationships and sharing sporting enthusiasm.
