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Yuga Labs hires NFT expert to breathe new life into Cryptopunks

NFT: Yuga Labs Hires Expert for Cryptopunks

A breath of fresh air for CryptoPunks? Yuga Labs has hired an expert to breathe new life into the world’s most famous NFT collection!

Christie’s is the most active auction house when it comes to the NFT trade. Suffice it to say that it sold one of the non-fungible works by the artist Beeple for an impressive $69 million! Not only that: it was also the first auction house to accept payments in cryptocurrency. All thanks to Noah Davis, an NFT Specialist for Christie’s, who has always believed in the potential of blockchain and crypto. But here’s the news: Davis has officially been hired by Yuga Labs, the studio that created the Bored Ape Yacht Club, to breathe new life into one of the crypto world’s most famous NFT collections. Yuga Labs hires an NFT expert to expand the Cryptopunks universe!

Christie’s Noah Davis and Yuga Labs want to improve CryptoPunks

On 19 June, Noah Davis, NFT expert for Christie’s auction house, wrote on Twitter that he would be working with Yuga Labs to give Cryptopunks a new direction. The famous NFT collection, bought in March by the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, has 10,000 pixellated images that are all different. Created in 2017 by Larva Labs, those who originally owned an NFT from the collection did not have the intellectual rights to the image.

This line of thinking changed after the acquisition by Yuga Labs: the first change was precisely the announcement to give NFT owners full commercial and intellectual rights to the purchased works! But the creators of BAYC did not stop there: to make Cryptopunks even more ‘Web3-proof‘, they chose to hire an NFT expert. “I am honoured to announce that I will be running CryptoPunks as Brand Leader,” wrote Noah Davis on Twitter.

Why did Yuga Labs choose Davis to manage such a famous and important NFT project? The now ex-Christie’s employee is not only passionate about blockchain with a connoisseur’s eye for non-fungible works of art, but also has many successful projects under his belt! He is currently engaged in the development of an NFT collection called Howlerz. And he is also a proud owner of CryptoPunk No. 2099. Not bad at all!

What will happen to the CryptoPunks now?

Now that Davis has become Brand Leader of CryptoPunks, what will happen to the NFT collection? After acquiring the collection, Yuga Labs specified that it would not turn it into a new ‘Yacht Club’ and it would retain all of the Punkers’ favourite features. Noah Davis confirmed this course of action. “I WILL NOT F**K WITH THE PUNKS,” he stated on Twitter. “No Punks on mugs or stupid TV shows,” he continued. In short, those who bought a CryptoPunk back in 2017 will not find themselves betrayed by overly commercial operations.

Instead, among Davis’s first proposals is a series of face-to-face chats with real CryptoPunks fans. “Wherever the community goes, that’s where Punks will go,” he specified on the Twitter thread. This way the spirit of the early Punkers and CryptoPunks will not be lost behind publicity stunts!

One of the founders of the Bored Ape, Garga, wrote on the 19th of June that more news about the future of CryptoPunks will come in the coming weeks. “We have chosen a slow and considered approach for Punks, taking into consideration the expectations of the community. We are honoured to be the custodians of this historic collection, and we have the utmost respect for Noah and the Punkers community.” So buckle up and get ready for the news: this is just the beginning!

Just during this historic phase for CryptoPunks there was a lot of movement in the NFT market. The price floor for a piece of the collection rose from 48 ETH to an impressive 65 ETH. A jump of 35%! The new recruit at Yuga Labs seems to have already struck a chord with the community. Is it time for the revival of one of the most popular collections ever?

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Meta and The Fabricant, 2 ways of understanding digital fashion

NFTs and fashion: The Fabricant and Meta explain digital fashion

The future of fashion is digital. The dilemma: will blockchain be involved, yes or no? All the most famous brands are converting to the combination of NFTs and fashion!

For fashion brands, the Metaverse is proving to be an opportunity to experiment with expressive languages and to think up new products. More and more brands are developing digital collections, including Zara, Lacoste, Adidas and Gucci. However, not all of them choose to make digital fashion on blockchain: The Metaverse has different forms and can be centralised or decentralised. This duplicity also describes two different ways of understanding digital fashion. For some companies, such as Meta, virtual fashion is not in the form of NFT while for others, such as The Fabricant, digital fashion is to be built on a blockchain. Let’s take a look at these two different approaches to digital fashion!

Meta: a Metaverse dressed in Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), announced a few days ago during a live broadcast on Instagram that the digital clothing boutique ‘Avatar Store’ for the Metaverse ‘Horizon Worlds’ is about to open. The launch will be celebrated by partnering with some high fashion brands namely Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne. “I’m really grateful and proud that these brands are joining us to kick-start fashion in the Metaverse,” Zuckerberg said. The digital fashion marketplace for all Meta and Facebook users will be available next week, starting in the US, Canada, Thailand and Mexico. Initially, garments for sale on the Avatar Store will be priced between $2.99 and $8.99. Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Brown will therefore be the first brands to sell in Meta’s marketplace. However, Zuckerberg’s idea is to start a marketplace in which everyone, not just designers by training, can make and sell digital fashion. At the moment, it has not yet been revealed how the rewards will be distributed between the Meta marketplace and the virtual haute couture creators.

The Fabricant and the decentralised fashion model

What is The Fabricant? The answer is ‘a Digital Fashion House’, one of the pioneer projects of digital fashion on blockchain. The Fabricant is not a real fashion NFT marketplace, but a virtual fashion incubator. The platform is built on Flow, a blockchain chosen by the founders for its sustainability and speed. Compared to Meta, we are dealing here with NFT fashion, a case of decentralised digital fashion built on the blockchain. The creators of The Fabricant do not create simple garments as digital objects but real NFTs. For The Fabricant’s team, blockchain is ideal for building the fashion of the Metaverse. First of all because it is able to give value to the data and ownership of digital objects. According to co-founder Adriana Hoppenbrouwer-Pereira, The Fabricant is “creating a business for the time when our digital wardrobe will be our wardrobe“. Having a set of clothes in the Metaverse will not be such an absurd concept when there will be more and more digital experiences on offer. Changing one’s clothes and adapting them to each occasion will become as spontaneous as changing clothes in real life: one outfit for the gym and one for an elegant dinner. When this happens, there will be so many digital clothes to make that only blockchain will be the right tool to scale production.

Blockchain is also beneficial for the digital fashion industry because it keeps track of royalties and distributes them equally between creator and owner. In an interview, Hoppenbrouwer-Pereira said that blockchain and the Metaverse will bring fashion back to its dimension of play and fun. Dressing in the Metaverse will be a modular experience, highly creative and expressive of people’s personalities.

What makes an NFT fashion really useful?

NFT fashion must be fully adaptable to the avatars of the various metaverses and transferable between them to be of real use. The Fabricant’s challenge at the moment is to translate its fashion creations into the styles of the major virtual worlds. The Sandbox for instance is more pixelated than Decentraland, the same NFT outfit must be able to be worn anywhere. The other side of this challenge is to provide a cross-chain experience where NFTs built on a blockchain like Flow can be transported and used anywhere. Especially on Ethereum where the main metaverses are developed.

 

Are the metaverse and digital fashion worlds really just around the corner?

In order to conceive the usefulness of digital fashion, you may first ask yourself whether the Metaverse is really a technology capable of predominantly entering our lives. The success of the Metaverse will be dictated by its ability to attract attention and engage users. However, we are only at the beginning. one can consider that Decentraland hosted 40,000 people at its first Metaverse Fashion Week. The results in this respect look promising, the record of MANA‘s metaverse is very high for the blockchain to be able to accommodate so many users. Fashion companies that have chosen NFTs on The Fabricant include Adidas, Under Armour and Puma.

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Young Monday: Pride parades on The Sandbox, Polygon is now carbon neutral and Pharrell Williams’s NFT

Pride in the Metaverse, Carbon neutral Polygon, Pharrell Williams NFT

The events of Pride find a home in the Metaverse, Polygon announces it has made MATIC a crypto green and Pharrell Williams is hired by an NFT collection!

Our final edition Young Monday for the month of June? If that’s the case, then we absolutely need to report on the crypto initiatives of Pride month! In fact, the most interesting news of the week takes us to the main metaverses and their events to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. You will also discover the incredible sustainability milestone reached by the Polygon network, the blockchain expansion of eBay e-commerce and Pharrell Williams’ new career in the NFT industry!

NYC Pride marches in The Sandbox and Decentraland

On the 26th of June in New York, the streets were swept by a wave of Pride, which annually attracts up to 2 million people, and is the largest event for the LGBTQ+ community in North America. This year, NYC Pride went outside these continental borders to march all around the world, but how so? By making use of the Metaverse! Thanks to LGBTQ+ associations organising Web3 events, The Sandbox and Decentraland, the rainbows of Pride shine brightly in the metaverse. One of these associations is MetaPride Land. According to its founder Matt Stevenson, a former Time Magazine executive, the metaverse is ideal for building a community that is unaffected by geographical limitations: “there are still 68 countries in the world where it is illegal to be gay. In the US, there are over 200 bills targeting our community in one way or another. I felt it was really important that this June we provide an accessible space, no matter where you are, to come out and celebrate your life“. Concretely, a collection of inclusive avatars will be presented at The Sandbox, and People of Crypto, another of the Web3-related realities, unveiled ‘The Valley of Belonging’ on 24 June, a project to promote work in the minority metaverse.

In Decentraland, however, Pride-related events are organised by Cash Labs. The ultimate goal behind this expansion of Pride in the Metaverse is to be able to give visibility and space to the Queer community all year round, not just in June.

Polygon is officially a carbon-free network

On 21 June 2022 in its official blog, the Polygon project announced that it had reached its goal and had become a 100 percent carbon neutral network. Last April, Polygon had published its Green Manifesto pledging to make MATIC a fully-fledged green cryptocurrency. Carbon neutrality was achieved with the purchase of $400,000 in carbon credits representing 104,794 tonnes of greenhouse gases, or all the CO2 Polygon has emitted since its inception. Carbon credits are tokens of the on-chain carbon market whose purchase finances green initiatives. This was achieved thanks to the collaboration with KlimaDAO, which analysed the energy footprint of the network especially concerning staking and smart contract operations.

Polygon’s Green Manifesto also includes the allocation of $20 million for green projects on its network such as Bull Run Forest Conservation to protect forests in the state of Belize or the Ghani Solar Power Project, a renewable energy generation project in India. On 13 July Polygon will host the Green Blockchain Summit, dedicated to ‘Web3 leaders to develop solutions to the most pressing environmental problems facing the blockchain industry’.

eBay buys an NFT marketplace, its expansion on the blockchain continues

eBay has acquired KnownOrigin NFT marketplace, with the aim of expanding further into the world of blockchain technology and digital collectibles. The deal was finalised on the 22nd of June but negotiations remained confidential. KnownOrigin was founded in 2018 in Manchester and allows people to create, buy and sell NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Jamie Iannone, CEO of eBay, said, “eBay is the first stop for those around the world looking for the perfect hard-to-find or unique item to add to their collection, with this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community adds more and more digital collectibles.”

Pharrell Williams is now a consultant for Web3

The artist and record producer Pharrell Williams has joined the Doodles NFT project as Chief Brand Officer and board member. Williams will take care of partnerships and projects between the Doodles collection and other brands related to events, music, artwork and entertainment. In this regard, a music album dedicated to Doodles entitled ‘Doodles Record: Volume 1’ is already in production, in collaboration with Columbia Records and other leading musicians. Williams explained that Doodles is preparing to become known by mainstream audiences and reach new levels of popularity. Doodles are 10,000 NFTs representing various cartoon-style and pastel-coloured characters. Launched in 2021, the project has quickly become one of the most exciting emerging NFT collections with a trading volume of over $400 million. Doodles recently announced its first funding round led by venture capital firm Seven Seven Six. These two pieces of news have given a boost to the price of these NFTs, within 24 hours their cost has risen by about 10%.

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Bitcoin’s 7 advantages in the face of the bear market

Bitcoin’s 7 advantages in the face of the bear market

Crypto prices are dropping, but BTC is the most solid of them all. The community also fully supports it, let’s find out why!

Bitcoin’s price trend, historical data in hand, follows a 4-year cycle. The trend is marked by the halving event, which occurs precisely every 4 years. The Halving refers to the gradual halving of the BTC rewards that miners receive for their work. The event seems to coincide with the end of one of Bitcoin’s price cycles and the beginning of the next. In fact, since the creation of BTC, its price has followed a pattern where the halving is followed by 18-24 months of a bull market, which is subsequently followed by two years of bear market. Taking into consideration the timing of this theory, we are in the middle of a bear market. The next halving is expected to happen in 2024, when the supply of BTC will then change and consequently so will market behaviour. A bear market can be broken down into several phases, and understanding them can help us look in perspective at Bitcoin’s current market momentum. Discover Bitcoin’s 7 strengths in the face of dealing with a bear market!

Phases of a bear market

If we consider the previous bear market we went through, we can distinguish 7 phases:

  1. The collapse: when the market collapses very quickly, for both Bitcoin and altcoins;
  2. Rejection/denial: when there is a tendency to think that prices are only subject to one of the many usual declines;
  3. Realisation: when you realise that you’re not faced with just a temporary market downturn. Often this realisation also comes from a broader observation of the macroeconomic context;
  4. Panic: after a general realisation of what is happening, people panic and this perspective changes the market mentality. Any attempt at a rebound is eliminated by those who try to limit their losses by selling. At this stage, the rebounds are pushed by bitcoiners attracted to buying BTC at reduced prices;
  5. Accumulation/stabilisation: although the majority of users panic, those who take a long-term view accumulate mainly ‘solid’ coins such as BTC rather than altcoins;
  6. Anticipation: at this stage funds begin to return, Bitcoin is on the rise again. People are also start to buy medium market cap altcoins again;
  7. Steady growth: the market is growing steadily again. There is a shift from extreme fear to neutral sentiment.

We are currently in the panic phase, number 4, where the Fear and Greed Index has the lowest values (extreme fear). The market is slowly trying to move into number 5, or stabilisation. Those who are fully immersed in panic mode find it difficult to perceive the build-up. It is not possible to precisely predict when the bear market will evolve into the next phase. However, if we compare BTC to other cryptos, we can see that although they are all falling, Bitcoin is the one that is dropping the least. While most altcoins are falling more than 90% from their ATH, Bitcoin’s decline is just under 70% from its ATH of $69,045.

The only certainty is that the next halving will be in early 2024 (this is determined by the algorithm), and the market equilibrium will then be upset again. Those who take a long-term view and are convinced of Bitcoin’s value beyond its mere price will continue to buy and hold. The foresight of bitcoiners begs the question: why does Bitcoin continue to be supported? Here are Bitcoin’s 7 strengths to face the bear market!

Bitcoin’s strengths: why bitcoiners don’t give up

Bitcoiners don’t panic. The bear market can sow all the panic it wants, but there are those who just won’t abandon Bitcoin. This is because the strengths and potential of Bitcoin go beyond its price. Bitcoin is in fact:

  1. Open source: everyone can have access to and verify information processed by the blockchain, but above all, everyone can contribute to the development and improvement of the whole network;
  2. Transparent: you don’t need to have blind trust in how it works. One of the slogans the BTC community is fond of is ‘don’t trust, verify’, precisely because everything is in front of your eyes, available and verifiable;
  3. Neutral: it knows no politics and does not depend on any national or international legislation (at least as far as the functioning of its blockchain is concerned, mining for instance may be restricted);
  4. Decentralised: the BTC network is composed of nodes scattered all over the world and no single company or person holds all the decision-making power;
  5. Resistant to censorship: the only way to block Bitcoin is to block the internet (and we can only imagine what the consequences of disconnecting the whole world would be);
  6. Secure: Bitcoin’s security is guaranteed by its Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism. The work of miners makes transactions secure and the decentralisation of nodes means that there is no interference;
  7. Characterised by a winning monetary policy. Its scarcity and digital nature make Bitcoin an alternative to economic systems as we know them.

Will the next halving save us?

As always, the market mirrors many factors, most of which are unpredictable. The halving gives us hope for an improvement in Bitcoin’s performance because it has always had a positive impact in the past. However, the consequences of the last halving in May 2020 were also influenced by external elements such as the FED’s restrictive policy. In all this the stock-to-flow can be useful as a trend indicator but the future of BTC is all to be written!

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Young Monday: Boateng, a new stablecoin pegged to the Euro and the record-breaking PSG fan token

Boateng’s wedding in the metaverse, a euro-pegged stablecoin and PSG’s fan token

Weddings in the Metaverse, Circle’s new stablecoin, Lacoste’s NFT collection and Paris Saint Germain’s record breaking fan token

June is the month of weddings, and no bear market can prevent this: people are now getting married on the blockchain! In fact, just a few days ago, the wedding between the footballer Kevin-Prince Boateng and Valentina Fradegrada took place in the AR Over The Reality metaverse. It is one of the first weddings celebrated in the Metaverse and the event has attracted a lot of attention. Focussing on the NFT sector, the headline of the week involves Lacoste. The brand launched its first collection of non-fungible tokens featuring the iconic crocodile and promises of exclusive benefits. In this edition of Young Monday, you will also learn about Circle’s new stablecoin (pegged to the Euro) and Paris Saint Germain’s new record-breaking fan token!

Swearing eternal love on the blockchain

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Valentina Fradegrada took their wedding vows on Polygon. On the 11th of June, the footballer and the influencer (also multiple Wushu Kung Fu champion) got married in a location in the province of Siena, Tuscany, as well as in the Over The Reality metaverse. The ceremony was organised by Enzo Miccio, Italy’s most famous wedding planner, who took up the couple’s challenge: to organise a wedding where no one else had celebrated one before. Miccio therefore suggested a ceremony in the Metaverse that recreated a lunar landscape through 3D graphics. Miccio himself officiated the virtual wedding! Guests of the Boateng-Fradegrada couple participated by logging in with an NFT. Their fans, who were not invited to the festivities, were able to purchase a spectator ticket at a cost of around 50 Euros. Over The Reality is a decentralised metaverse that allows for augmented reality events of any kind, using the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Its token is called OVR.

Lacoste NFT’s collection sells out immediately after launch

The French clothing brand released UNDW3, an NFT project designed to build an online community by experimenting with new Web3 technologies. The collection was released on the 14th of June, and it consists of 11,212 pieces that were sold for 0.08 ETH each. Within a short space of time, the collection was sold out. The number 11,212 is linked to the name of the iconic polo shirt, the L1212. These NFTs depict a hypnotic looking crocodile, a clear homage to the Lacoste logo. Owners of these tokens will have access to exclusive experiences, benefits and dedicated products.

Circle’s Euro-pegged stablecoin arrives

After USDC, the dollar-backed stablecoin, Circle announced that a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the euro is on the way. The new stablecoin will be called EUROC, and it is scheduled to be launched on the 30th of June 2022.

Euro Coin (EUROC) was built on Ethereum with the support of several partners from the crypto world such as Curve, Uniswap and Metamask. For all intents and purposes, EUROC will be an ERC-20 token. It will mirror USDC’s operating model: “designed to ensure stability, our Euro Coin is backed 100% by euros held in bank accounts, so it is always redeemable 1:1 in euros. EUROC, unlike USDC, will be entirely backed by cash and not by government bonds. The new stablecoin comes at a delicate time for this kind of product. After the collapse of UST, stablecoins have lost the confidence of many people. Will EUROC succeed in gaining credibility in the industry?

The record-breaking Paris Saint Germain fan token

The “PSG” token of Paris Saint Germain tops the football fan token charts with a market cap of over 20 million dollars! PSG continues to reach great heights. On the 14th of June it recorded a peak in sales volume of around $15.36 billion. This puts the Parisian club’s fan token ahead of those of Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and FC Barcelona. Despite being far from its August 2021 ATH, PSG seems to be well liked by fans! PSG holders can vote on and suggest decisions concerning their favourite team, such as choosing the message to write on the captain’s armband or voting for the best goal of the season. PSG is a fan token of Socios, the platform built on Chiliz.

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Is Ethereum’s price under pressure? The reasons for ETH’s recent drop

Ethereum’s price: why ETH is dropping

ETH’s price is going through a crisis, and it may possibly fall below $1,000. The market has been impacted by Celsius’ issues, and the possible delay of Ethereum 2.0

Ethereum’s performance in June leaves no room for optimism, and as of today (the 16th of June), the price is hovering around USD 1100. What is happening to Ethereum? Will the price of ETH go back up? The crypto market has been in a bearish phase ever since the collapse of Terra (LUNA) and UST. Many people have decided to wait for stricter regulations or a bullish market before buying crypto again. In addition, problems with Celsius (a crypto lending platform) and a possible delay in the arrival of The Merge have contributed to this delicate moment, which is affecting Ethereum’s overall performance. Find out what is happening to the crypto market, Celsius and The Merge, and why Ethereum’s price is dropping.

Could Ethereum 2.0’s release be delayed? What is the ‘difficulty bomb’?

Here is the first piece of bad news for Ethereum that may have had an impact on its performance: the ‘difficulty bomb‘ has been postponed. But first; let’s see what is implied by this term.

Ethereum is a proof-of-work blockchain, but it won’t be for much longer. The most anticipated update of all, Ethereum 2.0, will change the consensus mechanism and make it proof-of-stake. According to Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, and the other developers of the Ethereum Foundation, the update (called The Merge) will improve the performance of the network and decrease the environmental impact of crypto caused by mining.

The ‘difficulty bomb’ is a system that developers have implemented to make ETH mining more difficult and less profitable. This is meant to discourage miners and to convince users to stake their ETH on the Consensus Layer (i.e. the proof-of-stake layer, now still in beta). This system was supposed to make mining counterproductive the day the update was released, but it was postponed. Tim Beiko, Ethereum’s lead developer, said that postponing the difficulty bomb could ease the stress on developers:”… too much pressure puts a strain on development teams, and that’s a situation we want to avoid”.

What can be deduced from this situation is that the delays to the release of Ethereum 2.0 are putting the entire crypto market in trouble. In fact, Ethereum’s overall performance is dropping. This is probably also due to fears that the update will not work and it could cause the entire network to collapse. According to the developers, however, this fear is unfounded, since the testing phases have gone quite well and the code is almost ready to be made public.

DeFi’s largest lending platform, Celsius, is in trouble: is Ethereum’s performance falling because of this?

One of the factors that could have a bearing on the performance of Ethereum and the price of ETH is the difficult time that the lending platform Celsius is facing. Celsius is one of DeFi’s largest centralised platforms for exchanging, borrowing and staking crypto. The platform was well known in the crypto environment because it offered high rewards to users who staked their cryptocurrencies, up to 17% per year.

How does Celsius work? It is a centralised DeFi platform, in essence, an ‘intermediary’ between the user and the world of decentralised finance. Users entrust their cryptos to these platforms, who use them to exploit DeFi’s potential (e.g. through lending, staking or liquidity farming). In return, the platform offers an annual return to users.

This system worked well when the crypto market was bullish, but now Celsius seems to be struggling. On the 12th of June, the platform was forced to halt all operations, probably because it found itself unable to pay its users back. If that were the case, the halting of Celsius’ operations could prove to be a blow to the entire crypto community. However, the platform has announced that it still has a good amount of BTC in its reserves that it can sell to repay debts. The issue is, Bitcoin sell-off would put Satoshi Nakamoto’s crypto even further into crisis. Bitcoin is already dangerously close to the $20,000 mark. If this were to happen, it is possible that the price of Ethereum would also be affected.

The price of Ethereum in the first 6 months of 2022

This first half of 2022 proved to be full of surprises for the traditional market and also for the crypto market. Ethereum’s performance in particular has been mixed, although the first week of 2022 proved to be positive for Buterin’s crypto. In fact, at the beginning of the year, Ethereum’s price structure was even more solid than Bitcoin’s, holding firmly at around $3,700.

The first difficulties occurred around mid-January, when Russia announced that crypto would be regulated or, worse, banned. On that occasion, the price of Ethereum fell, reaching a low of USD 2160. And just as it was trying to rise again, a second blow, the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war in mid-February dashed the hopes of all Ethereum enthusiasts, sending the price of ETH back to around USD 2150.

Signs of an upturn only returned around the beginning of April. On the 5th April, the price of Ethereum reached USD 3520, only to fall to a resistance threshold of 3200. The threshold was quickly broken, however, and Ethereum began a downward trend along with the rest of the crypto market. It was precisely in these ominous market conditions that the collapse of Terra (LUNA) took place, which shook the market terribly. The price of Ethereum reached a low of 1966 dollars! The last time ETH was trading at less than two thousand dollars? the 21st of July 2021.

Over the past few days, the price of Ethereum has continued to drop precipitously, and on the 15th of June it came perilously close to three digits, trading for $1030. In all of this, Ethereum miners are preparing for the transition to proof-of-stake, selecting new shores to migrate to.

The Ethereum mining industry, currently worth $19 billion, has been struggling for some time. In May, for example, revenues from mining activities fell by 27%. The average price of gas fees for transactions on Ethereum also fell. While this is positive news, it also means that there is less interest in Ethereum. Perhaps users are waiting for The Merge to happen before they start using Buterin’s blockchain again.

The crypto market is not the most prosperous at the moment, and the price of Ethereum is falling. But the reasons are not only to be found within Ethereum, as The Merge update is proceeding smoothly. Despite this, Ethereum’s psychological threshold of one thousand dollars has come close. Will Ethereum’s price be able to recover and return to its ATH of 4878 dollars? Especially during a bearish market, always remember the old adage of the crypto world: DYOR!

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Navigating the Bear Market in a crypto company

Crypto exchange layoffs? Young Platform is hiring!

Young Platform looks beyond the current market trend and continues with its recruitment plan. We’re here to explain why this is not a crazy move

The days at Young Platform move quickly. So too does the world of crypto. With everything moving at the speed of light, we try to keep up and make this universe accessible to everyone. It all starts with our colleagues in front of the coffee machine. We all work in crypto, but we specialise in many different areas. The Trading room shares crypto memes with the Social network team and the Developers listen to behind-the-scenes gossip coming from Customer Support. In this environment, we also see our wallets slipping more and more into the red. With a pat on the back, we say to newcomers: “first time?”. Your first bear market, just like your first Bitcoin, will never be forgotten.

The economic conditions in recent months have changed rapidly. The crisis in the crypto market (and beyond) is leading many companies in the sector to cut their recruitment. For some, the answer to this crisis is to cut labour costs through layoffs, and some may even regret having hired too much when the market was growing.  But at Young Platform, our hiring plan is tight and we intend to stick to it. It is not a reckless choice, and we are here to explain why. By the end of 2022, 52 more colleagues will have joined and maybe a single coffee machine will no longer be enough.

Bear markets pass but Young Platform’s mission remains

At Young Platform there are many open positions, a bear market (however long it lasts) will not stop our growth. We have decided to switch the perspective by taking advantage of this delicate moment to think outside the hype that overwhelms us when the market is going strong. We can ask ourselves with a clear mind: How are we working? Why do we do what we do? Young Platform’s mission will always remain the same: to facilitate the use and understanding of crypto and blockchain technology. We know what these tools can do for the world as we know it. We know that they can improve people’s lives. That is why in the face of it all, we have to keep building, and even in current conditions, the team needs to expand.

An example of this spirit is the listing of our token. YNG was launched on the market even when the market itself was not the most welcoming. Is that a bold move? No, the same reasoning also applies here: bear and bull markets will succeed each other, but the values behind Young Platform and its community will remain unchanged.

The invaluable value of the Young Platform team

When you join Young Platform you’ll have a lot to learn. You don’t have to be a great expert to start, but crypto education is a necessary tool and it has become our bread and butter. When you join Young Platform, you are aware that the industry is evolving and you cannot stand still. That’s why the talent Young Platform gathers comprises some of the most curious and active minds around. The Young Platform team is always ready to take cues from the swirling crypto world and to get involved at the most challenging of times. Working in crypto is not a job like any other, and it’s our mission that guides us through the difficulties. The inestimable value of Young Platform’s team lies in confrontation that leads to growth. Between the corridors of our office and our video calls that connect colleagues all over the world, peer-to-peer education is key. There is no such thing as crypto education.

The capital increase and our recruitment plan

On the 13th of June 2022 Young Platform closed a €16 million investment round led by Azimut, one of Europe’s leading independent asset managers. Banca Sella and United Ventures also participated in the round. This support for Young Platform’s growth will be visible in its recruitment plan. The forecast is to have a team of 110 crypto workers by the end of 2022.

You can view our open positions.

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Young Platform is officially registered with the OAM

Young Platform: registration with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori

Young Platform is among the first Italian companies in the crypto industry registered with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori

With the 13th of January, 2022 decree of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, a requirement was issued for companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector in Italy to register with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) and provide quarterly reports. The registry for virtual currency operators was made public on the 27th of May, 2022, and Young Platform is the first officially registered company out of 14 on this date, as indicated by the registration number “PSV1.” Another 28 companies have pre-registered. 

What is the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori?

The OAM is the body that brings together professionals in the field of financial activities and credit brokers operating in Italy. The mission of the OAM is to protect consumers by guaranteeing the professionalism of companies and overseeing that their work complies with current regulations. The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori collects reports of information and data from professionals and companies. Specifically, for virtual currency operators, it will collect quarterly data on operations carried out in the territory of the Italian Republic. 

Why is registration with the OAM important?

Being registered with the registry for virtual currency operators is a prerequisite for legally providing crypto services in Italy. In fact, the exercise of services on Italian territory related to the use of cryptocurrencies and the provision of digital wallets (wallets) is reserved exclusively for registered entities. With its registration with the OAM, Young Platform is in line with the legislative decree and will be subjected in full transparency to the necessary controls to ensure a positive experience for users.  

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Young Platform: new €16 million investment round from Azimut

The fintech company Young Platform closes a €16m investment round led by Azimut to simplify and expand the access to the world of cryptocurrencies

Milan, 13 June 2022 – Azimut, one of the leading independent asset managers in Europe with over EUR 83 billion total assets, participated as lead investor in the EUR 16 million capital increase of Young Platform, an Italian fintech platform that simplifies the access to the world of cryptocurrencies.

Among Italy’s leading fintech scale-ups, Young Platform aims to simplify the access to the world of cryptocurrencies through a digital product platform and intensive educational and popularization activities on blockchain technology and its applications. Among the top three cryptocurrency trading platforms in Italy with 36% market share, the company had over 1 million users at the end of the first quarter of 2022, equal to 11 times the previous year’s volumes. It aims to become a smart digital bank with a focus on new digital services. 

Azimut’s EUR 11 million investment was made through a consortium formed by the Digital Asset Opportunity Fund VCC, launched in collaboration with SBI and SYGNUM, the Azimut Digitech Fund created through a partnership with GELLIFY, and the Luxembourg-based vehicle Azimut Direct Investment Young Platform SCSp. This allowed the Group’s High Net Worth (HNW) customers, served by the network of financial advisors and wealth managers in Italy, to gain exposure to a constantly growing sector.

A pool of investors including Banca Sella, United Ventures and Abalone Venture also participated in the Azimut-led round to support the international expansion of Young Platform.

The cryptocurrency market almost tripled its capitalization in 2021, from $772 billion on the 1st of January to $2.19 trillion on the 31st of December (CoinMarketCap data) and is entering a new phase of development with growing interest from retail investors, as well as institutional investors. In particular, young Italians are among the most enthusiastic in Europe with 14% between the ages of 18 and 34 stating that they have bought or sold cryptocurrencies. Globally, more than a third of millennials believe cryptocurrencies will soon replace cash and cards (Deutsche Bank data).

The new capital investment will support Young Platform’s development plans, starting with the expansion of the team, from 41 to 110 members by the end of 2022, and geographic expansion into new markets such as Spain and France. 

Giorgio Medda, Chief Executive Officer and Global Head of Asset management & Fintech at Azimut Group, comments: “Despite the volatility, cryptocurrencies are emerging as a new asset class reflecting a new digital dimension of the economy that will be increasingly significant for generations Y and Z. Young Platform has developed crypto exchange capabilities in combination with gaming and educational verticals that are particularly valuable as we plan to grow a market segment for a new generation of investors who are looking to the future with financial perspectives based on non-traditional instruments. The Young Platform team uniquely combines technological capability and vision. From our perspective as global venture capital investors, with the experience of SBI and the support of GELLIFY, we believe there is great potential for its development in the European markets. This investment aims to be the cornerstone for the development of joint projects through which we can integrate blockchain and decentralized finance into our asset management platform as new investment and operational opportunities in the digital transformation of our industry, transcending market dynamics in the short term.”

Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform, comments: “We want to help people seize the new opportunities that technology offers to the world by attracting the best talent from technology and finance, or any other industry where the smartest people in the world are to be found, and grooming them to be innovative in this new industry. There are no defined rules in this industry, which means we can help write them. This is a huge chance that requires extremely creative problem solving and a true desire to change the status quo in every aspect, from marketing to tech to customer support and design.”

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FAQ: the future of the YNG token

YNG Token: FAQs and roadmap on the Young Platform token

What will be the next challenges for the YNG token? What does the Young Platform team have in store for its project?

With all the excitement of YNG’s first week in the marketplace, came avalanches of questions about the future of the token and the entire ecosystem. In this article, you will find a list of the hottest questions the community asked the Team about the YNG token during this launch period. Here’s everything you never dared to ask about YNG. Check out the trivia and the roadmap of Young Platform’s token!

Listing, Market and so on…

Why does the price of the YNG token now fluctuate?

After its launch on the market on the 1st of June, the price of the YNG token began to vary according to supply and demand in the market. You can check its price in the Markets section of Young Platform.

This means that the value of YNG is no longer fixed at 0.24€, but it varies depending on how many people want to buy, sell or hodl it.

Thus, the Euro value of the YNG rewards you receive in the Step wallet now also vary according to the market price.

When will YNG be listed on other exchanges?

Listing procedures on other exchanges have been initiated, but we are waiting for the right moment. The summer has proven to be a historically difficult period for the launch of new projects and for markets in general.

The good news? We are working with the largest international exchanges, also with a view to running promotions in collaboration with them.

Can YNG be deposited and withdrawn on other exchanges?

As long as YNG is not listed on exchanges other than Young Platform, YNG cannot be deposited on other exchanges. ‘Listing’ is in fact also understood as the ability to technically ‘support’ a token, i.e. to make an exchange compatible with a currency.

Currently, you can only withdraw YNG to self-custody wallets, which can be apps like Metamask or devices like Ledger.

When will YNG be listed on aggregators such as CoinMarketCap or CoinGeko?

We have sent request to both of these providers to list the Young Platform exchange and the YNG token. They are currently being processed. It should be kept in mind that longer due diligence is required for centralised exchanges, however as soon as we are provided with the first listing date, it will be communicated.

Will it be possible to convert YNG to cryptos?

Yes, there are plans to add pairs with the most popular cryptos in the future, also with the aim of facilitating those who operate primarily through crypto.

Who are YNG’s market makers?

Market makers are usually liquidity providers that support exchanges by facilitating trade, as they are always willing to buy or sell to match market supply and demand.

The only market maker for YNG at present is Young Platform itself. In this respect, Young Platform tries to match supply and demand by keeping the supply of YNG balanced. That said, the company may still undertake buybacks, i.e. strategic purchases of YNG, but these will be notified in advance and the amount will not be put back into circulation in the short term.

Price changes are caused purely by ‘natural’ supply and demand fluctuations consisting of user sales and purchases.

Will tokens used to register for Clubs be returned?

After 90 days of minimum subscription duration, you can freely request your YNG back from the Club section, however, this means unsubscribing and thus forfeiting your Club benefits. 

What will happen to Young Platform Step?

There may be some rebalancing with regard to the quantification of rewards in YNG, depending on its price. However, no changes are expected in the short term. Any changes will be as gradual as possible, so as not to affect your experience with Step that you know and love.

 

YNG and Ethereum

What will happen to YNG after the completion of the transition to Ethereum 2.0?

Theoretically, nothing should happen to impede the experience with YNG and the Ethereum ecosystem, because even if something were to go wrong, it would impact the entire Ethereum ecosystem, i.e. almost the entire DeFi and NFT sector. This is why the upgrade is taking a long time: the Foundation is making sure that everything takes place in a safe and controlled manner.

Ethereum 2.0 will only provide advantages for the use of ETH and ERC-20 tokens such as YNG; namely in terms of the speed and convenience of transfers on the blockchain.

Will you lower fees for Ethereum?

In the event of a decrease in the price of Ethereum Gas, thus in the cost of transactions, the fees for withdrawals from Young Platform via the Ethereum network will also be revised.

What is the correlation between YNG and Ethereum?

The price of YNG is in no way directly related to that of ETH. You can see this by looking at the first-day performance of YNG on the market. YNG’s price increased and ETH’s price moved in the opposite direction.

The only link between YNG and ETH is structural and technical, in the sense that YNG is compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem, being an ERC-20, i.e. a token based on software created by the Ethereum team.

Thus, for example, a possible congestion of the Ethereum network may also slow down YNG transfers between wallets.

How do you check for YNG ‘holders’ on Etherscan?

Etherscan is the most popular blockchain explorer for Ethereum. Here you can see all transactions that are executed in real time on its network and other on-chain and market data.

Since YNG is an ERC-20 token, i.e. a token based on the Ethereum protocol, you can look up its smart contract and transactions on sites like Etherscan.

Just search for ‘YNG’ in the search bar and you will arrive at its page. Below the basic token data, you will find a table with all the transactions executed for YNG, the Holders and other analytics. Holders are simply the wallets that hold YNG, and are anonymous.

Before the listing, there were few holders because it was Young Platform that held them for users. In fact, being a centralised exchange, it is ‘custodial’, i.e. it takes care of the safekeeping of your cryptocurrencies by facilitating your experience with crypto wallets.

Now after the market launch of YNG, you can see that ‘holders’ are increasing because it is now possible to withdraw YNG on other Ethereum-compatible wallets.

YNG’s roadmap

When will YNG’s Earning service be available?

Currently, YNG Earning is not yet planned, as this also takes into account the current limitations of Italian legislation. However, we will soon start adding other cryptocurrencies available for the Earning Wallet in agreement with the provider Tesseract and according to users’ preferences.

Are airdrops already planned?

We are in contact with several crypto foundations, and a new airdrop is planned in the near future. The requirements for airdrops are usually set by the Foundation or the project company, as they donate their tokens. What is certain is that by being a member of a Club, the airdrop you are entitled to is increased. You can find all information about Young Clubs and you can register from the Young Platform app, under ‘CLUBS’ in the top right-hand corner.

Are you thinking of creating a Young Platform debit/credit card?

We are working on the project with several providers, with the intention of implementing a cashback model in YNG, related to clubs. The idea is to arrive at the end of the year with a first release or with a certain date for the release.

When will the next Club advantage be released?

We hypothesise a correlation between cashback with Young Platform’s card and Clubs, thus higher benefits for the higher-level Clubs. For the rest, no spoilers!

When will it be possible to transform micro-imports (a.k.a. ‘dust’) into YNG?

It is one of the next features planned for the token, however, there is no definite date yet.

Joining the Community

Why choose YNG?

YNG was not created for speculative purposes, neither as a payment currency nor to represent shares in the company in any way. Our CFO was very clear: “YNG was born as a utility token, that means it makes sense within the Young Platform ecosystem.”

The usefulness of the token is made clear by the Clubs: by locking YNG and joining a Club, you get benefits on buying and selling fees, Earning rewards, airdrops and much more in the future.

Depending on which features you use the most, you will choose whether to join a club, to simply keep your YNGs waiting for other features, or to exchange them.

How do I access Young Platform’s Discord?

As part of the token launch and product expansion, we created a Discord server, which we will maintain and develop during this year.

The point of the server is to allow the community already present on Telegram to evolve. The Telegram channel is currently a channel where it is possible to confront other users or the team itself and receive assistance. On Discord, this is much simpler, as its multiple functionalities allow, among other things, topics to be split up into several dedicated channels, making it easier for everyone to find information.

Register for Discord via the desktop app, the web version or the mobile app, and enter the Young Platform server.