The cryptocurrency market remains weak, with Bitcoin (BTC) struggling to hold near $50,000. While writing this article, Bitcoin was trading at $49,000, up 2% in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) was trading at $4,037, down 5.30% in the same period. XRP had gained 3.20% to trade at $0.8060.
Major altcoins, which have gained ground in the last 24 hours, include Tezos (XTZ-4.52, 0.4%), Solana (SOL, $177.82, 10.90%), ChainLink (LINK-$19.98, 9.30%), Dash (DASH-$134.12, 2.90%), Cosmos (ATOM, $22.54, 4.7), Uniswap (UNI, $15.25, 1.60%), Stellar (XLM-$0.2736, 3.60%), Cardano (ADA, $1.30, 4%), VeChain (VET, $0.8391 5.60%), IOTA (IOTA-$1.12, 5.90%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $447.01, 3%), Polkadot (DOT, $27.12, 3.90%), Internet Computer (ICP, $26.28, 3.60%) and Bitcoin SV (BSV-$126.65, 0.90%).
Major altcoins, which have lost ground in the last 24 hours, include EOS (EOS-$3.36, -0.10%) and Dogecoin (DOGE, $0.1821, -0.10%).
Government level initiatives
Project Atom report published
A report on Project Atom, a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) trial performed by the Reserve Bank of Australia with the participation of institutions such as Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual, and ConsenSys, was published a few days before.
The CBDC proof of concept, which began in the final leg of 2020, involved the process of issuing CBDC onto a blockchain technology-powered platform for pooled loans and enabling access by non-banking institutions. Project Atom is unique in that it used a two-tiered CBDC, with the central bank issuing CBDCs to banks using Exchange Settlement Accounts (ESAs). These banks, in effect, operate as underwriters for other non-bank players who want to utilize the CBDC for capital market activities.
Commenting on the PoC, RBA Assistant Governor Michele Bullock said: “The prospects for a wholesale CBDC and asset tokenization to enhance efficiency, risk mitigation, and creativity in wholesale financial market operations was proved by Project Atom.”
The key use case for wholesale CBDCs is to employ digital currency to swiftly process transactions on a distributed ledger technology (DLT), using a delivery versus payment mechanism. A former pilot prompted concerns regarding certainty, effectiveness, safety, and confidentiality, all of which were resolved in the recent testing, according to the central bank.
Private sector initiatives
Marriott Bonvoy developing NFT series
Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s hotel loyalty program, has collaborated with three popular graphic artists, TXREK, JVY, and Erick Nicolay, to develop a non-fungible token (NFT) series. The material was inspired by the company’s latest “Power of Travel” advertising campaign.
As a result of this initiative, Marriott has received the credit of being one of the top hoteliers to deal in the metaverse. The NFTs were presented a week ago at Art Basel Miami Beach, a modern and contemporary art event. The digital artwork was shown during the event in collaboration with the cryptocurrency payment network MoonPay by the artist collaboration FaZe Forever, which represents three digital artists that teamed up with Marriott.
Three Art Basel participants were offered the NFTs as well as 200,000 Bonvoy points. Aside from Marriott’s NFTs, digital artist Kenny Schachter collaborated with Galerie Nagel Draxler to exhibit a 14-foot-tall digital booth with material from three other digital artists during the event.
Furthermore, Tezos, a prominent sponsor of the event, displayed NFTs just in front of the main arena, SuperRare auctioned augmented reality artworks, and Beeple took part in a discussion titled “15 Minutes of Forever? Art in the Age of the New Feminist Theory.”
Poshmark celebrating 10th anniversary by auctioning a NFT series
Poshmark, a social commerce site, is commemorating its tenth anniversary by auctioning a non-fungible token (NFT) series. In parallel to the possession of digital assets, successful bidders will have access to unique advantages over the course of the next decade, including yearly tickets to Poshmarks’ PoshFest and Posh Credits, among other things.
The first auction occurred on Bitski’s digital marketplace yesterday, and it was only open for a single day. It sold for $4,200, with all earnings going to the NGO Mission Bit. Poshmark will also equal the winning bid amount in contributions. Ten copies were offered in total.
Poshmark decided to go public in January 2021, making it the first online fashion marketplace. As per the company’s third-quarter data, aggregate sales increased 16% over the same period last year, reaching $79.7 million. The revenue for the fourth quarter is estimated to be in the range of $80 million to $82 million.
Aside from that, Poshmark had 6.5 million active purchasers at the end of 2020, and it had 80 million app users at the conclusion of the third quarter of this calendar year.
Visa now offers consulting services surrounding cryptos
To assist its customers in navigating the world of cryptocurrency, Visa has started offering counseling and advisory services earlier this month. The payment processing company has revealed that its crypto advisory business, which will operate under its consulting and analytics business segment, will provide guidance to financial institutions, retail outlets as well as other businesses on topics ranging from implementing crypto functionalities to navigating non-fungible tokens.
In this regard, Visa has revealed that it has inked an agreement with American bank UMB to provide crypto consulting services. Visa’s new effort to cement its position in the cryptocurrency business is marked by this step.
As per Nikola Plecas, Visa’s European cryptocurrency head, between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, the firm handled $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions via its crypto-linked card programs.
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