The cryptocurrency market remains range bound with a slight bearish bias as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to hover around $20,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $19,441, up 3.40% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) had gained 4.60% to trade at $1,365. XRP was trading at $0.3786, an increase of 8.90% in the last 24 hours.
The list of major cryptos, which have gained in the last 24 hours, include Dogecoin (DOGE – $0.0585, 2.8%), Polygon (MATIC – $0.7584, 2.60%), Uniswap (UNI, $5.51, 4.40%), Solana (SOL, $32.52, 5.70%), Avalanche (Avax- $17.22, 3.60%), Stellar (XLM, $0.1110, 5.20%), Binance Coin (BNB – $269.84, 3.10%), Internet Computer (ICP, $6.09, 5.90%), EOS (EOS – $1.29, 5.10%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $112.13, 2.90%), VeChain (VET, $0.0228, 3.90%), Tezos (XTZ, $1.50, 5.80%), Cardano (ADA, $0.4499, 2.70%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.00001093, 1.80%) and Polkadot (DOT, $6.36, 0.50%).
The major crypto, which has lost ground in the last 24 hours, is ChainLink (LINK – $7.25, -1.30%).
Government level initiatives
Al Shawamikh Oil Services partners with Frontech
Oman’s Energy firm, Al Shawamikh Oil Services Company, has partnered with Frontech, a state-owned entity set up by both Ethcha (Oman Investment Authority) and Omantel, to build a blockchain-powered sustainable energy management platform.
Frontech unveiled the National Blockchain Platform – in accordance with the market needs – to expedite the digital innovation initiatives in the Sultanate of Oman. The blockchain platform functions as a sandbox environment (Blockchain Factory) and also as a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.
Oman’s Energy firm, Al Shawamikh Oil Services Company, will join hands with Frontech to build a blockchain-powered sustainable energy administration platform.
Frontech will employ blockchain to track and administer the production process in the sustainable energy network.
Dr. Ammar Al-Obaidani, CEO of Frontech, pointed out, “Frontech was founded for the purpose of achieving national objectives by offering advanced technological solutions for latest innovations. The firm is involved in the implementation of several projects and programs in diverse sectors, both in the government and the private sector. Through the National Blockchain Network, this cooperation with Al Shawamikh Oil Services Company will achieve one of these objectives, as it offers points-based system based on blockchain technology for its associates and customers.”
RBI is negotiating with state-owned banks to commence trialing the digital rupee
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in talks with four state-owned banks, namely State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of Baroda, for commencing the trial of the digital rupee.
Notably, the central bank is also collaborating with other finance-related organizations, including FIS, which offers various banking solutions and recently rolled out its own CBDC Lab. The platform is offered to central banks and other financial institutions for conducting various trials. The Lab offers functionalities such as payments (online and offline) and programmable money.
Julia Demidova, chief of CBDC and Digital Currency Strategy at FIS, did not reveal any specific info but stated that the firm is working with central banks of several countries on CBDC trials and PoC (proof-of-concept).
She also pointed out that the CBDC Lab can also be used by commercial banks for digitally regulated money transactions.
Private sector initiatives
BSN launches a beta version of its BSN Spartan Network
The Blockchain Service Network (BSN) has unveiled a beta variant of its BSN Spartan Network. This is the global variant of China’s BSN, which encompasses versions of popular public blockchains, including Cosmos, Ethereum, and PolygonEdge, but without the use of cryptos.
The validator nodes of the public permissioned network are created by huge enterprises, including Emperor Group, HSBC, and Lan Kwai Fong Group, even though several of those firms have Chinese or Hong Kong links. The beta trial phase will continue for two months.
Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology and the technical mastermind behind the BSN, said, “To prevent the use of unregulated and fluctuating cryptos, 99% of the global IT networks do not employ cryptocurrency-powered public chains.” He envisions people across the globe utilizing it for “any conventional IT system may harness the abilities of the core blockchain technology in a more efficient and economical manner.”
Yifan, pointing out that the internet became popular because it is cheaper to launch a website, wants to create a similar situation for blockchain. Three years ago, the initial Chinese variant of BSN, developed by Red Date Technology in partnership with UnionPay, China Mobile, and the State Information Center (SIC), was rolled out. The intention is to offer hassle-free, low-cost connectivity to a blockchain network.
Miscellaneous
Sorare partners with NBA and the NBPA
Sorare, popular for its fantasy sports platform, has inked a partnership with the NBA and National Basketball Players’ Association (NBPA) to unveil a fantasy basketball game during the start of the NBA 2022-23 season.
The notable partnership was funded $680 million through Series B funding with the backing of Japan’s headquartered global investor Softbank.
The game referred to as ‘Sorare: NBA’ will permit players to create the basketball team of their dreams by buying NFTs of NBA players. Fans will be rewarded with points for the real-life performance of players featured on their digital collectibles.
Commenting on the partnership, Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, said, “With Sorare’s burgeoning NFT fantasy platform, we foresee huge opportunity to expand our fan base and expand NBA basketball globally.”
Specifically, this is the third significant partnership for Sorare with a national sports league in the US, following similar deals with MLS and MLB earlier in 2022.
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