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NFL Draft Goes NFT: Football League Releases New Collection on Polygon



The National Football League (NFL) is once again dabbling with non-fungible tokens (NFT), launching a series of card-themed collectibles tied to its upcoming player draft on Thursday.
The collection is live on the league’s Polygon-based marketplace, which it unveiled in November 2021 and has since been used for various playoff game ticketing promotions.
The NFTs will also be given out to members of this year’s “Inner Circle” club, which includes fans selected to represent each team on draft night.
A representative of the league told CoinDesk it has given out more than 500,000 NFTs tied to ticket purchases since the marketplace’s release. Of those 500,000, around 210,000 were directly interacted with by their owner, a 42% figure the league considered a win in terms of engagement.
“Those are just the ones we gave out for free, so we were impressed by the engagement numbers for sure,” Sam Rubinroit, the NFL’s director of club business development, told CoinDesk in an interview. “A good number of the NFTs we released for purchase sold out within 24 hours of their release.”
Rubinroit said the ticketing collectible platform is still very much in its “test and learn phase,” with larger plans cued up for the upcoming season. NFTs from its initial “Regular Season Clubs” collection were one point trading hands for thousands of dollars a piece, but have since cooled off to the $300-$600 range for the more popular teams.
The Polygon-based marketplace is just one of many NFT waters the league has dipped itself into in the last year, the most notable being a partnership with NBA Top Shot maker Dapper Labs to create NFL All Day. Both Top Shot and All Day are built on the Flow blockchain.
The league’s official blockchain partnerships policy remains lucid and developing, but has seen movement in the realms of fan tokens and crypto endorsements in recent weeks.
The league’s players association (NFLPA) has a few crypto-related partnerships of its own, including an NFT tie-up with sports betting giant DraftKings and a partnership with the metaverse game Upland.
Apr-26-2022 05:48:53 AM

Bitcoin Recovers Above $40K After Dipping Earlier to 6-Week Low



Bitcoin (BTC), after a big price swing over the past week, traded earlier Monday at its lowest point in almost six weeks.
As of press time the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was up 1.3% in the past 24 hours, trading at $40,127. Earlier, the bitcoin price fell as low as $38,202, the lowest since March 15.
  • “Recent volatility has been driven by factors such as inflation, the Ukraine crisis [caused by Russia’s invasion] as well as contractionary monetary policies,” said Daniel Khoo, research analyst at Nansen. “This has affected not only the stock market but also the crypto market, which seems to follow in tandem recently.”
  • Khoo said this fall in prices could be driven by the short-term negative sentiment as people go risk-off on volatile assets.
    “Many investors are also shifting towards [stablecoins] given the uncertainty and short-term bearish outlook as the market has become too hot and periods of extreme euphoria were followed by market corrections historically,” Khoo said.
  • “The crypto markets tumbled this morning, as bitcoin failed to hold the $40K level,” wrote Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at the U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock. “Fears about a 50-basis point rate hike have strengthened after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments last Thursday.”
  • Powell said Thursday that “it is appropriate, in my view, to be moving a little more quickly.” He said raising the benchmark U.S. interest rate by 50 basis points (0.5 percentage point) “will be on the table” for the next Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting in May, in remarks at the International Monetary Fund debate.
  • “Even though we have a more hawkish Federal Reserve which could lead to more pain for global markets in the short term,” said Sotiriou, “I am still cautiously bullish.”
  • “Bitcoin’s on-chain metrics are contrastingly bullish,” wrote Sotiriou. “Data from Glassnode shows that the percentage of bitcoin’s supply that has not moved in one year is at an all-time high. I think this data tells us that whilst these macro headwinds are ongoing, bitcoin is being distributed from those who see it as a risk-on asset, to long-term holders who have strong conviction in bitcoin’s long-term potential.”
  • Ether (ETH) was up 0.87% in the past 24 hours, trading at $2,972.
    U.S. stocks were mixed as China’s COVID-19 restrictions stiffened, with the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq up 0.2%.

    Apr-26-2022 05:44:30 AM

    • New York Lawmakers Advance Mining Moratorium Bill to Full Assembly



    New York lawmakers have advanced a controversial bill that aims to put a two-year moratorium on select proof-of-work crypto mining operations in the Empire State.
    Members of the New York Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee considered the bill at a meeting on Monday afternoon, ultimately voting to send the bill to the floor for a vote by the full Assembly.
    Despite widely circulating misunderstandings that the bill would ban all crypto mining in New York, the scope of the bill is fairly limited. If passed, it would place a two-year moratorium on the issuance of new permits for proof-of-work mining operations proposing the use of an “electric generating facility that utilizes a carbon-based fuel.”
    The bill would also require a study by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on proof-of-work mining’s impact on the state’s ability to reach the ambitious climate goals set forth by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates that New York’s greenhouse gas emissions be cut by 85% by 2050.
    If passed, the bill could present a serious obstacle for mining operations like Greenidge Generation, which fired up a once-shuttered coal power plant in upstate New York and converted it to run on natural gas to power its bitcoin mining operation – the source of much controversy among both lawmakers and environmental groups.
    Though Greenidge Generation’s existing operation wouldn't be affected by the bill because its permit application is already outstanding, it would be unable to expand its operations, and future mining operations hoping to replicate the Greenidge model wouldn't be allowed to do so.
    The bill wouldn't affect existing proof-of-work mining operations or those that plan to use the state’s abundant – and cheap – sources of renewable energy. In some parts of New York state, where electricity is generated by the Niagara River and other sources of hydropower, crypto miners have found industrial power as cheap as 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour. The average cost in the U.S. was 7.26 cents per kilowatt hour, according to Statista.
    An earlier version of the bill, which died in the state Assembly last year after facing resistance from the electrical workers’ union, originally called for a three-year moratorium on all crypto mining in the state.
    Despite the narrower scope of this version of the bill, however, crypto advocates are concerned that its passage would pave the way for future legislation cracking down on crypto mining in New York and that those crackdowns could hurt the crypto industry across the state.
    “A two-year mining ban sends a really bad message to the blockchain industry, to crypto companies, to Web 3 companies, that New York is saying ‘You’re not welcome here,'” said John Olsen, New York state lead at the Blockchain Association.
    The full Assembly vote could take place as early as Thursday, according to sources familiar with the matter. If passed there, the bill will move to the state Senate.
    Apr-26-2022 05:40:20 AM

    Market Wrap: Cryptos Mixed as Global Uncertainty Lingers; Dogecoin Pumps



    Performance across cryptocurrencies were mixed on Monday as investors braced for additional market risk.
    Concerns about geopolitical conflicts emanating from Russia and Ukraine, China’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, signs of an upcoming U.S. or European recession and global inflation have kept some buyers on the sidelines.
    Typically, investors reduce their exposure to speculative assets, such as stocks and cryptos, when faced with high uncertainty. So far this year, the S&P 500 is down about 12%, compared with a 17% decline in bitcoin (BTC). Meanwhile, gold, a traditional safe haven asset, is up 3% over the same period, albeit down 8% from its recent peak in March.
    Just launched! Please sign up for our daily Market Wrap newsletter explaining what happens in crypto markets – and why.
    The recent jump in equity market volatility occurred alongside a decline in gold prices. That could signal a neutral stance among market participants, especially as the rally in Treasury yields begins to cool.
    Meanwhile, dogecoin (DOGE) rose by as much as 26% on Monday after Twitter (TWTR) accepted a takeover bid from Tesla's (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk.
    Some analysts are waiting for signs of stabilization in the crypto market, which has tracked moves in equities over the past year. So far, speculative traders are starting to return as BTC settles around $40,000. For example, in March, derivatives volumes increased after six straight months of decreased volumes. That could signal a rise in trading activity if BTC is able to break above or below its current trading range.
    Apr-26-2022 05:35:49 AM

    Dogecoin Surges Nearly 9% Amid Reports That Twitter Will Accept Musk's Takeover Offer



    Dogecoin (DOGE) surged by 9% in the past hour following reports of Elon Musk being close to purchasing the entirety of Twitter at $54.20 a share.
    DOGE surged to as much as $0.14 at writing time from the $0.12 level in Asian morning hours. Twitter (TWTR) futures trading in Frankfurt jumped 6.48%, data shows.

    Social media giant Twitter is working out the terms of the transaction and could reach an agreement as soon as Monday, as per Reuters. Musk, who owns electric car maker Tesla and space exploration firm SpaceX, among other businesses, currently owns 9.2% of Twitter, as per a filing earlier this month.
    Dogecoin's price and Musk’s imminent takeover of Twitter are not directly correlated. However, some analysts say Musk’s repeated endorsement of the memecoin attracts speculation from crypto investors hoping for dogecoin to be included in Twitter’s long-term plans.
    “The speculation is that advertisers could be able to pay DOGE for ads and for other uses on Twitter,” Kryptomon Chief Marketing Officer Tomer Nuni explained to CoinDesk earlier this month. “We have seen the same happening when Tesla revealed the ability to pay for its goods with DOGE. So the speculation could be around Musk’s businesses and stakeholdings starting to accept crypto, as Tesla does.”
    Earlier this month, Musk teased DOGE payments on Twitter in a tweet, proposing dogecoin as one of the payment options for Twitter Blue, the site’s subscription service with premium features.
    Tesla already accepts DOGE payments on its online merchandise store. Musk has also previously lent support to dogecoin development and adoption, such as a May 2021 tweet that saw Musk state he was working with dogecoin developers to improve system efficiency.
    Apr-26-2022 05:33:43 AM

    Twitter Accepts Elon Musk's $54.20-a-Share Buyout Offer



    Twitter (TWTR) has accepted a $54.20-a-share buyout offer from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, valuing the social media company at about $44 billion in cash, according to a press release.
    Once the deal is completed, Twitter will become a privately held company.
  • "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement. "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans."
  • Bret Taylor, Twitter's independent board chair, said, "The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."
  • In early April, Musk revealed he'd taken 9.2% stake in Twitter for $2.89 billion. He also criticized the social media platform in a series of tweets, saying that "failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy."
  • Musk said in an April 13 regulatory filing that he intended to take the social media company private and that he "invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy."
  • Twitter shares rose about 5.5% to $51.63 on Monday before trading was halted in the afternoon pending news. The $54.20 per share offer represents a premium of about 38% to Twitter's close on April 1, 2022, the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his stake in Twitter.
  • Meanwhile the price of dogecoin (DOGE) surged more than 20% since reports of a deal being likely surfaced on Monday morning. Some investors speculate that Musk's fondness for DOGE mean it might play a bigger role in Twitter payments if he were to own the company.


    This is a developing story and will be updated.
    Apr-26-2022 05:15:20 AM

    • Bitcoin’s ‘Rich List’ Continues to Snap Up Cheap Coins



    Bitcoin’s rich list has accumulated 80,000 BTC since the May 19 crash.

    Blockchain data shows sustained bargain hunting by large bitcoin (BTC, +7.5%) holders despite persistent gloom and doom in the market.

    Addresses carrying at least 1,000 BTC, known as the “rich list” or “whales,” held 7.89 million coins at press time, an addition of 80,000 since May 19’s price crash to $30,000, according to data provided by Santiment.
    The total held by the rich list hit a three-month high of 7.91 million earlier this week.
    “Whales aren’t slowing down their accumulation,” Santiment tweeted early today. “This is a strong vote of confidence for bulls, seeing top key stakeholders are increasing their bags.”
    The increase by long-term holders signals accumulation during the bear trend, according to blockchain analytics firm Glassnode.
    The data show whales and long-term holders remain confident of the cryptocurrency’s prospects.
    Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency may see short-term losses if the U.S. consumer price index, scheduled for release at 12:30 UTC on Thursday, exceeds expectations, boosting concerns of an early unwinding of stimulus by the Federal Reserve.
    “Large upside scare to the [CPI] print will make the downside below $30,000 very vulnerable, and we are most concerned with that now,” QCP Capital said in its Telegram channel.
    The impending death cross, or the bearish crossover of the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages, is also hinting at the scope for deeper losses.
    At press time, bitcoin was trading at $36,300, a 3% drop on the day.
    Prices rose more than 10% on Wednesday, hitting highs above $37,400 even as China announced a ban on virtual-currency mining operations in Qinghai province. El Salvador’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender likely buoyed sentiment.
    Jun-11-2021 04:04:48 AM

    Buy this top four cryptocurries today



    Bitcoin

    Well, the list had to start with this. This being one of the most actively traded cryptocurrencies has grabbed everyone’s attention for quite some time now. Large corporate backing this coin and investing heavily in this have added to its insane demand. It was just about a month back when Bitcoin had hit an all-time high. May 19 saw one of the worst market crashes in which Bitcoin too suffered like any other. A single-day market crash of 30% is way too much to handle. Additionally, owing to Tesla’s Musk’s varying tweets, the value of this coin tanked. All this makes Bitcoin worth a buy now for you know the market would correct itself in the coming days.



    Binance Coin (BNB)

    This is the third-largest cryptocurrency. One of the most reputed exchanges had launched this crypto in 2017. Since then there was no looking back for BNB. It was during February 2021 that Binance Coin reached $600. Since the market crash, the price has dropped drastically. Looking at the $600 figure, what could be inferred is nothing but the straight simple fact that this crypto has everything required to shoot up in value. Now that the price is way lower, buying this one makes sense. As and when the market corrects itself, the price would go up and needless to say, you are on the profit–making side.



    Cosmos

    Cosmos is an association of blockchain networks that streamlines trades among the various blockchains. This is one of those affordable cryptocurrencies that has grabbed eyeballs from everywhere across the globe. This crypto saw a massive spike in its value during the last couple of weeks but now the story is a little different. The market crash has led to a dip in its value. However, what is worth taking a note of is the fact that there is enormous potential in this crypto owing to the positive enabling interoperability between the crypto Wait no more – this crypto is a steal deal for sure! Go buy!



    Tron

    This cryptocurrency which is referred to as TRX, is a decentralized operating system based on blockchain. Tron has made it into the headlines for being one of the cheapest cryptocurrencies available in the market today. A cheap price is not the only reason that makes it worth a buy. Its limited supply as well as the token’s ample use cases are bound to take its price higher in the days to come. Why not make the best use of it today by buying it right away
    Jun-1-2021 06:16:56 AM

    Elon Musk Tweets SpaceX Plan For ‘Joke’ Crypto Dogecoin As Bitcoin And Ethereum Near All-Time High Price



    Musk, a long-time fan of dogecoin, has played an outsized role in the bitcoin price bull run this year after Tesla added $1.5 billion of bitcoin to its balance sheet (with more likely to be added).

    Now, Musk has said his private rocket company SpaceX is going to put a "dogecoin on the literal moon"—sending the price of the meme-based cryptocurrency up 35% as bitcoin and ethereum both come within touching distance of their all-time highs.

    "SpaceX is going to put a literal dogecoin on the literal moon," Musk said via Twitter, playing down suggestions that the announcement was an April Fool's day joke.

    "I know it’s April Fool’s but I don’t for a second question that he means this," CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz responded to Musk—who replied: "After all, SpaceX's first payload to orbit and back was a wheel of cheese."

    Sending a representation of a dogecoin token into space or even a machine running dogecoin network software would be relatively simple for Musk, who's well-known to have a flair for outrageous, headline-grabbing stunts. A Tesla roadster is currently floating near Mars after it was launched into space in 2018 as part of a dummy payload attached to the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket.

    Around the same time, Musk's Boring Company sold 20,000 flame-shooting devices called "Not-A-Flamethrower" for $500 each in order to raise funds to kickstart the underground transit tunnel company.

    However, Musk has previously said all of his dogecoin-related tweets are not meant to be taken seriously.

    "Occasionally I make jokes about dogecoin, but they are really meant to be jokes," Musk said last month, speaking during an interview on the invite-only chat app Clubhouse.

    Musk is though highly committed to the dogecoin meme, perhaps enough to send it into space. He was voted dogecoin CEO in a 2019 Twitter poll, a meaningless role he enthusiastically embraced, and last month joked that he would give more support to dogecoin if big accounts sold their holdings, suggesting the market is controlled by a small number of users.

    The dogecoin price has rocketed 900% so far this year, with the tongue-in-cheek cryptocurrency reaching a staggering $10 billion total value last month when retail traders frustrated by restrictions placed on meme stocks such as GameStop switched to cryptocurrencies—with rockstars and YouTubers helping to fuel the massive dogecoin rally.

    Interest in dogecoin has exploded this year as bitcoin, by far the biggest cryptocurrency with a total value of around $1.1 trillion after its latest surge, has climbed thanks to a combination of Wall Street interest and retail traders piling into the bitcoin market.

    The bitcoin price has almost doubled since the beginning of the year, with the second-largest cryptocurrency ethereum also hitting record highs thanks to the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi)—using cryptocurrency technology to recreate traditional financial products like interest, insurance and loans.

    "I have no doubt that this bull run is far from over and that we are on track for further bitcoin support above $60,000," Antoni Trenchev, managing partner of London-based cryptocurrency lending platform Nexo, said in emailed comments, pointing to recent moves by payments giants PayPal and Visa to add support for bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
    Apr-26-2021 05:08:35 AM

    What’s the Buzz About Bitcoin Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology?



    We know Elon Musk is a fan, but what’s all the fuss about, and when will the Bitcoin bubble burst?

    Just like the stock market, the cryptocurrency market is frequently subjected to extreme price fluctuations – both upwards and downwards. Tesla recently purchasing $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin is just one example of how the crypto market can change.

    For instance, at the end of 2013 to the beginning of 2014, during the middle of 2017 to the middle of 2018, and now again as we’ve seen in the past few months, there have been many highs and lows of cryptocurrencies.

    If we analyze the movement of cryptocurrencies across a 52-week period, it’s clear that the biggest market capitalization is what we’ve seen in the past few weeks:

    Bitcoin (No.1 cryptocurrency by market capitalization) has a 52-week low of US$4106 and a 52-week high of US$58,330 (which are a factor of 14.2 apart)
    Ethereum (No.2 by market capitalization) has a 52-week low of US$95 and a 52-week high of US$2036 (factor of 21.4 apart)
    Cardano (No.3 by market capitalization) has a 52-week low of US$0.01913 and a 52-week high of US$1.48 (factor of 77.4 apart)
    (Data source: https://coinmarketcap.com, accessed on March 2, 2021.)

    This level of fluctuation within a one-year period is seldom seen in the stock market, and it’s generally not something that’s happening once-off to one specific cryptocurrency; it’s happening often, and to several cryptocurrencies.

    Over the past few years, blockchain technology has swiftly advanced as more companies, researchers and developers begin to adopt and understand it.

    In the first generation of blockchain platforms, there were many limitations to scalability, the high consumption of energy, limited support of smart contracts, and so on.

    Now, hundreds of projects and platforms are trying to improve different aspects of blockchain technology, involving hundreds of highly qualified researchers and thousands of skillful engineers.

    Leading global institutions believe blockchain solutions can have a huge economic impact.

    However, the realization of this potential will depend on factors such as the technological advances, the acceptance of blockchain solutions by the industry and the general population, the legislation passed to regulate the blockchain space, and the development of new business models based on the technology.

    There’s a possibility the recent cryptocurrency price hikes are partially or totally justified by changes in the market participants’ perception of the factors affecting the future prospects of blockchain platforms. However, in the long run, the value of the cryptocurrencies will depend on the financial added value generated by the blockchain ecosystem.

    If we look back to the 1990s and the dot-com boom, there was a huge growth in internet use, and it was recognized it would change the world. Hundreds of net-related companies appeared and began developing technologies, services, and applications.

    A market bubble eventuated due to excessive speculation, and in the crash, numerous companies were forced to shut down.

    But the internet, of course, turned out to indeed be revolutionary, and some of the companies formed at that time are today among the world’s biggest.

    If blockchain technology’s potential is realized, perhaps many of the current blockchain platforms and projects won’t make the cut, drastically reducing in value or vanishing altogether.

    But, there’s a reasonable chance that some of them will be big winners.

    Apr-26-2021 05:07:19 AM

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