Author: Jeremy Ryan

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to develop its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, but this time it’s calling for backup.According to a Feb. 21 Bloomberg report, the CBN is in talks with new “technology partners” to develop a new and improved system to manage the eNaira.According to sources close to the matter, the Nigerian financial authority has discussed these plans with the New York-based technology firm R3.New software for the eNaria will be created to allow the CBN to have complete control over the initiative; however, the unnamed source said the matter is confidential.The effort to…

The team behind nonfungible token collection Friendsies has refuted claims they are “abandoning” the NFT project following a tsunami of “rug pull” accusations. On Feb. 21, the founders behind the NFT project told their Twitter followers that they werputting a “pause” on Friendsies and “all future digital goods” for the time being, citing market challenges.Around 40 minutes later, the Twitter account was deleted, while the account of Friendswithyou, who developed the project, was made private — sparking rumors that the founders had “rugged” for about $5 million.With the $5.3m @friendsies_ai hard rug earlier today it remains unclear how the funds…

Immutable X announced a new, upcoming addition to their ecosystem known as the Immutable Passport. Part wallet, part login authenticator, the Immutable Passport promises to be a valuable tool for both developers and gamers! What was once just a secondary solution to gas fees for Gods Unchained cards is quickly growing to become a massive mover and shaker in the web3 world. IMX continues to work on making the onboarding process for new players a more seamless experience. And along the way they build APIs and tools for developers to help them leverage these tech improvements. And in their latest…

NFT Ascendant NFT marketplace Blur announced Tuesday that it will soon airdrop some $300 million worth of additional tokens to loyal users, days after overtaking once-untouchable competitor OpenSea as the most popular Ethereum NFT trading platform by trading volume. Blur will release 300 million of its native BLUR tokens to traders over the course of the platform’s “Season 2,” which has already begun. BLUR is currently trading at $0.99, according to CoinGecko. “Season 1,” which culminated with the debut of its native token BLUR last week, saw Blur dole out “care packages” of BLUR to traders who transitioned to the…

The Moscow bureau of Interpol detained a British national charged by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). The man is accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on North Korea. According to local media, on Feb. 21, Christopher Emms was arrested in Moscow upon the “red notice” from Interpol. Th 31-year-old British citizen was detained in the hostel where he was staying. In April 2022, alongside Spanish national Alejandro Cao De Benos, Emms allegedly provided instructions to North Korea on how it could use blockchain and cryptocurrency to launder money and evade sanctions. The two planned and organized the 2019…

NFT Nonfungible token (NFT) collection Friendsies has refuted claims it is “abandoning” its NFT project following a tsunami of “rug pull” accusations aimed at its founders. On Feb. 21, the founders behind the NFT project told its Twitter followers that it was putting a “pause” on Friendsies and “all future digital goods” for the time being, citing market challenges. Around 40 minutes later, the Twitter account was deleted, while the account of Friendswithyou, who developed the project, was made private — sparking rumors that the founders had “rugged” for about $5 million. With the $5.3m @friendsies_ai hard rug earlier today…

NFT Ubisoft was the first major video game publisher to release in-game NFT items with Ghost Recon Breakpoint in December 2021—and while the reception was decidedly mixed, the firm has continued to make moves in the Web3 world. Its latest? Today’s launch of Rabbids NFT avatars for Ethereum metaverse game The Sandbox. The NFT release comes one year after Ubisoft initially announced plans to bring its popular Rabbids characters—which spun out of the classic Rayman game franchise—to The Sandbox. Ubisoft began the sale today for users who had already been added to an allowlist, while the public sale will commence…

Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance. In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets” that could possibly be in contrast to China’s widespread crypto ban.According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing officials have not been brazenly opposed to the idea. According to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report, it is understood that representatives from…

Wildcard has made quite a name for themselves since last June when they shared the news of their $46M project funded by Paradigm VC. Wildcard has amassed a growing 30K+ Discord community and is one of the most anticipated Web3 gaming projects of 2023. What’s it all about?What Is Wildcard? To understand the game, you have to start at the beginning. Let’s travel 18 km/s to Frostburn Asteroid, home of the state-of-the-art Wildcard arena where the game takes place. At the adjacent Frostburn Village (where there is no shortage of gossip), Wildfans and competitors can enjoy great restaurants, fantastic accommodations,…

A partnership between Web3 payment protocol Immersve and payments giant Mastercard will allow users to make crypto payments on digital, physical and the Metaverse worlds. USD Coin (USDC) tokens — a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle — will be used to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network.The Mastercard-Immersve partnership uses decentralized protocols to settle real-time cryptocurrency transactions on outlets accepting Mastercard payments online. Users will be able to use their existing Web3 wallets to make direct crypto payments without relying on a third party for collateral.Instead, Immersve will partner with a third-party settlement provider and allow its users to use…