Author: Jeremy Ryan

Members of the crypto community seem outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program,” which it claims is qualified as securities under its purview. Kraken agreed to settle the charges by paying $30 million in fines and to immediately cease offering staking services to U.S. retail investors, though they will continue to be offered offshore.The move appears to…

One of the founders of the Bored Ape Yacht Club copycat NFT collection RR/BAYC has filed an opposition notice against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs.The move marks another strange twist in the ongoing intellectual property dispute between BAYC creators Yuga Labs and RR/BAYC founders Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen. Cahen filed the opposition notice to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on Feb. 9. The opposition status on all of the trademark filings currently read “pending” at the time of writing. Yuga Labs’ trademark applications were mostly submitted in the latter half of…

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce has publicly rebuked her own agency over the shutdown of crypto exchange Kraken’s crypto staking program in the United States. The commissioner blasted her agency in a Feb. 9 statement titled “Kraken Down,” arguing that regulation by enforcement “is not an efficient or fair way of regulating” an emerging industry. She wrote: “Today, the SEC shut down Kraken’s staking program and counted it as a win for investors. I disagree and therefore dissent.”Peirce’s statement also slammed the regulator for shutting down a “program that has served people well.”“Using enforcement actions to tell…

NFT As the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) continues to grow, the concept of burning them has become a topic of interest. But what exactly does it mean to burn an NFT? And why would someone want to do it? In this article, we will delve into the concept of burning NFTs and the benefits they can provide. What Does it Mean to Burn an NFT? Burning an NFT refers to the process of permanently destroying the token and rendering it unusable. This is accomplished by sending the NFT to a specific address on the blockchain that has been designated…

Blockchain The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-based airport ground handling services firm, Saudi Ground Services, has said it plans to implement a blockchain-based document solution that allows it “to issue over 10,000 digital documents annually including licenses.” According to the firm’s Ayman Alghamdi, using this solution allows SGS to not only easily verify documents and licenses but to improve customers’ experience as well. Overcoming the Document Verification Challenge The Saudi airports ground handling services firm, Saudi Ground Services (SGS), recently said it plans to implement a blockchain document solution at 28 airports across Saudi Arabia. In a statement jointly issued with…

The American state of Mississippi is one step closer to protecting the rights of cryptocurrency miners after the state Senate passed the Mississippi Digital Asset Mining Act on Feb. 8. There is a companion bill under consideration in the state House of Representatives. The Senate bill, authored by state Sen. Josh Harkins, legalizes home digital asset mining and the operation of mining businesses in areas zoned for industrial use. There are already crypto miners operating in Mississippi, which has some of the lowest electricity rates in the country. However, the bill claimed: “Digital asset mining has often faced regulatory challenges at…

NFT NFTs are coming to the epicenter of the Parisian art world. On Friday, Centre Pompidou—home to France’s National Museum of Modern Art—announced plans for a new exhibition examining the relationship between art and the blockchain that will feature NFTs from the valuable CryptoPunks and Autoglyphs projects, among works by 12 other digital artists. CryptoPunk #110 and Autoglyph #25 were both donated to Centre Pompidou and will appear at the museum this spring, as will 16 other NFT works from a global assortment of artists. The exhibition will mark the first time that the Centre Pompidou has accepted NFTs into…

Cointelegraph has announced a major change to its Historical digital collectibles project. Starting Feb. 13, the price of Cointelegraph articles minted as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) will increase from $20 to $100 and the maximum number of copies will decrease from 10 to three. The Historical collection is an archival project that allows readers to mint unique, one-of-a-kind NFTs of Cointelegraph articles, preserving them as historical records of the blockchain industry. Readers can mint stories they think will become valuable by clicking the “Collect” button in the article.CHECK OUT THE COINTELEGRAPH HISTORICAL COLLECTIONThe move is aimed at articulating the value of…

Wildcard, an eSports focused, PvP, arena-style game released some news about their upcoming NFT mint and Game Exhibition happening over the next couple of months. Wildcard, an in-development PvP, arena, eSports game, announced an upcoming game showcase and an NFT mint for their Genesis collection! On February 23rd, Wildcard will be hosting a special game exhibition to showcase their gameplay and kick off a marketing campaign. Dubbed Melee on the Meteor, this exhibition show will feature several matches. The first round is a best of three match among two of the best community playtesters. The second game will see two…

What captivates many creators in the realm of blockchain and Web3 is the possibility to create, own and earn without intermediaries, and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a catalyst in how it could be possible. On this week’s episode of NFT Steez, co-hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond chat with Justin and J.P. Alanis, the co-founders of StoryCo — an open media platform — on the prospect of creators co-creating and franchising intellectual property through their storytelling and the integration of soulbound tokens — but how? Create-to-own and fandom trends emerging in Web3As creators themselves, the Alanis brothers have a…