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Crypto-finance company Amber Group valued at $1B following $100M raise

Cryptocurrency investment platform Amber Group has added $100 million to its coffers following a successful Series B fundraiser, bringing its total pre-money valuation to $1 billion — a major milestone for the firm as it enters its fourth year of operations. 

The cash injection will be used to “expand global operations to meet client demand and develop market solutions for the world’s leading crypto investors and companies,” co-founder and CEO Michael Wu said.

Measures of trade volume and total assets under management showcase Amber Group’s significant growth over the past four years. The company now has over $1 billion in assets under management, with more than $500 billion worth of cumulative trade volumes.

“We’ve had record months over the past quarter across both client flow and on-exchange market-making volumes,” Wu said, adding:

“Since stepping up our on-screen presence, we now account for 2-3% of total trading volumes in major spot and derivative markets and are continuing to see growth. Our cumulative trading volumes have doubled from $250 billion since the beginning of the year to over $500 billion.”

In terms of notional trade volume, Amber Group ranks 21st among global exchanges, according to BitMEX data.

Amber’s assets topped $530 million in 2020, representing a 275% increase from the prior year. At the time, Wu told Cointelegraph that his company has “already proven we can provide institutional-grade integrated crypto financial services.”

In addition to its Series B backers, Amber Group has received direct funding from some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds, including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Blockchain.com.

Related: Financial advisers lead the institutional push toward crypto adoption

Venture funds have poured billions of dollars into the crypto economy over the past six months, highlighting their conviction in the new asset class. Just this month, Solana Labs finalized a $314 million private token sale, PayPal and Salesforce contributed $14 million to TRM Labs and DeFi exchange dYdX raised $65 million through a Series C fundraiser.

Crypto-finance company Amber Group valued at $1B following $100M raise

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Perlin (PERL) price gains 100% as the focus on green energy solutions intensifies

Generating momentum and attracting investor attention can be a challenge during the best of times in the cryptocurrency market and it is an even bigger challenge when the markets are choppy like the entire crypto ecosystem has been the past couple of months. 

Despite the recent downturn, Perlin (PERL), which has managed to rally 140% from a low of $0.052 on June 8 to a high of $0.134 on June 18 as its average 24-hour trading volume surged from $3 million to $122 million.

PERL/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Three reasons for the increase in price and demand for PERL include the release of the PERL.eco registration ledger, the launch of PerlinX on the Binance Smart Chain and attractive staking options allowing token holders to earn a yield on various cryptocurrencies.

Tokenizing real-world biological assets

PERL’s rally on June 6 and June 14 came in response to the release of PERL.eco, the “Planetary Ecosystem Registration Ledger” which enables the tokenization of real-world bioecological assets.

According to the project’s blog page, PERL.eco is an “attempt to democratize the biosphere economy through liquidity pools and tokenization of biodiversity and carbon credits to decentralized finance.”

As an added incentive to hold PERL, airdrops of tokenized carbon credits will be distributed to wallets holding PERL which can be used by token holders to “offset their carbon footprint or trade on the liquidity pool when the token is released.”

PERL will also be used as the governance token of the DAO, enabling holders to vote on the distribution and fee model as well as participate in other important decisions that affect the ecosystem.

Binance Smart Chain integration leads to lower fees

A second driver of increased momentum for PERL was the mid-April launch of the protocols DeFi interface platform PerlinX on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), a move that was done in an effort to help lower transaction fees.

Operating on BSC also allowed PerlinX’s liquidity pools to be listed on PancakeSwap and helped to increase the number of farming opportunities available to the PerlinX community.

As a further bonus for PERL liquidity providers, yields earned on PancakeSwap are paid out in the protocol’s native CAKE token which can then be redeposited in the Perlin pool to earn PERL as a form of compound interest.

For PERL holders who wish to remain on the Ethereum (ETH) network, the PerlinX platform offers several options to earn a yield including simple staking as well as liquidity pools between PERL and Wrapped Ether (WETH), Binance USD (BUSD), Balancer (BAL), Dai (DAI) and USD Coin (USDC).

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for PERL have been favorable for some time.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. PERL price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for PERL has been in the green for the majority of the past 7 days and registered a score of 67 on June 14, roughly ten hours before the price increased 100% over the next two days.

With the green energy movement and concerns related to the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the forefront of global discussions, blockchain projects that offer working solutions like Perlin and its PERL.eco platform could possibly receive increased attention.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Perlin (PERL) price gains 100% as the focus on green energy solutions intensifies

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Shanghai Man: Economist says El Salvador ‘on road to death’, salaries paid in e-CNY …

Our Man in Shanghai has refused to let recent regulations slow down the news coming from China. Enterprise blockchain, central bank digital currencies and start up projects continue to make a positive impact in a region hoping to grow economic value through technology.

Death march for El Salvador

The debate around El Salvador continued this week as media and officials tried to digest the adoption of Bitcoin as a national currency. JPMorgan stated that there was little economic benefit, and John Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke warned that the move could “completely collapse the economy” of the small nation. The former Bank of China deputy governor Wang Yongli took a very hardline approach, by stating that volatility and a lack of regulation or controls would put the economy on a “road to death.” This quote, appearing in state run media The Paper June 9, was an unusually direct and colorful statement on the issue.

Crypto innovation can be productive

Zhou Xiaoquan, a former governor of the People’s Bank of China, had a few positive things to say about cryptocurrency as a technology on June 11. He spoke at an economic summit in Shanghai and noted the cryptocurrency innovation in China can be productive when it serves the real economy. He also took some shots at other countries, stating that people would be mistaken if they thought other countries were taking the same approach towards building financial services. Zhou, who is one of the most often-quoted economists in the country, felt there was little emphasis on the relationship between financial services and economic value elsewhere in the world. Based on the wild displays at the Miami Bitcoin conference a few weeks ago, his position might be more sound than others would care to admit.

Paid in e-CNY

China’s e-CNY tests continued with the first reported mass payment of salaries in Xiong’an, a district near the capital Beijing. According to Cointelegraph, the pilot received support from a number of national banks and saw subcontractors paying workers their salaries from a digital wallet.

Industrial blockchain worth $22.6B

On June 3, a government organization issued a report entitled the China Industrial Blockchain Development Status and Trend Report. According to the report, in 2020, 222 industrial blockchain policies were issued, 12,059 new blockchain-related patent applications were approved, and 776 new blockchain enterprises were established. The report also claimed that the current market size of the industrial blockchain sector was around $22.6 billion U.S. dollars. Industrial blockchain is an area that China is eager to grab control in, leading to this explosive growth in recent years.

Only 5X the fun

Leading exchange Huobi surprised futures traders by limiting them to only 5x leverage on perpetual swaps and blocking new users from accessing the feature altogether. Futures trading, particularly highly-leveraged futures trading, had always been popular features on exchanges like OKEx and Huobi. It will be interesting to see whether these new decisions to limit risk will be damaging to these large exchanges that still somewhat adhere to regulator rules. It’s also possible that it’s a short-term solution in order to avoid scrutiny during periods of tighter control.

Futures of Singapore

While Huobi was tightening controls on futures traders, Singapore-based platform SynFutures was completing a Series A for $14 million. The round was led by Polychain Capital and included names like Framework Capital, Pantera Capital, Bybit, Kronos Research, WOO Ventures, Wintermute, and IOSG Ventures. SynFutures is creating a trustless derivatives market where users can take positions on assets or anything that has an accurate feed, including Bitcoin, the price of gold, or even the Bitcoin hashrate. What many people don’t know is that the SynFutures team is composed of members from Matrixport, a financial service app that was an offshoot of massive Chinese mining conglomerate Bitmain. Now you know the whole story!

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations.

Shanghai Man: Economist says El Salvador \’on road to death\’, salaries paid in e-CNY …

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What is NFT in Crypto? and why it matters in crypto world?

Understand NFT in Crypto

It is seen that the Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded from the ether this year. Ranging from any form of art and any kind of music, types of tacos, and varieties in toilet paper, these particular digital assets have been selling like the exotic Dutch tulips from the 17 to-century—some even for around millions of dollars.

However, are these NFTs worth your money or this hype? Experts say that NFT crypto is a bubble poised to pop, much like the previous dot-com craze or the Beanie Babies. However, others believe that the NFTs have come here to stay and change the investing game forever.

Table of Contents

  • What is essentially meant by an NFT?
  • How Is an NFT Different from Cryptocurrency?
  • How do the NFTs Work?
  • Why are NFTs so popular?
  • What are the NFTs usually used For?
  • What are the risks to be kept in mind while investing in NFTs?
  • What is the possible future for the NFTs? 
  • How do I get to invest in NFTs?
  • Conclusion

What is essentially meant by an NFT?

To get to know the famous question of what is NFT crypto, one must understand how NFT is essentially a particular digital asset that tends to represent numerous real-world objects like any art, certain music, countless in-game items, and multiple videos. They are usually bought and are as well sold online and often about cryptocurrency. These have generally been encoded with the same particular type of underlying software as many other cryptos.

Numerous NFTs, which are at least in these particular early times, have been multiple digital creations that are already existent in some other form in any other platform, like the several iconic video clips from that of the NBA games or any different securitized versions of any state of digital art that has already been floating around and about on Instagram.

How Is an NFT Different from Cryptocurrency?

NFT basically stands for non-fungible token. It has been generally built by using the same particular type of programming, just like cryptocurrency, which would either be Bitcoin or Ethereum; however that is where this similarity would end.

It is to be understood that any form of physical money or any cryptocurrencies are basically “fungible,” meaning that they might get traded or exchanged for one another. They have also been equal in their value, just like one dollar would always be of the same value as another dollar. Similarly, one Bitcoin would always be similar to any other singular Bitcoin. The fungibility of Crypto makes it a relatively reliable means of being able to conduct transactions on any given blockchain.

However, NFT cryptos are indeed different. Each NFT has a unique digital signature, making it impossible for these NFTs to get exchanged for another or become equal to any one of the others and hence are deemed non-fungible. 

How do the NFTs Work?

NFTs tend to exist on a particular blockchain, usually a specific distributed public ledger that records the multiple transactions that occur. You would probably be the most familiar with any blockchain as a basic underlying process that makes these cryptocurrencies a usual possibility.

To be very specific, these NFTs are usually held on the various Ethereum blockchain, even though the other blockchains might give them the necessary support.

The NFT, which is created, or rather “minted” from any of the digital objects which tend to represent both the tangible and the intangible items, often include :

  • Art
  • GIFs
  • Videos and sports highlights
  • Collectibles
  • Virtual avatars and video game skins
  • Designer sneakers
  • Music

It is to be understood that these NFTs tend to get any sort of exclusive ownership rights. Yes, you read that right. The NFT cryptos can have only one particular owner at any given time. The unique data of the NFTs usually makes it extremely easy to get verified with their very own and helps to transfer numerous other tokens in between their owners. The particular owner or the initial creator might also store any precise information within them. For instance, an artist might sign their artwork, and they can do so by including their particular signature in the metadata of the NFT.

Why are NFTs so popular?

This particular coronavirus pandemic has indeed played a massive role in the present NFT boom. The absolute value of these NFT transactions quadrupled and went up to $250 million in the previous year, according to research from NonFungible and the BNP Paribas-affiliated research centre or firm L’Atelier.

That has been in no tiny part since the stay-at-home restrictions had paved a path that eventually resulted in the people spending much more of their precious time surfing on the internet and saving cash, which resulted from the lack of commuting. It has been similar to the particular rise of the retail traders who would be betting on the GameStop and the other, which led to historically unloved stocks, which were eventually promoted on the Reddit board of the WallStreetBets.

What are the NFTs usually used For?

Several blockchain technologies and the best NFT crypto artists and content creators have provided a unique opportunity to monetize their numerous wares. For example, the artists would no longer be dependent or rely on multiple galleries or any particular auction houses to sell their art. Instead, this artist might sell this piece of their art directly to any interested consumers as a specific NFT, which would also allow them to keep with them much more of their profits. In addition to this, the artists might also program in the royalties to receive a certain percentage of the numerous sales whenever their submitted art would get sold to any particular new owner. This has been an attractive feature since the artists generally do not tend to receive any future proceeds right after their art has been first sold.

What are the risks to be kept in mind while investing in NFTs?

NFTs have constantly been catching the necessary attention of several high-profile technology investors, numerous major global corporations, and the famous artistic community. The various NFT proponents tend to say that these could, in turn, turn out to be the future of the multiple collectables and would, in turn, allow the users to be able to prove that they own the necessary digital assets. However, this flurry of interest tends to echo the particular Gamestop Saga and also the rise of the Wall Street Bets available on Reddit. 

Like any other investment, NFTs also tend to come along with their concerns and risks. When given their seeming infancy, the particular fact that these NFTs have yet again been ready to gain a certain mass acceptance would mean that they have been a somewhat speculative investment. This would, in turn, suggest that they have been prone to both the high rises and the steep drops in any such values.

The supply and the necessary demand usually drive NFTs, and as a result of this sudden surge in demand, there have been buyers who are very well prepared and are ready to pay what would seem to be a ridiculous price. However, it is to be noted that there would be no such guarantee to ensure that these prices would always continue to rise.

What is the possible future for the NFTs? 

While these might appear to be somewhat speculative at this moment, many technologists believe that NFTs could represent an entirely brand new economy based upon specific digital ownership. 

The songwriters or any such creators could make good money just by selling their works directly to their determined fans and, in turn, collect a specific royalty with every time their deemed NFT gets re-sold. The developers might also be able to build an infrastructure and the platforms, which would help enable these new markets. 

How do I get to invest in NFTs?

Well, if you have been looking for multiple ways to invest in the necessary NFTs, you would be required to be familiar with the cryptocurrency and the essential need to own the same, which would, in turn, have to be kept in a particular digital wallet. You might use specific platforms like that of the CoinJar, the Coinspot, or maybe the Independent Reserve to purchase the required Ethereum, which could, in turn, be used as the necessary currency for the NFTs. 

Conclusion

It is to be understood that there has been a relatively wide range of multiple reasons which prove why people are often attracted towards investing in these NFTs. People might want to collect these NFTs for any particular emotional reasons (which might be the social status), or maybe because of the prospect of the re-selling of these NFT cryptos at a relatively higher price which would, in turn, be based on the necessary excitement and the momentum of that particular moment or the scenario. For better understanding, you might as well refer to  https://www.blockchain-council.org/.

What is NFT in Crypto? and why it matters in crypto world?

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CABEI Lends assistance to EL Salvador for Bitcoin Adoption

On Monday, 14th June, the head of the multinational development bank, CABEI (Central American Bank for Economic Integration), announced that the bank would provide technical assistance for the implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.

In the Monday press conference, The executive President of the Central American Bank For Economic Integration, Dante Mossi, said the development bank is looking forward to collaborating with the finance ministry of EL Salvador for the selection of a technical team to carry out a successful bitcoin implementation process.

Mossi admitted at the Monday press conference that the Government of El Salvador was actively looking for assistance from the financial institution to allow a proper enactment of Bitcoin as a legal tender in the country. 

Mossi seemed pleased while delivering the message to EL Salvador’s government and the President that how proud he feels that the Central American Bank for Economic Integration came out to be the first choice of President Bukele and the Government authorities of El Salvador. Further, Mossi brought up the point that there is no other country in the world that has adopted Bitcoin cryptocurrency as widely as this country has done. He said, protecting public privacy is a big challenge today, and to overcome this, we must choose the most efficient method.

Mossi gave out some details about the formation of the technical advisory team of the bank that would involve CABEI members, the ministry of finance and central bank officials from EL Salvador. 

The development bank also aims at helping in project planning and providing navigation assistance regarding the legal aspects of Bitcoin implementation as the legal currency of El Salvador.

Challenges in Bitcoin Adoption 

Last week, El Salvador turned into the first country to receive Bitcoin as a legal tender after Congress authorized President Nayib Bukele’s recommendation to accept the cryptocurrency.

Early this month, after El Salvador collaborated with digital wallet company “Strike” to foster the country’s advanced financial framework utilizing Bitcoin technology, President Bukele presented the bill to Congress.

After a couple of days, El Salvador’s President Bukele reported that bitcoin mining would be carried out under the nation’s state-run geothermal energy utility by employing power produced from volcanoes. The declaration was made only a few hours later, the Central American country’s CongressCongress cast a ballot to make the crypto a plausible legal tender.

Still, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cautioned El Salvador about the dangers of utilizing cryptocurrency for everyday exchanges. An IMF group planned to meet with the President of El Salvador as the worldwide association reflected upon another aid package for the country during its recuperation from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Meanwhile, El Salvador’s President disclosed that he was in touch with the IMF and expressed that he would clarify the operations comprehensively and the situation with the economy regarding how the currency functions as a legal tender in the country.

Conclusion 

President Bukele promises a robust selection of experts from CABEI would be made for effective risk assessment, investment plan, financial education, and regulation. CABEI, on the other hand, seems to be equally invested.

CABEI Lends assistance to EL Salvador for Bitcoin Adoption

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