Mezech

In a move that would spur the acceptance and usage of cryptocurrency globally, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been in office since 2019, mentioned collaborating with state agencies to "figure out" the logistics of businesses that would be paying their taxes in cryptocurrency. He confirmed that the state is planning to receive tax payments in crypto from operating businesses.

“I’ve told the state agencies to figure out ways where if a business wants to pay tax in cryptocurrency to Florida, we should be willing to accept that. We will accept Bitcoin, we’re working on doing that, for payments in the state of Florida,” said the governor.

This is not the first time that approving Bitcoin for tax payments in the state has been talked about by Ron DeSantis. He spoke extensively about steering Florida towards becoming “crypto-friendly” as of last year December.

Aside from a couple of cities in the United States, Singapore, South Korea, Dubai and other countries and cities alike are gradually becoming more open to crypto and Web3 with regulations in an effort to establish the locations as centers for innovation, growth, and development of Web3.

Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill called “On Virtual Assets” that provides the legal grounds for the operations and management of a regulated crypto market in the country.

As announced by the Ukranian government, its National Securities and Stock Market Commission will be responsible for setting policies and developing guidelines for virtual assets. Crypto service providers and exchanges will be permitted to operate lawfully, and banks can set up accounts for them to facilitate their operations.

At a time where the country faces invasion, Ukrain recieved donations in crypto totaling $100M from accross the globe to aid in its defences and relief efforts amidst the war against Russia.

Becoming a major conduit for donations to Ukraine as well as being viewed as a potential haven for the Russians who are facing financial sanctions, cryptocurrency appears to be serving a substantial role in the war between these countries. Although the necessary exchanging of virtual assets for the government-backed currency so as to make purchases poses as a challenge, the legalization of the cryptocurrency industry may alleviate a number of these issues.

Formula One team Red Bull Racing goes into a multi-year partnership with crypto exchange BYBIT.

According to Autosport, the partnership is valued at $50million per year and the team describes the deal as ‘the single largest per-annum cryptocurrency venture yet seen in international sport’. Bybit will also have prominent branding on the front wing of Red Bull Racing's 2022 car.

Additionally, Bybit will also serve as Red Bull Racing's fan token issuance partner, facilitating the distribution of digital collectibles among its fans as well as supporting its other projects.

Christian Horner, CEO of Red Bull Racing, stated his enthusiasm for the collaboration and is equally pleased with Bybit's dedication to improving the F1 fan experience by leveraging innovations in the digital space. Bybit echoes the team's "desire to exist at the vanguard of technological innovation, to set the competitive pace, and to upset the existing quo," according to Horner.

“It’s fitting too that, as we enter a new generation of competition of Formula One in 2022, with an advanced and potentially game-changing new philosophy of cars taking to the track, that Bybit also exist at the cutting edge of technology.

“They share the team’s passion to exist at the forefront of technological innovation, to set the competitive pace and to disrupt the status quo. Allied to that is Bybit’s commitment to enlivening the fan experience in Formula One through digital innovation. This is also a key mission for the Team and Bybit’s assistance will help us build a deeper more immersive and unique connection with the team for fans around the world,” - said the CEO.

According to a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office dated Feb. 10, the New York Stock Exchange has registered for trademark licensing to launch metaverse, NFT, and cryptocurrency-related products.

In a tweet on February 15, trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis revealed that the NYSE had filed an application on February 10 and that the stock exchange is coming to the metaverse, he wrote:

On Feb 15, trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis disclosed the filed application in a tweet NYSE. He wrote,
“A new application filed on the 10th says that NYSE has plans to trademark NYSE for NFTs, cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles, and marketplaces to trade and exchange them. This filing is the latest confirmation that the Metaverse is real and businesses need to plan accordingly. Businesses no longer need to wonder if it is going to happen....."

"The NYSE is clearing taking a proactive, forward-thinking approach to ensure that it is the leading financial exchange in the Metaverse.”

However, an NYSE official stated that the stock exchange has no current plans to launch crypto or NFT trading. “The NYSE regularly considers new products and their impact on our trademarks and protects our intellectual property rights accordingly,” the spokesperson stated.

This is not the first time the NYSE has explored NFTs. It created a no. of NFTs last year to celebrate significant IPOs, including Snowflake, Spotify and Roblox.

Additionally, applications for trademarks in the metaverse have in recent weeks with fashion brand Victoria’s Secret filing four applications for digital collectibles and media developed using blockchain along with clothes and media used in virtual worlds, as reported by Finbold.

Cent, the company behind the auction of Jack Dorsey's first tweet for $2.9 million has put most transactions on hold due to the sale of tokens of content that are fake and plagiarized. The CEO and co-founder of the company, Cameron Hejazi, referred to it as a "fundamental problem" in the fast-growing digital assets market. He told Reuters during an interview published on Friday that since February 6th, Cent stopped allowing users to purchase and sell most NFTs. Although it has maintained operations in its Valuables marketplace, where people can buy and sell NFTs of tweets, that's all there is.

"There's a spectrum of activity that is happening that basically shouldn't be happening - like, legally." Cent has attempted to ban problematic actors, according to Hejazi, but the process has been akin to a game of whack-a-mole. “Every time we would ban one, another one would come up, or three more would come up.”

One of the largest NFT marketplaces, OpenSea, revealed in the previous month that over 80% of the tokens generated using the free minting tool available comprised fake content, spam, and plagiarized work. The disclosure came when the platform attempted to restrict the number of free NFTs that users may generate.

"I think this is a pretty fundamental problem with Web3," Hejazi said.

As prominent businesses embrace and support the concept of the "metaverse," or Web3, such issues may become more apparent. Coca-Cola and Gucci are among the corporations that have sold NFTs, and YouTube has stated that it will look into NFTs.

Russian authorities plan to recognize digital assets as currency, local media reports.

According to Russia's executive power, the plan is to incorporate cryptocurrency circulation into the financial system. An announcement published earlier this week states that the Russian government “has determined the future of digital currencies in Russia.” Additionally, the cabinet intends to regulate crypto-related activities within the banking sector.

Interestingly, the announcement comes just a couple of weeks after the Bank of Russia sought a sweeping ban on crypto, citing the industry's speculative nature as a threat to financial stability, in a report released in January. A portion of the proposal included prohibiting financial institutions from supporting crypto transactions.

Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, and the Prosecutor General’s Office all participated in the discourse. The Russian government emphasized:

Those who participated in the discourse include the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Russia’s financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Economic Development.

"The implementation of the concept will ensure the creation of the necessary regulatory framework, will bring the digital currency industry out of the shadows and create the possibility for legal business activities." as highlighted by the Russian government.

Anthony Pompliano, the founder of Pomp Investments, outlined in a newsletter that Russia's openness to considering crypto together with putting digital assets on its balance sheet would “force the hand of the United States.”

“There is a global competition underway that has a decentralized, open system at the heart of it; anyone can plug into the system. The game theory is that no one wants to start the cascade, but once your adversary does it, you are forced to adopt the technology or risk being left behind,” Pompliano wrote.

$BTC

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX saw its valuation swell to $32 billion in a new funding round announced Monday, highlighting continued appetite for the sector even as investors grow wary about a sharp pullback in crypto prices.

The Bahamas-based company said Monday that it raised $400 million in a Series C financing round — its third fundraise in the last nine months.

FTX, which offers derivatives products as well as spot trading, is one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges. Once an obscure name, the firm has become a key player in the nascent market, rivaling the likes of Coinbase and Binance.

The company doesn’t offer trading in the United States. That function is provided by FTX U.S., its sister exchange. Last week, FTX U.S. announced a $400 million investment valuing the firm at $8 billion.

Having now raised a combined $2 billion in venture funding to date, FTX has built up a war chest at a time when digital currency prices have sunk considerably. Bitcoin is down 46% from its November record of almost $69,000, while other cryptocurrencies have slumped even further.

That’s led to fears the market may be on the cusp of a more severe downturn known as “crypto winter.” The last such occurrence happened in late 2017 and early 2018, when bitcoin tanked as much as 80% from its then-record high. Bear markets are typically bad news for crypto exchanges as it means volumes tend to dry up.

“I think we’re not entering a long term crypto winter,” Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s CEO and co-founder, told CNBC in an interview.
“There have been changes in expectations of interest rates, and that’s been moving crypto markets. But it’s been moving markets more generally as well.”

A large focus for FTX, Bankman-Fried said, is acquiring licenses in several countries. Its U.S. arm is now authorized to sell derivatives products such as futures and options, which allow investors to speculate on movements in the price of an asset. Bankman-Fried said FTX’s international business will be licensed across “the bulk of the Western world” by the end of this year.

~CNBC

$BTC

In an effort to educate kids more about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, NBA superstar LeBron James is collaborating with Crypto.com to make that happen.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the LeBron James Family Foundation has established a multi-year partnership with Crypto.com to design a curriculum for the I PROMISE School in Akron, Ohio.

Additionally, the initiative intends to provide children and their families with more employment opportunities and career options in the blockchain technology field, including introducing them to Web 3, which is regarded as the next generation of the Internet by enthusiasts.

"Blockchain technology is revolutionizing our economy, sports and entertainment, the art world, and how we engage with one another. I want to ensure that communities like the one I come from are not left out,” LeBron said in a statement.

Web3 although mostly theoretical, envisages a decentralized internet that makes use of blockchain technology. It has become a term for businesses in cryptocurrency and other innovative fields, as well as a matter of interest among technology experts.

Eric Adams, the newly-elected mayor of New York City and a notable bitcoin bull, defined digital assets as a “new way for paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe” in November of last year. He suggested that because blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are so significant, students should learn about them in school.

“We must open our schools to teach the technology, to teach this new way of thinking when it comes down to paying for goods and services.”

$BTC

Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki suggested in a published letter that the video-sharing platform is looking to incorporate web3 technology, NFTs inclusive, as a source of revenue for Youtube content creators.

“We’re always focused on expanding the YouTube ecosystem to help creators capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs, while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube,” she wrote.

Although no specific plans have been revealed, nor is there any indication as to when testing it's likely to start experimenting with NFTs on its site, YouTube's involvement could catapult the technology forward.

YouTube's decision to enter into the NFT space doesn't come off as surprising, given the fact that other social media platforms have followed suit. Facebook and Instagram are looking into it just as Twitter is also is testing it by allowing users to upload NFTs as profile pictures.

Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 represent different phases of the Internet. Let us take a closer look at these buzzwords.

.0 .0

Opera, the company behind the well-known multi-platform browser, announced the release of a brand-new browser solution developed and optimized to support blockchain technology. Opera announced that the specialized Web3 browser, named "The Crypto Project", with beta versions already available for Mac and Android, and Windows, is designed to offer users direct access to Web3 services.

As said in its announcement, "Too few of the web browsing experiences offered today have been built with the intention of putting Web3 centerstage and making blockchain technologies understandable and easy to use. With the Crypto Browser Project, we have set out to change this, and starting today; we are inviting the blockchain community to join this mission.”

Opera, according to a press release, states the target market for this product to be “the crypto-native and the crypto-curious,” with its own dedicated wallet integrated into the user experience. This native wallet can be accessed on a sidebar called Crypto Corner on the project.