This year is shaping up to be exceedingly important for the development of cryptocurrencies. Among the numerous recent news reports about how the modern banking infrastructure is opening up to the trend, there are also signs that some major businesses are becoming more adaptable to receiving payments in cryptocurrencies. As a result, the view that Bitcoin or Ethereum are worthwhile investments has caused major banks to allow customers to invest in specialized funds. For example, according to a report by Coindesk, JPMorgan Chase is preparing to offer an actively managed bitcoin fund to certain clients, becoming the latest and largest bank to embrace crypto as an asset class. Scienjoy Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SJ), Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: HOFV), Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), Funko, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNKO), WISeKey International Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: WKEY)
Knightsbridge is powering ahead with their Marshall Islands Crypto Broker, and the sister Crypto has jumped from 43c to $3 in the last month, with only 5m GBITS it might go super high.
Meanwhile, the trend of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) has gained traction online, specifically amongst tech and crypto enthusiasts. As a result, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, has revealed plans on Tuesday to introduce its own marketplace where users can create, buy and sell the digital collector’s items. “Our aim is to provide the largest NFT trading platform in the world with the best minting, buying and exchanging experience, by leveraging the fastest and cheapest solutions powered by Binance blockchain infrastructure and community,” said Helen Hai, Head of Binance’s NFT project, according to CNBC.
Scienjoy Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SJ) just announced breaking news this morning that, “Scienjoy Launches Video Demonstration of Non-Fungible Token Game Experience”, a leading live entertainment mobile streaming platform in China, today launched the first video demonstration of the Company’s virtual worlds and games featuring Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”). This initiative aims to educate international audiences on Scienjoy’s immersive entertainment experience while showing how NFTs enrich gameplay…
This education campaign follows the Company’s announcement on April 26, 2021 that it has officially launched the first round of Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) on its live streaming platforms, making it one of the first live streaming platforms in mainland China to adopt the technology. In China, the live streaming industry represents a new form of online entertainment that’s unmatched in other markets, making it difficult to comprehend without first-hand experience. Scienjoy will publish videos and staged game demos to show international audiences how NFTs are being integrated into the platform, and scenarios of how they can be traded and minted in the future.
Scienjoy has built fully immersive live streaming virtual worlds backed by AI and AR technologies. The first virtual world to feature NFTs is the “Planet Ruler” virtual world on the Company’s Showself live streaming entertainment platform. The platform now features 16 NFTs that users and broadcasters can compete to win by conquering planets or territories. Players can display their NFTs in “Planet Ruler” and on the Showself entertainment platform, and also track and trace their NFTs in OpenSea, a large global peer-to-peer NFT marketplace. Owners will be able to trade the tokens freely. Scienjoy will track the trading of tokens to allow the current owners to display the NFTs in the game.
Looking forward, Scienjoy hopes to explore NFTs on a larger scale. In addition to minting NFTs as unique prizes for live streaming games, Scienjoy is exploring enabling live streaming broadcasters to create their own NFTs. The Company also plans to roll out six complete virtual reality worlds in 2021. As Scienjoy stays at the forefront of the live streaming industry, it aims to educate and spread awareness about how new technologies can be used to drive user traffic and educate outside parties on the improved game experience and the potentials for platform growth and monetization.
Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: HOFV) announced on March 23rd, that it has signed a partnership with Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLPN), a leading independent entertainment marketing and premium content development firm, to offer non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) that will allow fans of professional football and sports entertainment to buy and sell exclusive content developed by HOFV and its partners. The partnership provides the Company with another way to generate revenue from its burgeoning media division. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Dolphin, an emerging thought leader in the NFT market, to accelerate our entry into the space,” said Michael Crawford, President and CEO of HOFV. “The significant progress we have made on our strategic initiatives since going public in July 2020 has allowed us to be in a position where we can offer individuals the opportunity to own NFTs associated with original content centered on professional football. This partnership will provide us with another opportunity to unlock additional value from the one-of-a-kind media projects we have in development.”
Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) reported earlier this March that it will achieve an estimated hash rate capacity of 1.06 Exahash per second (“EH/s”) with the deployment of the newly received 2,002 S19 Pro Antminers. “Exceeding 1 EH/s in hash rate capacity marks a major milestone for the Company,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. “While we are proud of this accomplishment, we view it as the successful completion of just one of many steps of our ongoing growth plan. Riot continues to receive and deploy next-generation miners from Bitmain and remains on schedule to more than triple our currently deployed capacity by the fourth quarter of 2021.”
Funko, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNKO) announced this month it has acquired a majority ownership stake in TokenWave, LLC, the developer of TokenHead, a leading mobile app and website for showcasing and tracking Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) holdings. TokenHead is available on iOS and Android, and currently displays over 10 million NFTs and has more than 100,000 visits per day. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. The investment accelerates Funko’s initial entry into the NFT market and will extend the Company’s pop culture platform to include digital assets. Funko expects to launch its initial NFT offerings in June, featuring a unique property each week at a starting price point of $9.99. Products will be sold on the WAX platform, the leading decentralized wallet on the blockchain, which provides verifiable authenticity for purchases of Funko NFTs.
WISeKey International Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: WKEY) announced on April 16th, that it has joined forces with Jacob & Co to NFT the Astronomia Sky, the epitome of 21st century haute horlogerie and a globally recognized symbol of Jacob & Co watchmaking expertise. Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey said, “We are delighted to join forces between WISeKey and Jacob & Co. This combination of a powerful NFT technology offering with Jacob & Co watchmaking expertise in conducting Trusted NFTs auctions is a great model on how WISeKey’s unique Digital Identification NFT platform technology delivers the most secure and scalable blockchain backend for creating real digital twins for valuable objects. This unique approach will make it possible to mint provenance and a digital version into an NFT that contains smart contracts on how the digital twin may be used, removing any uncertainty of what an NFT actually means to a collector by delivering authenticated digital twins to the watch luxury market.”
