Blockchain

Arca to Join the Bitcoin Trust Race Competing Against Numerous Crypto Fund Rivals

27/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Another firm is joining the bitcoin trust sector, as the California fund manager Arca has filed a registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Arca Accredited Investor Bitcoin Trust. The trust will compete with a number of competitors including Grayscale’s popular bitcoin investment vehicle GBTC.

Arca Files With the US SEC to List Its Accredited Investor Bitcoin Trust

The finance manager Arca has filed a Form D registration with the U.S. SEC in order to provide investors with a new bitcoin trust offering. The fund will be called the “Arca Accredited Investor Bitcoin Trust” and it will be taking investments of $25k or more, according to the Arca filing. This is half the value of Grayscale’s GBTC minimum investments set at $50k.

Arca has other crypto fund products and the Arca U.S. Treasury Fund. The fund is “a closed-end fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 issuing shares as digital securities that are transferable using blockchain technology,” according to the company. The Arca U.S. Treasury Fund dubbed “arcoin” was launched on July 6, 2020. The Arca Accredited Investor Bitcoin Trust will focus on bitcoin (BTC).

Arca Will Compete With Grayscale, Bitwise, Crosstower, Osprey Fund, and Blockfi

Arca will compete with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a popular investment vehicle that commands more than 3% of the entire BTC supply. Grayscale purchased $350 million worth of BTC this past week as the trust now has around 690,000 BTC held in custody. Arca’s Form D registration does not disclose the issuance size and will use the federal exemption Rule 506(c). The California-based firm will be competing with not just Grayscale but a number of other funds joining the bitcoin trust race.

News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the Bitwise fund and the offering from the financial services firm Blockfi. But the Arca bitcoin trust will also compete with trusts stemming from Crosstower, and the Osprey Fund as well. All of the trusts have different frameworks for fees that are different from Grayscale’s fee structure.

What do you think about the Arca Accredited Investor Bitcoin Trust? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Cyber Criminals Are Now Hiding Their Stolen Cryptos 13x Faster, Says Report

26/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Cyber Criminals Are Now Hiding Much More Quickly Their Stolen Cryptos, Says Report

A new report unveiled a growing trend of efforts from cybercriminals hiding their stolen cryptocurrencies through different transaction flows. Crystal Blockchain pointed out that since 2019, the volume of stolen bitcoin grew significantly.

Only 8% of the Funds Were Transferred to Exchanges With Verification Procedures in 2020

Per the findings, in 2020, the firm said that cybercriminals attempted to withdraw stolen and scam-sourced digital assets at a rate of 13x faster than five years ago.

Interestingly, in 53% of the cases, exchanges with verification requirements were the major destinations of such funds in 2015. But the figures fell in 2020 to 8% of stolen funds being transferred through crypto exchanges with verification procedures.

Still, mixers and exchanges without verification requirements were the main destinations in 2020 of the stolen crypto funds. Moreover, the report highlighted that crypto criminals only hide their stolen funds within 28 days on average.

Growing Popularity of Blockchain Analytics Tools

Crystal Blockchain provided some potential reasons behind that trend, including the emergence of several blockchain analytical firms working hand-by-hand with exchanges to improve their security compliance systems. The firm also added:

In the case of security breaches, for example, the combination of the speed at which information is spread amongst crypto-community members in 2020 as compared to 2015, as well as the improved ability to instantly tag addresses as high-risk by blockchain analytics platforms, now forces crypto-criminals to withdraw stolen assets in a much shorter period than they ever had to before.

Overall, the report praises that crypto regulations increasingly encouraging exchanges to take proper measures. It includes performing more robust anti-money laundering procedures. However, the blockchain analytics firm warned:

As the number of VASPs using analytics tools increases, the fight against theft and other illicit activities continues to improve. This does mean, however, that the schemes used by crypto-criminal to withdraw stolen funds will become even more complex and concealed, and they will definitely attempt to withdraw their assets in an even shorter time period than they ever have before.

What are your thoughts on the report’s findings? Let us know in the comments section below.

Topps Garbage Pail Kids Blockchain Collectibles Can Be Found at Target and Walmart

23/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

The popular trading card company Topps has just launched the “2021 Garbage Pail Kids Food Fight” series today, and the trading card packs are being sold at Target and Walmart stores. Not only will the Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) series provide people with collectible cardboard trading cards, Topps has also inserted blockchain-based rare code cards, which can be redeemed for exclusive GPK non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles on the Wax blockchain.

Blockchain and GPK

Since the eighties, the Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) has been a popular trading card series created by the company Topps. The firm Topps was founded in 1938 and has created collectible cards for a myriad of sports and hobbies for decades. Topps also owns Bazooka bubblegum, Ring Pop, Push Pop, and Baby Bottle Pop candies.

More recently, GPK cards have grown in popularity again, after making headlines back in the eighties. Series one packs of GPK originals from 1985, specifically the glossy card series, can rake in thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, since the birth of Bitcoin, blockchain technology has transformed not only finance, but other industries like art and collectibles. Last year, Topps joined forces with the wax.io (Wax blockchain) team and released the first iterations of digital GPK collectibles.

“Blockchain technology allows collectors to enter a marketplace where they can purchase digital Garbage Pail Kids trading cards,” the Topps website called topps.wdny.io notes. “[Collectors can] propose and execute trades, showcase their inventory on social media, and search wishlists of other traders.”

Topps Launches 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Food Fight Series With Chances to Win Wax Blockchain GPK NFTs

The blockchain Wax allows people to create, buy, sell, and trade virtual NFTs and physical items as well. Since 2017, the Wax network claims it has facilitated more than 100 million digital item swaps. This week, Topps is releasing the “2021 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Food Fight” series, which will be sold like any other annual GPK sets at Targets and Walmarts.

Boxes and packs of physical cards will have a chance to win a rare code card that can be used to redeem GPK Wax blockchain collectibles. The announcement details that there are 11 original pieces and a number of exclusive digital variants.

“On Feb. 24, 2021, Topps is releasing physical packs in Walmart and Target. On Feb 25, 2021, the digital version will be released on the Wax blockchain,” Topps said during the announcement. “Physical card collectors may also receive an exclusive redemption code card in the physical packs that will award exclusive digital collectibles on the Wax blockchain. Further Digital packs for the exclusive ‘b’ character names can be purchased directly on Wax during Topps Digital’s Wintercon 2021 beginning on February 25.” GPK fans can check out the cards at the wax.io website.

Topps executive and Topps Digicast Host, Marc Seal further said:

When I joined Topps two years ago, our VP, Tobin Lent, and I had discussed blockchain in depth and what it could mean for digital collectibles. We both, along with many others at Topps, see the amazing potential for blockchain.

Non-fungible tokens and blockchain-based collectibles have been all the rage since 2020 and millions of dollars in trades have been executed on NFT marketplaces. Just recently, individuals have been trading the NFT-based basketball trading cards called “NBA Top Shots.” On Monday, 27,000 unique individuals purchased NBA Top Shots cards and volume topped more than $32 million in sales.

What do you think about Topps and the Wax blockchain team releasing digital GPK cards in physical packs at select Target and Walmart stores? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Chinese Tea Retailer Joins the Crypto Mining Industry After Hiring Two Roles to Lead Its ‘Bitcoin Business Plan’

21/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Chinese Tea Retailer Joins the Crypto Mining Industry After Hiring Two Roles for Leading Its 'Bitcoin Business Plan'

A Chinese tea retailer is looking to make its inception into the bitcoin mining business. Publicly-listed Urban Tea announced the expansion of its operations by appointing two executives to pursue its crypto plans.

Urban Tea Praises Cryptocurrencies’ Widespread Popularity

Per the announcement, Urban Tea Inc. hired Fengdan Zhou as the company’s new chief operating officer and Dr. Yunfei Song as an independent director. The tea retailer expects the new roles to lead the “company’s critical strategic expansion in blockchain and cryptocurrency mining.”

Zhou will look forward to implementing the bitcoin (BTC) business plan of the firm. Her experience includes having worked in blockchain data centers across Southeast Asia and managing crypto mining farms. Moreover, she has expertise in crypto hardware wallet development, the announcement details.

Also, Dr. Song comes from an academic background, specifically being a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In fact, his expertise fields cover blockchain technology, crypto mining, artificial intelligence, among others.

Yi Long, CEO of Urban Tea, praised the widespread popularity that cryptos have gained recently. Also, he pointed out that the “world’s financial experts” have been building confidence in the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Long further commented on Zhou and Dr. Song’s hirings:

We expect that their industry expertise, combined with our growth strategy, will lead our expansion plan into the cryptocurrency mining industry. Going forward, we expect Urban Tea will start expanding into blockchain ecology, such as cryptocurrency mining, blockchain mine construction and maintenance, and cryptocurrency exchange operations.

Urban Tea, based in Hunan, China, was founded in 2011, and it’s currently listed in Nasdaq as MYT. As of press time, the company’s shares trade at $6.05, with a $45 million market capitalization. This maneuver is their first crypto-related business made over the company’s history.

Latest Tea Retailer’s Crypto Mining Venture Ended in a Disaster

There are some precedents of tea retailers joining the crypto industry. Long Island Iced Tea Corp, another publicly listed company, purchased 1,000 units of Antminer S9 manufactured by Bitmain in 2018 to join the crypto mining business. Afterward, they rebranded the business to “Long Blockchain Corp.”

However, the venture ended in a disaster. When Long Blockchain Corp acquired the crypto hardware, its stocks jumped by 500%. But mining’s plans went to the trash when crypto’s bears appeared in February 2018.

When Long Blockchain Corp’s shares were delisted by Nasdaq, the company also had to sell its tea business.

The story didn’t end there, as the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission then launched an investigation over allegations of insider trading and securities fraud.

What are your thoughts on Urban Tea’s announcement? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tezos Announces Major Upgrade to Improve Network Functionality

19/02/2021 by Idelto Editor

Open-source platform Tezos has just announced Edo, its fifth and most ambitious upgrade to its blockchain to date. This upgrade will add the Sapling protocol, tickets, and a new Adoption Period to support future upgrades that improve network functionality.

Sapling, Tickets, and a New Adoption Period will Bolster Future Upgrades

Tezos has been ramping up development activity following the growing hype around its native token XTZ, which has risen nearly 120% year-to-date as of writing. Its last update, Delphi, was released three months ago and cut gas costs by 75%.

Tezos says its new Sapling protocol will enable developers to power “new types of applications” by incorporating “voting or supporting asset transactions with selective disclosures.” One-use tickets will act as a ‘convenient mechanism’ to unlock contractual functions, according to Tezos. Besides improving developer efficiency, tickets are designed to encourage more ‘secure and composable contracts’ and issue tokens.

New Adoption Period to Ease Transition to New Protocols

The new Adoption Period is set to address the common challenges users face on the Tezos network during the transition period of new protocols. Users can now expect a five-cycle period between the approval of upgrades and the adoption process (approximately two weeks). This signals a departure from Tezos’ previous mechanism of four periods to eight cycles, with Tezos declaring its commitment to “seamless upgrade transitions for all users.”

Edo will tackle minor bugs, improve overall performance, and lower gas consumption than previous ecosystem upgrades. Tezos’ progress continues apace, with the project already working towards the next milestone. In the Edo release, Tezos stated that users could anticipate news on its next major update, Florence, soon.

What do you think about the future of the XTZ token? Let us know in the comments section below.