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PR Newswire

Planetwatch Announces The Listing Of The PLANETS Token On Bitfinex Exchange

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ST. GENIS-POUILLY, France, June 3, 2021 — Planetwatch, a French start-up which decentralizes and incentivizes environmental monitoring, announced that its utility token, PLANETS, will be listed on Bitfinex. PLANETS are the first Algorand Standard Asset (barring stablecoins) to be supported on a major international exchange.

Claudio Parrinello, PlanetWatch’s CEO said: "This is a major milestone for PlanetWatch. Less than 18 months after company creation, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we have managed to demonstrate that our Smart City as a Service solution, based on community sensor deployment and crowdsourced air quality data, can deliver business-grade data feeds in a fast and cost-effective way."

PlanetWatch revolutionizes the way we measure air quality by using the Algorand Blockchain, IoT-enabled sensors and AI-based data analysis. PlanetWatch incentivizes citizens to operate air quality sensors and earn token rewards for data streams.

Sean Lee, CEO of the Algorand Foundation, said: "We are delighted to see Bitfinex support the PLANETS token. The PlanetWatch team have shown outstanding vision and innovation in creating their "Smart City"aaS concept and choosing to create their utility token ecosystem on Algorand’s sustainable, carbon negative blockchain network. We are excited to see the world discover the amazing potential of crowd sourced air quality monitoring and the PLANETS token."

PlanetWatch is focusing on air pollution, because it causes over 7 million deaths per year (source: WHO). In addition, recent studies provide evidence linking long-term exposure to air pollution with an increase in mortality from COVID-19 infection, as well as a significant risk of infection via aerosol in indoor spaces, where air quality can be a proxy for infection risks.

PlanetWatch is strongly supported by high-profile partners such as Algorand, the Algorand Foundation and CERN, the leading physics research lab in the world, where the Web was born.

As provider of environmental data, PlanetWatch was naturally led to partner with Algorand which provides a highly scalable, decentralized and secure blockchain which is also one of the "greenest" for energy consumption. As far as CERN is concerned, PlanetWatch is the only company in the global blockchain ecosystem to be an official "CERN Spin-off".

PlanetWatch’s network is growing very fast. It currently comprises approximately 700 sensors, mostly in Europe and the USA. Based on the current installation pipeline, the 1,000-sensor milestone will be reached in a few weeks. For more information on Planetwatch, visit https://planetwatch.io and for further information on Algorand, visit https://algorand.com  

Contact: Claudio Parrinello CEO claudio.parrinello@planetwatch.io

 

 

Related Links :

https://planetwatch.io

PR Newswire

Circle Completes $440 Million Financing to Drive Growth and Market Expansion

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BOSTON, May 29, 2021 — Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides payments and treasury infrastructure for internet businesses, today announced it has raised $440 million in financing from leading institutional and strategic investors.

The financing, among the top 10 in private fintech investments, fuels the company’s continued growth, organizational development and market expansion opportunities. On the heels of recruiting world-class leaders to Circle’s executive team, including Dante Disparte, as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy, Jeremy Fox-Geen, as Chief Financial Officer, Mandeep Walia as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, along with hundreds of open roles across the U.S. and around the world, Circle is now poised to meet significant global demand for its products and services aimed at marrying the existing financial system with breakthroughs in digital currency within payments and finance.

Underpinning this growth is Circle’s principal contribution in the rapid rise of USD Coin, or USDC, as the world’s most trusted and fastest growing dollar digital currency, which now stands at $22 billion in circulation. USDC has grown by 436% in 2021 alone, and over 28,000% over the past 12 months.

"As a company, Circle has remained committed to our mission of raising global economic prosperity through the power of digital currency, blockchains and breakthroughs in programmable money. The sustained global demand for our services powering the growth of USDC, as the most trusted and well regulated dollar digital currency, signals that we are one step closer to achieving our mission. With powerful backers who are committed to our mission and vision, we will redouble our efforts to expand into new markets, continue driving fundamental technology innovation and grow our team," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle co-founder and CEO.

The financing included investments from leading private equity, institutional and strategic investors, including Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Willett Advisors, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Breyer Capital, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, as well as Michael J. Price and Friends. 

"Circle has been a pioneer in unlocking the potential of blockchain-enabled payments. With USDC’s extraordinary growth, Circle has established itself at the center of a new generation of financial services and applications. We are proud to continue to partner with Circle to develop a better global financial system," said Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group.

"Circle has been an experienced player in making fiat work on blockchains for nearly eight years and has built deep capabilities to ease payments in crypto. At FTX we’re excited to partner further with Circle to help expand these capabilities to all crypto users," said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle’s platform has supported more than 100 million transactions by more than 10 million retail customers and more than 1,000 businesses. Circle is also a principal developer of USD Coin (USDC), which together with Coinbase and the Centre Consortium oversees the standards and protocol for what has become the fastest growing, regulated, fully reserved dollar digital currency. USDC now stands at more than 22 billion and has supported over $615 billion in transactions over the past year. Today, Circle’s transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through programmable internet commerce. Learn more at https://circle.com

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https://circle.com

PR Newswire

KuCoin Partners With Cashaa to Combat COVID-19 Crisis in India Through Distribution of Daily Supplies

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VICTORIA, Seychelles, May 19, 2021 — KuCoin, an IDG-backed crypto exchange, announced today that it has partnered with Cashaa, a blockchain-based financial platform, to jointly initiate charity campaigns to help people cope with the increasingly severe challenges of COVID-19 in India.

Latest statistics show that India’s COVID-19 cases have surpassed 25 million as mutations spread across the globe. What makes things worse is that the virus crisis is pushing up the cost of living as the shortage of daily supplies has been seen in many Indian cities. As part of KuCoin’s charity initiative in India, the crypto platform has pledged ₹2 million worth of food and daily supplies, and these goods will be delivered to the families in need with the help of Unicas, the world’s first crypto bank powered by Cashaa.

KuCoin joins hands with Cashaa to start distribution of food and daily supplies to 2000 families in India
KuCoin joins hands with Cashaa to start distribution of food and daily supplies to 2000 families in India

The first batch of food and daily supplies including wheat, rice, dal and salt has started to be distributed to people in Jaipur, Delhi, and Patna earlier today, and more families will be covered in the following days. It is noticed that each ration kit will be able to feed a family of four for up to two weeks.

"As a global exchange, we pay close attention to the COVID-19 situation as it spreads across the world," said Johnny Lyu, CEO at KuCoin Global. "Knowing its outbreak in India and considering the daily nutritional needs are at the edge for millions of people during the quarantine, as the People’s Exchange, we are pleased to take our responsibility to help local people address these challenges brought by the COVID-19."

As the COVID-19 has continued to deteriorate in India since April, KuCoin launched a charity fund with an initial investment of ₹1 Crore on April 28, 2021. The fund is dedicated to assist local partners and NGOs in providing much-needed support to residents in those cities with insufficient resources to fight against the pandemic.

"Unicas started the initiative #NoOneSleepsHungry to address the root cause of hunger and that it does not become the reason for anyone to suffer amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. With our distribution of 1,000 ration kits with essential food supply, the campaign has positively affected the lives of several people in Jaipur, however it’s not enough," said Dinesh Kukreja, CEO of Unicas. "We are grateful to join hands with KuCoin to facilitate the underprivileged and needy in these dire times and extend this initiative to two other cities and provide support to 2,000 families."

As one of the first crypto trading platforms to enter the Indian market, KuCoin is committed to supporting local blockchain startups, listing promising crypto gems, providing Indian Investors with safe and easy-to-use trading services, as well as contributing to the mass adoption of blockchain. It believes that the technology has the potential to facilitate the free flow of value, upholding the well-being of all people.

As the next step of its charity initiative in India, KuCoin has partnered with Adim Sanskruti, a Pune-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), to extend the daily supplies distribution to Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra in a few days, and it is anticipated that another 750 families will be benefited.

About KuCoin

KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges. It currently provides Spot trading, Margin trading, P2P fiat trading, Futures trading, Staking, and Lending to its 6 million users in 207 countries and regions around the world. In 2018, KuCoin has secured $20 million in Round A funding from IDG Capital and Matrix Partners. For more information, please visit www.kucoin.com

PR Newswire

CryptoPunks Market Capitalization Nearly $2 Billion

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CryptoPunks have achieved ‘unicorn’ status ahead of the landmark Christie’s auction of 9 CryptoPunks, according to researchers from the University of Nicosia

NICOSIA, Cyprus, May 11, 2021 — The value of all 10,000 CryptoPunks, the first and best-known NFT (Non-Fungible Token) project and ecosystem based on Ethereum, exceeds $1.95B (€1.60B), according to estimates by researchers at the Institute For the Future (IFF) at the University of Nicosia.

The IFF research team has analyzed CryptoPunk sales data from January 1st, 2021 to present with various machine learning models to estimate a value for each individual CryptoPunk.   The team estimates that the aggregate value of the individual CryptoPunks as of May 9, 2021 is 476,113 ETH (or $1.95B at current exchange rates).  This is the first time, to the team’s knowledge, that a market capitalization has been calculated for a complete NFT ecosystem.

Ali Tayari, team lead, noted: "Establishing ecosystem-wide valuations across thousands or tens of thousands of NFT assets can only be done through automated analysis and is a critical missing link in the NFT ecosystem.  We look forward to further refining our valuation models and extending them to other NFT projects in the coming weeks."

Antonis Polemitis, Director of IFF and CEO of the University of Nicosia (UNIC) noted: "NFTs are already a multi-billion dollar industry, in part due to pioneering work by Larva Labs, the creators of CryptoPunks.  We believe that, over time, NFTs will extend from arts and collectibles to represent a wide range of assets, services and communities.  By the end of the decade, NFTs will represent trillions of dollars in value in a digitally native format.  It is critical for all stakeholders in this ecosystem to have robust and credible automated measures of value, and we hope that IFF can play a key role in establishing benchmarks in this exciting field."

CryptoPunk valuations are recalculated daily and the latest valuation estimates can be found at NFTValuations.com.  More detail about the project can be found at: www.NFTValuations.com/about.

About IFF

The Institute For the Future (IFF) at the University of Nicosia is focused on accelerating technological developments with a particular focus on crypto-assets, blockchain and forecasting.  It is a global leader in crypto-asset and blockchain research across a variety of areas, and advises the European Commission on blockchain matters as the academic lead of the EU Blockchain Forum and Observatory. 

About the University of Nicosia  

The University of Nicosia is the largest university in Cyprus and one of the largest English language universities in southern Europe. In 2013, the University of Nicosia was the first university to offer academic programs in the field of crypto-assets and is considered by many to have the largest and most developed university initiative in crypto-assets and blockchain globally.

Contact:
John C. Mavris
Marketing Communications Manager
University of Nicosia
t. +357 22 841711 | e. mavris.j@unic.ac.cy  

The University of Nicosia is one of the largest English language universities in southern Europe and is considered by many to have the most developed university initiative in crypto-assets and blockchain globally. Its Institute For the Future (IFF) advises the European Commission on blockchain matters as the academic lead of the EU Blockchain Forum and Observatory.
The University of Nicosia is one of the largest English language universities in southern Europe and is considered by many to have the most developed university initiative in crypto-assets and blockchain globally. Its Institute For the Future (IFF) advises the European Commission on blockchain matters as the academic lead of the EU Blockchain Forum and Observatory.

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PR Newswire

Liquid now supports instant USD settlement on the Silvergate Exchange Network

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SINGAPORE, April 19, 2021 — Liquid, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency-fiat exchange platforms by trade volume, is working with Silvergate Bank, a California-based Federal Reserve member bank, to improve market access and increase trading opportunities for Liquid’s clients.

Liquid has announced it has completed integration with Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), an internal settlement platform developed by Silvergate Bank. Liquid users depositing and withdrawing USD via SEN will have funds credited and available for trading at Liquid Exchange near real-time 24/7.

The automation is already live for deposit and withdrawal services.

Integration of SEN will be key to Liquid’s Stablecoin Exchange Initiative. Clients will be able to trade fiat and stablecoins 24/7.

Some of the ways in which SEN integration will help accelerate the growth of Stablecoin initiative on Liquid will be risk-free arbitrage opportunities and state-of-the-art market access.

Liquid is more accessible than ever. Instant settlement 24/7 provides counterparties with more opportunities to trade on Liquid during fast markets.

"By integrating with Silvergate Bank SEN network and enabling zero cost, instant deposits & withdrawals 24/7, Liquid is confirming our commitment to innovation and improving crypto market access for all market participants.  With our innovative Multi-Market Order (MMO) technology, development of stablecoin and Digital FX trading, the past regional inefficiencies and price dislocations are quickly being replaced with deep liquidity and efficient price discovery.  Liquid looks forward to further collaboration with Silvergate Bank to better serve the growing global crypto trading market," Seth Melamed, Chief Operations Officer, Liquid.

About Liquid:
Liquid is a leading global fintech company founded in 2014, with offices in Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Liquid was the first exchange licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency in 2017, and in 2019 the exchange’s yearly trading volume exceeded 60bn USD. The Company is continuing its focused expansion into 2021 with the development of the "Liquid Stablecoin Exchange," a trading & payments platform focused on leveraging the growth of stablecoins.

Liquid Website: https://liquid.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Liquid_Global
Telegram: https://t.me/QUOINENews

Related Links :

https://liquid.com

PR Newswire

Algorand Enhances TEAL Smart Contract Language in Latest Upgrade

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Improved developer experiences empower the Algorand community as DeFi and application building expands

BOSTON, April 14, 2021 — Algorand, a leading blockchain technology company accelerating the convergence of decentralized and traditional finance, continues to deliver on its commitment to technical innovation with the availability of its latest upgrade to its Layer-1 Smart Contracts language (TEAL), the first in a series of such enhancements. Smart Contracts on Algorand are built into Layer-1 and thus benefit from the network’s speed, security, and scalability with reduced settlement risk through trustless execution, low transaction fees, and flexible implementations needed to power complex applications.

The latest upgrade is based on direct feedback from the Algorand developer community to address and remove obstacles for viable mainstream adoption, mainly by ensuring application development is faster and more efficient.  Algorand’s smart contract language, TEAL (Transaction Execution Approval Language), has been upgraded  for a more optimized developer experience, while maintaining a Layer-1 language and increasing access and convenience, without compromising performance or economic efficiencies.

New features are comprised of the following distinct functionality:

  1. Complete access to transactions in the Atomic Transfer capability
  2. Better application permissions in addressing user demand using CreatorAddress
  3. New opcodes addressing demands from TEAL users and TEAL compilers

º     A concise way to express requirements
º     The ability to manipulate the stack and data values in a more concise way
º     The ability to combine Atomic Transfers together

With these new features, the following are now available for developers:

  • Convenience functions for examining other assets and stateful smart contracts
  • Functions to support better stack manipulation
  • Support for manipulating data with bit and byte functions
  • Improved conditional logic capabilities

In expanding the possibilities to write more efficient smart contracts, compilers and high-level languages are empowered with this TEAL upgrade as new gateways for development. Reach, a development platform, is one such example of tooling available to Algorand developers that lowers the barrier to entry, while enabling blockchain developers to build more sophisticated applications.

"Algorand continues to deliver on innovation, and it is exciting to see TEAL opening new opportunities for the growing developer community.  As a partner of Algorand empowering developers to leverage their high performing blockchain, it is a major milestone that anything written on Reach can now work on Algorand," says Chris Swenor, Founder & CEO, Reach. 

Examples of applications that are now easier and more efficient to write on Algorand include:

This consensus protocol upgrade is the 5th for Algorand since inception, with no downtime or performance degradation— proving yet again that Algorand is built with the reliability, security, and evolving capabilities to continuously serve its developer community and pave the way for the future of finance (FutureFi).

Algorand always welcomes and values developers’ feedback as it directly impacts continued innovations. For more technical details, visit TEAL and the developer post here. For more general questions on building on Algorand, please visit our developer portal. Feedback can be submitted to: devsupport@algorand.com.

About Algorand
Algorand is building the technology to power the Future of Finance (FutureFi), the convergence of traditional and decentralized models into a unified system that is inclusive, frictionless, and secure. Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand developed a blockchain infrastructure that offers the interoperability and capacity to handle the volume of transactions needed for defi, financial institutions and governments to smoothly transition into FutureFi. The technology of choice for more than 500 global organizations, Algorand is enabling the simple creation of next generation financial products, protocols and exchange of value. For more information, visit www.algorand.com.  

About the Algorand Foundation
The Algorand Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling the global promise of blockchain technology by leveraging the Algorand protocol and open source software, which was initially designed by Silvio Micali and a team of leading scientists. With core beliefs in the establishment of an open, public and permissionless blockchain, the Algorand Foundation has a vision for an inclusive ecosystem that provides an opportunity for everyone to harness the potential of an equitable and truly borderless economy. For more information, visit www.algorand.foundation.

Related Links :

https://www.algorand.com

PR Newswire

XELS launches eco-conscious blockchain platform for carbon offset credits

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TOKYO, April 7, 2021 — XELS, a startup that hopes to tackle climate change by increasing participation and transparency in carbon markets, has launched its blockchain-based carbon offset platform. The company is initially focused on voluntary carbon offset credits, which are increasingly attractive to companies that want to show consumers they’re serious about reducing their carbon footprint.

Since the birth of carbon markets following the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, fraud has hindered the effectiveness of carbon credit sales and trading. Bad actors sometimes sell fake or expired credits, and "recycling" fraud had led to the double spending of unretired credits. Carbon markets are the perfect use case for blockchain’s distributed ledger technology, as transactions cannot be modified, reversed, or duplicated. Carbon credits that exist on the blockchain can also be "burned," with a publicly visible record proving it has been retired forever.

"We believe that decentralization is the only way that carbon markets can work effectively," explains XELS founder and CEO Takeshi Nojima. "XELS will enable the industry to maintain open, transparent records – from generation, to sale, to retirement. Making it easy for corporations to transparently offset their carbon without fear of fraud will make them even more willing to combat global warming, and it will pay dividends as far as consumer trust that they’re truly intent on making a difference for the environment."

In addition to putting voluntary carbon credits on the blockchain, the company also seeks to offer "compliance" credits, which are heavily regulated under national cap and trade agreements. Japan lags behind European nations, where businesses are compelled to buy compliance credits to avoid heavy taxes. XELS is already in talks with numerous listed companies in Japan that are keen to get on board with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s target of reaching net zero domestic emissions by 2050.

XELS is cognizant of concerns surrounding the high energy consumption associated with popular incumbent blockchains. Later this year, XELS will migrate its platform to a proprietary, low-energy blockchain that the company has been developing since 2017. XELS Chain takes a hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-work approach, while enabling users to run a full node on a basic laptop without the need for power-hungry mining hardware.

XELS, based dually in Tokyo and Hong Kong, is a member of the Climate Chain Coalition.

Learn more about XELS at www.xels.io

For media inquiries, please contact pr@xels.io

 

PR Newswire

Future Fintech Group Inc. Announces $35 Million Registered Direct Offering Priced At-the-market Under Nasdaq Rules

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NEW YORK, Apr. 1, 2021 — Future FinTech Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FTFT) ("Future FinTech", "FTFT" or "the Company"), a leading blockchain based e-commerce company and a service provider for financial technology, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with institutional investors for the purchase and sale of 5,737,706 shares of its common stock at a price of $6.10 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $35 million in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about April 6, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners is acting as the sole placement agent for the offering.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for growth capital and general working capital purposes.

This offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-224686) previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and declared effective on December 11, 2020. A prospectus supplement describing the terms of the proposed offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at http://www.sec.gov. Electronic copies of the prospectus supplement may be obtained, when available, from A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, 590 Madison Avenue, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at (212) 624-2060, or by email at prospectus@allianceg.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Future FinTech Group Inc.

Future FinTech Group Inc. ("Future FinTech", "FTFT" or the "Company") is a leading blockchain e-commerce company and a service provider for financial technology incorporated in Florida. The Company’s operations include a blockchain-based online shopping mall platform, Chain Cloud Mall ("CCM"), a cross-border e-commerce platform (NONOGIRL), an incubator for blockchain based application projects. The Company is also engaged in the development of blockchain based technology and services as well as financial technology services. For more information, please visit http://www.ftftex.com/.  

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning and protections of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions, and future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and which may cause the actual results, performance, capital, ownership or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as "may," "will," "anticipate," "assume," "should," "indicate," "would," "believe," "contemplate," "expect," "estimate," "continue," "plan," "point to," "project," "could," "intend," "target" and other similar words and expressions of the future.

All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and our other reports and filings with SEC. Such reports are available upon request from the Company, or from the Securities and Exchange Commission, including through the SEC’s Internet website at http://www.sec.gov. We have no obligation and do not undertake to update, revise or correct any of the forward-looking statements after the date hereof, or after the respective dates on which any such statements otherwise are made.

PR Newswire

Circle Launches Comprehensive NFT Platform & Marketplace Payments Solution

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Accelerates Mainstream Adoption by Enabling NFT Platforms to Accept Both Traditional and Crypto Payments

Circle unveils plans to support BTC and ETH payments, as well as storage, custody and transfer of NFT assets

BOSTON, March 27, 2021 — Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides payments and treasury infrastructure for internet businesses, today announced a comprehensive payments solution for non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and storefronts that enables them to accept credit card and crypto payments alike in order to attract more mainstream audience adoption. Circle today also unveiled forthcoming features that will be made available over the coming months, including support USDC, BTC and ETH payments, NFT custodial services, and yield-generating Circle accounts for NFT market operators.

NFT marketplaces have surged in popularity over the past 12 months, but broad-based mainstream adoption is lagging due to the complexity of payment transactions, which usually require the use of cryptocurrencies. Circle’s NFT solution simplifies buying and selling by enabling platforms to accept credit card payments alongside crypto, all with a seamless user experience. This makes NFT transactions easier by encouraging greater engagement, platform expansion and support for creators worldwide through the marriage of traditional payment rails and leading digital dollar stablecoin USD Coin (USDC).

NFTs have seen a meteoric rise in recent months – as platforms like NBA Top Shot skyrocket in popularity (Top Shot has seen a 400% increase in sales over the past 30 days) and digital art becomes mainstream (iconic auction house Christie’s recently offered the first purely digital artwork with the auction of Beeple’s Everydays for $69M). In February 2021 alone, sales volume across major NFT marketplaces grew nearly 800%, to more than $200M.

"This is not only an important and valuable trend for marketplaces and creators, it represents incredible demand from customers – for collectibles, artwork, moments, and really anything that can be tokenized on the blockchain," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle Co-founder and CEO. "Circle looks forward to supporting the industry – creators, platforms, marketplaces, storefronts and customers – with our solution for enabling a user-friendly, mainstream payments experience with the power of crypto connectivity and USDC."

With Circle’s payments and treasury infrastructure, NFT marketplaces and storefronts can create a seamless user experience for buyers and sellers alike:

  • Build upon Circle’s Payments, Payouts and Digital Dollar Accounts APIs to process transactions and use the Circle Account to maintain a scalable treasury infrastructure on the backend, making platform management easier than ever.
  • Choose to offer traditional and crypto payment options, or abstract crypto entirely from the user – all in service of greater convenience and efficiency alike.

Over the coming months, Circle plans to release a range of features aimed at NFT marketplaces, storefronts and platforms:

  • Support for BTC & ETH payments. NFT markets will be able to easily accept BTC and ETH as payment and payout methods, allowing both crypto HODLers and new mainstream users to pay with fiat and crypto.
  • Storage, Custody and Transfer of NFT assets. Circle’s digital asset account infrastructure and APIs will enable NFT markets and properties to easily store NFT assets with best-in-class digital asset custody services, while also enabling their customers to transfer standard NFTs in and out of their markets and services.
  • Treasury and Yield Services. NFT markets are digital asset native businesses, and with funds and treasury accounts held with Circle, NFT developers can take advantage of Circle’s new high-yield digital dollar accounts*, enabling idle working capital to earn between 4-8% APY on USDC.

These new areas of focus are just the beginning as Circle continues to build and partner with the leading projects, developers and brands that are innovating in the NFT commerce space.

This comes at a time of explosive growth for USDC, whose market cap is more than $10B and has more than doubled in 2021 alone. Dollar stablecoins like USDC have quickly become the preferred currency of NFT marketplaces and storefronts as they offer a convenient funding source for end users as well as the ability to streamline their operations and stay crypto-native as needed. In the future, Circle plans to expand its roadmap by accepting ETH payments as well as providing custody for NFTs.

For more information, contact our team, and read more about our NFT solution here.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle’s platform has supported over 100 million transactions worth tens of billions of dollars, with nearly 10 million retail customers, over a thousand businesses, while storing and securing more than $5 billion in digital currency assets. Circle is also a principal developer of USD Coin (USDC), which together with Coinbase and the Centre Consortium oversees the standards and protocol for what has become the fastest growing, regulated, fully reserved stablecoin. USDC now stands at more than $10 billion market cap and is adding nearly $300 million net new digital dollars in circulation every week. Today, Circle’s transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through programmable internet commerce. Learn more at https://circle.com

*Service offered through Circle International Bermuda Limited. Offering subject to business approval, geographical availability, and regulatory authorization, and there is no guarantee that the product will become available in a specific timeframe, or to a specific customer group or geography. Service offered through Circle International Bermuda Limited. It is anticipated that Circle International Bermuda Limited will enter into lending arrangements with one or more institutional borrowers, including Genesis Global Capital, LLC. You should carefully conduct your own investigations and analyses in connection with any participation in this product, including its objectives, risk factors, fees, and expenses and the information set forth in these materials. All prospective participants in the products described herein are advised to consult with their legal, accounting and tax advisers regarding any potential participation. Rates are purely indicative and are subject to change pending availability, approval and market conditions. Additional information is available upon request.

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Related Links :

http://www.circle.com

https://www.circle.com

PR Newswire

NexChange Group and Marita Group Co-Host Africa Blockchain Week Virtual Summit to Showcase Continent’s Technological Leapfrog

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HONG KONG, March 17, 2021 — The inaugural Africa Blockchain Week will launch from June 28th to July 1st 2021.

NexChange Group, a blockchain ecosystem and venture builder and MARITA Group, an African conglomerate will combine forces to co-host this Virtual Summit. The event will feature key industry players and decision-makers contributing to regulation, application, investment and education across many African countries.

Juwan Lee, Chairman of NexChange Group: "Africa is the next big move for blockchain. We see not just opportunities in the payment space and financial inclusion, but we see significant institutional involvement."

The new reality has proven technology to be a bridge to a better future. Strong ties between African countries, like the cooperation South-South, encouraged by HRH Mohammed VI go beyond just politics. New economic bridges ensure that Africa is able to bypass certain steps on a technological stair, positioning itself ahead of the global curve. Described by the World Bank and called leapfrogging, it relies strongly on enhanced technologies including blockchain.

Rahhal Boulgoute, Chairman of Marita Group: "Blockchain will revolutionize Africa and provide opportunities for financial inclusion. It is important that we expose blockchain technology in Africa."

The impact is seen on Africa’s financial map. Over the last years, digital banking and mobile payments have proven to be a real-life case study for millions of users, making people’s financial lives better, ensuring inclusion, and changing the game for the unbanked. Banks, enterprises, and entrepreneurs are changing the continent’s destiny, shaping the investment landscape. 

This event backs the efforts of the African regulators to adopt the required regulations to embrace blockchain and become a main global player in the technologies shaping the future. The ambition of the Co-hosts is to make Africa Blockchain Week the key platform for dialogue and networking between all stakeholders in blockchain to transform it into a reality in Africa.

NexChange Group is a venture builder and media platform specializing in Blockchain, FinTech, HealthTech, AI, and Smart Cities.

Marita Group Holding is a global company focused on:

  • turnkey solutions in real estate development, theme parks, smart cities
  • Renewable energy and waste recovery, hydrogen production, electric mobility
  • sustainable agriculture and sustainable development
  • local mining development of natural resources
  • health, medical products, equipment and supplies

For more information, please visit www.africablockchainweek.com or contact: info@nexchange.com, +852 3595 3680.