EC Blockchain

Bitcoin miners struggle as energy prices rise and hash prices fall • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in Bitcoin, bitcoin mining, Crypto, EC Blockchain, EC CryptocurrencyNo Comments

Bitcoin prices have continued to hold near $20,000 this past week, but some miners are crumbling as spiking energy prices and historically low hash prices cut into profits. Even though bitcoin’s price has been down for a while and has fallen about 56% year to date, the dominoes just began to fall for Bitcoin miners. What’s driving the implosion? “There are a lot of different issues in the motion. Obviously the global recession is looming, on top of inflation and rising prices of electricity,” Christopher Perceptions, founder of PerceptForm and CEO of NoCodeClarity (no-code web3 apps), told ZebethMedia. “Miners are struggling for a multitude of reasons right now,” Nick Hansen, CEO of crypto-mining firm Luxor, said to ZebethMedia. “We’re seeing historically low hash price, which means that miner revenues are at all-time lows.” Hash price is a metric to determine the market value for each unit of hashing power, which is set through changes in Bitcoin mining difficulty (which is currently high) and the price of the cryptocurrency. Image Credits: Hashrate Index The hash price is near a historical low, according to data on Hashrate Index. The current hash price is about $70.72, down 80.5% from $361.82 on the year-ago date. Additionally, energy prices have increased across many markets, which means miners’ expenses are at all-time highs, Hansen said. At a high level, the higher the hash rate the greater the difficulty to mine Bitcoin — meaning that it takes more electricity to do so, Perceptions said. “If the electricity price is high, it’s harder to make a profit.”

Immutable onboarded more web3 games in Q3 than any other quarter, co-founder says • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in blockchain, Crypto, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, ec gaming, Gaming, Immutable, web3No Comments

Earlier this year, Immutable, a web3 gaming firm with its own layer-2 chain, Immutable X, launched a whopping $500 million fund to boost gaming on its platform. Fast forward a few months and the company says things are going according to plan. “It has been super busy,” Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable, said to ZebethMedia. “In the last quarter, we’ve onboarded more games than the rest of the company’s lifetime combined. As far as we know, it’s been more than any other layer-1 or layer-2 [blockchains] in the world and nearly half of those games came from competitors in migrations.” In Q3, Immutable onboarded about 50 games and has over 1,000 games being built in a “testing environment,” Ferguson said. “These are ones we’ve actively gone after.” Some games, like Delysium and Ember Sword, were initially developed for the layer-2 blockchain Polygon but switched to Immutable X, the company’s NFT platform and layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain. Other games, like Deviants’ Factions and Undead Blocks, migrated over from the defunct Terra ecosystem after it imploded in May. Today, Immutable X launched GameStop’s NFT marketplace out of beta, which will provide GameStop players and customers across the U.S. access to NFTs tied to games on its layer-2 chain. This announcement follows GameStop and Immutable X’s partnership and $100 million joint grant fund from February. “The attraction we’ve already seen and interest from this community has been insane,” Ferguson said. “We recently shared something on Reddit and had 100,000 people sign up for Guild of Guardians’ waitlist in under two days, just from a single post. So the strength of this community is enormous compared to existing user bases in crypto.”

Crypto bear markets are a ‘great time’ to launch startups, industry execs say • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 28, 2022Posted in bear market, Crypto, crypto startups, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, EC TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, Startups, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, visaNo Comments

There are other things to look at beyond crypto prices, the COO of Uniswap, Mary-Catherine Lader, said at ZebethMedia Disrupt last week. “Right?” She asked rhetorically. “Especially if you’re building something and you’re excited about the technology and its potential and not [viewing] crypto necessarily as an asset class.” Even though the crypto market cap is below $1 trillion, down about 55% from $2.2 trillion at the beginning of the year, ideas, startups, and big players are still entering the space. “I think many of the products in the next phase could get to a point where consumers are using a product without knowing that there’s crypto behind the scenes.” Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa “If you look at crypto market prices and pull out all of the general market decline […] what are you left with?” Brett Harrison, former president of FTX, asked during the panel. “I think you’re left with how much institutions are trading crypto and actual applications that are being built on crypto.” Compared to the 2018 crypto bear market, things have changed, Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said during the panel. “At the time there were questions of would anything exist outside of Bitcoin?” Today, there’s so much more for people to look at and build upon, including stablecoins, crypto infrastructure, or building a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance, Sheffield said.

5 tips for launching in a crowded web3 gaming market • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 27, 2022Posted in Column, Crypto, EC Blockchain, EC Column, ec gaming, Gaming, play-to-earn, Startups, web3 gamingNo Comments

The first wave of the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming boom seems to be coming to an end. There are still plenty of blockchain studios staging successful multimillion-dollar raises around the globe, but competition for funds has tightened to the point where only standout projects are winning backers. With great strategy more important than ever, here are a few tried-and-true steps you can take that will help set you apart when you’re seeking capital and preparing for liftoff. Leverage experience in the traditional gaming studio sphere The blockchain gaming market is full of builders who are experienced in crypto but haven’t built traditional games. I’m a prime example. Pegaxy was the first game I worked on and the first I launched. Like many other web3 games of its time, its mechanics and graphics were fairly basic at the start. But while simplicity was fine with the web3 gaming crowd, it has become increasingly clear that P2E will need to attract traditional Web 2.0 gamers if it is to scale, and these gamers demand much more. To please this demographic, builders will need games that have it all: superb graphics, strong mechanics and rich lore. You can have the best team and the best game, but without a solid monetization strategy, those mean little. That’s why a founding team that pairs an understanding of web3 fundamentals with experience in building and monetizing Web 2.0 games for mobile, desktop and console platforms will set you apart in this market. It’s also why, after Pegaxy was launched, we founded Mirai Labs. We wanted to assemble an expert team to build games that appeal to the traditional gaming community. Develop a clear, straightforward monetization strategy Most traditional P2E games have fairly simple revenue models that rely on users buying and holding the token that serves as the in-game currency. This means that when large groups join and play a game at once, token prices and revenues rise in tandem. But when market conditions change — or when players just lose interest in a game — there can be a mass exodus of users. This is bad for revenue and can be catastrophic for token prices. Therefore, building a game that succeeds in the long term means developing monetization strategies that can weather market ebbs and flows, those that couple the best of web3 tech with proven Web 2.0 revenue models.

Building the bridge between Web 2.0 and web3 • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 24, 2022Posted in Column, Crypto, EC Blockchain, EC Column, EC Cryptocurrency, ethereum, Ethereum Merge, Google, Startups, Web 2.0, web3No Comments

Devin Abbott was founder of Deco (acquired by Airbnb) and specializes in design and development tools, React and web3 applications, most recently with The Graph. It’s too early to predict all the implications of the recent Ethereum blockchain Merge, but it definitely addresses the most frequent (and valid) criticism of web3 regarding excessive energy consumption. Critics may still find a new reason to oppose ETH, but my hope is this Merge will lead to something else: A chance for us to also merge what’s best about Web 2.0 with what’s most exciting about web3. There’s seemingly a growing rift in Silicon Valley, with the traditional Web 2.0 industry and the burgeoning web3 ecosystem depicted as being in opposition to each other. And trapped somewhere in the middle are emerging startups. I’m active in all three groups, and I believe most of this controversy is based on wild pronouncements and hype by VCs and other evangelists who are not developers. Incessant celebrity promotions of NFT drops, for instance, have contributed to the impression that web3 as a whole is a Ponzi scheme. In fact, NFTs are only a small part of the web3 ecosystem, and, in my view, not even the most interesting or potentially transformative. While Web 2.0 and web3 may seem incompatible, I believe it’s better to see technologies like blockchain and ETH as potential back-end solutions for scalability challenges that all companies face. In a similar way, web3 advocates should recognize that Web 2.0’s maturity makes it indispensable for many core use cases. Despite web3’s great potential, it’s still much easier to develop a Web 2.0 app simply because the ecosystem is mature and enjoys a large and thriving developer community. Let’s consider a couple examples where each side has something to contribute: From web3: An emerging revolution in open source To capture what’s happening in web3 development now, we have to go back to before the Web 2.0 era. During the dot-com boom, there was quite a lot of buzz over open source, Linux and hot companies like Red Hat. While very few consumers would go on to install Linux as their operating system, this buzz helped contribute to something equally important. In the background, with few people noticing, Linux quickly became the go-to operating system for running the back-end servers of 96.5% of the top million web domains — not to mention the massive Android market.

Stablecoin demand maintains pace as other cryptocurrencies tumble • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 20, 2022Posted in Crypto, crypto ecosystem, cryptocurrencies, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, stablecoin, stablecoinsNo Comments

More investors are swapping cryptocurrencies for stablecoins, signaling a potential shift toward the less risky asset. Stablecoin dominance is near 16%, about 2.7 percentage points away from an all-time high set in mid-June. (This percentage is determined by how much of the total crypto market capitalization is made up of stablecoins; it is, from one perspective, a bearish indicator the stronger it becomes.) “Stablecoins have been growing independently of market cycles simply because of their ability to improve financial inclusion,” Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of the world’s largest stablecoin by volume, Tether, said to ZebethMedia. “Stablecoins are also created based on market supply and demand, so when some crypto prices fall, traders may see this as a buy opportunity to use stablecoin to move in and out of positions.” The total stablecoin supply peaked in early April around $182.6 billion but has since fallen about 22% to $141.3 billion as of October 18, data from The Block shows. Even with that said, stablecoins have expanded in volume vastly over the years, and will continue to grow as the crypto market develops, Ardoino added. “Stablecoins are able to make the economy much more efficient by bringing digital dollars to the real world, putting U.S. dollars on a blockchain, attracting liquidity to the currency and allowing it to increase its dominance.”

Developers pour into crypto space despite stagnant markets • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 17, 2022Posted in Crypto, developers, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, ethereum, Polygon, sdk, SolanaNo Comments

This year was huge for the crypto developer space even though the digital asset market continues to wallow in a downturn, according to a new report by web3 developer platform Alchemy. Although the crypto market capitalization is down about 58% year to date, web3 developers are pouring into the space. The report found that developer activity increased based on the number of crypto software developer kit (SDK) libraries being downloaded, smart contracts being stored on blockchains, and the growth in the number of decentralized applications (dApps) in the market. “It’s a really exciting time in web3 overall and especially in the web3 development space,” Jason Shah, head of growth at Alchemy, said to ZebethMedia. “We were shocked at the results [because they run] counter to the narratives out there with token prices being down, pullbacks in investments, and even layoffs. But in the data with libraries, smart contracts, and dApp growth, all those numbers are up year over year.” Despite the bear market, crypto has become a “builder market,” with many clearly undeterred, Shah said. “Crypto bear markets are often when the best projects get built,” Francesco Melpignano, CEO of layer-1 blockchain Kadena, said to ZebethMedia.

Crypto VC deployment still slow as investors wait for even lower valuations • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 13, 2022Posted in Crypto, Crypto Economy, cryptocurrencies, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, EC venture capital, Startups, venture capitalNo Comments

Ongoing volatility in the crypto markets is leading to mismatched conversations between venture capitalists and founders — and entrepreneurs aren’t often finding themselves on the winning side. While some crypto-native and general funds are actively deploying capital into the digital asset world, others are taking a slower approach. Over the summer, some market participants anticipated deals would ramp back up in September, but that still seems to be on hold as we move into mid-October and crypto market conditions remain shaky. “A lot of VCs paused deployment over the summer and there’s a record amount of cash right now sitting on the sidelines; that’s not just specific to crypto,” Alex Marinier, founder and general partner of fintech and blockchain-centered firm New Form Capital, said to ZebethMedia. “My sentiment is that the pervasive feeling in crypto right now is fear.” However, Marinier said that the more bearish climate is an attractive time to keep investing, adding that “now is the time to be allocating.” “My sentiment is that the pervasive feeling in crypto right now is fear.” New Form Capital founder Alex Marinier New Form has allocated about 30% of its $75 million Fund 2 to date, Marinier shared. The majority of New Form’s deals for its second fund have been in its target “sweet spot” of crypto startups valued in the range of $15 million to $35 million. But not every fund is going full steam ahead. “Many of us were expecting September to be a gangbuster type of moment where sentiment would be fully back and the events that happened with LUNA, Celsius and BlockFi would have been moved on from,” David Nage, venture capital portfolio manager at the crypto-focused firm Arca, said to ZebethMedia. “But what you’re seeing with these events, while they’re in the past, they still come back to bite us in the proverbial ass.”

6 tips for launching a blockchain startup • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 12, 2022Posted in blockchain, Column, Crypto, DeFi, EC Blockchain, EC Column, EC Cryptocurrency, EC How To, startup strategy, StartupsNo Comments

Wolfgang Rückerl Contributor These days, a blockchain startup founder should expect to navigate challenging waters. Even in the best of times, founders must both prepare for a bull market and be ready for possibly bearish territory. Having a solid roadmap, real-world use cases and a war chest are only a small part of a blockchain startup’s survival strategy. Founders also need to be aware that while non-crypto startups can offer useful and transferrable launch strategies, the road to achieving success in the blockchain industry is paved differently. Here are tips every blockchain founder should consider before launching. Bear the market conditions in mind Bear markets appear more attractive to blockchain businesses looking to launch. But before suiting up for winter, founders must assess whether it’s worth waiting to launch until market conditions are better. In the web3 world of horizontal technologies, you’ll be running against the wind if you wait to build relationships until you’ve built a technology. Evaluate your startup with the same criteria investors use during a bear market. Investors want to see a strong roadmap with deadlines and benchmarks that don’t simply come and go with no activity, as this is a signal to investors that a slow rug pull is underway. Evidence of a diversified war chest that you can draw from is pivotal, especially when providing returns on locked assets is the main impetus for attaining liquidity. In addition, analyze the market situation from a technical standpoint: The bear market is an attractive time to launch, but it’s also a time to go heads-down and focus on building your product. Regardless of market conditions, make use of your reward programs for loyal community members by offering staking rewards, airdrops and giveaways without needing to raise additional capital, similar to the traditional business world. Opt for longer vesting schedules In the non-crypto startup scene, it’s common to include compensation packages as an incentive for employees to perform well. Blockchain startups do this during the presale period of an initial coin offering using a method called vesting, where they lock and release assets (usually in the form of tokens) over a certain period. In so doing, they give their team, investors and advisers the right to certain assets such as retirement and stock options. If you choose this path, set up the token metrics and the vesting period for the gradual release of these tokens in a way that doesn’t put too much pressure on the token itself. Many crypto projects unlock and distribute their tokens every three months, and they’re finding private investors dumping them on the market, which is bad for the team and the community. In turn, retail investors also begin selling up front because they know a dump is coming. Opt for longer vesting schedules — between three and five years — to show that you have a financial incentive to continue project development. Split the release of the tokens: Release the private sale investor tokens one month, the adviser tokens the next month and the team tokens a month later. If it’s all in one month, the risk for retail investors will be too high. Don’t underestimate crypto regulations

Crypto VC deals continue drop as activity follows bearish market prices • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 11, 2022Posted in Crypto, Crypto Economy, crypto markets, cryptocurrencies, EC Blockchain, EC Cryptocurrency, investors, Startups, venture capitalNo Comments

Venture capital deal flow into cryptocurrency startups is going in the same direction as the cryptocurrency market cap: down. The total crypto market cap has fallen almost 59% from about $2.25 trillion at the beginning of the year to $923 billion at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data. “Deal activity tracks very closely to the crypto market cap,” Robert Le, fintech analyst at PitchBook, said to ZebethMedia. “It’s a little bit of a lag, but if you overlay the crypto market cap to the amount of venture capital going into the space by quarter or month, it tracks closely.” In the past two quarters, global crypto VC deal activity fell from all-time highs of $10.87 billion in the first quarter to $7.63 billion in the second quarter and $4.44 billion in the third quarter, according to PitchBook data as of October 3. The last time the total deal size was this low was in the first quarter of 2021, when the total was $3.46 billion. “The deal count went down a lot,” Le said. “What you’re seeing is that the crypto companies that are getting investments are getting a bigger share compared to last year.” Basically, investors are putting more money into smaller bets and companies or projects they feel “higher conviction” for, Le said.