Crypto NFT Today: The latest news in blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFT: 17-23 August 2022

by Arthur · August 17, 2022

Welcome to another edition of Crypto NFT Today! If you like cryptocurrency, NFTs and riding emotional roller coasters, this is the place to be.

Are you ready for the crunch? Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Unstoppable Domains launches iPhone app

Unstoppable Domains is on a mission to make blockchain-based applications more accessible to users. The crypto domain provider announced Tuesday that it is rolling out an iPhone app to bring Web3 to users’ fingertips.

Using the app, iPhone owners will be able to link their profiles to crypto wallets and log into more than 180 decentralized applications, metaverses and games.

The rollout is part of a larger strategy to streamline the use of unique identities and domains, making blockchain-based applications accessible and transferable across a handful of protocols.

Over the past few months, Unstoppable Domains has partnered with Blue Studios to release a family crypto wallet, hiring two former IBM and Twitch executives. In July, it raised $65 million in Series A funding led by Pantera Capital.

Soccer Superstar James Rodríguez launches NFT Collection

The current Al-Rayyan SC and former Real Madrid and Everton star joins other legends of the game, including Cristiano Ronaldo, in releasing an NFT commemorative collection.

ZKSpace, a zk-Rollup based Ethereum layer-2 (L2) protocol, is set to launch the public sale of the James Rodríguez Zurda NFT Collection on August 15th.

Zurda – meaning “left foot” in Spanish – is an official pool of commemorative NFTs created in collaboration with Rodríguez to be issued on ZKSea, the NFT coining and trading platform of the ZKSpace ecosystem.

The “Zurda” NFT series is the first collection of digital assets that brings together all the important highlights of Rodríguez’s career spanning three continents and many top European clubs.

Fed opens access, protection for crypto firms

Crypto regulation seems inevitable, reflected by the Federal Reserve’s decision to take a big step toward codifying the digital currency.

The Fed said Monday it is publishing its final guidance for new financial institutions to access their “principal accounts,” which those firms need to participate in the global payments system.

The central bank will create a three-part system to assess whether a financial institution should have access.

Under the new regulations, tier 1 banks will be federally insured. Tier 2 banks will not be federally insured but are still “subject to supervision by a federal banking agency,” according to a statement from Fed Vice Chairman Lael Brainard.

The third tier consists of firms that are not federally insured and not subject to supervision by a federal banking agency, according to CoinDesk.

European crypto exchange launches its own token

WhiteBIT, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe, recently shared plans to launch its own digital asset, the WhiteBIT Token (WBT). The token will give users unique opportunities such as fee reduction and holding benefits.

The announcement follows a series of recent news from the company. A month ago, the platform completed its functionality with perpetual futures trading, becoming one of the few crypto exchanges in the world to offer such an opportunity.

The new token will have a limited supply, have a weekly burning mechanism and will assume organic interactions with other projects in the ecosystem, WhiteBIT relayed in a statement.

The asset will be issued in an amount of 400 million WBT, with 200 million as treasury tokens. This amount will be distributed to corresponding funds within the ecosystem to protect the asset against inflation. Treasury tokens will be gradually unlocked over the next three years. Half of the issued tokens will be frozen and brought to the market according to the pre-designed schedule.

Benefits for WBT holders and owners will include a 40-50% increase in referral rate, reduced fees, free ERC-20 protocol token withdrawals and free anti-money laundering checks.