Opinion & Featured
CORONA VIRUS: BLOCKCHAIN FIRMS HELP, CRYPTO SAFE HAVENS & INDUSTRY EVENTS UNDER THREAT
As Chinese authorities take unprecedented actions in an attempt to halt the spread of the new corona virus strain, several blockchain and cryptocurrency companies are pledging to help victims. Meanwhile cryptos could emerge as safe havens, and industry events are under threat.
China takes unprecedented action
It was less than two weeks ago that the first reports of a new strain of deadly Corona virus started emerging from the large central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei province. At first it seemed nothing much to be concerned about, but by the end of the week there were worrying reports of the virus mutating.
Then, in the early hours of Sunday, the Chinese authorities took the radical step of suspending all flights, trains, buses and ferries in and out of Wuhan – a city of 11 million people. Within days, nearby cities had followed, suit, and by the end of last week it was estimated that over 60 million people in around 20 cities – almost equivalent to the population of the United Kingdom – were either fully quarantined or subject to severe travel restrictions.
Early last week videos leaking out of Wuhan on social media (the extensive internet controls already in-place in China, means it has been very easy for authorities to stem the flow of information) showed overcrowded hospitals with dead bodies left in corridors, people falling down in the streets, police guarding train stations and massive traffic jams as police blocked motorways out of the city.
By the later half of the week videos were showing rural roads out of the city being more permanently blocked with piles of sand, trenches and even improvised walls. Videos showed nearly deserted streets, armed soldiers guarding transport hubs, armoured vehicles on the roads, military transport planes flying in army medics, and massive lines snaking around hospitals.
Perhaps more worryingly, videos emerged showing doctors and medics despairing, breaking down, and claiming the real infected and mortality figures were orders of magnitude higher than admitted. The Wuhan authorities are also rushing to build two 1,000-bed ‘hospitals’ in a matter of weeks.
Far more contagious than thought and testing ineffective
Then, in a bombshell announcement that US medical experts have described as a ‘game changer’, the Chinese health authorities confirmed that the new virus is transmissible during incubation, which can be up to 14 days. This means the virus is most likely already incubating around the world – something seemingly confirmed by the handful of cases now popping up in other countries. As of this morning, outside of mainland China cases were confirmed in Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, the United States, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, France, South Korea, Vietnam, Canada, and Nepal.
Disturbingly, reports have also emerged suggesting the testing may be fundamentally ineffective, resulting in many people testing negative despite having the virus – in one case a child who tested negative was later found to be positive, but only because his parents insisted on a CT scan – hardly something they can roll out for airport screening!
Also over the weekend, estimates from researchers in the UK and US suggested that the real number of infected could well be massively higher than the official statistics suggest, with some putting the likely number of infected in Wuhan itself at around 90,000 and a probably 350,000 within weeks. This compares to the less than 3,000 officially confirmed by Chinese authorities as of today (27th January).
Further evidence that the situation is far worse than China is letting on comes from foreign estimates of the R0 number of the virus. This is basically how many people each infected person on average passes the virus to. To put things in perspective the R0 number of Ebola is 1.5–2.5, SARS is 1–5, Rubella is 5-7 and Smallpox is 5-7. Initial reports suggested the RO value of the Wuhan Corona virus was about 2.5 – around the same as the ‘Spanish Influenza’ of 1918-19 that killed more people than World War 1. However, other studies suggest if may be much higher, in the 5-6 region, and some unverified reports from Wuhan claim it is as high as 10-14 (which is in the region of Measles).
More evidence suggesting the situation is far worse than the Chinese are letting on has come in the form of foreign countries scrambling to get their people, including embassy staff and media, out of infected areas – by this morning the United States, France, Japan, Australia, Russia, Jordan, India, Sri Lanka had all said they were working with Chinese authorities to get their people out, while the UK would neither confirm nor deny plans.
Despite many people trying to dismiss the new Corona virus strain as another scare along the lines of Avian flu, Swine flu or SARS, this is clearly a threat of an entirely different order. In the outbreaks just mentioned, the virus was not contagious during incubation, had a lower R0 value, and the reaction of the authorities wasn’t even in the same library, let along the same book or on the same page! Never before has a country imposed a quarantine like this, and the reactions of other countries also speak volumes.
Do you really put over 60 million people on lockdown, with all the economic and social risks that brings, without good reason? Would you really do that for something that was just like a bad cold and kills just a few dozen people? Get real.
Blockchain and crypto companies step-up
Already cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which though now based in Malta originated in China, has pledged 10 million Chinese yuan ($1.44 million) to help victims in Wuhan – something confirmed by CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) via Twitter on 25th January. Interestingly CZ admitted that it was not realistic to provide crypto to the end beneficiaries in this case, but said that the Binance Charity Foundation team had been busy for days, but still needed help arranging local logistics.
For #Wuhan, not realistic to do crypto to end beneficiaries.
Binance pledged 10m RMB ($1.5m USD) to help #coronavirus victims.
We didn’t make any announcements. But BCF/Binance team has been busy for the last few days.
Still need help to arrange logistics locally.🙋♀️ https://t.co/UH6FXgVSrX
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) January 25, 2020
Blockchain marketing service firm Krypital has also announced a charity donation drive to help fund medical supplies for Wuhan. The company says it will be launching a blockchain-based donation system to provide transparency and increase efficiency, and it will accepted Tether (USDT) on the Ethereum blockchain. The firm is also asking for volunteers to help with administration, purchasing, logistics and media.
Crypto a safe haven?
Again, the question is being asked as to whether cryptocurrencies will prove a safe haven if the Corona virus turns into a global pandemic. Perhaps surprisingly Bitcoin (BTC) actually fell initially as the news of the outbreak worsened, though there are reasons to suspect this may turn around.
If the situation worsens in China and there are serious outbreaks in other countries, it should be expected that quarantines and transport lockdowns may spread to other parts of the world very rapidly. This could obviously massively reduce the demand for oil and send the markets into a tail-spin.
At the time of writing there was already a noticable flight to safe-haven investments like the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, gold and US Treasury bonds. The question is, will crypto assets also benefit as the scale of the crisis becomes clearer?
Industry conferences and events to be cancelled?
In China and neighbouring countries many major attractions have been closed, large gatherings banned, and sporting events cancelled, so it should be assumed that if the situation worsens and travel restrictions spread, more sporting events and industry expos and conferences may need to be cancelled or postponed.
This article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.
All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.
Blockchain company GigLabs has announced a US$4.5 million seed round led by Dapper Labs and Panoramic Ventures.
Other investors participating in the round include Collab+Currency, Red Beard Ventures, Eterna Capital, Alumni Venture Group, Gaingels, and Amino Capital. The caliber and variety of investors participating in this round demonstrates broad support for GigLabs to be the leading provider of infrastructure for brands, creators and collectors to build memorable experiences through NFTs.
“At GigLabs, we firmly believe that every brand will have an NFT strategy in the future,” said Douglas Dimola, CEO and co-founder of GigLabs. “This funding enables us to expand the talent of our team to continue expanding our offerings to meet current and future demand, while also working with the best and brightest partners to continue to push this new innovation forward.”
NFTs have increased in popularity with the market reaching billions in trading and sales volume. As NFTs continue to rapidly see mainstream adoption, with major sports leagues, media outlets and prestige auction houses participating in projects, brands are increasingly seeking to get involved—but they need reliable partners to navigate the significant technical complexities when integrating NFT projects into enterprise level organizations.
GigLabs’ technology is championed by some of the biggest names in entertainment, giving customers access to emergent Web3 innovations. GigLabs’ solutions enable brands and creators to launch new NFT projects with customizable branded storefronts and marketplaces, as well as metaverse experiences for their communities. In addition, GigLabs has pioneered transferring NFTs to fans while at live events, all through a QR code.
GigLabs’ platform allows enterprise brands to build lasting relationships with consumers and create customized and personalized experiences through NFTs that live on the Flow blockchain. Major brand partners supported by the GigLabs platform include CNN, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, Speedway Motorsports’ RaceDay NFT—the first-ever NASCAR-related NFT, University of Miami’s Canes Vault, Athletes Unlimited and others. This funding round will allow the company to build out its team and scale to accelerate customer growth.
“GigLabs continues to impress through the team’s ability to develop the technology solutions needed for any brand to build a powerful NFT experience,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. “It’s awesome to see the world’s leading brands building on Flow and supercharging their connection to consumers.”
“Sometimes the magic is making it simple to do something complex. GigLabs takes a transformative technology and makes it accessible to companies, organizations and brands of all sizes,” said Paul Judge, Managing Partner of Panoramic Ventures. “We believe in the power of NFTs to combine content, culture, and community and we’re enthusiastic to back GigLabs on this journey.”
GigLabs has built multiple solutions to not only bring brands into the world of NFTs but also to provide onramps into the much broader metaverse. These include NFT Bridge, which is the company’s whitelabeled solution for brands and creators to launch customizable NFT marketplaces directly on their own websites.
The platform also includes a solution that allows for frictionless claiming of NFTs via a QR code while attending live events, a novel way to blend fandom in the physical and virtual worlds. GigLabs has also built RareRooms, a 3D/VR enabled metaverse that allows collectors to curate and showcase their NFTs as well as allow brands to have amazing virtual storefronts and customizable spaces that allow their fans to truly experience their NFTs. Nearly 10,000 RareRooms have been created to display unique, curated sets of NFTs by collectors.
US-based gaming lifestyle brand XSET has partnered with Monster Mash for a Halloween NFT collaboration.
The partnership will see several XSET players feature as creatures on Monster Mash, which is home to 10,000 randomly generated monsters drawn by artist Vance Kelly. Each of the XSET branded digital ghouls is made up of over 400 traits and will haunt the Ethereum blockchain for eternity.
“Monster Mash has been making a lot of noise in the NFT space, who doesn’t like Monsters right?” said Greg Selkoe, co-founder and CEO of XSET. “So we decided to make this XSET’s first NFT collab. We know that the fans of both brands are going to be excited to collect these super-rare pieces.”
“I think it’s really exciting to be working with XSET to add another integral layer to the Monster Mash brand with the inclusion of XSET’s players as some of the Monsters themselves. It widens our Monster universe and brings it into today’s cultural world,” says Hugo Stevenson, founder and CEO of Road Crates, Inc.
Owners of Monster NFTs are able to access the metaverse members-only world of MM Express, featuring a creative community platform for building new monsters for future air drops, live, in-person events, killer merchandise, and much more. Each unique NFT is stored as ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum Blockchain and hosted on IPFS, and can be purchased for 0.08 ETH + gas fees.
According to XSET, the branded monster NFTs are just the first of a number of upcoming initiatives, with more details to be announced in the near future.
Staying with XSET, earlier this month, the brand announced the beta launch of StreamJ, a new digital rights management (DRM) and license-free music platform specifically designed for gaming streamers and creators.
Sipher, a gaming studio that pioneers blockchain technology, has announced the closure of its US$6.8 million seed round, co-led by Arrington Capital, Hashed and Konvoy Ventures.
The funding will be used to accelerate the development of its upcoming World of Sipheria game and continue to build the tools needed to create compelling, fun and engaging gaming experiences based on blockchain technology.
In addition to the leading backers, Sipher further attracted the participation of backers including Defiance Capital, Signum Capital, Dragonfly Capital, CMT Digital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Delphi Digital, Alameda Research, Fenbushi Capital, Sfermion, Hyperchain, GBV, Kyber Network, Coin98 Ventures, YGG and Merit Circle. The company also welcomed notable angels including Holly Liu (Kabam), Kun Gao (Crunchy Roll) and Alex Svanevik (Nansen.ai).
Founded by prominent Vietnamese CEO Nguyen Trung Tin, who counts accolades such as inclusion on Forbes’ prestigious 30-Under-30 list upon an enviable CV, and has set Sipher on a mission to unify state of the art blockchain tech, artwork, storytelling, multiplayer gaming with decentralized financial technologies.
The company’s vision is to create an expansive world that will attract and keep the player base engaged for years to come as new worlds, characters and factions are introduced. Sipher is fostering an ecosystem where people can play for fun while also being rewarded for their time spent in-game. By leveraging blockchain technology, Sipher is bringing economic freedom to gamers and providing the community with ownership of in-game assets which directly contributes to the growth and success of the gaming industry.
“First and foremost, games are meant to be fun,” Tin says. “They are meant to be social. They are meant to invigorate, excite and bring people together for a common purpose, to enjoy time spent with each other. This is true for the most classic and for the most futurist of games. This is what makes games the most powerful medium for sharing and discovering amazing moments together.”
Backer Jason Chapman of Konvoy Ventures agrees, saying: “Gaming is the new social square and is driving the development of global culture. Tin and the whole Sipher team are helping pioneer a new wave within this social arena, one where players are rewarded for their time, performance, and creativity. Gaming has always been home to creators, thinkers, and competitors and it is time that we see games show their communities financial loyalty. There are more than 3 billion people playing games across the globe and less than 0.1% of gamers are experiencing direct profit sharing. Sipher is renegotiating what players should expect from their games and is here to bring joy to their players both through entertainment and financial freedom. The whole Konvoy team is thrilled to be in Sipher’s corner as we build this new era of games.”
This community spirit is echoed in the huge uptake of Sipher’s Discord community, which already numbers over 60,000, and in the enthusiastic response to its early character launches. Siphers’s first playable NFT character, Sipherian Surge, was a drop of 10,000 genesis Sipher Inu NFTs were bought in less than 15 minutes and are now available for trading and secondary purchase on OpenSea.
Sipher’s next priority is launching the playable MVP of the first gaming experience in the World of Sipheria. The experience will introduce a cooperative dungeon game mode that will onboard new waves of native and non-native blockchain users through beautiful design and graphics, compelling gameplay, expansive world lore hidden with secrets to be discovered and the ability to take part in the game economy. It is also preparing to release its second collection called the Sipherian Flash, a drop of 10,000 limited Sipher Nekos as playable characters.
Excited by the prospects Sipher offers, backer Michael Arrington of Arrington Capital stated: “We believe that the world of Sipheria will be one of the most exciting and adventurous experiences inside the Metaverse. Sipher builds on innovative P2E economics while leveraging both the spirit of crypto culture and mainstream gaming. The art blends a futuristic world of sci-fi and captivating animals, it is internet-native and inspiring, a game that everyone can fall in love with. We believe that Metaverse gaming will unlock a new economic frontier where users can reap the rewards of their time and creativity, and we fundamentally believe in the passion and energy behind Tin and his team. We believe that Sipher is positioned to capture and captivate users across all regions of the world. We are excited to back Sipher and join the world of Sipheria.”
Endorsing these sentiments and stating his faith in the Sipher team and its leadership, co-investor Kyuntae Ethan Kim, Managing Partner of Hashed, who said: “Since 2018, Hashed has been actively investing in blockchain games and metaverse with our strong thesis on virtual worlds. We think the virtual world economy will be much bigger than that of the real world thanks to the blockchain infrastructure providing a key backbone for digital assets. Tin and his team have demonstrated huge potential to become the next major blockchain gaming studio. They not only understand the crypto/blockchain ecosystem, but also have strong ability to implement great quality games. They know the beauty of combining NFT and gaming and have plans to connect esports in their game eventually. I am so excited to co-lead this round and can’t wait to see Sipher’s community grow rapidly.”
AYO.NEWS says:
For years, the dreams of metaverse gaming have been held back by technological limitations and the hesitancy of the mainstream gaming community, but with blockchain now mature and more widely accepted, and investment flowing into the sector, a new revolution really is beginning.
OnChain Studios has announced a US$7.5M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Draper & Associates, CoinFund, Sound Ventures, Dapper Labs, Collab + Currency, WndrCo, and other notable investors.
The NFT studio’s flagship project, Cryptoys, will be launching soon on Flow, and will offer the first-ever fully interactive NFT (non-fungible token) digital toys. In addition to being able to buy, sell, and collect Cryptoys, consumers will also be able to play with them inside an immersive world built on the blockchain. To add depth, each Cryptoy can gain more capabilities as it’s played with more often, continually unlocking new experiences.
Will Weinraub, CEO and Co-Founder of OnChain Studios, explained: “What started off as a side project for my daughter has turned into this amazing company, and I feel blessed to be building it with such an incredible team. The rise of NFTs and blockchain allows us to create new revolutionary experiences that have never been done before. With Cryptoys we are building a rich, expansive world that combines elements of entertainment, gaming, and toys into an experience customers can truly own and take with them forever.”
Arianna Simpson, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz, added: “Cryptoys is a perfect example of the compelling new NFT gaming and entertainment experiences that are now possible with the advent of web3 — a fully-interactive 3D universe with custom toys for each participant. We’re thrilled to partner with the world-class team at OnChain Studios to bring Cryptoys to life and introduce the joys of NFT gaming to mainstream audiences.”
The first series of drops will consist of an original line of characters, with the Cryptoys universe then expanding from there. The company says “a number of well-known brands” are also looking into ways to leverage the full-stack Cryptoys platform to turn their IP into NFT-based interactive digital toys.
In addition to NFT toys, OnChain Studios is also building an open world experience called The Cryptoyverse, which will allow users to play with their toys in a digital environment, with P2E (play-to-earn) mechanics.
The Cryptoys platform is being built on Flow, the fast, easy-to-use, open blockchain with the biggest and fastest growing NFT marketplace.
Award Pool, the integrated platform that empowers brands, influencers and content creators to power up, grow, and engage communities with gamified play and NFT rewards, has reported “explosive” growth with 115,000 new users signing up and two million page views since its beta launch on 30 September, 2021.
According to the platform, this growth highlights the early success and future potential of the platform and its ability to help brands and content creators gamify campaigns with social and in-game challenges catered to their communities.
In addition, Award Pool will be launching The So.co Challenge, Music Reimagined! as the result of a previously announced partnership with So.co, a curated, image-based media platform that celebrates music, the related lifestyle, and associated cultural content. Together, Award Pool and So.co will promote a new opportunity for connecting musicians with fans by having them participate in challenges to earn points and NFT rewards, which will redefine the best strategies for audience growth and activation.
Reuven Cohen, Founder and CEO of Award Pool, commented:“We are excited to see such opportunity and growth with the Award Pool beta and look forward to offering such opportunities to our partners and clients.”
Award Pool is primarily designed to appeal to digital natives, particularly Gen Z, who appreciate both physical and digital rewards. Because this group doesn’t engage as frequently with traditional advertising channels, brands are having a difficult time connecting in a meaningful way. Award Pool solves this dilemma through its innovative new platform that allows users to participate in challenges, earn points, and redeem non-fungible token (NFT) prizes through an easy-to-use tool.
Award Pool has several additional upcoming challenges, including a partnership with the FC Tulsa football club. Fans will be asked to complete tasks, such as following the club’s profiles on social media and visiting specific pages on the team’s website, for a chance to win valuable NFTs and other prizes.
On 18 October, Crypto Gaming United (CGU) joined Australia-based crypto exchange TimeX, and raised $2.5M in a record-breaking six seconds of public token trading.
Co-founded by Russian-born cryptocurrency, DeFi, and blockchain app entrepreneur Sergei Sergienko, CGU operates on the principles of uber-economy. Instead of players spending money to buy their initial NFT characters, they rent them from the platform in exchange for a share of their daily income. At the same time, the games themselves reward players with income proportionate to their in-game skill and performance.
Before the final open market sale of tokens, CGU had already raised $5M and $10M in seed and pre-IDO rounds respectively. The tokens released during those rounds are subject to a blocking period, with a 3-year rights transfer schedule, meaning that CGU tokens are now only available on the secondary market.
In total, 10 million CGU tokens were made available for sale, priced at $0.25 each. Just six seconds after the market opened, all were sold.
Commenting on the sale, CGU Co-Founder, Sergei Sergienko, said: “Success of every project is always measured by the market. We never expected the demand to be high enough to sell all the tokens in under 6 seconds. This makes it even more pleasant to realize the importance of the gaming crypto platform CGU to the market, and to feel the support coming from the project’s community.”
According to the token emission prospect, the next step for CGU is to increase the number of active players on the platform to the 100,000 mark, while also creating and developing CGU and DAO communities for the project.
Overall, Crypto Gaming United, has now raised $17.5M over three investment rounds, and the total volume of CGU’s emission is 1 billion tokens, 26% of which belong to investors.
ENTAIN PUTS F1 FANS IN DRIVING SEAT WITH EXCLUSIVE MCLAREN RACING CONTENT
TEAM SINGULARITY TO LAUNCH FAN TOKENS VIA BLOCKSPORT
REKTGLOBAL BRINGS TOP GAMING TALENT TO INFINITY FESTIVAL 2021
SOCIOS.COM TAPS CHECKOUT.COM TO MAKE BUYING FAN TOKENS EASIER
PRAGMATIC PLAY LAUNCHES “JOHN HUNTER AND THE QUEST FOR BERMUDA RICHES™”
COVID-19: RUSSIA SHUTS CASINOS & RACETRACKS, BUT BELARUS PLAYS ON
EUROBET.IT SUFFERS “HUGE ATTACK” WITH HACKERS DEMANDING $80K RANSOM IN BITCOIN
WILL BUTTON WALLET AND TELEGRAM’S 300+ MILLION USERS BOOST CRYPTO ADOPTION?
KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGG? MALTA PRICES OUT GAMING INDUSTRY
‘QUEEN OF INSTAGRAM’ ABIGAIL RATCHFORD TEAMS UP WITH MGA GAMES FOR HYPERREALISTIC SLOT
THE FUTURE OF SPORTS & ESPORTS DATA AND CONTENT: ALEX KORNILOV, CEO & FOUNDER OF BETEGY
CREATING BEST IN CLASS ESPORTS BETTING EXPERIENCES: AARON SPEACH, CEO, ESPORTS TECHNOLOGIES
REBUILDING THE WORLD: UPLAND CREATES A VIRTUAL REAL ESTATE BASED METAVERSE
PROMOTING WELLBEING IN ESPORTS, WITH MADMONQ’S MICHAL NOGA AND CSGO PRO STYKO
