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Retail buyers made up more than 80% of NFT transactions in 2021: Chainalysis

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Chainalysis has determined that most NFT transactions so far this year were from retail buyers, but the big volumes were driven by collectors and institutions. More than 80% of all nonfungible token (NFT) transactions were worth less than $10,000 in 2021 according to Chainalysis which categorized them as "retail" in recent research. A Dec. 6 report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis titled “ The 2021 NFT Market Explained” detailed NFT transaction trends throughout 2021. Researchers at Chainalysis studied on-chain data between January and October 2021. While retail transactions accounted for more than 80% of all NFT transactions on any given day in 2021, collector-sized transactions rose from 6% in March to 19% by Oct. 31 indicating an increase in larger collectors as the year progressed. Institutional-sized transactions accounted for less than 1% of all transfers but made up 26% of the actual trading volume during the period, it added. A retail-sized transacti...

Gemini partners with Colombia's biggest bank for crypto trading

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The partnership will allow Bancolombia customers to trade a number of popular cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, and LTC. New York-based crypto exchange Gemini has announced that it will be expanding into Latin America through an upcoming partnership with Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia. The partnership will take effect Dec. 14, and will permit customers from Bancolombia to trade 4 crypto assets: Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ), Litecoin ( LTC ), and Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ). A limited number of users will be able to buy crypto directly from their Bancolombia bank accounts through the Gemini exchange, which will provide crypto-specific infrastructure for exchange and custody of assets. It remains unclear whether the users will be able to withdraw the crypto holdings directly from their accounts. In a Dec. 6 announcement about the partnership, Gemini stated that it “serves as an important step toward the strategic expansion of Gemini’s presence in Latin America.” “We believe th...

Massive jump in number of Australians who own crypto: Survey

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CEO of Independent Reserve Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph that he expects the trend to continue as crypto matures and becomes less volatile. The 2021 Independent Reserve’s Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) survey of more than 2,000 people found that the percentage of Australians surveyed who own or have owned crypto has reached 28.8%, up from 18.4% in 2020. The results suggest that growth in the sector is being driven by the positive experience of those who own crypto, with 89% of those surveyed saying they have made money or broken even, up from 78% in 2020. Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph that these results didn’t come as a surprise to him, due to an environment in which it has become “very difficult to get returns on investments.” He stated that “cryptocurrencies have easily outperformed any other assets over the last 12 months,” before adding: “I think it's quite natural that more and more people get interested in an asset class that's clear...

Sophia AI robot to be tokenized for Metaverse appearance

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A collection of 100 “intelligent NFTs” will be auctioned in Binance on Dec. 16 as Sophia takes a trip into the Metaverse. A virtual anime version of Sophia, the world-famous humanoid artificial intelligence (AI) robot, is set to be tokenized and auctioned off as part of an up-and-coming Metaverse project dubbed “Noah’s Ark.”  Sophia was developed by Hong Kong-based firm Hansen Robotics in 2016 and is known across the globe for her conversation skills and articulate speaking ability. In her first 5 years, Sophia has addressed the United Nations and obtained Saudi citizenship. Earlier this month, former Hansen Robotics CEO and Sophia co-creator Jeanne Lim launched a virtual anime version of the robot dubbed “Sophia beingAI” at her new company beingAI under a perpetual license and co-branding partnership. According to the Dec. 7 announcement, beingAI has partnered with intelligent nonfungible token (iNFT) production firm Alethea AI to launch 100 iNFTs featuring Sophia beingAI ...

Jack Dorsey's Spiral demos Bitcoin Lightning Development Kit

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A puppet of Jack Dorsey has been used to explain the Lightning Network in a new video promoting Spiral’s LDK. The crypto arm of the recently rebranded Square (now Block) has demonstrated its Lightning Development Kit (LDK) as it aims to turbocharge the Bitcoin network.  The team from Jack Dorsey’s Spiral published a video on Dec. 7 showcasing the capabilities of Bitcoin Lightning and the Lightning Development Kit (LDK). LDK has been designed to allow developers to seamlessly plug their applications into the network on mobile devices and Point of Sale terminals.  LDK supports native APIs using Rust, C, Swift, Java, and Kotlin coding languages. This lets developers customize their wallet app for their users in the language of their choice while also removing the necessity for separate Bitcoin and LN wallets. In the video , Twitter’s former CEO described the LDK as a program that “makes it easy for any developer in the world to build a wallet.” We made a very short docum...

Australian women owning crypto has doubled in 2021: Survey

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The ICRI survey of 2,000 Aussies also found that 56.7% of the women surveyed said that they would enter the crypto market based on advice from family and friends. A new survey shared with Cointelegraph has found that the proportion of Australian women who own crypto assets has doubled in the last year. The 2021 Independent Reserve’s Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) of 2000 Australians found that the number of women who currently or have previously invested in crypto rose from 10.3% in 2020 to 20% in 2021. The percentage of female Bitcoin owners also rose from 8.3% to 14.8% according to the survey. Independent Reserve is an Australian-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2013, it has more than 200,000 users. Karen Cohen, Deputy Chair for the Board of Blockchain Australia, said that more women have entered the crypto market this year as the asset class has continued to become a mainstream investment. Speaking to Cointelegraph, she said: “I think that it tells you that inves...

Korean crypto investment firm Hashed reportedly under tax investigation

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South Korea’s tax agency is looking into crypto investment firm Hashed according to local media. Crypto investment firm Hashed is currently under investigation by the National Tax Service (NTS) in South Korea according to local media. The 4th Bureau of Investigation from the Seoul Regional Tax Office, which is handling the investigation, is best known for conducting investigations into tax evasion and slush fundraising. A slush fund is a pool of funds raised through undisclosed means and set aside for undisclosed purposes. On Dec. 7, local media reported that the exact nature of the investigation is not clear. An official from the regional tax office told reporters that although they could not confirm the exact nature of the investigation “intense investigations on small businesses without any prior notice are not uncommonly related to slush fundraising or tax evasion on the part of the company’s CEO.” The investigation began early last month and is set to conclude no later than...