The ongoing Ripple-SEC lawsuit has reached a crucial stage, with a decision from the judge pending and the case centring on whether Ripple’s XRP token is a security. National Geographic has made its debut in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) by introducing its NFTs on the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain. Lastly, Snowfall Protocol (SNW) is set to launch soon, and is expected to bring massive returns for investors in the DeFi space. Join us as we delve deeper into these news regarding Ripple (XRP), Polygon (MATIC) and Snowfall Protocol (SNW).
Decision from judge pending in ongoing Ripple-SEC lawsuit
The ongoing legal dispute between Ripple (XRP) Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has significant implications for the entire cryptocurrency industry, may soon reach a resolution.
In December 2022, there were rumors circulating on Twitter that the ongoing legal case between Ripple (XRP) and the SEC, which centers around whether the XRP token is an unlicensed security, may have been settled before the end of 2022. This speculation was fueled by a comment made during an “ask-me-anything” session with Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson, who stated that he had heard that the case against Ripple (XRP) could be resolved around December 15th. However, Hoskinson later clarified that this information was based on rumors, and not on any concrete evidence.
According to Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple (XRP), the legal case between his company and the SEC may continue for another few months, potentially concluding in the first half of 2023. He also mentioned that Ripple (XRP) would be willing to consider a settlement if the SEC recognizes that XRP is not a security.
With a $1.7 billion trading volume over the past 24 hours, the current live Ripple (XRP) price is $0.42. In the past 24 hours, Ripple (XRP) has increased by 3.30%.
National Geographic has introduced its initial Non-Fungible Tokens on the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain
The launch of National Geographic’s first non-fungible token collection, in partnership with Snowcrash on the Polygon (MATIC) network, has met with significant criticism from some members of the Polygon (MATIC) and other cryptocurrency communities.
On Monday, National Geographic’s Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts shared an image of a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Non-Fungible Token (NFT) with a caption that explained the concept of NFTs. The posts were intended to educate the magazine’s general audience about NFTs in preparation for National Geographic’s NFT drop on the Polygon (MATIC) network.
With a $470 million trading volume over a day, the current live Polygon (MATIC) price is $0.99. In the previous 24 hours, Polygon (MATIC) has decreased by 3.32%.
Launch of Snowfall Protocol (SNW) is anticipated to yield enormous profits
Snowfall Protocol (SNW) is a highly promising cryptocurrency. Despite the bear market, Snowfall Protocol (SNW) has achieved significant gains. The protocol has been gaining attention since last year, with the first and second presale stages of its SNW tokens selling out. To date, Snowfall Protocol (SNW) has sold over 250 million tokens, and the demand for the token appears to continue at a steady pace.
A day before schedule, Snowfall Protocol’s (SNW) Phase 2 was a resounding success, raising more than $3 million and selling over 100 million tokens. Snowfall Protocol (SNW) facilitates the transfer of assets between more than 200 EVM and non-EVM networks by creating a secure, canonical token bridge. For the transfer of NFTs, the dApp additionally offers a swap and wrap system.
Final Words
In conclusion, the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve with developments such as the ongoing Ripple-SEC lawsuit highlighting the legal challenges facing the industry, while National Geographic’s entry into the NFT market on Polygon (MATIC) blockchain demonstrates the growing mainstream adoption of this technology. On the other hand, Snowfall Protocol’s (SNW) upcoming launch has investors excited for the potential returns it could bring.
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Since 2022, the cryptocurrency market has undergone a significant change. Some assets disappeared entirely from the market, while others lost their value. A relatively small number of projects have excellent and essential functionality for the cryptocurrency industry.
Cryptos with excellent functionality are those with growth abilities. UNUS SED LEO (LEO) and Cosmos (ATOM) have all it takes to make it big time, but they can’t match BudBlockz (BLUNT). Analysts predict a 3000% growth increase for BudBlockz in the coming months.
This article explains how BLUNT can outperform LEO and ATOM.
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BudBlockz (BLUNT) has a bright future in terms of its price potential and price-to-value
BudBlockz (BLUNT) is the first decentralized online store in the world for cannabis fans. BudBlockz is a cutting-edge ecosystem that enables secure access to the worldwide fractionalized NFT market for as low as $50. BLUNT’s professional logistics and data management will increase accessibility and speed up sales of cannabis.
BudBlockz (BLUNT) has helped to unite the cannabis industry while licensing the opportunity for enthusiasts to purchase, sell, and invest in products and dispensaries globally. The ecosystem has contributed to the market’s security. They are protecting individual data and providing a transparent and trustworthy market, keeping BLUNT on the rise.
BLUNT uses NFT technology to validate community members’ eligibility and provide licenses to users so they can safely participate in the ecosystem. BudBlockz implements solutions for marijuana businesses and entrepreneurs. They usually need help with data administration, logistics, fundraising, and seed-to-sale tracking. Collaborating with BLUNT provides cannabis dispensaries with a broad ecosystem and offers users a more varied selection of products.
Merging the cannabis business with cryptocurrency is considered very wise of BudBlockz’s founders. It has given BLUNT a steady foundation for improvement. As predicted by crypto analysts, BLUNT can outgrow many other cryptocurrencies because of its growth.
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Cosmos (ATOM) aims to reduce the levels of fragmentation seen in blockchain networks.
The Cosmos (ATOM) Hub and Cosmos SDK are powered by a proof-of-stake consensus protocol (software development kit). Cosmos ecosystem was built, so blockchains are segregated and unable to communicate. ATOM seeks to address the blockchain-related issues of sovereignty, scalability, and sustainability.
Given its solid portfolio and fundamentals, crypto analysts predicted that ATOM’s price would increase gradually over the next few years. The fact that so many projects are drawn to their environment is another essential factor in the coin’s growth.
Cosmos (ATOM) aims to build a community where all blockchain technologies can effectively communicate. Through ATOM, blockchains can interact and maintain their sovereignty and governance rights. Transaction costs are lower for cryptocurrencies that operate on the Cosmos network.
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) makes trading and lending easier for its users
The UNUS SED LEO (LEO) token is one of the latest cryptocurrency projects on the Bitfinex exchange. Leo suffered a setback because of the Bitfinex saga but later bounced back into the market. It’s a dual-chain utility token running on the Ethereum and EOS blockchains.
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) holders receive discounts when they trade using the Bitfinex trading platform and other iFinex products. Holders have reduced lending fees attached to them. This is to encourage lending and the use of iFinex.
Leo holders also receive discounts on deposits made on the platform. When users want to withdraw their assets, the fee is lower than some other trading platforms.
Cryptocurrencies like UNUS SED LEO (LEO) and Cosmos (ATOM) have improved since their launch. These cryptos have been doing well, but BudBlockz (BLUNT) is predicted to outgrow them due to its potential. BLUNT is said to be a force in the crypto market.
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In search of a solution for the lingering fuel scarcity in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of a 14-man Steering Committee on Petroleum Products Supply and Distribution management.
The Steering Committee, which will be saddled with the responsibility of finding a lasting solution to disruptions in the supply and distribution of petroleum products, will be chaired by Buhari, with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Chief Timipre Sylva as Alternate Chairman.
Members of the committee include the Minister of Finance, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Economic Adviser to the President and Director-General, Department of State Services (DSS).
Others are Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Member (EFCC), and Commandant-General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
There are also others: they include Authority Chief Executive NMDPRA, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Special Advisor (Special Duties) to the HMSPR while the Technical Advisor (Midstream) to the HMSPR will serve as Secretary.
The move became necessary following weeks of fuel scarcity that has unleashed much suffering on people across the country, with the cost of transport rising as filling stations hike pump prices. The situation has been attributed to disrupted supply and distribution of fuel across Nigeria.
Sylva said in a statement by his Senior Adviser (Media and Communications), Horatius Egua that the committee would tackle the challenge of supply and distribution.
The minister has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure strict compliance with the government approved ex-depot and retail prices for PMS, a move seen as key in making petroleum products available across the country.
As part of the committee’s efforts to ensure that there is adequate supply of fuel, Sylva also directed the NMDPRA to ensure that NNPC Limited, which is the supplier of last resort, meets the domestic supply obligation of PMS and other petroleum products in the country.
In addition, the minister directed the committee to ensure that the interests of the ordinary Nigerian is protected from price exploitation on other deregulated products such as Automative Gas Oil (AGO), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
“The Federal Government will not allow misguided elements to bring untold hardship upon the citizenry and attempt to discredit government’s efforts in consolidating the gains made thus far in the oil and gas sector of the economy,” he said.
Other terms of reference are said to ensure national strategic stock management, visibility on the NNPC Limited refineries rehabilitation programme and ensure end-end tracking of petroleum products, especial PMS to ascertain daily national consumption and eliminate smuggling.
Buhari is understood to have chosen to set up the committee after other efforts to curtail the fuel scarcity fail. Fuel is currently being sold from N185 to N300 in many parts of the country. Many Nigerians have accepted the price but still don’t see fuel to buy as many filling stations are closed.
The fuel scarcity is also crippling businesses that depend on generators for electricity supply as power supply has been more epileptic due to shortage of gas supply to power stations.
Update: Reasons for Fuel Scarcity in Nigeria
Major oil marketers under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has noted the core reasons for fuel scarcity in Nigeria:
MOMAN said, “These queues are caused by exceptionally high demand and bottlenecks in the distribution chain. The major cause is the shortage and high (US dollar) costs of daughter’s vessels for ferrying products from mother vessels to depots along the coast.
“Next is an inadequate number of trucks to meet the demand to deliver product from depots to filling stations nationwide. These high logistics and exchange rate costs continue to put pressure on prices at the pumps.
“Over the past three months, staff and management of MOMAN companies have worked diligently at depots and filling stations to relieve the stress faced by customers through the Christmas and New year period.”
“Our members have again agreed to extend depot loading hours as well as keep strategically situated service stations open for long
“A final resolution to these challenges will be the full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector to encourage the liberalization of supply and long-term investment distribution assets. We urge the government to work towards this end goal.’’
In thisupdate by LinkedIn News, we are learning that US big banks are working together to create a product which could compete with PayPal and Apple Pay: ” Those firms are worried that third-party wallet operators such as Apple could dominate customer experience, leaving banks to run the financial architecture behind the scenes.” Indeed, the banks can build and sustain the infrastructure which makes banking and broad financial services possible while PayPal and Apple Pay just clean up on the value created.
The nation’s big banks are working together on a digital wallet that can be used to shop online — and which would compete head-on with Apple Pay and PayPal, reports The Wall Street Journal. The wallet will be linked to shoppers’ debit and credit cards and will be operated by Early Warning Services (EWS), a joint venture owned by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and several other banks. Those firms are worried that third-party wallet operators such as Apple could dominate customer experience, leaving banks to run the financial architecture behind the scenes. EWS, which also manages Zelle, plans to launch the wallet in the second half of the year. A PYMTS study in December found that in-store use of Apple Pay grew 56% year-over-year, while online use climbed by 63%.
As things stand today, that is actually what happens. When you receive $100 in your US bank account, the bank does not take any fee. But when you receive the same in your PayPal wallet, as payment, you will be off by at last $3. While someone can argue that the money kept in the bank can be used by the bank to do lending, we can also posit that the funds in the PayPal wallet can also be deployed by PayPal into many other profit-making activities. My point is clear: the banks do not capture a lot of value while PayPal and others like it do.
You can explain what is happening in a curve: the smiling curve. The companies which are at the center capture least value, and most times, there are the ones which support the ecosystem the most. But those at the edges capture the most value even though they do not provide a lot of catalytic support in the ecosystem.
PayPal and Apple Pay operate at the edges and extract tons of value while the US banks remain lost in the center capturing just a small value.
This video explains the phenomenon. Indeed, where you operate on that curve determines the value you can create and capture, well more than the efforts you are putting in. You can be working really hard as a bank by handling the delivery and centralization of customer assets while those firms at the origination/creation and discovery/aggregation positions smile.
Of course there are many value challenges for banks in general:
Fed up with big banks’ meager interest rates on checking and savings accounts, many wealthy Americans are pulling out their cash and investing in higher paying products. While the Federal Reserve has been hiking rates for nearly a year, the typical savings account only pays a 0.33% interest rate, The Wall Street Journal reports. But Treasury notes, money-market funds and brokered certificates of deposit pay between 4% to 5%. Affluent customers are taking advantage of those higher rates, causing a flight of deposits from banks’ wealth management businesses. Deposits at the Bank of America’s wealth unit sank 17% last year to $324 billion. Deposits in the consumer unit, meanwhile, fell only 0.6% to $1 trillion.
A dozen up and coming West African musicians and Google, which is the odd one out?
Well, you would have probably all guessed Google, it’s a no brainer.
The question is not that you picked Google, the question is why?
FINDING PARTNERS
Any time I am in front of a computer, even when doing something completely unrelated, I usually have at least one ‘node’ into the Handshake Blockchain open, so that I can take passive glances at what is going on in the world of WEB 3 DOMAINS.
For the unfamiliar, WEB 3 DOMAINS are a technology only a few years old. Instead of using the organisation ICANN as the root for internet domains, they use a blockchain.
This makes them decentralized, which makes it much harder for online activities to be snooped upon or personal data recorded. It also makes it impossible for a sovereign actor to take you down.
So, I had previously been in a bar restaurant discussing taking on a junior partner in exchange for equity in 9ja Cosmos. He is a final year overseas scholarship student in my home. During the discussion he laboured on how he grew up with one of the artists in this articles feature image.
Something about his claims didn’t feel right. He made some comments which provided data which could be investigated. For example, both of them may have Yoruba names, but if one is found to have gone to primary school in Sagamu, and the other in Ore, how could they have been walking home together as primary school mates as claimed?
It doesn’t matter to me that the prospect has connections on a path to fame. What matters is that partnership involves trust, and if he can’t be trusted to be truthful about little things like this, what about big things? A bit of ‘Due Diligence’ will reveal this.
DUE DILLIGENCE IN BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY.
I like ‘absolute’ explanations for things. If water flows downhill if poured on the ground, theory of gravity explains to me why that happens. If someone pours water on the ground and it flows down hill, and they do it 100 times, this doesn’t offer me confidence that the 101th time they do it, water will flow downhill. It is the empirical proofs behind ‘theory of gravity’ which instils confidence in me that it will be so.
In the same way, I can’t listen to people that pull out silly graphs to show me what a cryptocurrency has done before, as some sort of predictive tool a bull market in that currency will happen again.
That isn’t to say that I’m a cryptobasher and call cryptocurrency ‘monopoly money’. Most of the nonsense about government guarantees over FIAT are fairy tales. The government bond embodied in its sovereign currency is only as good as its taxpayers continued ability to pay.
With many of even the most respected currencies in the world now running at a government borrowing rate in excess of their GDP, its now reasonable to question the collective ability of their taxpaying citizenry to pay.
Smoke and mirrors tricks with everything from quantitative easing, to fractional reserve banking, from sovereign government, through central bank, and on to commercial banks, and other market based actors, all give solid reasons why confidence should shift to other ‘value instruments’ as a trading tool.
Nevertheless, if FIAT is as flawed as many cryptobulls claim, then they need to justify rising cryptocurrency value by some other indicator except a comparison of those very same FIAT instruments.
If they want to convince me that Bitcoin is worth 25% more than it was worth six months ago, they need to show me that in an absolute sense, without introducing dollars or euros, or pounds, or yen into their justification. I don’t want to know what, I want to know why.
HANDSHAKE WEB 3 DOMAINS AND HOW THAT IMPACTS THE COIN.
I saw something today on Blockchain Council that said: ‘Utility NFTs are special. Special in a way that the scope of their potential is not limited to the title of a typical ‘digital collectible.’ When we talk about utility NFTs, we emphasize the word ‘utility’ because that is where the heart of this asset class lies. Precisely, utility NFTs refer to virtual assets that offer privileges, benefits, or rewards to their owners which are otherwise not available for use. They bestow upon a ‘right’ to extract a service or an advantage to the asset holder.’
I try to avoid using the acronym NFT because it’s quite often misused and a lot of people don’t have a full understanding of it, because they have listened to ‘misuse’ definitions. But I think Blockchain Council have something here with the ‘Utility’ concept.
I consider the term ‘utility’ to mean ‘things created and minted to a blockchain that are capable of offering more than just <being> ‘ They have to be more than just ‘the coin’.
With the advent of AI generated digital art, we didn’t get anything really better than the coins. It became the same thing dressed up differently. People were not buying them through appreciation of aesthetics, they were buying them in the hope they would appreciate relatively, again, against the dollar or some other FIAT, no different to the motivation to buy cryptocurrency.
If it is so important for us to get out of FIAT currency and get into cryptocurrency or digital art as ‘investments’ then why don’t pundits track a bored ape yacht club art against its value in ape coins instead of dollars ??
Web 3 Domains started off with limited application due to lack of interoperability with existing systems though for the most part, this is down to legacy architecture, and other blockchain projects not seeing interoperability as important.
This is gradually changing. Projects are coming out of GitHub that are improving the usability of Handshake Domains. Development work is being done with Skiff to create email systems that while decentralized, they are capable of engaging with accounts in the centralized ICANN world should owners choose.
This is what I expect to happen on blockchains, that the products and services operating on them are actually evolving. If people want to explain to me why one particular coin or the other is worth more than it was six months ago, this is what I need to hear from them, not dollar exchange rate analysis.
RISING MUSIC STARS AND WEB 3 DOMAINS.
Now back to how I began. As I was researching the artist my ‘partner prospect’ claimed to know, I decided well, since my node is open, I might as well check out if their name was taken.
It was.
I then checked some articles on about a dozen rising West African music stars. Nine of them (those pictured in this articles’ feature image, were registered.
These are upcoming artists. While certainly of notoriety, they will not have huge corporate machines built around them like decades old global mainstream sellers such as U2, or the estates of the late Michael Jackson or David Bowie.
They have not had the benefit of establishment of Angélique Kidjo, Awilo Longomba. Youssou N’Dour. or late and greats – Fela Kuti and Prince Oliver De Coque.
But their names are registered in this latest iteration of the Internet.
Speaking with Juveniall two days ago, he said, well, while he’s made his own arrangements, it’s not proven any of his peers actually registered their names. Any fan could have done it.
While this is true, from the point of the technology of 9ja Cosmos Ecosystem reaching mainstream, it doesn’t really matter.
The Handshake Community in which 9ja Cosmos participates at the turn of the year now stands at over nine million top level domains issued. It is reaching into every business and community sector in every part of the world.
So what is the contrast with Google?
Well, unlike these artists, Google hasn’t exploited the advantages integrating our technology has to offer.
Meanwhile, integrating Web 3 technology into browsers and search engines alongside legacy ICANN conformance isn’t difficult.
Many browsers these days are actually built on top of Google Chrome Engine, which is open source. These include Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Comodo Dragon, AVG Secure Browser, and Brave.
Brave already integrates all Web 3 domains that ‘live’ on the Ethereum ecosystem. So if a much smaller company like Brave can do it, then for sure, Google can.
The thing is, on the Ethereum ecosystem, there is ‘.eth’ itself, Unstoppable Domains has about 7 or 8 TLDs and with a handful of other TLD operators, its being generous to round it up to fifteen.
The Handshake ecosystem has passed 9 (nine) million Top Level Domains – No comparison! Even the ICANN system, which has been operating since around 1994, only has about 1500.
Google could have been integrating on this at least, since some point in 2021, and once the traffic is captured, work on a monetizing strategy. Perhaps then, they would not have needed to fire twelve thousand workers!
So with twelve thousand industry experts with nothing new to do, and 9 million top level domains available for integration, each one of those 9 million capable of becoming a ‘dot com’ all on its own; and…. an open source Chrome Engine just out there, available for anybody to use…
if I was Google, I would be afraid, VERY afraid!
Meanwhile,
9ja Cosmos is here…
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