Weekly Crypto roundup: Coca-Cola NFTs, WazirX’s DeFi, and Amazon’s denial

While Crypto ATMs installations are seeing a good jump this year, it looks like Amazon isn’t ready yet to adopt cryptocurrencies in its e-commerce portal. What more happened in crypto this week? Let’s talk about it in this week’s roundup.

Report suggests 46 percent Singaporeans plan own Cryptocurrencies.

Around 46% of Singaporeans are planning to buy cryptocurrencies in the next 12 months, as per a report. Independent Reserve is an Asia-Pacific cryptocurrency exchange that recently surveyed 1,000 people. Out of those, 43% of the people said that they own cryptocurrency. Interestingly, around 46% of respondents said they are planning to buy cryptocurrencies in the next 12 months.

Even the Singapore administration is aware of their population’s interest in cryptocurrencies. The state’s central bank, The Monetary Authority of Singapore, has offered cash prizes to citizens for their digital currency ideas. What’s more enlightening is that the general consensus in Singapore towards cryptocurrencies is much better compared to other nations.

Full Story: 46 percent Singaporeans plan to own Crypto: Report

Crypto ATM installations rise over 70% this year.

According to Coin ATM Radar, the number of crypto ATMs globally has risen from 13,993 to 24,030. That is a growth of more than 70% in half a year! 10,037 machines are installed so far, which exceeds last year by a margin of over 2,000 machines. However, the number will grow even more since these statistics only accounts for the first five months of this year.

You can currently find crypto ATMs in 75 countries, but a major chunk of the total ATMs (21,000) are in the United States alone. 42 manufacturers produce Crypto ATMs currently. Genesis Coin dominates this space with a 40.9% market share. Following that is General Bytes that owns 24% of the market.

Full Story: Crypto ATMs installation jump over 70% this year

Indian state government will validate diploma certificates on the Ethereum blockchain.

While the Indian government’s stance on cryptocurrencies is unknown currently, An Indian blockchain startup LegitDoc is partnering up with the Government of Maharashtra to offer tamper-proof diploma certificates. They’ll do so by using Ethereum blockchain technology. This isn’t the first body in the country trying to incorporate blockchain technology.

Other institutions in India like the National Institute of Technology (Surathkal) and Ashoka University are also in talks to implement a similar solution to counter the nefarious problem. Many universities worldwide like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Malta, and Singapore, are also implementing an e-governance system for education.

Full Story: India will validate diploma certificates through the Ethereum blockchain

Amazon denies rumors about incorporating Bitcoin support.

Amidst rumors about Amazon incorporating Bitcoin support, the e-commerce giant has given a statement denying these claims. According to a recent report, Amazon stated that it is interested in the crypto industry. However, they added that they don’t have any specific plans to incorporate digital payments just yet.

Amazon had previously posted a job opening for a digital currency and blockchain product lead. A few days later, London’s City A.M. newspaper claimed Amazon was “definitely” preparing to incorporate Bitcoin payments. When the rumors became rife in the crypto community, Bitcoin grew 15% in a couple of hours driving more than $110 million in liquidations.

Full Story: Amidst rumors, Amazon denies plans for Bitcoin support

Binance CEO offering to quit in order to focus on making the exchange a regulated financial institution.

The Boss of the largest crypto exchange in the world hinted to step down his post in order to focus on regulating its exchange as a financial institution. Speaking at a virtual press conference, The CEO said that his company has a succession plan in place. Also, he added that his company will move towards a fully regulated financial institution going forward.

Lately, many countries have scrutinized the crypto exchange for unregulated activity. To resolve this, Binance is aiming to set up a number of regional headquarters around the world. By doing so, they’ll seek licenses from wherever they are available.

Full Story: Binance CEO offers to quit

Mastercard launches “a global start-up engagement program” to support crypto startups.

Payments giant, Mastercard has launched a program for crypto start-ups named “new Start Path global start-up engagement program”. It will help the startups expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology. It’ll also try to reduce the learning curve around cryptocurrencies to increase the current adoption rate. Seven start-ups have currently joined the program.

Noting the success of its previous Start Path program in 2014, Mastercard has launched a successor to this program. The previous program benefitted more than 250 startups till now. The firm is really pushing into the crypto scene to keep up its fight with its main competitor, VISA.

Full Story: Mastercard to support crypto startups

WazirX to launch its own decentralized exchange next month.

Amidst WazirX’s ongoing tussle with the regulatory committees, the largest crypto exchange in India is going to launch its own decentralized exchange. The company’s co-founder said that the project is in advanced trials and will launch by the next month.

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are a type of cryptocurrency exchange that allows for direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions to occur online securely and without the need for an intermediary. Currently, there aren’t any specific details available about the WazirX decentralized exchange. However, Governments around the world are more relaxed towards decentralized exchanges which is why they are less cumbersome legally. It’ll also help the exchange keep up with the tussle with the regulatory authorities.

Full Story: WazirX to introduce its decentralized exchange next month

Coca-Cola to launch its own NFTs

One of the biggest brands in the world is soon going to launch its branded ‘virtual wearables’ as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Coca-Cola will include a ‘wearable’ jacket for the avatars in the blockchain-based metaverse Decentraland. This will be its first NFT collection, along with the celebration of International Friendship Day. Moreover, all the money received from NFTs will go towards Special Olympics.

Coca-Cola has partnered up with Avatar developer Tafi to create this new NFT collection. Tafi has an avatar creation platform and has partnered up with many brands before. Moreover, it has developed avatars, avatar clothing, and NFT collections.

These NFTs will be available on the marketplace on July 30 for 92 hours.

Full Story: Coca-Cola To Come Up With NFTs

PayPal to launch its ‘super app wallet’.

Global payments giant PayPal is going to launch a crypto ‘super app wallet’ that will feature high yield savings, early access to direct deposit funds, messaging capability, and much more. The company’s CEO, Dan Schulman said that each wallet would feature advanced machine learning capabilities and artificial intelligence along with “additional crypto capabilities.”

PayPal is seeing tremendous user growth in its crypto offerings. In the second quarter of this year, it reported more than 400 million active user accounts and reported $311 billion in total payment value. Due to this, the payment giant has increased the weekly limit from $20,000 to $100,000 and removed the annual crypto purchasing limit of $100,000.

Full Story: What is the Paypal Super app?

Russian universitites developing Time Capsule insuring crypto assets inheritance.

Three Russian universities are developing a Russian Time Capsule on which people can store their information. Under some conditions, this information can be transferred to a specified person at a specific time. Currently, the only condition is that the data uploaded on the blockchain should be six months old.

Users can keep their photographs, text files, video messages, and location details on the Russian Time Capsule. In any case of unfortunate death, the heir can access the data stored on the blockchain. However, the time capsule will only open at a pre-specified date in the future. Each user can send two capsules free of charge on the blockchain for only one time.

Full Story: Russian Time Capsule in development: Easing Crypto Assets inheritance