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    China to cut paper and wood tariffs from New Zealand from April 7

    The move follows the deal signed by the two governments in January to upgrade their existing free trade pact, allowing 99% of New Zealand’s $3 billion wood and paper trade to China to receive tariff-free access over a 10-year implementation period.Import tariffs for products such as toilet or facial tissue stock and paper used for writing will be reduced to 6.8% and 4.5% from April 7 from current rates of 7.5% and 5%, respectively, and will be gradually cut over the next 10 years to reach zero.”2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand and April 7th is the 14th anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA),” the finance ministry said in the statement.”The implementation of the agreed tariff rates will further promote trade and investment between the two countries.”China has eliminated or reduced tariffs on 75 wood and paper tariff lines for New Zealand products since the existing FTA entered into force in 2008. More

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    DAO regulation in Australia: Issues and solutions, Part 1

    On March 21, 2022, during Blockchain Week Australia, Australian Senator Andrew Bragg made a few interesting statements, one of which was about the intention of lawmakers to introduce regulations for decentralized autonomous organizations.Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph More

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    The Role of NFTs in the Emerging Metaverse Economy

    Interestingly, this seeming ignorance of this sect of the public isn’t entirely their fault, as it is the most visible side of NFTs that receive publicity. However, with the chaos surrounding digital art in recent times, it has become evident that NFTs open up many new possibilities and areas to explore.One example of this would be the fact that their connection with the metaverse has a major role to play in the future of NFTs. The path to this future offers many new possibilities and opportunities for companies, investors, and enterprises alike who will play a significant role in shaping the adoption and usage of NFTs in the long run.That said, accessing the metaverse in the first place has recently become one of the most significant uses of NFTs. For those who understand the NFT-metaverse relationship, you’ll realize this is a big deal in the blockchain space.Will NFTs help in accessing the metaverse? Do they hold value for defining how the metaverse will look in the future? What role do they serve in the grand scheme of the metaverse economy? Let’s take a close examination of how crucial NFTs are in the development of the metaverse.Blockchain and NFTsWith the fourth industrial revolution now underway, blockchain happens to be one of the major spheres of technological interventions to have debuted in recent times. Blockchain’s popularity has grown unimaginably quickly, and this can be attributed to the vital role it has played in resolving the problems of double-spending associated with most cryptocurrencies, and, in this context, in serving as a building block for the Bitcoin mainnet. With the aforementioned in mind, blockchain was thereby used to facilitate the existence of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which introduced the characteristics of interoperability and scarcity.However, mainstream adoption, the increasing demand for NFT-metaverse projects, and the growing interest in the emerging industry, has necessitated further research into the potential role of NFTs and blockchain in the metaverse.Understanding NFTs and the MetaverseIn order to understand the role of NFTs in the rapidly-evolving metaverse space, you must consider: “What are NFTs and the metaverse?”. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are a new type of digital asset that are one-of-a-kind, indivisible, and immutable. They aid in the representation of digital and physical asset ownership on the blockchain. If you find yourself confused as to what exactly this means, then we recommend reading our beginners’ guide on how to kickstart your journey into NFT space, found here. To continue, NFTs are having a major impact across all sectors; from digital artwork to marketing, and even to disrupting the traditional gaming industry.However, before the importance of NFTs to the metaverse can be considered, it is pertinent to first examine what the hype around the metaverse is all about. The metaverse can be thought of as a blockchain-based digital world with visual components provided by technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI), to mention a few. As mentioned previously, blockchain’s decentralized nature opens the door to limitless economic potential and social interaction. As such, by leveraging the capabilities of blockchain, the metaverse essentially provides digital environments that are exceptionally malleable, adaptable, scalable, and interoperable. More importantly, the metaverse combines breakthrough technology with the participant engagement models from both individual and corporate perspectives. Corporate parties can then use this data to better understand what to market and how to set up shop within the metaverse.Are NFTs a Component of the Metaverse?Almost every discussion of the metaverse revolves around the potential to combine the metaverse and NFTs. Many people, on the other hand, believe that NFTs are merely another part of the larger metaverse. Indeed, “NFTs” and “metaverse” are often used interchangeably.The fundamental rationale for such beliefs is that NFTs in the blockchain gaming industry have experienced unprecedented levels of growth. It’s therefore reasonable to assume that only virtual worlds will be able to influence the metaverse. Interoperable games can thus help to propel the metaverse forward by serving as virtual environments.Furthermore, the ability to link one’s real-life identity with a digital avatar opens up a world of possibilities that enable NFTs to define access to the metaverse. With the instance of NFT-controlled access in 2019, the metaverse NFT token made its first appearance when the first ‘NFT.NYC’ conference employed an NFT-based ticket system to admit attendees. Even if no one could realistically call the conference a “metaverse,” it created a positive precedent for NFT metaverse interaction going forward.Will NFTs Help to Create the Metaverse?The metaverse is a vague, adaptable concept, and NFTs can play an important role in its overall ecosystem. The possibility of employing NFTs to serve as deeds to virtual property would be driven by NFT metaverse projects. NFTs could be used to acquire exclusive access to a metaverse area, while also granting others access.Surprisingly, NFT smart contract capabilities could be useful for selling real estate in the metaverse. In the early phases of metaverse development, NFT-controlled access has been the most common use case. NFT-controlled access, like the first-ever real-world application of NFTs in the metaverse, might help to ensure VIP access to real-life and virtual events alike.NFTs might also be convenient for airdropping branded items, or granting followers unique access rights. Likewise, they might provide interoperability outside of the metaverse, with infrastructure that supports features like location-based interactions and augmented reality, in addition to increasing efficiency in fan engagement. These possibilities combined make it evident that the metaverse and NFTs are meant to be together. Many companies are starting to realize this and are pouring resources into creating their own NFTs and working on unique experiences that will bring customers to their digital doorsteps. An example of this? Real estate.The Impact of NFTs on the MetaverseIt’s critical to understand the role of NFTs in influencing the metaverse’s fundamental design. You’ve probably noticed that NFTs have the potential to disrupt the metaverse’s traditional social network patterns of user engagement, transaction, and socializing. So, how would these aspects play out in the metaverse as a whole? Here are a few examples of how metaverse NFT interactions could look in the future.The role of NFT in the metaverse would become much more significant to infrastructures, such as with the play-to-earn gaming model. This not only creates the opportunity for NFTs to increase user engagement in the metaverse, but also promises to empower the players themselves to make choices.Furthermore, play-to-earn games provide a fair, transparent gameplay experience by giving players full ownership and management of their assets.The very fact that blockchain provides transparency and immutability illustrates the importance of NFTs to the metaverse. These features play a crucial role in the metaverse’s fair and open economy. The scarcity of NFTs and their on-chain value would henceforth be determined by the fundamental rule of supply and demand. With these systems in place, there are no opportunities left for fake value inflation. That said, it is clear as day that the metaverse and NFTs must actively collaborate in order to truly build this fair and transparent economy.NFT avatars are a popular illustration of how the NFT-metaverse link is shaping the world. A player’s true self, the one they dream of being, can be represented in their NFT avatars. Players may enter and move between different areas using their NFT avatars as “access tokens”. NFTs could thus be seen as an extension of a user’s real-life identity, providing complete ownership, autonomy, and flexibility for their creation.Users could utilize NFT avatars to earn virtual membership to a variety of real-world and metaverse experiences. As a result, combining metaverse with NFTs may improve users’ social and communal experiences. The vast potential of NFT avatars is further demonstrated by their use in the metaverse for startup launches and content development.One significant use of such NFT metaverse initiatives is the commercial sale of virtual land. Users are also able to rent land for passive income while working on other constructions such as online stores or event venues.ConclusionThe myriad possibilities associated with the NFT-metaverse combo could have a profound impact on the future of the decentralized economy as a whole. It’s easy to understand how NFTs provide ownership and uniqueness, but the metaverse provides a digital environment in which everything is conceivable. Economic and social experiences in the metaverse would be altered if the digital world lacked the means to represent those actual digital assets. While many people indeed believe that NFTs are a part of the metaverse, some even believe that NFTs are the building blocks to the metaverse. It is apparent that NFTs and the metaverse could serve to open up a wide range of possibilities.EMAIL NEWSLETTERJoin to get the flipside of cryptoUpgrade your inbox and get our DailyCoin editors’ picks 1x a week delivered straight to your inbox.[contact-form-7]
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    What the media is missing about decentralized autonomous organizations

    Seemingly every week, another old-guard media outlet echoes the talking points of defenders of the status quo financial system who fear and distrust the economic opportunities that will be unlocked through the power of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). While publications are right to recognize the unsurprising early growing pains of DAOs, this sort of hand-wringing misses the forest for the trees when it comes to the impact of DAOs.Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph More

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    Is Bitcoin a hedge against inflation?

    As an asset, Bitcoin works amazingly well against inflation and beats it by a big margin, though you should be careful about extraneous factors like the regulatory environment. Statistics reveal that the odds are much better while storing value in Bitcoin than assets like gold, real estate, stocks and others. Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph More

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    Indonesia’s cryptocurrency community in 2022: An overview

    It’s getting to the point where crypto is becoming more popular than traditional stock. Vice Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga stated that more than 11 million Indonesians bought or sold crypto in 2021. In comparison, according to the Indonesian Central Securities Depository, the total number of portfolio investors — indicated by the number of single investor identities — reached 7.35 million in 2021.Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph More

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    Bitcoin network hits new difficulty level

    For the uninitiated, Bitcoin’s network difficulty is the computational power required to mine BTC blocks.According to data from Blockchain.com, an estimated hash rate of 201.84 EH/s is required to mine the flagship cryptocurrency.Alongside the surge in the network difficulty, Bitcoin’s hash rate has held good ground throughout the year, breaking into an all-time high of 248.11 EH/s on Feb. 13.One of the advantages of a higher hash rate is the resilience it offers against double-spending attacks, which entails reversing BTC transactions over the blockchain by controlling at least 51% of the Bitcoin hash rate.Prior to reaching an all-time high, the BTC network difficulty had a slight wobble and declined from 27.96 trillion to 27.55 trillion on March 4, eventually dipping to 27.45 trillion until Mar. 30. Before the slump, the Bitcoin network had grown consistently from July 2021.With just 2 million BTC left to mine as rewards, the BTC network is touted to grow stronger as miners continue to support the thriving community.Out of the total supply of 21 million BTC, the remaining 2 million BTC is estimated to be eventually mined around 2140.Meanwhile, a Terra wallet belonging to LFG (Luna Foundation Guard) amassed $139 million in BTC, bringing the entire BTC in its coffers to 31,000 BTC ($1.47 billion). The wallet started collecting huge amounts of BTC as far back as Jan. 2021 and hasn’t sold any since then.Continue reading on BTC Peers More