Holpop News

Binance announced that it has become the “first official cryptocurrency partner” of the Grammy Awards.
“We are excited to work together with the Recording Academy to bring new blockchain experiences and all the great opportunities that Web3 technology can bring to the entertainment industry,” said Binance co-founder Yee He.
This year’s ceremony will take place on April 3 in Las Vegas.

BXM Operations, the company behind the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, failed to acquire German Bankhaus von der Heydt.
The deal was cancelled by mutual consent.
“After further negotiations between BXM Operations AG and the owner of Bankhaus von der Heydt, both parties made a mutual decision not to proceed with the planned takeover,” said a bank spokesman.
The deal would have given the BitMEX exchange a banking license in Germany.

One of the largest banks in the U.S., BNY Mellon, will serve as the primary custodian of the USDC steiblocoin’s reserve assets. This was reported by Circle Internet Financial.
A bank spokesperson also confirmed that BNY Mellon currently holds USDC reserve assets.
USDC is the second most stable coin in the cryptocurrency market, behind only Tether (USDT).

Yum! Brands (owner of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC) has filed several trademark applications for the NFT as well as products and services in the meta universe.
Trademark attorney Michael Condudis said the applications were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 25, 2022, indicating plans to expand these brands into the NFT industry.
The applications are for virtual products and services, including virtual food and beverage, retail services and virtual online restaurants.

The developers of the popular meme-cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) have revealed details about their future meta-universe “SHIB: The Metaverse”. The team reported that the meta-universe will feature 100595 plots of land, some of which will remain private.
Initially, there will be 36431 plots unlocked, divided into four categories: Silver Fur, Gold Tail, Platinum Paw and Diamond Teeth. Their price will range from 0.2 ETH to 1 ETH.
The team decided to use a neutral cryptocurrency as a ground pricing token in order to eliminate the risk of SHIB native coins declining in value.
Buyers of digital plots will be able to earn passive income, collect in-game resources and generate rewards.
Landowners will be able to rename their plot by using and burning a SHIB token.
Other coins in the SHIB ecosystem, such as LEASH and BONE, will play a role as new phases of the virtual world are rolled out, according to developers. For example, LEASH holders will be able to buy land in later phases.

Digital asset manager Grayscale released a report on smart contract platforms that compares Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to the best and worst parts of New York.
The report compares the Ethereum network to new competing blockchains such as Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA) and Stellar (XLM).
In a section called “digital cities,” Grayscale analyzed Ethereum, Avalanche and Solana. The company compared Ethereum to New York City, noting that they have similarities with the problems arising from their status.
“Ethereum is similar to New York City: it’s huge, expensive and congested in certain areas. However, it also has the richest app ecosystem with more than 500 applications totaling more than $100 billion, more than 10 times the value of any other competing network. Users and developers take comfort in the fact that Ethereum is likely to continue to be a center of gravity for innovation and liquidity because of the size of its community and the amount of capital locked up in the network’s smart contracts. A Tier 2 solution like Polygon is comparable to a skyscraper in New York City: it scales by building upward,” the report said.
The company suggests that moving users to competing blockchains is like moving to a cheaper city because of high gas fees and network congestion in Ethereum caused by the huge demand for decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT services.
“As Ethereum commissions began to exceed $10 per transaction, smart contract platforms such as Stellar, Algorand, Solana and Avalanche experienced a significant increase in the daily number of transactions on the network,” the report noted.
Grayscale also characterized Solana as Los Angeles. The report said Solana is a structurally different network that is faster and focused on different use cases.
“Solana’s architecture is based on a different consensus mechanism that prioritizes speed and lower fees, albeit at the expense of greater centralization – instead of scaling through tier two chains, Solana runs transactions through a fast tier one chain. As of March 15, 2022, the network is running about 2,300 transactions per second,” the report said.
For its part, Avalanche has been compared to Chicago. Its economy is similar to New York City, but it has a smaller network, cheaper transactions and less congestion, and its development itself is more centralized.
“Game-specific sub-networks like Crabada and partnerships with firms like Deloitte should offer more differentiation over applications on other networks, helping Avalanche create a distinct identity going forward,” Grayscale wrote.

Footballer Lionel Messi has signed a $20 million contract with Socios, a company that issues digital fan tokens.
Messi will participate in a Socios advertising campaign in preparation for the World Cup in Qatar, which begins in November.
The company now works with more than 130 soccer clubs and leagues.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has signed into law a bill that aims to expand the adoption of blockchain technology in various financial and industrial sectors.
Under the law, Governor Inslee ordered the formation of the Washington Blockchain Working Group, which will “explore various potential applications for blockchain technology.” The working group will consist of seven government officials and eight leaders from various trade associations across the state. The group will study practical applications of the technology and report its findings to Governor Inslee by December 1, 2023.
Senator Sharon Brown said Washington State is demonstrating a willingness to use blockchain “for the benefit of all Washington residents, employers and workers.”
“This new law is a vital first step in creating an environment that welcomes new business perspectives, is eager to seek out new applications, and is ready to identify potential supply chain management and STEM education opportunities,” she added.

The bill was first proposed in the Senate in 2019, but was eventually vetoed by the governor in April 2020. State lawmakers then spent nearly two more years revising it.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has extended the registration deadline for some cryptocurrencies.
Companies that have applied for registration with the FCA that have not yet been accepted or rejected have been placed on a temporary register, allowing them to continue operating until March 31.
“The temporary registration (TRR) regime will be closed April 1 for all but a small number of companies,” the regulator said.
Twelve companies are currently under TRR, including BlockchainCom, Copper and Revolut.
More than 100 companies have applied for registration with the FCA. To date, 33 of them have been approved. More than 60 have been rejected or withdrawn.

Samsung has announced a partnership with Nifty Gateway to create an embedded NFT platform in Smart TVs.
Nifty Gateway worked with Samsung to develop an interface for viewing, buying and trading NFT. The interface is optimized for TVs and connects to Nifty Gateway’s custodial wallet system, in which the platform protects collectibles rather than requiring full token storage on an external wallet. NFT will be purchasable via cryptocurrency, credit and debit card.
“Through our partnership with one of the world’s leading electronics companies, Samsung, together we will introduce NFT to millions of ordinary users so that collectors can see the power of this technology,” said Nifty Gateway platform creator Griffin Cock Foster.
The NFT Platform will be integrated into Samsung’s new 2022 premium TV lines, including QLED and Neo QLED.