November 12, 2021 · 3 min read
The Weekly Wrap-Up - Friday 12th November 2021
Twitter Establishes Crypto Team
Social Media Giant Moves Further Into Adopting Decentralisation
(Image: Entrepreneur.com)
On Wednesday (10th November), Twitter announced that it will be creating a new branch of the company tasked with researching blockchain projects.
The team will apparently be âworking closelyâ with the Twitter-funded âBlueskyâ project, which is involved with the companyâs plan to develop a decentralised standard for social media platforms. Twitter also announced in September that it will be adding the ability for creators to be tipped in BTC. Twitterâs CTO, Parag Agrawal said:
we are exploring how ideas from crypto can help us push the boundaries of whatâs possible with identity, community and more.
Increase in Kazakhstan Based Crypto-Mining Causes Energy Shortage
Energy Grid Struggling to Handle Demand
(Image: The Diplomat)
A spillover of crypto-miners from China to Kazakhstan as a result of Chinaâs recent âcrypto banâ is putting immense strain on the nationâs energy grid. A Reuters report from Wednesday (10th November) estimates that around 8% of Kazakhstanâs power supply is being utilised to mine cryptocurrency. Additionally, a report by the CCAF (Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance) indicated that as of July this year, some 18% of Bitcoinâs monthly hash rate share is generated in Kazakhstan.
It would seem that the governmentâs approach to remedy the issue will likely be centered around imposing high-fees on registered crypto-miners.
Mastercard Launches Crypto-Compatible Cards in Asia-Pacific
Users Will Be Able To Convert Crypto to Fiat Using Mastercard
(Image: TechStory)
On Tuesday (9th November), Mastercard launched its crypto-compatible cards across Asia-Pacific. In partnership with Amber Group, Bitkub and Coinjar, the cards will allow digital assets to be converted to fiat-currency without leaving the platform. Initially, the program will only have support for BTC and ETH but more currencies will likely be added over time.
Mastercard have stated that approximately 45% of their Asia-Pacific customer base is interested in purchasing crypto currency in the coming year. The launch also comes shortly after the company announced in October that it had partnered with digital asset manager Bakkt to bring crypto wallets services to the Mastercard ecosystem.
New York City Gets its Own Cryptocurrency
Mayor-Elect Wants to Make NYC a Crypto-Hub
NYC Mayor-Elect, Eric Adams
In collaboration with CityCoins, New York City will receive its own native-token, or which 30% of the mining rewards will be received by the city itself.
Facilitated by Stacks (STX), CityCoins brought a similar service to the city of Miami, which since its launch in August 2021 has generated $21.3M for the city. Mayor-elect Adams has thus far taken a significantly more crypto-friendly approach than previous mayors. Adams has also stated that he wishes to receive his first three paychecks in BTC. Many consider Stacks (STX) protocol to be developing the equivalent of Ethereumâs ERC-20 Token Standard for Bitcoin, and allowing for further mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency.
Disney Announces Plans for the Metaverse
Mainstream Metaverse Adoption Continues to Grow
On Wednesday (10th November), Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that the company was making plans to integrate with the metaverse. The plans reportedly involve bringing the video-streaming content of Disney+ to 3D and VR formats. Chapek stated during Disneyâs Q4 report:
we'll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling, without boundaries in our own Disney Metaverse
Disney is amongst several conglomerates which have recently made a bid for the metaverse, including Facebook (now known as Meta) and Epic Games.