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Crypto exchange Kraken’s non-fungible token (NFTs) marketplace will go live in private beta today to customers on the waitlist.

The waitlist for Kraken NFT opened in May. The marketplace was expected to launch in the summer but experienced several delays.

The marketplace will offer customers access to more than 70 NFT collections across the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems in the beta launch, a Kraken spokesperson said.

Customers will be able to buy and sell Kraken custodied NFTs without incurring any gas fees. However, if the NFTs are transferred on and off the Kraken platform then they will incur those fees.

A screenshot of Kraken’s NFT marketplace.

A royal dilemma

Royalties will remain a mandatory component within the marketplace. Royalties are fees that go back to the creator of collection on every sale of their NFT. NFT creators can secure a regular income via royalties, which are a key reason why many creators have flocked to NFTs. However, they are also seen as a source of friction for NFT traders.

“A portion of the value sold on our marketplace goes back to the original content creator,” a Kraken spokesperson said. “This ensures creators are always properly compensated for their time and efforts.”

Royalties have become a controversial topic in the crypto industry as a number of leading exchanges such as LooksRare and Magic Eden have pivoted away from mandating a royalty-fee on NFT trades.

Other features on Kraken’s marketplace include being able to list or offer NFTs in eight fiat currencies as well as over 200 cryptocurrencies on the platform and the ability to view and purchase NFTs listed on other marketplaces under the protection of Kraken’s security framework.

Kraken throws its hat in the ring

Kraken’s NFT marketplace follows in the footsteps of rival exchanges that have also started marketplaces such as Coinbase, FTX and Binance. However NFT trading volumes have dropped dramatically since many of these exchanges launched their marketplaces last year.

The launch of Kraken’s marketplace also comes during a time of internal change at the exchange. The exchange’s founder and CEO for 11 years stepped down recently and will be replaced by the exchange’s chief operating officer David Ripley. Across the pond, Kraken poached Gemini’s head of UK Blair Halliday to run its UK operations

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AirDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization that governs the Ambrosius Layer 1 network, launched an Ethereum bridge for its blockchain ecosystem.

It’s the second cross-chain bridge enabled by AirDAO on the Ambrosius chain and will enable users to move supported crypto tokens from the Ethereum network to its own. The ecosystem already has a BNB Smart Chain bridge.

The cross-chain bridges are among a slew of new features released by AirDAO for the Ambrosius chain. The DAO has also enabled token swaps via a decentralized exchange called FirepotSwap and staking.

Cross-chain bridges have become targets of sophisticated cyberattacks in recent times. Hackers have stolen over $2.5 billion from cross-chain bridges in the last two years.

These incidents currently account for more than half of all DeFi-related crypto thefts, leading to debates about improving bridge security. Some of the major bridge hacks include the Ronin and Poly Network attacks that saw a combined total of over $1 billion stolen.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The ApeCoin DAO has voted to approve a $4.4 million bug bounty program with ethical hacking platform Immunefi, aiming to guard its upcoming token staking mechanism from hacks. 

ApeCoin is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that oversees the development of apecoin, a token used within Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT collections.

According to a snapshot vote that ended today, ApeCoin DAO members approved a proposal titled AIP-134, a funding request of 1 million APE ($4.4 million) for the bounty program to go live on an ethical hacking platform called Immunefi.

As the vote is approved, the bounty program is expected to go live aiming to identify security issues in a system designed to reward those who stake apecoin and Ape NFTs. The staking system is currently running on a testnet and expected to go live in early December.

Under the bounty program, researchers on Immunefi’s platform will win rewards for finding software flaws. Immunefi is one of the most active bug bounty projects in the crypto space and claims to have helped ethical hackers and security researchers earn over $130 million in bounty rewards. 

The bug bounty comes as security exploits continue to plague the crypto industry. Just last month, as many as 44 exploits accounted for more than $650 million in losses.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

International banking group Standard Chartered has invested in Partior and will be a founding shareholder in the blockchain-based technology provider.

Partior is an independent company that arose from the Monetary Authority of Singapore-backed Project Ubin collaboration. It was founded by JPMorgan, DBS and Temasak in 2021.

The aim of Partior is to leverage the programmable, immutable and traceable characteristics of blockchain technology and smart contracts for the benefit of digital clearing and settlement. Standard Chartered will be Partior’s first euro settlement bank, according to an announcement.

The investment is also being made to further Standard Chartered’s push into the blockchain space, which it sees as providing an opportunity to build “a more transparent, efficient and secure infrastructure for global value movement.”

Specifically, the investment aims to increase the speed of Standard Chartered’s blockchain deployments across its global wholesale payments and settlements network while simultaneously scaling Partior’s utility in global capital markets.

The financial details of the investment have not been shared.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Public.com, a Tiger Global-backed neobroker, is set to expand its platform to customers outside the U.S. amid reports it’s looking to snap up a European rival.

Earmarked for a next year launch in other jurisdictions, users will be able to convert their local currency into dollars to invest in assets on the platform, Public.com said in a release. The investment firm’s services include crypto coins and tokens such as dogecoin, ether and bitcoin, and traditional equities and ETFs. 

While its wait list for international customers does not specify the jurisdictions it’s prioritizing for its global expansion, the company has previously shown an interest in Europe and has set up an engineering office in Copenhagen. 

Insider reported in September that Public.com was in talks to acquire Dutch trading startup Bux, a deal that would allow it to gain access to markets in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy through its licenses. Bux offers users in Europe access to U.S. and European shares, crypto and CFD trading. 

As the broker looks to expand its geographical reach, it’s open to partnering with other local firms, a spokesperson said today. 

In March, the company acquired fractional investing firm Otis so that it could offer alternative assets such as NFTs to its customers. It expanded its crypto offering to 20 tokens and coins in November last year to include Solana’s sol and the native tokens of decentralized exchanges Uniswap and SushiSwap.

Along with trading tools, users will also have access to the app’s investor analysis insights, daily live shows and extended market trading features. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

WalletConnect has raised $12.5 million in what it calls an “ecosystem round” from previous lead investors 1kx and Union Square Ventures, along with companies and projects such as Shopify, ConsenSys and Gnosis. 

The startup’s current core offering allows users to easily connect integrated crypto wallets — such as MetaMask, Rainbow and Argent — with decentralized applications via QR codes. Through this round, it’s laying out more ambitious plans.

Rather than a desire for an increased runway in a bear market, the round is motivated by a desire to switch up its business model from a SaaS model — which motivated its Series A — to, instead, collaborate with investors on a decentralized communications network. 

“We want to eventually decentralize fully into a token network,” said founder and WalletConnect CEO Pedro Gomes. “We were researching and developing how this infrastructure might work and put together a wish list of people we believe are the best potential partners for it and that’s how this round came together,” they noted.

Raised via equity with an agreement for future token rights, Gomes describes this round as a warmup for those decentralization efforts with no lead investor. He sees full decentralization efforts coming in stages, with its partners first onboarded to the network and then full decentralization with a token following suit.

Web3 meets WhatsApp? 

WalletConnect’s decentralization efforts center around its plans to build a web3 communications protocol.

Along with providing easy interactions with decentralized applications, WalletConnect also aims to roll out the ability for wallets integrated with its network to build push notifications and wallet-to-wallet messaging. This means that, much like WhatsApp or Telegram, users may send messages and receive notifications via wallets. 

Gomes sees this as a natural expansion for such decentralized wallets as they morph from financial vehicles to incorporating more social elements. Playing off the web2 concept of the super-app, users of integrated wallets would be able to send NFTs or crypto payment requests in-app, along with handling their decentralized finance transactions. 

“What we see today with wallets is that you are able to store tokens, send tokens, swap tokens and interact with DeFi — but soon we’ll see a reality where the user has full control over their internet assets through a single application,” said Gomes. “Digital identity, push notifications and chat features will essentially turn the wallet into a much-more social component, rather than just a purely financial application” they added.

Gomes earmarked March 1 for a beta for WalletConnect Chat and a fully-fledged push notifications system. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Fidelity is going after retail investors with a new crypto offering. 

The investment powerhouse opened up a waiting list for Fidelity Crypto, which it says will offer commission-free trading of bitcoin and ether alongside traditional stock investments in one app. Other cryptocurrencies are being evaluated and could be added in the future. 

While users won’t be charged a commission, the site says a spread of 1% will be factored into every trade execution price.

The retail-oriented product is being backed by its institutionally focused Fidelity Digital Assets unit. There was no indication on the site as to when trading will be available to early adopters. 

The product is getting rolled out just weeks after Fidelity Institutional President Michael Durbin said he sees more room for crypto in consumer portfolios. 

Fidelity has been quicker to embrace digital assets than most other large investment companies. The company offers a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in Canada, multiple crypto and metaverse-related ETFs in the U.S. It has also allowed investment in bitcoin through 401(k) retirement accounts. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Bakkt is set to acquire Apex Crypto from Apex Fintech Solutions for up to $200 million in an effort to bolster its cryptocurrency product.

Bakkt will pay $55 million in cash when the deal closes, according to a statement. The crypto platform will also pay $45 million in stock, dependent on fourth-quarter financial targets set for Apex Crypto. An additional $100 million in stock and seller notes may also be paid, dependent on 2025 financial targets.

The deal is expected to finalize in the first half of 2023.

Apex Crypto is an integrated crypto-trading platform that offers a solution for execution, clearing, custody, cost basis and tax services for more than 30 coins and tokens. Its more than 220 clients will be memorialized, according to the statement, and have the opportunity to use Bakkt’s platform solutions.

Bakkt expects the acquisition to diversify its revenue, help scale its offerings and accelerate product development. The statement also notes intentions to go to market with products related to crypto staking, external transfers and NFTs.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Crypto markets were sent into a frenzy — in line with broader financial markets — as Jerome Powell delivered his press conference following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest 75-basis-point interest-rate increase. 

Bitcoin slumped 2.8% following the Fed chair’s remarks and was trading at $20,107 at 8 a.m. ET, according to CoinGecko data. Meanwhile, ether was down 5% to $1,531. 

Polygon’s MATIC was up around 12% to $0.96 following its partnership announcement with Instagram that will allow the social media platform’s creators to mint and sell Polygon-based NFTs. 

MATICUSD chart by TradingView

Fed hikes interest rates for the fourth time in a row

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points to 3.75-4%, bringing it to levels last seen in Jan. 2008.

Wednesday’s interest rate decision was largely expected. Most traders initially took yesterday’s statement as a sign of a pivot from the central bank before Powell roiled markets.

The Fed chair said it’s “very premature to be thinking about pausing.” He added that “incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected,” while still noting that the rate of increases might begin to slow as soon as December. 

The Fed’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise, said Michael Brown, head of market intelligence at Caxton, in an email. It’s “rather logical considering the deluge of key events before the next meeting on Dec. 14 — including midterm elections next Tuesday, the October CPI report, a couple of non-farm payrolls releases and revisions to the Q3 GDP figure released last week,” he said.

Moreover, the suggestion that the Fed will slow the rate of hikes is unsurprising, Brown said, given how far rates have come. 

Interest rate traders are now split between a 50 basis point hike in December or a 75 basis point increase, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

Target Rate Probabilities for Dec. 14 Fed Meeting

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Quick Take

• High-level exits continued in October, with at least 10 significant exits.
• Bitmex, which kicked off layoffs six months ago, announced more departures in October as CEO Alexander Höptner left. 

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