Tag: premiumcryptonews

Bitcoin mining games are primarily for educational and entertainment purposes. They teach users about mining rigs, what processes to follow and how to set up and grow businesses — solid general information about how Bitcoin mining works.

3 Popular Bitcoin Mining Games

In some circumstances, these games also offer the potential to earn a tiny stake of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Here are three of the most popular Bitcoin mining games right now.

RollerCoin

RollerCoin is among the most popular Bitcoin mining games, with over 200,000 sign-ups and thousands of people playing it daily. It’s a Bitcoin mining simulator game that allows users to earn Bitcoin at no initial cost — new users can earn free Satoshi straight away. 

A Satoshi is a term given to a fraction of a Bitcoin. Technically, 1 Satoshi is equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin.

By playing and winning games, users receive rewards that are instantly transferable to an external wallet. Users can also choose to upgrade their virtual mining equipment and operations in order to increase their overall rewards. 

Additionally, those playing the RollerCoin game can earn several different crypto assets, including: 

• Ethereum (ETH)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• Binance Coin (BNB)
• Binance USD (BUSD)
• Solana (SOL)
• Tether (USDT)

Finally, to earn even more from RollerCoin, users can invite their friends to the game and redeem rewards from their activity. When one user invites another to play, RollerCoin will disperse 25% of the new user’s mining rewards and 15% of their in-game purchases to the invitation sender.

RollerCoin’s game is fun and challenging at the same time. It simulates what it takes to set up a real mining facility as well as the problems that occur along the way. 

RollerCoin is useful for teaching people to understand the complexities of Bitcoin mining operations. It also incentivizes its users through monetary rewards, unique events and prizes.

Crypto Idle Miner

Crypto Idle Miner is a simulation game that allows users to mine up to 50 cryptos and altcoins virtually. It’s available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Players can set up their own Bitcoin mining facilities and start crypto companies, reinvesting what they’ve earned. There is also a leaderboard within the game that rewards players who perform well. 

The game teaches crypto mining fundamentals and training, but it’s primarily for entertainment purposes. The only crypto token that users can actually earn using the Crypto Idle Miner app is HORA Token. However, this is going to be switched to BSC, a Binance-pegged token, which is more stable for transactions and is tied to the USD.

Bitcoin Miner

Bitcoin Miner is another simulator game in which education and earning rewards cross paths. It teaches the basics of growing a crypto mining farm. Gamers have to make strategic decisions to operate and run their very own virtual mining farm. 

Starting recently, players can earn real Bitcoin by claiming rewards in the app through a partnership with Zebedee. Users earn rewards by playing and can redeem Bitcoin by doing the following:

Final Take

Bitcoin mining games are a fun way to learn about the world of crypto, and they provide an opportunity to earn some crypto — albeit in very small amounts. Anyone trying out new games should watch out for red flags, such as a required deposit to play a Bitcoin mining game, as crypto scams are more prevalent than ever.

Bitcoin Mining Games FAQ

• Can you earn bitcoins by playing games?
  • Yes. Although the amounts are generally very small, it is possible to earn bitcoin by playing games.
• What games give you bitcoins?
  • RollerCoin and Bitcoin Miner are games that distribute bitcoin rewards to players.
• Can I mine bitcoin for free?
  • Real bitcoin mining requires vast amounts of computational power and energy resources that can be extremely costly. Bitcoin mining games, however, can reward users without any sort of investment.
• Can I mine one bitcoin?
  • You cannot mine one bitcoin at a time because bitcoins are mined by the block. There are 6.25 bitcoins in each block.
  • As the current price of one bitcoin hovers around $20,000, it would be near impossible to attain that much crypto from bitcoin mining games.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Free Bitcoin Mining Games: Learn and Earn

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Happy Fourth of July to all who celebrate! Hope you’re lucky enough to have time off. Spend some of it doing something you love.

This is the last of a three-part newsletter series about the risks facing crypto right now.

Here are the three topics this newsletter series covers.

This week we’ll take a look at public company risk.

Public companies are widely misunderstood, especially among the bitcoin and crypto crowd. That’s not really surprising. The whole thing is (enter: 100% of my cynicism) intentionally convoluted and confusing to make the investment bankers, lawyers and insiders on Wall Street feel smart.

I mean, these are called “public companies,” but they are decidedly private, for-profit enterprises. Words matter, but just not in high finance, apparently.

– George Kaloudis

For context, I want to lay out what it means to “go public” or “be a public company.” A company goes public by selling some or all of its equity to a group of underwriters, who then issue stock to trade openly on exchanges like the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange.

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It’s “public” in that (almost) anyone can invest in this equity freely (in practice, it isn’t truly open). Also its financial information – from quarterly income statements to stock price – is publicly shared. Companies do this to receive an injection of money to aid growth or reward long-time equity holders and have easier access to future capital. These seem to be reasonable reasons to go public, and a lot of the time it works out.

But for more context, I’m going to tell you what I think about going public.

I think it’s dumb.

Going public puts the focus on short-term growth over long-term growth, and that could spell disaster under improper management for even the best companies. Corporations can survive longer and are best served when they have the long term in mind. Going public, in most jurisdictions, requires quarterly financial reporting, which is generally onerous. Additionally, you have public shareholders who demand the stock performs well or else they will tank your equity value of the company by selling the stock en masse.

What’s more, the capital markets have become exceedingly more open to private companies as a glut of private capital (debt and equity alike) is on the sideline looking for things to put money into. I’m mostly being fantastical for dramatic effect, but in general, going public isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

Especially in crypto. Hence this week’s focus on risks posed by public companies in the Hard Times of crypto …

Public company risk

During the last bear market in 2018, there were no public companies in crypto. Now we have trading platform Coinbase (COIN) and an army of public crypto mining companies. This is how their stock prices have performed this year (COIN, CORZ, HUT, HIVE, RIOT, MARA).

That’s not good. Normally, if these companies were private, they would be trying to figure out how to survive. Take Coinbase for instance. It has been around since 2012, and so it has survived multiple bear markets. But this time around, it has the public shareholder to worry about. And the highly liquid, public shareholder is far more impatient than the highly illiquid, private shareholder.

Going public has led to an unsavory situation for Coinbase.

The insistence for consistent, infinite, short-term growth by shareholders led to an immense expansion in headcount. At the same time, Coinbase also scrambled to increase revenue by listing countless (and sometimes off-the-wall) digital assets on its platform.

That strategy generally works in a bull market, but the market downturn has led to an absolute PR nightmare when Coinbase cut back on hiring in May, which rolled into rescinding new job offers. The blowback in turn led to a pointed tweet thread from co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong urging dissenters to quit, following an employee petition to remove executives from the company, which was then followed promptly by the exchange laying off 18% of its workforce.

That same insistence for growth combined with post-Global Financial Crisis cheap capital has hit mining companies, as well. Miners were able to cheaply finance mining equipment and facilities, all while thriving without needing to sell much of the bitcoin they mined since the price of bitcoin was high and capital was cheap. Now that bitcoin is dipping and interest rates are increasing, public miners may be forced to dig into their coffers to sell some of the 40,000 BTC they collectively hold to survive.

While 40,000 BTC of potential selling might feel like a bad thing, Castle Island Venture’s Nic Carter pointed out in a podcast that miner selling marked the last move down during the 2018 bear market. So while we could be in for more pain, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is visible.

And to be undeniably clear, I’m not suggesting that going public is the sole reason these companies are struggling. In fact, these companies would be struggling if they were still private. Many companies are struggling across many industries, not just crypto exchanges and miners. I am suggesting that a company going public while it is still in growth mode with a business model highly dependent on the price of highly volatile assets was potentially unadvisable.

The only thing worse than being a private company going through a tough time is being a public company going through a tough time. I think most of these companies will be fine, but it will be tough going for the foreseeable future.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

This crypto winter will last up to 18 months and then Bitcoin will take off again, according to a projection by Ric Edelman, founder of Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals. By the first quarter of 2024, Edelman said, Bitcoin’s price could be $60,000 to $100,000.  

Small Business Spotlight 2022: Nominate Your Favorite Small Biz by July 25
Find: 8 Remote Jobs That Pay at Least $20 Per Hour

Also this week, we kicked off a new segment around non-fungible tokens and crypto games.

See everything from the Week in Crypto.

Crypto News

• Bitcoin Buoyancy: Why This Money Expert Still Calls Crypto ‘Wealth Creation Opportunity’ Not Seen in 35 Years
• Goldman Sachs Analyst Downgrades Coinbase to Sell as Crypto Winter Takes Hold
• FTX Rumored To Be Closing in on Deal To Buy Embattled Crypto Lender BlockFi
• Grayscale Initiates Lawsuit Against SEC Following Spot Bitcoin ETF Denial  

NFTs & Games

• How To Make an NFT: A Complete Guide
• What Are Play-To-Earn Games? Here Are the 10 Best Crypto NFT Games of 2022
• Your Ultimate Guide to NFT Gaming
• NFT Games That Will Bring You Back to the ’90s
• Best Solana NFT Games

Crypto Trending

• Best Undervalued Cryptocurrencies To Buy for 2022
• 8 Best Crypto Wallets
• How To Invest In the Metaverse
• 6 of the Best Crypto Jobs in 2022
• Crypto Fees: A Full Breakdown and How To Minimize Costs
• Binance Fees: A Full Breakdown and How It Compares
• A Complete Guide on How Bitcoin Mining Works
• 8 Best Bitcoin Miners
• Crypto.com Coin: What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Buy

More From GOBankingRates

• Social Security: Women Get $354 Per Month Less Than Men – Here’s Why
• Ending Soon! Nominate Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured in GOBankingRates’ 2022 Small Business Spotlight by July 25
• Looking To Diversify in a Bear Market? Consider These Alternative Investments
• The Top 10 Best Travel Hacks To Save the Most Money

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Week in Crypto: Bitcoin Buoyancy, NFT Games & More

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The Web3 community is, at heart, rooted in profound optimism. The increasing ubiquity of this technology makes it possible to envision a world where everyone is equipped to both survive and thrive.

Essentially, Web3 has become a Schelling Point for the hopeful.

This makes our corner of the internet especially important in a world where it’s easy to be rightfully cynical about failing institutions, crumbling infrastructure, privacy violations and climate disaster. At times it can even feel like we live in a divided world where it isn’t clear who the “good guys” are anymore.

This op-ed is part of CoinDesk’s Future of Work Week.

While Web3 can’t solve these problems overnight, I truly believe we have more tools than ever before to address the most pressing coordination problems we face today. Collaborative, internet-native organizations like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) especially offer shared narratives (memes), economic incentives (money) and more flexible local governance structures (management) to move us in the right direction.

Impact DAOs are at the forefront of this trend towards a new culture of work that asks us to move towards aligning our values with our actions, and away from so-called bulls**t jobs (one that even the person doing it secretly believes need not, or should not, exist). In this sense, despite cries to the contrary, Web3 is an antidote to an increasingly abstract economy and, through a sense of play and absurdism, gives us a chance to more directly sign meaning into every block in which we take part.

Many of the DAOs driving these changes, like Gitcoin, are focused not just on their own mission but on forming polycentric “impact networks” – networks that collectively produce positive externalities for those around them. With this in mind, programs like Gitcoin Grants have been able to help seed everything from core infrastructure like ethers.js to scaling systems like Optimism, to widely used applications like Uniswap. And because of the composability of Web3, the success of these projects allows us all to build more shared infrastructure together.

Shared narratives and impact

To keep these networks alive, however, requires new ways of thinking about what it means to work together when we’re often so far apart, sometimes just relating as avatars on a screen. Specifically, it requires deep thought around how we can stay aligned with each other and construct non-standard ways of governing ourselves (self-organizing) at scale.

Alignment is fundamentally about our ability to connect deeply with each other in smaller groups, squads or as many now call them, pods. It’s our ability to find connection and belonging. And if social media has taught us anything, it’s that alignment is extremely hard to scale past Dunbar’s number (our natural cognitive limit on how many people we can get to know).

Everyone reading this has almost certainly been part of group chats that stick together by continuously sharing memes and building the empathy required to see each other as 3D humans. But as groups scale from 15 to 150 to even 15,000 members, the vibes may not as our ability to connect with each other diminishes. This has been a major challenge for the DAOs-as-social-clubs model popularized by Friends With Benefits (FWB).

Shared stories and lore, especially when built around making an impact, help us keep that alignment together over a longer period of time. Of course, this isn’t new to Web3 – every society has its own set of narratives to help us manage our collective memory; to stay on the same page, moving in the same direction. In Web3, we’re able to take this even further, creating incentives that allow us to keep working towards a common goal; to keep playing positive-sum, infinite games together without getting caught in endless bureaucracy. By using shared currencies that align to our values we’re much more likely to play these games over long periods of time just for the sake of playing – for the sake of making an impact.

Governing the generative commons

But DAOs, like any organization, still require structure – shared agreements that act as glue holding us together, even when we don’t align.

Crucially, structure is not hierarchy, but an often clumsy negotiation towards a formally inclusive way of holding space together. Movements like Occupy Wall Street are great examples of why this is so necessary. The simplicity of “We are the 99%” was a powerful cry that united people across differences, but couldn’t survive the pressure from incumbent powers without clear structure and accountabilities.

At Gitcoin, we think a lot about regenerative structures that start with looking after our own local shared needs. To do this effectively, we’ve based a lot of our thinking in the DAO off of Ostrom’s eight principles:

In short, Ostrom pushed back on the idea of the tragedy of the commons – that communities would naturally tend to over-consume and underinvest in scarce resources, eventually depleting their shared needs. By making lots of small agreements that work locally and scaling slowly, it would be possible to actually keep resources in check and keep an ecosystem sustainable.

In a DAO, the tragedy of the commons plays out in less intuitive ways, when leaders don’t share context for those that come after them, or when time gets eaten up by bikeshedding. But through shared principles, agreements, and creative constraints, DAOs can become fundamentally generative and set the initial conditions for sprawling, open environments. Unlike in traditional corporate structures these kinds of mycelial networks form without bureaucracy, leaving contributors open to reclaim their agency and self-organize. Notably, no DAO is perfect, and as in any organization documentation is critical. Investor Linda Xie, one of our most active stewards, has done a great job of outlining some of the evolving processes we’ve been thinking about.

The best part about this emerging future of work is that all of these questions are still open for anyone to answer. In Web3, there are no “experts.” No one knows where Web3 will go, but we all found our way here.

Find your squad, join a DAO and make an impact. Let’s make a future of work worth writing about.

More from Future of Work Week

‘We’re Freaking DAOing It’: The People Who Think DAOs Are the Future of Work

Meet the pioneers who work at decentralized autonomous organizations.

Chase Chapman on DAOs and Professional Polyamory

It may be a bear market, but there are still plenty of jobs to be had at crypto companies.

What It Takes to Get a Job in Crypto

CoinDesk asked a variety of crypto professionals how they got their foot in the door in the industry.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

For many millennials — and even some younger members of Gen X — the 1990s were a blur of PC-based games and Nintendo cartridges. The rise of first-person shooters like Quake and Doom and the introduction of the first Pokemon games — Red and Blue — for Nintendo gave this generation plenty of diversity in their game play.

Final Fantasy provided immersive worlds and awe-inspiring graphics. And when it was time to step away from the screen, there were always virtual Tamagotchi pets to tend to.

While today, this generation spends more time battling student loan debt than monsters, it’s still nice to escape in a good game once in a while. And NFT gaming can satisfy that urge. Best of all, many of these games can allow you to earn NFTs or game coins, which can then be traded on a crypto exchange for U.S. dollars or cryptocurrency investments.

What Does NFT Mean in Gaming?

In NFT gaming, you can buy, sell, trade and earn NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. These exist on any one of many blockchains. They use the same technology as cryptocurrency, but the two should not be confused. NFTs are different from cryptocurrency because each NFT is unique.

NFTs have value within the gaming universe. In some cases, they can help you to play more effectively and level up. They can also be sold for actual dollars or cryptocurrency on a crypto exchange. Because of this, NFT gaming can be profitable.

This list of some of today’s best — and upcoming — NFT games was not chosen for their inherent profitability, since this varies widely. NFTs, like cryptocurrency, are speculative investments. You can win or lose when you play. But, unlike playing other games with no “play-to-earn” element, at least you do have a chance to win money.

Here are some of the most fun NFT games that will bring you back to your childhood.

Aavegotchi

If you remember your beloved Tamagotchi, the open-source game Aavegotchi will win your heart. Played in the Gotchiverse and easily accessed through your PC web browser, the role-playing game allows players to craft installations and battle characters to guide your Aavegotchi to victory.

Even the primitive graphics will bring you back to earlier versions of Super Mario Brothers and the Tamagotchi with its blocky, 32X16 pixel screen. Aavagotchi is not free to play, but the more you play, the more you can earn.

TokenGenreGHSTRPG

Pros

• Easy to play
• Earning money is simple
• GHST coin is appreciating in value recently

Cons

• Graphics are primitive
• Value of Aavegotchis can go down

CryptoKitties

If you like raising virtual pets but prefer somewhat cuter — read: modern — versions, the popular CryptoKitties might strike your fancy. Breed these collectible NFTs and then play games to win game currencies that you can use to buy more kitties or accessories for your cat.

CryptoKitties is played on the Ethereum blockchain and was one of the first NFT games introduced for fun and profit. You can start playing for free by taking the tutorial to learn how to breed your first Kitties.

TokenGenreETHVirtual Pet

Pros

• Free to get started
• Cats are adorable
• CryptoKitties have sold for six figures
• Potential to be highly profitable

Cons

• The value of Kitties may go down

Metalands

If you were a Quake or Doom fan back in the day, the Metalands first-person shooter game will take you right back to LAN parties in your best friend’s basement. Metalands combines team deathmatch and battle royale game play, with intricately detailed characters and aesthetically complex scenery for an immersive experience.

This play-to-earn game is completely free to get started and allows you to earn in-game currency and also convert in-game coins into crypto or US dollars through a crypto exchange.

TokenGenreMetaland DAOFPS

Pros

• Free to get started
• Excellent graphics

Cons

• May require teamwork to excel

My DeFi Pet

’90s’ kids loved their virtual pets, and the wealth of NFT games based on breeding, raising and loving virtual animals shows that these feelings still dominate their leisure activities. My DeFi Pet runs on the Binance Smart Chain and KardiaChain and is available for PC, with iOS and Android versions coming soon. You’ll need a BSC wallet and an investment in Bitcoin or Ethereum to get started.

You can earn money in My DeFi Pet by completing in-game missions and breeding and selling NFTs in the form of pets. Right now, the game allows you to earn money passively, by letting your pets evolve. But the game continues to add more features, such as the ability to battle your pets.

TokenGenreDPETVirtual Pet

Pros

• Easy to play
• Pets may rise in value, making this game profitable
• New features being added

Cons

• Pets can decrease in value
• Requires an investment in BTC or ETH to start
• Not many in-game activities beyond breeding and raising pets yet
• Some features still in development

Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity operates on the Ethereum blockchain and, similar to Pokémon, combines breeding and raising “Axies” with battling their Axies against other players. Axie Infinity has roughly 1.48 million daily players.

With only 30% of the total supply of AXS, the coin of the game, in circulation as of June 27, 2022, there is a lot of potential to continue earning money with this play-to-earn game.

TokenGenreAXSMonster Battle

Pros

• The more you play, the more you can earn
• Axies may increase in value
• AXS token considered one of the fastest rising cryptocurrencies for 2022

Cons

• Axies may decrease in value

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is not just a single NFT game, but a mobile gaming platform on the Ethereum blockchain with multiple play-to-earn challenges and various gaming environments.

You can build 3D items, including buildings, vehicles, costumes or creatures and then add them to the blockchain as NFTs in The Sandbox neighborhood of the metaverse. You can sell them in The Sandbox’s crypto marketplace with no coding experience.

If you spent a large part of your college years playing Minecraft, The Sandbox will satisfy your urge to create — and perhaps help you earn some extra cash.

TokenGenreSANDGame Creation

Pros

• Ability to build and sell your own creations
• Explore other players’ creations
• Partnerships with major brands like Adidas and Atari give it a good chance at long-term success

Cons

• Not yet fully developed
• Potential to go unnoticed among big brands

Gods Unchained

Were you more of a role-playing game card collector in the ’90s than a video game enthusiast? Gods Unchained brings the spirit of Magic: The Gathering to your web browser. With enticing graphics and an immersive world, Gods Unchained brings together the best of on-screen roleplaying with top trading card games.

And, you can earn money doing so. To date, more than $52 million worth of Gods Unchained cards have been exchanged, according to the game website. Best of all, it’s free to get started.

TokenGenreGODSCard

Pros

• Free to get started
• Own trading cards and sell for money
• Excellent graphics

Cons

• Cards may go down in value

Splinterlands

Splinterlands is also a collectible card game, where you battle your characters Pokémon style to win and level up. You can sell your cards for cryptocurrency — which you can then sell for real-world dollars. You can also lease or rent your cards to other players, earning income while you help other players reach their gaming goals.

In addition to earning money by selling your NFTs on various compatible marketplaces, you also have the chance to win tournament prizes. So far, Splinterlands has awarded more than $6 million in prizes according to the game’s official website.

TokenGenreSPSCard

Pros

• Leasing cards gives additional income opportunities
• Chance to win tournament prizes

Cons

• Collectible cards may go down in value

Zed Run

If you remember horse racing games in the arcades of your youth, you’ll want to gallop to download Zed Run now. Now in beta version, the game has already given away more than $2 million USD in cryptocurrency.

You can start for free by creating a horse stable, but you’ll need an Ethereum digital wallet like MetaMask to purchase your first horse and enter a race. Each horse has different attributes of speed, agility, and gene purity, so there is a bit more than just luck involved in winning a race.

If you’re looking for an exciting game without a ton of strategy and no role-playing, Zed Run can fit the bill. Coincu.com recently called Zed Run “one of the most incredibly interesting investment opportunities available right now.”

TokenGenreZED RUN/ETHHorse Racing

Pros

• Tons of prize money available
• Must buy a horse to begin

Cons

• You could lose money selling horses

Final Take

These NFT games can be profitable if you take the time to play, improve your characters and build up your earnings. They are also a fun diversion to everyday life that can take you back to the simpler days of your Nintendo 64. Best of all, you won’t have to blow into the cartridge to start these games — although you will have to connect your digital wallet.

FAQ

• Are there any free NFT games?
  • Some NFT games are free and still allow you an opportunity to earn NFTs and money. CryptoKitties allows you an opportunity to breed your first two Kitties free as a training. Metalands is a completely free NFT game.
• Is NFT gaming profitable?
  • NFT gaming can be incredibly profitable as long as you understand how to play and invest enough time in each game to make a difference. Players have won millions of dollars playing Zed Run. CryptoKitties’ cats have sold for as much as six figures.
  • Of course, as with any investment, you could also lose money playing the games or your NFTs may not sell on the market for as much as you’d expect.
• What are the upcoming NFT games?
  • Some of the most exciting upcoming NFT games, currently in beta version, include Pirates of the Arrland, a 3D pirate-themed game that will take you right back to the classic theme park ride of your youth, and Cantina Royale, a Star-Wars-inspired player vs. player shooting game.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: NFT Games That Will Bring You Back to the ’90s

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

While it’s certainly been a turbulent year for bitcoin, there’s seemingly nothing capable of standing in the cryptocurrency’s way when it comes to building momentum towards mainstream acceptance. With the news that a spot bitcoin ETF is set to land in Europe this summer, European investors will have unprecedented access to BTC on traditional markets. 

In July, Europe’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund will arrive on the Euronext Amsterdam, which is a major stock exchange and part of the pan-European marketplace, Euronext.

The ETF is to be launched by London-based digital asset management platform, Jacobi Asset Management, and the fund will start trading in the Dutch capital under the ticker BCOIN. The move is set to give European institutional and retail investors alike the opportunity to invest in bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market via the ETF for a 1.5% annual management fee. 

“Our product is the first spot or physical-backed Bitcoin fund, and the fund is not allowed to lend, stake or leverage any of the assets it owns,” said Jamie Khurshid, CEO of Jacobi Asset Management, in an interview with Cointelegraph. “For the first time in Europe, investors buying an exchange-traded Bitcoin product will own the units that own the Bitcoin. There are other exchange-traded products in Europe but no other spot BTC ETF.”

The arrival of a spot bitcoin ETF comes at a time when markets are reeling from a cocktail of factors like high inflation rates, the war in Ukraine and further COVID-19 complications. Using the S&P 500 as an example, we can see that leading cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum are down by a significantly larger margin than traditional markets. However, for many investors, this deeper level of volatility presents an attractive opportunity to find larger profit margins. Now, for the first time, we have sufficient BTC coverage in Europe, we may see more investors looking to catch bitcoin’s bottom price ahead of a prospective recovery.

“This will be the first Bitcoin ETF on Euronext, or the first fund directly investing in Bitcoin. All other currently existing products on our segment are exchange-traded notes, or legally structured as debt instruments,” Stephane Boujnah, CEO of Euronext, said in a statement. 

Despite uncertain market conditions, history suggests that the timing of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF may be a relatively good one when it hits European markets. With bitcoin operating at close to its historical bottom value following its post-halving bull cycles, it could be an excellent opportunity for investors to buy into the asset for investors who are optimistic about BTC’s future cyclical rallies.

Paving the way for Accessibility

The arrival of Europe’s first spot ETF is an excellent step for cryptocurrency accessibility in Europe. For investors who would prefer to retain their portfolios on more traditionally aligned stock exchanges, buying into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund can offer the same level of growth that cryptocurrencies are capable of without having to throw themselves into the unfamiliar world of crypto. 

According to Edd Carlton, who is a digital asset trader at Flow Traders, the listing of a spot bitcoin ETF is “aligned with the growing demand from institutional investors.” Carlton also noted that calls for a spot Bitcoin ETF have been made in the United States for many years.

Despite this, so far the only spot ETFs to be launched globally are based in Canada, Brazil and Jersey, and are considerably smaller in scale than many U.S. ETFs. This means that the arrival of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF will be the biggest of its kind in the world. 

Although European ETF investing is far less developed than in the U.S., the accommodation of cryptocurrencies in a more traditional investing format is likely to be a popular move on the continent. At present, only around 15 to 20 percent of retail investors in Europe use ETFs, as opposed to around 40% of U.S. investors. While this means that there’s considerably lower trading volumes surrounding exchange-traded funds in Europe, it also means that the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF has been viewed as an opportunity to breathe new life into the market by the European Commission. 

By accommodating a spot bitcoin ETF in Europe, it’s now possible for institutions like insurance companies, mutual funds and pension funds alike to develop their exposure to bitcoin in a way that was previously impossible. Likewise, retail investors in Europe can look to stock trading platforms that incorporate ETFs as its core offering for access to crypto on a scale like never before. 

Although the market surrounding cryptocurrencies has suffered a turbulent start to 2022, the arrival of the Jacobi Bitcoin ETF is likely to see plenty of traffic once a recovery begins. For Europe as a whole, the continent’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund is a bold step towards widespread crypto acceptance. 

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Need help navigating the digital asset learning curve? Get our practical and tech-focused advice here.

Welcome back to our digital asset blog post series, brought to you by securities compliance consulting firm Joot and MeetAmi Innovations, Canada’s leading wealth management platform providing access to digital asset investing and learning. The first post in our content partnership explored the opportunities and challenges related to digital asset adoption for investment advisory firms. In this post, we dive deeper into relevant compliance considerations and issues around technology integration as you weigh the pros and cons of digital asset adoption.

To start, let’s discuss the value of continuing education in this space.

How Does Technology Function as a Teaching and Learning Tool?

When it comes to continuing education, investment advisory firms have a dual purpose: to foster ongoing professional development and to guide clients on digital asset allocation in their portfolios. This learning process includes, among other things, understanding how

Coupled with a short- and long-term investment plan, continuing education helps ensure compliance is in sync with business and industry changes. Bo Howell, CEO of Joot and managing director of FinTech Law, recently gave a Cincinnati Bar Association Continuing Legal Education presentation titled “Building Blocks of Crypto.” This webinar provided background information on blockchain technology and sparked audience participation to weigh in on the future of this and other emerging technologies. Bo offered this advice to investment advisors and fund managers interested in developing crypto investment products: “Learn. Learn. Learn. RIAs and fund managers can’t simply chase another hot investment product. They need to have a working knowledge of how the underlying technology works, the risks to that technology (e.g., a blockchain fork or pending upgrade to the protocol), and the property rights attached to digital assets.” Ongoing education in this rapidly evolving space is crucial for industry participants to stay involved—and compliant.

Where’s the Disconnect?

Much of the digital asset movement has been built for and adopted by consumers for self-management, whereas advisors need tools to bulk-manage accounts and report into traditional systems. With over 300 million crypto users (a number forecasted to reach a billion by the end of 2022), 400+ global exchanges, and self-directed learning, the digital assets environment has traditionally been consumer-focused, and “all over the place.” Advisors need to be empowered to engage with digital assets on behalf of their clients. That empowerment comes from continuous learning and education, support, and simulated market interaction in a compliant, easily learned ecosystem.

AmiLearn is a new learning model for wealth advisors seeking proficiency in this new asset class. The platform consists of small bites, curated news, master classes, and communities of practice—all ledgered on the blockchain. The platform was designed to support this intense, ever-changing learning curve.

Educating Advisors on Key Fiduciary Obligations

Technology will serve a key function in educating advisors on new fiduciary obligations, including know-your-customer (KYC) standards as well as taxation, custody, and insurance issues. As local, federal, and global rules, regulations, and entire regulatory bodies are still being developed and understood, advisors need to stay updated on regulatory developments to meet their fiduciary duty and to effectively manage digital assets. Regular exposure to breaking news, legal precedents (both national and international), tech advancements, and developing projects is paramount for advisors as they implement risk management strategies.

Two other areas that frequently trip-up product sponsors are anti-money laundering (AML) regulation and cybersecurity requirements needed to protect assets. These regulatory issues must be considered before investment advisors and fund managers develop and launch a product or invest client assets in cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Many still consider cryptocurrencies to be nothing more than an anonymous method of transacting illegal money, though that myth has been disproven thanks to tracing techniques and wallet transparency. Cybersecurity issues mostly arise in the transition from decentralized platforms (blockchains) to traditional finance systems or transactions between separate blockchains. The very nature of decentralizing lends itself to more secure networks of nodes. Advisors and their firms must consult with cybersecurity experts who specifically focus on the application at hand.

The Path Forward

The influence of technology in understanding and learning about digital assets cannot be understated. In a digital world that relies on cryptography, decentralization, international cooperation, transparency, and a plethora of cutting-edge technologies, traditional learning methods simply cannot keep pace with—or fully express—a true understanding of the digital asset ecosystem.

Stay tuned for more, relevant content in our digital asset series. In the meantime, reach out to MeetAmi and Joot with any questions or feedback. We’d love to hear from you.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

No bosses. No 9-5 grind. No corporate bureaucracy. Limitless potential for growth. This is the lure of DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations, which many in the Web3 space view as the “future of work.”

At a DAO, instead of toiling away as a cog in the corporate wheel, you can unleash your inner entrepreneur and contribute as much or little as you’d like. You can work at one DAO or you can work at 10 DAOs. Maybe you choose to work 12-hour days for a month, save up some cash and then spend your summer kayaking the Sea of Cortez. You’re in full control.

This article is part of CoinDesk’s Future of Work Week.

Kind of.

It’s true that all of this sounds alluring, but it’s also true that it’s hopelessly opaque. How do you actually make money at a DAO? How do you cobble together work? What types of gigs are out there?

To bridge us from the abstract to the concrete, I spoke with a full-time DAO worker who goes by T Wells, a 30-something former educator who, in 2021, began hunting for “bounties” in the DAO ecosystem. Bounties are basically gig postings. If a DAO needs to create a logo, they might post a bounty and quickly find a talented designer.

T Wells became good at bounties. He enjoyed it. In his “real world” job in education tech and curriculum development, his skills ranged from writing to graphic design to producing videos. “To be an effective educator, you have to be a Swiss Army knife,” says T Wells. “It’s just the way it is. Educators are often underestimated.”

So he put those skills to work at the DAOs, first knocking out bounties for 1Hive, and later contributing to DAOs like ShapeShift and Gnosis. These bounties started to add up. He built relationships with the DAOs and they gave him more work. He pitched his own projects. The DAO-work went so well that he quit his job in education. Even now, after crypto prices tumbled, T Wells is bullish on his DAO work. “There’s just a lot of opportunity,” says T Wells, “And a lot of really enthusiastic people that are sincere about building a better future.”

This is how he did it.

Interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

How’d you first start making money at a DAO?

T Wells: I took my first bounty in early 2021. One of the nice things about this space is the ease of access. If you find a task that needs doing and you have the skill set that matches up with it and you have a set of basic pre-existing relationships with people in that DAO, it’s very easy to get started.

Walk us through the mechanics. How does it work?

Coming into the DAO of 1Hive, they have great community moderators and people who are going to welcome you and ask you questions. Maybe they help figure out where you might fit best.

So in my case, because I was working in education, I paired up with a couple of the communications folks. And there was some low-hanging fruit, like writing articles and doing banner design. It was an easy way to get involved and be a part of what’s happening. Plus I can get compensated in some crypto and develop a sense of ownership and belonging in the community.

Is that when you found the bounty list? What does it look like?

You’ll typically see a list of projects that has three columns: Not Started, In Progress and Finished. That’s the generic example.

With 1Hive, they pointed me to the bounty list and said, “Okay, so these are the ones we need to do. They’re not started yet. Is there anything you think you could tackle?” And then they asked for a few samples of work. And then it was sort of off to the races.

What was on that bounty list? Just a few examples?

They needed Medium articles to be written, banners, Twitter copy, videos to be made. One of the very first bounties I did was a very short tutorial video explaining the “Connext Bridge.” So it could be as simple as a tutorial video. [The Connext Bridge is a way of “transferring assets from Matic to xDai (now Gnosis) powered by Connext.” If that still sounds like gobblylook, you can watch T Well’s tutorial.]

What does bounty work pay? And how does it stack up to comparable work in the Web2 world?

When I first began, I was working full time elsewhere. So it was less about, “Oh, it’s a competitive rate,” and more about the interesting opportunity. And for most people I know who are working full time in the DAO space now, they had also had that phase where it was first a side hustle. But that means the rates are competitive, right? Or, ultimately, you wouldn’t be able to make that transition to full time if they weren’t.

Makes sense. What’s a concrete example?

So I think there was a short video under two minutes, and I think that paid around $350 or $400. And I was somewhat of an unknown quantity at the time, right?

Scaling it up, to give you another example, from a larger DAO, a sort of longer-form video would be closer to $1,500.

That’s real money.

For sure. And I mean, some DAOs are serious about trying to attract talent, and they know that it needs to be incentivized.

So you were doing a mix of videos, blog posts, banner designs. What would a banner design pay?

Yeah, it would be less than $100, right? It’s been a while since I’ve done those.

Got it. What was the next step for you? Did you just keep banging out more bounties?

On the video side, for example, I think once I had some success doing that, it became less about, “When’s the next video bounty?” and more about, if we need a video done, they would tend to default to people who had done the bounty successfully. There were more opportunities for me, and a direct line of work with the 1Hive DAO. I think that’s likely the case for all kinds of work, right?

Right. You start with bounties almost as a cold freelancer, and then you build relationships.

Exactly. The bounty is typically the place where a lot of people get their foot in the door and then develop deeper relationships and contributions with the organization.

So how did you contribute in a deeper way?

If you’re the kind of person who’s looking for new ways to contribute, and you’ve built a track record, then typically the door is open at certain DAOs for you to propose more things that you can do.

You pitched them a new scope of work? What happened in your case?

Yeah. This was [the fourth quarter] of last year. I was fortunate enough to have a good group of folks at 1Hive that I was working with, and they wanted to make a push for more content on YouTube, some live content.

So, we spun up essentially a sub-DAO. And I’ve been helping to run a sub-DAO on the communications side for 1Hive. This led to new opportunities to do more PM [project management].

How did that pitching process work? Is it like the Web3 version of Don Draper [of “Mad Men”] putting together a pitch deck? How’d you sell it?

[Laughs.] Well, the more you consider this stuff, the human element is never removed. The starting point has to be the relationships in the organization. You see it at 1Hive and elsewhere.

A proposal will show up on the Forum [the platform where proposals are voted on], and it was never really discussed in the Discord. Well, what happens to the post? Most likely, it doesn’t get a whole lot of attention.

You mean that if some “rando” just pitches something out of the blue and asks for a vote – without socializing the concept – it’s less likely to be green-lit?

The key point here is that the relationships within the DAO are the right starting point, and the best way to establish those relationships, I think, is doing great bounty work. That’s the place to start.

When was your inflection point? When did DAO work go from being a side hustle to your main source of income?

The moment I had the approval of the 1Hive community to move forward with the communications project as more of a PM was the point where I was, like, “Ok, now we have runway, and now we have the resources to make this possible.”

Backing up a bit: Overall, how would you say that DAO work compares to your old life where you had a full-time job?

The trade-offs really are the differences between freelancing and being employed. You have greater freedom but less predictability.

I certainly wouldn’t say it’s for everyone, but I think that for people who are already inclined to freelance work and have an entrepreneurial spirit and are willing to engage with people and are interested in learning new things there’s a lot of interesting opportunities, even on the non-technical side.

How about some other non-tech examples? You mentioned blog posts, banner ads and video. Any others?

Any type of communications work. People are looking for social media managers. They’re looking for folks who are keen on business development. Even the sort of internal communications side – ensuring there is smooth communication and clarity between the technical people and the non-technical people. I mean, DAOs need that connective tissue just like any other organization.

How does your overall compensation compare to your pre-DAO life?

Month to month it’s different because you’re not salaried. So that’s probably more akin to freelancing. But at the end of the day, I think the average is more or less the same.

How do you get paid? In tokens native to the DAO? Bitcoin? Fiat?

Well, the vast majority, if not all, of the bounty work that I did initially through 1Hive was all paid out in the token of the DAO. There are other cases where a DAO is able to pay in stablecoins. Those are typically bigger DAOs that have active treasury management and the like.

Obviously the crypto markets have been bloody. How has that impacted DAO work?

I’d be lying if I said nothing had changed. I think everybody is taking a close look at their resources and how they’re going to allocate them. And so it’s certainly a bit more challenging now. But I think people who spent time to build good relationships – and really work to provide genuine value – will make it. The serious people who are in this for the long haul are here now, and they’re not going anywhere.

How would you say this is different from your normal life?

I feel like I have more control over what I’m putting my time into. And that’s empowering. And the people I work with are a huge part of that; we’re all trying to build things together, rather than deferring to people above us in a hierarchy. So that’s a super-empowering feeling.

More from Future of Work Week

The Crypto Jobs Boom

It may be a bear market, but there are still plenty of jobs to be had at crypto companies.

‘We’re Freaking DAOing It’: The People Who Think DAOs Are the Future of Work

Meet the pioneers who work at decentralized autonomous organizations.

Chase Chapman on DAOs and Professional Polyamory

It may be a bear market, but there are still plenty of jobs to be had at crypto companies.

Payroll, Web3 and the $62B Opportunity

Crypto can make it faster and cheaper to pay workers.

You’re Hiring Wrong: Do It More Like Web3

By adopting a more open, fluid model, traditional firms would find it easier to attract talent and end up with a more passionate, engaged workforce.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.