Happy Thursday!
Plenty of new headline-worthy items to report this week. First of all, the Bitcoin network update, Taproot, is now live. Furthermore, the Williston Basin International Airport installed the first government-hosted cryptocurrency ATM. To top it off, Fabio Penetta gave a speech about the two sides of the (stable)coin. 😱
Regulation-wise, India decided to regulate the crypto industry instead of banning it, and the second edition of the Watsonlaw bi-weekly series about the MiCA Regulation is out now. 🔥
Last but not least, you can now vote for the Dutch Blockchain Awards 2021! Our very own Willem-Jan Smits has been nominated as well. Read below to find out all the other nominees and categories. 🚀
Enjoy! 🤩
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"Bitcoin changes absolutely everything (...) I don't think there's anything more important in my lifetime to work on."
- Jack Dorsey
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🆙 Taproot, one of the most significant updates since 2017 of the Bitcoin network, is now live. Taproot is a soft fork to the Bitcoin network, one that will improve privacy and efficiency. It also unlocks the potential for smart contracts, which can be used to eliminate middlemen from transactions.
🇮🇳 A meeting of Indian parliamentarians and crypto representatives was concluded with a decision to regulate the crypto industry. India will ban the use of cryptocurrencies for making payments, but will allow and regulate trading of crypto assets. This would be one of the most significant political victories for the crypto industry.
⚖️ Watsonlaw released its second edition of the bi-weekly series of articles about the draft Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) Regulation. This weeks blog is all about the 'Reasons and Objectives'.
🎮 A new study from the United Kingdom revealed that most game developers have already started incorporating NFTs and other blockchain features into their games. The research was commissioned by blockchain platform Stratis and undertaken by insight agency Opinium.
🤑 ConstitutionDAO was outbid at the auction for the rare first printing of America's founding document by an unknown buyer who submitted a $43.17 million bid at Sotheby's auction house. The DAO's organizers believed they would not have enough money to "insure, store, and transport the document" if they had made a higher bid.
✈️ The U.S. city of Williston in North Dakota announced a partnership with crypto ATM operator Coin Cloud to install a Digital Currency Machine (DCM) at its Williston Basin International Airport (XWA). This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk and the first Coin Cloud installation in an airport.
🤩 You can now vote for the Dutch Blockchain Awards 2021! The Dutch Blockchain Awards are part of the Dutch Blockchain Week. Lawyer and co-founder of Watsonlaw, Willem-Jan Smits, has been nominated for the Impactful Person Award. Click on the link to vote!
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✨ Fabio Penetta, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, gave a speech about the two sides of the (stable)coin. The payments industry is undergoing a digital transformation, and this transformation is accelerating. Global stablecoins are an expression of the need for change. However, they can pose serious risks...
😎 The World Economic Forum has released a white paper series of eight parts on numerous critical topics related to the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and stablecoins. It aims to inform about the risks, policy imperatives and key technology choices with respect to rapidly evolving stablecoins and CBDC.
💰 The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) has published a report about the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and gold. The report examines the potential paths which CBDCs might take and their impact on gold as well.
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😱 Paris Hilton joined a $20 million funding round in the Swiss nonprofit NFT project Origyn Foundation.
💥 Snapshot Labs raises $4 million to shape the future of DAO voting.
🎶 NAS and the Chainsmokers join a $55 million raise in NFT music platform, Royal.
😏 Private bartering blockchain Anoma Network raises $26 million led by Polychain Capital.
💰 DeFi trading platform Injective Protocol is launching its main net after rolling out a $120 million incentive program.
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Postscript
Thank you for reading the latest edition of the Watsonlaw newsletter. If you have any content-related recommendations or news you'd like us to share for next time, please don't hesitate to reach out to info@watsonlaw.nl or even better, directly connect with our team members Willem-Jan Smits and Jorie Corten. To stay up to date with all our updates and connect with our team, follow Watsonlaw on LinkedIn. Did we miss anything? Or perhaps something got you particularly intrigued? Do send us a message and let's talk! Ciao for now and see you again next time!
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Watsonlaw is a 's-Hertogenbosch-based law firm specializing in corporate and civil matters and the legal implications of new technologies in everyday life and business.
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