Fortnightly Crypto Insights 8/8/23

New coin wants to scan your eyes

A new cryptocurrency co-founded by OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman called Worldcoin requires users to prove that they are human by completing an eye scan. To be verified, users must visit one of the 1.5 thousand scanning ‘Orbs’ worldwide and scan their eyeballs to create a ‘World ID’. This process was designed to distinguish human beings from complex AI systems, though many have expressed concerns about the safety of users’ data. 

Commbank cryptocurrency restrictions

Big 4 bank Commonwealth Bank has recently announced transfer limits to cryptocurrency exchanges to come into play within the next few months. The updated terms and conditions stipulate that it may cancel any transfer of more than $10,000 to certain accounts, “for example, those [they] believe to be associated with cryptocurrency exchanges”. Many businesses also received notices that their accounts would be frozen within the next 30 days if they purchased more than $10,000 in cryptocurrency.

Stan Lee NFTs see success

Despite a bear market for many NFTs, a collection of Stan Lee-themed NFTs sold out in just minutes. Each NFT was priced at $15, with 8249 pieces in the collection. They were created by Kartoon Studios, and feature Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk. In the secondary market, they are now being sold for anywhere from $80 to $750. 

A new way to earn miles

Etihad Airways has announced that it will be releasing a collection of NFTs, providing holders with various benefits like Silver Tier status, priority check-ins, access to their Abu Dhabi international airport lounge and a staking initiative that allows holders to stake their NFTs for miles. This is yet another web3 initiative implemented by airlines, following airlines such as Flybondi and Air Europa, who both partnered with TravelX to create their very own NFTs.

BALD 

BALD, a meme coin recently created on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 Base, saw what some believe to be a rug pull towards the end of July. After a 40,000% growth in just 48 hours, the coin’s deployers removed millions of dollars of liquidity in what has been alleged to be a rug pull. At one point, the coin’s X account posted “steady lads” after adding more liquidity back, seemingly to trick holders, before once again removing it. Connections have also been found between the coin and FTX-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alamanda Research, though many have expressed doubts that the coin’s substantial decrease was linked to Sam Bankman-Fried or any other Alamanda Research core team members. 

References

The Guardian, Decrypt, Cryptonews, Coindesk, news.com.au, Forbes, NFT Plazas

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