Tag: web3

Healthcare, Logistics to See Most Benefits via Blockchain: Crypto-Centric Venture Firm Cypher

India recently secured the fourth position on the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index compiled by blockchain research firm Chainalysis. These ranks numbered all the countries based on their varied uses of different crypto-services and India outranked US and Russia on the scale that testified to the growing adoption of crypto in the second-most populous nation in the world. UAE-based crypto-centric investment firm Cypher Capital has highlighted that the blockchain tech can bring most benefits to the healthcare and logistics industries of India.

Inside the healthcare sector in India, that is projected to touch $372 billion (roughly Rs. 29,61,473 crore) this year, medical records are centralised to providers.

“This leads to duplicative data and disjointed records across stakeholders. Healthcare providers need to take utmost care in protecting their records from cyber hacks and outages and blockchain can solve this pain point by establishing a trust-based ecosystem that unifies patient data, and maps out the entire patient journey in the country. Moreover, this data would be much more secure as a single authority cannot control it,” Vineet Budki, Managing Partner and CEO, Cypher Capital told Gadgets 360 in an interview.

Since blockchain facilitates record-keeping via a decentralised ledger, India’s logistics sector that balances a market cap of over $250 billion (roughly Rs. 19,90,150 crore), can reduce major clerical errors and blind spots for the logistics sector as well.

“Today, with blockchain, logistics companies can enter into binding agreements using smart contracts, which are traceable and self-governed — removing dependencies on physical paperwork — saving time and administrative costs,” Budki added.

At this point, the Indian crypto community is treading lightly in-terms of pouring investments and building projects in the Web3 space under regulatory uncertainties.

This has, however, not pulled back Indian blockchain and Web3 developers from flocking to other nations in search for opportunities.

“We are seeing a lot of traction coming from Indian start-ups, so talent-wise, it’s growing at a rapid pace. Once the regulation clears out, it will act as a growth catalyst, and this is what entrepreneurs currently need: clarity rather than ambiguity,” Budki noted.

In March 2022, Cypher Capital launched a $100 million (roughly Rs. 800 crore) blockchain fund, out of which, it set aside $40 million (roughly Rs. 320 crore) for Indian crypto and blockchain start-ups.

Cypher Capital is amongst many venture firms that are ready to bet on India’s potential to develop the Web3 sector. These companies have observed previous patterns of how technological adoption unfolded in the country to be sure enough about giving Indians the space to expand work in the Web3 arena.

“We saw when India moved from offline commerce to online commerce. Despite being a laggard in e-commerce, India has now taken a centre-stage. We are still bullish on India and its potential to disrupt this market,” Budki added.

For any sector to show magnitude of expansion, hiring plays a key role.

At present, blockchain developers account for less than 1 percent of the global developer base making it quite difficult for recruiters to hire top talent in this space.

In the coming years, Budki reckons, a lot of talent will migrate from the tech industry to the blockchain space.

“Recruiters need to keep an eye on candidates that are open and enthusiastic about the industry and should even consider candidates that have no prior experience in crypto/blockchain. We are quite early to have blockchain veterans in the space and it is better to hire talent that is willing to learn and grow,” the Cypher Capital chief pointed.

In a new report, KuCoin crypto exchange has claimed that India currently has over 115 million crypto investors, making for 15 percent of its massive population.

The Indian crypto market is expected to reach the valuation of $241 million (roughly Rs. 1,924 crore) by 2030, the same report had claimed.

Unfortunately, India did not make it to the list of countries, that have taken crypto-friendly measures to contribute to the growth of this nascent industry.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

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Puma Launches Its First Metaverse Experience With NFTs Redeemable as Real Sneakers

Puma, the German sports apparel giant, has announced the unveiling of its first-ever metaverse website experience called Black Station. It features exclusive non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with limited edition redeemable physical sneakers which will be launched as part of its ‘Futrograde’ show during the ongoing New York Fashion Week (NYFW). Puma Black Station is meant to be an immersive and interactive portal for consumers to experience the future of the brand. Puma now joins Adidas Originals as the latest sportswear brand to launch digital collectibles.

On the metaverse website, visitors will enter a hyper-realistic digital lobby space with three separate portals. The first two portals, accessible from September 7, will unveil exclusive never-seen-before Nitro NFRNO and Nitro Fastroid sneakers linked to Puma’s recent Nitropass NFT mint. The sneakers made their debut at NYFW.

The Black Station metaverse is created by venture company FTR. The metaverse is designed with Unreal Engine 5 with support for cutting-edge graphics.

“Twenty years ago, Black Station was Puma’s home for our most innovative designs in fashion,” said Adam Petrick, Puma’s Chief Brand Officer. “Given the boundaries we are pushing from a product design and digital standpoint, we found it fitting to bring Black Station back as a new portal for digital exploration across fashion, sport performance, our heritage classics, and innovation.”

It is worth noting that this is not Puma’s first foray into Web 3. Earlier this year, Puma integrated NFTs in a sponsorship campaign with football club Manchester City, including limited edition NFTs of Puma boots worn by footballer Sergio Aguero.

Puma’s Futrograde collection is the latest in a trend of clothing and luxury brands releasing physical items tied to digital assets, called “phygitals.” In May of this year, the luxe brand Prada released NFTs that could be redeemed for physical items like shirts.

Puma’s use of a metaverse space is not new either. Brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Estee Lauder have designed similar spaces for individuals to browse digital representations of their products up-close.

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CoinDCX Launches DeFi Mobile App ‘Okto’ Aimed at Widespread Expansion of Web3 in India

Crypto exchange CoinDCX launched ‘Okto’, a decentralised finance (DeFi) app to open the Web3 sector for a widespread adoption in India, on Friday, August 26. The company is aiming to help members of the Indian crypto community to dive deeper into the DeFi space. As per Investopedia, DeFi is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers. The system removes the control that banks and institutions have on money, financial products, and financial services to democratise existing financial systems.

CoinDCX announced the launch of Okto during its ‘Unfold 2022′ event held in Bengaluru city on Friday. This mobile app will offer a keyless, self-custodial wallet service backed by several layers of security as well as native access to more than a hundred decentralised apps ranging across DeFi, NFTs, synthetics, and cross-chain bridges, among others.

In India, this Okto app will be available within CoinDCX Pro, whereas globally, Okto will be rolled-out as a standalone app.

“We firmly believe that the next phase of growth for the crypto industry will not only come from exchange of value but also from applications built on the underlying blockchain technology. As the technology is maturing, builders are creating use-cases to unlock value and make the internet a more equitable space. Our new Defi offering is the first step in this direction,” Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-Founder, CoinDCX, said in his address at the event.

The company, which claims to have been handling over 13 million monthly active users, intends to open the Web3 world for everybody with an Internet-enabled smartphone in their hands.

Back in July, CoinDCX had announced the appointment of Gaurav Arora as the Senior Vice President of CoinDCX Pro. Arora, the former Director of Products at Amazon Pay India, has a decade-long industry experience in growing and leading products and businesses.

CoinDCX is the first Indian unicorn (valued over a billion dollars) in the cryptocurrency space. Apart from its recently closed $135 million (roughly Rs. 1,044 crore) Series D funding round led by Pantera and Steadview, the company has previously raised over $100 million (roughly Rs. 760 crore) with Coinbase Ventures and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin-led B Capital as its investors.

In a bid to provide early-stage support to budding blockchain projects in India and around the world, CoinDCX also launched its venture investment arm recently with the plan of investing Rs. 100 crore in the start-up industry.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

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Binance Actively Monitoring Indian Market to Identify Best Approach: Ken Li

The engineering talent and the emerging Web3 community of India has caught the eye of Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. The company’s incubation and venture capital arm called Binance Labs, which is gearing up for the fifth season of its incubation program, is expecting to onboard promising blockchain projects from around the world, including India, under its wings. The US-based crypto mammoth is actively monitoring India’s local market environment to identify the best market approach, Ken Li, the investment director at Binance Labs, told Gadgets 360 in an interview.

“We are currently fielding applications for the fifth season until the end of July. We focus on fundamentals and long-termism to select projects that will bring a direct impact on the blockchain industry. Web3 start-ups in India have great potential to grow,” said Li, who leads the incubation program for Binance.

One project that Binance Labs boasts about having supported in its initial stages is Polygon. The eco-friendly blockchain, which has recently been picked by Disney to participate in its accelerator program, is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution developed by Indian co-founders Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun.

As per Li, his team keeps close connection with Polygon’s investment team for ecosystem value creation and deal synergy.

In the fourth instalment of its incubation program, Binance had closed a funding of $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,000 crore) with 14 selected teams that were developing products and services around DeFi, metaverse, as well as crypto fintech.

“The criteria that Binance Labs seeks before onboarding projects in its incubation program include business model, product innovation as well as team quality and overall background,” Li noted.

Navigating through innovative projects year after year, the Investment Director at Binance Labs believes that the DeFi space has the potential to create more open and free financial markets.

As per a recent analysis by Emergen Research, the global DeFi market size is expected to reach $507.92 billion (roughly Rs. 40,49,200 crore) by 2028.

Meanwhile, Li expects that building more projects aligning metaverse with other elements of the Web3 sector could decentralise the virtual economy sooner than later.

In his advice to the up-and-coming crypto founders, Li said they need to stay ahead of the curve by constantly learning about new technology trends and having a clear product vision to ensure long-term viability.

“Web3 is a budding industry that holds a lot of potential for start-up founders. I would also advise founders getting into the Web3 space to be focused on growing the ecosystem by spreading awareness to not just users, but to the overall consumer base of fintech in their countries. This may not immediately facilitate any short-term gains in user growth. Yet, it is important to invest in quality research-based education to counter common misconceptions and misinformation in this space,” the Binance Labs honcho added.

Binance has been taking initiatives to educate people about the crypto and Web3 sector via means of online and offline programs.

For now, Binance Labs is gearing up to meet the teams which qualify to be part of its incubation initiative that kick offs between October and December.

As for projects made by Indian minds, Binance Labs is expecting to see more options to pick from.

Earlier this year, the entity made a strategic investment in pStake Finance, a liquid staking protocol, created by Indian developer Tushar Aggarwal and his team at Persistence, a company aiming to build an ecosystem of decentralised apps.

“India has established itself as a fintech innovation hub globally. We believe the same level of innovation can be unlocked in the world of crypto and blockchain. PStake, for instance, allows users to stake their proof-of-stake assets while earning DeFi yields. This project has brought additional innovation into the BNB Chain ecosystem and the broader DeFi space,” Li said.

In recent times, other big names in the crypto sector have also put their bets on Indian talent amid regulatory uncertainties around crypto still prevailing in the nation.

Back in April, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had visited India, expressing interest in hiring Indian developers to be part of the Coinbase team.

In May, Indian blockchain e-sports firm ‘STAN’ bagged investments from OpenSea and Coinbase super angels.

The same month, CoinTracker, a global cryptocurrency tax compliance and portfolio tracking firm, announced its entry into Indian shores in a bid to help crypto users wade through tax complexities and gauge deductions with ease.

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Polygon Picked by Walt Disney to Participate in Its Accelerator Program: Here’s What It Means

Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon is one of six companies that will take part in Disney’s accelerator program this year. The program will see Disney provide guidance from its leadership team and offer a dedicated mentor. Each participant will also attend a Demo Day at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Ryan Watt, CEO of Polygon Studios, noted that Polygon was “the only blockchain selected” to take part in the program. He added that this “speaks volumes to the work being done [at Polygon], and where we’re going as a company.”

In addition to being the only blockchain selected, Polygon is a leading blockchain project in its own right. The company’s MATIC token is currently the 16th largest cryptocurrency on the market, boasting a market cap of $5.17 billion (roughly Rs. 41,385 crore).

Disney did not say why it is interested in Polygon, but drew attention to its Web 3 features—implicitly, its ability to integrate cryptocurrency transactions with web applications.

Two other blockchain-related companies were selected. Flickplay, a social media platform for video NFTs, and Lockerverse, an online e-commerce platform that has filed NFT-related trademarks, will participate in the accelerator as well.

Though there is no indication that these efforts will evolve into a lasting relationship, Disney is clearly interested in NFTs. The company has released several lines of NFTs in partnership with the digital collectibles marketplace Veve since 2021.

Additionally, former Disney CEO Bob Iger has suggested that NFTs have “extraordinary” potential for Disney thanks to its large number of intellectual properties.

Disney says participants will be provided with investment capital, access to co-working space at the entertainment giant’s creative campus in Los Angeles, and mentor support and guidance from Disney executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders from the entertainment and technology fields.

The accelerator is open to venture-backed, growth-stage startups with a vision for impacting the future of technology and entertainment.



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Metaverse Multiplex: Airtel Launches 20-Screen Platform in Virtual World Named ‘Partynite’

Bharti Airtel has become the first Indian telco major to have forayed into the metaverse world. The network provider has announced a 20-screen multiplex in a metaverse called ‘Partynite’. The name of this virtual theatre has been decided to be called ‘Xstream’ and it will have content portfolios from various over-the-top (OTT) channels. The service will be available for free trial where first episode of an OTT original or some parts of regional language films may be shown.

The launch of this service is intended to forward the Web3 adoption. A monthly subscription to Xstream will cost people Rs. 149.

“Through the metaverse, we are looking to tap into a larger audience, giving content enthusiasts an opportunity to sample Airtel’s Xstream Premium offering and, thus, aiding in driving higher adoption,” Shashwat Sharma, director of marketing at Airtel said in a statement.

A video has been uploaded on YouTube by Airtel, giving a glimpse into the virtual multiplex.

Digital avatars of people can be seen walking and shopping in the cinema complex.

Just like physical movie theatre set-ups, this metaverse multiplex is also lit in yellow lights, with floors lined with red carpets.

##India’s first multiplex in metaverse – Airtel Xstream Premium

Essence, Airtel’s integrated media agency of record, is responsible for creating the Xstream. On the other hand, the Partynite metaverse is developed by Hyderabad-based Gamitronics.

“This multiplex experience is one of the most scalable use case scenarios for the metaverse. Future opportunities here include movies, music, live events and premium sports streaming. It will also allow social engagement,” said Rajat Ojha, Founder of Partynite (Gamitronics).

The metaverse can be defined as a fully functional virtual world where people can exist, work, and socialise as avatars.

In January, investment bank giant Goldman Sachs had reportedly called the metaverse an $8 trillion (roughly Rs. 6,12,66,800 crore) opportunity.

The industry is garnering pace in India as well.

Earlier this month, automaker MG Motor said it has launched a Metaverse platform MGverse to provide an immersive experience to its customers and stakeholders through multiple arenas.

Former Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari is also working on bringing a metaverse university for students in India and other nations.

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Opera’s Web3-Focussed Crypto Browser Now Supports BNB Chain to Enable Asset Trading, dApps

Opera web browser has added support for the BNB blockchain on its ‘crypto-friendly’ platform. The integration will allow Opera users to buy and sell the Binance token and store their assets in its in-built crypto wallet. The integration will also open access to decentralised apps (dApps) such as PancakeSwap, 1inch, and BiSwap among others. As per Opera, this partnership with Binance blockchain will escalate the Web3 adoption among more people. The web browser team has also released an official update on the Opera blog.

“Opera boasts 350 million monthly active users globally, making this a partnership that has the potential to take Web3 adoption to the next level,” the blog post said. “Onboarding to crypto and interacting with dApps, gaming, cryptocurrency, and metaverse platforms on Opera’s browser is customised for new adopters and experienced Web3 users alike.”

Web3 is the next leg of Internet as we know today. Largely based on the blockchain network, Web3 will support 3D experiences such as the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) among others.

The Norwegian platform, last month, released the beta version of its Web3 browser for iOS devices. It first announced its crypto browser in January.

In March, Opera announced its plans of incorporating more blockchain networks in its in-built crypto wallet. These include Solana, Polygon, StarkEx, Ronin, Celo, Nervos DAO, IXO, and Bitcoin.

Presently, Ether is already supported by the crypto-focused browser’s crypto wallet.

“Opera continues to streamline mainstream access to Web3 and beyond. With the Opera Crypto Browser, existing users of BNB Chain dApps and token holders alike can now join the hundreds of millions of Windows, Android, and Mac users worldwide in having unique Web3 access functionality at their fingertips,” the platform noted.

Opera’s crypto browser also displays a special ‘crypto corner’ that shows related information on the home page including crypto updates, crypto asset price reporting, crypto events as well as token airdrops.

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Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Claims He’s More Interested in Web 3 Than Crypto

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, has recently disclosed his views on the emerging blockchain industry, expressing that what fascinates him the most is not cryptocurrencies but the future of Web 3. Schmidt who’s also served as chairman for Google noted that “tokenomics” is a notion that piques his interest in Web 3. However, he did disclose that he has invested a “little bit” of money in digital assets too. Schmidt goes on to state that if he were in a position to start his career as a software engineer today, he would focus on AI algorithms or Web 3.

“A new model [of the internet] where you as an individual [can] control your identity, and where you don’t have a centralised manager, is very powerful. It’s very seductive and it’s very decentralised,” Schmidt tells CNBC in an interview. “I remember that feeling when I was 25 that decentralised would be everything,” he added.

He further pointed out that Web 3 would birth new models of content ownership and ways to compensate people for their creation. Schmidt added that, “[Web 3′s] economics are interesting. The platforms are interesting, and the use patterns are interesting,” Schmidt says. “[It] doesn’t work yet, but it will.”

Moving to the topic of crypto, Schmidt admits that he admires cryptocurrencies, but added that most blockchain networks spend a lot of time ensuring no one attacks them. According to the former Google exec, the move is incredibly wasteful. Despite admitting that he holds some cryptocurrencies, Schmidt didn’t name the specific coins he has invested in.

Though his time as Google CEO was over a decade ago — 2001 to 2011, to be precise, Schmidt still served as the internet giant’s executive chairman until 2017, and its technical advisor until 2020. Since leaving the company, he’s spent most of his time funding research in artificial intelligence, biology, and energy. However, on the cryptocurrency front, he also became a strategic advisor for Chainlink labs in December.

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