New logo slated for Yuga’s dog-themed NFT collection The logo for the Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) from nonfungible token (NFT) conglomerate Yuga Labs is getting a refresh after recently surfaced allegations of intellectual property theft. Yuga co-founder, Greg Solano, more widely known as “Garga” tweeted on Feb. 18 that the BAKC logo would be changing and the project would “debut the new logo soon.” Saw the claims today about the BAKC logo. This was news to us and we're still investigating the situation. Have reached out to the freelancer we hired for that design and Easy Drawing Guides. We’ll …

Polygon (MATIC) emerged as the best-performing asset among the top-ranking cryptocurrencies on Nov. 3 as the market's attention turned to the latest Instagram and JPMorgan announcements. Polygon in high-profile partnerships Notably, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, named Polygon as its initial partner for its upcoming nonfungible token (NFT) tools that allow users to mint, showcase, and sell their digital collectibles on and off the social media platform. Meanwhile, banking giant JPMorgan used Polygon to conduct its first live trade (worth about $71,000) on a public blockchain, marking a concrete step toward integrating cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial frameworks. MATIC, …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how Sony Music Entertainment is preparing to venture into nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Check out how car manufacturer Ford is on the way to entering the Metaverse and how coffee chain Starbucks plans to launch NFT rewards through a program called Starbucks Odyssey. In other news, learn about how the Japanese government used NFTs to reward public servants who excelled in using digital technology to provide local solutions. And, don’t forget about this week’s Nifty News roundup featuring a little league baseball card featuring Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg. Sony Music files trademark application for NFT-authenticated …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have seen their fair share of controversy, but now they have found their way into the midst of the battle between multi-billion dollar corporations in the United States and the workers trying to unionize their workplaces. On his first day back as the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz promised additional worker benefits to workers and digital innovation using NFTs. In a partner open forum, Schultz mentioned that "sometime before the end of the calendar year, we are going to be in the NFT business." The announcement received its fair share of backlash. In a tweet, user smchatter1 …

American fast-food giants like Starbucks and McDonald’s are reportedly not participating in China’s ongoing digital yuan tests. According to an Oct. 14 report by news agency Sina Finance, China’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, is still being piloted on a “small scale,” primarily involving the retail and catering industry. As reported, a number of foreign merchants, which were rumored to be part of China’s CBDC tests, are actually not using the digital yuan for payment so far. Xiong’an, one of the major Chinese cities piloting the digital yuan, reportedly had 19 companies involved in its CBDC pilot, including Starbucks, …

Starbucks, the biggest coffee shop chain in the world, now allows its customers to trace the origins of its coffee using Microsoft's blockchain solution. Customers will be able to scan codes on the bags of coffee they purchase to discover their origins. Little information has been provided concerning the traceability solution other than the fact that it employs blockchain. Microsoft is one of the leading providers of blockchain-as-a-service platforms, though IBM's Food Trust platform is better known in the space. As consumers become more concerned about the ethical sourcing of the products they purchase, the blockchain-tracing trend could rapidly begin …

Each time Bitcoin (BTC) rallies past the all-important $10,000 mark, analysts seek to attribute the rise to major events occurring across the industry. The crypto sector is young, volatile and one major announcement can send ripples across the market. In recent weeks, the market was on a downward trend, but a number of major occurrences have lifted the spirits of the industry participants. Bakkt, a company that focuses on driving institutional investment in crypto, has long been hyped as playing an important role in impacting market valuations. But Bakkt’s product launches have not always matched up with its reputation. Back …

United States-based payments startup Fold has made Lightning Network (LN) payments possible at Amazon, Starbucks, Uber and other big name retailers. The news was revealed in an official blog post published on July 10. As previously reported, the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network is a second-layer solution to bitcoin’s scalability limitations, opening payment channels between users that keep the majority of transactions off-chain, turning to the underlying blockchain only to record the net results. In its announcement, Fold reveals that participating selected retailers will settle users’ LN payments — denominated in satoshis, or one hundred millionth of one Bitcoin — via …

Bitcoin (BTC) price analyst Oliver Isaacs thinks it will hit $25,000 around the end of 2019, according to a report by The Independent on June 5. Isaacs discussed the reasons he still has high hopes for a rally in the near future, saying: "There are multiple drivers behind the recent resurgence. There are geopolitical, technological and regulatory drivers. The net effect of the trade war between the U.S. and China has led to the sudden interest in bitcoin as a hedge on investments." Draper also reportedly commented on the state of mainstream adoption trends, with giant corporations such as Microsoft, …

The United States coffeehouse chain Starbucks is one of the most mainstream companies to look into crypto, and its intentions have finally been confirmed this week: The company has teamed up with Microsoft to track its beans with a blockchain. Moreover, reports say that the coffee giant might start accepting bitcoin (BTC) payments in its U.S. branches later this year. So, is the long-awaited mainstream adoption finally coming to the crypto market? As many mainstream companies, Starbucks leans toward the “blockchain before bitcoin” approach Starbucks’ relationship with crypto could be traced back to January 2018, when its executive chairman and …

United States-based coffee chain Starbucks will implement tech giant Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain Service to track coffee production, tech news site GeekWire reports on May 6. Starbucks first announced its “bean to cup” initiative in 2018, stating that it would work with farmers in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Rwanda to pilot a blockchain-based coffee-tracking system. The system will purportedly allow customers to track the production of their coffee and will open up potential financial opportunities for coffee bean farmers on the backend. Starbucks further noted that they would open source the pilot program to disseminate their findings. The two companies presented …

Analysts have been anticipating the implications of the Internet of Things (IoT) for several years. However, there have been two main impediments to its success: capacity and security. But now, the introduction of a new technology could change that. This year, major carriers like AT&T and Verizon will be introducing 5G, the latest generation of cellular mobile communications. The 5G platform brings a high data rate, reduced latency, energy savings, cost reduction, higher system capacity and massive device connectivity, according to analysts. The combination of 5G and blockchain technology has the potential to unleash a surge of economic value. In …