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Crypto Needs A New push - Radix's Intuitive New Smart Contract Language Might Just Be It

Radix

The virtual world is getting ready for what could be the next big thing. And if you have been keeping pace with the latest developments on the internet, you have probably heard of Web 3.0. Curious about what’s going to happen next for crypto? Join RadFi2022 on December 8 where Radix will unveil how the future of finance should look. Find out more. ‘Web 3.0’ is the term used to refer to the vision for the third iteration of the web – a decentralized, open-source alternative to the current infrastructure, with one key component being “smart contracts”, which were first brought into the crypto space by the Ethereum network. Smart contracts are self-executing pieces of code that execute when certain conditions are met. This allows trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among anonymous parties without the need for a central authority or external enforcement mechanism. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized network. For this reason, smart contracts can form the basis of the logic behind decentralized applications (dApps). And dApps can form the basis of decentralized finance (DeFi). The terms and conditions of DeFi smart contracts are coded using programming languages such as Solidity, Vyper, Python, or Rust. Solidity, first developed in 2014, is one of the earliest smart contract programming languages. It is used extensively in creating smart contracts on Ethereum and other blockchain networks that use the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It was instrumental in driving the initial adoption of Web 3.0 among developers. But despite having been around for several years, Solidity and other smart contract languages have not been able to ramp up the adoption of Web 3.0 at a pace that may be necessary to deliver its vision as a more equitable, secure, and decentralized ecosystem of applications, tools, and information. The number of developers creating dApps for Web 3.0 is still abysmally low at only around 18,000 developers globally, as compared to Web 2.0 developers numbering around 30 million, of which only about 2500 developers are known to be working on DeFi projects specifically. One of the reasons for this is the complexity involved in working with Solidity. Solidity is hard to learn and also involves long-winded coding, taking up months of developer time to create dApps on the blockchain. Another reason is that it is highly vulnerable to hacks. Although Solidity has been the base for a number of successful dApps, over the years there have been several vulnerabilities and security issues identified in its application, which have even been exploited by bad actors in committing large-value financial crimes amounting to millions of dollars. Not just Solidity, other commonly used blockchain programming languages including VYper, Yul, and Rust also have been found wanting in the areas of security and ease of programming. Scrypto Could Be A Game Changer In Web 3.0 And DeFi Adoption One project that looks to be gaining rapid recognition as a next-generation full stack for DeFi — and is actively engaged in building a global decentralized future — is Radix. Radix has ambitious goals and says it aims to become the go-to network on which the new decentralized financial (DeFi) system of the future will be built. To help improve the adoption of Web 3.0, whilst also addressing the issues faced by crypto languages like Solidity, the team behind Radix has created a network-native programming language called Scrypto. Scrypto is an asset-oriented smart contract language that will allow its developers to create “blueprints” (templates to create components out of) and “components” (Radix’s equivalent of smart contracts) which the company says are safer and faster to develop than Solidity smart contracts. A good example of what Scrypto aims to achieve could be found in how the two giants of the gaming industry – Unity and Unreal Engine – revolutionized the development of games by making the creation of games really simple, without requiring very high levels of technical expertise. They took slow, archaic, and hard-to-learn programming languages and replaced them through the use of a drag-and-drop interface and a library of plugins and assets –- which drastically cut programming time for game developers. The impact of this game-changing move was huge, with the gaming industry’s revenues now having overtaken those of the film and music industries combined. Radix aims to achieve a similar impact on the Web 3.0 developer community through a number of its core builds, including Scrypto. Unlike other programming languages in the space, Radix says Scrypto has been built to support the journey of its developers. For example, one element of the frameworks enables blueprints to be reused by other developers in the space. Developers would then only need to parameterize those blueprints to create their own instance of the smart contract component, as opposed to the existing model where they copy-paste-modify existing code which can introduce unforeseen errors. This approach also enables the creation of an ever-growing library of secure financial building blocks and helps dramatically cut-short development time. Additionally, similar to the entertainment industry, the foundations built by Radix will eventually enable ‘royalties’ for its developer community. Every time a developer uses someone else’s blueprint, if opted in, the Radix royalties system would allow a royalty to flow to the developer who originally created that blueprint, potentially incentivizing a supercharged community of builders. Aside from the increased opportunity for the space to scale through developer improvements, one of Scrypto’s core strengths is that it is an asset-oriented programming language. Compared to the likes of Solidity which only allows messages to be sent, Scrypto is built to natively recognize and support assets (tokens) that live on the Radix network. With Solidity and other programming languages being “messages only ”, recognizing tokens comes secondary and lays responsibility for the success of transactions heavily onto developers and the code – leaving exposures and vulnerabilities open to hacks as well as generally just making the entire process complex. Radix Engine, Radix’s virtual machine, relies on what are known as “finite state machines” to guarantee that assets are properly accounted for, and can’t be lost or drained during a transaction. Radix says the reusability of Radix blueprints and components also contributes to making them more secure than traditional smart contracts which are written from scratch for every new dApp. Overall, developers could benefit massively by using Scrypto, according to Radix, as it would dramatically decrease the barriers to learning, reduce the time and effort involved in developing dApps, and reduce the potential risk of developer error. In times of uncertainty across the crypto space, DeFi r emains resilient. Radix recognizes the fundamental issues within the space and the core needs required to educate and onboard the billions of people currently engaged with the traditional financial system and radically drive a better financial infrastructure through the opportunity of Web 3.0, changing the face of finance for good. Interested in learning more? On Dec. 8, Radix will unveil how it’s going to take DeFi mainstream at RadFi 2022, a free virtual event. Head here to learn more and sign up for the event. To learn more about Radix, visit the company website. DeFi needs to be better - and it’s about to get radically better with Radix. Get your free ticket to join RadFi2022 on December 8 and learn what the future holds for decentralized finance. Find out how. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Amy Wilkinson amy.wilkinson@rdx.works

November 28, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Volatus Aerospace Expands Product Distribution to US Market with Acquisition of Empire Drone Company LLC.

Volatus Aerospace Corp.

Volatus Aerospace Corp. (TSXV: VOL) (OTCQB: VLTTF) (“Volatus” or “the Company”) announced today that it has signed an arm’s length definitive agreement to acquire Syracuse-based Empire Drone Company LLC., one of North America’s fastest-growing distributors and integrators for unmanned aerial systems. With Fortune Business Insights projecting the commercial drone market to grow to $47.38 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 28.58%, the addition of Empire Drone in the USA positions Volatus to capitalize on this opportunity by adding to its growing global presence in key markets for green drone technologies, which includes Volatus Aerospace LATAM in South America, Omniview Tech in Canada, and iRed Remote Sensing in the UK. “Volatus is already a major distributor and developer of civil and defence drone solutions in Canada,” said Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus Aerospace. “The addition of Empire Drone solidifies our footprint in America and positions us for improved margins and accelerated growth in America with a US depot and US-based support.” “Joining Volatus provides Empire with the resources needed to accelerate our growth,” said Sean Falconer, CEO and founder of Empire. “We’ll become a more important partner for our existing OEM suppliers and increase our offering with Volatus technologies such as the Aerieport remote nesting station, Hydra Crawler, and other Volatus defence and public safety products. It’s long been my goal to be a dominant player in the United States and this deal will give me the resources needed to get there.” Empire Drone is expected to generate revenue of C$2.5M in 2022 with a 6% EBITDA margin. Under the terms of the agreement, Volatus will purchase 100% of the company for a cash consideration of US$300,000, equity of US$350,000 with a minimum floor price of $0.65, and earn out of US$350,000 paid in equity after one year anniversary based on the 30-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) with a minimum floor price of $0.65 per share and assume the long-term debt of US$225,000. This announcement marks another step in a series of interrelated commercial milestones intended to drive and scale the commercialization of drone technologies including: Announcement of Volatus Aerospace LATAM, a joint venture with EOLO Drones S.A.C. ("EOLO") to expand Volatus' commercial operations in Latin America. Introduction of a full-service financing program for enterprise and industrial drone equipment to help drone service providers, public safety agencies and industrial clients leverage the rapid evolution of related technologies by offering rental, usage contracts, and customized funding arrangements for the sale of its Drone Solutions targeted at transactions valued from $25,000 to over $2,000,000. Acquisition of iRed Remote Sensing based in Emsworth, England to provide a foundation for continued growth in the UK. The acquisition of Empire Drone is scheduled to close on December 31st conditional on satisfactory completion of due diligence, approval of the respective Board of Directors, and regulatory approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange. About Volatus Aerospace: Volatus Aerospace Corp. is a leading provider of integrated drone solutions throughout North America and growing into Latin America and globally. Volatus serves civil, public safety, and defense markets with imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support, training, as well as R&D, design, and manufacturing. Through our subsidiary, Volatus Aviation, we are introducing green and innovative drone solutions to supplement and replace traditional aircraft and helicopters for long-linear inspections such as pipeline, energy, rail, and cargo services. Volatus is committed to carbon neutrality; the fostering of a safe, equitable and inclusive workplace; and responsible governance. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information and forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding: (if) the business plans and expectations of the Company; and (ii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial, and economic data and operating plans, strategies, or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to the Company, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to it and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: the commercialization of drone flights beyond visual line of sight and potential benefits to the Company; the completion of the Offering; meeting the continued listing requirements of the TSXV; and anticipated and unanticipated costs and other factors referenced in this news release.” Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL Contact Details Abhinav Singhvi +1 514-447-7986 abhinav.singhvi@volatusaerospace.com Company Website https://volatusaerospace.com

November 28, 2022 06:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Holiday Gifts 101

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details News Media Group Karl Wayne +1 334-440-6397 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

November 25, 2022 02:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Retention Cloud Leader CleverTap Launches CleverTap for Startups

CleverTap

CleverTap, the modern, integrated retention cloud today announced the launch of CleverTap for Startups (C4S). Through this initiative, CleverTap will offer a full stack retention platform to all budding digital-native brands, in order to help them personalize and optimize all customer touchpoints, improving user engagement and conversion. Till date, thousands of large digital-native brands have benefited from CleverTap’s platform which has solved their needs at scale, speed, and security. The aim now is to make solutions even more affordable for pre-launch, early-stage startups, or companies with limited monthly active users. New and early-stage businesses have very different needs from larger, well-established brands. They require more flexibility, affordability, and a partner that provides seamless support fuelling their growth plans. CleverTap has currently partnered with more than 50 venture capital firms, incubators, and business accelerators including Sequoia Surge, Techstars, Y-combinator, AWS Activate, Accel and others to provide exclusive discounts and resources to early-stage startups through this initiative. The C4S initiative was undertaken a year back and the offerings have now been fine tuned following feedback from 1000+ startups and is now ready to launch. Through this initiative, CleverTap aspires to be a growth partner for more than 100,000 new businesses by the end of 2025. Through this initiative, early stage startups can opt for a flexible plan with no minimum scale requirement, and can make use of the platform with as low as 5000 monthly active users. The platform is designed realizing the requirement of SMBs/startups. Additionally, customers will have the option to customize the platform with add-ons and will have the ability to only pay for the services they use. Speaking about the initiative Anand Jain, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, CleverTap said, “Every small business needs an ecosystem of stakeholders that are supportive and will help them get on their growth journeys. Be it small or big, startups can use all the help they can get. In our effort to bolster new businesses globally we are excited to launch CleverTap for Startups. Customer retention for consumer brands is one of the key components to building a successful business. By offering our solutions to startups at a lower cost with flexible options, we want to create an atmosphere where we can support new businesses from their 0 to 1 and then 1 to 100 journeys.” About CleverTap CleverTap is the World's #1 Retention Cloud that helps app-first brands personalize and optimize all consumer touch points to improve user engagement, retention, and lifetime value. It's the only solution built to address the needs of retention and growth teams, with audience analytics, deep-segmentation, multi-channel engagement, product recommendations, and automation in one unified product. The platform is powered by TesseractDB™ - the world’s first purpose-built database for customer engagement, offering both speed and economies of scale.CleverTap is trusted by 1500 customers, including Gojek, ShopX, Electronic Arts, TED, English Premier League, TD Bank, Carousell, AirAsia, Papa John’s, and Tesco. Backed by leading investors such as Sequoia India, Tiger Global, Accel, and CDPQ the company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with presence in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo, Bogota, London, Amsterdam, Sofia, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, and Jakarta. For more information, visit clevertap.com or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this press release may represent CleverTap's belief in connection with future events and may be forward-looking statements, or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. CleverTap cautions that such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties that could result in the actual outcome being absolutely different from the results anticipated by the statements mentioned in the press release. Factors such as the development of general economic conditions affecting our business, future market conditions, our ability to maintain cost advantages, uncertainty with respect to earnings, corporate actions, client concentration, reduced demand, liability or damages in our service contracts, unusual catastrophic loss events, war, political instability, changes in government policies or laws, legal restrictions impacting our business, impact of pandemic, epidemic, any natural calamity and other factors that are naturally beyond our control, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different, from those anticipated by such statements. CleverTap does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or updated or revised status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will CleverTap and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction. Contact Details CleverTap Sony Shetty sony@clevertap.com Company Website https://clevertap.com/

November 25, 2022 08:22 AM Eastern Standard Time

UK fintech Atoa secures $2.2M as it kills Visa and Mastercard fees for businesses

Atoa Payments

There are more than 4 million small businesses in the UK which have no viable alternative to debit card payments and are reliant on Mastercard or Visa payment rails. Challenging this status quo, UK fintech Atoa Payments is announcing a $2.2M pre-seed funding round to reduce by 70% the payment fees and offer a new approach to making payments. The funding round was led by Leo Capital and Passion Capital and also included well regarded angel investors such as Matt Robinson (co-founder of GoCardless and Nested) alongside Moon Capital Ventures. Anil Stocker, Co-Founder & CEO of MarketFinance also serves as a company advisor. Mastercard and Visa payment rails have an effective duopoly in the market which enables them to get away with net margins as high as 51% at the expense of small merchants and their customers. On top of this, card machine providers charge small businesses up to 1.75%. Atoa is building a truly viable alternative for small businesses to accept payments at a fraction of those costs and to improve their cash flow meaningfully at the same time. Using Atoa is seamless. Businesses simply download the Atoa app and securely connect their merchant bank account. Set up takes less than 5 minutes, after which the merchant can accept payments via SMS, Pay-by Link or by displaying a QR code on their Atoa App or physical QR stand next to their till. At the same time, their customers do not need to download a separate app to pay which removes a substantial point of friction inhibiting merchant options until now. Any customer with a UK mobile banking app on their phone can securely pay a merchant who is using Atoa. Without requiring a separate consumer app, the customer simply scans the merchant’s QR code or clicks on the link sent by the merchant, selects their bank and then is redirected to their existing mobile bank app to approve the payment, meaning that the merchant receives the funds instantly. Sid Narayanan, Co-Founder of Atoa Payments said, “We are grateful to have the support and partnership of such strong investors validating our plans to break the card payment duopoly in the UK and to improve cash flows and economics for the country’s small merchants. At a time of record inflation and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, the UK’s small and medium merchants are struggling to contain their costs, provide great service to the customers, and maintain profit margins. Atoa is here to empower merchants and to improve their cash flow and bottom line.” Atoa Instant Bank Pay allows small merchants to receive payments at a flat fee which is up to 70% cheaper than card machines provided by SumUp, Zettle or Square. The merchants then receive funds in their bank accounts instantly instead of having to wait 1-2 days as is the usual case with card machines and debit cards. Using Atoa involves no contracts (pay as you go), no hardware fees and no chargeback fraud risk (all payments are approved via bank app and have Strong Customer Authentication). By contrast, small retailers today are locked into contracts and typically have far from transparent fees to pay including authorisation fees, hardware fees, PCI compliance fees and more which all eat into their margins. Hardware fees can be as high as £29/month. Robert Dighero, Partner at Passion Capital, said “Atoa has come to the UK market at the right time to leverage open banking and bring to small and medium sized merchants a truly viable alternative to payment cards and card machines that can be deployed in-store within minutes. We’re delighted to work with the Atoa team after their first fintech success and look forward to partnering with them as they achieve even greater heights with Atoa. Shwetank Verma, Partner at Leo Capital, said “Leveling the playing field for independent, small and medium sized merchants is an obvious opportunity which benefits everyone, not least of which consumers. We have seen this business model succeed in India and SEA and we’re looking forward to working with the Atoa team to help them build another successful business in a massively growing market.” Since going live in June, the company has experienced more than 100% month on month growth in terms of both Total Payment Volume (TPV) and number of merchant customers. Over time, the founders’ ambitions are to become a mainstream small business friendly payment method replacing payment cards. About Atoa Payments Atoa was co-founded by Sid Narayanan, Cian O’Dowd and Arun Rajkumar, who all previously founded Singapore based fintech, KlearCard, which was acquired last year by Validus. Their first successful enterprise has motivated them to seek even greater heights and to have greater impact and to focus on one of the largest merchant retailer markets in the world, the UK. After securing their pre-seed funding round, the co-founders relocated to the UK and have achieved outstanding traction since summer 2022. About Passion Capital Passion Capital (passioncapital.com, @passioncapital) was established in 2011 to bring founder-friendly operationally-minded venture investing to the UK and Europe. Founded by former entrepreneurs instead of traditional asset fund managers, Passion was one of the first operator-led dedicated early-stage venture funds in Europe. Additionally, it was the first in the world to publish and use a plain English language term sheet and not to charge its portfolio companies any of its own legal or other fees, the first in Europe to publish fund infographics and to host joint office hours (for pitching sessions), and the first to manage a coworking office space. Over the last decade the team has invested in some of the strongest European founding teams including those from GoCardless, Monzo Bank, Lendable, Marshmallow, Tide Banking, Digital Shadows, Smarkets, Tray.io, urban, Spotahome, Butternut Box, Nested, PolyAI, Causal, Fertifa, Screenloop, Sequence, True Circle and many more. About Leo Capital Leo Capital is a Singapore based early stage venture fund, built by serial entrepreneurs with global experience. Leo Capital backs companies powering a software-enabled world and supports their founders on the journey from great founder to great CEO. We are excited about partnering with founders building the iconic companies of tomorrow. Please see http://www.leo.capital/ for more details. Contact Details Atoa Payments Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://paywithatoa.co.uk/

November 24, 2022 06:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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KLEVV Introduces Three New M.2 NVMe SSDs to the Market

KLEVV

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 23 November 2022 - KLEVV, an emerging memory brand introduced by Essencore, is excited to announce three new consumer-grade M.2 NVMe SSDs, the CRAS C930, C910, and C730. The new CRAS M.2 NVME SSD lineup aims to serve a wide range of users, enabling entry-level to top-tier enthusiasts with industry-leading storage technology. Both CRAS 930 and C910 come with an optional add-on heatsink for users to maximize their freedom in the setup. CRAS C930 – Get Ahead of the Curve With an impressive 1500 TBW endurance lifecycle and a significant emphasis on DRAM cache buffer, the CRAS C930 is built to withstand harsh workloads. Utilizing the latest PCIe Gen4 x4 interface supported by NVMe 1.4, it delivers break-neck sequential read/write speed of up to 7400/6800 MB/s at 2TB max capacity and 4K random read/write up to 1000K IOPS. Exceptional engineering and design elements make the CRAS C930 the crown jewel of KLEVV’s new M.2 NVME SSD lineup, capable of running on PCs, Laptops, and even PS5 consoles. Additionally, the flat fin heatsink addon is a great inclusion with up to 20% temperature reduction, giving users complete flexibility in their choice. CRAS C910 – Armored with Power, Cooler than Ever Adopting the PCIe Gen4 x4 interface with NVMe 1.4, the new CRAS C910 is the perfect solution for gaming and content creation. Leveraging strictly selected 3D TLC NAND Flash chips, the CRAS C910 dishes out up to 5000/4800 MB/s sequential read/write speed at 1TB capacity. Furthermore, the stylish black and white brushed aluminum heatsink included with the unit provides comprehensive utility capable of up to 10% passive heat dissipation. CRAS C730 – Go Above and Beyond Built around the PCIe Gen 3x4 interface supported by NVMe 1.3 technology, the CRAS C730 is a jack of all trades. Targeted at mainstream users, it outshines the competition by carrying top-shelf features and functionality way above its pay grade. DRAM cache buffering, Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.), and Thermal Throttling Algorithm are a few worthy highlights to mention that make the CRAS C730 the best powerful, budget-friendly performance storage solution on the market. Users can choose from 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities with impressive sequential read rates reaching 3700MB/s at 2 TB capacity. PRODUCT AVAILABILITY The CRAS C930, C910, and C730 M.2 NVMe SSDs will be available from Q4 2022, KLEVV products are distributed by Integral Memory plc in the United Kingdom/ France/ Spain/ Germany. Consumers may visit Amazon sites for online purchase. INFORMATION Product page CRAS C930 CRAS C910 CRAS C730 Video CRAS C930 CRAS C910 CRAS C730 ABOUT ESSENCORE Established in 2014, Essencore Limited aims to become the world’s top vendor of DRAM modules and NAND flash application products. The company started with one goal: to “Change the world and be a leader in semiconductor distribution.” The business strategies of Essencore is to adopt the newest technologies to differentiate themselves from competitors, deliver dedicated Memory products, and offer various product portfolios for customer’s competition readiness. For more information, please visit www.essencore.com. ABOUT KLEVV KLEVV, is a premium brand of Essencore, the major Module and NAND Flash application product vendor. The KLEVV range focused on superior gaming memory modules and solid state drives. KLEVV is committed to delivering world-class products with first-rate quality, and all products are engineered for enthusiasts who are pursuing the best things in life. KLEVV memory/SSD have been recognized by Germany’s Red Dot Design Award for its innovative product design in 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2022. For more information, please visit www.klevv.com. Contact Details Yunly International Marketing Emily Lin emily@yunlymedia.com

November 24, 2022 03:05 AM Eastern Standard Time

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The Post-FTX Future of Financial Governance

Ink Finance

Crypto CeFi, the Original Sin The spectacular and scandalous collapse of FTX showed the colossal damage that a centrally organized, opaquely disclosed, and recklessly managed financial agent can do to the entire industry and society at large. That centralized organizations can dominate the assets originating from decentralized networks is a sad irony, a disease that has plagued crypto since the day when there was crypto trading. The narrative of the “crypto natives” is that blockchain technology was supposed to replace centralized entities, the likes of the Federal Reserve or other monetary authorities. Whereas in reality, cryptocurrency has handed itself to the shady and sketchy organizations that primarily use them to loot and raid. The irony is so sharp that it hurts. It has never been more evident than now that decentralized, transparent, rigorous, and professional management of Web3 finance must take the center stage. Now isn’t just a watershed moment; it is an existential one. The infrastructures needed to enable and sustain a crypto-powered Web3 go far beyond the DeFi in its current form, as facilities in this category are merely independent functional units - MUCH better units than their counterparts in centralized systems. What we regard as the absolute necessity is the operational and control layer on top of these functional units, capable of enforcing responsibility & accountability imposed upon the operators of these functional units, while demonstrating their competence & credibility. These operators should ideally be elected and monitored by the communities (organized as DAOs) they serve, and are regulatory compliant to perform their professional tasks, if necessary. Throughout 2021 and the better part of 2022, prior to the fallout of FTX, the number of DAO participants has already grown from 13,000 to a whopping 1.7 million people worldwide. The records speak for themselves; decentralization is the heart and soul of Web3. The damages done by the likes of FTX, 3AC, Celsius, etc. will only serve to show the advantage of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), as they are built on blockchains and promise transparent and democratic governance. Yet such lofty promises will disappoint if the operations of the DAOs are built on leaky or shaky foundations, particularly regarding their finance. Integrated Financial Management in a DAO Most DAOs today are built hastily with incoherent and fragmented management components that have resulted in plutocratic governance schemes, Sybil-infested incentive structures, and the proliferation of useless “utility tokens” (as fundraising vehicles). While these integrity and economic issues are already threatening the viability of DAO as an important augment to the traditional corporate framework, the lack of professional fiscal and finance tooling makes the matter even worse. There have been numerous DAO treasury tools in the market, and more are coming. Most of them are multi-sign wallets in one form or another. Participants in the Web3 financial management sector need to urgently understand that the robustness of individual parts of a machine is not the same as a well-designed and well-run machine itself. How these parts are put together is entirely a different thing of its own merit. A Multi-sig wallet can be regarded similarly to a DeFi lending protocol or a DEX as an independent functional part (we can’t emphasize enough that they all are MUCH better than their counterparts in the centrally managed regime). Yet, what makes up a financial management framework is the processes and procedures governing the usage of these parts, which must also be built on-chain to be verifiable and enforceable. A quick review of the evolution of the Web1 economy to the Web2 economy may shed light on our vision of the DAO financial management in the Web3 era. There were once numerous companies of various sizes who were all building their own online business systems. There were abundant independent solutions available to them (front end browser tools, back end server tools, middleware, payment, etc.), and yet what made Web2 an ultimate success isn’t the abundance or individual qualities of these solutions; it is rather the emergence of cloud service and SaaS. Specialized, customizable, integrated, and off-the-shelf software suites that are capable of providing end-to-end solutions for a certain domain of business have won the day. This is what Ink Finance is delivering to DAOs who treat their fiscal management and financing seriously. What Financial DAOs Look Like in the Future While progress in recognizing DAOs as legal entities is underway in places such as Wyoming and the Marshal Islands, or that the Colorado co-op scheme is being revised to embody DAOs, the underlying technical infrastructures that carry them must be built to address at least the following three critical aspects of on-chain finance: 1. This is the easiest to understand: open-source DeFi protocols that carry out financial transactions such as spot trading, derivatives, lending, cross-chain asset swaps, and payment solutions. These facilities have never been short of innovation since DeFi took root in 2019, and will certainly attract more talents and investments after the fallout of FTX; 2. The operational and control layer on top of the above mentioned DeFi facilities. It is very much underappreciated why the aforementioned facilities are not enough to mitigate financial risks by themselves alone. Let’s use Aave and Uniswap, the two prominent DeFi protocols, as examples. If an asset manager spends $1M to acquire token X from Uniswap and then pledges it on Aave to get a $700k loan, and then uses the proceeds to acquire more token X from Uniswap, and then pledges it again on Aave, and repeats the process indefinitely, neither Aave nor Uniswap can stop his egregious leveraging. The guardrail curbing this asset manager’s action is the key, which leads to the inevitable process of rulemaking and enforcement - the process of financial governance, itself being a part of a more general governance framework. What makes this process challenging is that the domain of finance is widespread, requiring profound financial knowledge and the proper engineering that delivers rigor as well as flexibility. This is the sector that I nk Finance is specialized in, one that we expect to see more competition in, as its critical importance becomes more and more clear to the institutions and large ecosystems. We regard this sector as the financial SaaS of Web3. 3. Last but not least, the integration with global regulations. The FTX debacle has shown the harm of regulation arbitrage. If the advanced leading countries do not step up on the regulatory effort, the shady organizations will simply base themselves in jurisdictions with poor or no regulation, yet the nature of cryptocurrencies assures that the harm will be felt globally. Encouragingly, various decentralized protocols have made major inroads in this domain, paving the way for on-chain organizations to be regulatory compliant if they choose to. Ink Finance has dedicated critical efforts to integrating these technologies to its own stack, partnered with industry leaders such as Astra a nd Humanode. To sum up, the financial DAOs of the future will need to use open source DeFi facilities as their transactional backbone, manage its fiscal and financial process with a transparent and on-chain executable financial control framework, and make themselves regulatory compliant when required. Conclusion The ingredients to the long-term legitimacy of on-chain finance are customizable, flexible, and specialized products that can be picked off-shelf and ready for end-to-end deployment, which brings professionalism, security, transparency, and adaptivity to regulatory oversight. Only when the crypto industry can deliver such sound financial management solutions, will it then be able to persuade and incentivize traditional institutions to shake off the carnage brought by the centralized agents operating under the banner of crypto. Only then can institutions such as auction houses, VC & angel investors, alternative asset managers, and web2 metaverse companies adopt DAO as an augment to their corporate structure in order to achieve high efficiency of their businesses, which is the promise of the Web3 world. At Ink Finance, we will keep delivering the most comprehensive and professional solutions to financially minded DAOs. We might be facing the longest and coldest crypto winter, but we are ready to chew glass and work with other determined builders to accelerate the adoption of TRUE decentralized finance. About the author: Tony Tang is the CEO of Ink Finance, a multi-chain financial governance toolset for on-chain organizations to manage all aspects of their fiscal and financing activities. Tony is a financial industry veteran with an engineering background who previously served as managing directors at several top financial institutions and fintech VC. Ink Finance is a DAO governance toolset, enabling all kinds of ecosystems to establish governance economy, manage internal finance, and connect with DeFi investors everywhere, through a no-code user experience. As a Financial SaaS built on blockchain, Ink Finance has the most comprehensive financial engineering tools to support on-chain issuance, settlement, clearing, and analysis of Non-Fungible Financial Products.Ink Finance is backed by heavy weight eco builders such as Republic Crypto and DeFi Alliance, partnered with cutting-edge solution providers such as Humanode, Astra, SolvFinance, Polytrade and deBridge, etc. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Camille Zhang camille.zhang@ufit.live

November 23, 2022 09:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

Venus Protocol Says the v4 Release of Its DeFi Lending Protocol Is a Game Changer for User Experience — Here’s What Users Can Expect

Venus Protocol

Venus Protocol, a leading lending protocol on BNB Chain, is getting ready to launch a suite of new upgrades in the latest version of its popular crypto lending platform. The many upgrades are aimed at giving users more security, more trading options, and more opportunities to generate yield on their assets. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the biggest changes users can expect in Venus v4. A New Risk Dashboard One of the biggest upgrades that will come with v4 is the dynamic risk-management system being developed in partnership with Gauntlet, a simulation platform for on-chain risk management. Users will gain access to a new Risk Dashboard that will display three risk metrics: value at risk (VaR), liquidation at risk (LaR) and Borrow Usage. VaR is a measure of capital at risk because of insolvency — when a borrower is unable to pay their debt. LaR is a measure of capital at risk because of liquidations — when large-scale selloffs make it harder to find buyers for a particular currency. Finally, Borrow Usage is a measure of how aggressively depositors are borrowing against the collateral supplied. These metrics will be shown for each asset as well as aggregated into a system-level measure for all assets in Venus. The hope is that the Venus community can use that asset-level and system-level risk data both to make better-informed lending and borrowing decisions and to see the impact of the new parameters recommended via the testing done with Gauntlet. A Large Pool Of New Tokens Will Be Available To Venus Protocol Users Another exciting feature of the v4 upgrade in development is the introduction of Isolated Markets. Under the current common collateral pool model, users are limited to a handful of the least risky assets. This is because, in a common pool, every asset in the pool is vulnerable to bankruptcies in any other asset in that same pool. So common pools tend to skew conservative as a way to reduce risk. For those interested in trading newer or riskier tokens, there aren’t as many options available. Venus Protocol’s upcoming isolated lending pools would provide segregated risk by separating those riskier tokens into their own pools. That segregated risk protects the common pool from the risk of those assets inside Isolated Markets. This will create independent lending environments that shield the common pool from exposure to those riskier tokens while giving users the ability to choose which pools to participate in based on their own personal risk profiles. The Venus team expects this update to gradually bring most of the more liquid tokens on BNB Chain into the lending protocol, where they will then be separated into pools based on shared risk profiles. Each pool will also be given a risk rating so users can easily compare the performance and risk of each pool. The PancakeSwap Integration Will Offer A Built-In DEX The integration of PancakeSwap, a popular decentralized exchange on BNB Chain, will add a swap page to the Venus dashboard where users can swap tokens they already hold and supply to Venus without leaving the Venus user interface (UI) they’re familiar with. The upgrade is a big deal for Venus users and a huge leap in the DeFi space as a whole because no other app supports that kind of swap functionality inside a lending protocol. As the crypto landscape continues to expand with new tokens being added, decentralized exchanges (DEXes) have been a key means of trading those tokens directly between crypto traders. A standalone DEX establishes the prices of various cryptocurrencies algorithmically and uses liquidity pools to facilitate trades so that traders can quickly exchange crypto. The Venus team is excited to finally offer a more seamless alternative. With v4, Venus would become the very first protocol to provide both crypto borrowing and lending and the ability to swap tokens in the same UI. An Adjustable Stability Fee For VAI VAI is Venus’ stablecoin, a coin whose value is pegged to another asset like a fiat currency, a commodity, or another cryptocurrency. In 2021, VAI lost its peg because the stablecoin was oversupplied in the market. Since then, the team has been looking for a way to solve this off-peg problem. The solution: a modified form of the Stability Fee, in which users pay interest for minting new VAI. When the market is oversupplied, the interest rate on minting VAI will increase. When supply is too low, the rate will drop to encourage new VAI minting. The income generated from that interest will go into the Venus Treasury as a new source of income for users. Stable Rate Venus’ Stable Rate enhancement will allow users to borrow and lend with more confidence. Users will face less uncertainty, especially under volatile market conditions. This will allow for better investment forecasting. Stable rates will also allow users to manage account health more easily. Suppliers will not face the frustration of declining APY. Venus’s Stable Rate solution is expected to be more affordable than others on the market, and that edge should bring more users to Venus Protocol. Venus Tokenomics 3.0 Venus’ latest upgrade to its tokenomics — or the overarching structure of a cryptocurrency’s economy, including mining and staking, supply limits, and yields — has been hotly anticipated by its community for a long time. The v4 (Tokenomics 3.0) upgrade will finally mark the end of that long wait. The biggest changes in Venus Tokenomics 3.0 are all aimed at incentivizing protocol retention, reinvesting value, creating flywheels and embedding better shortfall defense. That includes the introduction of the Venus Prime Soulbound Token (SBT), a new mechanism for incentivizing loyalty. The non-transferrable Venus Prime tokens are earned by staking XVS in the vault for 90 days and maintaining a minimum stake of 1,000 tokens. Once earned, the SBTs give users access to variable boosted yield across selected markets, which will be paid out in the currency being borrowed or supplied. Venus Protocol (“Venus”) is an algorithmic-based money market system designed to bring a complete decentralized finance-based lending and credit system onto Binance Smart Chain. Venus enables users to utilize their cryptocurrencies by supplying collateral to the network that may be borrowed by pledging over-collateralized cryptocurrencies. This creates a secure lending environment where the lender receives a compounded interest rate annually (APY) paid per block, while the borrower pays interest on the cryptocurrency borrowed. These interest rates are set by the protocol in a curve yield, where the rates are automated based on the demand of the specific market, such as Bitcoin. The difference of Venus from other money market protocols is the ability to use the collateral supplied to the market not only to borrow other assets but also to mint synthetic stablecoins with over-collateralized positions that protect the protocol. These synthetic stablecoins are not backed by a basket of fiat currencies but by a basket of cryptocurrencies. Venus utilizes the Binance Smart chain for fast, low-cost transactions while accessing a deep network of wrapped tokens and liquidity This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Venus Protocol contact@Venus.io Company Website https://venus.io/

November 23, 2022 08:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

A Look At The Growing Beauty And Wellness Space — And Some Companies To Keep Your Eye On

Benzinga

The beauty and wellness industry is currently experiencing a renaissance according to many, and companies can thank the younger generations and TikTok. TikTok has become a hub for all things beauty and wellness and in turn, could be the next big marketing gold mine. TikTok and other social media apps are allowing customers to view and experience products like never before. A potential customer can watch a video of someone unboxing a product, applying it and even see how the product survives a busy day. Social media has become the premier beauty destination, and products or companies that go viral on TikTok see massive success. Products that go viral, like the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand, are often sold out for months. The numbers are impressive, too. The #beauty hashtag on TikTok currently exceeds 100 billion views. Studies show that most social media users access the app 12 times per day, with an average of 52 minutes per day. The organic and word-of-mouth nature of apps like TikTok is deeply impacting the wellness and beauty world. The growth in the beauty industry isn’t limited to certain brands doing well. Asian skincare and beauty products are witnessing massive growth in European and North American markets. In 2022, revenue in the beauty and personal care market in Asia amounts to $210.9 billion and is expected to grow annually by 6.39%. Between brands going viral on social media apps and Asian beauty interest being piqued by K-Drama and K-Pop pop-culture sensations. It is clear that the beauty and wellness industry is on the path to continued growth and could be worth market investors keeping their eyes on going into 2023. Beauty And Health Companies To Watch In 2023 L’Oreal S.A. (OTC: LRLCY ) saw some supply chain obstacles in the years past primarily due to COVID-19 but expects to bounce back completely in 2023. The company has recently invested in research and development (R&D) as well as hired additional employees to assist with its ramp-up in 2023. Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) is one of the leading cosmetic suppliers in the United States. Ulta may have performed relatively well in 2022. Its most recent financial report saw the company increase net income by 17.8%. The growing interest in the wellness and beauty space is a contributor to Ulta’s increased performance. Yoshitsu Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: TKLF) is a Tokyo-based provider of health, wellness, beauty products, home goods and food. Asian Market is the company’s primary focus but it is expanding retail locations into cities in North America, Australia and the United Kingdom. Yoshitsu is also considering opening a distribution center in the U.S. to help with fulfillment times. In China (Hong Kong), the company has a growing number of retail locations and has expanded its brick-and-mortar roots into a successful e-commerce company. Yoshitsu could be poised for expanded growth as the supply chain returns to normal following the pandemic. The growing interest in Asian beauty companies also positions Yoshitsu to potentially perform well in 2023. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

November 23, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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