Global Income Coin, a crypto non-profit company, has secured $2 million to launch a new cryptocurrency that aims to provide a universal basic income of $1 a day to any person in the world.
The funding comes from a personal donation of Sid Sijbrandij (pictured), co-founder and CEO of GitLab, and will be used to help fund operations, expand the team and perform R&D.
Later this year, Global Income Coin plans to launch a new cryptocurrency, GLO, an alternative to fiat currencies such as the dollar, euro and yen. Global Income Coin will incentivise consumers and businesses to use GLO for payments. The more GLO is used as money, the more UBI it generates.
“Global wealth levels suggest that we should be able to eradicate poverty if we work together. Global Income Coin can be a major, systemic part of the solution,” said CEO Jeffrey Milewski, an academic with a background focused on economics, finance and blockchain.
“Blockchain technology can enable a fairer system for the distribution of wealth, allowing for greater equality of income at a global scale. In the current monetary system, governments capture all profits from central bank money creation.
“We envision a shift to a system where people pluck the fruits of economic growth directly and irrespective of their nationality.”
Sijbrandij said: “Earning opportunities are vastly different between countries, which helps to perpetuate poverty throughout the world. It is a moral imperative to treat all people well.”
The non-profit is currently being incorporated as Global Income Coin Foundation in Zug, Switzerland. Its operations run entirely on philanthropic donations.
NFT platform SoundMint to ‘reimagine how music is created’
A generative platform for music NFTs has raised $1.7 million in seed funding.
SoundMint claims to reimagine the process of creating a new form of art and music by bringing innovation to the way people interpret music collectibles in web3, where the majority of the sale goes to the artist.
Its NFTs are musical compositions derived from stems, with varying acoustic properties, algorithmically combined to create a set of unique musical art pieces. As a new form of generative music, the NFTs are paired with visual elements, each as variable as the music itself.
By owning a SoundMint collectible, the firm says fans can support artists by investing in their work today and have a voice in what is created in the future.
The funds will be used to build an NFT marketplace that will allow artists to create their own music NFTs as well as interact with collectors and other creatives, create a dashboard for NFT-holding fans to view exclusive content from artists, and release a token, buyback program and ecosystem fund.
SoundMint’s inaugural drop between music artist Kloud and visual artist Hooker sold 5,000 copies valued at $2.5m.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Data compiled by BanklessTimes shows that investment into NFT startups increased from $44 million in 2020 to $2.2 billion in 2021, an increase of more than 49x. NFT startups recorded the highest increase in venture capital funding growth among all FinTech trends, with crypto exchanges second with a 16x increase to $7.3bn.
Messaging app Telegram now supports free-free crypto payments between its 550m users through the TON Foundation’s toncoin token. You can also now buy bitcoin within the app. Telegram’s plans to launch its own token fell flat following a legal challenge from US regulator the SEC.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is releasing a crypto debit card for the 11m people who have been displaced by the war in Ukraine. The company will give refugees a monthly $75 for three months in its stablecoin Binance USD, which the card will automatically convert to local currency during a purchase.
Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden told Financial News that “too many transactions that go into crypto exchanges are fraudulent, and until the industry puts in more and more controls … we all have to be wary of that space”.
90% of UK financial institutions believe that cryptocurrencies will see mainstream adoption in less than a decade, according to the Bitstamp Crypto Pulse report. This means UK institutions are the most confident in crypto across the whole of Europe, ahead of countries like France and Germany.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the more than 19,100 coins is at $1.81 trillion, up 0.4% in the last 24 hours, with Binance Coin the standout performer among the top coins.
Market leader Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto – climbed slightly to $39,450 at the time of writing (7am UK). BTC is down 3% in a week.
Ethereum, the second most valuable crypto coin – created as a decentralised network for smart contracts on the blockchain – gained 1% to above $2,900. ETH, set for a huge upgrade soon, is 3% down over the course of a week.
Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by popular crypto exchange Binance to assist its aim in becoming the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Its BNB token rose 4% to $405, leaving it 2% down over seven days.
Solana is a blockchain built to make decentralised finance accessible on a larger scale – and capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second. Its SOL token lost 1% to $97 and is down 6% compared with a week ago.
The XRP token of Ripple, a payment settlement asset exchange and remittance system, acts as a bridge for transfers between other currencies. XRP dropped 1% to 64 cents, which leaves it 13% down over seven days.
Terra, described as a programmable money for the internet, lost 4% to below $86. Its payment token LUNA is 9% lower than its price a week ago.
Cardano is an open source network facilitating dApps which considers itself to be an updated version of Ethereum. Its ADA token, designed to allow owners to participate in the operation of the network, remained below 84c. It is 10% down over the course of a week.
Meme coin DOGE was created as a satire on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies but is now a major player in the space. DOGE rose 1% to top 14c, moving it above Avalanche in the market cap valuation table and 2% up in a week.
Avalanche, a lightning-quick verifiable platform for institutions, enterprises and governments, came out of nowhere months ago to break into the top 10 currencies. Its AVAX token fell 3% to $67 and is 13% down in a week.
Polkadot was founded by the Swiss-based Web3 Foundation as an open-source project to develop a decentralised web. Its DOT token, which aims to securely connect blockchains, remained around $16.88 and is 9% lower than its price a week ago.
To see how the valuations of the main coins have changed in recent times – and for round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments – click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.