Biz Builder Mike

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Liquity Protocol attracts $1B TVL in just 10 days

The team behind Liquity Protocol — a DeFi project launched on April 5 — has attracted $1 billion worth of locked up value according to data from Dune Analytics.

The Pantera Capital-backed Liquity is a Swiss-based decentralized and governance-free lending protocol that offers interest-free loans against Ethereum locked as collateral, with users required to maintain a minimum collateral ratio of 110%.

Loans are paid out in the protocol’s algorithmic stable coin LUSD, which is pegged to the value of USD at a one-to-one ratio. The protocol automatically generates LUSD to meet user demand, and so far has minted a supply of 480 million stable coins, with more coins being minted than burned each day.

The loans are secured by the protocol’s Stability Pool that acts as a source of liquidity to repay liquidated debt, and also by fellow borrowers collectively acting as guarantors of last resort. Users can earn money through the protocol by staking liquidity and earn revenue from issuance fees in LUSD and redemption fees in ETH.

Data from the mammoth 10-day run published via DuneAnalytics revealed that borrowing demand has rewarded stakers so far, with an average of roughly $240,000 of fees generated per day on the protocol between April 12 and April 14. The total staked amount edged past $720,000 on April 15, and the majority of users are keeping within a collateral range between 150-250%.

On March 29 Cointelegraph reported that the Liquity Protocol had closed its Series A funding round led by Pantera Capital with a $6 million investment, which included additional contributions from companies such as quantitative investment firm Alameda Research.

The decentralized finance protocol sector continues to push past its all-time highs, with data aggregator DeFi Llama showing that there is now $123.33 billion worth of total locked-up value in DeFi protocols as of today. In its short lifespan, the Liquity Protocol has pushed itself up to rank 26 in the top 100 DeFi protocols with $1.06 billion in TVL.

Liquity Protocol attracts $1B TVL in just 10 days

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Leading UK Fintech Firms Now Working with PwC to Streamline Digital Financial Services with AI, Data Analytics

Ten of the United Kingdom’s leading Fintech companies are now working with Big Four auditing firm PwC in order to showcase how the future of banking will focus on both collaboration and innovation, along with greater personalization.

After 3 years of ongoing development, the 10 Fintechs have managed to contribute to the company’s “Tysl” ecosystem which includes various solutions related to software, automation, AI, data management and analytics.

These solutions aim to make it easier or more convenient for clients to open new bank accounts, obtain specialized financing services, move house and digitally sign official documents.

By leveraging an API-powered approach, which lets software apps communicate with each other, Tysl has enabled these firms to work cooperatively and innovate together with PwC to create a banking tech proposition that helps organizations with significantly enhancing performance across several different measures.

This includes dealing with complex customer or user experience journeys like advanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Know Your Customer (KYC), Credit Decisioning, and in life account and loan servicing across several key areas such as mortgages, savings and corporate lending.

By leveraging Tysl, PwC can effectively develop all-digital solutions through an innovative, affordable, and user-centric online lending platform. This can help the company’s customers with enhancing their customer-facing business operations and improve products and services in order to meet the speed and multi-channel expectations required by companies today.

James Morgan, Lead Partner on Tysl stated:

“Banking is changing, people expect more and require personalised digital interactions. Based on the needs and expectations of tomorrow’s customers, we have developed our Tysl platform. This is helping our clients reach new customers, upsell and grow topline revenue by delivering enhanced capabilities whilst significantly reducing the costs of servicing the client from onboarding to in life servicing.”

The companies or businesses that are now integrated with the Tysl platform include:

Mambu – is a software-as-a-service or SaaS financial services platform supporting innovation in banking, lending, and – a Cloud-native alternative to more traditional core banking systems.

Yoti – is a global identity platform that makes it more seamless and safer for banking clients to prove who they are via ID verification and biometrics

Kompli Global – created a remote due diligence solution that harnesses artificial intelligence and “human expertise” to provide intelligence on organizations and their workers.

DueDil – is an insights provider assisting financial services organizations and insurers with a better understanding of their client base to handle digital or online onboarding, manage compliance, risk, and in-life monitoring.

Just Move In – provides a home setup experience for people moving home that arranges essential services including council tax, insurance, and broadband.

SignNow – is a legally binding eSignature application, allows users to create and complete legally binding electronic signatures on any device.

Codat – connects the tools and services that small businesses need for their operations to their financial service providers and takes care of the “heavy lifting” of those integrations.

Flexys – is a specialist tech firm focused on enhancing the value and performance of debt management and collection systems with a low-code, Cloud-native platform.

Saltedge – develops PSD2-powered solutions that are used by Fintech firms, banking institutions, and other financial institutions across the globe. The company provides connectivity to over 2500 banks across Europe for data aggregation and payment initiation capabilities – through a single API.

Credit Kudos -an open banking credit reference agency that uses real-time financial behavior to “measure creditworthiness” and “affordability” to assist lenders when unwriting consumer and commercial loans.

Lendingmetrics – Auto Decision Platform (ADP) is a decision engine environment that may be applied across “unlimited” brands, products or lending journeys under a single license and offers a comprehensive (no-code) editor, helping non-technical staff to make real-time changes to credit risk logic

Gazeal – enables the seller of a property to provide key details required to meet the estate agent’s Consumer Protection Regulations requirements, and, as a Licensed Provider of the Law Society, all of the requirements of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme. By using Gazeal’s reservation service, it will “almost” completely eliminate abortive transactions.

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Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Pauses Above $62,000 Support As Bulls Prepare For The Next Round Of Upside Momentum

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction – April 16, 2021
Bitcoin price now fluctuates between $62,000 and $65,000 as bulls struggle to break above the $65,000 resistance. For the past three days, the BTC/USD price has been in a downwards correction above the $62,000 support. Bitcoin will attain a new high above $70,000 if the bulls clear the resistance at $65,000.

Resistance Levels: $65,000, $70,000, $75,000
Support Levels: $50,000, $45,000, $40,000

BTC/USD – Daily Chart

It is no longer news that buyers have overcome the $60,000 ad $61,825 resistance levels after one month of price struggle. The breakout above the resistance levels propels the price to rally to $65,000 high. Nonetheless, for the past three days, buyers are still struggling to overcome the new resistance level at $65,000. After its initial fall to $61,306 low, BTC price resumed fluctuation between $62,000 and $64,000. Buyers have not been able to retest the $65,000 resistance as price consolidates above the $62,000 support. On the upside, if buyers breach the $65,000 resistance, Bitcoin will rally above the $70,000 psychological price level. On the other hand, if sellers break the $62,000 support, the king coin will decline to $60,000 low.

Europe’s Second Largest Insurance Firm, AXA Begins Acceptance of Bitcoin as Payment
AXA has become Switzerland’s first all-line insurer to offer its customers to pay their bills with Bitcoin. Bitcoin payments will be accepted for nearly all AXA products, except for life insurance due to regulatory barriers to the latter. This new policy arrangement has been facilitated through a partnership with the established cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Suisse. The accelerated digital transformation of the global economy during the coronavirus pandemic has been the main reason for the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment. Another reason is that market research conducted by AXA showed that a third of respondents aged between 18 and 55 are interested in Bitcoin. According to AXA Switzerland, “the acceptance of Bitcoin payments is AXA’s response to growing demand from its customers for alternative payment solutions, with new technologies playing an ever greater role.”

BTC/USD – 4 Hour Chart

Bitcoin price is consolidating above the $62,000 support as it prepares for the next round of upside momentum. According to the Fibonacci tool indicator, Bitcoin will rise to the next psychological price level. Meanwhile, on April 14 uptrend; a retraced candle body tested the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. The retracement implies that Bitcoin will rise to level 2.0 Fibonacci extension or the high of $70,057.50.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Pauses Above $62,000 Support As Bulls Prepare For The Next Round Of Upside Momentum

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What you should know about the environmental impact of boba tea

This is a guest post from the makers of BobaGlass. Support their Indiegogo campaign today!

Kawaii. Workspace. Board Games. Study. Nightlife. Interestingly, these seemingly unrelated words were all responses to the same question: “How would you describe boba culture in a word or two?” There are few industries that have created such a wealth of microcultures like the boba industry has. However, other than the delicious beverage topping, there is one unfortunate element that is a connection point to every boba drinker across the industry landscape: Plastic waste. 

The Plastic Problem

The stacks of single-use plastic cups, straws, wrappers, and lids that are ubiquitously used and thrown out is an overlooked normality in the boba industry. These plastics are rarely recycled and ultimately find their way into landfills, littered streets, animal habitats, and more, all of which hurt the environment. And while the boba drinking cohort report a great passion for environmentalism and sustainability, the single-use plastic experience is so normative in the industry that even the most environmentally conscious individual often finds themselves using and throwing out cups and straws without a second thought.

The BobaGlass is the first reusable bottle designed specifically for the boba community.

The Innovative Solution

What the boba industry does not need is just another reusable bottle. To break this cycle of waste, the catalyst of change has to not only eliminate the need for single use plastics, but also add innovative and functional value across the microcultures of the boba industry. BobaGlass by BobaWare aims to do just that by introducing three key functionalities:

  • Shake n’ Sip: Since most boba drinks have a plastic film seal or a snap on plastic lid, the drink is prone to leaking. The consumer can’t shake their drink to move the toppings around. BobaGlass’ retractable “sipper” creates the most ergonomic and convenient means to mix toppings and avoids any chance of spillage.
  • Keep it Chill: Boba is often enjoyed in groups and over long conversations or study sessions. Unfortunately, single-use plastic cups do not provide any means of keeping beverages cold, leading to dilution and lukewarm drinks. BobaGlass is made of Tritan and is double wall insulated, allowing drinks to stay colder for up to twice as long as the conventional boba cup.
  • No Boba Left Behind: With BobaGlass, consumers no longer have to painstakingly swirl through ice cubes trying to get the last boba. BobaGlass’ patent pending parabolic inner layer and static angled straw funnel all topping towards the straw, ensuring no toppings are left once the drink is finished.
The BobaGlass focuses on three key functionalities to improve boba drinking.

Single-use plastic is a long term issue and BobaWare is committed to finding long term solutions. The BobaGlass is the first step to changing boba shops’ and consumers’ mentalities regarding the single-use plastic problem. Over the past 20 years, the boba industry has been stagnant in the areas of technology and innovation. Moving forward, we hope to create more solutions to change the way people view, purchase, and consume boba. 

Want to support BobaGlass? Check out the Indiegogo Campaign today!

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Venice, California based UNA Blockchain Introduces a DLT focused Ecosystem for the Automotive Industry

UNA Blockchain, a subsidiary of Hopium, the car manufacturer that develops “high-end” hydrogen sedans, is launching its new blockchain ecosystem.

Based in Venice, California, UNA Blockchain aims to position itself as a leader within the automotive sector, according to a release shared with Crowdfund Insider. The ethos of the business is “based on security, sustainability, transparency and ethics,” the announcement noted.

UNA intends to leverage partnerships with key players in the tech sector like IBM Hyperledger. The firm will also be backed by Hopium, its “genesis” partner that carried out an IPO in December 2020, resulting in its current valuation of more than $250 million.

As explained in the release,

“The [UNA] ecosystem will use IoT hardware to record unaltered data on a blockchain and a way of measuring emissions and assessing the impact of each vehicle on the environment. … UNA will actively participate in answering climate change issues while maintaining optimal data security.”

The release added that drivers will be able to create their own “digital passport” as well. By writing “individual” preferences to a blockchain or DLT-based platform, they’ll be able to seamlessly switch between vehicles without losing any settings or preferences by pulling the previously stored profile from the ledger.

As mentioned in the release, a test-drive will “instantly feel like home and driving a rental will no longer feel like a rental.” The announcement also mentioned that “not only does this remove pain points from the user, but also enables the company to study aggregate user preferences and learn about consumer [preferences and behavior] over time.”

The announcement added:

“UNA’s core value of transparency begins before the vehicle has been manufactured and shines a light on the supply chain leading up to the finished product. By tracing parts through the supply chain, UNA ensures partners and suppliers take environmentally-friendly … approaches to the manufacturing process, along with the added guarantee of high quality materials and workmanship. By keeping this detailed ledger, owners know exactly what went into their vehicle and have guarantees on each individual part in case of damages or failure.”

UNA’s ecosystem will offer improved security. As explained in the release, ownership of a vehicle may be recorded on a blockchain or DLT-based system. And access by “unauthorized” parties will “automatically be rejected,” the release noted while adding that user profiles may be managed via the blockchain.

This means that a family will have the option to assign several different users to the same vehicle. This concept of authorized users “extends to include both a ‘guest mode’ and a ‘child mode’ to grant access to specific individuals for set time periods,” the announcement noted.

As stated in the release, this “first chapter” of UNA’s history is part of a “greater vision to balance and decarbonize both the blockchain and the automotive industry.”

Launched in 2021, UNA is a US-based blockchain firm and subsidiary of Hopium, the hydrogen car manufacturer founded by racing driver Olivier Lombard.

UNA aims to embody the “next era” of automotive and claims that it is “poised” to take a leadership role within the automoble sector. With “an emphasis on security, ethics, transparency, and sustainability, UNA is leveraging ‘next-generation’ technologies to build a blockchain ecosystem capable of exceeding expectations,” the announcement noted.

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