The Weekly Pulse: Oct 22 2021
Welcome to the second edition of the Weekly Pulse, a weekly Algorand news wrap-up segment presented by Algopulse. We were excited to see a positive response from the community to last week’s inaugural issue as we continue to build our audience and provide coverage to the ecosystem. After receiving suggestions from the community, we have now integrated a price watch section to the Weekly Pulse that will summarize key financial metrics from the previous week. As ever we welcome your feedback so if there is anything else you would like to see added to improve the series, please let us know on Twitter, Discord, or Telegram.
First Window of Algorand Community Governor sign-up closes
Algorand Foundation have officially closed their first governance sign-up window with the first set of community governors now selected. Over 70,000 users will partake in governance with over 1,885,000,000 Algos total staked among these users. This means that the average individual governance participant staked 26,000 Algos. The Foundation have also confirmed that Governance has a TVL of $3.53bil USD.
The next step for those participating in governance is awaiting communication from the Algorand Foundation over the next two weeks that will outline the details of how voting will take place. 60,000,000 Algos worth of governance rewards have been set aside by The Foundation which will be distributed amongst all governance participants proportionally to the number of Algos they originally staked at the end of the three-month period. Stay tuned to Algopulse and The Algorand Foundation for more updates during this inaugural governance period.
Borderless Capital purchase artwork from Sophia the Robot for $5mil HKD
An art series produced by AI-powered android Sophia the Robot called Sophia Facing the Singularities has been purchased by Borderless Capital for $5mil HKD in an auction this week. The series includes both physical and digital art with the NFT component generating a new AI-created digital image each year. The purchase by Borderless Capital means that Sophia’s NFTs will be integrated onto the Algorand blockchain.
“We are particularly happy that the work was acquired by Borderless Capital, and we look forward to minting her NFTs on Algorand,” says Hanson Robotics CEO David Hanson.
“For Sophia to integrate Algorand blockchain tech is particularly exciting for the future of digital art and AI with Sophia, given our values of being environmentally friendly and Algorand being the only carbon negative blockchain available today.”
“We are honored to welcome Sophia to the Borderless Capital team and to the Algorand ecosystem as a first-class citizen,” says Borderless Capital CEO David Garcia.
“We are very excited about this first step that is part of our 10-year commitment to collaborate with Hanson Robotics. We are proud to have the responsibility of showcasing Sophia’s creative art and bringing the best out of her for humankind.”
Decentology is building a marketplace for composable smart contracts
Blockchain development company Decentology has announced that they are building a blockchain marketplace where new projects can purchase premade smart contracts. The product known as Hyperverse is set to launch on Beta by the end of Q4 with Algorand, Flow, and Ethereum the blockchains that will be initially used.
The company have to date raised $4.3mil USD in funding during their seed round from a variety of crypto investors and also plan to put a governance token up for sale in future months. The company are also offering payment to contributors who add new smart contracts to their portfolio.
Algomint and Payscript announce new strategic partnership
Algorand based projects Algomint and Payscript this week confirmed that they have agreed a new strategic partnership which will see Algomint minted assets feature as products on the Payscript platform. The Algomint platform allows users to mint goBTC and goETH which represent the value of BTC and ETH but enjoy the native benefits of the Algorand platform. Payscript will then allow these assets to be used directly for transactions with their protocol. Read all the details about this partnership here.
Folks Finance undergoing security audit
Algorand DeFi lending platform Folks Finance has moved to the next phase of development currently undergoing its security audit. The platform will allow users to partake in core DeFi activities including lending, borrowing, staking, incentives, and more. The project is also aiming to appeal to nascent blockchain users through an accessible user experience. Once launched Folks Finance will be offering FOLKS governance tokens to users to facilitate community governance. Following the completion of their security audit Folks Finance have slatted some time in 2022 for their mainnet launch.
Algorand GameFi Project Zone Completes Raises over $USD 1.6 During Seed Round
According to reports from Blockchain news publication Altcoin Buzz, Algorand based GameFi project Zone have successfully completed a seed round in which they raised over $ 1.6 mil USD in funding. The platform is set to offer several blockchain gaming integrations including Chess, Poker, Slash Royale, League of Legends, Ludo, CSGO, and Dota 2.
“Blockchain is perfect for the gaming ecosystem by adding the right economic incentives, ownership, and traceability features through gaming finance,” said Borderless Capital CEO David Garcia.
“ZONE is innovating in that space backed by Algorand blockchain technology.”
Lovechain announce new Algorand based Social Media Platform
Australian company Lovechain has announced that they will be building an Algorand based social media platform. The company’s founder Adam Mazzaferro says that the company are looking to radically change the way social media platforms operate by removing their most common issues including data privacy.
“The LoveChain is a radical alternative that gives every user control over their data and making social media more about constructive and positive engagement that celebrates the things and people we love,” Mazzaferro says.
“People are tired of their life events being exploited and controlled”.
The company will also be offering a governance reward token called the “LOV” which will allow users to enjoy rewards as the platform grows.
Algorand based Sequoia Games launch NBA licensed board game Flex NBA
A new officially licensed NBA online board game, Flex NBA, is being powered by the Algorand blockchain and NFTs. The game leverages augmented reality to create an immersive experience with real-life NBA players used as super-powered avatars. Global scarcity is created around these players using Algorand blockchain technology and leveraging NFTs.
New Algorand NFT marketplace place ALGOxNFT launches
A new Algorand NFT marketplace was launched this week call ALGOxNFT. The platform exclusively features NFTs minted on Algorand leveraging Algorand Smart Contracts for auction processes. So far the platform has several dozen active auctions with numerous recognizable collections including Yieldlyings, Algobots, M.N.G.O, and more.
GoSayHELLO App Receives $300,000 Algorand Foundation Grant to Incentivize Engagement Using Blockchain Asset ($HELLO)
Social media application GoSayHELLO is the latest project to receive a grant from the Algorand Foundation with $300,000 allocated. Utilizing blockchain technology for encryption purposes GoSayHELLO will connect users in geographical proximity to form relationships with one another for purposes including friendships, business, and events.
Benevolence announce blockchain-driven philanthropy project
Benevolence have announced the development of a new Algorand driven application that will allow project owners to raise both capital and human volunteer resources. The blockchain technology will be used to securely track capital raised in regard to the crowdfunding version of the app and reliably track volunteering hours committed. The work done can then be rewarded proportionally with tokens.
Price watch
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Weekly Pulse as we look forward to continue bringing this content to the Algorand Community. Was there anything that we missed? If so let us know on Twitter, Discord or Telegram where you can also send us any news you see throughout next week for our next installment.