In this video, Dhaval Parikh, Partner at New Tribe Capita, moderates a panel about investment opportunities in the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) space, featuring speakers Vinny Lee, Partner at CRT, Anndy Lian of Big One, software developer Artem Gribanov and Martin Belobrad, Partner at Metrix Capital.
Original Source: https://cryptonews.com/videos/investment-opportunities-in-defi-and-nft-l-aibc-uae-2022.htm
The cryptocurrency boom in India, which has the world’s second-largest community of crypto investors, may be turning into a bust.
“In general, we have seen trading volumes [on Indian exchanges] come down by 30%-40% in the last two to three weeks,” Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of WazirX, India’s biggest cryptocurrency trading exchange told Fortune.
Other Indian crypto exchanges say their trading volumes have been hit too.
Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO at CoinDCX, blames the 30-35% drop in trading volume on his exchange, one of India’s largest, on global and domestic factors. Bitcoin has been stagnant at $39,000 to $40,000 for several months, while large traders have slowed their activity due to new taxes, he says.
Drops in trading volume vary from exchange to exchange, but volumes on most crypto platforms have dipped 30%-40% in April from the prior month, says Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance, a trade body for the crypto industry.
“It is just the beginning. Volumes will drop substantially if there is no [government] intervention,” says Kapoor. “It is not going to be healthy for a nation like ours. When you have an elephant in the room [like crypto], you have to learn how to dance with it or get trampled.”
The double whammy of new taxes and limited payment mechanisms has soured crypto investors’ sentiment in the South Asian country, home to 25 million investors who hold assets worth more than $6 billion—putting the future of crypto in India in doubt.
India’s new budget, which took effect when the new fiscal year started on April 1, imposed a 30% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency earnings, the same rate the government applies to winnings from horse racing and a significant increase from the previous scheme that didn’t specify taxes for crypto but applied income-based rates that maxed out at 30%. Under the new tax rules, cryptocurrencies are subject to a heavier tax than traditional asset classes like stocks, which are taxed at varying rates starting at 10%. The 30% tax rate on cryptocurrency gains applies even to earners whose total annual income is below INR 250,000 or $3,300 and are otherwise exempt from paying income tax.
“That is causing a lot of fear and stress in the younger population who are into crypto trading,” says Shetty.
In addition to the 30% tax on earnings, the finance ministry is levying a 1% tax on every crypto transaction starting in July in an effort to rein in speculative trading.
“Historical data indicates that transaction taxes significantly reduce trading volumes,” says. Kristin Boggiano, president of crypto exchange Cross Tower.
Italy, for example, introduced a 0.1% tax on equity transactions in 2012 that caused a 35% decline in trading volumes over a two-year period, Boggiano says.
A recent decision by Indian banks to stop funneling rupees to crypto exchanges via state-run Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is also hitting trading volume.
Typically, investors could transfer money from their banks to a crypto exchange wallet over UPI, India’s ubiquitous payments processor that’s responsible for 75% of all crypto transactions in India, according to Shetty’s estimates. Once the transfer hits a wallet, investors can use the money to trade cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. But earlier this month, banks severed that financial plumbing, says Shetty.
The trouble started after Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase, which launched rupee-based operations in India earlier this month, publicly said that its users could easily deposit funds to their accounts on the exchange using UPI, throwing the behind-the-scenes payments system into a glaring spotlight. In response to the ad, the state-run National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs UPI, said it was not aware that the payment platform was being used to buy cryptocurrencies.
The statement by the Payments Corporation caused banks to second-guess the legality of routing payments to crypto exchanges. Banks have operated in a state of semi-limbo regarding crypto transactions for years after the country’s Supreme Court in 2020 overturned an order by the Reserve Bank of India for financial institutions to cut all ties with individuals and businesses dealing in cryptocurrency. The Supreme Court said the order violated the freedom of trade guaranteed by India’s Constitution, freeing up banks to facilitate crypto transactions until the latest NPCI statement delivered another dose of ambiguity.
Without access to UPI, crypto investors are finding it tough to deposit money from bank accounts to their wallets on crypto exchanges.
“We are on a wait and watch mode,” BuyUcoin’s Bhatt. “We are hoping that this is a temporary situation.”
India’s crypto enthusiasts had been hoping that the sector’s era of uncertainty was coming to a close.
Last year, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said he had “serious concerns” about the potential risks of cryptocurrencies, and the government had proposed prohibiting certain private cryptocurrencies. However, the imposition of taxes on crypto earnings had signaled the government’s intent to regulate digital assets, rather than ban them outright.
But the new tax burden and UPI saga have cast the market back into the unknown, and industry executives say scores of startups in blockchain and crypto are exploring bases outside of India as a result.
“What we are seeing is a flight of funds to outside the country. A lot of people are opening payment wallets outside of India,” Kapoor says. High volume traders and firms are opting for locations like Dubai because it’s easier for crypto businesses to operate there, says Kapoor.
This week, India’s Business Today reported that WazirX founders Shetty and Siddharth Menon had shifted their base of operations from India to Dubai. In an interview with Fortune, Shetty declined to comment on the report. “WazirX is headquartered in Mumbai and Bengaluru, and there is no change in our operating procedure,” the company said in a statement.
BuyUcoin’s Bhatt admits the company has considered relocating from India but says that “[moving is] not a topmost priority as we would like to serve users in India.”
Anndy Lian, Singapore-based chairman of BigOne Exchange, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Netherlands, expects investors to leave India’s crypto market for rivals in Singapore and Dubai.
“Constantly, we have been asked by Indian communities to start in India. We do not have intentions to set up a base in India currently,” Lian says. “If the regulations are clearer, we might consider.”
Original Source: https://fortune.com/2022/04/23/india-cryptocurrency-exchanges-trading-regulation-tax-upi-payments-wazirx-coindcx-buyucoin/
SAND, the coin of blockchain-based play-to-earn metaverse Sandbox, has a had a good week rising 15% to reach $2.93 today (21 April).
However this comes after a disappointing first half to the month when it was at $3.79 but slid down as low as $2.6.
The latest boost comes after reports that majority owner, the blockchain gaming developer Animoca Brands, was trying to raise $400m from new and existing investors. Last November it raised $93 million in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
What is the outlook for the coin? What is a realistic future price target? What factors could shape any Sandbox coin price prediction for 2022, 2025 and 2030?
In this article we look at the latest analyst Sandbox price predictions, news and analysis to help you decide if you shoud make SAND part of your portfolio.
Sandbox is a play-to-earn game that combines blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a three-dimensional (3D) metaverse. It focuses on user-generated content which helps further develop the platform.
The game was initially known as two separate mobile hits: The Sandbox, which was launched in 2011, and The Sandbox Evolution, which was launched in 2016. Together, the two games generated around 40 million downloads across the Android and iOS platforms.
In 2018, the games’ developer, Pixowl, was acquired by Hong Kong-based game software company Animoca Brands which integrated the popular games into the blockchain ecosystem.
Sandbox is hosted on the Ethereum network and is powered by SAND, an ERC-20-based token.
Inspired by major game-creation systems such as Minecraft and Roblox, Sandbox allows players not just to create their own worlds and games, but also to have true ownership of their creations as NFTs. In exchange for participating and playing, players earn SAND tokens.
According to the metaverse’s whitepaper, the current game market limits creator rights and ownership, an issue which Sandbox aims to overcome “while accelerating blockchain adoption to grow the blockchain gaming market”.
The game itself is split into three parts:
The SAND token fuels the platform and can be earned by selling ASSETS, by owning LAND which can be rented or populated with content to increase its value, and/or by building and monetising games through the GAME MAKER function on the LANDS that are owned by players.
The token also:
Players get to keep 95% of their SAND revenue.
The total supply of SAND coins stands at three billion, with 1.16 billion in circulation. The token reached over $3.39bn in market capitalisation and is ranked the 41st largest cryptocurrency by CoinMarketCap as of 21 April 2022.
The Sandbox token’s outlook started to look much more positive at the start of February 2021, following Sandbox’s partnership with cryptocurrency price-tracking website CoinMarketCap for the latter to release an NFT collection on the metaverse.
In the following months, the token’s price kept moving sideways before it reached $3.22 on 3 November 2021, after the metaverse announced on 2 November that it had gained $93m from Softbank Vision Fund 2 investors, which would help the platform scale up its growth strategy, operations and player acquisition.
By then, Sandbox already had over 165 partners, including popular US rapper Snoop Dogg, and famous TV series The Walking Dead and the Smurfs. The project had also partnered up with Liberty City Ventures, Galaxy Interactive and Adidas Originals.
On 25 November 2021, the token had reached its all-time high of $8.4 – a 16,387% surge since its launch at $0.051 on 15 August 2020.
On 1 December 2021 Sandbox announced that players could purchase plots next to the one where Snoop Dogg was building his mansion, Snoopverse. This led the SAND token to grow by just 2.% from $6.58 on 1 December to $6.71 the following day.
Following an overall drop in bitcoin and ether prices at the start of December, SAND also fell by 29% to $4.78 by mid-month, despite having secured partnerships with 10 exchanges, as well as a MAUER NFT collection memorialising the Berlin wall.
On 21 December 2021, the metaverse’s partner, Canadian electronic music producer deadmau5, announced the launch of his NFT collection on the Sandbox marketplace which pushed the SAND token’s price up to $6.73 on 26 December, an increase of by 41% from its 14 December low.
Bank of America strategist Haim Israel said on 1 December that the metaverse will make cryptocurrencies even more popular than they already were, thus boosting price targets for many metaverse-based crypto tokens including SAND. On 18 January 2022, investment firm JP Morgan Chase agreed with BoA’s bullish predicament by publishing a report saying that the metaverse industry could possibly reach over $1t in yearly revenues. The firm’s report mentioned Sandbox as one of the “main metaverse platforms”.
However, the token’s value line on the chart started to decline once again, amid a general dip in the crypto market at the start of 2022 due to the possibility of tightening monetary policy and geopolitical tensions.
One silver lining for the SAND token price was Snoop Dogg’s announcement on 27 January 2022 that he would be launching a series of Snoop Dogg metaverse avatars on the platform. The news pushed the token’s price by 61.28% from $2.99 on 22 January to $4.81 on 8 February 2022. The NFTs were minted on 22 February and have the potential to hike the token’s price once again.
In more recent SAND coin news, partnerships with Gucci and Ubisoft were unable to offset the overall bearish forecast in the markets, with the token reaching $3.11 on 22 February – a 35.4% drop since 8 February.
The platform also partnered with Warner Music Group which will create a music-themed world in the metaverse as the platform plans to launch its first virtual concerts in the third quarter of 2022.
A mobile version of the metaverse is anticipated for some time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
BigOne Exchange chair Anndy Lian told Capita.com that Sandbox heavily relies on Ethereum’s performance, making the token quite volatile.
“Personally, I do like the developments of the project. But I do want to point out some angles for improvement. Firstly, the project relies heavily on Ethereum’s performance. I do think that, given the right situation, they should look at building on another blockchain or even their own chain.
“Secondly, their game needs to be attractive enough to draw in more users while retaining the old ones. I hope to see more game enhancement and token utility that comes along with it.”
Algorithm-based forecasting service WalletInvestor gave a bullish SAND price prediction at the time of writing (21 April), calling it an “awesome long-term investment”.
Based on its analysis of the cryptocurrency’s past performance, the forecasting service’s SAND crypto price prediction was it could trade at $6.4 by April 2023 and reach $21.2 in five years.
DigitalCoinPrice supported the bullish Sandbox crypto price prediction but at a much slower pace, seeing the coin reach $3.77 in 2022 and $5.57 by 2025.
The site’s SAND prediction was that the token was expected to hit $6.53 in 2027 and by 2030, the token’s price could reach $13.34
Please note that Sandbox predictions can be wrong. SAND coin price predictions shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research. Always conduct your own due diligence before investing. And never invest or trade money you cannot afford to lose.
Bitbank crypto market analyst Yuya Hasegawa told Capital.com that upbeat comments on the Sandbox metaverse from financial institutions like Bank of America and JP Morgan, as well as sales of collaborative items with celebrities and popular brands, are attracting investors to the platform.
Hasegawa was interviewed before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
“However, although SAND and some other metaverse-related tokens have outperformed bitcoin in the last quarter, the current market environment – not limiting to the crypto market – is heavily affected by the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border and investors are being quite defensive,” he noted.
“So, even though SAND has a lot of growth potential in the long run, as the industry itself is still in a sort of ‘experimental’ or ‘developmental’ phase, the financial market as a whole has to wait and see how the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border rolls out.”
Invezz data analyst Dan Ashmore added that the token managed to piggyback off the wider boom in the metaverse caused by Facebook rebranding to Meta in October.
“Further fuel was provided via high-profile partnerships, including Gucci, Warner Music Group and Snoop Dogg (offering shopping experiences, virtual concerts and playable avatars respectively). Particularly exciting going forward is the focus on user-generated content.
“Objects and interactive games can be created and sold on the marketplace. With the internet increasingly focused on content creation (YouTube, TikTok etc), ATH above $8 could be achievable in the next year or two, although that will depend on the wider crypto market,” he concluded.
Original Source: https://capital.com/sandbox-sand-coin-price-prediction
