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Collection of fine South African wines sold as NFTs

South African fine wine collections were recently sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with one lot selling for $79,000. Immediately after the auction, two lots were paid for with bitcoin.

Many exceed estimates

Collections of fine wines made by some of South Africa’s top producers have been sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in what has been described as a first for the country’s wine industry. At the auction, which was run by art auction house Strauss & Co, some lots, such as Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance vertical collection from 1986-2027, sold for $79,000 (R1,251,800).

Other lots that exceeded estimated prices include winemaker Meerlust’s “50-year-old vertical of the famous Rubicon,” which sold for $68,000. Vilafonté Series C 2003-2027 raised over $36,000 while Mullineux Olerasay 1-20 would have raised $20,000. Kanonkop Paul Sauer’s 2000-2025 collection sold for $16,000.

Protecting South Africa’s Fine Wine Heritage

Speaking after the sale, Roland Peens, fine wine specialist at Strauss & Co, said:

This is a huge step towards securing South Africa's fine wine heritage! These pristine old bottles are now safe on the blockchain for future transactions and fun. We believe this new technology is the most powerful way to package and market vintage wines, especially when provenance is so vital.

A statement issued after the sale said that while each collection is an NFT, the individual bottles will also be “minted” as NFTs and “can be withdrawn or exchanged at any time on any NFT platform worldwide.” Immediately after the sale, two lots were paid for with bitcoin, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the release revealed that a total of $6,000 was raised simultaneously for charities that are critical to the South African wine industry.

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Billionaire’s Colorful Dubai Real Estate Company Now Accepts BTC and ETH

“Offering another transactional mode is exciting and we are pleased to recognize the value this technology brings to our customers,” said DAMAC Properties COO Ali Sajwani.

Dubai-based billionaire real estate developer DAMAC Properties has started accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) for its luxury homes.

DAMAC Properties was founded by colorful billionaire Hussain Sajwani in 2002, and the company has done business across the Middle East, Canada and the UK. It also owns the high quality fashion and jewelry brands Roberto Cavalli and De-Grisgono.

Sajwani is known for his bizarre marketing tactics, like giving away free Lamborghinis to homebuyers. He also partnered with Donald Trump in 2013 to launch several Trump-branded golf courses in Dubai.

The company, valued at around $2.1 billion, may be looking to cryptocurrencies as a way to garner attention after a disappointing few years. DAMAC reportedly reported net income of $816 million in 2021, but overall had a net loss of $144.6 million amid a year plagued by the global pandemic. The previous year, the company’s losses also totaled $176 million.

According to an April 27 announcement, in addition to accepting payments in BTC and ETH, the company will also facilitate the conversion to fiat for the seller if needed. DAMAC COO Ali Sajwani noted that the company is paying special attention to evolving technology such as cryptocurrencies:

“It is crucial that global companies like ours remain at the forefront of evolution. Offering another transactional mode is exciting and we are pleased to recognize the value this technology brings to our customers.”

DAMAC also highlighted that Dubai is “becoming a cryptocurrency hub” thanks to crypto-friendly government regulations and virtual asset licenses, with major exchanges such as Bybit, Binance and FTX Europe recently settling there. Kraken also obtained a license earlier this week.

The company noted that it is keen to “fuel” Dubai’s ambitions by implementing more cryptocurrency initiatives.

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Coinbase wants to make a $3 billion acquisition of Turkish cryptocurrency exchange

Major US crypto exchange Coinbase is in talks to buy BtcTurk, a Turkey-based digital asset trading platform.

In a new report, Turkish publication Webrazzi says that Coinbase could buy BtcTurk for $3.2 billion.

Negotiations are at an advanced stage and the two companies have already signed a term of commitment. At over $3 billion, the acquisition is about a tenth of the current market capitalization of the US cryptocurrency exchange.

BtcTurk was started in July 2013 by Kerem Tibuk, according to the Crunchbase business database.

Cryptocurrency tracking platform CoinMarketCap ranks the Turkish exchange at position 70, with a score of 4.6 out of ten. Coinbase, on the other hand, is second only to Binance with an exchange score of 8.3.

BtcTurk manages only a fraction of Coinbase’s trading volumes: roughly $183 million in the last 24 hours versus the US crypto exchange’s more than $2 billion.

Reports of Coinbase’s efforts to acquire BtcTurk coincide with the US crypto exchange’s announcement that it was recruiting a country director for Turkey who would be responsible for driving the growth of the business.

Less than 12 months ago, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the US crypto exchange’s goal was to expand internationally and “increase the reach of cryptocurrencies by enabling secure and easy-to-use on-ramps across all markets.” countries in which we can operate”.

Earlier this month, Coinbase debuted cryptocurrency trading on its platform in India, where it was already an investor in two of the country’s largest digital asset exchanges: CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber.

Earlier this year, Coinbase acquired futures exchange FairX for an undisclosed amount. Coinbase’s other recent acquisition was crypto security firm Unbound Security, which was completed in December 2021.

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Amazon is not ready to accept crypto payments

Amazon has come up with some pretty disappointing news for crypto fans. The company seems to have come and gone through time when it comes to accepting cryptocurrency payments, and now it looks like the company is not ready to move in that direction.

Amazon Kills All Hopes of Cryptocurrency Payments

Amazon is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, retailers in the world. The online sales giant initially started out as a place to buy books, but now it looks like you can buy whatever you want via the company’s website. All you need is login information and a valid payment method, and you’re good to go.

But the fact that it is not ready or even willing to accept cryptocurrencies really undermines the power of the industry we love and respect so much, especially as it is one of the many companies that do not allow cryptocurrencies to function in their original capacity. . While there are many companies that do this, the fact that Amazon is so big hurts even more.

Initially, bitcoin and its cryptographic partners were designed to serve as payment methods for goods and services. It is easy to forget this, as BTC and many other digital currencies have taken on speculative auras in previous years. They are seen as ways to get rich overnight if you play your cards right. They are also, in many ways, seen as hedging tools; things that keep wealth steady and steady during times of economic turmoil.

However, they were originally built as a means of bypassing fiat currencies, checks, and credit cards. Unfortunately, this did not happen because they are often subject to high volatility, making their prices difficult to predict. They can go up and down at any time and therefore many stores are reluctant to say “yes” to cryptocurrency payments for fear of losing profits. To some extent, we cannot blame them.

Consider the following scenario: a person walks into a store and buys $50 worth of goods with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store does not exchange currency for fiat and spend 24 hours. In that period, the price of bitcoin drops and that $50 becomes $40. The customer keeps everything they bought, but in the end the store lost money. Is this a fair situation? Not everyone thinks so.

Perhaps NFTs are a good entry into the crypto space

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explained that while the company does not currently accept cryptocurrencies, executives may enter the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the future. He commented:

We are probably nowhere near adding cryptocurrencies as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I think over time you will see cryptocurrencies get bigger.
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Crypto Firm Exmo Leaves Russia and Belarus Selling Part of Its Business

Russia-linked cryptocurrency exchange Exmo will no longer provide services to users in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

London-based crypto exchange Exmo is the latest crypto trading platform to formally suspend its business in Russia and Belarus due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Exmo is selling its digital assets business in Russia and Belarus to a Russia-based software development company, Exmo officially announced on April 18. At the time of this writing, the new owner and size of the company have not been disclosed.

“Unfortunately, we can no longer keep the high-risk part of the business, as a global group does not want to put global expansion plans at risk by keeping high-risk markets in its structure,” Exmo CEO Serhii said. Zhdanov. he told Cointelegraph.

The deal includes Exmo’s client accounts in Russia and Belarus, as well as local trust systems, Zhdanov said. The technical code of the platform is not sold and belongs entirely to the Exmo group.

As part of the deal, Exmo’s beneficial owner, Eduard Bark, will also leave the company, transferring his stake to Zhdanov.

In addition to Russia and Belarus, the deal also includes Exmo’s business in Kazakhstan, as the new owner’s team is based in Kazakhstan. The undisclosed buyer owns a Russian software development company and a Kazakhstan-based legal entity for a cryptocurrency exchange, the CEO noted.

“We put a lot of effort into the Russian part of the business, so we can assure you that it is now in good hands. The new owner not only follows the roadmap we created earlier, but will also reach new heights much more easily. We made this decision for the benefit of both parties,” Zhdanov said. The company said it will not penalize ordinary people or block accounts due to the sanctions in mid-March.

As part of Exmo’s exit from Russia and Belarus, Exmo amended its user agreement to state that Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh residents will no longer be integrated into its platform. The exchange deactivated Russian ruble trading pairs on April 15.

Exmo is a major cryptocurrency exchange founded by Russian entrepreneurs Ivan Petuhovski and Pavel Lerner in 2013. The company’s departure from Russia will have a significant impact on the exchange, as Russia was one of its main markets, Zhdanov admitted, stating:

“A significant part of our business was located in Russia. We will have a revenue reduction of around 30%. However, in the long term, we are confident that this will accelerate our exponential growth and allow the company to become a unicorn in the next three years.”

“We consider going back when Russia is no longer classified as a high-risk country,” Zhdanov said.