Polkadot&39s (DOT) long-awaited parachains are expected to launch on the network later on in the year, according to its developers earlier this week. From the projected initial date of November 11th, the community may start celebrating soon with thanks to the existence of &lsquoauctions'.

After approximately 5 years of rigorous study, research, testing and development, the layer-0 blockchain will be able to finally reach a much-anticipated milestone before long. As a result of this announcement, DOT's price has also been steadily increasing as of late, as it currently sits at just about $44 which is an increase of over 30% in the past 7 days. DOT is now also the 8th highest-ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Parachains

For those who might be unaware, parachains are unique, project-oriented blockchains which, for the purposes of this article, are incorporated into the Polkadot as well as Kusama (KSM) networks. We may hence understand parachains to be distinct blockchains that run on top of the primary Polkadot blockchain. They may be tailored to a variety of use cases and allocated into the aforementioned blockchain, which is also known as the Relay Chain. The Relay Chain is essentially the core of the Kusama and Polkadot networks.

Furthermore, Gavin Wood himself had recently stated that all of the technical barriers pertaining to the launch of parachains on Polkadot have effectively been overcome. Additionally, he stated that both auctions and parachains are now indeed ready for the first production release which will occur on Polkadot. Finally, he concluded his statement by saying that ever since the first week of this past June, the parachains have in fact been running smoothly on Kusama.

What's next?

Over 49,000 separate addresses have contributed more than 2 million KSM, Kusama&39s native token, to crowd loans through the existing Kusama parachain auctions by now. To that end, DOT shall be utilized in the forthcoming auctions. So far, a slew of decentralized initiatives, including decentralized identity protocol Kilt and DeFi-based entities like Phala&39s Khala Network and Moonbeam&39s Moonriver Network have earned parachain slots, with more expected to follow suit.

If authorized via the on-chain governance of Polkadot, then the starting auctions for the first batch shall commence from November 11th till December 9th. Auctions for the second batch shall begin in early 2022, and these are anticipated to last from 2023 till 2024 when &39winners&39 are proclaimed and additional networks join Polkadot.

Fantasy trading is the latest trend in the crypto world. These competitions are an excellent way to have fun and earn money in the process. If you are an experienced trader, this can be a new way of profiting from the knowledge you have. On the other hand, if you are a newbie, you'll appreciate the option to learn about crypto trading. Fantasy finance platforms, such as StockBattle, are a good method of understanding how cryptocurrencies fluctuate.

How &39Fantasy Finance&39 Works

All StockBattle contests are backed by real-time data. It means you can try your hand at predicting the ups and downs of the actual market without any of the actual risks. StockBattle can be accessed worldwide and is only limited to the stock market hours but crypto isn't. You can enter crypto contests 24/7 and profit even when the market is bearish. In StockBattle, you can garner the fastest feedback on your market insights and double your gains every 15 minutes (all contests are 15 minutes long).

What Are StockBattle Contests Like?

StockBattle contests follow in the well-established footsteps of fantasy sports. Just like in a fantasy baseball league, you choose your &ldquoplayers" (stocks or crypto) and see how well they perform in a series of &ldquomatches" (pre-set timeframes on the actual stock and crypto market).

Users can select up to five different cryptocurrencies (or stocks) to add to their virtual portfolio. Based on how those fantasy cryptocurrency or fantasy stocks selections perform in the real world, entrants are awarded points at the end of each match.

All StockBattle contests are head-to-head competitions where entrants contend against only one rival - a person with the same passion for stocks and crypto (not against the whole market), so victory is real, all you need to do is to outsmart that only rival. 

Where To Start?

The great thing about StockBattle is that it offers free contests. These competitions don't require investing a single cent. Yet, they are exactly what you need to become comfortable with the platform.

Free contests will help you become familiar with the basics of stocks and crypto trading. That includes learning how asset prices move and what volatility looks like. You'll also learn how to read charts and graphs. All this will be of immense help in the world of trading.

Before you engage in real money competitions, you'll need to deposit actual funds into your balance. StockBattle offers a generous deposit bonus -- they'll double your first deposit, which will help to boost the beginning of your fantasy career!

You'll love experimenting with different approaches while learning a lot about the stock and crypto market in StockBattle. Having a good time is guaranteed, and if you put effort into drafting your portfolio, you could walk away with a profit! 

If you are ready to jump on the fantasy finance bandwagon and cross your crypto swords in crypto contests, join StockBattle right now..

In recent news, nearly 95% of the cryptocurrency market has experienced an increase in price. Following Bitcoin&39s (BTC) recent but brief surge to beyond $55,000, most of the altcoins managed to undergo a similar spike, however, one cryptocurrency asset, in particular, managed to stand above the rest.

As of the time of this writing, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is now the 12th highest ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a current price of about $0.00003. This new price is indicative of a whopping 385% increase within the past week, with the token itself recording a new all-time high. The question that must be asked now though is why this has happened so quickly and whether Shiba Inu can maintain this sort of momentum going forward.

To the moon?

SHIB, with a market capitalization of approximately $17 billion, has now surpassed the likes of Uniswap (UNI), Chainlink (LINK), and even Litecoin (LTC). Shiba Inu was initially outlined as a sort of experiment in decentralized and unplanned community building as well as engagement. It was launched back in August of last year via a pseudonymous developer going by the alias &39Ryoshi&39. Although many argue the coin has "no real utility" it stands as an example of what the power of community can yield in the crypto ecosystem.

Since the beginning of the week, the token has seemingly managed to outclass all of its competitors, with a key cause being centered around Elon Musk and his unending love for dog-themed cryptocurrencies. The support from the Tesla CEO towards Dogecoin (DOGE) has been well-documented at this point. Another significant achievement was the revelation that the self-proclaimed &39Shiba Army&39 has now exceeded the 700,000 mark in terms of its members worldwide. Say what you will about the token, but this is an extremely impressive accomplishment.

Imminent retest and danger

Recent concerns have been fixated on what may end up becoming an opposing shift in both sentiment and price action as funding rates turned positive across various exchanges all over the globe. The fact that the funding rates were turning excessively positive seems to indicate that the market expects further upside movement. Under these conditions, a mass unwinding of positions could hasten and intensify a downward move, if such a situation occurs. In investing, it is always imperative not to blindly follow the crowd. In the wise words of Warren Buffet, "you must be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

This sentiment data mirrored the mood of investors, with the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index reaching 76/100 on Saturday, indicating &lsquoextreme greed'. According to Rekt Capital, investors would hence do well to exercise caution as a retest could be imminent. This line of thinking was backed by long-term market participants already working on an exit strategy, as well as some historical data that showed a 50% sell-off during the last time a +90% pump had taken place within the cryptocurrency market.

Last week, the Galactic Punks NFT project made history as it launched the first series of NFT&39s ever created on the Terra Blockchain. The launch came shortly after the Columbus-5 upgrade that made it possible to mint assets on Terra. Community members flooded into the randomearth.io marketplace last Saturday to get their chance to mint one of the 10,921 unique NFT&39s in the Galactic Punks series. An anxious community, more than 5,000 members strong, hovered by their commuters awaiting the opening of the mint. In less than 8 minutes the entire set was claimed.

This drop also made history, resulting in the largest block ever recorded on Terra with more than 1,000 transactions processed in a single block. The frenzy around these NFT&39s continued in the days following the launch, recording over 10M in trading volume in the first 24h after the launch. In fact, just recently a tweet emerged showing that someone traded one of their rare Galactic Punks for a Tesla!

NFT&39s have taken the spotlight in crypto as of late. These pixilated characters are more than just randomly generated jpegs. They are becoming an increasingly mainstream characteristic of digital community and provenance. It used to be that a Rolex or a Lamborgini was a "flex" of someone&39s wealth. Now digital native consumers are turning to digital collectibles to signal their wealth and stature.

Whether you believe NFT&39s are a bubble, or if you think they are just getting started. It is clear that something big is changing in the world of art and culture. With the advent of non-fungible tokens, artists and communities are beginning to thrive in the digital world, and we are so excited to watch this industry evolve.

El Salvador is making rapid progress in the cryptocurrency industry, having officially mined the first Bitcoin (BTC) using volcanic energy. Not only is this a historic development in its own right, but it is hot on the heels of the country making history by being the first-ever nation to make Bitcoin legal tender.

President Nayib Bukele announced the achievement via Twitter, which included an image of the mined Bitcoin while mentioning that additional testing and installation are still continuing as of this time. He has since referred to the project as &lsquoVolcanode'.

A new way to mine Bitcoin

President Bukele had stated this past June that he had indeed instructed LaGeo to permit Bitcoin miners to access the nation's volcanic sources of energy. So far, the plan to utilize geothermal energy is going well. El Salvador's leader made it known that in order to mine Bitcoin, the mining operations must be extremely inexpensive, completely clean, renewable, and have no emissions whatsoever.

Furthermore, volcanic energy brings in clean mining for a digital asset that has been plagued by unfavorable press attributable to its carbon footprint. Notably, Bitcoin detractors have used the asset's environmental effect as justification for a total prohibition. It is a well-known fact that Bitcoin needs a significant amount of energy to be mined, which in certain circumstances exceeds the usage of several nations.

Mining firms are thus actively searching for renewable energy sources to power their assets, which is most likely the best course of action that can be taken right now as Bitcoin mining cannot continue if it consistently damages the environment and ecosystem.

Mixed reactions continue

It is worth mentioning that El Salvador's Bitcoin-oriented approach has been received with considerable suspicion, particularly from worldwide financial organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, raised some concerns about El Salvador's efforts, claiming that it will certainly have long-lasting ramifications, even going as far as to describe it as &lsquoeconomic incompetence'. According to Hanke, legalizing BTC may lead to an economic catastrophe.

Despite the criticisms though, the country's residents seem to be adopting digital currencies as part of their daily lives, with both Starbucks and Papa John's is just a few of the globally recognized chains that have already begun accepting BTC as payment in El Salvador. President Bukele previously stated that just over 2 million citizens are in fact using the government-issued &lsquoChivo' crypto-wallet.

To encourage adoption, the government had previously also distributed $30 in Bitcoin to each account holder in the nation. Furthermore, El Salvador's government may be planning to launch a local cryptocurrency to be used to pay for various services and products.

With many Bitcoin ETF proposals under review by the US SEC, Gary Gensler the chairman restates his support for Bitcoin futures on Wednesday, at the Future of Asset Management North America Conference. Referencing open-end mutual funds invested in bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Gensler reaffirms his positive outlook for that certain type of Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin's price seemed to react with gains realized shortly after the announcement. Bitcoin gained 4.5% to trade near $43,400 after showing bearish movement the previous day. This Bitcoin ETF announcement renews speculation and hope of a regulated investment vehicle for the public Bitcoin investments. Critics of futures ETF's argue that this form of ETF does not buy crypto directly on the spot market, and has not been a positive influence on the price of gold since first launched in the US in 2004.

The long-awaited Bitcoin exchange-traded fund might finally happen&mdashbut not in the way many investors expected, or want. Though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be easily bought and traded on current exchanges, an ETF would eliminate the need to manage a digital wallet and allow investors to integrate the digital currency into their portfolios through traditional channels. This would surely bring many traditional investors to crypto, and in the case of a Bitcoin ETF that actually bought the underlying asset could result in the price reflecting the increased investment and demand. The same thing cannot necessarily be said about a futures ETF that does not directly own the asset, but instead, bets on its future value, on paper only.

The argument as to which form of ETF is better for Bitcoin is a deep subject worth developing an opinion on. It is important to recognize the difference between the two types of ETFs and draw perspective from historical applications such as gold. Gold and Bitcoin as alternative assets are inversely related to the stock market fluctuations, in that they go up in prices when traditional stock prices decline. This attribute is very attractive to investors as it helps reduce overall portfolio risk. Some believe that an ETF for Bitcoin vs a futures Bitcoin ETF is better because it invests directly in the assets. A Bitcoin futures ETF does not invest directly in the assets, and may even detract from the inverse relationship with stock prices. This is to remove or diminish its key alternative value proposition and enable traditional market players to have more control over the Bitcoin price.

With many Bitcoin ETF proposals under review by the US SEC, Gary Gensler the chairman restates his support for Bitcoin futures on Wednesday, at the Future of Asset Management North America Conference. Referencing open-end mutual funds invested in bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Gensler reaffirms his positive outlook for that certain type of Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin's price seemed to react with gains realized shortly after the announcement. Bitcoin gained 4.5% to trade near $43,400 after showing bearish movement the previous day. This Bitcoin ETF announcement renews speculation and hope of a regulated investment vehicle for the public Bitcoin investments. Critics of futures ETF's argue that this form of ETF does not buy crypto directly on the spot market, and has not been a positive influence on the price of gold since first launched in the US in 2004.

The long-awaited Bitcoin exchange-traded fund might finally happen&mdashbut not in the way many investors expected, or want. Though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be easily bought and traded on current exchanges, an ETF would eliminate the need to manage a digital wallet and allow investors to integrate the digital currency into their portfolios through traditional channels. This would surely bring many traditional investors to crypto, and in the case of a Bitcoin ETF that actually bought the underlying asset could result in the price reflecting the increased investment and demand. The same thing cannot necessarily be said about a futures ETF that does not directly own the asset, but instead, bets on its future value, on paper only.

The argument as to which form of ETF is better for Bitcoin is a deep subject worth developing an opinion on. It is important to recognize the difference between the two types of ETFs and draw perspective from historical applications such as gold. Gold and Bitcoin as alternative assets are inversely related to the stock market fluctuations, in that they go up in prices when traditional stock prices decline. This attribute is very attractive to investors as it helps reduce overall portfolio risk. Some believe that an ETF for Bitcoin vs a futures Bitcoin ETF is better because it invests directly in the assets. A Bitcoin futures ETF does not invest directly in the assets, and may even detract from the inverse relationship with stock prices. This is to remove or diminish its key alternative value proposition and enable traditional market players to have more control over the Bitcoin price.

With many Bitcoin ETF proposals under review by the US SEC, Gary Gensler the chairman restates his support for Bitcoin futures on Wednesday, at the Future of Asset Management North America Conference. Referencing open-end mutual funds invested in bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Gensler reaffirms his positive outlook for that certain type of Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin's price seemed to react with gains realized shortly after the announcement. Bitcoin gained 4.5% to trade near $43,400 after showing bearish movement the previous day. This Bitcoin ETF announcement renews speculation and hope of a regulated investment vehicle for the public Bitcoin investments. Critics of futures ETF's argue that this form of ETF does not buy crypto directly on the spot market, and has not been a positive influence on the price of gold since first launched in the US in 2004.

The long-awaited Bitcoin exchange-traded fund might finally happen, but not in the way many investors expected, or want. Though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be easily bought and traded on current exchanges, an ETF would eliminate the need to manage a digital wallet and allow investors to integrate the digital currency into their portfolios through traditional channels. This would surely bring many traditional investors to crypto, and in the case of a Bitcoin ETF that actually bought the underlying asset could result in the price reflecting the increased investment and demand. The same thing cannot necessarily be said about a futures ETF that does not directly own the asset, but instead, bets on its future value, on paper only.

The argument as to which form of ETF is better for Bitcoin is a deep subject worth developing an opinion on. It is important to recognize the difference between the two types of ETFs and draw perspective from historical applications such as gold. Gold and Bitcoin as alternative assets are inversely related to the stock market fluctuations, in that they go up in prices when traditional stock prices decline. This attribute is very attractive to investors as it helps reduce overall portfolio risk. Some believe that an ETF for Bitcoin vs a futures Bitcoin ETF is better because it invests directly in the assets. A Bitcoin futures ETF does not invest directly in the assets, and may even detract from the inverse relationship with stock prices. This is to remove or diminish its key alternative value proposition and enable traditional market players to have more control over the Bitcoin price.

With many Bitcoin ETF proposals under review by the US SEC, Gary Gensler the chairman restates his support for Bitcoin futures on Wednesday, at the Future of Asset Management North America Conference. Referencing open-end mutual funds invested in bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Gensler reaffirms his positive outlook for that certain type of Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin's price seemed to react with gains realized shortly after the announcement. Bitcoin gained 4.5% to trade near $43,400 after showing bearish movement the previous day. This Bitcoin ETF announcement renews speculation and hope of a regulated investment vehicle for the public Bitcoin investments. Critics of futures ETF's argue that this form of ETF does not buy crypto directly on the spot market, and has not been a positive influence on the price of gold since first launched in the US in 2004.

The long-awaited Bitcoin exchange-traded fund might finally happen&mdashbut not in the way many investors expected, or want. Though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be easily bought and traded on current exchanges, an ETF would eliminate the need to manage a digital wallet and allow investors to integrate the digital currency into their portfolios through traditional channels. This would surely bring many traditional investors to crypto, and in the case of a Bitcoin ETF that actually bought the underlying asset could result in the price reflecting the increased investment and demand. The same thing cannot necessarily be said about a futures ETF that does not directly own the asset, but instead, bets on its future value, on paper only.

The argument as to which form of ETF is better for Bitcoin is a deep subject worth developing an opinion on. It is important to recognize the difference between the two types of ETFs and draw perspective from historical applications such as gold. Gold and Bitcoin as alternative assets are inversely related to the stock market fluctuations, in that they go up in prices when traditional stock prices decline. This attribute is very attractive to investors as it helps reduce overall portfolio risk. Some believe that an ETF for Bitcoin vs a futures Bitcoin ETF is better because it invests directly in the assets. A Bitcoin futures ETF does not invest directly in the assets, and may even detract from the inverse relationship with stock prices. This is to remove or diminish its key alternative value proposition and enable traditional market players to have more control over the Bitcoin price.

Nakamoto.Games has hit the crypto scene in a big way, attracting the attention of multiple high-quality venture capital funds. Their most recent partnership comes with Canadian venture capital firm Contango Digital Assets. Contango brings a wealth of marketing services to the up-and-coming blockchain game developer. 

Nakamoto Games is launching a suite of play-to-earn games while also providing third-party developers with the tools to launch their own gaming creations on their platform. The gaming platform is working towards becoming the leading player in the growing play-to-earn field. 

All games built on the Nakamoto.Games platform will utilize the native NAKA token. NAKA prize pools will be created each week rewarding the list of top players in each game. The first games on the platform will be seeded by the Nakamoto.Games team. The first of which being Duck Hunters, an homage to the original Nintendo game, Duck Hunt. Users will soon be able to browse and play a marketplace of play-to-earn games. 

According to Statista, the online gaming industry is estimated at roughly 23.8 billion in 2021 and is growing at a rate of over 20% per year. The number of online gamers worldwide is forecast to reach 1.3 billion in the next four years. Nakamoto.Games is looking to solidify itself as a go-to gaming platform for the next generation of play-to-earn games.

In an interview with Contango Managing Director, Mike Grantis says, &ldquoWe're most excited about the potential for Nakamoto.Games to drive network effect by opening up their SDK to third-party developers. By allowing anyone to develop play-to-earn games, they are decentralizing the development of video games and the revenue models associated with building a game."

While this investment constitutes the venture capital firm's first diversification into the world of play-to-earn gaming, Contango is no stranger to fueling growth for early-stage blockchain companies. Amongst a suite of value-added services, Contango offers their investee companies access to a range of white-label marketing services. Contango also works closely with the influencer marketing agency, Influx, to drive educational content creation for their investee projects.

Nakamoto.Games have racked up a network of high-level partners this year (depicted above) and continue their streak with the Contango Digital Assets partnership. The private sale and IDO for the native NAKA token were completed on September 24th on the Synapse Network. To learn more about Nakamoto.Games and the native NAKA token, visit https://nakamoto.games.

Nakamoto.Games has hit the crypto scene in a big way, attracting the attention of multiple high-quality venture capital
funds. Their most recent partnership comes with Canadian venture capital firm Contango Digital Assets. Contango brings
a wealth of marketing services to the up-and-coming blockchain game developer.

Nakamoto Games is launching a suite of play-to-earn games while also providing third-party developers with the tools to
launch their own gaming creations on their platform. The gaming platform is working towards becoming the leading
player in the growing play-to-earn field. 

All games built on the Nakamoto.Games platform will utilize the native NAKA token. NAKA prize pools will be created
each week rewarding the list of top players in each game. The first games on the platform will be seeded by the
Nakamoto.Games team. The first of which being Duck Hunters, an homage to the original Nintendo game, Duck Hunt.
Users will soon be able to browse and play a marketplace of play-to-earn games.

According to Statista, the online gaming industry is estimated at roughly 23.8 billion in 2021 and is growing at a rate of
over 20% per year. The number of online gamers worldwide is forecast to reach 1.3 billion in the next four years.
Nakamoto.Games is looking to solidify itself as a go-to gaming platform for the next generation of play-to-earn games.

In an interview with Contango Managing Director, Mike Grantis says, &ldquoWe're most excited about the potential for
Nakamoto.Games to drive network effect by opening up their SDK to third party developers. By allowing anyone to
develop play-to-earn games, they are decentralizing the development of video games and the revenue models
associated with building a game."

While this investment constitutes the venture capital firm's first diversification into the world of play-to-earn gaming,
Contango is no stranger to fueling growth for early-stage blockchain companies. Amongst a suite of value-added
services, Contango offers their investee companies access to a range of white-label marketing services. Contango also
works closely with influencer marketing agency, Influx, to drive educational content creation for their invested projects.

Nakamoto.Games has racked up a network of high-level partners this year (depicted above), and continues their streak
with the Contango Digital Assets partnership. The private sale and IDO for the native NAKA token was completed on
September 24 th on the Synapse Network. To learn more about Nakamoto.Games and the native NAKA token, visit
https://nakamoto.games.

Last Friday, China's central bank declared that all cryptocurrency transactions are now officially banned, essentially outlawing decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Digital currency-related commercial operations are unlawful financial activities, according to the People's Bank of China. The bank's representatives added that cryptocurrencies must be treated as a serious and credible threat regarding the protection of people's assets.

China has one of the biggest cryptocurrency marketplaces in the world. Disturbances, disruptions, and political orders have often had a significant impact on the overall price of cryptocurrencies in the past, as this is not the first time that the Chinese government has done something like this and it will most likely also not be the last.

Bitcoin's price dropped by a significant margin as a result of the Chinese declaration. It is the latest in China's nationwide assault on what it regards as a risky, speculative asset at best, and a means of money laundering at worst.

Another Day, Another Ban

As alluded to earlier, this is not the first time that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in general, have been prohibited by China, as similar efforts had been made back in 2013, 2017, and 2018 for instance. In fact, the cryptocurrency market had suffered a huge crash earlier on in 2021 thanks to a similar announcement made by the Chinese government not too long ago which had ordered multiple provinces such as Xinjiang and Sichuan to cease all crypto-mining activities. This had also resulted in numerous members of the Chinese cryptocurrency community fleeing to other countries such as Kazakhstan and the United States.

Most recently, however, multiple Chinese agencies and organizations, which also included the central bank as well as the active involvement of the regulators, have all come together in a collaborative effort to completely eliminate cryptocurrency-oriented operations and activities in the country. These include cryptocurrency transactions, trading, buying, selling, and anything else that the government may deem to be linked to the cryptocurrency industry and market.

An Opportunity to Buy?

While it is true that the most recent efforts by the Chinese government may just be the most aggressive to date, it has nonetheless provided an opportunity. There is the age-old saying of &lsquobuy the dip, sell at the tip', and countless individuals in the cryptocurrency community have hence taken the recent Chinese announcement with relative gusto as they believe that now is the time to purchase more BTC. This makes sense too as once again, this isn't the first time that China has adopted an anti-cryptocurrency sentiment and it probably won't be the last either. Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts, experts, and analysts alike thus believe that no matter what happens from here on out, the cryptocurrency industry can never be truly stopped and so the best thing to do right now would be to buy more cryptocurrency assets. Historical data showing the long-term resilience of Bitcoin strengthens this argument, however, time will be the ultimate deciding factor as to what will actually happen to cryptocurrencies in the future.