MARBLEX Partners with Aptos to Expand Its Multichain Endeavors

North Gyeongsang Province Recruits Youth for Metaverse Content CompetitionNorth Gyeongsang Province has announced that it is recruiting participants for the Youth Metaverse Content Development Competition, which will provide young people with an opportunity to showcase their ideas and technical skills in the metaverse.Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on UnsplashThe competition is part of the Youth Metaverse Creation Festival, which aims to push young individuals to participate directly in policymaking, prepare for their crucial role in the oncoming metaverse era, and strengthen their digital capabilities.Participation requirementsParticipants are required to complete an assignment in the form of their choice related to fields that the youth are interested in. Young people from high schoolers up to those aged 34 are eligible to participate. Both Korean nationals and foreigners are invited to sign up either individually or as a team.Eight teams will be selected in the first round of document evaluation this month. Afterward, a second round of presentations will take place in October to choose the three final participating teams.Winning rewardsThe first round of selected teams will receive 3 million KRW (approximately $2,300) for their assignment and a head-mounted display, among other benefits. The finalists will not only be awarded 6 million KRW but also be given the chance to participate in various startup support programs throughout North Gyeongsang Province through expert consultations.

Shapella Upgrade to Have limited Impact on ETH’s Selling PressureThe Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum network scheduled to take place on Wednesday will only have a limited impact on the selling pressure on ETH, according to a report by the research center at Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit.©Pexels/JievaniShapella upgradeOne of the key features of the Shapella upgrade is to allow withdrawal of staked ETH. This upgrade follows September’s Merge upgrade that switched the Ethereum network’s consensus algorithm from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, significantly reducing electricity consumption.Impact on selling pressureTo predict the impact of the Shapella upgrade on the selling pressure on ETH, the analysts at Korbit Research calculated the amount of time it takes for all the ETH staked as of March 22 to be withdrawn. They believe this calculation is relevant because withdrawals of staked ETH could trigger bulk sales, potentially imposing a greater selling pressure on ETH.According to the findings, the daily sell volume for the first three days is expected to be 300,700 ETH, 0.254% of the circulating supply. This volume will gradually decrease to 43,000 ETH for the next six months and to 29,000 ETH for the following six months, each corresponding to 0.035% and 0.024% of the circulating supply, respectively.All in all, bulk selling of ETH is not likely, considering it will take about a year and five months for all the staked ETH to be withdrawn and that the amount of withdrawable ETH will stay relatively low for each period. Furthermore, since this analysis assumes an extreme case, the market will be able to effectively handle the volume over the six month to 18 month period.4 other reasonsIn addition, Korbit Research outlined four other aspects that limit the selling pressure on ETH.Firstly, there is some concern that the selling volume of ETH may increase due to unstaking resulting from the cessation of staking services at American crypto exchange Kraken. However, a decrease in the number of validators on the Ethereum network will raise the base reward. This may prompt those who unstaked ETH to stake them on other platforms, rather than selling them.Second, ETH locked up at liquidity staking protocols such as Lido Finance and Rocket Pool provide liquidity for representations of staked ETH. These platforms allow users to stake fewer than 32 ETH for rewards. According to a February Binance Research report, 57.7% of ETH stakers enjoy liquidity and rewards. Therefore, there may be a limited impetus to divest of staked ETH.Third, since only 41.1% of ETH stakers are seeing profits as of the time of writing the report, the remaining stakers would have to risk losses when withdrawing ETH. This suggests that those not yet seeing profits are more likely to keep ETH staked. Furthermore, Dune Analytics data shows that most of the ETH stakers with gains staked ETH when its price was relatively low, which indicates that they participated in staking in early days. Shivam Sharma, the author of the aforementioned Binance report, states that these ETH stakers are likely “some of the strongest Ethereum believers.”Lastly, despite the Shapella upgrade, ETH withdrawals at different staking pools may not be initiated immediately. This could limit the circulation of withdrawable ETH, which in turn would hinder the selling pressure on ETH.Macroeconomic factorsThe Korbit researchers concluded their paper with a note that the selling pressure on ETH will be more influenced by macroeconomic factors than technical factors. They added that a possible downturn in the overall economy and corrections in risky asset markets might lead investors to sell ETH.

China to Pay State Employees in Digital YuanChina is making its biggest push yet to facilitate greater use of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan (e-CNY).©Pexels/RODNAE ProductionsThe eastern city of Changshu is gearing up to commence paying state employees in the city in e-CNY. According to an announcement made by the city’s finance bureau on Sunday, the civil servants will start to receive e-CNY as payment in May. The measure will also impact journalists working for state media, medical staff, technicians and schoolteachers.Advancing a cashless societyThrough a proliferation in the use of digital money such as that offered via WeChat Pay and AliPay, China is already well on its way towards being a cashless society. However, this latest move with the e-CNY is another major step in that direction.In a separate announcement on Sunday, the administrators of the city of Xuzhou, which like Changshu is also located within Jiangsu province, said that Xuzhou is in the process of publishing a pilot scheme which will set out a means for promoting China’s e-CNY digital currency. Meanwhile another Jiangsu province city, Suzhou, was one of the first locations in China to run a digital yuan pilot scheme in April 2020.Previously local government authorities in cities like Shenzhen and Beijing have experimented with using the currency, offering free digital yuan to citizens to spend, in an effort to popularize the digital currency.Changshu had already been using the currency for the best part of a year to make overtime payments to 4,900 state enterprise employees. Additionally, the city administrators had introduced it to pay subsidies, including payments to tech companies, payments related to housing and transport for local government workers. While there’s every likelihood that this latest measure could be applied on a province-wide basis, there has as yet been no direct confirmation of such an eventuality.Privacy concernsThe Chinese government maintains that further introduction of the e-CNY will lead to an improvement for citizens in terms of privacy. Beijing maintains that the large tech platforms like WeChat Pay and AliPay will have no access to the transaction data of individuals and companies. However, that data will find itself directly in the hands of the Chinese government. Given the totalitarian nature of governance in China, it’s hard to imagine how that could be a positive outcome for Chinese society.International currencyOriginally known as DCEP, work on the digital currency began in China in 2014. The Chinese are among a growing list of countries that are understood to be unhappy with the need to use US dollars for international trade given that the dollar is the global reserve currency.That discontent has grown further as a direct response to greater use of sanctions by the United States, and particularly the seizure of Russian sovereign funds held in dollars. Furthermore, the weaponization of the SWIFT payments system exemplified through the exclusion of countries like Russia and Iran is also believed to have been a catalyst for greater development of the e-CNY.