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Bitay Ventures into Expanding UAE Crypto MarketTurkey’s Bitay, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Istanbul, has taken the decision to enter the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market.The company announced the development via a press release published on Thursday.Bitay General Manager Niyazi Yilmaz expressed his satisfaction in having made the move, stating: “The UAE provides a stable regulatory environment for crypto exchanges. It will serve as more than just a market for Bitay, it will be our technology base, central to our global blockchain strategy.”Photo by Aldo Loya on UnsplashGovernment-aided kickstartBitay sprang to life in 2018 following the award of a research grant by the Turkish government. The business has been operational in Turkey over the course of the past five years, but took the decision to expand on a global basis in 2021. The upshot of that decision saw the company obtain a Money Services Business (MSB) license in 16 states in the United States. Beyond that, the firm has made efforts to extend its services to customers across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.Last year, Bitay entered the Indian market, and as part of that process, it established an office in Gurgaon. At that time, the company claimed that India, the Turkic countries, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and selected countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were its priority markets.Stablecoin USPThe company feels that it has something additional to offer the UAE market by comparison with other platforms that will provide it with a unique selling proposition (USP). It will also offer AEDD, a stablecoin that is pegged to the UAE's local currency, the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED). Yilmaz explained: “AEDD is not just a stable coin, but a testament to the investment and trust we place in the UAE’s digital future.”To further bootstrap the launch of the platform within the UAE, Bitay is offering some preliminary incentives to encourage UAE residents to use the service. To that end, it’s launching an “Advantageous 2nd Sales Period” campaign. The offering will incorporate 25% discounts on its native exchange token, accompanied by a yield bonus of up to 30% on USDT-based investments.Native token offeringThe company claims that its native token achieved a 330% surge in value within its first year. That said, exchange tokens have been the subject of controversy more recently. The reliance of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX on its native FTT token was a key factor in the downfall of the platform in 2022. Similar concerns have been raised with regard to global crypto exchange Binance relative to its native BNB token, albeit that any such assertions remain a matter of speculation.A progressive regulatory approach to virtual assets over the course of the past 12 months in the UAE has seen proponents of digital currency heap praise on the country. It has also led to a number of sizable crypto platforms attaining licensing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while others have established offices or headquarters within the UAE.

ONEUNIVERSE Holds Second NFT Sale for Champions ArenaSouth Korean metaverse developer ONEUNIVERSE said Wednesday it is holding its second sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in celebration of the upcoming release of its newest AAA Web3 game, Champions Arena.Photo by Stefan Gall on UnsplashFueling earningsThe NFTs, called Champion NFTs, will play a pivotal role in boosting the core Play-to-Earn (P2E) feature of the game. Players must possess Champion NFTs in order to earn victory points, or VPs, within the game’s central hub called the Arena. These VPs can then be converted to and distributed as Gala (GALA), the native token of the game’s publisher Gala Games.The amount of VP that a player can acquire depends on factors such as the quantity and ranking of the Champion NFTs in their collection, as well as their tier ranking. Hence, more Champion NFTs means more VPs.“We are delighted to meet the demand of gamers who are eager to purchase NFTs leading up to the official release of Champions Arena. Through this sale, our goal is to ensure that as many users as possible can experience one of the core functionalities of the game — earning — right from the initial launch,” said Choi Won-jong, Chief Business Officer of ONEUNIVERSE.Global launch and exclusive offersChampions Arena will launch globally at 5 PM PT on August 23 as a mobile and PC game with the exception of South Korea and select countries, according to Gala Games. The NFTs will be available for purchase on the Gala Games official website starting today until the launch. They will be packaged within “Champion Boxes” that contain one of 18 different playable Champions, including those in the highest tier of Legendary.There is also an exclusive 30% discount event running until 3 PM on August 21.

CoinGecko Report Points to Q3 Market ContractionThe third quarter of 2023 was marked by a significant market downturn and market cap contraction. That’s one of a number of findings in a Q3 crypto industry report compiled by Malaysian cryptocurrency ranking platform CoinGecko.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashMarket cap contractionThe company released its latest research on Tuesday. In mid-August, Bitcoin (BTC) witnessed a sudden drop from approximately $29,000 to around $26,000, leading to a dip in the total cryptocurrency market capitalization from $1.2 trillion to $1.1 trillion.The total crypto market capitalization recorded a nearly 10% decline, amounting to a drop of $119.1 billion. Since reaching its local peak on April 17, the total market capitalization has experienced a decline of 16.3%.Notable shifts in the top 30 cryptocurrencies include Solana (SOL) climbing to #7, TrueUSD (TUSD) rising to #19, Litecoin (LTC) falling to #14, Avalanche (AVAX) dropping to #22, and Binance USD (BUSD) sliding to #27.Stablecoin shrinkageThe top 15 stablecoins saw a 3.8% decrease in market capitalization during Q3 2023, reaching $121.3 billion. Tether (USDT) maintained its market cap during this period. USD Coin (USDC) experienced the largest absolute loss at -$2.26 billion (-8.3%), while Binance USD (BUSD) faced the most significant percentage decline of -45.3%, amounting to a drop of -$1.87 billion. TrueUSD (TUSD) was the sole gainer among the top 5, with a 12.8% increase in market cap.NFT trading volume cut in halfTrading volume for NFTs declined by 55.6%, dropping from $3.67 billion in Q2 to $1.63 billion in Q3. Ethereum maintained its dominance, accounting for 83.2% of the NFT market during Q3. ImmutableX NFTs, driven by trading card game Gods Unchained, experienced a strong Q3, with a market share increase from 2.1% in Q2 to 3.9% in Q3.Continued growth for RWAsThe Real World Asset (RWA) sector has continued to grow in 2023, with tokenized US treasury bills gaining popularity. The market cap for these tokenized T-bills increased from $114.0 million in January 2023 to $665.0 million by the end of September, marking a 5.84x gain. Traditional financial institutions led the way, with American asset manager Franklin Templeton controlling almost half of the overall market share, followed by Ondo Finance at 27%. Ethereum held 49% of the market cap share, while Stellar followed closely behind with 48%.Spot DEX and CEX trading volume downIn Q3, spot trading volume on the top 10 decentralized exchanges (DEX) totaled $105 billion, a 31.2% drop from Q2. THORchain experienced a significant gain in volume, though this was partially attributed to illicit transfers.Spot trading volume on the top 10 centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) amounted to $1.12 trillion, a decrease of 20.1% compared to Q2. Binance’s market share dropped to 44%, facing regulatory pressures and significant executive departures. Among the Asian exchange platforms, HTX, previously known as Huobi, secured the third spot with an 8% market share. Only Upbit and Bybit saw gains, while Kucoin was edged out of the top 10.While Q3 may not have been the most positive industry quarter recently, things are looking a lot more promising as Q4 develops, with Singapore-based digital assets financial services platform Matrixport predicting a bitcoin unit price of $45,000 by year end.