Earnity’s Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa and Expound UX’s Role

In December 2021, Earnity raised more than $20 million, with $15 million from the stock offerings it closed with Bitcoin mining firm BitNile. The company’s goal is to develop and launch an online platform that will enable users to learn about crypto while earning and collecting tokens. Under the leadership of executives Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa, Earnity looks to solve the hindrances holding back mass crypto adoption rates. One way to promote cryptocurrency, especially to new users, is through seamless user experience (UX).

There was a time when crypto was only for the most tech-savvy internet users. However, as the digital currency’s popularity booms, so does its target market. In fact, in late 2021, it was reported that more than 100 million people worldwide had already bought in some form of cryptocurrency. So, the days that blockchain trading services were focused on backend engineering and cryptography are gone. Instead, developers should give the UX part more attention and effort.

Because not all crypto traders and buyers have enough experience with the financial system, some, if not most, of them hope to be guided and helped when completing crypto transactions. Blockchain services providers and crypto-based applications should educate the mass users and deliver a smooth and frictionless experience.

UX can also reduce the learning curve that comes with understanding and using the many decentralized finances (DeFi) and crypto protocols and products. Concepts like crypto accounts, private and public keys, block height, and others can be challenging to comprehend, especially for new users. More users will likely get on board the crypto train by designing the platform to be customer-centric, easily navigable, and intuitive.

Earnity looks to help demystify users’ crypto journey. Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa understand that users, especially newcomers, have to bear the heavy load of understanding all of the value propositions and reasons behind the existence of different kinds of crypto. The Earnity team intends to address the massive crypto access bottleneck by creating an easy-to-use, highly secure, social-first, and user-driven platform.

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Earnity’s Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa on Crypto’s Rising Popularity

As a company led by fintech veterans Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa, Earnity believes that crypto and decentralized finance will play an enormous role in making access possible for all. While crypto has gone from super niche to mainstream fringe in a little more than a decade, there is still a lot of work to be done to make crypto simple, safe, and enjoyable to use.

Cryptocurrencies have been around for quite some time now, but they have only recently become popular. Bitcoin is the most popular among the cryptocurrency ranks, but many others are gaining traction. Below are some of the most popular cryptocurrencies.

The Rise of Crypto

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and is still the most popular. This crypto was created in 2009 and is used for all sorts of online transactions.

Ethereum is a newer cryptocurrency created in 2015. It is like Bitcoin but still has marked differences. Ethereum is used to build decentralized applications, which run on a network of computers instead of one central server.

Litecoin is another popular cryptocurrency created in 2011. It has similarities with Bitcoin but differs in several ways. Litecoin, for example, is used for smaller transactions because it has  lower transaction costs than Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Cash is among the newer cryptocurrencies. Created in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin and is used for larger transactions.

Ripple is another cryptocurrency gaining popularity recently. Created in 2012, Ripple is used for small and large transactions. It is faster and cheaper than Bitcoin.

As Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa point out, there are many other cryptocurrencies whose popularity has risen impressively over the past few years. And with the crypto market expected to grow even further in the future, it is vital to stay up-to-date on all the latest developments, which platforms such as Earnity are designed for.

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Crypto Regulation Around the World

Regulation around cryptocurrency is still very unclear and governments around the world have very different ideas about it. While some jurisdictions are trying to ban it outright, others just want to have a bit more control over how it’s traded. Some jurisdictions still don’t fully understand crypto and still don’t know if it should be qualified as a currency or a security. Understanding regulations is very important for traders as they can have serious tax and legal implications. Let’s look at a few examples of how crypto trading is regulated around the world.

United States

Even if crypto trading and mining are very popular in the US, the country still doesn’t have a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The SEC, the Treasury, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission all see cryptocurrencies differently, calling them a security, currency, and a commodity respectively. Not only that, but the IRS classifies cryptocurrency as property, which further complicates things for traders.

The country has done a great job at regulating exchanges in the country, however. All exchanges have to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and be registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. They also have to abide by the Anti-Terrorism Act and anti-money laundering (AML) legislation.

Japan

Japan is another country that has decided to embrace crypto, and like other regions has seen a rise in the popularity of crypto trading via a range of providers that seek to serve this booming market. These include “regular” crypto exchanges, to decentralized exchanges known as a DEX, to online brokers of crypto derivatives like contracts for difference. All locally based trading platforms have to be registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), which is one of the most rigorous financial regulatory agencies in the world. All exchanges have to be compliant with AML obligations as well. Crypto gains in the country are taxed under “miscellaneous income” and crypto is viewed as property from a tax standpoint.

United Kingdom

The UK, like many other countries, does not recognize crypto as legal tender, but as property. All exchanges operating in the country have to be registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority. They also have to abide by special ‘know your customer’ (KYC) regulations and follow AMT and CFT guidelines.

Canada

Canada is one of the countries that has taken the most proactive measures to regulate crypto trading. All exchanges in the country have to be regulated by provincial agencies. The country is also one of the first to accept crypto derivatives by being the first to approve a Bitcoin ETF in February 2021.

Australia

Australia is relatively proactive when it comes to crypto and has some strict rules about what exchanges can offer services to Australians and even which coins they can offer. Australia is one of the only countries to formally ban privacy coins, and exchanges operating in the country have to register with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre while abiding by AML/CFT regulations. Australia also has strict rules regulating initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto is treated as legal property under the tax code.

Even if most countries have similar legislation governing crypto, there are still some nuances. This is why traders living in these countries or thinking of trading within their borders should learn more about the regulatory framework in each country before starting.

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Robert Testagrossa – Why NFTs Work So Well

NFTs are a hot topic at the moment and we are seeing many companies set up by experts like Robert Testagrossa which are focused towards the rising success of NFTs. This isn’t necessarily a new idea, it is in fact one that has existed for a number of years now, but in recent months we have see an enormous focus on this aspect of the blockchain.

Today then we are going to take a look into what NFTs are and why they work so well for all parties involved.

Breaking Down an NFT

To those of you who aren’t sure what an NFT is, this stands for ‘non-fungible token’ in layman’s terms this means that it is a digital product which is not fungible, or transferrable across the blockchain. We can use NFTs in artwork, music, event tickets and many other forms of token. Those who buy an NFT, in whatever capacity it takes, will be the sole owner of that token. This can be resold by the owner, but the address for the NFT will always remain the same.

Security

One of the biggest reasons as to why NFTs work so well is that they are an incredibly secure way of passing on and storing information. Back in the European Championships in 2016 we saw tickets being delivered as NFTs, which made them much more secure that paper tickets or even emailed tickets. This can also greatly help with concert tickets, which are often bought and sold by scalpers who drive the ticket prices up, and restrict people from having tickets. NFTs is a great way to solve this problem.

Control For Artists

In the world of art and music we are seeing time and time again that artists are not making the money that they should do from the work which they are completing. There are so many record companies for example who rake a huge cut from the artist’s work, as well as art houses who take a slice of artwork created. Using NFTs mean that the artists no longer need that third party in order to get their work out there. This gives them the power to release as many NFTs as they like, and it means that they will end up with an overwhelming proportion of the money which is made from sales.

Increased Demand

And finally, as more and more people learn about what NFTs are, and more and more professionals jump onto the possibilities of NFTs, we are going to see a huge increase in demand. This has already started of course and many NFT artworks are being snapped up each and every day, by people who perhaps usually wouldn’t. This increase in demand is great for everyone involved with NFTs.

The possibilities for this technology really are endless and in the coming years we are certainly going to be seeing big changes within the world of NFTs. What do you make of this new technology?

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