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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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Fidelity Launches Multi-Level Learning Center in Metaverse

Fidelity Investments, a leading financial services company with $11.3 trillion in assets under management, entered the metaverse with the opening of an eight-story learning center and the launch of a metaverse exchange-traded fund (ETF). Fidelity Stack features “a multi-level layout complete with a lobby, dance floor, and rooftop garden for users to explore on foot, or even by teleportation.”

Fidelity enters the metaverse

Fidelity Investments on Thursday announced the grand opening of “The Fidelity Stack,” which the exchange described as its “first immersive metaverse experience designed to offer a new way to learn the basics of investing.” Fidelity is one of the largest financial services companies; it currently has $11.3 trillion in assets under management.

Fidelity Stack is an eight-story building in the metaverse where visitors can learn about different ways to invest. An entire floor is dedicated to providing information on the Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET), the company’s new exchange-traded fund focused on metaverse investments. Fidelity explained:

Built in Decentraland, the Fidelity Stack features a multi-level layout complete with a lobby, dance floor, and rooftop garden for users to explore on foot, or even by teleportation.

“In Invest Quest on The Fidelity Stack, users are challenged to walk the building learning the basics of ETF investing while collecting ‘orbs’ along the way,” the ad continues.

Decentraland is an Ethereum-based metaverse open to the public in January 2020. In February, global investment bank JPMorgan chose Decentraland as the metaverse platform to open its lounge.

Kathryn Condon, director of marketing channels and emerging platforms at Fidelity, commented:

The way we relate to each other and our money is changing rapidly, whether it is due to the rise of blockchain technology or the development of a new digital universe. Our foray into the metaverse was designed with that in mind.

Last month, Citi predicted that the metaverse could be a $13 trillion opportunity with five billion users by 2030. Global investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley believe the metaverse is a $100,000.8 trillion opportunity.

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Fidelity Investments expands its offerings by focusing on the metaverse and ETFs

The international investment firm Fidelity Investments has decided to invest in companies from the metaverse. Fidelity Investments has now launched four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that would focus on two new products to take advantage of the nascent Web3 space.

ETFs will focus on three broad criteria, namely cryptocurrencies, metaverse and environment, society and governance (ESG).

The Fidelity Metaverse ETF (Ticker FMET) and the Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments (FDIG) ETF went live on Thursday, April 21.

The Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF does not provide direct access to cryptocurrencies, but will invest in the companies that support the digital asset industry.

Fidelity Investments will be responsible for building and contributing to the “future state of the Internet”.

Competition in the already crowded metaverse?

Fidelity is entering an already saturated market, where a dozen ETFs are already trading on the market. In addition, there are many companies that have decided to launch “themed” funds for younger generations.

We continue to see demand, particularly from young investors, to access fast-growing industries in the digital ecosystem, and these two themed ETFs offer investors exposure in a family-friendly investment vehicle, said Greg Friedman, Managing Director and Chief ETF Strategy Officer at Fidelity. .

As mentioned above, younger generations have become increasingly familiar with the metaverse.

Along with that, a lot of awareness of where the metaverse could be headed has led the younger generation to explore further.

BlackRock Inc. is one of those companies that has focused on “themed” funds that cater to the younger population.

Fidelity may face stiff competition when it comes to the themed environment, with many companies already operating in the space. However, the size and scale of the company will likely give it an edge over its immediate competitors.

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas also mentions in his tweet that the investment firm reportedly entered the market at the lowest rate among the other four ETFs tracking the Metaverse.

Fidelity also recently released a Decentraland-based metaverse called the “Fidelity Stack”. This is intended to educate retail investors on the basics of investing.

Related Reading | How Crypto Company Circle Announces $400 Million Backed by Giants BlackRock and Fidelity

Fidelity also intended to launch a Bitcoin Spot ETF

Fidelity continued to push this revolutionary idea to democratize the investments that are ETFs. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to comply.

The US financial regulator has yet to make a decision on this, which is now making the funds launch in other countries with much less difficulty.

For example, Fidelity has just successfully launched the ETF in Canada.

Australia would also receive two Bitcoin Spot ETFs that have been approved for launch in the country.

The asset manager continues to prepare to launch the Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF, which refers to investing in the Canadian Purpose Bitcoin ETF.