Here we are, back with another edition of Olliv the Above! This week, the cryptozone is abuzz with news over stablecoins, celeb crypto endorsements, and a nifty use case for NFTs on a popular music streaming service.
New player in the stables
Circle, the company behind the behemoth stablecoin USDC, unveiled a new Euro-centric stablecoin this week. The Euro Coin (EUROC) is backed 1:1 by actual euros in reserve, much like its U.S. dollar stablecoin counterpart. A selection of crypto exchanges announced their plans to list the new stablecoin. Beyond its potential appeal to crypto investors or market makers, the issuers of EUROC hope to incorporate the euro-backed stablecoin into payment ecosystems for businesses and consumers. Tap-to-pay with digital euros? The groundwork is certainly being laid.
The EUROC launch is happening while U.S. regulators are looking closely at stablecoins. Crypto services firm Paxos halted production of their Binance-branded stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) at the order of New York state regulators, and the SEC may be next in line for bringing enforcement action related to BUSD. Crypto's stablecoin class may be headed for its greatest trial to date.
This blew up on social
Celebrity crypto endorsements are once again under the microscope. Back in 2022, Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather were among the celebrities facing legal action over their alleged promotion of the EthereumMax token. Kardashian ended up paying a $1.26 million fine to the SEC because she didn’t disclose her $250,000 payment for promoting the crypto token on her widely followed social media platforms.
Fast-forward to early 2023, and the celebs are in the crosshairs of yet another EthereumMax-related lawsuit. A group of EthereumMax investors filed a class-action lawsuit against EthereumMax and its famous promoters in December of 2022. Now, the celebs named as defendants in the class-action suit are asking the court to toss out the latest case, claiming that the judge already dismissed prior claims that made pretty much the same argument.
Crossing the streams
Spotify is testing a new project where NFT holders can connect their crypto wallets to the popular music streaming service to gain access to exclusive content. Crypto wallets that Spotify will integrate with in the pilot include MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Ledger Live, Rainbow, and Zerion.
Why is it a big deal? Web3 proponents are passionate about the universality of crypto within a virtual environment, which some people might reflexively call a metaverse. Without going too far down the metaverse rabbit hole, this new pilot project with one of the world’s largest streaming platforms is significant because it has the potential to onboard millions of users into a metaverse of sorts, where crypto-enabled assets like NFTs can unlock unique features within that platform.
If Spotify Premium is a cash-based subscription tier that strips out ads from the user’s playback, think of content like curated playlists as more exclusive or “clubby” experiences for users who hold certain crypto tokens or NFTs. And gaining access to these exclusive experiences requires that users sign in with a crypto wallet, not just an email address or social media profile.
The Spotify test is currently only available to Android users in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.
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