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It's Crypto Saturday. Here's a collection of interesting articles about crypto, NFTs, DeFi, DEXs, Dapps, Smart Contracts, and other interesting blockchain stuff you may have missed during the week. As always, your thoughts and comments are both welcome and strongly encouraged.

Trading Bitcoin and other crypto-currenices is now a criminal activity...

China declares all crypto-currency transactions illegal

China's central bank has announced that all transactions of crypto-currencies are illegal, effectively banning digital tokens such as Bitcoin.

"Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities," the People's Bank of China said, warning it "seriously endangers the safety of people's assets".

China is one of the world's largest crypto-currency markets.

Fluctuations there often impact the global price of crypto-currencies.

The price of Bitcoin fell by more than $2,000 (£1,460) in the wake of the Chinese announcement.

It is the latest in China's national crackdown on what it sees as a volatile, speculative investment at best - and a way to launder money at worst.

Read More · BBC News

There Are Cross-chains in Your Blockchain Future

Are you wondering why it is taking so long for blockchain to become as ubiquitous as AI or IoT? One of the biggest stumbling blocks (pardon the pun) is that Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and the vast majority of other blockchains are proprietary ecosystems (walled gardens) that cannot easily share data or exchange value with other blockchains. This is not a new problem, but there are new, well-funded solutions emerging with exciting roadmaps that point to explosive growth in the near-term. Here’s a quick overview of some projects that have my attention.

Read More · Shelly Palmer on TalkMarkets

"Predictable" might be a good descriptor for today's China FUD, crash and (fingers crossed) recovery...
Crypto has recovered from China's FUD over a dozen times in the last 12 years

The price of Bitcoin fell 5% today following “breaking” (read: weeks old) news that the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, had declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal.

With that in mind, let's take a nostalgic look at the last 12 years of FUD out of China, and see if we can spot any patterns.

Read More · Cointelegraph

FTX Moves Headquarters From Hong Kong to Bahamas

On Monday, FTX announced that its Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, had been granted regulatory approval in the Bahamas as a digital assets business, and named Ryan Salame to lead the unit.

Read More · CoinDesk

SoftBank leads $680 million funding round in NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare

Blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare has raised $680 million in a funding round led by SoftBank , with players including ex-England international Rio Ferdinand and Spain's Gerard Pique also investing, the company said on Tuesday.

Read More · Reuters

OpenSea admits insider trading of NFTs it promoted

An employee was accused of buying digital art that would later be promoted on the homepage.

Read More · BBC News

Non-fungible tokens aren’t the easiest concept to grasp, so fast-food chains and other brands are making them more accessible by bringing them to drive-thrus...

NFTs via Fast-Food Toys With Crypto Collectibles

Collectors are passionate about their hobbies, whether it’s Jerry Seinfeld’s obsession with classic Porsche autos or fast-food fans snapping up blockchain assets instead of action figures.

Of all the inventive crypto-blockchain plays we’ve heard about this year, we submit Burger King’s deal with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Sweet as perhaps the coolest.

As part of its new Royal Perks loyalty program launch, BK teamed up with Sweet to gamify NFTs, giving chain loyalists the opportunity to collect digital tokens that unlock yet more rewards once the set is complete. It revolves around the new "Keep It Real" marketing push, where celebrities create their ideal BK meal, entering customers into an NFT collectibles game.

News site Restaurant Dive summarized it thusly: “Guests can scan a QR code on each Keep It Real Meal box to receive one of three collective NFT game pieces, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. When the full set is collected, guests are programmatically provided a fourth NFT, a reward that could be a 3D digital collectible, free Whopper sandwiches for a year, autographed merchandise or a call with one of the campaign's celebrity ambassadors.”

Read More · PYMNTS.com