Howard Lerman

Exciting news! Knot has teamed up with Plaid, a Knot investor, as a preferred referral partner for card-on-file switching. With Knot's CardSwitcher™, users can set their credit or debit cards as the default payment across 100+ online merchants with just a few taps. Plaid customers can now import transaction history into Knot's SDK for even more seamless card switching ✨. This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to create a user-centric financial ecosystem. Plaid's Transaction History, combined with Knot's CardSwitcher™, offers solutions for card issuers, merchants, and consumers. 🏦 Card Issuers: Achieve quick and efficient top-of-wallet placement 🏪 Merchants: Reduce transaction declines and improve customer retention by preventing involuntary churn 🏡 Consumers: Gain control over where cards are stored and how payment information is shared Thanks to Plaid for believing in our vision. Link in the comments for the full press release. If you want to utilize Plaid's Transaction Data with Knot, feel free to reach out!

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3 strategic considerations for choosing the right token custody partner: 1️⃣ Understand the different types of providers Common types of custody providers include: + Multi-signature wallets (ex: Gnosis Safe, Squads) + Multi-party computation (MPC) (ex: Fireblocks, Copper) + Qualified custodian (ex: Anchorage, Coinbase Prime, BitGo) Note that there are MANY potential partners/vendors in the market. DYOR, compare options, and do the upfront work to find the partner that best meets your projects needs + goals. 2️⃣ Adhere to rules + regs around RIAs (registered investment advisors) The type of custody partner you choose will — in large part — be determined by your cap table makeup. Certain funds and investors fall under the category of registered investment advisors (RIAs). If you have RIAs on your cap table, you'll be required to use a qualified custodian to both hold and manage their tokens. Projects without RIA investors aren't held to this specification. 3️⃣ Ensure your internal distribution system integrates with your custody provider Whichever provider you work with, always triple-check that your token distribution system *actually* integrates with your chosen custody provider. Full deep dive on what to consider as you prepare for launch in the comments 👇

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Yuga Labs Sells Two NFT Games in Move to Empower BAYC Team 🌟 Content Explanation: Yuga Labs, the creators of the popular NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has divested the intellectual property rights of two of its games to Web3 gaming firm Faraway. This move is part of Yuga Labs' initiative to empower the BAYC team by focusing on their core project. 🌐 🌐 🌐 👁️ Explore CodeTentacles Technologies in depth by clicking on this link: https://lnkd.in/dPVhrPGe 💬 Don't hesitate to connect if you see potential for collaboration. 😄 Found this post interesting? ✅ Feel free to drop a comment, share it, and hit the like button! 🔔 Make sure to enable notifications at the top of my profile to stay updated with my content. 🚀 Follow and connect with me for more updates! #YugaLabs #BAYC #NFT #Web3 #Gaming #Faraway #Codetentaclestechnology https://lnkd.in/ddxGZ5gi

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I’m really excited to delve into one of our latest product launches at Liteflow: The Liteflow Token Tool Kit…. How can game studios strengthen their token economy with our solution? 🎮 Revenue Streams: Launch your own ERC20 tokens to power your game's economy. Facilitate seamless cryptocurrency transactions, create utility functions, and form valuable partnerships within the blockchain ecosystem. 🌐 Expand Your Reach: Deploy token bridges to ensure your tokens are accessible across multiple blockchains. Build cross-chain partnerships and tap into diverse crypto communities to maximize your token’s influence and accessibility. 💰 Attract Investment: Kickstart your token’s market presence with a Token Generation Event (TGE). Engage investors through various sale options, including private and public sales, to secure the funding you need to bring your vision to life. 🔒 Ensure Long-Term Stability: Implement token vesting to secure long-term investor commitment and stabilize your token's economy. Preserve token value, foster enduring investor relationships, and manage your token’s economic health effectively. These token tools have already transformed products from some of the industry’s leading brands, and now we’re opening early access to Web3 game studios across the globe. If you’d like to join the ranks of some incredible projects like Motorverse, Grapes, LaunchBlock, and more, just reach out! Excited to explore bringing your #Web3 vision to life! #BlockchainGames #Tokenomics #Cryptocurrency

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Fantom Launches $6.5M Dev Fund to Support "Safer Memecoins" Jesse Coghlan | Cointelegraph Fantom Foundation CEO Michael Kong aims to capitalize on memecoin hype while prioritizing safety, launching a $6.5 million development fund for the purpose. 🌐 🌐 🌐 👁️ Explore CodeTentacles Technologies in depth by clicking on this link: https://lnkd.in/dPVhrPGe 💬 Don't hesitate to connect if you see potential for collaboration. 😄 Found this post interesting? ✅ Feel free to drop a comment, share it, and hit the like button! 🔔 Make sure to enable notifications at the top of my profile to stay updated with my content. 🚀 Follow and connect with me for more updates! #FantomFoundation #Memecoins #CryptoDevelopment #Blockchain #Codetentaclestechnology https://lnkd.in/dPVqqTez

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There's a lot of buzz about stablecoins in the fintech community right now. But we're just scratching the surface of what fintechs will achieve. If the opinions of this cohort of leaders are anything to go by, stablecoins are back on the agenda. In this report, we spoke to leaders at different points in the payments value chain: stablecoin issuers like Paxos, embedded banking providers like ClearBank, B2B payments fintechs like Freemarket and VCs like General Catalyst. We asked: how are you thinking about stablecoins and what progress will be made this year? Here are a few things they told us: - Market timing is a challenge we need regulators, banks and governments to come on board. But with stablecoins we’ll find the next category-defining business. - Traditional financial institutions (FIs) are experimenting. When they see clear ROI, they’ll start rolling out stablecoin rails to other countries – this will be a pivotal moment for market readiness. - Stablecoins will reach a market cap of $250bn by the end of 2024, growing 2-3x the pace of the crypto market overall. - Providers with the right licences will be in a stronger position to launch stablecoin products and offer those to other FIs. - By the end of 2024 we’ll see some marquee partnerships where traditional fintechs are launching a full stablecoin solution, wallets pay-ins and payouts. For those thinking about adding stablecoins to their tech stack, I hope this collection of views, along with summaries of use cases, can provide some useful perspectives. https://lnkd.in/dh7ZAfg2

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Sanko Games - Not the 1980’s Mythical Gaming Company I'm starting a series of articles on different Altcoins. Leave suggestions for projects I should discuss. A key part of Web 3.0 adoption lies in consumer applications, and gaming is a great entry point. One standout is the DMT token by Sanko Games. Initially a gaming company, Sanko expanded into a social network, launching its first project as an NFT. Their latest project, Sanko Pets, is generating excitement. Sanko's unique bottom-up approach, which focuses on genuine fun rather than rigid frameworks, offers a refreshing change from the usual prescriptive crypto norms that often feel forced and unnatural. Sanko Games combines a retro aesthetic and nostalgia appeal with cutting-edge blockchain technology. Games like Milady Tekken, Sakura Pinball, and the upcoming Sankoscape tap into the nostalgia of gamers with their retro-inspired designs and engaging gameplay. This combination of familiar visuals and modern technology creates a unique gaming experience that resonates with a broad audience. Sanko's platform is inherently crypto-native, integrating the DMT token for in-game transactions and rewards, which allows for true ownership and monetization opportunities for players. This ecosystem includes SankoTV, a decentralized streaming platform similar to Twitch, where streamers can earn more revenue through viewer tips and interactions. The use of "Passes" on SankoTV enhances the SocialFi experience, making it distinct from traditional streaming services. #SankoGames is growing into a multimedia conglomerate with new platforms like Scatter, a white-listed NFT deployer, and Token Deployer, a meme coin factory, set to launch soon. These innovations demonstrate Sanko's commitment to creating engaging, user-friendly experiences in the crypto space. The DMT token itself is poised to benefit from this ecosystem, as its utility and demand are likely to increase with the success of Sanko's projects. Investors looking for promising altcoins should consider DMT for its innovative approach, strong user focus, and potential for significant growth. For more insights, listen to the Plaintext Capital podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e_HcY7fF #smooviewilliams

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📊 Do all roads in fintech lead to license aggregation? 📌 In Feb ‘24 the # of fully licensed payment aggregators (PA) was 15. By May, it ~2x’ed to 27 📌 New entities with a full PA license: CAMS, Toucan, Concerto, Boku, Unlimit, Worldline, CCAvenue, Innoviti, Mswipe, Groww, AmazonPay & Finacus There are others with in-principle approvals & not full licenses (yet) ✅ 33 PAs are in-principle approved & can operate. Major names: PayU, Phonepe, PineLabs, and fintechs such as CRED, Mobikwik, Eazebuzz & Adyen ✅ 11 are approved, & can’t operate. Ex: Nium, Payglocal 60+ PAs? That's pretty crowded. 📌 For ecomm players, a PA license could be more for optionality - enable negotiating power and build in the future (if needed). And for tech & non payment fintechs, a bundled offering: Ex: Microsoft Teams Vs Slack strategy. As companies scale they graduate to multiple PAs, so this could be an added benefit non payment players offer to win clients for their core offering, not necessarily a PA play But that solves for non payment players. Even within payments it’s crowded: ~15 core PAs with some form of license that can operate ✅ Full license & core PA: Razorpay, Paymentz, CCAvenue, Cashfree, Stripe, Worldline, Boku, Unlimit ✅ In-principle approval & can operate: Core PA: Adyen, Eazebuzz, PayU. Non core PA but scaling: PineLabs & PhonePe. Payments Tech: Juspay 📌 And interestingly: 6 /10 Top UPI Fintech Apps (vol. and val.) have some sort of PA license (Phonepe, Gpay). Maybe an early indicator of future movement of UPI App to PA? But it's too soon to tell 📌 Product builds are momentary moats. So the differentiating factor could be licenses, which allow additional monetization & experience. Ex: Prepaid Instruments (PPI) for gifting/loyalty & Account Aggregators (AA) for seamless information sharing 📌 Some PA’s have already started. Below are the PAs (in stages of approval) with multiple licenses: CRED: PA, PPI, NBFC PhonePe: PA, PPI, AA Nium: PA, PPI Razorpay: PA, PPI Pinelabs: PA, PPI, AA Digio: PA, AA AmazonPay: PA, PPI Mobikwik: PA, PPI Sodexo: PA, PPI 📌 Of PAs, CRED, Groww, Zomato, PayU & TATA have affiliated NBFCs. Others like Fi & Jupiter are neobanks - I suppose if not banking then an NBFC is the next best thing 📌 NBFC licenses are highly coveted. There are 9500+ NBFCs in India, most of which are dormant, which fintechs seek to acquire. But RBI is reluctant to give them out 📌 But why? Could be overlapping ownership. The same VC / PE’s have invested in multiple fintechs, some of which have received NBFC licenses. RBI generally is not in favor of the same entity holding multiple NBFC licenses and has extended that logic to investors. That’s probably why OneCard and others were rejected: Matrix is an investor in OneCard & Jupiter, and Jupiter has an NBFC license To read the full article, and other pieces like this, click below: https://lnkd.in/gftFhKV3 #fintech #PA

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The Linux Foundation research delves into the enterprise blockchain market, exploring perceptions of Hyperledger compared to other brands, benefits, use cases, and adoption challenges. #Blockchain #Hyperledger #EnterpriseTechnology Hyperledger Foundation Hyperledger India Chapter Daniela Barbosa Julian Gordon

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Europe's blue-chip crypto 'champion' acquired by Robinhood. The continent will never achieve prominence in new technologies if every player gets bought by an American or Chinese company but what to do? I am a free-markets fan but if Europe wants to have a stake in the digital asset economy with #blockchain, #bitcoin and #crypto etc it needs to nurture (and keep) regional champions somehow. Web3 and blockchain is global.. they should take advantage of US regulatory uncertainty with special incentives. The crypto bull market was the driving force behind a massive Q1 earnings boost, Robinhood Markets stock (HOOD.O) has surged 69% this year, is doubling down on crypto via the acquisition of the exchange Bitstamp for about $200 million in cash, speeding up a broader push into digital assets. Bitstamp is of Europe's oldest and most blue-chip regulated crypto firms (since 2011) holds 50 active licenses and registrations globally/. This puts them in direct competition with industry giants such as Binance and Coinbase. However the firm also received a so-called Wells notice from the U.S. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The markets regulator has argued that crypto tokens should be considered securities and subject to its registration rules. Crypto firms, on the other hand, have accused the SEC of overreach as it plans to bring enforcement action against a company. It may not go far given the Biden administration recent 180 on crypto. Election Votes are key and stats indicate that 25% of americans own crypto - higher amongst the young. The unexpected Ethereum Network ETF approval seems to be one consequence of this U-turn. Again Europe (inc UK) should push heavily into #blockchain and all associated technologies to have some domestic bigTech champions in this new growth sector. https://lnkd.in/dPmtD6Eh

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⚡ THORWallet to integrate unizen API for extending the scope and functionality of EVM <> UTXO swaps! 💡 We are partnering with THORChain to bring Bitcoin to DeFi by optimizing trade routes for EVM to UTXO swaps. 🌩 As a result of the integration, ThorWallet users will now be able to swap from EVM chains like Arbitrum and Polygon to Bitcoin, vastly improving their current capability, which spans only Ethereum Mainnet and Avalanche. #web3 #fintech #defi

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We've released the latest edition of our EQ/IQ Crypto Newsletter, and it's chock-full of critical industry developments! Here are my top three takeaways: 1️⃣ Robinhood has entered an agreement to acquire Bitstamp for an estimated $200 million and plans to expand its lineup of crypto-native products and services. 2️⃣ Coinbase's new Smart Wallet aims to bring millions of new users on-chain with improved usability and security relative to traditional wallets. 3️⃣ Kraken Digital Asset Exchange is seeking at least $100 million in pre-IPO funding. Which key industry developments are you following closely this week? 💡

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