Watch: Will Russia's Invasion Threat To Ukraine Hit Crypto? (youtube.com)
Welcome to The Daily Forkast, January 26th, 2021, presented by Megha Chaddah. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today's show:

00:00 Coming up
00:45 Thailand sets out crypto regulation plans
01:25 Kazakhstan blocks power for crypto miners
02:05 Crypto market could be hit if Russia invades Ukraine

---
First up, financial authorities in Thailand have revealed plans for regulating digital assets as a means of payment. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ministry of Finance and Bank of Thailand said that crypto as a payment method could impact financial stability and warned that it can pose risks to both businesses and customers through price volatility, cyber theft and money laundering.
Now, the guidelines include a ban on the use of e-wallets by merchants for receiving payments. The SEC says comment is welcome until February 8. So get in there quickly.
And over in Kazakhstan, power supplies for crypto miners have been blocked amid blackouts in the country. One local miner told Forkast.News all supplies to them ought to be blocked until the end of the month after massive blackouts hit parts of the country on Tuesday. Kazakhstan became the world's second largest Bitcoin producer last year after miners moved there en masse following China's clampdown. But recent protests over energy shortages, as well as the blackouts, are making it an increasingly fraught business environment.

Meanwhile, concerns over a Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to mount. President Biden has threatened sanctions, but could an invasion see Russia's President Putin cutting energy supplies to Europe and how might that hit crypto prices? With a reported 100,000 Russian soldiers deployed in the region, many investors are considering their options. One key issue for crypto is the potential for Russia cutting off supplies of gas, oil and coal to the EU. And while President Biden has a plan to mitigate the risk. One expert told Forkast.News, there simply isn't the capacity at ports to handle imports of liquefied natural gas. He says his feeling is that if Bitcoin mining is threatened. Risk averse investors will buy fiat currencies like the US dollar instead of crypto. However, another key concern on his mind is the threat Russia's upcoming naval exercises off the coast of Ireland pose to the internet and many crypto transactions. He also says the data cables are virtually unprotectable, and losing them could have a massive impact. As while satellite internet is nice in theory, it would be no substitute for the capacity the cables offer.

Getting a piece of what you want at least of your favorite celebrity is just a click away with everyone from soccer star Messi to Korean boy band BTS joining the NFT bandwagon. Are celebrity-linked NFTs here to stay? Or is this just a passing fad? Duc Luu, Executive Chairman of Sports Network, our very own NFT insider is here with the download.

Duc, there's so much happening in the world of celebrity NFT. Lindsay Lohan, after having sold an NFT of her "fursona", is now launching an experiential NFT. We also saw Taiwanese star Jay Chou launching his Phanta Bear collection, which bumped Board Ape Yacht Club from the top spot in OpenSea's rankings. But do you think relying on celebrity fan base for NFT sales is a sustainable strategy.

Duc Luu: 17 months ago, when we had that massive boom of NFT projects, particularly in PFPs, you didn't really need any sort of branding around it. Whether it's community branding or celebrity branding, because there are so many cool products coming out and everyone was really trying to figure out what to collect.But we even see before the celebrities arrive a sense that there needs to be some sense of strong community. They're doing collabs between PFPs, projects and their communities to grow. And trying to get your Discord group to fan base from 1,000 to 5,000 to 20,000, before and during your launch of your project. Then what celebrity brings, obviously, is more firepower and more web 2 people into web 3.

---
#Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #NFT #Kazakhstan #CryptoMarket #Regulation #CryptoMining #Energy #DigitalAssets #BAYC #PhantaBear
    • 1
    Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst Geopolitical changes affect everybody everywhere and everything, so any possible conflict, even the idea of it is already affecting crypto. Although is crazy to imagine a tradicional conflict in a world where wars are already battled in cyberspace, physical damage and disturbances to access to energy (like is happening now in the -stan countries) affects the web and even crypto mining. Normal people is already concerned and perplexed for what is happening. Take care out there.