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Welcome to the latest edition of the Weekly Pulse, a weekly Algorand news wrap-up segment presented by Algopulse. As ever, we welcome your feedback so if there is anything you would like us to add, please let us know on Twitter, Discord, or Telegram. For more from Algopulse visit https://www.algopulse.io/.
Algorand Becomes Sponsor of World Soccer Governing Body FIFA
Potentially one of the biggest deal announcements in the history of the Algorand blockchain took place this week as it became the official blockchain partner of global football (soccer) governing body FIFA. The agreement was announced during the recent Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles where Algorand Founder Silvio Micali and FIFA President Gianni Infantino exchanged pleasantries. In its official press release FIFA said, “The agreement means Algorand will become the official blockchain platform of FIFA and provide the official blockchain-supported wallet solution. As per the sponsorship agreement, Algorand will be a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Regional Supporter in North America and Europe, and a FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ Official Sponsor.”
News of the agreement has sparked excitement within the Algorand community who have speculated a number of exciting use cases including with NFT projects.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, “we are delighted to announce this partnership with Algorand. The collaboration is a clear indication of FIFA’s commitment to continually seeking innovative channels for sustainable revenue growth for further reinvestment back into football ensuring transparency to our stakeholders and world-wide football fans – a key element of our Vision to make football truly global. I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with Algorand.”
Meadowlabs Partners With Australia Zoo For New NFT Collection
The world famous Australia Zoo has announced the launch of its “Wildlife Warriors” NFT (non-fungible token) project in partnership with Meadow Labs. The rare NFT project will comprise of a series of drops, each focusing on a different Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors animal. The NFTs will be randomly generated, non-deterministic, utility-driven and 100 per cent unique to the buyer.
Robert Irwin of Australia Zoo and son of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, said, “at Australia Zoo we’re always open to new ways that can help continue our Wildlife Warriors mission.”
“Any innovation that can help our conservation efforts, particularly one that shares our vision of protecting the planet, is something we’re thrilled to support. This green chain and new technology allows us a new avenue to continue to fight for the protection of our wildlife and wild places.”
“We’re really excited to partner with Australia Zoo in their first foray into Web3 and their mission of fighting for the planet’s wildlife and wild places, one NFT at a time,” said Co-founder and CEO of Meadow Labs, Martin Kelly.
“This is a sensational example of what innovative brands can achieve when they open themselves up to the endless possibilities that Web3 has to offer. This is just the beginning of a long term partnership to create an “NFT for good” movement that builds on ensuring we all have a sustainable future.”
Fidelis Loans Receive Algorand Grant
Fidlelis has been announced as a new recipient of the Algorand grant to assist their project in providing a fast non-collateralized loans service in the African market.
"For so many Africans, the only option to pay for unexpected expenses like medical bills or funerals is through loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest,” says Joon Lee, Founder and CEO of the African Code Academy.
“With Fidelis, we have an opportunity to offer much-needed credit but also provide financial literacy and planning guidance. We see a great unmet need for so many in Africa. Fidelis provides a more affordable and humane credit option to those who need it the most."
Silvio Interviewed by LA Times
Algorand Founder Silvio Micali was featured in the Los Angeles Times news publication this week in an interview piece. The discussion with reporter Laurence Darmiento focused on the future direction of cryptocurrency and the blockchain industry. The piece will provide a valuable top level insight to the ambitions of Algorand and the purpose of its operating in bringing a next level blockchain to the global economy.
Algorand Foundation Issue Governance Voting Update
The Algorand Foundation have issued an important update relating to the content of the upcoming governance 3 voting period. In the release, the Foundation outlined its intention to refine the governance voting system to not focus on passive Algo holder and instead more heavily invested users. They explain the introduction of xGovs during the governance 2 period represented the first step towards this with plans to introduce "governance seats" that reward more active participants.
“For the current governance period, we intend to bring to a vote both a proposal to revamp governance as above, as well as a more detailed proposal for the xGov layer,” the release explained.
“Developing these proposals in a thoughtful and careful manner will take some time, so we will delay the voting session to the latter part of this period. Specifically, the voting session for the current governance period will be held from June 1 to June 15, 2022, and the measures to vote on will be available two weeks in advance.”
Users can therefore look forward to to the details of the voting measure being published on May 18th.
Algorand Experiences Price Jump
The Algorand network has experienced a healthy price bounce while the majority of the cryptocurrency market has been on a downturn. The rise has seen increased outside media coverage of the blockchain with many attributing the announcement of the FIFA partnership as a key reason. In any case, investors will be hoping this will contribute to price momentum and continued growth in the coming months.
Algorand Foundation Launches Venture Studio Algo Foundry
The Algorand Foundation have this week announced the creation of a venture studio dedicated to the growth of the Algorand developer ecosystem and building Algorand blockchain infrastructure and applications.
The project will be known as Algo Foundry and will facilitate the launch of courses to upskill developers looking to join the Algorand ecosystem. The first such program is set to launch later this month in Singapore with more locations to be introduced with growth.
“We believe Algorand is the blockchain of the future and we are excited to grow the developer ecosystem and build on it together with talented founders where Algo Foundry helps with branding, product design, early strategy, engineering and development, hiring, product-market fit, how to raise the first round — just basically navigating that first two years,” said CTO of Algo Foundry Michael Knott.
Messina Receives Algorand Foundation Bridges SupaGrant
Undercurrent Capital has been announced as the latest recipient of the Algorand Foundation Bridge SupaGrant for their Messina Bridge project. Messina Brisge is primarly focused on increasing interoperability between Algorand and Ethereum network.
“We believe blockchain interoperability is the future and Algorand will be a pillar of the digital economy. We are creating scalable infrastructure to serve the Algorand ecosystem using advanced cryptography so that decentralized apps can transport liquidity and data seamlessly,” said CTO of Undercurrent Technologies Michael Knott.
Price Watch
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Weekly Pulse as we look forward to continue bringing this content to the Algorand Community. Was there anything that we missed? If so let us know on Twitter, Discord, or Telegram where you can also send us any news you see throughout next week for our next installment. For more from Algopulse visit https://www.algopulse.io/.
