Decentraland is an open-source initiative that will allow users to create land and objects for use in its virtual space. While not dissimilar to Second Life, Decentraland distinguishes itself with blockchain technology- the same record keeping innovation that powers Bitcoin, Etherium, and other virtual currencies- which generates 10m x 10m blocks of space called LAND alongside the cryptocurrency MANA tokens which willpower the virtual economy. One LAND costs 1000 MANA tokens.

Decentraland recently finished its initial coin offering (ICO)- a sort of cryptocurrency hybrid of a traditional IPO and a crowdfunding initiative- taking in $25.5 million in the digital coinage Etherium in exchange for the first MANA tokens. Players will use these tokens to buy not just property, but goods and services on sale in the virtual world.

Initially set to go for nine days, or until $25 million was raised, the ICO began on August 17th with coins on sale for 0.080 ETH (approx. USD 26) per LAND and was slated to slowly rise to a maximum of 0.133 ETH (USD 43). However, demand was so overwhelming that 7,000 transactions could not be processed before the company hit its fundraising cap, ending the ICO.

Investors arent the only ones who will own MANA tokens to start. According to the Decentraland blog, 40 percent of the token supply will be allocated to the launch contributors; 20 percent is reserved to incentivize content creators and developers to build inside of Decentraland; 20 percent will go to the development team, early contributors and advisors; and the remaining 20 percent will be held by the Decentraland Foundation.

The first parcels of virtual real estate will go on sale in a few months. Decentraland is still preparing a land allocation policy to ensure equitable distribution and to ensure buyers can procure contiguous blocks of LAND. In the trailer above the platform can be seen running on the HTC Vive, though were not sure if its coming to the Oculus Rift too.

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VR World Decentraland Raises $25.5 Million In Cryptocurrency - UploadVR

Eugne Etsebeth is an ex-central bankerwho was employed as a technologist at the South African Reserve Bank from 2013 to 2017. During his time at the reserve bank, he notablychaired the virtual currency and distributed ledger working group.

In this opinion piece, Etsebeth outlines why he believes central banks won't be able to adapt to innovations in cryptocurrency, arguing they simply aren't set up to compete with sea changes in technology.

It's a familiar trend, one that happened in communications (internet), and that is now playing out in energy (solar), manufacturing (3D printing)and finance (cryptocurrency) power and control are moving into the hands of the individual and away from nation states.

This has huge implications for central banks, which today enable nation states to maintain their monopolies over the issuance of notes, coins and sovereign bonds. While communications and manufacturing are not their focus, cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) fall predominantly in the realm of central banks.

In these systems,central banks don't issue legal tender. Rather, miners and algorithms now control the issuance of tokens effectively, the money supply. Whereas previously banks were licensed to store, send and spend currency, now wallet providers and exchanges allow the same features.

The currency renaissance has arrived and central banks are studying cryptocurrencies, though some central banks are more open to change than others.

Singapore has been investigating the notion of using distributed ledger technologies to settle cross-border transactions in real time, and the Bank of England has experimented with Ripple. Central banks are even looking to build their own versions of central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC).

Even still, central banks are not well equipped to deal with the cryptocurrency renaissance.

In fact, there are10 good reasons why most central banks will find cryptocurrencies insurmountable. Sure, a small number of forward-thinking (and acting) central banks willmaintain monetary competiveness with the burgeoning cryptocurrencies and ICOs that have reared their decentralized heads.

Still, most will succumb to a mix of the following issues:

Central banks will need to attract and retain fresh talent that will enable them to deal with the new openness and transparency demands, as well as digital transformation and the increasingly complex global world.

Decision-making in central banks is like wading through treacle decisions take months because of numerouslayers of hierarchy.

Working groups need to compile voluminous and detailed documents that need to be reviewed and signed by all parties before they can proceed to the heads of departments or the deputy governors.

Academics, economists and big-picture thinkers excel in central banks. The academics ponder on conceptual issues andthe economists make interpretations from data, whereas the policy makers and regulators mull over the cause and effect of promulgating laws.

However,technologists are generally not part of the discussion when it comes to policy and economic decisions for currency.

Although some central banks are engaging in experimentation, there is a fear of going from proof-of-concept to pilot phase.

This is natural, should a central bank make an error, it may turn out to be a reputation buster and reputation is the cornerstone of central banks. There is also some trepidation that the early regulation of cryptocurrencies, and associated new technologies, may legitimize their adoption.

Central banks are similar to conglomerates in that they have a number of different and distinct departments that require diverse skills and outputs.

These differences make it difficult to approach a new technology and economic tour de force like cryptocurrency, because it doesnt fit neatly into any one of the industrial-style conglomerate domains.

To highlight the conglomerate type nature of central banks, the core departments and skill sets are listed below:

Most central banks do not have substantial software development capability. Therefore any new project will have to buy its technology. There is an acute shortage of central bankers who can explain or use Merkle trees.

A large portion of central bankers are career central bankers, so the desire and ability to change arenot incentivised. Change is often considered a threat to staff, and threats are met with jelly-like stickiness to the status quo.

Banks are licensed to operate by central banks, giving them the ability to create money from customer deposits.

The central bank asks the banks to protect depositor's hard-earned money and to serve as many customers as it can: i.e. maximizingfinancial inclusion. The task of banks is therefore to service anation's citizens at the behest of the central bank.

These relationships and licenses are expensive to buy and will not easily be changed to include new members.

Just as the departments within central banks tend to be siloed, so too are the intergovernmental departments that look at currency matters.

They cover treasury, financial intelligence (KYC), financial services conduct authority, central bank, tax revenue and secret service units. Each of these units may have different acts and regulations that overlap cryptocurrencies and ICOs.

Internationally the nation-state must get guidance from a multitude of organisations like the G20 or G7, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and INTERPOL. International coordination often requires prolonged diplomacy and mismatched agendas.

Statue of Davidimage via Shutterstock

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10 Reasons Why Central Banks Will Miss the Cryptocurrency Renaissance - CoinDesk

Talk about trendy: An investment group that includes Mark Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Elisabeth Murdoch, and Shari Redstone is feeling lucky about a business that aims to become a power in betting on eSports with cryptocurrencies.

The A-listers have invested in Unikrn, an eSports betting company. And it says today that beginning September 22 it hopes to persuade consumers to spend $100 million on its own currency, UnikoinGold, which is based on the Ethereum software platform.

The company, founded in 2014, says that its currency will be accessible around the world and allow users to earn prizes, hardware, and exclusive features.

The value of the tokens will be determined by the utility and turnover of the token itself from within the Unikrn platform as well as the value of the token on the free market, the company adds.

Betting on e-Sports is only legal in a few countries including the U.K., Ireland, and Australia.

Unikrn CEORahul Sood says that the company is in the middle of testing our eSports skill betting platform that will allow [U.S.] customers to use UnikoinGold for betting.Much of this has been in development for the last two years, we will start launching new applications 90 days after our token sale is complete.

Buyers should beware: Rules and structures governing eSports competitions are still evolving.

And cryptocurrency markets are even more turbulent although Bitcoins are making news this week with valuations hitting new highs after appreciating 750% over the last year.

The SEC recently found that coin offerings are covered by securities laws, although its not clear whod be covered since valuations are determined by a decentralized market. The IRS is looking into how tax laws apply to cryptocurrencies. And there are lingering concerns that criminals use the computer-based currencies to launder money, sell illegal drugs, or commit fraud.

Sood says the decentralized market for UnikoinGold tokens would give users more autonomy and opportunity to participate on our platform, with flexibility to trade in a more open marketplace. Our improved eSports betting system is creating a new world of opportunity for cryptocurrency wagering that is legal, safe and fun. Competitive gaming thrives on innovation, risk and reward, and we believe that UnikoinGold is the breakthrough that the eSports world has been waiting for.

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Media A-Listers Back eSports Betting Firm As It Dives Into Cryptocurrencies - Deadline

Cryptocurrency exchange service is reviewing its listings in light of recent statements on initial coin offerings (ICOs) from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a new blog post, the exchange said that it was launching the review, which could see it delist some of the trading pairs it offers, in a bid to avoid being "mischaracterized as a securities exchange."

As CoinDesk previously reported, the SEC revealed last month that it had been investigating The DAO, the ethereum-based funding vehicle that raised more than $150 million through a token sale. The agency ultimately ruled that those tokens which were sold and later freely traded on cryptocurrency exchanges qualify as securities, and that other token sales may fall under this definition as well.

It's in light of this statement that ShapeShift has asked its lawyers to examine whether the Howey Test a long-standing test used to determine whether certain assets qualify as securities applies to the tokens it lists. It's a notable development whichsignals that the SEC statement is having at least some impact on the startups that facilitate the exchangeof blockchain-based tokens.

ShapeShift explained in the blog post:

"This means that we may need to delist some types of tokens from the platform, which is unfortunate for our users who have enjoyed the ability to participate in these experimental and innovative technologies. We have thus instructed our counsel to examine the tokens available on ShapeShift, especially through the lens of the Howey Test, which is the test the SEC applies to determine the presence of a security."

As the statement goes on to suggest, US-based customers of ShapeShift may be the ones that feel the biggestimpact as the review moves ahead.

"As that analysis is done, certain tokens may be removed from the service for individuals within the United States, who will then no longer be able to interact with these technologies safely or transparently through the ShapeShift platform," the startup said, going on to add that it may "consider the application of the Howey test to all new tokens we list."

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in ShapeShift.

SEC image via Flickr

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Australia has decided digital currencies need the same level of regulation enjoyed by other currencies.

Justice minister Michael Keenan yesterday announced an intention to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act and give more digi-dollar regulatory powers to the Australian Transactions and Reporting Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

Describing the current state of affairs as a regulatory gap, the minister said the decision to bring digital currencies under the same laws as other currencies has been taken after consultation with industry and our national security agencies.

The threat of serious financial crime is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and criminals seek to nefariously exploit them, Keenan gravely intoned. These measures ensure there is nowhere for criminals to hide.

There's a draft of the upgraded Act for your consideration. It defines a digital currency as "a digital representation of value that:

(i) functions as a medium of exchange, a store of economic value, or a unit of account; and (ii) is not issued by or under the authority of a government body; and (iii) is interchangeable with money (including through the crediting of an account) and may be used as consideration for the supply of goods or services; and (iv) is generally available to members of the public without any restriction on its use as consideration."

The draft also calls for the creation of a Digital Currency Exchange Register so that AUSTRAC knows who to regulate.

Australia's decision aligns it with other nations. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre last week included Cyber criminal use of cryptocurrency in its weekly Threat List. China and Japan have also moved to regulate digital currency exchanges.

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Australian money cops gain powers to regulate cryptocurrency - The Register