New York Stock Exchange files trademark application for NFT marketplace

The New York Stock Exchange has filed an application to register the term ‘NYSE’ for a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), taking a step closer to setting up an online trading place for cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The hype around cryptocurrencies last year spilled over to NFTs, a form of speculative investment that has attracted fans including former US first lady Melania Trump and Jamaican sprint great Usain Bolt. 

Companies involved in this sector have also been backed by heavyweights Microsoft and SoftBank Group.

If the NYSE launches a new marketplace, it would compete with SuperRare, Rarible and NFT marketplace giant OpenSea, which was valued at $13.3 billion after its latest funding round.

NFTs, however, have left many baffled as to why so much money is spent on items that do not physically exist. Some also believe the industry is saturated by scammers and too often rewards viral art of low quality.

The NYSE minted its first set of NFTs in April last year, commemorating the first trades of six “notable” listings. 

The exchange’s filing indicates it could enter into the metaverse too, as it seeks to provide “virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality software”.

Besides NFTs, the exchange would also provide “an online marketplace for buyers, sellers and traders of virtual and digital assets, artwork”, it said in a filing.

UAE to give out crypto licences to attract top firms

The United Arab Emirates is poised to issue federal licenses for virtual asset service providers by the end of the first quarter in an effort to attract some of the world’s biggest crypto companies, according to a government official. The Securities and Commodities Authority is in the final stage of amending legislation to allow VASPs to set up, said an official on the condition of anonymity. Bloomberg

Buffett’s business partner calls crypto a ‘disease’

Charlie Munger, the long-time business partner of Warren Buffett, on Wednesday said cryptocurrency should have been banned, calling it “beneath contempt.” Munger is better known as vice chairman of Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway since 1978. “It’s like some venereal disease. I just regard it as beneath contempt,” Munger said about crypto. Reuters