Issue #3: McLaren Racing, Junkie XL, Granada and more
Stay up to date with the latest news, updates and activities within the Tezos ecosystem and community.
Welcome to the June edition of TZ APAC’s Fresh Out The Oven. Another month, another upgrade as Granada comes under review, and yet another Formula One team, McLaren Racing, joins the Tezos family. That’s just the start… read on to find out this month’s top stories.
Tezos becomes McLaren Racing’s official technical partner
McLaren Racing has selected Tezos to become the team’s Official Technical Partner in a new multi-year technical partnership across Formula 1, INDYCAR and esports. McLaren will use the energy efficient and upgradeable Tezos network to create a non-fungible token (NFT) platform with fan experience at the heart.
Once again, Tezos was selected for its sustainability, energy-efficiency and pace of innovation. As part of the partnership, the Tezos brand will be represented across the McLaren Formula 1 and Arrow McLaren SP teams, including on the race suits of McLaren F1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Riccardo, and AMSP drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. Tezos will also be presenting partner of the McLaren Shadow esports team.
McLaren Racing is the second Formula One team supported by Tezos. Tezos is also the official blockchain partner of Red Bull Honda Racing.
USD Coin (USDC) to be issued on Tezos
Centre, a consortium supporting the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) founded by Circle and Coinbase, announced that Centre members will issue #USDC on Tezos in the coming months.
USDC has rapidly grown into the largest stablecoin ecosystem in the world and recently surpassed a market cap of $25 billion. USDC on Tezos and other multi-chain protocols will further accelerate the use of the world’s fastest growing digital dollar currency.
CapBridge Financial Group launches 1exchange (1X)
1X is the first Singapore private exchange, built on a public blockchain (i.e. Tezos) to be granted the Recognised Market Operator license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
It supports greater access to the private market share trading ecosystem for companies and investors in Singapore.
The exchange is part of CapBridge Financial Group, which counts Singapore Exchange (SGX) and SGInnovate as its strategic partners and shareholders.
Choo Haiping, CEO of 1X, said, "By enabling private company share registration on select public blockchains and facilitating private share transactions within a robust blockchain environment, we can potentially increase the liquidity avenues for small and medium enterprises and their investors as the processes for share trading and filing are made even simpler and more convenient… We selected Tezos and Ethereum as both public chains are secure and battle-tested open-source technologies. They offer high liquidity options within their secure, globally distributed network of participants, and provide reliable and robust developer support."
Award-winning movie composer, JunkieXL launches “Soundtrack Of Your Life” NFT auction on AmplifyX, built on Tezos
TZ APAC is Immensely proud of head of business development & operations, Scott Littlewood for helping bring AmplifyX to life on Tezos. TZ APAC supported AmplifyX on every step of its journey, from its tech development to its eventual launch.
"We couldn't be prouder to have helped AmplifyX in its pursuit of bringing transparency, equity, and artist ownership to the music industry, powered by the Tezos blockchain. The latest NFT auction by music legend Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) is another major step towards empowering more creators through technology – from the world-renowned to the up-and-coming." said Scott Littlewood.
Tezos India launches the second edition of the Tezos India Fellowship, application deadline: July 3rd
Building on the success of the first edition, Tezos India has launched the second Tezos India Fellowship, which will see 30 exceptional builders spend eight weeks developing impactful projects in the Tezos ecosystem.
The Fellowship offers the qualifying developers mentorship, the opportunity to build on the Tezos network, access to the global Tezos ecosystem, and a $2000 stipend over the course of the 8-week mentor-led program.
Granada, Tezos’ seventh protocol upgrade proposal, comes under review
Just last month, Tezos implemented its sixth protocol upgrade – Florence – which saw a doubling of maximum operation size, even more gas optimisations, an improved amendment process and more intuitive smart contract development.
Granada is the latest proposed protocol upgrade. Key features include:
Finality improvements (Emmy*) – block times should reduce by half, from one minute to thirty seconds. This is especially useful with the increased traffic and network usage garnered from the advent of several successful NFT and DeFi platforms/protocols.
Liquidity Baking – This feature will significantly improve the liquidity within the Tezos ecosystem and support further usage and adoption of various DeFi protocols. More details are yet to be announced.
Gas Optimisations – Granada will decrease gas consumed (by an average of approximately 50 percent) in the execution of already deployed contracts. This reduction in gas consumption will enable developers to deploy richer, more complex, and more dynamic applications on Tezos at reasonable, real-world cost.
TZ APAC’s Marissa Trew discusses the sustainability of NFTs on Singapore radio station, Money FM
Marketing manager, Marissa Trew, was interviewed by Singapore’s primary finance radio channel – MONEY FM 89.3 – to discuss what makes a 'clean' versus 'dirty' NFT, how Tezos differentiates itself from other blockchains from an energy-efficiency standpoint, and why sustainability must be a key priority for blockchain technology.
TezTalks Radio interviews Equisafe CEO, Bilal El Alamy
The latest episode of TezTalks interviews Bilal El Alamy about asset tokenisation platform Equisafe, Py-Mich – a new hybrid programming language for developers, and plans to set up a Tezos hackathon and accelerator in France.
Watch the full episode:
Tezos proudly sponsors the 33rd International Olympiad in Informatics
The 33rd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2021) took place from June 19 - June 25 in Singapore, which saw over 350 participants from 88 countries. The competition brings together budding young computer scientists from various countries to compete in a variety of online coding and programming challenges’.
As part of Tezos’ sponsorship, TZ APAC hosted a blockchain and Tezos- focused quiz for all attendees, as well as a commemorative NFT airdrop for IOI participants. Tezos early architect, Arthur Breitman, also shared a few words.
TZ APAC sponsors Art Moments Jakarta, raising key conversations around NFTs and Indonesia’s artists
Interest in NFTs amongst Asia’s art communities is increasing and reshaping the way in which people create, buy and sell art digitally, particularly in developing countries like Indonesia. To cater to this growing demand, Art Moments Jakarta – a month-long live-online hybrid event – hosted a series of workshops and panel sessions that aimed to educate local artists and collectors about the blockchain and how clean NFTs could revolutionise the art world.