Kozminski Techblog

Founded in 1744, Sotheby’s auction house set a world record by selling NFT CryptoPunk # 7523, also known as COVID Alien, for 4,520 ETH ($ 11.8 million at the time of the deal). The visually non-fungible token depicts a masked alien.

The previous owner of COVID Alien, nicknamed Sillytuna, acquired it through an over-the-counter transaction. After the auction closed, he tweeted “NFTs are dead.”

CryptoPunks is one of the first NFT collections on the Ethereum blockchain, released by software developer Larva Labs in 2017. Tokens are 8-bit images of 24×24 pixels.

Sotheby’s is one of the world’s oldest auction houses. Together with the Christie’s auction house it occupies about 90% of the world market for auction sales of antiques, art objects, etc. It is the world’s largest auction house (in terms of total sales revenue for 2011).

Source: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/natively-digital-cryptopunk-7523/cryptopunk-7523

https://www.reuters.com/technology/cryptopunk-nft-sells-118-million-sothebys-2021-06-10/

With the increasing concentration of Bitcoin mining in North America, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is seeking to position his city as a hub for cryptocurrency mining.

Speaking on CNBC, Mayor Suarez said he is inviting foreign mining companies to consider setting up data centres in the city.

Suarez said that Miami has sufficient nuclear power, and this should attract Bitcoin miners looking to harness clean energy for their operations, especially amid the current focus on the perceived carbon footprint of cryptocurrency mining.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/17/miami-mayor-francis-suarez-trying-to-win-over-chinese-bitcoin-miners.html

The company believes that petrol and diesel cars have no future, so they will focus on the production of electric cars.

Swedish automaker Volvo Cars plans to switch to electric cars by 2030.

The automaker is going to achieve this goal in two stages:
2025 – half of all cars will be electric, and the rest will be hybrid.
2030 – the company will completely abandon petroleum vehicles and hybrids. The company clarifies that they are forced to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles by the rules that are adopted in Europe. For example, in the UK, diesel and gasoline cars will be banned from 2030.

“To remain successful, we need profitable growth. Therefore, instead of investing in a shrinking business, we prefer to invest in the future – electricity and online. Combustion vehicles have no long-term future,” said Volvo CEO Hakan Samelsson.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56245618