Fans also miss out on the chance to see their favorite artists in person and enjoy the thrilling experience of a live event. The entertainment market is worth $2.3 billion globally and is growing – highlighting the increasing demand for performers.
The downside is that many celebrities are booked with as much as one year in advance. Furthermore, not all fans can afford to pay for travel to see their favorite artists like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry perform live.
New Blockchain platform Ceek is looking to connect artists and fans through virtual reality by developing a decentralized entertainment metaverse. Its aim is to extend the availability of events like concerts and shows, and enable artists to sell practically unlimited virtual tickets, along with digital and real merchandise.
VR and Blockchain Meets Entertainment Metaverse
is an award-winning virtual reality (VR) developer of hardware and software with a functioning VR headset that includes exclusive concerts from top artists like Katy Perry, Elton John, U2, Lagy Gaga, and more. Available in major online stores such as Best Buy, Target, and Amazon, the Ceek headset works together with the companion Ceek app on any smartphone.
By bringing together two industries – VR and Blockchain – the new project aims to empower fans to join a platform and attend their favorite live concerts in virtual reality in “Ceek City”. Ceek is on a journey to developing an entertainment metaverse where fans can participate in a vast array of activities. They will be able to use Ceek tokens to interact with their favorite artists, attend contests, buy proprietary virtual goods, and more.
An added benefit of Ceek caters to artists who can leverage the platform to stream their events in VR, invite fans to attend through the Ceek headset and app, and therefore increase revenues. By simplifying rights clearance, licensed music can be used by creators at global scale, thus removing bottlenecks and streamlining efficiency.
Celebrity Tokenization on “Ceek City”
With an already proven business model in place, the Ceek VR headset is designed for everyday consumers to experience VR.
Ceek City is also a place for developers who can help improve the platform by contribute to its development through Ceek’s APIs and SDKs. They can create venues, virtual environments, and different digital goods they can sell on the platform.
Ceek tokens empower labels, artists, and brands to create virtual stores, open untapped revenue streams through customized coins, merchandise creation and virtual tickets. By creating their own tokens within minutes with Ceek’s Coin Minting Tool, labels and artists benefit from royalty tracking and automated clearing license services through smart contract technology that ensures complete transparency and analytics.
A Decentralized VR Ecosystem for the Entertainment Industry
Ceek’s in-house features and proprietary technology (in particular, its award-winning VR headset) paves the way to a decentralized entertainment industry powered by Blockchain. Ceekers have the platform’s utility token at their disposal to perform transactions such as buy concerts tickets and virtual goods, whereas celebrities can mint custom coins to boost their revenue streams and satisfy the need of their fans to watch them perform live.
To fulfill the mission of developing an entertainment metaverse in VR, Ceek has partnered with huge names in the music industry such as Universal Music, Apple, and T-Mobile to help kickstart the project and instill more demand for fully-immersive virtual reality experiences. The Ceek VR Token Pre Sale has already started. Those interested to participate in the main sale can join until May 3rd of 2018.
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The rapid expansion of the cryptocurrencies becomes a threat for the governments. The sphere has incredible pace of development and obviously lacks the regulations. Even though the progress cannot be stopped, governments all over the world consider different ways of resisting the financial crimes in the sphere. Money laundering, tax evasion – the world of the cryptocurrencies has a lot to offer to the black market. Thailand’s military government recently made a big step towards the crypto sphere regulation.
Finance Minister of Thailand Apisak Tantivorawong announced on the 27th of March that the government of the country wants to regulate the crypto sphere and sets the relevant tax framework. The news came out after a weekly cabinet meeting.
The new laws on the cryptocurrencies and digital tokens cover all crypto trading and investing practices. The taxes are set to the following rate: 7% value added tax on all crypto trades and a 15% capital gains tax on the returns. The regulations have been in development during several months. Two drafts were approved by the middle of the March; the further development of the tax frame got stimulated by the Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.
The decision of Thailand’s military government is seen as a conservative one. However, it got support from influential representatives of the society. Korn Chatikavanij, the former finance minister and chairman of the Thai Fintech Association, said: “They have to be cautious not to allow their conservative instincts to result in draconian regulations.”
The announcement of the tax framework has not become a big surprise. In February 2018 Thailand’s central bank made a notable decision: it set a ban on local banks investing and trading in cryptocurrencies. No wonder, the crypto society of the country lost the confidence in the future of this sphere in Thailand.
While the tax conditions in Thailand are to become strict, more and more startups prefer to get officially registered in Singapore. This country has created crypto-friendly space and attracts progressive projects from Thailand. A striking example of the situation is Six.network. The project that aims at developing the digital economy by building a better infrastructure was created by the united efforts of the specialists from Thailand and South Korea. However, Six.network is registered in Singapore and has already started the ICO to raise $44 million.
South Korea deserves a special mention while speaking about the tax framework announced in Thailand. This country has attracted lots of attention with its decisions on the crypto regulations. Another turn is expected to come in June 2018. The country plans to follow the example of Thailand and also set the for the cryptocurrencies.
The decision of Thailand’s military government is controversial. On the one hand, it may cause a massive brain drain among the crypto society. On the other hand, ignoring the fact that crypto projects attract millions of dollars without any regulations may seriously damage the economy of the country.
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Who Watches the Watchmen? An engineer from Beijing has been arrested after allegedly discovering a failed hacking attempt to his company and taking advantage of the situation to steal some of the money for himself. 90% of the loot has been returned but he can still go to jail for as much as seven years.
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An Inside Job
Zhong Mo, a tech company employee, allegedly used his position to steal 100 bitcoins from his employer. The Haidian police recently confirmed his arrest for the crime of illegally acquiring computer information. Haidian is the area where most universities are located in Beijing and contains the Zhongguancun electronics district where many tech companies have their Chinese headquarters, locally known as “China’s Silicon Valley.”
The prosecutors of the Science and Technology Criminal Investigation Department of Haidian investigated the case and found that the accused was an operation and maintenance engineer of a technology company. The claims are that during a routine maintenance of the company’s server, he found out that someone tried to steal the company’s cryptocurrency by hacking, but failed. After eliminating the abnormal interference, the engineer used his administrator’s authority to log in to the server himself and insert a piece of code to transfer 100 bitcoins from the company’s holdings to his own account registered on a website outside China. He also tried to eliminate traces of the act, taking steps to avoid tracking.
The Thief Falls Victim to Another Crime
After losing 10 bitcoins to a phishing scam and apparently getting cold feet, the employee returned the remaining 90 bitcoins to the company. According to the exchange rate at the time of the incident, September 16, 2017, 100 bitcoins were worth about $380,000. Local claim that this is the first case of bitcoin theft handled by the police in Beijing.
The prosecutor in the case said that according to China’s Criminal Law, violating state regulations regarding data stored in a computer system, the employee can be sentenced to imprisonment of no more than three years, but if the circumstances are found to be particularly serious he can face up to seven years in prison, plus a fine.
Earlier in 2017 another Chinese citizen was arrested for stealing bitcoins. The programmer was arrested in Shanghai for an alleged (about $3 million).
How should companies guard against employees taking advantage of access to their bitcoin wallets? Tell us in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
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