Weekly Blockchain News, November 15, 2021

Welcome back in the weekly summary of leading developments in the crypto/blockchain space, presented from Billon's point of view. Check what happened in the last days when it comes to CBDC and other enterprise uses of blockchain. Enjoy the read!

University to accept bitcoin for blockchain course. One of America’s finest business schools (which our founder Andrzej graduated!) has announced that it plans to accept bitcoin as a payment method for its online blockchain course. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is offering what it describes as an “end-to-end blockchain and digital assets program” that will give students the industry knowledge they need to succeed. Tuition fees have been set at $3,800 — or about 0.061 BTC at current rates.

EA calls NFT and blockchain games 'the future of our industry'.  The CEO Andrew Wilson called NFT and "play-to-earn" games the "the future of our industry," but added that "it's still early to figure out how that's going to work," when asked about the topic during the company's earnings call this week

Ubisoft announces plans to develop play-to-earn, blockchain and NFT games.  French game developer and publisher Ubisoft has shared its plans to be the key player in the industry when it comes to developing projects based on the play-to-earn concept. Play-to-earn is a hazy concept that allows game developers to give away cryptocurrency in exchange for playing a game. Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot shared more about this at the company's most recent earnings call.

Over 140 million people have digital yuan accounts, says PBoC head. China’s trials with central bank digital currency show no signs of slowing down, as the updated numbers for October 2021 were revealed at Hong Kong Fintech Week. China’s CBDC hit 62 billion yuan in total transactions processed, according to digital currency head of Peoples' Bank of China. 

eNaira slowly gains traction post-launch amid glitches. The rollout of the world's second central bank digital currency  is off to a rocky start. Since its launch on Oct. 25, 33 banks, 2,000 customers, and 120 merchants have signed up for the platform. Over 200 million worth of eNaira ($602,959 dollars) has since been issued to financial institutions in the country. But while government officials are optimistic about its outlook, the launch has not gone entirely smoothly. 

The Bias That Propels Shiba Inu and Dogecoin. Why are memecoins so popular? One explanation: a coin with a lower per-unit price can make novice investors feel a little richer. Thus can be seen as the gateway for retail investors to become more experienced crypto traders - "Coindesk" explains.

And that's it for now. See you next week!