News from the blockchain world | episode 42 ⛓💡
Hey, cryptoheads! 🤑 It's time to dive into another edition of "News from the blockchain world"! 📈 Want to stay on top of the latest news and trends in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency? Don't miss out on all the action - keep reading! 📰
From this edition you will learn a.o.:
✨ Who is believing that metaverse is "happening for real"?
✨ What is the new marketplace launched by Magic Eden?
✨ Which Singapore-based investment firm is planning to inject $100M into Web3 startups?
✨ When will Hong Kong release licensing details for virtual asset businesses?
✨ Why did the Euler exploiter return $5.4 million in ETH to the DeFi protocol?
Have fun reading - until next week!
🏢 Business
🔥 Coinmama partners Volt to support real-time crypto payments.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinmama has partnered gateway for real-time payments Volt to support real-time crypto payments in Europe and Brazil. The partnership is in line with Coinmana’s expansion efforts, as the company is looking to increase coverage in key European markets.
🔥 The Graph integrates Banxa's on-ramp to enable direct fiat payments.
The Graph teamed up with web3 fiat-to-crypto gateway Banxa, enabling users to pay with fiat currency. The collaboration marks the first use of Banxa’s OpenRamp product, enabling fiat payments to interact with smart contracts. The Graph argues the integration provides new possibilities for B2B2C projects in web2 and web3, allowing payments using a wide range of methods familiar to SaaS platforms
🔥 eTukTuk Has Announced Partnership With AsiaTokenFund.
eTukTuk - the worlds first automotive project built on the Cardano blockchain - has announced a brand-new, strategic investment partnership with finance platform AsiaTokenFund Group. The aim of the alliance is to encourage the growth of the platform throughout Asia. eTukTuk will leverage the benefits of blockchain technology to enable drivers to charge their eTukTuk or compatible electric vehicles cheaply.
🔥 Near Partners With WEMADE to Support blockchain App Development.
Near and WEMADE will jointly support initiatives to increase mutual brand awareness; invest in research and collaboration on cross-chain; host more community events like hackathons and boot camps; and scout for potential Web3 business opportunities. This is Near's second major brand partnership announcement in Korea after it partnered with Kakao Games METABORA earlier this year.
🔥 Chainlink and PwC Germany partner to bolster blockchain adoption
PwC is now a technology integration & development partner of Chainlink Labs. The joint business relationship will see Chainlink Labs provide support to mainstream companies that currently work with PwC Germany but are yet to integrate with the blockchain economy.
🔥 Singapore-Based Investment Firm Plans to Inject $100M Into Web3 Startups.
The investment firm BitRock plans to put $100 million in SaaS companies, fintech and Web3 startups. According to Bloomberg, BitRock, backed by logistic real estate operator GLP, is close to raising $100 million. After raising the fund, the firm wants to invest in finance and blockchain startups in China and Southeast Asia.
🔥 LegalEase and LexCheck Offer All-In-One Contract Review Solution for Lawyers.
LegalEase Solutions, an alternative legal service provider (ALSP), has partnered with LexCheck, an AI-driven contract review and negotiation technology firm, to offer a hybrid contract review service. The combined offering will use artificial intelligence to generate feedback for non-disclosure agreements, vendor contracts, and other legal agreements.
🔥 Nexon heads into NFTs with MapleStory Universe and Polygon deal.
Nexon announced that its MapleStory Universe virtual world ecosystem will enable players and creators to develop and manage NFT tokens. MapleStory is a MMO game with more than 180 million registered players. Polygon Labs, the development and growth team for the Polygon protocol, will provide both technological and business support.
🔥 blueHUT MEDIA Partners With BULLZ To Scale Web3 Projects To Web2 Audience
BULLZ, the web3 social platform announced its partnership with blueHUT MEDIA. The BULLZ app helps web3 projects grow faster by tapping into existing creator communities and simplifies the content creation process. BlueHUT MEDIA helps all types of web3 projects to acquire audiences and market their products. The partnership will give the agency and its clients access to BULLZ's MarTech tools, including the BULLZ Campaign Manager and BULLZ Challenge Launchpad.
🔥 Mastercard has partnered with Australian wallet Stables.
Mastercard is launching a stablecoin digital wallet integration with the Australian stablecoin platform Stables. The card will be accessible through the Stables digital application via mobile wallets. The Mastercard-enabled wallet integration will become available for users in the second quarter of 2023.
🔥 Turkish bank wants to take control of Stablex crypto exchange.
Ak Investment, one of Akbanks wholly owned subsidiaries, has officially applied to partner with Stablex, a crypto exchange. The parties have been negotiating since last year. However, they are yet to reach an agreement and obtain official approval from regulators.
🔥 Polygon Partners With Salesforce for NFT-Based Loyalty Program.
Blockchain technologies have increasingly been used to boost engagement with customers and offer loyalty rewards. Salesforce has partnered with Polygon for an NFT-based loyalty program.
🚧 Products
🔥 Toshi Tools, all-in-one dApp for analyzing and tracking wallets.
Toshi Tools is a dApp for analyzing and tracking wallets on the Ethereum blockchain. The tool provides users with advanced analytics on trader performance visualized in customizable charts. Wallet data extraction protocol integrates with GPT-3 Open AI learning models. This allows Toshi Tools to provide valuable trading insights based on top wallet's trading behaviours.
🔥 Uniswap has introduced a new feature called Mini Portfolio.
The Uniswap Web App has introduced a new feature called Mini Portfolio, which allows users to view their assets, including tokens, NFTs, LP Pools, and more in one place. Users can connect to the app with any wallet and see all their token balances, price history, TVL, and swap. Additionally, users can buy crypto using their bank or debit/credit card directly in their Mini Portfolio.
🔥 MetaMask Unveils the First Marketplace for Institutional Staking.
ConsenSys announced that its Web3 wallet for enterprises aka MetaMask Institutional unveiled the first institutional staking marketplace in partnership with Allnodes, Kiln, and Blockdaemon.
🔥 Gaming project Aavegotchi to release own blockchain with Polygon Supernets.
Aavegotchis, a trading game, will launch its own blockchain called Gotchichain. The network will leverage Polygon Supernets, which is Polygon's service that allows projects to create their application-specific chains.
🔥 Cryplinks, a library of crypto tools and services.
A list of hand-picked tools, services and applications, related to cryptocurrencies, DeFi, Web3 and blockchain. The library contains more than 260 projects divided into 13 categories.
🔥 Magic Eden launches marketplace for Bitcoin Ordinals.
agic Eden has launched its own “fully audited” marketplace for Bitcoin Ordinals, leveraging the surging interest in “Bitcoin NFTs”. The new Ordinals protocol was introduced in January. Since then, the popularity of Bitcoin Ordinals has surged.
🔥 Manta Network seeks to bring privacy to NFT with new NPO platform.
Zero-knowledge layer 1 blockchain Manta Network announced on March 20 that it had added support for assets to its protocol. The MantaPay protocol, which initially supported only fungible crypto assets, promises to now allow for privacy-preservation support for NFTs and SBTs through the use of ZK technology.
🔥 Microsoft testing crypto wallet in its web browser Edge.
Tech giant Microsoft is working on a non-custodial crypto wallet for its web browser Edge. Bleeping Computer said it tested the wallet, which is most likely only available to Microsoft Edge Dev Channel users as part of a limited test phase.
💾 Technology
🔥 Taiko Alpha-2 Testnet is Live.
Taiko is a fully decentralized ZK-Rollup (Type 1 ZK-EVM). Taiko Alpha-2 testnet is open to developers, users, and interested parties to deploy smart contracts and run an L2 node, including as a prover. The testnet has a faucet for requesting sample tokens, a bridge to move assets between testnet L2 and L1, block explorer and a swap app deployed.
🔥 UniLend Finance v2 Set to Launch on Polygon zkEVM.
UniLend, the decentralized finance platform announced its upcoming launch on Polygon ZK. This move will allow UniLend to offer its users lightning-fast transaction speeds, increased scalability, and enhanced security.
🔥 Results from the first audit of Polygon zkEVM.
A comprehensive security audit of Polygon zkEVM began in December. The audit was conducted by HexenSecure and showed a high level of security for the zkEVM, as well as identifying a few minor potential issues, which were quickly resolved by the Polygon team. As a result, Polygon and zkEVM can be considered stable and secure solutions for blockchain developers and users.
🔥 'What is RGB and why you should care'.
RGB is a scalable & confidential smart contracts system which can be viewed as both layer2 and/ or layer 3 technology working on top of Bitcoin and, most importantly, at the moment of writing – the only solution working with the Lightning Network. RGB gives the ability to separate many different types of ownership rights (ownership of different assets defined under a contract) such as the right to own, use, transfer, modify, sell etc., from the contract states (conditions, under which a contract exists currently), proofs and contract evolution.
⚖️ Legal
🔥 Is Jack Dorsey going to get blown up by Hindenburg Research?
Hindenburg Research, a short-selling firm known for exposing fraud in companies, has released a report alleging widespread fraud at Jack Dorsey's company, Block. The report accuses Block of misleading investors and engaging in predatory lending practices. The report also claims that Block's Cash App was facilitating fraud, and that the company turned a blind eye to obvious signs of fraud. Block has threatened to sue.
🔥 Court Has Handed a Legal Victory to Digital Artist Kevin McCoy in an Ownership Challenge Over the First-Ever NFT.
Kevin McCoy, the artist who is widely credited with creating the first NFT, and auction house Sotheby’s have won a legal victory in a lawsuit that challenged the terms and propriety of a 2021 sale at which the token sold for $1.47 million. The case is one of the first in the U.S. to deal with the blockchain technology behind NFTs.
🔥 Hong Kong To Release Licensing Details For Virtual Asset Businesses In June.
Hong Kong plans to introduce stablecoin regulations next year as part of its efforts to regulate and foster the digital asset industry. The territory also aims to launch its licensing framework for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) by June this year. Hong Kong is positioning itself as a regional powerhouse for blockchain and digital assets and wants to emerge as a global hub for web3.
🔥 Ripple lawyer foresees public release of former SEC chair emails.
Lawyer John Deaton expects Judge Analisa Torress to declare the draft of the Hinman speech as "judicial documents" thus making it public. He also said that the SEC is preparing for a massive enforcement action against the crypto firms. The Ripple vs SEC battle for a long time has centered around access to a speech by former SEC Chair William Hinman.
🛡 Security
🔥 Interpol confirms the arrest of Do Kwon, founder of Terra, in Montenegro.
Interpol says a man arrested in Montenegro is Kwon Do-hyeong, also known as Do Kwon. Kwon is wanted in South Korea and the United States on fraud and other charges. He founded the platform behind the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister coin Luna.
🔥 AI-themed project riding ChatGPT wave steals over $1M from users.
AI-backed Harvest Keeper project fleeced over $1 million from hundreds of unsuspecting investors. CertiK confirmed that the platform had stolen over $933,000 worth of digital assets from users. Users were promised 101% returns on their investment within 21 days, with the additional perk of earning an extra 8% via referrals.
🔥 Crystal Blockchain Study Reveals $16.7 Billion in Crypto Assets Stolen Since 2011.
Crystal Blockchain, a company that provides blockchain data and analytics, published a study covering security breaches, fraud, and scams related to cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (defi). According to the study, approximately $16.7 billion in crypto assets have been stolen since 2011. Last year, Crystal’s intelligence team documented 199 incidents resulting in the theft of $4.17 billion in crypto assets.
🔥 Euler exploiter returns $5.4 million in ETH to DeFi protocol.
The exploiter of Euler Finance returned 3,000 ether (ETH) worth about $5.4 million to the DeFi lending protocol on Saturday. The return indicates the exploiter may have reached a deal with Euler after stealing $197 million from the protocol. Euler lost the money in a flash-loan attack.
💰 Investments
🔥 Contango Digital Assets Raises $1.2M in Seed Funding.
Contango Digital Asset has raised $1.2 million in Seed funding from Family Office, Venture Capital, and HNW Angel investors. The firm invests in early-stage Web3 projects. Contango is also building a SaaS platform to add transparency to private capital markets and level the playing field for angel investors in the Web3 private investment landscape.
🔥 CROSSx Raises Seed Financing Round.
Crossover Markets Group, a digital asset trading technology firm based in Delaware, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding. The company's CROSSx execution-only cryptocurrency Electronic Communication Network (ECN) is powered by a matching engine and includes order logic that enables clients to choose whom they want to trade with.
🔥 LiquidStack Raises Series B Funding.
LiquidStack, a Boston, MA-based company which specialized in liquid immersion cooling for data centers, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B funding. The round was led by Trane Technologies. Immersion liquid cooling is an environmentally safe and sustainable solution used by companies involved in cloud services, computing or crypto-mining.
🔥 Radix Raises $10M in Private Funding Round Led by DWF.
DWF Labs has organized a private investment round that resulted in the acquisition of $10 million for Radix Tokens. This investment offers Radix a value of $400 million and will help the platform’s efforts to expand its high throughput DeFi ecosystem. The investment will support the efforts of investors and comes at a crucial moment for Radix, as the company is preparing to launch its Babylon mainnet.
🔥 Multichain Wallet Bitkeep Raises $30 Million From Bitget.
The multichain wallet Bitkeep announced it raised $30 million from the crypto derivatives platform Bitget. Bitkeep now has an overall valuation of $300 million, with goals aimed at strengthening links between decentralized finance and centralized finance.
🔥 OP3N raises $28M to build 'WhatsApp meets Amazon' for web3.
OP3N, a web3 AI-powered platform, raised a $28M Series A round that values the company at $100M. OP3N’s chat-based product, Superapp, aims to bridge the gap between Web 2.0 and web3 through implementing blockchain and decentralized technologies into Web 2.0-friendly interfaces. The application will have the ability to add audio, video and mixed media content to on-chain interactions.
🔥 Mystic Games seed round aims towards bringing Web3 mobile games "into the mainstream".
Blockchain games developer Mystic Games has secured $1.3 million in seed funding. The money will go towards community growth, building a larger team, and the development of a mobile game titled Call of the VoYd.
🔥 eToro Gets $250M Funding from Failed SPAC Deal, Valuation Hits $3.5B.
eToro has raised $250 million in new financing after a failed attempt to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), FinTech Acquisition Corps. V. The funding raises eToro's valuation to $3.5 billion. According to eToro, while almost half (48%) of the commissions generated in 2022 came from equity trading, over a quarter (27%) were generated from commodities trading. In addition, the contribution of commissions from cryptocurrency trading dropped to 19%.
🔥 CCP Games secures $40M funding for Web3 game.
CCP Games has secured $40 million in financing from external partners to develop a new AAA title set in the Eve universe. The financing was spearheaded by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. According to CCP Games, the upcoming project will rely on blockchain technology and smart contracts to develop core game systems.
🔥 Synthetix nets $20M from DWF Labs.
Synthetix has secured a $20 million through a new partnership with Web3 investment firm DWF Labs. Synthetix allows users to tokenize a variety of real-world assets into derivatives called Synths. The partnership saw the SNX token value increase by over 100%.
🔥 Soul Wallet Raises $3M in Seed Funding.
Soul Wallet is building a self-custodial wallet, built on top of the ERC-4337 standard. Backers included Struck Crypto, Game7DAO, NGC Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Alchemy, Ankr and Signum Capital. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
🔥 Portuguese venture builder, Metasense B88, Raises $5M.
Metasense B88, a Portuguese metaverse venture builder, raised USD5M in funding. The round was led by Luduson G. The company intends to use the funds to grow its global venture studio offering.
🔥 Turkey's Metatime raises $11M in seed funding.
Metatime, a Turkish crypto platform that has yet to launch, raised $11 million in seed funding. Metatime is an Istanbul-based crypto startup that is preparing to launch several products and services, including a crypto exchange, wallet, NFT marketplace, native blockchain and a stablecoin.
🔥 Onchain Trade raised $700K through IFO.
Onchain Trade is a new DeFi protocol allows single token liquidity pools (instead of pool pairs). This is made possible by grouping deposited tokens into a virtual pair with the native OSD stablecoin.
🔥 Flying Sheep Studios gets $1.2M in German government funding for metaverse game.
Flying Sheep Studios said its Star Life title has raised $1.2 million. The game’s funding came from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Star Life will be a highly accessible MMO metaverse game, playable from any browser on any device.
ℹ️ Others
🔥 CNBC report shows how Chinese Binance customers bypass crypto bans.
CNBC has released an investigative piece on Binance citing allegations of allowing its Chinese customers to override the country’s cryptocurrency trading ban. According to the article, Binance staff and volunteers have taught others how to trick the exchange’s KYC and how to get a Binance debit card by lying about where they live.These disclosures cast doubt on the efficacy of Binance’s anti-money laundering (AML) efforts, and experts have voiced concern that the exchange’s lax enforcement of KYC guidelines may have consequences beyond China.
🔥 Cardano's founder did not spare bitter words for the White House economic report.
Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson criticized the new Economic Report from the White House for being anti-crypto, referring to it as a "hatchet job." Hoskinson stated that the report's authors were blaming cryptocurrencies for the banking crisis that they themselves created. He called the report "bullshit" and "a piece of garbage".
🔥 ARB Airdrop Pushes Arbitrum To Its Limit.
Almost four hours after ARB was launched, nearly half of the more than 600,000 eligible wallets have claimed Arbitrum’s long-awaited token. The frenzy of activity briefly pushed Arbitrum to its limit with the website crashing and transaction fees on the blockchain — usually around $0.10 — briefly spiking 30x to above $3.
🔥 GameStop Goes From ‘Brink of Bankruptcy’ to Profits.
The video game retailer announced in a Tuesday (March 21) earnings release that it had seen a net profit of $48.2 million in the quarter that ended in January, versus a $147.5 million loss recorded the same quarter a year ago. Among the company’s digital efforts have been a collaboration with FTX, which was announced in September but ended two months later when FTX collapsed. GameStop CEO Matt Furlong has said that the company does not currently hold a material balance of any token, and has no plans to risk meaningful stockholder capital in the crypto space.
🔥 Tim Sweeney believes the metaverse is "happening for real".
During the State of Unreal presentation, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney further explained his vision of an open ecosystem in the game industry, stating that "the metaverse has to be open, it can't be another walled garden." He also said that the game industry is an ideal place for an open system, as there is no dominant company to dictate terms.
🔥 Fujitsu Files Trademark Covering Crypto Trading Services.
Japanese tech giant Fujitsu has filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that covers several cryptocurrency services. The application specifically mentions "financial management of crypto assets," "financial exchange of crypto Assets," and "financial broker services for cryptocurrency trading"
🔥 Sending Crypto Should Be as Simple as Sending a Text.
Poor UX is widely recognized as a barrier to Web3 adoption. Setting up a wallet can be a difficult task even for tech-savvy new entrants to Web3. Multiple projects have been using phone numbers, email addresses, and social accounts to send, receive, and manage funds.
🔥 Binance to List Arbitrum Token: Is ARB Going to $10?
Users will be able to buy and sell ARB on Binance starting Thursday. Other exchanges have already listed ARB-related products. For example, Hotbit launched an I Owe You (IOU) token, representing debt between two parties. At the time of writing, ARB IOU is trading at $9.98 with a 24-hour high of $14.
🔥 The end of the DefiLlama drama, platform is not planning token.
DefiLlama is not planning a LLAMA token, the decentralized finance platform said on Twitter after an internal conflict spilled into public view over the weekend.“The DeFiLlama team would like to apologize for the events that unfolded yesterday, as a result of poor communication and a misunderstanding within the team” - they said on Twitter.
🔥 Coinbase Is Pausing Signet Support and Looking for New Providers.
Signature Bank's Signet platform was a crucial on-ramp for the crypto industry to traditional banking, providing 24/7 real-time payments outside of traditional banking hours. However, after Signature Bank failed and was sold to New York Community Bancorp-owned Flagstar Bank, Coinbase Global has announced that it won't support transactions using the Signet Network until further notice.
🔥 Indian Crypto Users Represent 53% of Global Total in 2023, 5x More than the US.
India is expected to reach over 156 million crypto users in 2023, five times more than the United States. More than half of all crypto users in 2023 come from India. When it comes to the value of transactions, the US takes first place.
🔥 Aragon is partnering with the Ukrainian government to advance DAO education in Ukraine.
Aragon, a blockchain platform, has announced its plans to launch an educational initiative in Ukraine, focusing on DAOs. The project is set to empower students and educators by offering the know-how and resources necessary to effectively grasp and work with DAOs across multiple scenarios.
🔥 Over 80 crypto firms eyeing presence in Hong Kong.
More than 80 virtual asset-related firms across Mainland China and foreign nations have expressed interest in establishing a presence in Hong Kong. In a March 20 speech, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christian Hui, stated that Hong Kong is attracting "interest" from various crypto firms across the world. He added that 23 crypto firms have already indicated that "they planned to establish their presence" in the thriving city.
🔥 Lido's TVL surges ahead of Ethereum mainnet upgrade.
Awaiting the next Ethereum upgrade, the total value locked (TVL) on the liquid staking platform Lido Finance has significantly increased. This increase in ETH holders can be attributed to anticipating the release of previously locked ETH tokens.
🔥 An internal war has broken out between employees at DefiLlama.
DefiLlama announced the airdrop on Twitter. However, according to some co-founders of the platform, the decision to launch the token was to go against the wishes of the majority of the team. "An attempt is underway to launch a token that does not represent us," - 0xngmi, one of the employees, said on Twitter.
😌 Loosely
🔥 Greenpeace has inadvertently created a new bitcoin "mascot".
Environmental group Greenpeace’s latest salvo against bitcoin has seen the commissioning of an artwork aimed at highlighting its climate impact. Instead, the art piece has been widely praised by Bitcoiners, who want to adopt it as its mascot.
🔥 "Hello, I'm from Blockchain", Reddit's user describes the scam attempt.
The author of the post received a scam call from someone claiming to be from "Blockchain" and stating that the reddit's user phone number was written on it. The author, suspecting it was a crypto scam call, asked the caller where he works. The caller claimed to work for Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken...