Edition #40 - 30 OCT 2022
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world's richest person, finally completed his purchase of social media platform Twitter on Oct. 27 in a $44 billion deal that takes the company private, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that's become synonymous with the billionaire, rallies with the news.
Announced in April, the acquisition hit multiple roadblocks along the way, with Musk threatening to pull out because of allegations about the number of bots who use Twitter. The company at one point erected a barrier known as a poison pill to block the takeover.
gaming developments
Terra Classic launches a first-person shooter game, allowing players to earn LUNC;
English Premier League eyes £34m NFT deal with Sorare for a digital collectibles game;
Hunter’s Arena joins forces with Immutable X to bring play-to-earn to consoles;
Genopets announces an expansion to its offering with the addition of a metaverse, Genoverse, powered by the Solana blockchain;
Axie Infinity kicks off new origin contests feature "The Premiere".
metaverses & Adoption
Twitter will allow users to buy and sell NFTs through tweets;
Crypto venture funding hits yearly low for Q3, only $32 billion of capital deployed despite VCs raising $121 billion;
Digital bank Revolut to allow customers to make purchases with crypto balances;
UK police say even £100 million is not enough to properly police crypto;
Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin comes out as VR skeptic;
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s NFT project still on track despite market meltdown;
Cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) account for five of the seven worst debuts in ETF history;
Gucci unveils its metaverse: the experience in The Sandbox
Mexico will have its first shopping mall in the metaverse;
OVR: a music festival in the Decentraland metaverse in virtual reality;
Metaverse platforms to fall under scope of controversial UK Online Safety Bill;
LooksRare, an Ethereum NFT marketplace, has made paying creator royalties optional when trading NFTs..
defi
Stablecoin issuer Frax Finance unveils Ether staking service with a dual token model;
MakerDAO community has voted in favor of a plan to break up the DAO into smaller decentralized autonomous organizations, founder accused of affecting the vote;
Ethereum becomes 50th largest asset by market cap after recent price action;
MakerDAO community votes to approve custody of $1.6B in USDC with Coinbase;
Huobi exchange delists its own HUSD stablecoin, which immediately depegs to as low as 70 cents on the dollar;
Ethereum's Layer 2 networks have cumulatively surpassed $5 billion in total value locked, with Optimism and Arbitrum accounting for over 80%;
Team Finance exploited for $14.5 million during protocol migration despite contract audit.
funding rounds
Arf, a Web3 global settlement banking platform, raises $13 million in Seed financing. Industry leaders including Circle Ventures, Hard Yaka, United Overseas Bank Venture Management, Signum Capital, and Stellar Development Foundation, NGC Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, and 500 Emerging Europe participated in the round;
College sports NFT startup Mercury raises $7.5 million in a Seed funding round led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from North Island Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Brevan Howard Digital and others;
Developer of decentralized ride-sharing app Teleport raises $9 million in a Seed funding round led by Foundation Capital and Road Capital, with participation from Thursday Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, 305 Ventures and Common Metal.
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