Edition #4 - 11 FEB 2022
Latest data from Coin Metrics shows “no correlation” between NFT and cryptocurrency prices.
gaming developments
New week, old news – Splinterlands, once again, remained the most popular blockchain game this week. The trading card game interacted with just under 500 thousand unique active wallets over the last 7 days, according to data from DappRadar;
Sky Mavis introduces an economic overhaul to its flagship P2E game Axie Infinity by drastically reducing in-game SLP rewards;
Mobile gaming giant Zynga is set to "future proof" itself by increasing its web3 acquisitions and offer NFT games in 2022.
metaverses & vr
BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, predicts 2022 to be a game-changer for the metaverse;
Apple has reportedly leaked its VR/AR headset's OS code, titled realityOS;
Consulting and research giant Gartner forecasts 25% of the global population and 30% of businesses adopting the metaverse by 2026;
McDonald's is set to open a virtual restaurant in the metaverse, as virtual goods patent filings emerge;
A couple in India held a marriage ceremony on the blockchain - complete with a digital priest, OpenSea NFTs and ethereum smart contracts.
zen portfolio highlight
This week we highlight our portfolio company Zen Fighters, an up-and-coming fresh take on VR e-sports, complete with competitive 1-on-1 battles, upgradable NFT fighters and play-to-earn opportunities.
Zen Fighters is already available as a highly-anticipated early demo release fully fledged in VR - give it a go and take part in the ongoing efforts of blurring the lines between traditional sports and e-sports gaming.
Keep up with the latest updates on development and the upcoming token and NFT launches by joining their growing communities on Twitter, Discord and Telegram.
defi
Assange-Pak NFT was sold for $53 million earlier this week in one of the largest single NFT sales to date. The purchase was made by AssangeDAO, an organisation focused on providing legal aid to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks;
Last week we noted the Wormhole heist - the second largest DeFi hack to date of $320 million. The team has since issued a detailed statement and timeline of the incident;
Avalanche, a top 4 DeFi blockchain, has reached $10 billion TVL for the first time;
US government's reported total holdings of Bitcoin exceed $4 billion, trailing only MicroStrategy and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
funding rounds
Polygon, a Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution, has completed a raise of $450 million lead by Sequoia, Tiger Global and SoftBank at $20 billion valuation;
Alchemy, a crypto infrastructure and software developer, completed a Series C round of $200 million, bringing its valuation to $10.2 billion - more than triple the valuation of the last funding round in October;
Aleo, a privacy focused blockchain, has closed its Series B of $200 million this week, valuing the company at $1.45 billion.
In another blow to Meta (previously Facebook), a recent survey on the metaverse adoption, conducted by metaverse infrastructure provider Advokate Group, revealed that 87% of consumers do not want a metaverse that is run by Meta and would prefer a decentralised alternative, with 77% sharing concerns about Meta's private data mismanagement.
