Edition #12 - 8 APR 2022
The median fee for a Bitcoin transaction throughout 2022 dropped to just $0.53, the lowest since 2016. Galaxy Digital cites significant efficiency gains, changes in user behaviour and protocol improvements – check out this week’s big read here.
gaming developments
Following the exploit of Axie's Ronin chain last week, one of the largest crypto heists to date, hackers have started laundering parts of the $625 million stolen via Tornado Cash;
Sky Mavis have confirmed to raising over $150 million of external capital, along with using its own funds to reimburse the players affected. Ronin bridge remains closed for foreseeable future;
Ubisoft has halted its first gaming NFT experiment in its premier title Ghost Recon to mixed success, plans to test other games in its library;
MOBOX gaming platform has launched MOMOverse this week, its own take of the Metaverse, resulting in five-fold user growth overnight.
metaverses & Adoption
Bitcoin Hostel, Europe’s first hostel where Bitcoin is the only acceptable payment method, is scheduled to open in Portugal in 2023;
ProShares, one of the largest ETF issuers worldwide, has completed a filing for the first inverse Bitcoin Futures ETF this week, essentially allowing investors to take short positions on Bitcoin;
Leading card payment provider Worldpay will offer merchants an option to accept direct payments and settlements of USDC, reaches a partnership agreement with Circle;
Banking giant HSBC is starting a Metaverse discretionary fund, investing exclusively into digital assets. The fund will be offered for private banking clients in Asian markets.
zen portfolio highlight
This week we highlight our portfolio company Ready Player DAO, an investment DAO focused on the play and earn revolution. Formed in August 2021, RPD is a group of gaming nerds and metaverse explorers committed to harnessing the collective power of gaming to create equity for all. The DAO is focusing on P2E value creation by passionately supporting emerging Web3 gaming projects, building strong scholarship communities and education initiatives.
Along with reaching over 10,000 members and 3,000 scholars, RPD has recently raised a $10.2 million financing round lead by The Chernin Group, along with participation from top VCs and Angels.
defi
Ukraine’s Digital Transformation ministry is preparing to auction off all NFT donations received, including a $200,000 CryptoPunk;
Terra’s UST staking has launched on Binance, offering its market-leading Anchor APY of over 19%;
Neutrino USD (USDN), the 10th largest stable coin by market capitalisation, has lost its USD peg this week, falling as low as $0.65;
6s Capital, part of the MakerDAO, wrote a $7.8 million DeFi loan to Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle company.
funding rounds
Binance’s US arm has raised over $200 million in a Seed round led by Circle’s venture division, with VanEck and RRE Ventures amongst others. The round valued Binance.US at $4.5 billion;
Fractal, a gaming-focused NFT marketplace, completed a $35 million Seed round. Paradigm and Multicoin Capital led the round, with a16z, Animoca and Coinbase in participation;
Composable Finance, a cross-layer interoperability platform, has raised a $32 million Series A, at a valuation of $400 million. Participants include GSR, Coinbase Ventures, Tendermint and Spartan Group, amongst others;
Coin Metrics, a crypto intelligence provider, completed a $35 million Series C at undisclosed valuation, led by Andrew Capital and BNY Mellon.
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