Fed hikes its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point

Edition #22 - 17 JUNE 2022

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday launched its biggest broadside yet against inflation, raising benchmark interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994.

gaming developments

• Derby Stars, an AAA play-to-earn horse racing game, is migrating to Polygon citing Terra’s price crash and related issues;

• Gaming DAO Merit Circle and pioneer P2E guild Yield Guild Games terminate relationship by mutual agreement after Merit Circle DAO votes to buy YGG out;

• Axie Infinity economic model slammed by Bloomberg Crypto.

metaverses & Adoption

• Thailand has the highest number of NFT users worldwide at 5.6 million, with Brazil and US in the top 3;

• Brazilian Congressman introduces a bill recognizing Bitcoin as means of payment;

• Yahoo and Meta are separately testing metaverse experiences in Hong Kong’s cafes, schools and art institutions;

• Three Arrows faces possible insolvency after unforeseen liquidations;

• Huobi Thailand forced to close business after Thai regulator revoked its licence.

zen portfolio highlight

This week we are thrilled to announce that our portfolio company Mars4 has launched the demo release of the highly anticipated, first ever triple-A blockchain metaverse game - Mars 1.0!

Become the pioneer of the first colony on Mars – find out more about the latest developments on Twitter, Discord and Telegram.

defi

• Crypto lending service Celsius pauses withdrawals, citing 'extreme market conditions';

• Maket cuts off Aave’s DAI supply as fallout from Celsius continues;

• Staked ETH (stETH) keeps dropping below the Ethereum peg, largest stETH liquidity pool almost empty;

• Stablecoin supply decreases over quarter for the first time in history;

• Tron's USDD dips below 96 cents as stablecoin enters third day adrift.

funding rounds

• Wildcard Alliance, a first-of-its-kind strategy and card game and web3 development studio, raises $46 million Series A led by Paradigm, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners at undisclosed valuation;

• Coinhouse, a digital assets service provider, has closed its $42.5 million funding round led by ODDO BHF and True Global Ventures;

• Orderly Network, a decentralized exchange protocol, has raised a $20 million Series A round led by Pantera Capital, Three Arrows, Sequoia, Jump Crypto and others.

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