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Sports Metaverse company secures $200 million funding
Sports Metaverse startup LootMogul secured a $200 million investment commitment from Gem Global Yield, providing the company a share subscription facility of up to $200 million for a 36-month term following an equity exchange listing. The company said that the funding is expected to boost the development of LootMogul’s metaverse focused on sports games, including “building meta (virtual) sports cities around the world with real-world benefits, brands & professional athletes on a true cross metaverse & blockchain (multichain) platform on multiple devices such as Oculus, HoloLens, Web, Mobile & Console,” explained the company in a statement. The deal will allow LootMogul to withdraw funds by issuing equity shares to GEM without a minimum drawdown obligatio...
DOJ publishes second report on EO digital asset crime, announces new expert network
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) published its latest report in response to President Joe Biden’s March executive order (EO) on the development of digital assets on Sept. 16. At the same time, it announced the formation of a new Digital Asset Coordinator Network (DAC) “in furtherance of the department’s efforts to combat the growing threat posed by the illicit use of digital assets to the American public.” The report, titled “The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets,” complements its June report on international law enforcement cooperation. The new report characterizes digital asset criminal exploitation, with particular attention to nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) and goes o...
Wallets like MetaMask need to become more user-friendly
After Ethereum’s long-awaited Merge, it’s an ideal time to think about how we can also improve smart contracts. Essentially apps that run on blockchains, smart contracts are a vital component of our Web3 applications. But interacting with them remains quite dangerous, especially for non-developers. Many of the incidents where users lose their crypto assets are caused by buggy or malicious smart contracts. As a Web3 app developer, this is a challenge I think about often, especially as waves of new users keep onboarding into various blockchain applications. To fully trust a smart contract, a consumer needs to know exactly what it’s going to do when they make a transaction — because unlike in the Web2 world, there’s no customer support hotline to call and recover funds if something goes wrong...
Concord’s HitCo Acquisition Includes Catalog & New Releases, Not Brand
Concord has officially confirmed its acquisition of what it calls “certain assets” of Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Charles Goldstuck‘s HitCo Entertainment, “including (with limited exclusions) its entire sound recording catalog and certain recent releases.” The deal is also expected to include some upcoming tracks from top HitCo acts Saint JHN and Rubi Rose, sources say. Additionally, sources tell Billboard the ongoing transition does not include the purchase of the HitCo brand or the label, though Concord is working with a handful of HitCo staffers during the changeover and may continue to work with some after that is completed. Reid and Goldstuck will not have ongoing involvement, however, sources confirm. The deal, which is worth an undisclosed amount, was first reported in August by Variety...
FERC’s murky leadership future could derail U.S. climate goals
Who leads the commission and whether it can maintain a Democratic majority is critical to its ability to help achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reduction potential of the Inflation Reduction Act’s $369 billion in climate incentives. FERC is currently engaged in efforts to overhaul the U.S transmission system and ramp up U.S. renewable energy production to a level that could make it a reliable contributor to President Joe Biden’s goal of having a zero-carbon electric grid by 2035. Glick “has understood and had a vision that is consistent with the recent congressional legislation [on] where the country is going,” said Suedeen Kelly, a former FERC commissioner and partner at law firm Jenner and Block. “I fervently believe that the Senate will confirm him,” she said. “He’s really done an ex...
White House publishes ‘first-ever’ comprehensive framework for crypto
Following President Joe Biden’s executive order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, federal agencies came up with a joint fact sheet on 6 principal directions for crypto regulation in the United States. It sums up the content of 9 separate reports, which have been submitted to the president to “articulate a clear framework for responsible digital asset development and pave the way for further action at home and abroad.” The fact sheet was published on the White House official website on Sept. 16, and consists of 7 sections: (1) Protecting Consumers, Investors, and Businesses; (2) Promoting Access to Safe, Affordable Financial Services; (3) Fostering Financial Stability; (4) Advancing Responsible Innovation; (5) Reinforcing Our Global Financial Leadership and Competitiven...
Animoca Brands continues shopping spree with MotoGP mobile dev acquisition
One of Web3’s leading digital property rights developers, Animoca Brands, announced yet another major acquisition to its increasing portfolio of gaming subsidiaries. The company announced the purchase of WePlay Media, which developed the popular blockchain-game MotoGP Championship Quest, on Sept. 16. According to the agreement, the acquisition is ian effort to bolster user engagement in motorsport mobile gaming. Graeme Warring, the co-founder and chief operating o of WePlay Media and co-creator of MotoGP, called the acquisition an exciting development for both parties as they expand their reach to motorcycle fans across the globe. “Animoca Brands has the ability to reach hundreds of millions of users in core growth demographics to expand the sport’s fan base and create engagement opp...
Global inflation mounts: How stablecoins are helping protect savings
Economies around the world are facing a motley of challenges caused by rising inflation. High inflation devalues national currencies, which, in turn, pushes up the cost of living, especially in scenarios where earnings remain unchanged. In the United States, the government has responded aggressivelyto inflation. The nation hit a 9.1% inflation rate in June, prompting the Federal Reserve to implement a series of fiscal countermeasures designed to prevent the economy from overheating. Hiking interest rates was one of them. Soaring Fed interest rates have consequently slowed down consumer spending and business growth in the country. The counter-inflation approach has also strengthened the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies due to tight dollar liquidity checks. As 79.5% of all i...
Bitcoin exchange inflows see biggest one-day spike since March 2020
Bitcoin (BTC) exchanges have seen huge volumes this month as price declines lead to renewed interest in trading. Data from sources including on-chain analytics firm Glassnode shows exchange inflows hitting their highest since March 2020. “The scent of volatility is in the air” On Sept. 14, over 236,000 BTC made its way to the 1 major exchanges tracked by Glassnode. This was the largest single-day spike since the chaos that surrounded Bitcoin’s dip to just $3,600 in March 2020. Bitcoin total transfer volume to exchanges chart. Source: Glassnode The sell-offs in May 2021 and May and June this year failed to match the tally, suggesting that more of the Bitcoin investor base is currently aiming to reduce exposure. Separate data from analytics firm Santiment covering both centralize...
Executive Turntable: iHeartRadio Appoints New Product Chief; Warner Names Legal Head for Catalog
iHeartMedia named Uta Knablein chief product officer at iHeartRadio; she was previously executive vp of iHeartRadio’s flagship products and user experience. Knablein succeeds Chris Williams in the role and will report to iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne. Tracie Parry was named senior vp, head of business & legal affairs at Warner Recorded Music‘s global catalog division; she was previously senior vp/head of U.S. legal shared services for Warner Music Group’s Center of Excellence. Based in Nashville, Parry will continue much of her previous oversight in the shared services role, with those responsibilities now shifting to the global catalog team. She will additionally bring several members of her current legal team to the global catalog team, including vp of legal affairs...
Ether staking could trigger securities laws — Gensler
Ethereum’s upgrade to proof-of-stake may have placed the cryptocurrency back in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Speaking to reporters after the Senate Banking Committee on Sept. 15, SEC chairman Gary Gensler reportedly said that cryptocurrencies and intermediaries that allow holders to “stake” their crypto may define it as a security under the Howey test, according to The Wall Street Journal. “From the coin’s perspective […] that’s another indicia that under the Howey test, the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of others,” WSJ reported Gensler as saying. The comments came on the same day as Ethereum’s (ETH) transition to proof-of-stake (PoS), meaning the network will no longer rely on energy-intensive “...
Dogecoin becomes second largest PoW cryptocurrency
Meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) is now officially the second largest proof-of-work (PoW) crypto in terms of market cap, following the Ethereum network’s proof-of-stake upgrade on Sept. 15. Bitcoin (BTC) of course remains miles ahead of Dogecoin’s market cap of $7.83 billion, though the well-followed memecoin is still comfortably ahead of the third place PoW cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic (ETC) (with a market cap of $4.69 billion), Litecoin (LTC) ($4.01 billion) and Monero (XMR) ($2.65 billion). Ranking of PoW-Based Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap. Source: Coinmarketcap.com. One Dogecoin fan appeared to be in disbelief of Dogecoin’s rise to become the second largest PoW cryptocurrency, stating “who would have thought that this would happen. Congrats #Doge...
