crypto blog
$3B flows to Metaverse and Web3 gaming this month as A16z’s tips in $600M
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3 saying it believes “games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.” Dubbed “GAMES FUND ONE” the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications which support player communities with Discord used as an example, and gaming infrastructure providers. The a16z team said “the coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved to create the Metaverse.” It believes games will become the “dominant way people spend time.” The move by a16z marks nearly $3 billion committed by venture funds and gaming...
‘Grim Reapers’ financial crimes unit revived to investigate Terra collapse
Legal troubles are mounting for the co-founder of failed Terra crypto project Do Kwon as the South Korean government revives the dormant “Grim Reapers of Yeoui-do” to investigate Terra’s fall. The special investigative and prosecutorial team consists of members from various financial regulators, and is designed to prosecute securities fraud and unfair trading schemes. Potentially at risk are co-founders Do Kwon and Shin Hyun-seong, along with core members of the Terra team. Yeoui-do is the financial center of Seoul. Today: Korea’s “Grim Reapers of Yeouido” – Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team – are back after 2.5 years. And its first target is $LUNA / @terra_money — Jun (@zunahn) May 18, 2022 Korean news outlet SBS News confirmed on Wednesday th...
Novogratz says LUNA tattoo is a constant reminder investing ‘requires humility’
Mike Novogratz, the billionaire founder of crypto asset management firm Galaxy Digital, has told his followers that his LUNA-inspired tattoo will serve as a reminder to remain humble in the world of venture capital investing. Following the fallout of the recent LUNA / UST meltdown, Novogratz penned an open letter on Wednesday, telling his followers that: “My tattoo will be a constant reminder that venture investing requires humility.” It was on Jan. 5 tha Novogratz first showed off his wolf-themed tattoo to his 461,000 Twitter followers in an enthusiastic demonstration of his support for the now-collapsed Terra ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/GBZ6qq4kdr — Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) January 5, 2022 Terra’s UST stablecoin, which relied on an algorithm to maintain a peg to the U.S. dollar...
Crypto jobs market holding up despite tech industry cutbacks
The crypto job market shows few signs of slowing down despite high profile cases of staff layoffs and hiring freezes across big tech companies. In recent weeks, several major tech companies have announced a paring back of staff, citing a downturn in the traditional market and narrowing demand for products that had boomed during the pandemic. Recently announced hiring cuts include Twitter, Uber, Amazon and Robinhood. On Tuesday, movie streaming service Netflix terminated the roles of 150 mostly U.S.-based employees, amidst a slowdown in revenue growth. Earlier this month, Facebook parent company Meta instituted a hiring freeze for most of its mid and senior level positions after failing to meet revenue targets. A Netflix employee post on LinkedIn The crypto industry has not been total...
PLC Ultima, the new cryptocurrency that overtook bitcoin: Is it worth investing now, or is it too late?
In 2021, Bitcoin rose to its highest-ever price level, doing so amid a mega bull rally for the cryptocurrency market. The same year, a new coin hit the market and literally went on to overtake bitcoin. PLC Ultima (PLCU) is that cryptocurrency. It was launched at the end of December 2021, with PLCU’s value rising from $0.10 to $100,000 within six months. The coin’s value soared to highs of $116,000. Today, the price of PLCU is almost double that of Bitcoin. Now the big question: Is it still possible to earn on PLCU? Briefly below, we highlight some of the growth factors behind this project’s meteoric market performance. Infrastructure as a critical driver of cryptocurrency growth: how Alex Reinhardt created PLCU Coin Who created PLC Ultima? The creator of PLC Ultima is Alex Reinhardt, a ser...
Ethereum falls below $2,000 as top altcoins see mild mid-week losses
Ethereum has given up Tuesday’s gains after failing to sustain the grip on $2,000 Solana, Polygon, and Cardano native tokens are also trading in the red The cryptocurrency market appeared to have calmed on Tuesday following two weeks of heavy losses, but the latest winds have reversed the crypto market course again. Ethereum started the week trading marginally above $2,000, and even though it slipped below this mark during Monday’s trading session, the premier alt quickly recovered. Ether’s resilience is seemingly once again being tested in the face of a mild slump in the market on Wednesday. Other altcoins like Avalanche (AVAX) and Polygon (MATIC) have also pulled back during this period – some, markedly, by more significant margins than Ether. Ethereum price has suffered yet ...
Coinbase introduces Web3 functionality with hot wallet and dApp browser
Select Coinbase users will access Ethereum dApps and NFTs via the Coinbase app The crypto exchange has also temporarily moved away from plans to triple staff following a $420 million Q1 loss Crypto exchange and trading platform Coinbase has announced the introduction of Web3 functionality. A small number of users will be allowed to access products on the Ethereum ecosystem, including decentralised applications such as SushiSwap and non-fungible tokens on marketplaces such as OpenSea and the newly launched Coinbase NFT. According to the official announcement published on Monday, the introduction of Web3 will allow users to explore a new set of opportunities right from the Coinbase app with the new dApp wallet and browser. The capabilities are managed by multi-party computation (MPC) technol...
Early polling from Terra vote indicates 91% are in favor of ‘rebirth’
Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon’s plan to create a new blockchain “without the algorithmic stablecoin” TerraUSD (UST) has the support of 85 million community votes. In a proposal opened to the Terra (LUNA) community on Wednesday, more than 91% of votes at the time of publication were in favor of “rebirthing” the Terra network — roughly 85 million out of 93 million, with up to 284 million votes yet to be cast. The proposal needs roughly 188 million votes in favor to pass before the window closes on May 25. At the time of publication, the biggest validator to come out in support of the proposal is Terra infrastructure provider Orbital Command, holding 1.39% of the voting power. Major validators with more than 2% of voting power have not yet made a decision, including cross-chain stablecoin bank O...
Price analysis 5/18: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, DOT, AVAX, SHIB
On May 17, United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Wall Street Journal that the 50-basis-point rate hikes would continue until inflation is under control. Powell’s emphasis on a hawkish policy suggests that monetary conditions are likely to remain tight in 2022, which could limit the upside in risky assets. On-chain market intelligence firm Glassnode said that historically, Bitcoin (BTC) has bottomed out when the price breaks below the realized price. However, barring the 2019 to 2020 bear market, during previous bear cycles, Bitcoin’s price stayed below the realized price for anywhere between 114 to 299 days. This suggests that if macro situations are not favorable, a quick recovery is unlikely. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 While the curre...
Meta trademark filing hints at plans for crypto payments platform
Social media giant Facebook’s parent company, Meta, may be planning to launch a payments platform with support for cryptocurrency. According to records submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, on May 13, Meta filed five applications for its namesake to be used in a platform called Meta Pay. The filings included Meta’s name for use in a “online social networking service for investors allowing financial trades and exchange of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, digitized assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens and utility tokens.” Meta Platforms Inc. (i.e. Facebook) has filed 5 new trademark applications for: “META PAY” The filings indicate that @Meta plans to launch a payment platform called &#...
Was Terra’s UST cataclysm the canary in the algorithmic stablecoin coal mine?
The past week has not been an easy one. After the collapse of the third-largest stablecoin (UST) and what used to be the second-largest blockchain after Ethereum (Terra), the depeg contagion seems to be spreading wider. While UST has completely depegged from the U.S. dollar, trading at sub $0.1 at the time of writing, other stablecoins also experienced a short period where they also lost their dollar peg due to the market-wide panic. Tether’s USDT stablecoin saw a brief devaluation from $1 to $0.95 at the lowest point in May. 12. USDT/USD last week from May. 8–14th. Source: CoinMarketCap FRAX and FEI had a similar drop to $0.97 in May. 12; while Abracadabra Money’s MIM and Liquity’s LUSD dropped to $0.98. FRAX, MIM, FEI and LUSD price from May. 9 – 15th. Source: CoinMarketCap A...
Sneakmart brings Metakicks sneaker NFTs to the Metaverse
French startup Sneakmart is bringing its Metakicks sneaker NFTs to the Metaverse in 2022. These NFTs will allow users to unlock various benefits in the digital world and customize their virtual avatars, CoinText learned from a press release. A vision for the Metaverse The company’s vision for the Metaverse is to tokenize real-world sneakers on the blockchain. Users can flaunt their kicks in a growing online ecosystem. What’s more, sneakers are becoming more and more popular as collectibles, confirming their universal appeal. Highly compatible with NFT tech Sneakers are highly compatible with NFT technology. The NFT market is worth billions now and second-market sales are critical. These tokens will be a key component of the Web3 machine, letting fashion trends take on a d...
