Observations:
Another day with a shit ton of web3, blockchain gaming, metaverse developments, and capital raises. VC firm Konvoy Ventures announces a new $150M fund to invest in gaming - targeting web3 and blockchain-based gaming. Collectible card game announced for SHIB metaverse, LimeWire music artist NFT collections, Reddit new NFT-based avatar marketplace, STEPN announces APE Realm, 3rd Realm built on Ethereum with free mint to BAYC holders, Sandbox partnership with CJ ENM for a “K-content metaverse”, Ready Games and The Game Storm Studio launching two new web3 games, US Police Dog Mall Chase and Pet Cat Sims, as well as a heavy day filled with VC raises and seed rounds - all towards web3 and blockchain gaming.
This trend and narrative is relentless. Despite the fact that this entire year has been bearish, all the money and interest keeps gravitating towards this sector.
Just observations.
- Time moves differently in crypto. Crypto is an intricate game filled with various players operating across multiple time frames and with varying agendas. Day in, day out, the pieces are moving all across the board. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Here’s a small glimpse of what has happened so far today in our little crypto bubble -
Crypto:
VC firm Konvoy Ventures new $150M fund to invest in gaming, targeting web3 and blockchain-based gaming. Will also look at gaming platforms and companies at the intersection of industries such as education and healthcare. Focus on the US, Europe and Africa while expanding its reach in Asia and Latin America - source
Digital Currency Group’s market maker and lending firm Genesis Trading has confirmed that it had investment exposure in the now-liquidated Three Arrows Capital. DCG has assumed some of the liability owed by 3AC in order to ensure Genesis has adequate capital to continue its operations. Reports suggest that Genesis is facing losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars while the company has yet to disclose the details of its exposure to 3AC - source
Merge trial on the public test network Sepoliat itself had been a success but around 25-30% of validators went offline after the Merge due to “wrong configs.” - source
Celsius reclaimed $440M of collateral after fully paying off a loan on Maker - source
The Crema Finance team awarded the hacker who made off with nearly $10M in funds from the protocol 16.7% of the stolen funds as a white hat bounty (45,455 SOL) - source
Binance Extends Zero-Fee Bitcoin Trading that started in the U.S. last month to its global client base - source
Bitstamp Inactivity Fee Canceled After Customer Response, 10 euros - source
Shares of crypto broker Voyager Digital have been suspended from trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and OTC markets in the U.S while the exchange starts an expedited review about whether the stock continues to meet its listing requirements - source
Despite Voyager's claims, its bank says FDIC insurance will not protect customer USD deposits from firm's bankruptcy - source
Alameda is Voyager's second-largest debtor, owes Voyager $377M, including a $75M unsecured loan. Alameda recently extended a $500M line of credit to Voyager Digital - source - 2nd
A class action suit filed in California federal court last week accuses key players in the Solana ecosystem of illegally profiting from SOL, the blockchain’s native token that according to the suit is an unregistered security - source
Ethereum scaling solution Immutable X will allow users to receive U.S. dollars in their bank accounts on ether withdrawals. The fiat transactions are processed via crypto payments firm Moonpay- source
dYdX Legends Competition, where a select group of degens, traders, anons, and investors will compete against one another for cash prizes and bragging rights - source
The Fantom Foundation has proposed using 10% of transaction fees to support the development of its ecosystem. If passed, the proposal will reduce Fantom’s fee burn rate to 20% - source
New Polkadot staking dashboard - access all major staking functions on Polkadot through an easy-to-navigate interface - source
Binance.US hires former PayPal exec as CFO as the crypto exchange operator has plans for an IPO “in the next 2-3 years” - source
Integration of FTX services into the ‘Swap’ section of Ledger Live app allows swapping 120+ digital assets with low fees, self-custody and world-class security - source
Solana-native wallet Solflare released a new integration with FTX.com and FTX.us to simply portfolio management for Solana users - source
After selling $15.6M in Bitcoin, Argo is the second crypto miner this week to announce it sold more coin than it mined last month - source
Opera Crypto Browser integrates Coin98 to bolster Web3 accessibility in Southeast Asia - source
SSV DAO, the organization behind decentralized staking infrastructure ssv.network, will distribute $10M in grants to development teams working on decentralizing Ethereum’s consensus layer in preparation for The Merge - source
HydraDX's migration from a solochain to a Polkadot parachain completed - source
Bundlr announces the launch of their first testnet on July 13th - source
Ethereum privacy solution Aztec Network: Aztec Connect, a bridge that provides a privacy shield DeFi transactions, is now live on mainnet - source
NFTs/Metaverse:
A lead developer behind popular meme cryptocurrency SHIB teased plans to expand the Shiba Inu ecosystem with a decentralized stablecoin, a reward token called TREAT as well as a collectible card game for its metaverse - source
LimeWire planning to launch NFT collections on its platform, including musicians such as Travis Barker, Brandy, Nicky Jam, Aitch, Dillon Francis, FitLit Club feat. Jim Jones, Maino, Dave East, Fabolous, Gramatik, 7 Aurelius and Elijah Blake. NFT collections feature original artwork, music tracks and fan experiences such as a drum set giveaway. Will run on Algorand blockchain - source
STEPN announces APE Realm, 3rd Realm built on Ethereum with free mint to BAYC holders. Sol and BNB realms are the foundations upon which STEPN is built. Older realms will receive priority for upcoming partnerships and portion of revenue from Realm 3 that will go into Realm 1 and Realm 2 to support the ecosystem - source
Reddit is launching a new NFT-based avatar marketplace that allows you to purchase blockchain-based profile pictures for a fixed rate. Pay with credit or debit card and partnered with Polygon - source
Yuga Labs completed the first load test of Otherside metaverse, which let users turn their NFTs into playable characters -lasted 25 minutes. There was a gas-less signature to verify Otherdeed ownership and enter the test. Feedback from land holders was generally positive. Had about 2.5k concurrent users - source
Among the billions of dollars worth of digital assets Three Arrows Capital is set to liquidate millions in blue-chip NFTs - source
The Sandbox announces partnership with CJ ENM, a global entertainment content leader, to introduce diverse content for generation Z all over the world in the metaverse. A new type of fan-participatory service will be provided combining real-life and virtual experiences. collaborating to build a “K-content metaverse” using its Intellectual Property (IP) of globally popular television series and movies - source
Ready Games, an established entity in the gaming industry, and The Game Storm Studio, one of the top game development companies globally, intend to explore Web3 opportunities by launching two new games, US Police Dog Mall Chase and Pet Cat Sims - source
Raises:
Rubix Receives $100M Investment from LDA Capital to grow global operations, support the transition to Web3, and expand its green blockchain community - source
Bonfire Union Announces $42M First Closing of Its First Fund - source
Klang Games has raised $41M of Series C funding co-led by Animoca Brands & Kingsway Capital - source
Planetarium Labs, building a community-driven Web3 game network, has raised $32M in a Series A funding round led by Animoca Brands - source
Oasys, a gaming blockchain, has announced a closure of $20M private funding round led by Republic Capital - source
Crypto gaming firm Cauldron raises $6.6M to build ‘Pixar of web3’ - source
Security Token Market begins $5M Web3 crowdfunded capital raise - source
Crypthulhu Studios raises $3M for Dimension X blockchain game - source
Solana-Based Defi Margin Trading Protocol Raises $3M in Seed Funding - source
DeFi staking protocol Tenderize raised $3M in seed round - source
Social Infrastructure Startup Intros Raises $1.3M To Automate Community Member Introductions - source
Decentralized Cloud Gaming Network PORTALVERSE Raises Multi-Million Dollar in Seed Funding bringing its total valuation to $45M - source
Research:
The Fed's Twin Policy Errors | Pantera - source
Restoring Trust. Macro Cycles Part Three: Inflation - Jarvis Labs - source
A16z - summer reads, cool tools - source
GCR Investment Review – Second Quarter 2022 - source
The Token Endgame - How crypto assets will accrue value - source
The Crypto Banking System - source
New Listings:
Cult DAO (CULT) Gets Listed on KuCoin on July 8th - source
Lido DAO (LDO) Gets Listed on KuCoin on July 8th - source
Data:
From: CoinGecko, DefiLlama, DappRadar, CryptoSlam, TokenTerminal, Nansen
Bitcoin: $20,598.40, up 2.2% (24H)
Ethereum: $1,203.68, up 5.8% (24H)
Crypto Market Cap: $966B, up 1.9% (24H)
Total Crypto Trading Volume: $71.6B
24H Highest Volume Coins: USDT, BTC, ETH, BUSD, USDC, SOL, XRP, BNB, AVAX, ADA
24H Lowest Volume Coins: cUSDC, cDAI, cETH, XRD, HBTC, OMI, GT, LEO, USDP, USDN
BTC Dominance: 41.12%
BTC Longs: 56.07%
BTC Shorts: 43.93%
Fear & Greed Index: 18, Extreme Fear
DefiLlama DeFi TVL Change: $76.64B, up 0.78% (24H)
Token Terminal Total Revenue: (24H)
Ethereum: up 9.4% with $4M revenue
Synthetix: up 43.3% with $466.4k revenue
dYdX: down 69.4% with $388.1k revenue
ENS: down 29.8% with $263.5k revenue
Nansen Smart Money Token Inflow and Outflows:
Inflow: aSTETH ($5.6M), gOHM ($303k), ibEUR ($251k), SYN ($184k), JPEG ($104k)
Outflow: IMX ($183k), RADAR ($35k), Silo ($22k), SAITAMA ($19k), LOOT ($12k)
CryptoSlam Blockchains by NFT Sales Volume (24H):
Ethereum: up 6.36% with $14.18M in sales
Solana: down 5.11% with $1.87M in sales
DappRadar NFT Collection Rankings by Volume (24H):
Art Blocks: up 218.79% with $1.49M volume
ImmortalPlayer: up 5550.38% with $590.08k volume
AneroVerse Official: up 234.41% with $457.4k volume
DappRadar NFT Marketplaces Volume: (24H) *excludes washtrading*
OpenSea: down 7.59% with $16.79M volume
X2Y2: up 20.5% with $2.22M volume
Magic Eden: down 37.24% with $1.42M volume
LooksRare: down 27.89% with $891.63k volume
Nansen Hot NFT Contracts (24H):
BAYC: 1232 ETH volume
Otherdeed: 1075 ETH volume
Chubby Little Jiras: 756 ETH volume
Nansen NFT Smart Buys (24H):
ImmortalPlayerCharacter: 9 Smart Buyers with 3.38 ETH volume
CryptoDudes: 6 Smart Buyers with 2.08 ETH volume
Gyangu NFT: 6 Smart Buyers with 1.22 ETH volume
Nansen NFT Smart Sells (24H):
Moondust: 54 Smart Sellers with 1.66 ETH volume
Its Not What It Looks Like: 39 Smart Sellers with 6.39 ETH volume
ImmortalPlayerCharacter: 26 Smart Sellers with 5.64 ETH volume
Nansen NFT Smart Mints (24H):
Schoblins: 102 Smart Minters with .9267 ETH volume
Moondust: Smart Minters with ETH .9465 volume
Treasure LOOT: Smart Minters with .2265 ETH volume
Unlocks:
UMEE
Vestlab - Source
Coinowl - Source
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