Weekly Web3 Roundup

💰 CRYPTO MACRO

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🟢 Bank of England calls for greater regulation 

• The Bank’s financial stability report noted that while crypto doesn’t pose an immediate risk to the financial system, regulatory clarity is necessary as the industry develops

🟢 Stablecoin growth highlights how significant reserves ready to be deployed across the market

• Stablecoin market caps have witnessed significant growth since 2020.
• Stablecoins, like MakerDAO’s DAI, have grown more than 20 times in size.
• Although the total market cap of crypto is down since November 2020, stablecoins’ market cap has risen. This indicates that capital is waiting on the sidelines, ready to be deployed.

🟢 Indian crypto trading volume plummets due to new tax rules

• Volumes on WazirX, ZebPay, CoinDCX and BitBNS have tumbled between 10% to 70% in the last seven days, data from CoinGecko shows.
• The new rules impose a 1% tax on every cryptocurrency transaction above Rs 10,000 (around $125).
• The tax discourages activities that have slim profit margins or require high trading volumes.

👾 NFTs

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🟢 Ethereum Name Service domain name purchased for record breaking 300 ETH

• Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains allow users to change their wallet addresses so that they’re human readable, rather than a 40 digit long string of hexadecimal characters.
• ENS domain “000.eth” was purchased last week for 300 ETH, causing a spike in ENS registrations that saw ENS top OpenSea in trading volume for the first-time ever.

🟢 Motor racing team to adopt NFT verification for car parts 

• GT racing team Vincenzo Sospiri will use NFTs to certify and authenticate car parts.
• This is a part of the pilot scheme by Go2NFT, who specialize in corporate NFTs.

🟢 Alibaba, Tencent, and other Chinese tech giants will require ID checks to trade NFTs 

• These tech firms signed a “self-disciplined development proposal” to bring clarity to the NFT space.
• The signatories also reaffirmed the regulation banning the use of cryptocurrencies.

🟢 Founder of Baller Ape Club NFT facing up to 40 years in prison

• The Department of Justice will be filing charges for wire fraud and international money laundering.
• Le Anh Traun allegedly collected $2.6 million from the Baller Ape Club mint.

🟢 LimeWire teams up with variety of artists to launch NFTs on their platform

• The artists, including Travis Barker, Brandy, and Nicky Jam, will launch exclusive artwork, music, and fan experiences.
• LimeWire recently announced its transition from a peer-to-peer file sharing website to an NFT marketplace.

🟢 Reddit to launch Polygon-based NFT marketplace 

• Reddit will partner with independent artists to create unique avatars that users can buy for a set fee.
• Collectible avatars will only be available for purchase with local currencies, not crypto.

🟢 DeFi firm Teller launched “Buy now pay later” scheme for NFTs 

• The service only supports certain collections, such as BAYC, MAYC, Doodles and Moonbirds, among others.
• Unlike fractionalisation services, Teller allows one user to buy the whole NFT, just to pay the cost later.

🎮 CRYPTO GAMING

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🟢 Konvoy Ventures launches $150M crypto gaming fund 

• The fund will focus on pre-seed, seed and Series A investments, and adds to the list of funds that have been launched focusing exclusively on gaming.

🟢 Polium announces that it’s building a web3 games console

• The console will support games on the Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, BNB Chain, Harmony, EOS, Immutable X and WAX blockchains.
• The console is expected to be released Q3 2024.

🟢 Nike hints at integrating NFTs into video games 

• Nike has filed a patent which shows how the brand wants to incorporate virtual objects, such as branded shoes, into video games.

🟢 Sandbox and BAYZ will expand its Metaverse in Brazil 

• Leading metaverse platform, Sandbox, and web3 gaming company, BAYZ, have partnered to encourage metaverse expansion and crypto adoption in Latin America.

🟢 TikTok’s ex-gaming head launches web3 company

• The company; Meta0, aims to solve the lack of interconnectivity between Metaverses.

🟢 Source of Ronin bridge hack revealed

• A recent discovery highlights how a fake job offer is what led to the $540M exploit of Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge.
• A senior engineer downloaded a malicious PDF document, allowing spyware to infiltrate Ronin’s systems and take over four of Ronin’s nine validators.

🟢 Samsung Next announces Genopets Investment 

• Samsung Next, the tech investment division of Samsung, has announced a strategic partnership with move-to-earn game, and NFT Technologies portfolio project, Genopets.

🏙 METAVERSE

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🟢 First Women-Led Web3 Conference will be held in Paris Next Week

• The Metaverse summit will take place from July 16th-17th.
• The summit will feature leading Metaverse entrepreneurs, builders and experts, who will discuss and collaborate about the future of Web3.

🚀 CRYPTO & BUSINESS

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🟢 Tracking Celsius

• Ex-employee accuses Celsius of market manipulation (1 minute read).
• Celsius lays off 150 employees (1 minute read).
• Celsius makes changes to board of directors as part of restructuring (2 minute read).

🟢 Tracking Three Arrows Capital (3AC)

• Digital Currency Group’s Genesis Trading reveals exposure to 3AC (1 minute read).
• Voyager files for bankruptcy. Has heavy exposure to 3AC. (1 minute read).
• 3AC’s co-founders whereabouts are unknown (1 minute read).

🟢 CremaFinance hacked for $8.7M

• The hacker used multiple flash loans and malicious data to drain the Solana-based liquidity protocol of funds.

🟢 Circle’s EUROC will begin with US-only trading 

• Circle are awaiting relevant licenses to expand its EUROC offering to beyond the US.

🟢 Nexo to buy Vauld 

• The cryptocurrency lender plans to acquire up to 100% of the struggling digital asset platform.

🟢 MakerDAO approves $100M stablecoin vault for US bank

• MakerDAO has approved the creation of a $100M stablecoin vault for 151 year old Huntingdon Valley Bank.
• The vault will allow the bank to mint DAI with off-chain assets as collateral.
• The collaboration will help DAI’s integration with TradFi and strengthen its case for use.
• Others have been critical of the move, citing regulatory risks and discontent about working with a TradFi institution.

🟢 Aave announces stablecoin plans

• The new stablecoin, GHO, will be overcollateralized and backed by Aave yield-bearing assets.