📈Gary Vee's NFT Raised $50M - TWJ #198

a16z led the round to expand the 283 hand-drawn characters.

In today’s issue:

The crypto market is up with its total market cap above ~$1.1 trillion. Filecoin (FIL) has been the best performer in the top 100 in the past 7-d.

In other news, Gary Vee’s NFT collection raises $50M, Tiffany & Co released an NFT collection, and Ether derivatives surge as the merge looms.

Here’s a good thread on the current macro environment.

Alex Krüger @krugermacro

Yes this is a bear market rally ... for now. Thing is if inflation comes down fast enough, which is feasible, and Europe's energy crisis is not exacerbated by a harsh winter, also feasible, this could end up being the beginning of the bull market. Nobody knows as of now.

We’re continually improving our content, please reach out if you have ideas or want us to recap another market segment.

- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)

📰Market News

⎆Gary Vee’s NFT Collection Raises $50M

Business personality and influence Gary Vee has raised a $50M seed round for his VeeFriends NFT collection. The round is led by a16z; the capital will be utilized to expand the IPs of 283 VeeFriends characters across the digital and physical realm.

chrislyons @ChrisLyons

gm! I'm very excited to announce that @a16z crypto is leading a $50M round in @veefriends. We look forward to helping the team fuel expansion plans for its creative, technical and experiential operations that support the growing Web3 community!

a16zcrypto.comInvesting in VeeFriendsa16z crypto is a venture capital fund that invests in crypto and web3 startups. We back bold entrepreneurs building the next generation of the internet (what many call web3), which unlocks a new wave of creativity and entrepreneurship.

⎆Tiffany & Co Released an NFT Collection

One of the most notable names under the LVMH family, Tiffany & Co, has launched a series of NFTs. It will be priced at 30 ETH per NFT, and there will only be 250 of them.

Tiffany & Co. @TiffanyAndCo

The future is here and it’s called NFTiff. 8/5. 30 ETH. Discover more: bit.ly/3blwKm6 #NFTiff #TiffanyAndCo

⎆Ether Derivatives Surge as the Merge Looms

ETH-based derivatives are surging as market participants speculate on the upcoming merge from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. The aggregate open interest (OI) value has tripled from $2.5b to $7.5b over the past month.

👨🏻‍💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

• PowerPool Introduces PowerAgent v2 Automation Network

• Opyn Crab v2 is now Live

• Zilliqa Network Status

• ETH Final Testnet Merge is Concluded

• Aave DAO Approves Creating GHO Stablecoin

• Civic Adds Verification Platform to Battle Bots and Scams

• Cardano's Vasil Upgrade Is Delayed Again for More Testing

🏛Governance - Active Proposals

• Gitcoin - Gitcoin Product Collective Workstream S15 funding request ratification

• Tribe NopeDAO - Veto for TIP-119: Collaterisation Oracle updates, Swap USDC, FEI <> VOLT OTC

🦮NFT & Metaverse

• PaintSwap V3.0 NFT Marketplace is now Live

• Chris Dixon Joins Opensea Board of Directors

• Ticketmaster Scouts Productization of Enterprise NFTs beyond Ticketing

• KuCoin Crypto Exchange Debuts USDT-dominated NFT ETF

• ApeCoin DAO to Fund Bored Ape News Site for $150,000

• Tiffany’s Reveals First NFTs—at $51,000 Each

Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft

📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise

• Aurigami - $12M Unknown Round

• Quasar - $6M Seed Round

• VeeFriends - $50M Seed Round

⚖️Regulatory Update

• El Salvador's Finance Minister Says Bitcoin Adoption is 'Gaining Ground'

• Voyager Digital’s Clash With US Regulators

• Binance Compliance Officer: KYC Cost Exchange ‘Billions in Revenue’

📚Noteworthy Reads

• Amir’s Read on What I'm frustrated by in crypto

• Galois Capital’s Thread on Free Alpha

• Tether’s Read on Why Hedge Funds are Losing Money Shorting USD₮

Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.