📈NEAR Protocol $350M Raise - TWJ #121
The layer 1 battle continues.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is down with the total market cap sitting at $1.9-2 trillion. WAVES continues to be the most significant laggard amongst the top 100 in the past 7-d. Russian Ruble recovers to pre-war levels even as new sanctions emerge.
In other news, NEAR protocol raises $350M, HSBC launches a Metaverse fund, and Meta considers in-app tokens.
We’re continually improving our content, please reach out if you have ideas or would like us to recap another segment of the market.
- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)
📰Market News
⎆NEAR Protocol Raises $350M
Blockchain project NEAR protocol has announced its $350M raise led by Tiger Global, with participation from notable crypto-focused venture funds such as Dragonfly Capital, Hashed, and FTX Ventures. The new capital will be utilized to increase the project’s number of regional hubs in key community centers across the globe.
⎆HSBC Launches a Metaverse Fund
HSBC Holdings has announced that it is launching a fund focused on Metaverse-related investment opportunities for wealthy Asian clients, particularly those in Singapore and Hong Kong. Dubbed the Metaverse Discretionary Strategy, the new fund will focus on 5 key areas of the metaverse: infrastructure, computing, virtualization, experience, discovery, and interface.
⎆Meta Considers In-App Tokens
The parent company of Facebook is doubling down on its Metaverse ambition by considering launching an in-app token (technically not a cryptocurrency), which staffers are referring to as “Zuck Bucks”. Despite failed attempts to launch Diem stablecoin, Meta still sees the value of having its own in-app token akin to ROBUX for the Roblox game.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
DApp Daily Users Surge to 2.4M in Q1 2022
Filecoin Introduces Boost
Conic Community Raise
Juno Blockchain Pushed Offline in Apparent Attack
Arbitrum Nitro Devnet is now Live
Dopex’s OTC Portal is now LIVE in Beta Phase
Acala’s kUSD Upgrade to aUSD is Live
Oolong Trading Competition
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
Compound - Reduce MKR Borrow Limit
Compound - Risk Parameter Updates for YFI and SUSHI
Fei - FIP-94: Remove GOVERN_ROLE role from Rari timelock
Stability - ReactSwap
Uniswap - Polygon 1bp Fee Tier
Unlock - Changes to Governance
🦮NFT & Metaverse
Meta Exploring Non-Blockchain-Based Virtual Currency
Nansen Supports All Sales on Opensea and Looks Rare
ESPN and Tom Brady's Autograph Ink Multi-year NFT Deal
Starbucks Announces NFT Initiative
OpenSea Now Supports Solana NFT
Ubisoft Will Bring Tezos NFTs to Other Games
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
NEAR - $350m Venture Round
SenseiNode - $3.6M Seed Round
eToro - $20M Creator Fund for NFTs
Pantera Capital - $200M Fund for Mature’ Crypto Companies
Wyre - $1.5B Acquisition by Bolt
⚖️Regulatory Update
SEC Approves Teucrium's Bitcoin Futures ETF
Top US Lawmaker Proposes Sweeping Stablecoin Regulation Framework
Deltec, Chainalysis, Robinhood Join Crypto Market Integrity Group
ConsenSys Settles Lawsuit With Former Venture Capital Chief Kavita Gupta
Fed Officials Discussed Shrinking Assets by Up to $95B a Month
Yellen Says Crypto Hasn’t Been Used for Significant Russian Sanctions Evasion
📚Noteworthy Reads
The DeFi Edge’s Thread on Understanding Tokenomics
Tarun Chitra’s Read on DeFi Should Make Markets Like Wall Street Banks
Zackary Skelly’s Read on Token Compensation for Web3 Startups
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.