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RAISING REFUNDS: The firm behind the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis, raised $150 million in funding to reimburse users hit by last week’s $625 million Ronin attack. On Wednesday, Binance said it fully resumed deposits and withdrawals on the Ronin network after closing and then partially resuming the service last week. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange believes “it’s necessary to support them [Sky Mavis] as they work hard to resolve the recent incident.” SECRET NETWORK: Filmmaker Kevin Smith said he will be releasing his latest movie, “KillRoy Was Here,” as a collection of NFTs on the Secret Network in Q2. The director of classics like “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy” said his latest film will be available only for NFT holders who reportedly will be able to use the movie’s characters to create content of their own. He plans to feature the best creations as the film’s sequel. In November, the Secret Network hosted Quentin Taratino’s controversial “Pulp Fiction" NFTs, which resulted in a copyright battle. DIRECT PAYMENTS: Stablecoin operator Circle has enlisted card-to-crypto processor FIS’s Worldpay to let firms “directly receive, hold and transfer stablecoins in a fast and efficient manner,” according to a joint statement. Merchants who use the app will now have the option to receive settlement directly in USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. SELF-REGULATION: Thirteen companies have joined the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition, a proto-self regulatory organization (SRO), in an effort to combat market manipulation. In order to join, signatories pledge to ensure market integrity and efficiency, prevent market abuses like fraud and manipulation and plan to alert regulators about nefarious activity. The vice president of regulatory affairs at founding member Solidus Labs told CoinDesk that “we’re excited about the prominent players in this industry coming forward to join us and amplify how important market integrity is.” Crypto exchanges including Gemini, Nexo and Bitpanda have joined the effort. LUNA GUARD: Nonprofit organization Luna Foundation Guard added nearly $230 million worth of bitcoin. The organization, which builds reserves that support smart contracts on Terra’s dollar-pegged stablecoin UST, purchased over 5,000 BTC, boosting its stash to nearly 36,000 BTC, valued at $1.6 billion. The foundation’s buying spree puts it ahead of U.S. electric-car maker Tesla, which holds just above $1.2 billion worth of BTC. –Fran Velasquez |
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Overheard on CoinDesk TV... |
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"What's critical at this juncture for the U.S. is making sure that we don't accidentally go too broad in our regulatory efforts that we cut off opportunities to Americans." –Innovation Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity James Czerniawski, on CoinDesk TV's "First Mover." |
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Get started now!
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What others are writing... |
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Starbucks announces NFT initiative as union-busting controversy continues (Cointelegraph) Pantera Capital sets out stall to raise new $200 million fund (The Block) Tiger Global Leads $350 Million Investment in Near Protocol Blockchain (Bloomberg) Why DeFi Should Make Markets Like Wall Street Banks (The Defiant) Is Musk bad for business? (Protocol) Getting kicked off the ASX was a ‘blessing’ for $US5b NFT giant Animoca (Australian Financial Review) |
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Putting the news into perspective |
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WAVES Founder Blames Short Sellers for Its Woes. Here's Why That's a Red Flag A complex and increasingly bitter drama is unfolding at Waves, a layer 1, or base, smart-contract blockchain. The system, an Ethereum analog with smart contract and decentralized finance (DeFi) functionality, has seen extreme price volatility in its eponymous native token over the past few days, while its algorithmic stablecoin, neutrino USD (USDN), has dramatically broken its dollar peg. The neutrino stablecoin is widely considered the main current utility of the Waves blockchain, so the broken peg threatens the entire system. The causes for that chaos are disputed, but what’s most notable is the Waves team’s seemingly unprecedented response. Arguing that the chaotic action in the system is being fueled by short sellers, system founder Sasha Ivanov is championing a proposed system change that would make it impossible to borrow large amounts of WAVES crypto through the system’s primary decentralized exchange (DEX), Vires Finance. Blame the shorts (crypto edition) The decision to publicly blame short sellers for the Waves system’s woes may mark the first time a crypto project has pursued the same rhetorical strategy as a long list of troubled, traditional, publicly traded companies. Many companies that attack short sellers ultimately turn out to be engaged in fraud, with my favorite recent example being Nikola, a supposed electric vehicle manufacturer that briefly threatened to sue short sellers before ultimately admitting to having faked its product demo. More famously, Enron CEO Ken Lay blamed short sellers for the company’s problems in statements made in 2006 – while he was on trial for overseeing the biggest corporate fraud in history. To longtime finance observers, blaming shorts often comes across as the last desperate deflection of a project in denial about its own failure. Read the full article here. –David Z. Morris |
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How to Really Create an NFT Collection* Have you ever wondered what goes into designing and then launching a non-fungible token (NFT) collection? The process is as much about the art as it is the science. You need both a strong visual identity and faultless technology to create that unique mix of artistry, singularity and utility. BitBTC.money is creating a series of Satoshi Nakamoto avatar NFTs that will live in the metaverse. These have been designed to pay tribute to important Bitcoin contributors. *This is sponsored content from BitBTC. |
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