Next Fallout Casualty: DCG Confirmed?
FTX Possible Revival, Sewer Pass Blacklists Marketplaces, DOJ Ridiculed, 1inch Network Hardware Wallet
Daily Bullets - Thursday, January 19th
Market has lost some of the oomph it previously had while today is another day heavy in fundraising announcements. Interesting question to consider: the new FTX CEO floated the idea of restarting FTX, stating customers like the platform’s tech and there could be value in restarting the platform. Has trust been destroyed in the brand or can a redemption arc be pulled off?
Daily Bullet Highlights
- The crypto lending unit of DCG could file for bankruptcy as soon as this week
- New FTX CEO says crypto exchange could be revived
- The founder of cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested and charged with processing $700M in illicit funds. China-based money laundering engine that fueled a high-tech axis of cryptocrime
- Yuga Labs has blacklisted addressed related to Blur, SudoSwap, LookRare and NFTX that don't mandate NFT royalties in Bored Ape's Sewer Pass mint
- DEX aggregator 1inch Network has developed a hardware wallet
- Aave V3.0.1 deployed across all testnets
- National Australia Bank is launching a fully backed stablecoin called AUDN on the Ethereum network and Algorand blockchain
- Trader Joe DEX plans to bolster the utility of its native governance token JOE and expand to Arbitrum and BNB Chain
- NFT marketplace Rarible is expanding its white-label marketplace building tool for Polygon-based collections. Co-founder is bullish on Polygon
- Flashbots, an Ethereum infrastructure service, is in discussions with potential backers about raising up to $50M at a billion-dollar valuation
Analysis
Despite the market conditions seemingly improving for now, we still can’t forget the macro and the Fed tackling inflation. That entire situation will be the theme of 2023 until we have definitive closure or reason to think otherwise. Here are some macro Fed dates to keep aware of.
Crypto News
- Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, closed almost all of its eight-year position in crypto shortly before the market began to crash last year, generating about $1.8B in returns
- CoinDesk, whose parent company is Digital Currency Group, has retained investment bankers at Lazard Ltd. to help it explore options including a partial or full sale
- Ethereum scaling platform zkSync partnering with Espresso Systems, a crypto infrastructure company, to enable private transactions on its network
- Cross-chain bridge protocol Stargate integrated with the Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution Metis in first blockchain expansion since it was launched
- Fireblocks enlists crypto insurance firm Coincover for third-party key recovery service
- Crypto infrastructure firm MoonPay acquired web3 creative agency Nightshift for an undisclosed amount
Crypto Exchanges
- OKX published its third monthly Proof-of-Reserves report showing $7.2B held in BTC, ETH, and USDT
- Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M FXS perpetual contracts with up to 20x leverage
- Binance Margin will delist NEXO, POLS, QUICK as Borrowable Assets From Cross Margin and ALCX, NEXO, POLS, TOMO Trading Pairs From Isolated Margin
DeFi
- Multi-chain wallet BitKeep will issue full refunds to victims of a hacking incident in December, costing the project around $8M
- MakerDAO’s community voted for keeping Gemini USD (GUSD) stablecoin as part of the protocol’s reserve system for DAI
- The number of BTC bridged from the Bitcoin blockchain to Avalanche blockchain has surpassed the number of coins held in the Lightning Network
- A governance proposal for ENS DAO, proposed liquidating 10,000 ETH to cover operating costs over the next two years
- Raydium hacker funnels $2.7M through Tornado Cash mixer
NFTs/Gaming/Metaverse
Early Stage Projects
- Rage Trade official integration with Stargate Finance
- Osmosis DEX will conduct its v14.0.0 upgrade, termed “Neon,” in line with a broader plan to expand product integrations and make cross-chain trading more lucrative
Economic/Government/Regulatory
- The SEC charged SBF with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX Trading Ltd
- The Central African Republic has set up a committee to integrate Sango coin into its national economy
Fundraises
- Sequoia Capital fifth dedicated $195M fund enables seed investments across the U.S. and Europe, and also includes investments made in future Arc cohorts -@sequoia
- SSV DAO, the DAO behind the decentralized staking protocol SSV.network, is starting a $50M ecosystem fund to help mature Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) infrastructure. Type: New Fund. Sector: Infrastructure. Investors: SSV and Digital Currency Group - @ssv_network
- ZK tech developer Nil Foundation raised $22M at a $220M valuation. Type: Undisclosed. Sector: ZK tech. Investors: Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Starkware and Mina Protocol - @nil_foundation
- Ulvetanna, a zero-knowledge-proof hardware firm, raised $15M at a $55M valuation. Type: Seed. Sector: Web3 infrastructure. Investors: Bain Capital Crypto, Paradigm, Jump Crypto - @UlvetannaHQ
- Multichain web3 wallet Cypher raised $4.3M. Type: Seed. Sector: Wallet. Investor: Y Combinator, OrangeDAO, Samsung Next and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan - @CypherWalletIO
- Gateway, a web3 credential protocol, raised $4.2M. Type: Seed. Sector: Web3. Investors: Reciprocal Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Spartan Group, Figment, Polygon's Sandeep Nailwal and Messari's Ryan Selkis - @Gateway_xyz
- Obligate, a startup offering blockchain-based regulated debt securities, raised $4M. Type: Seed Extension Round. Sector: DeFi. Investors: Blockchange Ventures, Circle Ventures, Earlybird, SIX Fintech Ventures - @obligatecom
- Neopets Metaverse raised $4M. Type: Undisclosed. Sector: Metaverse. Investors: Polygon Ventures, Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, Hashkey Capital, IDG Capital, NetDragon Websoft - @NeopetsMeta
- DeFi startup Davos raised $500k. Type: Pre-Seed. Sector: DeFi. Investors: Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon Ventures - @Davos_Protocol
- Virtualtech Frontier (VTF), a metaverse development company raised an undisclosed amount. Type: Seed. Sector: Metaverse. Investors: Blockchain Founders Fund, 500 Global - @VTFrontier
- Amsterdam-based Authic Labs, an NFT marketplace for creators built on the Ethereum raised an undisclosed amount. Type: Pre-Seed. Sector: NFT Marketplace. Investors: Rockstart, Graduate Entrepreneur - @authic_io
Research/Reads:
- TokenUnlocks 2022 annual report - source
- QCP Capital - The Crypto Circular #9: Frightful Fours - source
- Arthur Hayes - Bouncy Castle - source
- Digital Asset Funding Landscape presented by HashKey Capital - source
- Visa - The Merge: What to expect from a new era of Ethereum - source
- Bankless - State of Ethereum Report — Q4 2022 - source
- Ape Metaverse's first game Dookey Dash - source
- Next Gen Onchain Gaming with User-Generated Logic - source
Twitter Coins:
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It's a digital currency rewarded to content creators
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— NFT God (@NFT_GOD)
Jan 18, 2023
268 Tweet Shill Thread - 2023 version:
1/268
It's the moment you've waited for, desired and above all else feared.
It's time for the 2023 shopping list!
(Which is also supporting public goods funding! Woo
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran)
Jan 18, 2023