Stripe / Fiat-to-Crypto Onramp — Payment processing platform Stripe launches new fiat-to-crypto onramp. The onramp is a customizable widget that developers can embed directly into their DEX, NFT platform, wallet, or dApp, while also handling all KYC, payments, fraud, and compliance. Initial launch partners include music streaming platform Audius (🤝), NFT marketplace Magic Eden and Solana-based DEX Orca (🤝), among others — more
Uniswap / NFT Trading Live — Uniswap launches NFT trading on its platform and offers a $5M airdrop to past users of Genie. The exchange will allow users to trade NFTs across OpenSea, X2Y2, LooksRare, Sudoswap, Larva Labs, and Foundation. The new Universal Router feature claims to save users up to 15% on gas fees in comparison to competitors — more
Telegram / Crypto Infrastructure — The popular messaging platform, Telegram, announced it will build out its crypto infrastructure to include a DEX and non-custodial wallet solution. In less than a month, Telegram has sold $50M in usernames through its on-chain auction platform called Fragment — more
Phantom Wallet / Expands to Ethereum + Polygon — Solana-based crypto wallet Phantom has announced plans to expand to the Ethereum and Polygon ecosystems. Support for the new chains is set to go live in the coming weeks, with Phantom taking on MetaMask for the title of most dominant wallet solution in crypto — more
Coinbase / NFT Transfers Disabled — Coinbase disabled NFT transfers for its mobile wallet iOS app, citing Apple’s App Store policies. Coinbase said Apple blocked their last app release until they disabled the transfer feature. Apple is demanding Coinbase pays its gas fees using Apple software, which would then be subject to Apple’s 30% app tax — more
OpenSea / Creator Royalties Earned — From January 1st to November 23rd, 2022, NFT creators using OpenSea earned $1.1B in royalties, not including sponsorship revenue, engagement incentives, or grants according to VP of Product, Shiva Rajaraman. More than 80% of the royalties were allocated to collections outside the top ten — more
Fidelity / Retail Crypto Accounts — Fidelity has opened retail crypto trading accounts after it announced a waitlist earlier this month. The firm received some pushback from U.S. Senators who asked the firm to reconsider allowing bitcoin investments retirement plans, citing the industry has become increasingly "volatile, tumultuous and chaotic." — more
BlockFi / Frozen FTX Assets — Bankrupt crypto lender, BlockFi, revealed in court that it has more than $355M in digital assets stuck on FTX. In addition, BlockFi acted as a lender to Alameda and had $671M in outstanding loans that are defaulted to Alameda — more
BlackRock / FTX Collapse — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated that the asset management firm had invested $24M in FTX before it collapsed. "We're going to have to wait to see how this all plays out (with FTX)," Fink said. "I mean, right now we can make all the judgment calls and it looks like there were misbehaviors of major consequences." — more
Animoca Brands / New Metaverse Fund — Animoca Brands is raising $1-2B for a new fund that will be targeting mid to late-stage metaverse start-ups. Animoca has invested in over 380 startups across NFTs, gaming, and metaverse-related verticals — more
NFT Trading Volume / Monthly Overview — Overall NFT trading volume dropped ~8% in November, while the total number of NFTs sold dipped 23% compared to October. Solana saw a 42% jump in overall trading in November, while trading on Flow fell by over 50%. DappRadar recorded 42% fewer unique active users interacting with NFT-based dApps in November compared to October — more
Magic Eden / Open Creator Protocol — NFT marketplace, Magic Eden, launches new Open Creator Protocol — “an open source, free, feature-rich tool built on Solana's managed-token standard in the SPL library, for creators to protect royalties on new collections.” The move is in response to Magic Eden’s mid-October announcement that its marketplace would only offer optional royalties, which was met with opposition from creators — more
Jack Dorsey’s TBD / Cancels “Web5” Trademark — TBD, the bitcoin-focused subsidiary of Block (previously Square), announced it scrapped plans to trademark the “Web5” name. “Web5” aimed to deliver an “extra decentralized web platform” that would enable users’ direct control over identity and personal data — more
Daylight / $3M Raised — Daylight, a platform that allows users to discover their wallet address’s abilities (mints, airdrops, unlocks, votes, etc.), raises seed round led by Chapter One and Framework Ventures, with participation from OpenSea Ventures, 6th Man, Eniac, Seed Club Ventures, and others — more
nftperp / $1.7M Raised — nftperp, a perpetual futures DEX for NFTs, raises seed round supported by Dialectic, Maven 11, Flow Ventures, DCV Capital, and Gagra Ventures, among others — more
Lyra / $3M Raised — Lyra, an open protocol for trading options, raises strategic round supported by Framework Ventures and GSR. The overall vision is to become “the volatility engine that powers DeFi.” — more
Catapult / $5M Raised — Catapult, a startup building coordination infrastructure for DAOs, raises seed round led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Eden Block, Orange DAO, Reverie, Aave’s Stani Kulechov, and others — more
Roboto Games / $15M Raised — Roboto Games, a new game studio aiming to bridge web2 gaming with web3, raises Series A led by a16z, with participation from Ancient8, Animoca Brands, Gumi Cryptos Capital, and others — more
Ejara / $8M Raised — Ejara, a Cameroonian fintech building an app for easy crypto access, raises Series A co-led by Dragonfly Capital and Anthemis, with participation from Mercy Corps Ventures, Coinshares Ventures, and Lateral Capital — more
Burn Ghost / $3.1M Raised — Burn Ghost, a startup focused on casual games that reward players with NFT prizes, raises seed round co-led by DraftKing and Bitkraft Ventures, with participation from Pillar VC — more
Wanderers / $2M — Wanderers, a sci-fi media brand behind the Wanderers NFT collection, raises seed round co-led by Animoca Brands and GameFi Ventures. The brand has done over $17.5M in NFT trading volume and sold over $4.9M worth of NFTs — more
Liqwid Labs / $2.7M Raised — Liqwid Labs, a borrowing and lending DeFi platform building on Cardano, raises seed round led by cFund, with participation from Shima, Animoca, Double Peak, and others — more
Spatial Labs / $4M Raised — Spatial, a startup aimed at building out tooling for digiphysical fashion, raises pre-seed round led by Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners and is working to raise Series A — more
Fleek / $25M Raised — Fleek, a web3 developer platform, raises Series A round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Protocol Labs, Arweave, Coinbase Ventures, The LAO, North Island Ventures, and others — more
Kiln Finance / $17.6M Raised — Kiln, a startup providing staking-as-a-service offerings for Ethereum, raises Series A supported by Consensys, GSR, Kraken Ventures, and Leadblock Partners, among others — more
Pearpop / $18M Raised — Pearpop, a marketplace for social collaborations, raises Series A round co-led by Sound Ventures and Seven Seven Six, with participation from Blockchange Ventures, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, and C2 Ventures — more
Web3’s Wallet Opportunity / Amanda Young — “Just as the Internet became more appealing and easier to use over time, so too will crypto. The next billion users will expect convenience and security in accessing Web3. As the entry point, wallets represent *the* critical infrastructure for onboarding mainstream adoption. In this article, I break down the wallet opportunity. I trace the historical origins of digital value transfer and explore what’s next.” — more
A renaissance in world-building: how Mona (🤝) is changing the game for metaverse creators / Nina Knaack — “Mona's aim has always been to empower creating, collecting, and sharing virtual experiences at the intersection of the metaverse, extended reality, and blockchain. Nina Knaack speaks to co-founder Justin Melillo about the evolution his platform and why virtual experiences are worth getting excited about.” — more
Talking to the Protocol / Gaby Goldberg + Sophie Fujiwaran — “Each wave of the web was ushered in by a new mode of communicating: early Internet forums brought people online, social networks birthed platforms. We believe the ability to talk directly to the protocol is the next innovation, bringing middleware to the frontend and leveling the playing field between people and protocols in the production of new media.” — more
Augmenting Culture: The Emerging Field of Digital Fashion / Justin McAfee — “Digital fashion fundamentally changes our perception of online identity while simultaneously building on previously innate cultural artifacts. As more of our interactions take place within social media, games, and virtual worlds, our online identity becomes key to how others perceive us.” — more
High Frequency Issue #13: The Lore of Headless Chaos / Wallace Morgan x Noise DAO (🤝) — “When one songwriter’s desire to rescue writing camp demos from the hard drive graveyard collided with the capabilities of web3, a powerful and inexhaustible force was set in motion: Chaos. 77 artists, one headless band harnessing the chaotic energy set forth by large-scale, multi-layered decentralized creative collaboration. 45 songs, 21,000 NFTs, and a blueprint for the future.”— more
Marfa Digital Art Galleries / Art Blocks + Glitch — The remote Far West Texas town of Marfa is now home to two digital art galleries — Art Blocks and Glitch. The physical spaces represent a “globalized world of art made possible by blockchains and NFTs”. The galleries were recently highlighted by the Big Bend Sentinel — a local newspaper founded in 1926 — more
Iconic NFT Collector Gmoney Reveals His Identity / Langston Thomas — “When I leaned into the CryptoPunk avatar, it was to prove a point: that what I looked like didn’t matter. It was the quality of my thoughts, how I work with the community, and my actions that were important,” Gmoney said in a statement. “With all the events that have happened in the space over the last few months, it is very clear that the space needs strong and visible leaders focused on building transparently and with integrity through the bear market.” — more
Deca (🤝) / Opening the Decagon — Deca, a platform building creative infrastructure for experiencing digital objects, announced it has opened up public minting of Decagons. Each Decagon NFT acts as the gateway to the Decaverse and evolves dynamically as holders earn DXP by discovering new art on Deca and sharing galleries with friends. Minting is now live for 0.01 ETH (+gas) — more
9dcc x Snowfro / Iteration-02 — “In collaboration with Snowfro, powered by Art Blocks (🤝) Engine and available IRL this week at Art Week Miami, 9dcc will be launching a new Networked Product bridging Generative Art, fashion and Web3. Max Supply 1200.” Each shirt will include an embedded chip by IYK, POAPs (🤝) for distribution, and a vaulting option for collectors using the 4k Protocol (🤝) — more
SuperRare (🤝) / First RarePass Drop — SuperRare announces the first featured artist drop for their newly released RarePass NFT holders. Pindar Van Arman, an OG creator in the AI art space, has been selected as the first artist and will drop the new series on December, 2nd — more
Nike’s Dot Swoosh / Our Force Ones — Nike announces the first collection dropping on its newly formed .SWOOSH platform called “Our Force 1”. Implementing a user-curated approach, the Our Force 1 collection will begin with 64 different pairs of classic Air Force 1’s and then be narrowed down as the community weighs in to decide which shoes should be the first ever .SWOOSH virtual creations — more
Seed Club’s (🤝) Building at the Edges Podcast: NFTs As Story Moments / Justin Alanis x StoryDAO (🤝) — “Justin Alanis is the founder of StoryDAO, an IP incubation hub and multi-media storytelling platform with community at the core … With StoryDAO, he’s hoping to create and incubate fresh stories told by emerging voices, and meaningfully empower creatives within the novel value-generation models of blockchain.” — more
ApeCoin / New NFT Marketplace — ApeCoin DAO, a community-led governing body of ApeCoin holders, launched a new NFT marketplace built by infrastructure company Snag Solutions. The marketplace will list NFT’s from the Yuga Labs-owned NFT collections like BAYC, MAYC, Otherdeed, and Otherside — more
Starlight / Corporate Cards — Starlight, a web3 payments startup, launched corporate cards that aim to allow smoother expense payments for DAOs + crypto businesses. The cards will allow fiat and crypto payments, which can be tracked via a dashboard. Cards have adjustable limits for currencies such as BTC, USDC, ETH or fiat — more
MoonPay / Web3 Passport — MoonPay, a crypto payments infrastructure company, is rolling out a soulbound NFT loyalty program for its users. The “Web3 Passport” will grant its owner access to “exclusive benefits” related to ticketing for fashion, art, sports, and music. The program is expected to launch in early 2023 — more
Justin Aversano / Quantum Art (🤝): Light Beings - Divine Feminine — “These two NFTs / Physical sculptures are testing out Quantum’s Studio new smart contract we are building for all creators! The sculptures are dynamic 24-hour NFTs that change every hour on the hour with the help of Transient Labs” — more
Bang & Olufsen / DNA Collection — “We’re excited to launch the Bang & Olufsen DNA Collection – an edition of 1925 digital collectibles created in collaboration with a group of incredible Web3 artists to launch us into the Metaverse and provide token-gated access to future exclusive Bang & Olufsen products and experiences.” Featuring artists Thomas Lin Pederson, Shavonne Wong, RAC, Gramatik, and others. Public sale live as of Nov. 30th, 0.469 ETH — more
Mitchell F. Chan / Ensemble: Beggar's Belief Sketchbook — “Winslow Homer’s Croquet Challenge is a game, but during development I often tried to think of it as a digital painting. I made some short essays about the making of the artwork, and shared some sketches of the process.” A series of 1/1 collectible artifacts from the Winslow Homer’s Croquet Challenge open edition available soon — more
Electralina / Art Blocks(🤝): Ego Death — “Each piece represents not just the aesthetic combination of geometry and faceless human energies, but can be used as a meditation object that will remind the collector of the illusion of self. We have created a new type of pfp project that doesn’t just represent the egoic desire to fulfill ambitions and own scarce luxury goods, but rather is a true expression of one’s soul on the journey to enlightenment.” Minting Dec. 2nd, dutch auction 7 —> 0.14 ETH — more
amanda0x / Web3’s Wallet Opportunity
Deca (🤝) / X MARKS THE SPOT 🔥
Blur / Second Airdrop Arriving Dec. 5th
Good Minds x Nibbl (🤝) x Hook (🤝) / Fractionalization Experiment
The 402 / Weekly Recap 👀
Eli Nuss / Top Early Stage Venture Funds
Chris Lepensky / Reddit NFTs as a Portal to Web3?
mhonkasalo / 📈 Song Mints on Sound.[xyz] (🤝)
Blur / Outpacing OpenSea Volume
Miles / Decentral Games (🤝) — Two Years Since Launch 👏
RTFKT / Digital x Physical WM Chip
loomdart / Why AI Needs Crypto
jdjkelly / ChatGPT vs. Google
Riley Goodside / OpenAI’s ChatGPT
🤝 = Collab+Currency Portfolio Company
Curated by @Collab_Currency x @_cutbank
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