Roblox / In-Game Currency Sales of $774M — Roblox saw a 23% increase in sales of its in-game currency, "Robux," reaching $774M in Q1 2023. The platform's daily active users rose to a record 66.1M, a 22% increase from the same period in 2022. Roblox set a goal to reach 1B daily active users in the future — more
MetaMask / Paypal Integration — MetaMask integrated with PayPal and now enables users to buy crypto within their MM wallet. In addition to purchasing crypto, the integration also allows users to transfer their existing digital assets from PayPal to MetaMask, providing a path towards self-custody — more
Rosario Dawson / NFT-Backed Series — Actors Rosario Dawson and Tony Revolori are starring in "Ghosts of Ruin," an NFT-backed Western anime series from Gala Film, which can be initially viewed only by NFT holders. NFT tiers range from "The Coder," offering show access and exclusive content for $250 in GALA tokens, to "The Board Member," where holders can contribute to the show directly, with 45 passes sold for $2,500 each — more
Alo Yoga / In-Store NFT Claim — Alo Yoga, an apparel and accessories retailer with dozens of locations across the U.S., partnered with MoonPay to offer in-store NFT claims featuring "daily affirmations”. The initiative, launched in line with Mental Health Awareness Month, allows customers to tap their smartphones on an NFC-equipped terminal to claim a free NFT, which unlocks special perks — more
“The Voice” / Metaverse Studio Launch — “The Voice" is launching "The Voice Studios," an interactive platform in the metaverse, developed in partnership with Virtual Brand Group. Launching on May 12th in the Decentraland metaverse, the platform will offer fans experiences like music creation, dance competitions, and auditions for future seasons of the show — more
Grayscale / New Crypto ETFs — Grayscale Investments announced plans for three new funds: Global BTC Composite ETF, an Ethereum futures contracts fund, and Grayscale Privacy ETF. The Global BTC Composite will invest in BTC-backed exchange-traded products and bitcoin mining companies, while the Grayscale Privacy will invest in companies developing blockchain-based privacy solutions and digital assets focused on transaction and identity security — more
PayPal / $1B Crypto Balance Sheet — A recent SEC filing shows that PayPal has nearly $1B in crypto assets on its balance sheet across BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC. The company reported a $339 million increase in customer crypto assets since the end of last year, while also clarifying that it does not hold cryptocurrencies outside of customer assets — more
U.S. Chamber of Commerce / Supports Coinbase — The US Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief in the ongoing case of Coinbase vs. the SEC, expressing support for Coinbase. The Chamber argued that the SEC's lack of response to Coinbase's request for regulatory clarity on digital assets is causing significant economic harm, while also highlighting the potential adverse effects of the SEC's current approach to digital assets — more
Ethereum’s Beacon Chain / Brief Finalization Halt — Ethereum's Beacon Chain experienced a temporary halt in finalization on Thursday around 4 pm ET. The halt resulted from difficulties in achieving consensus, causing a notable dip in validator participation on the consensus layer. Within an hour, the chain proved resilient and blocks were being finalized again — more
BlockFi / Customer Claims of $300M — A recent court decision ruled that BlockFi customers who held crypto in interest-bearing accounts do not have a right to claim nearly $375M in crypto assets that were frozen when the lender declared bankruptcy last year. However, around $300M can be returned to customers who held their crypto in non-interest-bearing custodial accounts — more
Pudgy Penguins / $9M Raised — Pudgy Penguins, a crypto-native NFT IP brand and PFP collection, raises round led by 1kx, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research, the founders of LayerZero Labs, Old Fashion Research, and CRIT Ventures — more
Blockworks / $12M Raised — Blockworks, a crypto media firm, raises round led by 10T Holdings, with participation from Framework Ventures and angel investor Santiago Santos, valuing the company at $135M — more
Blocktorch / $4.2M Raised — Blocktorch, a Berlin-based startup building an “observability platform helps web3 engineering teams quickly access, understand, and fix errors”, raises round led by led by Ideo CoLab Ventures with participation from Speedinvest, RockawayX, Alchemy Ventures, Remote First Ventures, and others — more
Webb Protocol / $7M Raised — Webb Protocol, a zk infrastructure project that allows for cross-chain asset transfers, raises seed round led by Polychain Capital and Lemniscap, with participation from Zee Prime and CMS Holdings — more
Smilee / $2M Raised — Smilee, a startup building on-chain derivatives enabling volatility trading at scale, raises round led by Dialectic, with participation from Synergis Capital, Concave Ventures, Owl Ventures, Yunt Capital, Dewhales Capital, Outlier Ventures, New Order, Multisig Ventures, GTS Ventures — more
Artizen / $2.2M Raised — Artizen, a web3 culture-focused crowdfunding platform, raises round from Consensys Mesh, Animoca Brands, and Protocol Labs, as well as from angels including Blank Street Coffee’s Dan Hill, PleasrDAO’s Matt Condon, and Juan Benet, founder and CEO of Protocol Labs — more
Artifact Labs / $3.25M Raised — Artifact Labs, a Web3 company that works to preserve records of historical events on the blockchain, raises round led by Blue Pool Capital, with participation from Animoca Ventures. Blue Pool Capital, is a fund that principally invests the wealth of Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai — more
Disrupting luxury with 9dcc: A closer look at gmoney’s Web3 fashion empire / David Cash x Vogue — “For a man who only revealed his identity within the past year, previously best known as the “cryptopunk ape in the orange beanie,” gmoney has done an incredible job at rapidly establishing himself and his brands at the intersection of culture and luxury goods. And it seems it’s only the beginning to where 9dcc (🤝) will take us next on its journey into the future of gamified customer experiences.” — more
Why foobar Built Delegate Cash (and Why Web3 Needs to Do Better) / Eric James Beyer — “While foobar has had a hand in several Web3 endeavors over the years, his most well-known accomplishment may be the creation of Delegate Cash (🤝), a service that allows users to create and assign hot wallets as a delegate for wallets that actually store their NFTs. While that might not sound sexy on its face, the value of such a service is hard to overstate, as it lets users interact with the Web3 ecosystem without exposing their tokens to security risks.” — more
AI Art / Fred Wilson — “There has been a lot of discussion about how AIs can make art and possibly replace artists, but I think the opposite is more likely to happen … This week, our portfolio company Bright Moments (🤝) has a big event in Tokyo, and one of the collections being shown features eleven top AI artists … I am very bullish on the creativity that AI will help artists bring to the world. It is a tool, like a paintbrush or a camera, or a kiln. And they will use that tool to make work that will bring great joy to our lives. They already are.” — more
My Squiggle, My Signature / Ryan Zurrer x Dialectic — “I kindly posit to the Squiggle community to consider using your Squiggle as your signature, in emails, documents and other opportunities. When you sign a SAFT, email or Docusign with your Squiggle you signal to that young entrepreneur or crypto-native counterpart that you "get it”, that you’re here for crypto-native values, and that you use crypto in your life the same way that using your Punk as your PFP on Twitter conveys a message of being a part of a very special club.” — more
Small Applications, Growing Protocols / Packy McCormick — “It’s easier than ever before to build great apps. It’s harder than ever before to sustain them, to grow them into enduring companies. Those two ideas are related, yin and yang. Business models have not caught up to the potential of this new paradigm. Small Apps create more potential value than they can capture; partnering up with protocols1 could fill the gap.” — more
Building on Passion: A Framework for Consumer Crypto / Gaby Goldberg x TCG — “Instead of looking at expansion as horizontal (driving net new users into an existing interest zone), we believe the path to value is vertical, achieved by going deeper within existing passion arenas. Our position is that when crypto works for consumer, it doesn’t need to interfere with the existing business but rather adds net new benefits on top.” — more
Balancing the Power of AI/ML: The Role of ZK and Blockchain / Hill Tan + Grace Deng — “With the incredible power of AI & ML, there is no surefire way to put it under governance for now. The governments have repeatedly proven to provide either late interference for aftermaths or early outright ban. Blockchain + ZK delivers one of the few solutions that can tame the beast in a provable and verifiable way.” — more
Expanding NFT Utility: Token Bound Accounts / Dustin Teander — “While the top-of-the-market NFTs with the majority of attention become financialized, there are a number of new projects and consumer infrastructures aiming to bring utility-driven use cases back to NFTs. This is important as new utility models drive new consumer products and interaction models that have the potential to usher in sustainable growth to the sector, unlike worn-out speculative appeals.” — more
The Inevitable Metaverse with SuperMassive / SeedClub (🤝) x BasedAF (🤝) — “On this episode of Building At The Edges we sit down with SuperMassive to discuss the intersection of storytelling and web3 tech … He walks us through everything he’s working on at BasedAF including the groundbreaking way he’s utilizing Unreal Engine to create instant motion capture, and we dive into his takes on co-creation, storytelling, and the web3/crypto industry at large.” — more
Gallery (🤝) / New Mobile Experience — “Get ready for a game-changing mobile experience that puts the magic of the creative web in your pocket. Join the waitlist and step into the future of Gallery.” — more
Lit Protocol (🤝) / World Changing Idea Award from Fast Company — Lit was selected by Fast Company as an honoree for the "World Changing Idea" award for its innovative approach to NFTs and web3 identity. “In 2021, we envisioned NFT galleries as metaverse lobbies, where each NFT could be a portal to amazing experiences and content. As we explored this idea, we realized we needed a way to ensure these unlockable NFTs could stand the test of time. That's when we asked, "Where does the key live?" The answer: a distributed network that stores keys securely and efficiently. And so, Lit was born.” — more
IYK (🤝) / Discount Code Module — IYK introduced a new discount code module, enabling creators to offer exclusive codes directly to their item owners. Owners can access these codes by tapping their items, with the option for codes to be permanent or ephemeral. This could unlock an array of new use cases including early ticket access for artists, gifts for repeat brand customers, or free food items for returning restaurant patrons — more
Worldcoin / Mobile App Launch — Worldcoin announced The World App — the first wallet in the ecosystem that aims to support a unique network of private digital identities. The app has 1.5M beta users in anticipation of the Worldcoin token launching on Optimism later this year. Users can claim tokens only if they get their eyes scanned by the Worldcoin Orb — more
Aztec / Next Gen Encrypted zkRollup — Aztec Labs is developing a new zkRollup called Aztec, intended to offer trustless, scalable, and decentralized Layer 2 solutions for private smart contract execution on Ethereum. Aztec allows Ethereum smart contracts to include features such as programmable anonymity, data privacy, and confidential contracts — more
MakerDAO / Introducing Spark Protocol — MakerDAO, the builders of the DAI stablecoin, launched Spark Protocol on May 9th. The protocol aims to serve DeFi users with decentralized and scalable ways to supply and borrow ETH, stETH, DAI, and sDAI — more
BTC NFTs / On Binance — Binance announced it will support Ordinals inscriptions on its NFT marketplace later this month, marking its first move into the Bitcoin-based NFT market. The update is expected to roll out in the coming weeks, allowing users to purchase and trade Ordinals inscriptions via their Binance accounts — more
Anna Lucia x The Quilters of Gee’s Bend / ARSNL: Generations — “Generations,” the debut collaboration between the quilters of Gee’s Bend and generative artist Anna Lucia, fosters a dialog between handcrafted and digital art through the blockchain, immutably and universally conveying an essential history transcending bloodlines. The aim is to disrupt the centuries-old cycle of Black culture appropriation by enabling enduring attribution and equitable exposure to the value created by the works.” Public sale May 18th — more
Snowfro’s Squiggles / Vertical Crypto Art x Right Click Save: Chromie Squiggles — “VerticalCrypto Art and Right Click Save are delighted to announce “Snowfro’s Squiggles: The Auction” in collaboration with The ALS Association and The Giving Block. As part of our mission to support generative artists in fighting degenerative diseases, VerticalCrypto Art and Right Click Save are proud to announce the auction of ten unminted Chromie Squiggles in partnership with The ALS Association and The Giving Block, with proceeds from the sale going toward finding a cure for the degenerative disease, ALS.” Auction kicks off Tuesday, May 23rd — more
Ganchitecture / Tender: Tur — “Tur is an exploration in imagined architecture: raw, monumental, and anachronistic.” Dropping today, 444 pieces, 0.08 ETH. Following today’s drop, an exhibition featuring Tur will be opening in the Bright Moments (🤝) gallery at The Seaport in NYC from 5:00-8:30 pm EST — more
Bright Moments (🤝) / Live Minting in Tokyo — more
Digitized / Featured #02 x Songcamp (🤝) — more
Mona (🤝) / EXPERIENCE SPATIAL AUDIO ON MONA — more
Derek Edws / crypto art stuff at glitch — more
Async Art (🤝) / Social Features Go Live — more
Vertex (🤝) / 24-hr Volume > $60M, New ATH — more
Seed Club (🤝) / Derek Edws x Consumer Crypto Accelerator — more
punk9059 / Snowfro’s Squiggles Up for Auction to Fight ALS — more
1kx / Crypto-Native NFT IP Brand: Pudgy Penguins — more
Prohibition / New Gen Art Platform x AB (🤝) Engine x Arbitrum — more
Nifty Island (🤝) / VRM Support Soon™ — more
Blur (🤝) / Bidding Goes Live on Mobile — more
Alex Lin / Valhalla’s New Loyalty Program: Battle Pass — more
Tom Glass / Texas House Vote on Cash + Cash Substitutes — more
🤝 = Collab+Currency Portfolio Company
Curated by @Collab_Currency x @_cutbank
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