Nike’s Digital Wearables / Dot Swoosh Platform — Nike announces a new web3 platform, .Swoosh (pronounced “dot swoosh”), where fans will be able to collect and co-create virtual items. The site is currently in beta, with plans for the first collection to launch early next year. Nike has already earned a total of $185 million in NFT revenue ($93M in primary sales, $92M in royalties), according to data published on Dune Analytics — more
Binance / Relaunches Bid for Bankrupt Crypto Lender Voyager — The US arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance.US, is reportedly preparing a bid for the bankrupt lending platform Voyager Digital. FTX outbid Binance’s $50M bid in September, but Voyager said it has now reopened bidding after FTX’s collapse — more
FTX / Bahamas Seizes FTX Assets — On November 12th, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas transferred FTX Digital Markets’ assets to a digital wallet it controls in an “urgent interim regulatory action that was necessary to protect the interests of clients and creditors of [FTX DM]”, adding complication to the fight over which jurisdiction should handle the case — more
FTX / Bankruptcy Filing Highlights — FTX’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, who also led Enron’s bankruptcy proceedings says, “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here. From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.” — more
Genesis / $1B Emergency Loan — According to a confidential fundraising document viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Crypto lender Genesis was seeking an emergency loan of $1B from investors before it told clients it was suspending redemptions this week, citing a “liquidity crunch due to certain illiquid assets on its balance sheet.” — more
Pudgy Penguins / Kellogg’s Cereal Partnership — Pudgy Penguins, an NFT collection consisting of 8,888 penguin characters, announces partnership with The Br3akfast Club, Kellogg's NFT project. Each NFT comes with "a physical, officially licensed Kellogg's cereal box collectible. Each box contains Anonymous merch & a QR code, which can be scanned to redeem additional prizes, such as NFTs from Pudgy’s collection" — more
Azuki NFT Collection / Red Bull Racing Partnership — Red Bull Racing inked a deal with crypto exchange Bybit as a principal partner back in Feb. 2022. “The exchange’s logo will feature alongside Lei the Lightning Azuki, an NFT artwork and character from the anime-inspired Azuki collection. The original Lei Azuki NFT is one of 10,000 NFTs from the collection.” — more
El Salvador / One BTC Per Day — The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announces that the Central American country will begin purchasing one Bitcoin every day. The country’s last purchase reportedly came in July 2022 when it purchased 80 BTC at a price of ~$19k, bringing its total holdings to 2,381 BTC with an average cost of $43,357 — more
Yakoa (🤝) / $4.8M Raised — Yakoa, a startup aimed at ending IP fraud in web3, raises round led by Collab+Currency, Volt Capital, and Brevan Howard, with participation from Alliance DAO, Uniswap Labs, Orange DAO, and others — more
zkSync (Matter Labs) / $200M Raised — zkSync, a scaling and privacy solution for Ethereum, raises Series C led by Blockchain Capital and Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Lightspeed, Variant, and a16z. This brings the zkSync’s total funding up to $458M — more
PlayEmber / $2.3M Raised — Play Ember, a web3 gaming monetization platform, raises pre-seed round led by Shima Capital, with participation from Big Brain Holding, Warburg Serres, and Huobi Ventures — more
Joepegs / $5M Raised — Joepegs, an Avalanche-based NFT marketplace, raises seed round led by FTX Ventures and the Avalanche Foundation. According to the co-founders, the funding from FTX Ventures was completed in June and the funds were transferred out of FTX prior to recent bankruptcy news — more
Ping / $15M Raised — Ping, a freelancer-focused neobank that serves users in 16 countries mostly in LatAm, raises seed round from Y Combinator, Race Capital, BlockTower, Danhua Capital, Signum Capital, and Goat Capital — more
Heroic Story / $6M Raised — Heroic Story, a project reimagining tabletop RPGs (like Dungeons and Dragons) for a digital audience using web3, raises seed round led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from Multicoin Capital and Polygon — more
Zulu / $5M Raised — Zulu, a Colombia-based decentralized wallet that enables users to hold and sell USDC, raises $5M seed round led by Cadenza Ventures, with participation from Nexo Ventures — more
Anode Labs / $4.2M Raised — Anode Labs, a company building a decentralized network that will pay individuals and small businesses for their energy storage assets, raises seed round led by Lerer Hippeau and Lattice Capital, with participation from VaynerFund, CoinShares, and Digital Currency Group — more
Virtualness / $8M Raised — Virtualness, a mobile-first platform aimed at making web3 accessible for brands and creators, raises $8M seed round led by Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Polygon Ventures, F7 Ventures, and others — more
Revv / $5.5M Raised — Revv, a project developing decentralized marketplace infrastructure, announces raise closed in Q2 led by Libertus Capital, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Tribe Capital, Figment Capital, and others — more
From Fibonacci to Fidenza / Sabrina Khan x 6529 — “As generative pieces are created by artists like Tyler Hobbs, who dazzled the art scene with his Fidenza collection, we are left in the afterglow with many questions, the answers of which will shape the trajectory of generative art: is the computer the artist or is the artist the one who feeds the computer the custom created algorithm? Is art rendered by a machine true art? Can this generated art move us and evoke the same emotions affected by traditional paintings?” — more
Taking A Long Term View Of Web3 / Katie Haun + Fred Wilson — “At times like this, it helps to have a long-term view of web3 as a sector, not just a forward-looking long-term view, but also some perspective on where we have come from. As longtime investors in web3 and board members (also individual shareholders) of Coinbase, one of the oldest and best-known companies in the space, we thought we might share some thoughts.” — more
The Revenue-Evil Curve: a different way to think about prioritizing public goods funding / Vitalik Buterin — “This post will attempt to provide a different way of analyzing "hybrid" goods on the spectrum between private and public: the revenue-evil curve. We ask the question: what are the tradeoffs of different ways to monetize a given project, and how much good can be done by adding external subsidies to remove the pressure to monetize?” — more
NFT Art Museum Donations? The Pros and Cons for Your Tax Bill / Brian Frye — “What happens when you donate a non-fungible token (NFT) to an art museum? It’s surprisingly unclear. Should museums even accept NFTs? Maybe, depending on the museum and the NFT. Many museums collect digital art, which obviously includes NFTs. And at least some NFTs are already historically significant.” — more
Web3 Credentials: A Primer / Nancy — “In this article, we will explore: What Web3 Credentials Are, Problems of Web2 Credential Issuance, The Importance of Web3 Credentials, The Current Web3 Credential Landscape, How to Level-Up Your Web3 Hustle With Web3 Credentials, Issues With the Current Web3 Credential Landscape” — more
Gallery.[so] (🤝) / New Social Features — Gallery, a web3 creative oasis for curation, connection, and exploration, launches a new suite of tools + social features that enable users to follow and connect with others based on shared interests, comment on the latest activities from friends, and discover new artists + communities — more
Starkware (🤝) / Deploys STRK Token — Starkware has deployed its native token, STRK, on the Ethereum network. The token is not yet tradable and the date at which the no-trade status is lifted will be determined by the StarkNet Foundation once a mechanism for distribution has been decided upon — more
Uniswap / Permit2 + Universal Router — Uniswap Labs releases two new smart contracts called Permit2 and Universal Router. Permit2 allows token approvals to be shared and managed across different applications, reducing costs and creating a safer UX. Universal Router unifies ERC20 and NFT swapping into a single swap router, which in conjunction with Permit2, enables users to swap multiple tokens and NFTs in one swap (saving on gas fees) — more
Async (🤝) / Ricky Lake: Altered (The Generative Album) — “How would you design an album if every track was meant to change? “Altered” is the first audiovisual Music Blueprints project that explores the concept of a non-concrete album. Created with 30+ collaborators and over 6600 possible unique combinations derived from 11 songs, “Altered” is one step further into an immersive and surreal album experience with every mint.” Minting live, 6650 editions, 0.0069 ETH — more
PartyDAO / Party Protocol — PartyDAO, a DAO building multiplayer crypto software, launches the Party Protocol. “The protocol aims to be a standard for group coordination, providing on-chain functionality for essential group behaviors: 1. Formation: Assembling a group and combining resources. 2. Coordination: Making decisions and taking action together. 3. Distribution: Sharing resources with group members.” — more
Third Vision / Art Blocks (🤝): Miragem — “Miragem” (Mirage in Portuguese) is a generative project that requires your slow attention. It’s an exploration of rhythm, balance, and texture. Just simple elements in a coordinated dance, ruled by math and randomness. It’s an invitation for the eyes and mind to wander.” Minting Dec. 12th — more
Leo Villareal / Outland Art: Cosmic Bloom — “Leo Villareal presents his latest NFT collection Cosmic Bloom which is part of the artist’s Cosmologies series, which began with Villareal’s successful Cosmic Reef NFT project released on Art Blocks. The works are produced using custom live code and inspired by organic and biological structures, stellar phenomena, and atomic patterns.” Pre-sale Dec. 6, public sale Dec. 8, 2022 — more
Jeanvascript / Art Blocks (🤝): VOXΞL — “VOXΞL is a real-time, interactive 3D generative art project. Each iteration is a collage of shapes, colors and animations laid out in a voxel grid of various size and complexity. The visuals are rendered on every frame allowing smooth animation and the ability to rotate the camera around the 3D scene by dragging and zooming by scrolling.” 250 pieces, minting Nov. 18th 10am PST — more
Tim Ferris / We Like the Marfa
SuperRare (🤝) / RarePass Drop
XCOPY / Not Your Keys…
Bright Moments (🤝) / NFTARTCDMX
Blur / On Royalty Enforcement
Yuga Labs / Punk Legacy Project
Jason Choi / Definitive Thread on FTX
SekureD / All About Nike’s .Swoosh
Cryptoys (🤝) / Masters of the Universe Drop
gmoney / 9dcc x Erick Calderon Upcoming Drop
The 402 / Tim Ferris on 100 PROOF w/ Derek + Kevin
Von Mises / Snowfro’s “100 Untitled Spaces” w/ Bright Moments (🤝)
Snowfro / Marfa 🙏
🤝 = Collab+Currency Portfolio Company
Curated by @Collab_Currency x @_cutbank
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