Mind The Block | August Week 2

Mind The Block: Your Weekly Dose of Web3 News and Insights

Mind The Block Headlines This Week

  • Celsius sues Tether for $3.5B in Bitcoin
  • Samsung partners with Illuvium for Web3 TVs
  • Russia legalizes cryptocurrency mining
  • Crypto startups raise $2.7B in Q2 2024
  • Web3 gaming needs Steam-like platform
  • Gala Games launches Negan Hero Card sale
  • MATIC trades below 2023 low of $0.492
  • How to Find the Next 100x Crypto?

News

  • Celsius has filed a lawsuit against Tether, alleging misappropriation of assets and seeking $3.5 billion in Bitcoin returns, damages, and legal fees.
  • Optimism developers are developing a native interoperability system for Layer 2 chains, including OP Mainnet, Zora, and Base.
  • OKX has announced that Tangem Wallet now supports the OKX DEX aggregator.
  • Al Fardan Exchange has announced its partnership with the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival 2024.
  • Cardano has upgraded its Hydra Head scaling solution to improve network operations and address withdrawal delays.
  • BlockDAG’s partnership with UFC star Alex Pereira has attracted over 100,000 investors, boosting investor confidence in the coin.
  • Vega Protocol introduces a decentralized prediction market feature in the Colosseo II upgrade.
  • Aleph Zero has launched its EVM-compatible Layer-2 solution on the mainnet.
  • Kaku Finance has launched a Web3 fintech platform, integrating traditional financial systems with advanced blockchain technology.
  • Symbiotic, a restaking protocol on Ethereum, has launched its devnet, marking a significant step towards its mainnet launch in Q3 2024.
  • The DeFi Education Fund] has purchased a patent from True Return Systems, ending litigation against MakerDAO and Compound Protocol.

Extras By Mind The Block

  • Cyberchain will host a tokenized economy conference on October 3-4 at Baze University, Abuja.
  • API3’s Oracle Stack is now available on Zircuit, enhancing decentralized application capabilities.
  • KfW has partnered with Boerse Stuttgart Digital as an infrastructure provider for its upcoming blockchain-based digital bond offering.
  • Sompo Japan Insurance and Ginco have partnered to accelerate the social implementation and business adoption of Web3 technologies.
  • Superstate has integrated Chainlink’s Data Feeds product to provide price data for its tokenized treasury fund, USTB.
  • Canto, a Cosmos-based Layer-1 blockchain, experienced a major outage following its “Callisto” upgrade.
  • Deenar, the first gold-backed token on Cosmos, has gone live on HAQQ Network.
  • Saitama Inu returns to the WolfPack community with the Saitama Kingdom Token.
  • PlayFi, an AI-powered data network and blockchain for the live content industry, is launching a small batch sale of Genesis Nodes.
  • Sui Name Service (SuiNS) is transitioning into a decentralized protocol for accessibility and openness.

Major Companies Making Moves

  • Samsung is partnering with NFT game Illuvium to transform TVs into Web3-enabled digital hubs.
  • Bitget has completed its first COO Apprenticeship Program in Europe.
  • Arkham has formed a strategic partnership with Istanbul’s Galatasaray football club to boost blockchain in Turkey.
  • Dubai’s Commodities Exchange and Bybit have entered an advisory partnership.
  • Binance Labs has invested in Solayer, a restaking network based on Solana.
  • Ripple has partnered with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to boost blockchain innovation in the UAE.

Government, SEC & Regulation

  • The Law Commission of England and Wales is advocating for a new personal property category for digital assets in the UK.
  • Russia has legalized cryptocurrency mining, allowing registered entities and individuals to mine within energy consumption limits.
  • The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has removed wallet addresses from its crypto tax reporting form, Form 1099-DA.
  • The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has announced stablecoin issuer sandbox participants.
  • Turkey’s Capital Markets Board has issued a provisional list of 47 operational companies and three companies planning to liquidate following new crypto regulations.
  • Coinbase Exchange is suing the SEC over a proposal to expand the definition of exchanges to include Decentralized Exchanges.
  • Tether (USDT), a popular stablecoin in the crypto world, is facing danger due to European MiCA regulations.
  • Bhutan has transitioned its national digital SSI system from Hyperledger’s Indy distributed ledger to the Polygon Blockchain.
  • Indonesia’s central bank plans to launch the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial.
  • Binance users in Venezuela are experiencing difficulty accessing the crypto exchange.
  • Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a crypto regulatory sandbox to test crypto services in a real-life context.
  • The Philippines is embracing blockchain-based governance, with the eGov app being a significant step towards this.
  • How different Bitcoin Fear & Greed indexes calculate market sentiment.

Raises & Major Investments rounds

  • Crypto startups raised $2.7 billion in Q2 2024, a 2.5% increase from Q1 2024 but a 12.5% drop in deal volume.
  • El Salvador’s Bitcoin City port transformation has secured a $1.6 billion investment from Turkish company Yilport Holdings.
  • Intent-centric Ethereum L2 Essential raised $11M in a Series A funding round led by Archetype.
  • Vessel Finance, a ZK-powered DEX, has secured $10M in seed funding from top Web3 players.
  • Ion Protocol has raised $4.8 million to develop its native yield platform, Nucleus.

  • OKX CEO Jason Lau believes Web3 gaming needs a Steam-like platform for growth, as it lacks Web3 elements and decentralized economies.
  • IOTA has launched a blockchain-based tool called Smart Contracts for Media, designed to streamline music rights management in the film industry.
  • Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the travel industry by reducing fees and costs and streamlining processes.
  • Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, envisions blockchain as the next internet evolution.
  • Interoperability is crucial for DeFi’s future growth, as it allows for smooth exchange of data and value across networks and protocols.

NFTs, Gaming, Metaverse

  • Gala Games has announced the sale of the Negan Hero Card for The Walking Dead: Empires.
  • Zora has launched onchain secondary markets with Uniswap for its NFT collectibles, enabling the use of a new “ERC-20z” token standard.
  • Bitcoin.com has launched a white-label Web3 game developed by Playnance.
  • The metaverse, led by Mark Zuckerberg, was expected to have five billion users and $13 trillion in revenue.
  • Legends of Venari has launched an open playtest, allowing players to explore a mysterious world and train powerful Venari creatures.
  • The NFT market is experiencing significant activity, with the Froganas collection leading the pack with a volume of $898.16K.
  • Cyber Fighters, a mobile web2-based action game with over 8 million players, is set to launch on Immutable zkEVM network.
  • Adidas has partnered with Ethereum NFT collection Doodles to sell virtual swag packs, allowing buyers to claim exclusive physical apparel.

Onchain Data

  • Bittensor (TAO) has experienced a consistent price drop since August 9, raising concerns among investors.
  • Sui’s native token, SUI, has surged by 20.54% in the last 24 hours, surpassing the psychological resistance level around the $1.00 mark.
  • Despite a strong rally in the price of Toncoin (TON), short traders remain strong, indicating a persistent demand for TON shorts.
  • AVAX could fall below $15 this week due to bearish short-term market sentiment and potential losses.
  • MATIC, a token with a strong downtrend, is currently trading below 2023’s yearly low at $0.492.

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