Hello 👋

Welcome to the 33rd edition of Sfermion’s Collider where we highlight the latest & greatest news in the world of web3 and gaming!

Weekly, we aim to drop a curated list of the most exciting stories & updates that we believe are enabling the emergence of the metaverse.

If you're looking forward to reading this edition of Sfermion’s Collider, please don't forget to subscribe below, share within your network, and follow Sfermion on Twitter to get the latest! Check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)

Web3 Updates

PayPal Launches Stablecoin Tied to the US Dollar, Issued on Ethereum (link)

Coinbase's Base Mainnet Officially Opens to the General Public (link)

Microsoft Partners with Aptos Blockchain to Marry AI and Web3 (link)

Circle Launches Programmable Wallets Beta (link)

Doodles and Crocs Form Partnership (link)

DeBank Announces DeBank Chain (L2 Powered by OP-Stack), Aiming to Become the Asset Layer for Social (link)

Sam Bankman-Fried is being sent to jail after a judge revoked his bail over alleged witness tampering (link)

Visa tests ways for users to pay on-chain gas fees directly in fiat with a credit or debit card (link)

OpenSea Integrates Base Network (link)

Federal Reserve to expand oversight of crypto-related activities at banks (link)

Curve Finance Exploiter Returns $8.5M in Stolen Funds (link)

Popular NFT Collection, y00ts, Migrates Back to Ethereum from Polygon (link)

NFT Context Platform, Soho (💰), Expands Social Features with Badging System Launch (link)

Reddit Community Tokens Moons After Kraken Listing (link)

MPCVault’s crypto wallet for businesses hits $500M AUM in 7 months (link)

AI Updates

Apple’s Tim Cook States $22.6B YTD Spend on Generative AI Research (link)

Nvidia announces new "superchip" and collab with Hugging Face (link)

Google launches Project IDX, a new AI-enabled browser-based development environment (link)

Google And Universal Music Group Negotiating AI-Generated Music Tools (link)

Disney Creates Task Force to Explore AI and Cut Costs (link)

Gaming Updates

Roblox’s Q2 results revealed that average DAU were 65.5M, up 25% year-over-year and average monthly unique payers were 13.5M, up +19% YoY (link)

Netflix has released a ‘game controller app’ for the iOS App Store (link)

UFC President Dana White Joins Mark Zuckerberg’s $500B Venture To Provide “Immersive” Experience for MMA Fans (link)

Pixel Vault Acquires Wolf Game (link)

ParallelTCG is Launching Starter Packs Filled with NFTs on Base (link)

Everseed (💰) Highlights Closed Alpha v2.0 Updates (link)

Shrapnel (💰), AAA Shooter, partners with Sakaba for in-game loyalty for web3 games (link)

Decentraland Is Using AI to Make the Metaverse Feel More Alive (link)

Genies Introduces AI Avatars for Celebrities and Launches Avatar Social Network (link)

Roblox Is Tapping AI to Generate 'More Rich and Dynamic' Games: CEO (link)

WAGMI Games Unveils All-Star Team to Transform Web3 Gaming (link)

WAGMI Games and Gadget Bot Partner to Create AAA Artwork for Upcoming Founder Pack Drop (link)

Research & Interesting Reads

Alchemy | Web3 Development Report (Q2 2023)

Konvoy | Forever Apps

Naavik | Unity’s Bet on AI

thecoreloop | Super Apps Part II: The Gaming Revolution - Redefining Interactive Entertainment

WASD | The Ultimate Guide to the MUD Ecosystem

Chris Ahn | Economies of Scale

NFT Drops & Updates

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (Last Auctioned for $450M) Will be Sold Officially as NFTs Via Elmonx Marketplace (link)

Reebok and VeeFriends Step Up with a Joint Sneaker Collection (link)

FingerprintsDAO and Larva Labs Unveil “Voxelgyph”, an NFT Representing DAO Membership (link)

Pudgy Penguins Releases 150 Edition “Left-facing” Physical Collectibles With an ERC721 Claimable (link)

Jack Butcher and Pudgy Penguins Tease a New NFT Collection (link)

Jack Butcher Launches “Infinity Checks” Collection, Early Contract Issues Leads to Stolen Funds (link)

DeGods Welcomes Holders to Season 3 (link)

Elvis Presley Dances Into the Metaverse via 'The Sandbox' - Some 3,000 Elvis Presley NFT avatars and unique emotes will launch in-game on Ethereum (link)

McFarlane Toys Collabs with Rarible for Their New Batman NFT Collection (link)

Notable Raises

Xverse (💰), the leading Bitcoin Web3 wallet supporting Ordinals and BRC-20 inscriptions, Raises $5M in Seed Funding Round Led by Jump Crypto, with participation from participation from RockawayX, Sfermion, Alliance, NGC Ventures, and others (link)

Elon Musk-Backed Neuralink Raises $280M led by Founder Fund (link)

L1 Digital Raises $152M for Second Crypto VC Fund (link)

GoStudent raises another $95M to go after VR and AI-enhanced tutoring (link)

Illuminati Capital raises $50M for Web3 investments including games (link)

Futureverse's Co-Founders Start $50M Venture Fund - The Born Ready venture studio will invest in early-stage Web3 and metaverse projects (link)

Futureverse and Outlier Ventures launch Base Camp Accelerator for metaverse startups (link)

Mahjong Meta raises $12M Led by Dragonfly. Mahjong Meta is a Web3 gaming platform on Ethereum, offering a rewarding and innovative gameplay experience for Mahjong enthusiasts (link)

Blockchange Ventures leads $8.2M seed round for web3 security startup Cube3.ai (link)

Cantina has raised a $7M round, led by Framework, to launch a web3 security marketplace (link)

Puffer Finance Raises $5.5M Seed Funding to Strengthen Ethereum Decentralization & Scalability (link)

1kx leads $5M seed round for generative art NFT platform fxhash (link)

Web3 ad firm HypeLab raises $4M in round led by Shima Capital and Makers Fund (link)

Monetizr raises $4M to replace intrusive game ads with engaging brand experiences - Change Ventures led the round (link)

Windup Minds raises $1.6M to build virtual pets in VR and MR (link)

Zibra AI, which specialises in AI-generated 3D assets for games and virtual environments, raises $500K from a16z Speedrun (link)

Mo & Andrew's Curated

Macro

Watcher.Guru

@WatcherGuru

BREAKING: SEC to appeal judge ruling that Ripple $XRP is not a security.

5,492

9:25 PM • Aug 9, 2023

Web3

Base 🛡️

@BuildOnBase

Base is open and Onchain Summer is here

Become a part of Base history by minting “Base Day One” to join the story of bringing the world onchain

Our story.

onchainsummer.xyz/base

3,570

5:02 PM • Aug 9, 2023

Soho

@sohoxyz

Introducing Badges: a new way to represent achievements in web3

Starting today, you can earn and use badges on Soho to:

Express your identity
Stand out from the crowd
Connect with interesting people
Unlock new features

Get started with badges

19

5:48 PM • Aug 10, 2023

Zapper ⚡️

@zapper_fi

Introducing Trends

Get your alpha directly from the chain

Discover the top things people are doing onchain across DeFi, Swaps, NFTs, and much more.

178

4:45 PM • Aug 10, 2023

archivist.eth

@punk3606

Blockchain Collectibles Clock (v2023.3)

A timeline of significant decentralized semi/non-fungible assets (ownable & transferrable), from 2009 Bitcoin genesis block to today.

(file link )

83

11:22 PM • Mar 17, 2023

🧡NEEDcreations is stacking sats & jamming to EDM

@NEEDcreations

Can you believe these statements about #Bitcoin were blogged in 2011 by a student named Ryan Dickherber?

1. I have never been so obsessed about anything. But the reason I am obsessed with bitcoin is simple: it is the most incredible thing to ever happen in the world.

683

12:41 PM • Aug 8, 2023

seth bloomberg

@bloomberg_seth

Consumer crypto categories to watch:

1. AI Agents
2. Decentralized Social
3. Onchain Gaming / Autonomous Worlds
4. NFT Financialization
5. Content Co-Creation
6. Digital / Physical Intersection

233

2:16 PM • Aug 9, 2023

Gaming

Jonah 🎮

@RealJonahBlake

This is not real. You will be able to tell by the hands and how they move. This is unreal engine 5. When VR devices can handle this type of graphics it will be scary.

435

3:17 PM • Aug 4, 2023

Jonah 🎮

@RealJonahBlake

Another look at a game that’s being made in partnership with Ubisoft that has NFTs.

197

5:17 AM • Aug 4, 2023

Bored Ape Yacht Club

@BoredApeYC

HV-MTL Forge Season 3 updates are in progress. Ahead of Forge coming back online, let's dive into what Season 3 The Swampening entails for those forging on.

444

6:41 PM • Aug 10, 2023

OG

@JustOmar77

Riot is making a fighting game featuring League of Legend’s champions. Yasuo’s gameplay just dropped.

This is going to be insanely fun

82

3:46 PM • Aug 4, 2023

andrew chen

@andrewchen

Thread

Before the metaverse, there were MMOs

Before NFTs, there were virtual items

Before freemium, there was shareware

And before AI companions, there were Japanese Dating Sims

Games originates some of the most important tech on the planet and here's why...

254

12:54 AM • Aug 4, 2023

EVERSEED 🌱

@PlayEverseed

CLOSED ALPHA v2.0 UPDATE
INTRODUCING IRONROOT
NEW MAPS
HARDER LEVELS
BUGS SQUASHED

(Enter our Discord for more info)

31

4:30 PM • Aug 8, 2023

//Kalos

@templecrash

One reason [of many] I'm so excited to work with @BuildOnBase is that we are distributing starter decks that have 40 NFTs in them on BASE. People who buy them can IMMEDIATELY go download @ParallelTCG BETA and play using their own cards and start earning $PRIME... "you purchase…

196

1:30 AM • Aug 7, 2023

NFT

doodles

@doodles

Doodles x @Crocs. Arriving August 2023.

Complete with shoes, wearables, and jibbitz.

3,129

5:09 PM • Aug 4, 2023

Hanwe

@HanweChang

Noticed that someone's bot was copying my bids on Blur, so I decided to trick him...

Made 800 ETH profit thanksss

8,519

5:46 PM • Aug 5, 2023

Pudgy Penguins

@pudgypenguins

The Pudgy Penguins “Left Facing” collectible releases tomorrow, August 8, at 9:45pm EST, on @NTWRKLIVE and @sasom_official.

There are only 150 made, and each one comes with an ERC721 claimable token.

More information below.

380

11:47 PM • Aug 7, 2023

Rodo

@0xRodo

Sothebys opened 22 more lots from the 3AC collection.

Lots close 16 August 2023 14:00 EDT / 20:00 CET

Link below

226

8:08 AM • Aug 9, 2023

moon

@MoonOverlord

NFT meltdowns continue

100 Degods market sold today by 1 entity, price down -30%, she still has 100 more left

she also sold 6 figs of $DUST with almost no Liq in the main ETH pool, -50%

and now ontop of that a hundred+ loans are underwater on Blend, a lot of these at 100% APY

529

9:52 PM • Aug 10, 2023

KORUS_AI

@KORUS_AI

You're new to KORUS.
Here's all you need to know

1/8

736

6:37 PM • Aug 1, 2023

A0K1VERSE

@a0k1verse

We are excited to announce a @steveaoki x @metropolisworld collaboration!

Steve Aoki will be launching his very own exclusive digital fashion line on Metropolis World's upcoming platform, Persona Parlor. Apply for membership now and use our special referral code

88

5:37 PM • Aug 9, 2023

Random

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC).

Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.

I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.

200.9K

11:35 AM • Aug 11, 2023

Watcher.Guru

@WatcherGuru

UFC President Dana White held a meeting with Italian government officials to discuss hosting Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg fight at the Roman Colosseum.

White predicts the fight would generate over $1 billion in total revenue.

6,386

12:38 AM • Aug 11, 2023

Jake Lucky

@JakeSucky

Kai Cenat is on mainstream news with riots breaking out after he announced a public giveaway in Union Park in New York City…

8,150

8:05 PM • Aug 4, 2023

unusual_whales

@unusual_whales

BREAKING: Penn paid $551 million to buy Barstool in 2020 and Portnoy bought it back for 1 dollar.

7,658

8:42 PM • Aug 9, 2023

💰 = Sfermion Portfolio Company

Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold

If you enjoyed reading this edition of Sfermion’s Collider, please subscribe below, share within your network, and follow Sfermion on Twitter to get the latest! Check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)

Note: All information in this Newsletter regarding any company or investment is the sole responsibility of the company providing the information. Sfermion, and its affiliates, makes no representation or guarantee to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Sfermion is not responsible for any information contained in any links outside our websites and official social accounts.

Sfermion does not offer investment advice/analysis and makes no recommendations on how to act. Information regarding any company or investment in this Newsletter, including any links to information on our website, should not be viewed as an endorsement or recommendation of that company or investment for any purpose whatsoever. Any person receiving this Newsletter is encouraged to consult with their own financial advisor, or relevant personnel, before making any investment decision.