Hello 👋
Welcome to the 48th edition of Sfermion’s Collider where we highlight the latest & greatest news in the world of crypto, gaming & entertainment, consumer trends, AI, macro, and more!
Bi-weekly, we aim to drop a curated list of the most exciting stories & updates that we believe are enabling the future of tech and 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 :)
Crypto Updates
Coinbase, Kraken, Others Form a Blockchain Security Standards Council 'BSSC' (link)
WazirX Loses $230M in Suspected DPRK Hack (link)
FTX and CFTC Agree to $12.7B Settlement Pending Court Approval (link)
SEC Drops Investigation into Stacks Bitcoin L2 (link)
SEC Ends Probe Into Paxos With No Actions On BUSD (link)
TON Blockchain Ecosystem to Get New Layer-2 Network Based on Polygon Tech (link)
Uniswap Labs publicly launches wallet browser extension supporting 11 blockchains (link)
BlackRock tokenized treasury fund BUIDL reaches $500M (link)
Trump chooses crypto-friendly Senator Vance as VP pick (link)
House Fails to Overturn Biden Veto on Pro-Crypto Banking Bill (link)
CFTC Chair Says 70-80% of Crypto Assets Are Not Securities (link)
Squarespace DNS Hijacking Puts Over 220 DeFi Protocols at Risk (link)
Polygon Labs, Google Cloud, Accenture Revolutionize Loyalty Programs (link)
Circle says EURC is Coming to Base (link)
Telegram Announces Plans for Mini App Store to Boost Crypto Scene (link)
State Street Said to Explore Creating Stablecoin, Deposit Token (link)
Grayscale launches new fund for decentralized artificial intelligence (link)
Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Fund Aims to Boost Bitcoin Development via Grants (link)
Story Protocol plans to launch IP-focused Layer 1 this year (link)
Coinbase Unveils Web App to Track Personal On-Chain Wallets (link)
Mastercard Integrates Account Opening API with Alchemy Pay (link)
Tezos and Baanx To Launch Non-Custodial Crypto Debit Card (link)
Li.Fi DeFi Protocol Suffers $9M Security Breach (link)
TON Blockchain Ecosystem to Get New Layer-2 Network Based on Polygon Tech (link)
HashKey Teases Launch Date For Its Ethereum L2 in Q4 (link)
Gaming Updates
MON Protocol (💰) launches Web3-focused investment fund, MON Ventures, to accelerate growth of blockchain gaming studios worldwide (link)
Planet Mojo (💰) Selects Base To Build Web3 Gaming Ecosystem (link)
Anichess (💰) announces Spell Chess S2: The Leaderboard Challenges (link)
Mocaverse (MOCA) goes live with their airdrop and official token launch (link)
Notcoin, 1inch, and Sign launch accelerator for Telegram and TON ecosystems (link)
Genies launches creator and partner network for avatar IP innovation (link)
Sekai secures Naruto’s license to develop consumer apps for anime fans (link)
Forgotten Runiverse is Coming to Ronin! (link)
DM2C (DMM) unveils blockchain game and entertainment platform Seamoon Protocol (link)
Portal introduces ‘PortalPay’ interoperability for blockchain gaming (link)
Two-thirds of Chinese mobile gamers play mini games (link)
Apple approves Epic Games Store for iOS after rejecting it twice (link)
Pokémon Sleep earns $100M in first year revenue (link)
Get ready for the Palworld licensing bonanza (link)
Whataburger launches branded Fortnite map and tournament (link)
AI Updates
OpenAI Releases GPT-4o Mini, a Cheaper Version of Flagship AI Model (link)
Andreessen Horowitz Is Building a Stash of More Than 20,000 GPUs to Win AI Deals (link)
Former OpenAI, Tesla engineer Andrej Karpathy starts AI education platform (link)
Sam Altman, Arianna Huffington Launch AI Health Coaching Company (link)
US chip giant AMD to buy European LLM leader Silo AI for $665M (link)
British Chipmaker Graphcore Acquired by SoftBank Group (link)
Other Updates
NBA agrees to terms on $76B media rights deals (link)
Musk Beats $500M Severance Suit Over Mass Twitter Layoff (link)
Verizon Hit With $2.6B Anti-Piracy Lawsuit From Major Record Labels (link)
Penguin Random House to Acquire Boom! Studios (link)
Paramount and Skydance merge, signaling end of a family reign in Hollywood and the rise of new power (link)
Starlink Mini is now available for anyone in the US to roam (link)
Apple 30% fee extends to Instagram and Facebook ads worldwide today (link)
BlackRock Hits Record AUM as Wall Street Banks Report Solid Earnings (link)
Andreessen Horowitz co-founders explain why they’re supporting Trump (link)
OpenAI illegally barred staff from airing safety risks, whistleblowers say (link)
Research & Interesting Reads
Messari | Understanding Lit Protocol: A Comprehensive Overview (link)
Galaxy | Crypto & Blockchain Venture Capital – Q2 2024 (link)
Binance | Half-Year Report 2024 (link)
Coinbase Ventures | ELI5 L3s (link)
Jihoz | The Web3 Gaming Growth Handbook (link)
Galaxy | Staking: Risks & Rewards (link)
Franklin Templeton | The next frontier in cloud computing (link)
1kx | Introducing Atlas: Web3 Data Provider Performance Dashboard (link)
Konvoy | Building a Foundation for Esports (link)
Digital Native | Keeping Up with the Gen Zs (link)
Not Boring | Make the Internet Fun Again (link)
Crunchbase | Global Funding And M&A Picked Up In Q2, While AI Funding Mushroomed (link)
NFT Drops & Updates
Coinbase, Aloe Blacc, and Hume (💰) team up for NFT free mint of remix on-chain song (link)
Team USA Basketball and Coinbase team up for NFT free mint (link)
Trump hints at 4th NFT collection, fears Chinese crypto take-over (link)
Notable Raises
Index Ventures Announces $2.3B in New Funds at a Historical Inflection Point for Startups (link)
Coatue, General Catalyst Back Figma at $12.5B Value (link)
Sequoia, Nvidia Back Startup Fireworks AI at $552M Valuation (link)
Index, Jared Leto Back AI Video Startup Valued at $500M (link)
Skild AI Raises $300M Series A To Build A Scalable AI Foundation Model For Robotics (link)
Earned Wealth Raises $200M for Doctor-Focused Financial Services Platform (link)
Saronic Raises $175M in Series B Funding, Valuing Company at $1B (link)
Hebbia raises $130M Series B led by a16z (link)
Crypto Investment Firm Hypersphere Unveils $130M Market Fund (link)
Menlo Ventures raises $100M AI fund in partnership with Anthropic (link)
Standard Bots Secures $63M in Funding to Propel American Manufacturing Forward with AI-Driven Robotics (link)
Partior, Blockchain Payment Network Backed by JPMorgan and DBS, Raises $60M Series B (link)
Volley raises $55M voice-enabled AI games (link)
Digital Asset Trader Auros to Invest Over $50M in Crypto Startups Through Its Newly Established VC Arm (link)
Athletic Brewing raises $50M as nonalcoholic wave sweeps beer making (link)
Bitrue Ventures launches Web3-focused $40M investment fund (link)
SolanaLegend raises $20M for "Frictionless Fund I" to focus on blockchain startups (link)
Visa-linked Allium announces $16.5M raise, Chainbase announces $15M Series A (link)
Allium raises $16.5M as crypto funding activity cools (link)
Chainbase Raises $15M to Grow Omnichain Data Network (link)
ZAP, a blockchain startup, has raised $15M in fund (link)
Build on Bitcoin Raises $10M in Seed Funding (link)
Blockchain Startup Rome Raises $9M to Serve Ethereum Layer-2s Through Solana (link)
Crypto-AI startup Mira raises $9M in seed funding (link)
Rome Protocol secures $9M to bring Solana capabilities to Ethereum Layer-2 (link)
Caliza Secures $8.5M for Real-Time Transfers (link)
Haruko investment platform raises $6M in funds for growth plans in Asia (link)
Term Finance Secures $5.5M In Strategic Financing (link)
Web3 Identity Layer idOS Secures $4.5M Funding (link)
Castle Island Ventures and RW3 Ventures lead $4M seed round for web3 cloud firm Nirvana Labs (link)
Finnish startup Bitmagic raises $4M for AI platform able to create games from text prompts (link)
Crypto investment platform Truvius raises $3.2M pre-seed led by Galaxy Ventures (link)
Square-Enix backs blockchain-based football MMO ‘Soccerverse’ in $3.1M round (link)
Oh Gamers Secures $3M Seed Investment From Axia8 Ventures (link)
Crypto Payment Startup Kulipa Secures $3M (link)
Grand Games raises $3M in funding round (link)
Liquidium’s $2.75M seed round aims to bring Aave-like experience to Bitcoin (link)
On-chain credit and yield platform Idle raises $2.4M in total strategic funding (link)
BoredElon secures $2.2M angel round for Edison Metaverse, to power MMO metaverse experiences (link)
Mo & Andrew's Curated
Macro
The European Commission offered 𝕏 an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.
The other platforms accepted that deal.
𝕏 did not.
The other platforms accepted that deal.
𝕏 did not.
In our view @X doesn’t comply with the DSA in key transparency areas. It misleads users, fails to provide adequate ad repository and blocks access to data for researchers. It’s the first time we issue preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act. 
europa.eu/!CGPVCV
europa.eu/!CGPVCV
619.9K
I am going to formally endorse @realDonaldTrump. I came to this decision some time ago as many @X followers have already understood from my supportive posts of Trump and my criticisms of @POTUS Biden.
The reason why I have not yet formally done so is that I want to explain my…
The reason why I have not yet formally done so is that I want to explain my…
Microsoft, $MSFT, has laid off its internal DEI team, per BI.
IS LIKELY TO UNBAN 
Official Republican party platform on crypto. Couldn't really ask for anything more:
End crypto crackdown
No CBDC
Right to mine
Right to self-custody
Right to transact freely
End crypto crackdown No CBDC Right to mine Right to self-custody Right to transact freely
Hard to overstate how big a deal it is for Larry Fink, who runs $10.6T, to keep giving these full throated endorsements of bitcoin as legit asset class for everyday portfolios. Buy in from BlackRock - as well as other legacy firms like Fidelity - gives boomer advisors comfort and…
JUST IN: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says he is a major believer in #Bitcoin after studying it.
Web3
JUST IN: $1.64 trillion asset manager Goldman Sachs to launch three tokenization projects this year.
Left: depositing to @Polymarket today
Right: depositing to @Polymarket as it should be
Let's work together on rolling out ERC-3770 and ERC-7683 today!
Right: depositing to @Polymarket as it should be
Let's work together on rolling out ERC-3770 and ERC-7683 today!
the big news is here
today we're introducing ZK compression to Solana, directly on the L1 — without requiring L2s
this changes everything you thought you knew about Solana and scaling L1s
TL;DR — we compress onchain state to get 10,000x scale improvements and get 1 step closer…
today we're introducing ZK compression to Solana, directly on the L1 — without requiring L2s
this changes everything you thought you knew about Solana and scaling L1s
TL;DR — we compress onchain state to get 10,000x scale improvements and get 1 step closer…
WuBlockchain has counted twenty TOP projects that may issue tokens in the second half of the year, including Monad, Aleo, Magic Eden, Berachain, Babylon, Scoll, Karak, Movement, SynFutures, Backpack, Puffer, LiFi, Lens, Solv, Symbiotic, Swell, Zircuit, StakeStone, Hamster Kombat…
Meet the new Coinbase Wallet web app.
All of your crypto. All of your wallets. All in one place.
Your new home for everything onchain.
→ wallet.coinbase.com/ocs
All of your crypto. All of your wallets. All in one place.
Your new home for everything onchain.
→ wallet.coinbase.com/ocs
We at @vaneck_us are pleased to announce that @CBOE just filed our 19b-4 to list and trade shares of the FIRST Solana exchange-traded fund in the US!
We look forward to engaging with the SEC during the review period.
We look forward to engaging with the SEC during the review period.
ONE HUNDRED MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE DEGENERATES
NFT
journey beyond the threshold of sanity!
the official trailer for 'Dullsville and the Doodleverse' is here:
the official trailer for 'Dullsville and the Doodleverse' is here:
Project Dragon
July 27th, 2024
Noon ET
Meebits, Voyagers, Kodas, BAYC, MAYC, BAKC, Grailed, Moonbirds, Kodamara, & HVs can all attend. More info to come.
July 27th, 2024
Noon ET
Meebits, Voyagers, Kodas, BAYC, MAYC, BAKC, Grailed, Moonbirds, Kodamara, & HVs can all attend. More info to come.
Gaming
We're Psyched To Announce We're Building On @solana 
Our First Game - For The Win (FTW) - Has Just Entered Its Final Development Phase And Is Getting Ready For Global Launch By End of Year
We Can't Wait To Show You What We've Been Cooking And Push Forward The Meta For Web3…
Our First Game - For The Win (FTW) - Has Just Entered Its Final Development Phase And Is Getting Ready For Global Launch By End of Year
We Can't Wait To Show You What We've Been Cooking And Push Forward The Meta For Web3…
The Anomaly Telegram Game Launcher is live!
Invite friends with your unique code & watch those points soar, earning 16% of all points they earn while playing Anomaly Games like Dicestone and Pinball.
User-friendly, Telegram-based launcher with multiple games
Auto wallet…
Invite friends with your unique code & watch those points soar, earning 16% of all points they earn while playing Anomaly Games like Dicestone and Pinball.
User-friendly, Telegram-based launcher with multiple games Auto wallet…
AI
So there's a pretty wild Crypto x AI story actively playing out right now.
It involves a16z gp Marc Andreessen giving $50k in crypto to an AI agent.
Who has since plotted to use the funds to launch a shitcoin.
And is also an S-tier shitposter.
Let me back up.
Andy Ayrey…
It involves a16z gp Marc Andreessen giving $50k in crypto to an AI agent.
Who has since plotted to use the funds to launch a shitcoin.
And is also an S-tier shitposter.
Let me back up.
Andy Ayrey…
Other
50 pieces of advice after 5 years as an entrepreneur:
1. Nobody is coming to save you.
2. Be on time for important things.
3. Go to therapy and be honest.
4. Drink less alcohol.
1. Nobody is coming to save you.
2. Be on time for important things.
3. Go to therapy and be honest.
4. Drink less alcohol.
I came across Facebook's beautiful employee handbook by Ben Barry for the first time today.
And I think every employee and founder needs to see it.
Even Zuckerberg-haters will probably be impressed.
A sneak peek into 15 pages of the Facebook Employee Handbook:
And I think every employee and founder needs to see it.
Even Zuckerberg-haters will probably be impressed.
A sneak peek into 15 pages of the Facebook Employee Handbook:
💰 = Sfermion Portfolio Company
Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold
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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.
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