Hello 👋

gmgm. Been awhile everyone, but pleased to welcome you all back to the 50th edition of Sfermion’s Collider - which as you know, is 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! Also, check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)

Crypto Updates

Unichain – an Ethereum L2 designed for DeFi (link)

Stripe reinstates crypto payments for US businesses via USDC on Ethereum, Solana and Polygon (link)

Prosecutors Charge Four Crypto ‘Market Makers,’ Employees With Market Manipulation, Fraud (link)

SEC Sues Crypto Trading Firm Cumberland, Again Alleges Solana and Polygon Are Securities (link)

Swift set to begin live bank trials of digital asset transactions in 2025 (link)

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda slams agency’s crypto policy as a ‘disaster’ (link)

Robinhood Exec is Reportedly Top Pick to Lead SEC under Trump (link)

Solv Protocol (💰) partners with Chainlink to bring BTC yields to Base ecosystem (link)

Tron founder Justin Sun elected as prime minister of crypto-focused micro nation Liberland (link)

$35M worth of tokens drained from a crypto whale in phishing attack (link)

Introducing Nexus: The World's First Fully Onchain Agentic Framework (link)

Gaming Updates

Today the game’s (💰) Mythic Seed free mint is scheduled for October 17th (link)

Shardbound (💰) goes live with open beta for October 9th, with 100K+ pre-registrations (link)

Epic is suing Google — again — and now Samsung, too (link)

Assassin’s Creed developer Ubisoft launches first crypto video game 'Champions Tactics' (link)

Arbitrum DAO member proposes $120M recall from gaming fund that missed deadlines (link)

Xbox will sell games directly in the Android app next month (link)

Mythos Foundation (💰) launches Mythical Forest with up to 2 Million $MYTH in prizes (link)

Animoca and Lamborghini Unite to Bring Supercars to Web3 (link)

AI Updates

Meta announces Movie Gen, an AI-powered video generator (link)

Character.ai abandons making AI models after $2.7B Google deal (link)

SoftBank to invest $500M into OpenAI (link)

TikTok joins the AI-driven advertising pack to compete with Meta for ad dollars (link)

Cerebras files for IPO as it challenges Nvidia in AI chips (link)

Other Updates

Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge (link)

Facebook launches a Gen Z-focused redesign (link)

TikTok sued by 14 attorneys general over alleged harm to children’s mental health (link)

Toyota to invest $500M in electric air taxi company Joby Aviation (link)

Reddit communities will require permission while going private or switching to NSFW (link)

CNN Launches Digital Paywall in Major Strategic Shift (link)

SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal Is Leaving the Agency (link)

Ex-Jaguars employee Amit Patel sues FanDuel for $250M (link)

Research & Interesting Reads

a16z | Anime Is Eating The World

Stanford Blockchain Review | Story: The World’s IP Blockchain

Discord | Come Build Where the World Plays

a16z crypto | How tokens can attract top talent: A compensation primer for web3

Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids

Chris Dixon | Fixing the economics of being a creator

Bloomberg | The Case of the Missing Web3 Users

CryptoHayes | PvP

Unity | 2024 Mobile Growth and Monetization Report 2024

Pilot | Founder Salary Report 2024

Binance | Monthly Market Insights - October 2024

Crunchbase | Asia Venture Funding Hits 10-Year Low In Q3

Omnichain Observations | A-star is born: ASTR to power Sony's new L2

Moyed | I read Sentient Whitepaper So You don’t need to

Notable Raises

Loot Labs (💰) announces $6M Seed Funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Sfermion, Everyrealm, and Fabric Ventures. Counter-Strike 2 Cosmetics Beta is coming to BOXED.GG on October 28th! (link)

Poolside Raises $500M to Build AI Coding Software (link)

Trump-linked World Liberty Financial to raise $300M at $1.5B valuation (link)

Aethir launches $100M fund to accelerate AI, gaming innovation (link)

Dave Clark launches Auger, raises $100M for the AI venture (link)

Bitget, Foresight Ventures Buy $30M TON Tokens From Whales (link)

VanEck to Invest in Early Stage Ventures Including Crypto With New $30M Fund (link)

Ithaca raises $20M in investment from Paradigm (link)

Gate Ventures, Movement Labs, Boon Ventures to launch $20M crypto fund (link)

Hemi Labs raises $15M to launch advanced modular blockchain network powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum (link)

SecondLive raises $12M in private funding round for their AI and XR Social Nexus (link)

Distance Technologies raises $11.2M for glasses-free mixed reality for enterprises (link)

Delta raises $11M for permissionless domain network (link)

Crypto gaming developer PiP World raises $10M in seed round months after buying Roblox stock simulator (link)

Polychain, Franklin Templeton back Bitlayer’s $9M Series A extension (link)

Dragonz Lab Secures $9M Investment from Syndicate Capital to Enhance ‘Dragonz Land’ Ecosystem (link)

OpenGradient Raises $8.5M to Decentralize AI Infrastructure and Accelerate Secure, Open-Source AI (link)

Bitcoin-backed stablecoin developer Yala raises $8M in seed funding (link)

Avarra Raises $8 Million for AI-Based Avatars (link)

Kiva AI Closes $7M Seed Round Led by CoinFund to Revolutionize Expert-Powered Data Solutions (link)

Future Trash raises $5M to build its IP within Fortnite’s platform (link)

APRO Oracle raises $3M in seed round led by Polychain Capital, Franklin Templeton, and ABCDE Capital (link)

Mo & Andrew's Curated

Macro

Mark Zandi

@Markzandi

The jobs report for September cements my view that the economy is about as good as it gets. The economy is creating lots of jobs across many industries, consistent with robust labor force growth, and thus low and stable unemployment. The economy is at full-employment, no more and…

5,348

7:00 PM • Oct 4, 2024

*Walter Bloomberg

@DeItaone

BLACKROCK NOW MANAGES A RECORD $11.5 TRILLION

BlackRock's assets under management jumped to a record $11.5 trillion in the third quarter, boosted by rising markets and an all-time high influx of new money from clients.

The asset manager's $221 billion of third-quarter inflows…

447

10:41 AM • Oct 11, 2024

Watcher.Guru

@WatcherGuru

$10 trillion asset manager BlackRock says crypto is being adopted faster than the internet and mobile phones.

17.9K

6:48 PM • Oct 7, 2024

Crypto

Coinbase Assets 🛡️

@CoinbaseAssets

Exciting news!

We're pleased to announce that Coinbase․com users can now send Bitcoin to Taproot addresses, creating access to more onchain destinations.

1,964

5:59 PM • Oct 8, 2024

Phantom

@phantom

Your favorite multichain wallet is getting even more BASED

Starting today, we’re rolling out beta support for @Coinbase's Ethereum L2: @Base

 Access your favorite DeFi and NFT apps
 Buy and swap thousands of tokens in Phantom
 Stay safe with Ledger support, spam…

3,830

5:47 PM • Oct 7, 2024

ens.eth

@ensdomains

Google has officially integrated ENS, allowing users to search for any .eth name and check associated balances directly within Google Search

nalin 🇺🇸

@nalin

You all asked for @ensdomains integration and it's live You can search for any .eth name and get the balance right in Google Search!

Kudos to the Search team for fully rolling this out!

1,014

9:17 PM • Oct 8, 2024

Soneium 💿

@soneium

Soneium Minato Testnet and #Soneium Spark Incubation details are here!

#Sony Block Solutions Labs launches this Ethereum layer-2 solution to empower builders and drive Web3 adoption.

5,068

1:31 AM • Aug 28, 2024

DEGEN NEWS

@DegenerateNews

NEW: @mcuban SAYS EVERY SINGLE MEMECOIN IS A RUG PULL IN THE WORKS

1,814

5:32 PM • Oct 3, 2024

CoinMarketCap

@CoinMarketCap

CMC Q3 Report: Crypto's Rollercoaster Ride!

- BTC dominance at 2-year high!
- Stablecoin market cap hits ATH!
- AI & meme coins surge while DeFi struggles!

Let's unpack the crypto market's wild Q3.

1/7

215

11:00 AM • Oct 3, 2024

Imran Khan

@lmrankhan

Saw a new idea shared by Jordi, where projects should unlock 100% of tokens upfront with selective emissions over time. Not a bad idea—this could be competitive with the fully unlocked memecoin narrative, as long as the emissions and product are handled correctly.

I think…

217

6:21 PM • Oct 2, 2024

qw

@QwQiao

most ppl have no idea how shitty of an asset class early stage venture investing is. all they see is the 100x's. but they dont see the amount of sweat and pain u have to put in and the 90% failure rate.

if my utility function was entirely focused on maximizing wealth. id not…

609

11:06 AM • Oct 8, 2024

Bubblemaps

@bubblemaps

Unprecedented statement from Binance:

They warn against supply control and lack of transparency, even mentioning "interconnected addresses" for memecoins

The tides are turning

Binance Research

@BinanceResearch

Curious about the latest buzz in the crypto community?

Our latest report dives into key insights on valuation, centralization risks, transparency in fund usage, and the rationale for rebranding.

Check it out
binance.com/en/research/an…

749

4:47 PM • Oct 4, 2024

NFTs

beeple

@beeple

gm!!! i am excited to announce our latest artwork from Beeple Studios, THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

1,237

2:31 PM • Sep 30, 2024

Luca Netz 🐧✳️

@LucaNetz

30 billion views is insane.

I think it’s safe to say that Pudgy Penguins is the most adopted crypto native IP in the world.

Penguin proliferation is unstoppable at this point.

Pudgy Penguins

@pudgypenguins

How it started vs. How it's going.

1,317

4:47 PM • Oct 3, 2024

nft now

@nftnow

EXCLUSIVE: @Sothebys & @seedphrase have announced the first-ever auction of a set of 7 Autoglyphs

The sale is estimated to exceed $3.5 million

Learn more below ↓

281

2:25 PM • Oct 2, 2024

TylerD 🧙‍♂️

@Tyler_Did_It

New XCOPY alert

Looks like a 1/1/250 new collection is coming to Shape L2 soon.

More details to come.

Worth following and getting set up on Shape if you haven’t already…

105

12:33 AM • Oct 3, 2024

Farokh

@farokh

We can finally announce we acquired @LuckyTraderHQ!

Love the domain but most importantly has a good user base for @MyriadMarkets and is a great sandbox to grow into.

Let alone the strategic people it brings onto DASTAN.

269

12:56 AM • Oct 1, 2024

TylerD 🧙‍♂️

@Tyler_Did_It

Wow missed this sale last night

Gold Bored Ape for $1.4M

Selling at a whopping 53x multiple of the floor price

Xeer

@Xeer

Full gold double bored @BoredApeYC just sold for 588 $ETH (~$1.4MM USD).

Might be the cleanest most aesthetic gold ape in the entire collection. Based.

64

4:18 PM • Oct 12, 2024

Gaming

Today - 🧱/🌿

@todaythegame

MYTHIC SEEDS FREE MINT IS NEAR

17/10/24

Excited to welcome everyone to the Garden

2,473

4:02 PM • Oct 8, 2024

Nifty Island 🏝

@Nifty_Island

1/ You can now connect your @Solana wallet to Nifty Island

Communities on Solana can create, play as their own avatars, and battle for rewards

Solana communities can participate in the Play-To-Airdrop $ISLAND campaign, ending by November 1st

1,449

4:06 PM • Sep 30, 2024

Virtuals Protocol

@virtuals_io

Presenting Project Westworld: The First Playable Autonomous World on Roblox

Our proprietary GAME engine/framework powers a multi-agent interactive simulation in Roblox called Project Westworld, where we are able to observe autonomous behaviour leading to emergent storylines.…

135

1:02 PM • Sep 30, 2024

Sparkball

@playSparkball

It was love at first sight – Sparkball is officially building on @monad_xyz !

Some things are just meant to be. After our early collabs with their team and community, it was clear that Monad is where Sparkball belongs.

The future is OPTI, Season Zero is fast approaching, let’s…

1,326

3:03 PM • Sep 26, 2024

AI

Justine Moore

@venturetwins

New @a16z thesis: building the "AI brain"

We all exist in our own context.

Is it possible to take your jumble of thoughts, history, and memories and distill it into something tangible?

How I exported my brain to AI + what I'm seeing from startups

1,586

4:02 PM • Oct 10, 2024

Other

Marko Jukic

@mmjukic

A fertility rate below 1.6 means 50% less new people after three generations, say 100 years. Below 1.2 means an 80% drop.

The U.S. is at 1.64. China, Japan, Poland, Spain all below 1.2. South Korea is at 0.7—96% drop.

Mass extinction numbers.

Birth Gauge

@BirthGauge

The new monthly birth update is out!

27.7K

6:22 PM • Oct 2, 2024

Bill Ackman

@BillAckman

Jim Grant asked me to give a talk on “@Harvard Corporation, Buy, Sell or Hold.” I complied.

The slides:

pershingsquarefoundation.org/veritas

5,388

9:40 PM • Oct 1, 2024

Pat Toomey (US Sen. ret.)

@SenToomey

1 in 8 crypto owners live in a battleground state, including 1.4 million crypto owners here in Pennsylvania.

When you have a presidential race that’ll be decided by razor-thin margins, this is a voting bloc that’s set to tip the scales.

334

12:43 PM • Sep 30, 2024

Domer

@Domahhhh

Biggest current user on Polymarket is "Fredi9999" -- who is himself a curiosity.

He is by far the largest holder of Trump shares, checking in at 7.2 million shares and counting.

The user has a total of $6.4 million in positions, all of them on Trump. He also has a lot of cash…

2,133

4:00 PM • Oct 7, 2024

💰 = 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.