Metaverse Gets Boring
Good morning. Today we've got metaverse plans from Yuga Labs, DraftKings dropping a college hoops NFT collection, crypto exchange competition in the Middle East, and more!
Market Update (as of 8:26am ET):
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Top 5:
1. Bored Ape startup plans virtual land sales, APECoin. Yuga Labs, the creators behind Bored Ape Yacht Club are expecting to generate around $455 million in revenue in 2022, mainly through the sale of virtual plots of land in their upcoming metaverse offering, MetaRPG. The company plans to offer an “in-game app store” that will allow users to create their own characters from existing NFTs or from scratch. Additionally, Yuga plans to launch APECoin, an in-game token that can be used for purchases in the app store. Earlier this month, Yuga teased a partnership with blockchain game developer, Animoca Brands, that seems to be tied to their MetaRPG offering.
fuck it, again.https://t.co/1KlPpVjWkb
— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) March 10, 2022
2. DraftKings links NFTs to betting products in web3 push. The sports gambling company is launching their first, in-house developed, NFT collection. The 2022 College Hoops Collection is the first in the Primetime NFT Series that will drop around major sporting events such as the Super Bowl or NBA Playoffs. Holders of the collection will be eligible for, "DraftKings site credit to place bets and enter pools, brackets and contests across its sportsbook and daily fantasy offerings." The company has already made other pushes into crypto by launching an NFT marketplace, partnering with Polygon, and recruiting web3 talent.
3. Luna Foundation Guard votes to raise additional $372 million collateral. On Tuesday, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) announced a plan to burn 4 million Terra (LUNA) coins, worth around$365 million, in order to mint about $372 million in UST. After the burn, LFG will hold around $2.2 billion in non-LUNA reserves which back the UST stablecoin. The move aims to ensure that even if LUNA were to experience a massive price downturn the stablecoin could maintain its peg to USD.
LFG Council has voted to burn another 4M luna to mint roughly 372M ust, which will be used to acquire exogenous collateral. Once this burn is completed, LFG’s non-luna reserves will roughly sit at a value of $2.2B, as well as 8M Luna remaining for future growth.
— LFG | Luna Foundation Guard (@LFG_org) March 15, 2022
LFG$Luna $ust
4. Crypto exchanges FTX, Binance gain licenses in Middle East. Crypto exchanges FTX and Binance are making parallel moves to expand in Middle Eastern markets. Earlier this week FTX and Binance announced approvals to operate exchanges in Dubai and Bahrain respectively.
Really excited to receive the first (and so far only) digial asset exchange license from Dubai!
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) March 15, 2022
Adding to the list: https://t.co/50ELyIX1cd https://t.co/1jEkTz52qS
5. Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden raises $27 million. The premier NFT marketplace on the Solana blockchain saw investment from Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Solana Ventures, Greylock Partners, and Electric Capital during their Series A funding round. The company plans to use the funds to focus on the blockchain gaming sector and will also be launching a vendor unit. According to CEO, Jack Lu, Magic Eden covers 90% of secondary market NFT trading in the Solana ecosystem.
Updates and other stories:
- Solana payroll protocol Zebec raises $28M in token sales...Read More
- Japan orders crypto exchanges to comply with Russian sanctions...Read More
- Mark Zuckerberg says NFTs are coming soon to Instagram...Read More
Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Donna Y. - Nashville, TN
2. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
3. Forrest H. - Evansville, IN
External Resources:
1. Cryptopedia from Gemini - if you see a word, acronym, or phrase in this newsletter that you don't understand, there's a good chance you can find an explanation here
2. Crypto Explainer+ - intro level courses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, decentralized finance, NFTs, and more
3. Crypto Jobs! - looking for a new job? Check out this page from Anthony Pompliano with hundreds, if not thousands of listings
Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.