📬 Inbox Dump #95
Sometimes announcements here didn’t meet the bar to become a news story, sometimes they may have slipped through the cracks, or they came late and we haven’t had a chance to cover.
At The Defiant we cover the most important DeFi-related news and developments but we know many of you are hunting for projects before they are fully developed and before they are newsworthy. Our goal with this installment of the newsletter is to help you find them. Look at this as the starting point to DYOR.
We also include a compilation of DeFi and crypto funding rounds in the past week so you have these in one handy place.
Keep in mind these have been unedited. With that—here we go!
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Inbox Dump!
Onyx DAO and ApeSwap Celebrate Arbitrum Airdrop with ARB Liquidity Farms and Reward Pools
The first product is ARB ApeSwap yield farms, allowing users to convert their ARB tokens into a liquidity pair that can be staked to earn OnyxDAO (ONYX) token rewards. This way, users can earn with their ARB tokens while making ARB a highly liquid token for trading on the ApeSwap decentralized exchange.
KyberSwap Announces First-ever $ARB Yield Farms & Trading Campaigns On Arbitrum
KyberSwap, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator and liquidity platform, will launch the first-ever $ARB token liquidity pools, liquidity mining, and trading campaigns on the Arbitrum Chain.
Chat GPT-4 Launch Sparks +809% Surge in AI Crypto Searches
OpenAI has launched GPT-4, an upgrade to the ChatGPT model. The new model can process images and is more reliable and creative. Many AI-focused crypto projects are benefiting from the interest borne out of ChatGPT’s success.
Aptos Labs is Bringing Blockchain to the Movies with the Launch of: FREE RENFIELD In partnership with Universal Pictures’ new horror comedy
Universal Studios & Aptos Labs are redefining fan engagement by integrating Web3 and blockchain into blockbuster entertainment. With the help of Forward Studio, Signal, and Cipher, they’re announcing a fan-fueled twist to Renfield, starring Nicholas Cage as Dracula. The film will be released in theaters on April 14, 2023.
IoTeX community votes 97% in favor of Liquid Staking Derivatives integration
IoTeX’s community concluded a six-day vote with 97% and 141 million $IOTX in favor of the blockchain network’s 13th Improvement Proposal (IIP-13) to introduce Liquid Staking Derivatives natively. The aim is to increase the IOTX staking ratio and enhance the security and decentralization of the IoTeX blockchain network.
Gamma.io Unveils Trustless Bitcoin Ordinals Marketplace
PALO ALTO, March 20 / Gamma, the trailblazer in the Bitcoin NFT space, launched its trustless Bitcoin ordinals marketplace. Building on 18 months of experience and a deep understanding of the Bitcoin ecosystem, Gamma .io is committed to becoming the digital asset layer for Bitcoin.
Virtual Worlds NFT Trading Volume Soars to $311M
NFT and crypto trading analytics site DappRadar made a stunning announcement yesterday. During a bear market, traders poured over $311m of sales volume into virtual worlds in Q1 2023.
Neo launches native encrypted messaging platform NeoChat
March 20, Neo released NeoChat, a new address-to-address instant chat application. The messaging service is built to facilitate private social interactions in Web3 with end-to-end encryption.
EasyA partners with Solana Foundation to launch world’s first mobile crash course for Solana developers
EasyA, an award-winning Web3 learning app, has today announced that it has partnered with The Solana Foundation, a non-profit organisation overseeing the Solana Network, to launch the EasyA Solana Developer Crash Course.
Gucci, Pinko, Balmain among leading brands at Over’s Metaverse Fashion Week
Italy, March 31, Over has announced that fashion brands and metaverse projects, such as Gucci, Balmain, Marco Ruffa from Pinko, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Ecoolska, XR Couture, PricewaterhouseCoopers Italy, Polygon, Ilona Song Fashion House and Vogue Singapore, will be attending Metaverse Fashion Week 2023 (MVFW23).
BANG & OLUFSEN AND SUPERRARE IN NEW NFT ART COLLABORATION
March 22, 2023 – Bang & Olufsen builds upon the newly launched NFT project, the DNA Collection, by announcing a partnership with SuperRare Labs, the leading curated NFT marketplace for unique digital artwork.
WEB3 CREATIVE AND ENGINEERING PLATFORM TRANSIENT LABS ANNOUNCES OUTLIERS
March 22 – Transient Labs announced its Outliers Creator Accelerator, a program for 15 digital creators to realize their most ambitious projects in partnership with PROOF, an art collective supporting the digital renaissance alongside a preliminary list of inaugural creators and advisors.
Lugano brings crypto payments to high fashion
Lugano’s Bitcoin initiative (Plan B) is expanding its payment solutions with fashion company Guess into high fashion retail, further solidifying the Swiss city’s position as a crypto hub.
gmoney drops 9dcc ITERATION-03. Release set for NFT NY
Following his first two drops, gmoney and the 9dcc brand launch new luxury baseball caps on ITERATION-03, the latest drop from the iconic web3/NFT fashion house. The caps offer a sleek and sophisticated twist on a classic style. This stylish accessory features the brand’s signature insignia.
IoDF FASHION AWARDS AR NFT DROP ON DRESSX
IoDF si bringing a red carpet couture moment to your closet: The Fashion Awards 2022 NFT launch, dropping today on DressX. The NFT crystallizes the moment that this digital garment was launched exclusively with Vogue Italia at The Fashion Awards live on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Nomura Digital Asset Arm Invests in ‘Crypto Clearing House’ ClearToken
March 23, Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has invested in ClearToken, a startup prepping a clearing house to the digital asset marketplace. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Funding
tomi Secures $40M in a Funding Round Led by DWF Labs For Its Alternative Internet
The funding round was led by DWF Labs. Ticker Capital, Piha Equities, Japanese crypto whale and community leader Hirokado Kohji and additional private investors also participated in the round.
CCP Games raises $40M for new triple-A Web3 game in the Eve universe
Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) led the round, with participation from Makers Fund, Bitkraft, Kingsway Capital, Nexon, Hashed and additional participants.
Crypto Exchange Bitget Invests $30M in Digital Wallet BitKeep
Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has become the controlling shareholder in decentralized multi-chain wallet BitKeep with a $30 million investment, according to a press release Tuesday.
Aavegotchi raises $30 million from GHST token sale
Pixelcraft Studios, the developer of Polygon-based DeFi gaming ecosystem Aavegotchi, has announced the successful completion of a multi-year long token sale, raising a total of $30 million.
OP3N raises $28M to build ‘WhatsApp meets Amazon’ for web3
The round was led by Animoca Brands and included investments from Dragonfly Capital, SuperScrypt, Creative Artists Agency and New Enterprise Associates’ Connect Ventures, Republic Crypto, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, Galaxy Digital, and Warner Music Interactive.
Metaverse builder LandVault, announces strategic funding round from The Sandbox, Gemini, Kingsway and other Web3 VCs
Dubai, UAE: LandVault announced its strategic funding round with several web3 firms, including The Sandbox, a leading metaverse platform backed by Animoca Brands and Softbank, the Gemini Frontier Fund, HodlCo, and Kingsway Capital, a $3B hedge fund and a large shareholder in Animoca Brands.
Auros Completes US$17m Fundraising Round, Bringing Greater Liquidity And Resilience To Crypto Markets
Led by Vivienne Court, with participation from Bit Digital Inc, Trovio, Primal Capital, and a consortium of senior alumni from market-making giant Optiver.
Metatime Raises $11M in Private Funding to Enhance Web 3.0 Ecosystem
Leading investors including Halkbank, Kalyon Holding, Yıldız Technical University, and Türk Telekom provided a total of $11 million in funding to Metatime. Also, more than 10 angel investors participated in the two-stage seed sale.
Radix Raises $10M in Private Funding Round Led by DWF Labs
DWF Labs, which led the $10M round, is a global leader in market making and multi-stage web3 investment. It has offices in Singapore, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Hong Kong. The private round was completed by undisclosed blockchain VCs and angel investors.
Gryfyn raises US$7.5M to drive Web3 adoption through entertainment experiences
Gryfyn has completed a fundraising of US$7.5 million from backers that include Liberty City Ventures, GameFi Ventures, Lavender Hill Capital Partners, Mind Fund, Animoca Ventures, LeadBlock Partners, Angel Hub, Brinc, as well as angel investors including Gabby Dizon.
Wild Raises $7 Million From Philadelphia 76ers President and Hollywood A-Lister Amid A Chilly Crypto Winter
The seed round was led by private equity firm Matrix Partners which seems to fly in the face of the current crypto winter and shows that this was no ordinary VC deal.
