📬 Inbox Dump #84
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!
[This post is exclusive to subscribers]
Inbox Dump!
Mastercard Announces Music Artist Accelerator Program on the Polygon Blockchain
The development was orchestrated to help up-and-coming artists utilize the power of Web3 in their careers, according to a Polygon press release. Moreover, the announcement was slated with a starting timeframe of Spring 2023.
Binance Joins the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS) to Further Compliance Standards Within the Crypto Industry
DUBAI, Jan. 6, 2023 – Binance announced that it has joined the ACSS, the world’s only organization bringing together sanctions compliance professionals. ACSS, established in 2018, provides high-quality education and benefits to its members. Binance is the first crypto exchange to formally join the association.
SEC Charges Creator of CoinDeal Crypto Scheme and Seven Others in Connection with $45 Million Fraud
Washington D.C., Jan. 4, 2023 — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Neil Chandran, Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, Linda Knott, AEO Publishing Inc, Banner Co-Op, Inc, and BannersGo, LLC for their involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme named CoinDeal that raised more than $45 million from sales of unregistered securities to tens of thousands of investors worldwide.
The Future of the Movie Viewing Experience – Films as Collectible Digital Art: Movieplex.io and Cinema Libre Studio Collaborate to Launch World’s First NFT Film on OpenSea as Part of New Collection
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2023 – Movieplex.io and Cinema Libre announced the launch of the Movieplex.io Film Collection on OpenSea (set for Friday, Jan 6). The collection represents the first time that feature length films will be available as an NFT purchase.
Gear partners with the biggest Mexican universities to bring first Web3 universities hackathon
Gear Technologies is the company behind the Gear protocol, an innovative substrate-based WebAssembly smart-contract platform promising to introduce a new paradigm for decentralized app development in the Web3 industry.
US federal agencies release joint statement on crypto asset risks and safe practices
The Fed, FDIC, and OCC joined forces to wish the banks they supervise a FUD-filled new year by warning about the risks associated with crypto assets and their efforts to mitigate those risks.
Former Polygon VP Joins BitDAO’s Mantle as Head of Ecosystem
NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2023 – BitDAO announced that Arjun Krishan Kalsy will serve as the head of ecosystem at Mantle, the first modular Ethereum layer-2 (L2) designed for hyperscalability. Arjun brings over a decade of experience leading business development across web3 and multiple industries.
The top 22 highlights from Tron’s 2022
Geneva, Switzerland — Jan. 5, 2023 — For Tron DAO, 2022 was a year of historic growth. Here’s a recap of the fastest-growing public blockchain’s top 22 highlights from 2022.
AnCrypto — World’s first chat and pay crypto wallet garners 100K downloads
The decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet offers a bundle of innovative features such as Web3 usernames, multichain bridges, seamless decentralized application browser connect and much more.
LBank Heralds Major Blockchain Adoption in Turkey
INTERNET CITY, DUBAI, 6th January, 2023, LBank, the licensed European cryptocurrency exchange, has applauded measures taken by the Turkish government to utilize blockchain technology.
Funko Announces Sid & Marty Krofft Digital Pops!
Funko and Sid and Marty Krofft Pictures have partnered to bring the Saturday morning icons to Funko’s Digital Pop! lineup. The collectible series features memorable characters from several groundbreaking Sid and Marty Krofft shows.
Pessimistic Donkey College, The First College Themed NFT Project Prepares for Launch
New York — Pessimistic Donkey College, hopes to rally the bear market by introducing the NFT project that provides a new investment opportunity with a focus on long-term growth of an investor community. This new project will be launching on January 15, 2023.
DeCe Stands for Caiz’s Innovative Financial System, Which Integrates Centralized and Decentralized Operations into a Unified Financial Model
Bratislava – January 5, 2023 – Caiz, Europe’s first Fiqh-compliant fintech, is launching a new financial ecosystem that mixes centralized and decentralized technologies, giving rise to the new acronym DeCe.
Bitcoin Mining Firm Riot Ditches ‘Blockchain’ From Name in Rebrand
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Blockchain has rebranded to Riot Platforms, in a move intended to reflect the company’s “increasingly diversified business operations.”
2022 — The year that Web3 will never forget
It’s hard to believe that 2022 saw NFTs being sold for hundreds of millions of dollars and Bitcoin reaching all-time highs of around $60,000. At the same time, multiple crypto companies crumbled, including the infamous collapse of FTX, and Bitcoin fell to $16,000, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars from the crypto market cap.
Undeads Metaverse: Security Audit Completed by Certik
Dubai, January 2023, Undeads Metaverse announces the completion of its smart contracts’ security audit conducted by Certik, which included a comprehensive multi-level assessment of Undeads Metaverse in-game smart contracts and product functionality.
Funding
Com2uS subsidiary Com2Verse receives approximately $9.5 million in strategic investment
Com2Verse, the meta-universe subsidiary of Korean game developer Com2uS, announced that it has received 4 billion won in strategic investments from Asiana Financial Group, Kyoho Bunko (a major Korean bookstore chain), and Kyowon Group for a total of 12 billion won (approximately $9.5 million).
Aptos-based multisig wallet Msafe raises $5 million led by Jump Crypto
Aptos-based wallet Momentum Safe (MSafe) raised $5 million in seed funding led by Jump Crypto. The round featured participation from Superscrypt, Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Shima Capital, among others.
Candy Digital Raises Series A1 Funding
Candy Digital, a New York-based digital collectible company, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A1 funding. The round was led by Galaxy and ConsenSys Mesh, with participation from 10T Holdings and ConsenSys.
Crypto gaming project Calvaria raises $2.5M in presale, announces IEO on BKEX
The presale for the exciting play-to-earn project Calvaria: Duels of Eternity has now passed $2.5 million, with the RIA token now set for its initial exchange offering (IEO) on BKEX.
FightOut Presale Approaches $2.5m and Launches $250,000 Crypto Giveaway
FightOut, a unique move-to-earn (M2E) crypto project that bridges virtual fitness and the metaverse, has raised more than $2.45 million in the first 2 weeks of its crypto presale.
ML Tech Raises $1.9M in Strategic Funding
ML Tech, a Miami based provider of a non-custodial digital asset investment management platform, raised $1.9M in funding. The round was joined by Belvedere Strategic Capital, Hyperithm, and Nascent.
Ondefy Raises $1M to Foster DeFi Adoption
Ondefy has raised a total of $1 million backed by several Venture Capitals: AngelDao, Paraswap, Stacker Ventures, Caballeros Capital, White Loop Capital, Cryptoast, YellowSpoon, Tenzor Capital, and others.
