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Bit later than our usual cadence, but welcome to the 44th edition of Sfermion’s Collider where we highlight the latest & greatest news in the world of web3, gaming & entertainment, AR/VR, AI, macro, and more!
Weekly, we aim to drop a curated list of the most exciting stories & updates that we believe are enabling the emergence of the metaverse.
This edition covers industry news for the first two weeks of May. Consider it a nice reminder on things given how fast the tech space is progressing. Next week we will return to our usual cadence and cover the remainder of May. Hope you all enjoy!
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 :)
Web3 Updates
Mirror and Paragraph () Join Forces to Elevate Onchain Publishing (link)
Uniswap Integrates Robinhood for Easier Crypto Buys (link)
MicroStrategy plans to launch decentralized ID solution: report (link)
SEC issues Robinhood Crypto with Wells Notice, citing alleged securities violations (link)
Robinhood CEO Decries 'Regulatory Onslaught' on Crypto, Vows to Fight SEC (link)
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months in prison (link)
U.S. SEC Asking for More Millions, Dozens of Lawyers to Beef Up Crypto Oversight (link)
SEC has been investigating ETH for over a year, new court filing shows (link)
FTX Files Consensus-Based Plan of Reorganization (link)
Bankruptcy judge signs off on $450M FTX-Voyager settlement (link)
Avalanche Integrates with Stripe for Crypto Onramping (link)
MoonPay Users Can Now Buy Crypto Via PayPal (link)
Xoom Enables PayPal USD as a Funding Option for Cross-Border Money Transfers (link)
Coinbase integrates Bitcoin’s Lightning Network in partnership with Lightspark (link)
Bitcoin surpasses one billion transactions processed, eight hundred weeks after launch (link)
Solana could flip Ethereum in transaction fees within a week: Report (link)
EigenLayer reveals plan for token airdrop with 15% allocation to ecosystem participants (link)
LayerZero Labs finalizes initial snapshot for potential airdrop (link)
OP Stack-based Mode to begin initial distribution of 550 million tokens today (link)
Web3 Watch: Base kicks off Onchain Summer 2.0 (link)
Franklin Templeton claims Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 Base has 'hit a homerun' in SocialFi (link)
Former NFL Star Rob Gronkowski to Pay $1.9M to Settle Crypto Investor Suit (link)
Gaming Updates
PC team-based shooter, Nyan Heroes (), officially launches $NYAN on 5/21 with airdrops for in-game participants (link)
LinkedIn now has Wordle-style games you can play every day (link)
Microsoft Plans Mobile-Game Store, Vying With Apple, Google (link)
Google objects to Epic's proposed changes to Play Store policy (link)
Hasbro's $1 billion bet on internal game development (link)
Walmart and Roblox are teaming up to make virtual e-commerce a reality (link)
Avalanche Hoops Game ‘Rumble Kong League’ Nets Gatorade Deal (link)
CCP Games Announces Playtests for Project Awakening (link)
Redstone Network Launches to Power Fully On-Chain Ethereum Games (link)
Aethir and Magic Eden Partner to Revolutionize Web3 Gaming (link)
Solana Labs Teams Up with Google Cloud (link)
Mysten Labs Partners with Google Cloud to Enhance Sui Blockchain (link)
zkMe Partners with Ronin Chain to Revolutionize GameFi with Advanced KYC Solutions (link)
Heroes of Mavia Introduces Ruby Marketplace for In-Game NFT Trading (link)
E-PAL Enters Web3 Gaming with Innovative Platform (link)
AI Updates
Apple Intensifies Talks With OpenAI for iPhone Generative AI Features (link)
Amazon Commits $9 Billion to Double Singapore Cloud Push (link)
Microsoft will invest $2.2 billion in cloud and AI services in Malaysia (link)
Microsoft to Invest $1.7 Billion in Indonesia for AI, Cloud (link)
SoftBank Sells Off Vision Fund Assets as Son Pivots to AI, Chips (link)
Meet MAI-I: Microsoft Readies New AI Model to Compete with Google, OpenAI (link)
Microsoft Creates Top Secret Generative AI Service for US Spies (link)
Apple Is Developing AI Chips for Data Centers, Seeking Edge in Arms Race (link)
OpenAI says it’s building a tool to let content creators ‘opt out’ of AI training (link)
OpenAI Is Readying a Search Product to Rival Google, Perplexity (link)
Other Updates
Apple announces largest-ever $110 billion share buyback as iPhone sales drop 10% (link)
TikTok sues the US government over law that could ban the app (link)
Amazon Q1 Ad Revenue Leaps 24% to $11.8 Billion, Helped by Prime Video’s Addition of Commercials (link)
Sony and Apollo send letter expressing interest in $26 billion Paramount buyout as company mulls Skydance bid (link)
Meta loses another $3.8 billion on VR/AR (link)
Dave & Buster's to allow customers to bet on arcade games (link)
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery to bundle streaming services (link)
Google is officially a $2 trillion company (link)
Churchill Downs Jumps Most Since November on Record Quarter (link)
Hyundai is spending close to $1B to keep self-driving startup Motional alive (link)
Google’s Payments to Apple Reached $20 Billion in 2022, Antitrust Court Documents Show (link)
Instacart, Uber Join Forces to Add Uber Eats to Instacart App (link)
Jack Dorsey departs Bluesky board (link)
Research & Interesting Reads
Galaxy | Crypto & Blockchain Venture Capital – Q1 2024 (link)
Blockworks | Compute DePINs: Paths to Adoption in an AI-Dominated Market (link)
Crypto x AI - Going Down the Rabbit Hole (link)
Archetype | Verifiable Compute: Scaling Trust with Cryptography (link)
ZachXBT | How Lazarus Group laundered $200M from 25+ crypto hacks to fiat from 2020–2023 (link)
Konvoy | Who Buys TikTok? (link)
Pantera | Investing in TON Network (link)
Binance | The Future of Bitcoin #2: Tokens (link)
The Average Screen Time and Usage by Country in 2024 (link)
a16z games | 5 Trends Driving the Future of VR Gaming (link)
Bankless | Why This Cycle is Cooked | DH + RSA (link)
0xsmac | Where Are We In The Cycle? (link)
Arthur Hayes | Mayday (link)
NFT Drops & Updates
Check out the latest NFT collection from Planet Atmos (), MKIV Exo: Genesis Edition (link)
Check out the recent Anichess () “Missing Orbs” Mint - Whisper of Chaos (10113 minted) and Riddle of Chaos (4963 minted) (link)
Donald Trump to spend day off from trial with NFT buyers (link)
AnimeCoin Launches ‘Gacha Grab’ Game With Ethereum NFT Collection Azuki (link)
Moonbirds Building 'Moonbirds Universe' (link)
Notable Raises
Web3 community-driven gaming ecosystem SlingShotDAO () completes $3M in financing, with Alphabit Fund participating (link)
Silicon Valley’s General Catalyst closes in on $6B fund for tech start-ups (link)
Self-driving startup Wayve just raised $1B from Nvidia, SoftBank, Microsoft and more (link)
AI startup Atlan raises $105M in funding at $750M valuation (link)
Hyde Park raises $98M to back Midwest and Toronto start-ups (link)
Sophon ZKSync hyperchain raises $60M in node sale (link)
DatologyAI raises $46M to streamline AI model training data diets (link)
Crypto Principal Trader Arbelos Markets Raises $28M Led by Dragonfly Capital (link)
OpenAI raises $15M for its Startup Fund. It invests in early-stage AI companies (link)
Thiel-Backed Cryptography Startup Lagrange Raises $13M (link)
Bladerite Game Developer Seeds Labs Raises $12M (link)
Kiosk raises $10M in funding round led by Electric Capital (link)
Galaxis Raises $10M, Doubling Down on Belief That NFTs Will Provide Real Value Everywhere (link)
Tokenized Asset Issuer Backed Raises $9.5M as Crypto's RWA Race Heats Up (link)
Altera raises $9M to develop AI for digital humans (link)
Botanix Labs raises $8.5M to build a Bitcoin-native DeFi ecosystem (link)
Owlto Finance Raises $8M in Strategic Funding Round (link)
Modular Liquidity Protocol Mitosis Secures $7M (link)
Bitcoin-native application platform Arch raises $7M led by Multicoin Capital (link)
Singapore-Based UXUY Secures $7M in Pre-A Funding (link)
X10, a crypto exchange founded by Revolut alumni raises $6.5M funding (link)
Arcium raises $5.5M in strategic round to develop 'confidential computing' network (link)
Web3 wine marketplace Baxus raises $5M from Multicoin Capital, Solana Ventures (link)
Haun Ventures leads $5M seed round in cross-chain governance platform Agora (link)
ZKM raises $5M ahead of Bitcoin-based Layer 2 launch (link)
Shadow War Raises $5M for Futuristic 5v5 Action Gaming (link)
Milkyway has raised $5M in seed rounds (link)
Airstack Announces $4M Seed Financing (link)
Web3 game startup GFAL raises $3.3M from Supercell and Mitch Lasky (link)
Iconic Arts raises $3.1M to create original properties for games and Hollywood (link)
Holograph Secures $3M to Expand Omnichain NFT Use in Web3 Gaming (link)
Blade Games Secures $2.4M In Seed Funding Round (link)
Ambient Raises $2M to Scale DePIN Globally (link)
Resonance Security secures $1.5M in pre-seed funding as cybersecurity industry gains steam (link)
Blade of God X Secures Multimillion-Dollar Investment for ARPG (link)
Mo & Andrew's Curated
Macro
Web3
NFT
Gaming
AI
Other
= Sfermion Portfolio Company
Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold
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