Hello 👋
Welcome to the 17th edition of Sfermion’s Collider where we highlight the latest & greatest news in the world of web3 and gaming!
Weekly, we aim to drop a curated list of the most exciting stories & updates that we believe are enabling 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 and follow Sfermion on Twitter to get the latest! Check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)
Web3 Updates
Ethereum | Account Abstraction Contract is Live : An audited version of the Ethereum Foundation’s ERC-4337 account abstraction standard is now available on Ethereum mainnet. Unlike EOAs, account abstraction enables users to use smart contract wallets with arbitrary verification logic. Account abstraction has been in the works for over nine years, and will be a massive upgrade in the UX around wallets and general blockchain interactions.
Peloton | Web3 Community : The exercise giant's vice president of fitness programming is soon launching Swagger Society, a Web3 lifestyle membership club that aims to foster a fitness community in Web3. She believes that, beyond the short-term incentivization of M2E gaming, NFT membership models may provide the perfect level of “stickiness” because members become more than simply monthly subscribers. Purchasing an NFT acts as a lifetime, all-access pass, granting holders entry to a community led by their favorite instructors without third-party intermediaries and centralized platforms.
Adidas | Token-Gated Experiences Interest : Adidas' Web3 lead hinted at unique ways to integrate crypto beyond simply adding a payments option. Instead, it's all about community. Adidas is looking for ways to build a tighter knit community and may do more exclusive drops for specific communities - for example, users could potentially be white-listed into their favorite sneaker drops.
RTFKT & Ledger | Custom Wallets : RTFKT and Ledger team up to drop 3 bespoke RTFKT-designed wallets for the community. These look abs epic, and follow Ledger/RTFKT on twitter to remain updated on the release date.
Zeneca & DailyDose | Community Takeover : After a series of negative events from Ryan Carson, he’s decided to step away from web3 and hand over the vibrant DailyDose community/spaces to Zeneca / ZenDaily. A bold move, but one that sheds a positive light on Ryan as he makes what he/many feel is the best choice for the DailyDose community.
Prysm (💰) | Rebrand to Lore : Leading co-ownership platform, Prysm, has rebranded to Lore to better fit the narrative/vision. Read their Mirror post on why the name change, current mindset, and also a sense of what to expect from the platform/team in the future.
StoryCo (💰) | Storyline Newsletter : Be sure to subcribe to StoryCo’s newsletter “Storyline” to follow the future of storytelling! The Storyline will be your go-to place for anything and everything storytelling related across the worlds of Web3, Hollywood, AI, and internet and meme culture.
Hyperspace (💰) | Two New Features : Hyperspace, a leading SOL aggregator and marketplace, recently released two new cool features: turn anything into an NFT (here) and native ETH-SOL swaps (here). Easing the creation and swapping experience for users with another great step in the right direction!
WazirX | NFT Marketplace Shutdown : WazirX shuts down NFT marketplace after near-zero recent traction. In the last 30 days, the WazirX NFT platform saw 71 unique active wallets, 354 transactions, a volume of $112.24, and a total platform fee collected of ~$6. In a market where NFT volume is way down from peak numbers and users are congregated around a select few marketplaces, it’s hard to see how the countless similar offerings can sustain themselves long-term.
OpenSea | Multi-Purchase Feature : OpenSea release highly sought after feature for SeaPort, allowing one to list multiple NFTs with just a single signature. Pretty big UX upgrade for collectors/traders alike!
Magic Eden | Mobile App Down : Magic Eden pauses IOS and Android App support for next few months to make massive improvements and gear up for Solana SAGA Phone support in April. Folks can still partake in a mobile experience via the Phantom mobile app browser support.
Gaming Updates
Unity | Unity Web3 Asset Store Integration : Unity launches their decentralized storefront of the Unity Asset Store, enabling developers to build blockchain-based metaverse/gaming experiences with blockchain technology such as tokens/NFTs. The storefront currently provides 13 solutions, which include Nefta (💰), Immutable (💰), MetaMask, among others. View the full store here.
Polkastarter & Magic Eden | Partnership : Magic Eden and Polkastarter partner to tackle better web3 gaming discovery, content, and access. Polkastarter will work with select Magic Eden Launchpad gaming partners by featuring their game/content on the Polkastarter content & game discovery platform to help bring more awareness to the top-quality web3 games.
Trip Hawkins & GFAL | EA Co-Founder Joins GFAL : Gaming giant Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins has joined Barcelona, Spain-based gaming startup “Games for a Living” (GFAL) as its chief strategy officer, expressing the company's intention to utilize blockchain for improved game performance and fun.
Pixel Vault & Reboot | Decentralized Game Platform : Pixel Vault, building the web3 Marvel/DC, is building their auto-brawler game on Reboot.gg, a decentralized gaming platform. Get a TLDR on Reboot’s 43 page whitepaper and why it is fascinating tech here.
GameSwift | Platform Launch : GameSwift has announced the open alpha version of its all-in-one Platform for playing and building web3 games. It features the GameSwift ID – a revolutionary passwordless sign-on system with an built-in wallet for seamless web3 onboarding. The GameSwift Platform also includes the new GameSwift Launcher app, a cross-platform app designed for fast game download, easy parallel installation, and automatic game updates. The company has garnered attention for its strategic partnerships with Polygon and Casper Network.
reNFT (💰) & Polygon | Integration Live : Leading NFT rental platform, reNFT, has expanded to Polygon to now service the countless games/platforms looking to provide rental services to their community. Exciting stuff for Polygon-based games and NFT communities!
InfinityForce (💰) | Web3 Accounting Platform : Infinity Force aims to tackle web3 accounting with an all-in-one accounting and payments platform for your digital assets. With multi-chain and multi-wallet support, any user/project can get accounting services done in a quick/seamless manner. Learn more here!
HyperPlay | Web3 Game Launcher : HyperPlay, a Web3 gaming launcher, is now live via early access. Available for all major platforms but optimized for MetaMask users, the app was co-developed by Web3 gaming DAO Game7 and the pseudonymous JacobC.eth, a former MetaMask operations lead. It’s available for Windows, Mac, Steam Deck, and Linux users. HyperPlay is also a game store aggregator, offering the Epic Games and Good Old Games stores within its interface. Download and learn more here.
Parallel | $PRIME Live & Game Access : Popular TCG, Parallel, has launched their native $PRIME token alongside access for their game. Follow along on twitter for more details on how to join/play.
Magic Eden | Mint Madness : Magic Eden announces “Mint Madness” for March - 12+ free mints for top partnered games across SOL, Polygon, and ETH. The first mint, Planet Mojo (💰) Champions, sold out in minutes!
Research & Interesting Reads
Vitalik | Some Personal User Experiences
Konvoy | Future of Transmedia Entertainment
Naavik | Are Gaming VCs too Big?
6th Man Ventures | Simulating Token Economies
99% of gamers want AI-driven NPCs
Good Time Show | Riot Game’s Co-Founder Marc Merrill
Sony Exec | Hollywood is expanding to games for new film/media content
LoneWolf | Gaming Distribution platforms and their transition to Web3
NFT Drops & Updates
MetaMundo (💰) | MetaMundo Avatars : MetaMundo is gearing up for their avatar release on 3/6 which are creator-made Avatars that are metaverse-compatible and Vtubing-ready. Each avatar is a VRM file and is minted as a unique 1 of 1 NFT, meaning you will be the only owner of each unique avatar, which you can trade across NFT marketplaces. Follow MetaMundo on twitter for more info!
Petaverse (💰) | Genesis Pets Drop : Petaverse is gearing up for their genesis web3 digital intelligent pets drop on 3/13 - 7, 777 NFTs for 0.15eth each on Ethereum. Built by a steller team on an impressive tech stack, holders will get immediate utility (meme-o-tron) that only grows over time. Lots to be excited about here for current and future pet owners! Follow along on twitter for more details as they come :)
Yuga Labs | “TwelveFold” Ordinals NFTs : Yuga Labs looks to make their Bitcoin NFT introduction with the launch of TwelveFold - 300 unique generative pieces inscribed as ordinals. More details will be shared around the auction shortly. Here’s a solid TLDR on what’s to come and how to be prepared here.
Doodles | Roadmap Update : Doodles aims to increase communication and development efforts by highlighting their upcoming Doodles roadmap and some smol changes to Genesis Box utility. View the roadmap details here.
Storyverse | Rionna Morgan Apes Story NFT : Best-selling author/novelist Rionna Morgan has collab’d with Storyverse to drop a limited free mint storytelling NFT around Bored Apes NFTs. Follow the registration info to get a chance to mint one!
Notable Raises
Helika (💰) | $4m raise : Helika, a Web3 gaming and NFT analytics platform, has announced the successful close of its $4 million seed funding round to scale product and marketing analytics for Web3. The funding round was led by Diagram Ventures, with participation from Sfermion, Sparkle Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, Fenbushi, and Builder Capital.
10T Holdings | Crypto Private Equity Plans : Crypto investment firm 10T Holdings, founded by hedge fund veteran Dan Tapiero, will not do any further fundraising. Instead, Tapiero will now raise funds under his new private equity venture 1RoundTable (1RT) Partners as he prepares for an uptick in crypto IPOs in late 2024 and 2025.
Chiliz & Jump | $50m Ecosystem Incubator : Backed by Jump Crypto, Chiliz, the global blockchain leader for Web3 sports and entertainment, is pleased to announce the launch of its $50M USD incubator and accelerator programme Chiliz Labs. Chiliz Labs will foster viable and innovative early-stage blockchain projects looking to leverage the new Chiliz blockchain for sports and entertainment.
Avalon Games | $13m raise : Avalon Corp has raised $13 million in funding to build a new interoperable digital universe. The company was founded by leaders from games including EverQuest, Call of Duty, Diablo, God of War, Assassin’s Creed and Elden Ring among others. Bitkraft Ventures, Hashed, Delphi Digital, and Mechanism Capital led the round.
Few and Far | $10.5m raise : Few and Far, a leading Digital Collectibles web3 platform, announced today that it has raised $10.5m in a funding round led by Pantera Capital. The new funds will help expand the platform’s capabilities, enhance user experience, and increase the number of Web3 developers. IP owners also stand to benefit from the platform.
Orange Comet | $7.24m raise : Los Angeles-based NFT entertainment company Orange Comet, the studio behind Anthony Hopkins’ “The Descendants” NFT collection, raised $7.24m from selling equity options. Orange Comet aims to appeal to and attract Web3 enthusiasts and newcomers, onboarding them onto the NFT experience
Champions Round | $7m raise : Fantasy sports game startup Champions Round has raised $7m in funding to create skill-based games for Gen Z sports fans. Point72 Ventures and Goodwater Capital led the round.
Portal | $5.3m raise : Portal, a Web3 wallet infrastructure startup, has raised $5.3m in a funding round that included Slow Ventures and Haun Ventures. Portal offers wallet infrastructure and a decentralized application (dapp) store that enables projects to become a Web3-enabled app. The developer kit helps Portal partners easily connect to protocols and dapps either directly or from a mobile or desktop browser.
Lifeform | $5m raise : Lifeform completes a $5m Series A raise led by Geek Cartel with participation from Foresight Ventures, SevenX Ventures, and others. Lifeform has developed a cross-platform hyper-realistic 3D virtual human avatar creation system that uses NFTs to enable people to manage and retain multiple zero-knowledge pseudonymous digital identities through a decentralized identifier (DID) solution.
Redeem | $2.5m raise : Blockchain agnostic connectivity layer Redeem has raised $2.5m to enable individuals to participate in web3 using just their phone numbers. Kenetic led the pre-seed round. Other investors include CMT Digital and Flyover Capital.
GoSleep | Unknown raise : Gosleep has secured an investment from Foresight Ventures, SevenX Ventures, KuCoin Ventures, and Gate.io for their sleeptracker and mindfulness app.
VitalXP | $3m raise : VitalXP has raised an additional $3m in pre-seed financing for its action-packed gameverse platform and its first game, Lowlife Forms. The round was led by Streamlined Ventures and Marbruck Investments.
Mo & Andrew's Curated
Check out BasedAF (💰) kicking ass in Paris:
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We’ve taken no VC funding and have no external corporate backing. We’re simply backed by the strongest community who is proud to represent the Garden. That’s special.
With that said, I’m excited to share @cbventure’s POV on the web3 security stack
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mightynet.tv/degen100MORE INFO IN
AI-related Tweets:
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Within 24 hours, I had a VC to reach out to invest.
ChatGPT for the shotlist
Midjourney for the scenes
RunwayMl for set extension and fixing some assets
kaiberAi for the animated vid / using the Midjourney exports
D-iD ai for the singing part
The Future is gonna be awesome
Gaming:
But just how effective is this approach? Let’s take a closer look
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(1/5)
Today, a small group of nerds is using Ethereum network and smart contracts to create fully on-chain games.
I've spent 100s hours making the archive of knowledge about on-chain games, so you don't have to:
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- Net worth of $1.5 Billion in 2022
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- Sold to @AdamWeitsman
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- 5% commission or 50eth went to @yugalabs
- Current Bid: 999 ETH
- Bidder: @9GAG
- Offer Expires in 6 days
More Blur Insight:
NFT Updates:
💰 = Sfermion Portfolio Company
Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold
If you enjoyed reading this edition of Sfermion’s Collider, please subscribe below and follow Sfermion on Twitter to get the latest! Check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)
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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.