Hello 👋
Welcome to the 36th 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, share within your network, and follow Sfermion on Twitter to get the latest! Check out our Seam (💰) bio here :)
Web3 Updates
Court hands Grayscale win in long-running suit against SEC (link)
Court sides with Uniswap over class action suit (link)
SEC Delays Spot Bitcoin ETF Decision for All Applicants Including BlackRock, Fidelity (link)
SEC brings first NFT enforcement action in case against podcast studio (link)
Treasury, IRS release proposed crypto tax reporting rules (link)
Mastercard, Binance to end crypto-card partnership in September (link)
Twitter Obtains License for Cryptocurrency Payments (link)
Lufthansa Launches NFT-Based Loyalty Program on Polygon (link)
Polygon Labs unveils Chain Development Kit to develop and connect Ethereum Layer 2s (link)
OpenSea introduces ERC-7498 as a new standard for NFT redeemables (link)
Mercado Libre, Circle expand into Chile with USDC (link)
Indian Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Firm Will Explore Blockchain Platforms and CBDCs (link)
LimeWire continues Web3 journey with ‘creator studio’ on Polygon (link)
MoonPay launches venture arm to invest in web3 infra, gaming and fintech (link)
AI Updates
Google DeepMind Launches SynthID, a Groundbreaking Watermarking Tool for AI-Generated Images (link)
New York Times, CNN and Australia’s ABC block OpenAI’s GPTBot web crawler from accessing content (link)
Nvidia’s stock closes at record after Google AI partnership (link)
The US Air Force wants $5.8B to build 1,000 AI-driven unmanned combat aircraft (link)
Snapchat is expanding further into generative AI with ‘Dreams’ (link)
Meta launches own AI code-writing tool: Code Llama (link)
OpenAI names Scale AI ‘preferred partner’ to fine-tune GPT-3.5 (link)
Figma introduces Jambot, an AI assistant widget for its whiteboard platform, FigJam (link)
Animoca’s Ed-tech Subsidiary Rolls Out AI Tools for Educators (link)
Gaming Updates
Marques Brownlee and BasedAF (💰) Team Up for Studio Build in Fortnite (link)
The Pokémon Company made $11.6B from licensed products in 2022 (link)
Epic's First Run offers 100% revenue share to game devs in exchange for exclusivity (link)
EA Sports FC Explores Uncharted Territory: NFTs and Web 3 Integration (link)
NFL Rivals Game Now Lets You Buy NFTs on iOS and Android (link)
Cradles (💰), available on Steam, is a time-traveling MMO that is set to launch an open beta phase on September 10th (link)
Immutable (💰) and Meta X Studios Form Partnership (link)
Walmart launches new digital and metaverse offerings (link)
Walt Disney Pictures VFX workers file for unionization (link)
Cocone, a Japanese immersive entertainment studio, enters U.S. gaming and entertainment market with avatars and digital fashion (link)
Grand Theft Auto 6: Everything You Need to Know (link)
Retro Gaming Console Atari 2600 Is Making a Comeback (link)
Research & Interesting Reads
Pantera Capital | A Positive Black Swan
Andrew Chen (a16z Gaming) | Creator Economy 2.0: What we’ve learned, why it’s hard, and what’s next
Konvoy | Copyright Law and GenAI Content
Ben Roy | Ethereum is a Game Environment
Bankless | Your Brain on Crypto
StoryCo | The "Storyline" from StoryCo - Issue 004
Binance Research | Ethereum’s Rollups are Centralized. A Look Into Decentralized Sequencers
GameDev Reports | InvestGame: The gaming investment market in H1 2023
Naavik | Zynga Dives into Web3 with Sugartown
Blockchain Gamer | Top 10 most anticipated blockchain games
NFT Drops & Updates
IZUMO (💰) | SAI #5 Free Mint Claim is available until September 6th, 8am PST. Don't miss your chance to win his autographed physical art! (link)
IZUMO (💰) | SAI #4 Free Mint Claim is available until August 31st, 8am PST. Don’t miss your chance to win 1 of 3 limited-edition autographed physical pieces! (link)
Cryptoys and Disney partner to launch digital toys called “Mickey and Friends” priced at $39.99. The 15-piece collections features different "skin designs" and levels of rarity. (link)
Maui Strong: Hawaii Artist Teams Up With Decrypt for NFT Fundraiser (link)
Digital friends platform Fini & Base team up for final on-chain summer mint (link)
Introducing Igloo, a brand by Pudgy Penguins (link)
Bright Moments | Introducing the CryptoPatagonians of Crypto Citizens. Buenos Aires, Argentina. November 2-5, 2023 (link)
Karim Rashid, Beeple, and more artists collaborate to create the world’s most beautiful digital analog clock. Available for purchase now and while supply lasts. (link)
Notable Raises
Hugging Face Receives $235M Investment Raising Value To $4.5B (link)
Modular secures $100M to build tools to optimize and create AI models (link)
Vessel Capital emerges from stealth with $55M fund focused on web3 infrastructure and apps (link)
Qualiti.ai Secures $6.5M Seed Funding to Ensure Software Engineers Never Need to Test Again (link)
Interactive drama developer Scriptic has raised a total $6.2M in additional seed funding, including an investment from Sony Innovation Fund. (link)
Web3 marketing firm DeForm raises $4.6M in seed funding (link)
Wand.app raises $4.2M to scale its AI-powered creative tool for artists (link)
FirstMate, a startup aiming to equip NFT creators with digital storefronts, raises $3.75M in Dragonfly-led round (link)
Stroom Network Raises $3.5M to Launch Bitcoin 'Liquid Staking' on Lightning (link)
NPCx raises $3M for better game character mocap (link)
Tako Protocol, a startup building an open social recommendation layer for web3 social, raises $2M pre-seed from UOB Ventures and others (link)
Mo & Andrew's Curated
Web3
We’re building lots at Coinbase, but we don't have time to tackle everything. So I figured I'd share these. Bear markets are…
4,207
Today’s decision out of SDNY highlights the extent to which some in the federal judiciary appreciate the uncharted territory on the applicability of securities laws to an asset class as broad as crypto. For example, the judge:
*Recognizes…
Join the Base Wars this Thursday, August 31st
It’s the final drop of Onchain Summer and it’s going out with a BANG
dune.com/cryptokoryo/fr…
Will hundreds more Web3 mobile apps follow in their footsteps? My take below
Friend.Tech
Blockchain ecosystem analytics by and for the community. Explore and share data from Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Fantom and Gnosis Chain for free.
new drop alert
JUSTIN BIEBER - COMPANYlive on base 7.09.23//7.sept.23
stay tuned for the full drop details
our next music rights collectible, don’t miss it
due to an uncertain regulatory environment, US minters will be geo-blocked for this drop
NFTs
is live on Rare Protocol!! Now is the time to be 1st to stake in the artists (or collectors!) you 
.Staking will transform the SuperRare user experience. For details, read the thread below (including a “how to” video), & get started here:…
An exhibition.
A seasonal collection.
Introducing Moments.
A new way to create events in Worlds.
↳ foundation.app/blog/worlds-me…
Shipping will begin in the first week of September.
The limited edition Doodles @Crocs collection is coming next week.
24-hr OG Holder presale beginning Aug 28th and 48-hr public sale goes live Aug 29th.
The debut collection for Igloo is now live. More information below.
Art drawn by KEI @keigarou is now available as a free NFT.
Don't miss your chance to win his autographed physical art!
sai.izumo.com/mission/5
Available until September 6, 8 am PST
#SAIbyIZUMO
SAI by IZUMO - KEI
KEI's illustration. The SBT is distributed from Sep 1-Sep 7 (JST).
Now that our inaugural mint is closed, you have until tomorrow morning PST to custom configure your avatar before a unique configuration is randomly assigned
Gaming
Embrace the meme and join the raffle to win co-branded @ownthedoge x @PleasrDAO x #STEPN Genesis Sneakers on Ethereum!Read on for the details on how to get your hands on these beauties!
[1/5]#InternationalDogDay #DogDay
Random
This is the second time this month this has happened on camera.
💰 = Sfermion Portfolio Company
Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold
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