Hello 👋
Welcome to the 41st 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 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
UBS taps Ethereum to pilot tokenized money market fund (link)
SEC’s Motion to Appeal Loss in Ripple Case Is Denied (link)
Ether futures ETFs from ProShares, VanEck and others go live (link)
Crypto-friendly Rep. Patrick McHenry becomes speaker pro temp following House speaker oust (link)
Adidas and Moncler Collab Features AI 'Adventurers' and NFTs (link)
NFL Alumni Group partners with Aventus Network to help retired NFL players launch fan-focused web3 experiences (link)
Tokenization is “securitization done on steroids” — Franklin Templeton CEO (link)
IYK introduces the IYK platform for self-serve digi-physical experiences and asset creation (link)
OpenSea introduces OpenSea Studio, a one-stop shop for creators to launch and manage their projects (link)
Zora goes live with zero fee minting (link)
Flow looks to expand into the EVM (link)
Binance Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged FTX Sabotage Claims (link)
BlockFi to move forward with Chapter 11 plan (link)
Sam Bankman-Fried considered paying Trump $5B not to run for office, Michael Lewis claims (link)
Is Amazon’s investment in Anthropic a win for FTX creditors? (link)
Jump Trading lost more than $200M in FTX collapse (link)
60 Minutes with Michael Lewis - The Rise and Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried (link)
RFK promises to end “White House war on Bitcoin” (link)
Chainalysis lays off 15% of staff (135 people), plans to focus on public sector (link)
Another Polygon exec departs (link)
Gaming Updates
South Korean gaming titan Wemade taps Chainlink for interoperable Web3 gaming ecosystem (link)
Animoca Brand Japan Partners with Drecom to Expand Web3 Gaming (link)
Line Next launches Sweet Monster Guardians Web3 game on Game Dosi (link)
Nitro Nation NFT Racing Game Hits iOS and Android (link)
Gamefam brings Barbie and her Dreamhouse to Roblox (link)
Elon Musk Livestreams Diablo IV on Twitter to Show Off Twitch-Like Feature (link)
Fortnite brings in-game age ratings to player-made content (link)
Epic is changing Unreal Engine’s pricing for non-game developers (link)
Nintendo Confirms Lego & Animal Crossing Collab (link)
Niantic launches first in-game 'rewarded AR' advertising collaboration in Pokémon Go (link)
What Resident Evil Village on iOS tells us about the future of AAA mobile game development (link)
Meta owns all four of the top ad networks for mobile games in Q2 2023 (link)
data.ai: State of the mobile market in Q3 2023 (link)
Gamalytic: 67% of games on Steam earned less than $5k (link)
Global VC deals declined in Q3 for the second quarter in a row, hitting 3-year lows (link)
AI Updates
National Security Agency is starting an artificial intelligence security center (link)
Tim Cook confirms Apple is researching ChatGPT-style AI (link)
OpenAI to Challenge Apple Watch (link)
OpenAI examines producing AI chips in-house (link)
Wikipedia explores AI-powered knowledge access with ChatGPT plugin (link)
Anthropic in Talks to Raise $2B From Google and Others Just Days After Amazon Investment (link)
Meta said it's been using your public Instagram photos and Facebook posts to train its AI (link)
Other Updates
Walt Disney Pictures VFX Workers Vote to Unionize With IATSE (link)
Health care workers (75K+) launch strike against Kaiser Permanente (link)
Krispy Kreme puts Insomnia Cookies brand up for sale as it doubles down on doughnuts (link)
TikTok to halt transactions on its app in Indonesia from Wednesday (link)
Research & Interesting Reads
1kx | Exploring the Design Space for Dynamic NFTs
Galaxy Digital | Bitcoin Inscriptions & Ordinals: A Maturing Ecosystem
Naavik | The Evolution of Hybridcasual
The Generalist | What do venture capitalists do?
GameDiscoverCo | Most PC games gross <$1,000: should we be worried?
Bloomberg | Airbnb Is Fundamentally Broken, Its CEO Says. He Plans to Fix It.
Yahoo Finance | Energy consumption 'to dramatically increase' because of AI
NFT Drops & Updates
Pudgy Penguins Debuts NFT Toys In Smyths Toys Stores Across The United Kingdom (link)
Adidas and Moncler Collab Features AI 'Adventurers' and NFTs (link)
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri says he’s still bullish on NFTs (link)
Nike drops first physical sneaker for dotSWOOSH holders (link)
RTFKT releases details on Nike Dunk Genesis forging (link)
Diesel and Fossil Group announced the launch of Vert, a timepiece collection part of Diesel’s ongoing Metamorph project (link)
MoMA drops 15 artist-designed NFT postcards (link)
Starbucks launches Pumpkin Spice Latte as an NFT (link)
Costa Rica is funding coffee research through an NFT collection that is inspired by 12 of CATIE’s coffee varietals (link)
Marvel and Funko Ally to Laud Iron Man’s Heritage on VeVe (link)
Magic Eden introduces English Auctions for Ordinals (link)
Yuga Labs cuts employees for metaverse plan restructuring (link)
Proof reduces team size (link)
Notable Raises
Fountain (💰), brokerage for art on the blockchain, comes out of stealth with raise news (led by Collab+Currency + participation from Sfermion, 6529 Capital, Cozomo, etc) and product details (link)
Greylock secures $1B for its 17th fund amid launch of early-stage founders program (link)
CMCC Global Raises $100M for Hong Kong-Based Blockchain Companies (link)
Visa launches $100M venture fund for generative AI startups (link)
Deus X Capital launches with former Galaxy exec Tim Grant as CEO - Deus X claims to have amassed $1B in investment assets and capital. (link)
Andreessen Horowitz leads $24M Series A round for web3 restaurant loyalty app Blackbird (link)
TON raises 8-figure sum from MEXC to make Telegram a Web3 super-app (link)
Web3 social platform Phaver raises $7M in seed funding, led by Galileo (link)
Yuga Labs reveals a strategic investment into Hadean, spatial computing startup (link)
Studio Sai secures $7M in seed funding, led by Krafton, to develop its second title (link)
Sad Cat Studios raises $5M investment, led by GEM Capital investment (link)
GameFi platform NexGami raises $2M from Polygon Ventures, Fundamental Labs, and Ledger Capital. (link)
Paima Studios receives $1.4M grant from the Cardano to build Autonomous World infrastructure (link)
Mo & Andrew's Curated
Macro
20.2K
Interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry orders Nancy Pelosi to vacate her Capitol office.
BlackRock is the largest money manager in the world with $9,000,000,000,000.
He says #bitcoin is “digital gold”
Honda now accepts bitcoin and crypto for payments
This company in the Netherlands grows flowers using sustainable energy and the recycled warmth produced by computers.
1. Greylock 17, a $1B fund dedicated to Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A investing
2. Greylock Edge, a new company-building program for progressing founders from inception to product-market fit
Read more
Web3
Chainlink Secures Partnership With $670b Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
One of the first IN THE WORLD to use Bitcoin native assets as IP
NFT
In keeping with tradition I'll be depositing October secondary royalties (after taxes) from the Chromie Squiggle into an @endaomentdotorg donor advised fund in support of Texas based arts and education organizations
.Thank you for giving my family an…
"Ready to onboard?"
Embark on the next phase of your IZUMO experience with #IZUMOPortal.
portal.izumo.com/signup
Gaming
Thoughts?
Our game's playtest goals, together met
Alpha's chapter closes, another unfolds
With a new "alpha" tale that's yet to be told
A sneak peek we share, for what’s next in line
Building for Beta, where stars will shine
youtu.be/NP7njf4rrdw
AI
"We see no way for AI to subvert the fundamentals of mathematics. They can improve the efficiency of #bitcoin hashing algorithms and silicon, but not crack it."
Random
• $450,000 for the day
• $650,000 for the week
Those prices include working with MSG's 300+ designers on the creative & they estimate 4.7 million daily impressions (300k in person & 4.4M on social).
Crazy.
💰 = Sfermion Portfolio Company
Curated by @mopat1214 + @AndrewSteinwold
If you enjoyed reading this edition of Sfermion’s Collider, please subscribe below, share within your network, 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.