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Sfermion's Collider #50

Curated news from the world of crypto, gaming & entertainment, consumer trends, AI, macro, and more

Sfermion is an investment firm focused on backing the founders building the metaverse.

Hello

gmgm. Been awhile everyone, but pleased to welcome you all back to the 50th edition of Sfermion’s Collider - which as you know, is where we highlight the latest & greatest news in the world of crypto, gaming & entertainment, consumer trends, AI, macro, and more!

Bi-weekly, we aim to drop a curated list of the most exciting stories & updates that we believe are enabling the future of tech and 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! Also, check out our Seam () bio here :)


Crypto Updates

Unichain – an Ethereum L2 designed for DeFi (link)

Stripe reinstates crypto payments for US businesses via USDC on Ethereum, Solana and Polygon (link)

Prosecutors Charge Four Crypto ‘Market Makers,’ Employees With Market Manipulation, Fraud (link)

SEC Sues Crypto Trading Firm Cumberland, Again Alleges Solana and Polygon Are Securities (link)

Swift set to begin live bank trials of digital asset transactions in 2025 (link)

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda slams agency’s crypto policy as a ‘disaster’ (link)

Robinhood Exec is Reportedly Top Pick to Lead SEC under Trump (link)

Solv Protocol () partners with Chainlink to bring BTC yields to Base ecosystem (link)

Tron founder Justin Sun elected as prime minister of crypto-focused micro nation Liberland (link)

$35M worth of tokens drained from a crypto whale in phishing attack (link)

Introducing Nexus: The World's First Fully Onchain Agentic Framework (link)


Gaming Updates

Today the game’s () Mythic Seed free mint is scheduled for October 17th (link)

Shardbound () goes live with open beta for October 9th, with 100K+ pre-registrations (link)

Epic is suing Google — again — and now Samsung, too (link)

Assassin’s Creed developer Ubisoft launches first crypto video game 'Champions Tactics' (link)

Arbitrum DAO member proposes $120M recall from gaming fund that missed deadlines (link)

Xbox will sell games directly in the Android app next month (link)

Mythos Foundation () launches Mythical Forest with up to 2 Million $MYTH in prizes (link)

Animoca and Lamborghini Unite to Bring Supercars to Web3 (link)


AI Updates

Meta announces Movie Gen, an AI-powered video generator (link)

Character.ai abandons making AI models after $2.7B Google deal (link)

SoftBank to invest $500M into OpenAI (link)

TikTok joins the AI-driven advertising pack to compete with Meta for ad dollars (link)

Cerebras files for IPO as it challenges Nvidia in AI chips (link)


Other Updates

Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge (link)

Facebook launches a Gen Z-focused redesign (link)

TikTok sued by 14 attorneys general over alleged harm to children’s mental health (link)

Toyota to invest $500M in electric air taxi company Joby Aviation (link)

Reddit communities will require permission while going private or switching to NSFW (link)

CNN Launches Digital Paywall in Major Strategic Shift (link)

SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal Is Leaving the Agency (link)

Ex-Jaguars employee Amit Patel sues FanDuel for $250M (link)


Research & Interesting Reads

a16z | Anime Is Eating The World

Stanford Blockchain Review | Story: The World’s IP Blockchain

Discord | Come Build Where the World Plays

a16z crypto | How tokens can attract top talent: A compensation primer for web3

Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids

Chris Dixon | Fixing the economics of being a creator

Bloomberg | The Case of the Missing Web3 Users

CryptoHayes | PvP

Unity | 2024 Mobile Growth and Monetization Report 2024

Pilot | Founder Salary Report 2024

Binance | Monthly Market Insights - October 2024

Crunchbase | Asia Venture Funding Hits 10-Year Low In Q3

Omnichain Observations | A-star is born: ASTR to power Sony's new L2

Moyed | I read Sentient Whitepaper So You don’t need to


Notable Raises

Loot Labs () announces $6M Seed Funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Sfermion, Everyrealm, and Fabric Ventures. Counter-Strike 2 Cosmetics Beta is coming to BOXED.GG on October 28th! (link)

Poolside Raises $500M to Build AI Coding Software (link)

Trump-linked World Liberty Financial to raise $300M at $1.5B valuation (link)

Aethir launches $100M fund to accelerate AI, gaming innovation (link)

Dave Clark launches Auger, raises $100M for the AI venture (link)

Bitget, Foresight Ventures Buy $30M TON Tokens From Whales (link)

VanEck to Invest in Early Stage Ventures Including Crypto With New $30M Fund (link)

Ithaca raises $20M in investment from Paradigm (link)

Gate Ventures, Movement Labs, Boon Ventures to launch $20M crypto fund (link)

Hemi Labs raises $15M to launch advanced modular blockchain network powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum (link)

SecondLive raises $12M in private funding round for their AI and XR Social Nexus (link)

Distance Technologies raises $11.2M for glasses-free mixed reality for enterprises (link)

Delta raises $11M for permissionless domain network (link)

Crypto gaming developer PiP World raises $10M in seed round months after buying Roblox stock simulator (link)

Polychain, Franklin Templeton back Bitlayer’s $9M Series A extension (link)

Dragonz Lab Secures $9M Investment from Syndicate Capital to Enhance ‘Dragonz Land’ Ecosystem (link)

OpenGradient Raises $8.5M to Decentralize AI Infrastructure and Accelerate Secure, Open-Source AI (link)

Bitcoin-backed stablecoin developer Yala raises $8M in seed funding (link)

Avarra Raises $8 Million for AI-Based Avatars (link)

Kiva AI Closes $7M Seed Round Led by CoinFund to Revolutionize Expert-Powered Data Solutions (link)

Future Trash raises $5M to build its IP within Fortnite’s platform (link)

APRO Oracle raises $3M in seed round led by Polychain Capital, Franklin Templeton, and ABCDE Capital (link)


Mo & Andrew's Curated

Macro

Crypto

NFTs

Gaming

AI

Other


 = 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 :)


Note: All information in this Newsletter regarding any company or investment is the sole responsibility of the company providing the information. Sfermion, and its affiliates, makes no representation or guarantee to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Sfermion is not responsible for any information contained in any links outside our websites and official social accounts.

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.

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