Worldwide Web3 Wonderland | Edition #24 – Feb 2023
Summary of news from 17th Feb to 1st March 2023
Happy Thursday, Web3 Voyagers! 🚀
Prepare to indulge in a weekly fix of Web3 wonderment, as we showcase how industry leaders are dedicating their efforts to venture into the realm of blockchain-based services.
Now, for the magnificent marvels of the Web3 wonderland!
The Top 10 groundbreaking highlights of the week that showcase the revolutionary nature of this digital wonderland —
Immersing itself into the decentralised web, Mastercard partnered with Immersve, a Web3 payment protocol and end-end crypto card issuing platform, to enable its users to pay using crypto on digital, physical, and the Metaverse worlds. Joining the web3 oasis was also SoftBank Corp., which joined game-focused blockchain Oasys as a validator to tap into the real value of blockchain when it comes to video games.
The Sandbox, too, aims to empower the creator generation to build engaging and fun forms of experiences with a focus on social features, multiplayer, and game-making through its acquisition of German developer Sviper. Sviper adds development, engineering, and creative talent to the Sandbox’s team through the deal.
Revving up the interest in NFTs, luxury sports car manufacturer Automobili Lamborghini teamed up with NFT marketplace VeVe to release a limited edition of digital collectables for its cars. At the same time, eBay’s NFT marketplace KnownOrigin announced the launch of a creator smart contract for artists.
With the aim of unlocking the institutional market for tokenised assets, U.S. Bancorp invested in digital assets fintech Ownera, where the funding will be used to accelerate Ownera’s deployment of a global interoperability network. Galaxy Digital also closed a $44M acquisition of institutional self-custody platform GK8, a purchase that will help build out GalaxyOne, the previously launched platform that will offer a wide range of financial services for institutions, including trading, lending, derivatives, cross-portfolio margining, and a number of custodial options.
Taking things on a different course, cryptocurrency custody firm BitGo filed a lawsuit against Galaxy Digital, seeking more than $100M in damages as it alleges that Galaxy Digital intentionally breached the firms' $1.2B merger agreement.
Partnerships certainly came out on top the past week as industry participants united to present distinctive offerings: Cash App integrated TaxBit’s cryptocurrency tax and accounting software into its offerings to make it easier for Bitcoin owners to file their taxes; ICONOMI announced a new deal with Elliptic for AML capabilities and real-time crypto wallet screening; and Circle announced plans to partner with Citizens Trust Bank to broaden their partnership to include the entire Atlanta area, focusing on efforts for digital financial literacy and financial inclusion for its clients.
Web3 Word Of The Week: Flash Loan
Flash loans are a type of loan where a person can borrow money without having to provide any assets or collateral as security. There is no limit to how much they can borrow, and they have to return the money they borrowed in the same transaction. However, if they can't pay back the loan before the transaction is completed, a special computer program called a "smart contract" will automatically cancel the transaction and return the money to the person who loaned it. This is to ensure that the lender does not lose their money.
That's all for now!🤘
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Worldwide Web3 Wonderland!
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