Web3 Weekly Wonderland | Edition #8 – Sept 2022
Ayo Web3 Wanderers!
We’re back to top off the weekend with some Web3 rock 'n' roll bonanza! Come aboard the Web3 rollercoaster 🎢 and marvel at its spectacular ride featuring five themes that reflect today's decentralised world. Buckle up for an adrenaline-pumping adventure >>
In February, we researched a bit to discover the genesis of NFTs that might be worth a look:
Discover more about The Utility of Rarity: NFT Projects here.
We haven’t forgotten about the weekly dose of the blue bird – check out this tweet for more information about the talk of the town lately — Ethereum.
You may read the whole thread here.
Here's the TL;DR:
Big brands are taking bigger steps toward adopting Web3 phenomena ― Citi Bangladesh piloted a paperless trade transaction on TradeLens using blockchain tech. At the same time, Alibaba launched a luxury shopping experience in the metaverse.
Drops on OpenSea as the company announced NFT drop improvements and Arbirtum L2 support. Success hitting the shores of Cardalonia since the company announced the listing of its $LONIA token on Bitmart.
Creating a Web3 world based on trust ― IDNTTY launched Testnet for digital identity and Web-of-Trust infrastructure. Gaining investor’s faith, Sardine announced $51.5M in a Series B round of funding.
The Web3 ride reaches the financial service village as Nedbank announced it’s entry into the metaverse to build the same. Turning to the clouds ― NVIDIA unveiled Omniverse Cloud for metaverse applications. ‘
Enhancing the ever-growing Web3, Ankr partnered with Polygon to enhance the building experience for Web3 developers. Further, Dogechain developers launched a governance platform for Dogechain projects called Dogegress.
Let's dig deep into the decentralised dimension –
Decentralised Assets 一 There are stories galore from the decentralised assets’ ecosystem this week, ranging from Crypto, DeFi and Tokenised Assets.
Starting with the launchpad of innovations, the Decentralised Assets segment witnessed the launch of FV Bank’s new service enabling its customers to receive USDC directly into their bank accounts and convert them instantly and automatically into USD.
DeFi platform Coin98 also joined the party as it rolled out its own dollar-pegged, decentralised stablecoin aiming to become a way to move value across different chains.
As crypto winters weigh in on the mining industry, DeFi firm Maple Finance started a lending pool with a $300M capacity for mid-size bitcoin miners across North America and Australia.
Making the Web3 ground even more fertile, Alluvial introduced a consortium of organisations to collaborate on the liquid staking protocol - Liquid Collective.
All eyes on regulations as the US drafted a new legislation on crypto law which will ban algorithmic stablecoins like TerraUSD (UST) for two years. In the same vein, regulators in Indonesia introduced a new rule requiring at least two-thirds of directors and commissioners on crypto trading platforms to be Indonesians residing in the country.
On the funding front, Pan-African crypto exchange Yellow Card secured $40M in a Series B funding round with plans to expand further across Africa. Cash keep comin’ in as Indonesia’s AC Ventures led an $11M Series A round for local crypto exchange Reku, which plans to use the funds to recruit new members.
In other news, KuCoin and Dmail entered into a strategic partnership providing decentralised mailbox services for KuCoin ecological users and support in technology, marketing for Dmail's team.
Voyaging to the crypto-verse, crypto exchanges Binance and FTX came up with the leading bids for assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital. With a cyber attack giving chills, crypto exchange Wintermute succumbed to a cyber hack that stole approximately $160M of its Defi operations.
Taking things a step further, Precog Finance integrated Polygon enabling dApps to make investments and withdrawals using the polygon network.
Decentralised Tech – Join us for a tech party featuring Blockchain, Smart Contracts, and Oracles – all important things in Web3 infrastructure!
Various partnership rounds set the stage for the DLT segment as MeWe announced its use of the Decentralised Social Network Protocol (DSNP) from Project Liberty.
Speaking of Web3 giants, Ankr announced its partnership with Polygon to enhance the building experience for Web3 developers who want to create application-specific blockchains with Polygon Supernets.
Keeping data security on top of its plate – Chains.com integrated Fireblocks to protect digital assets against cyber threats. What’s more – SupraOracles announced its partnership with TrustFi Network, bringing crypto startups a more comprehensive DeFi Solution.
Coming to the boom of new launches, Infura announced its plan to launch a Decentralised Infrastructure Network in a bid to maximally and progressively decentralise products and services.
That’s not all – TradeLens announced that Citi piloted a paperless trade transaction for client Syngenta Bangladesh, which was used to share and validate all the documents, including the eBL, invoice, packing list and certificate of origin. It’s all about doing things sustainably.
Blockchain development company HashCash was also on the news as it plans to offer consulting services in Finland on utilising blockchain technology for renewable energy.
Money flowing into the Web3 sea- MESCBN platform DLT Ledgers raised $8.5M in a Series B round with plans to expand into North American markets and scale its engineering and growth teams.
Similarly, GRNGrid blockchain received a $50M investment commitment from GEM Digital, to connect with top crypto exchanges, new partnerships and build out the blockchain technology. Wait, we’re not done just yet!
Sardine raised $51.5M in Series B in its pursuit of providing fraud, compliance, and instant settlement solutions to FinTech and Web3 players across the globe.
In another head-turner incident, the SEC, while filing a civil complaint against a crypto influencer, suggested that it believes the US government has jurisdiction over all Ethereum transactions. Long live decentralisation!
Virtual Assets World – This is where we bring you the coolest (and craziest) stuff of the Web3 universe through NFTs, Metaverse, and eXtended Reality!
Marvels of Metaverse
Everyone seems to be tuning into the metaverse lately ― PIXELYNX, the music metaverse, announced a partnership with Laylo to implement Laylo’s full suite of audience management suite. Steppin’ into the meta world, STEPN and GigaSpace metaverse partnered up to build a virtual STEPN city!
The metaverse is all about churning out new stuff ― In China, Alibaba launched a deeper immersive luxury shopping experience in the metaverse, advancing its foray into the 3D virtual space. It's time to take real estate to a whole new level. The Sandbox will develop a metaverse city in Dubai, ‘Dubaiverse’. 'Tis about time the metaverse said as-salam alaykum to Dubai!
NVIDIA launched NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud, a comprehensive suite of cloud services for metaverse applications. Levelling up, the utility token of the Cardalonia Metaverse — $LONIA token will be listing on Bitmart, a cryptocurrency exchange.
You can hear money jiggling as MetaFi raised $3M to build its first core product, the Trading Metaverse. A Seattle-based startup, SPOT, raked in millions as the company raised a massive $5.5M seed round to build virtual offices for businesses.
It’s metaverse time for Africa! Nedbank is set to become the first African bank to enter the metaverse, buying 144 plots in yet-to-be-built Unbutuland to create a virtual financial services village.
Glimmer of GameFi
With plans to be a game changer, Inworld AI, a creative suite for building AI characters, announced that it has taken another step toward revolutionising gaming by becoming a Unity Verified Solutions Partner.
Forging its name in the world of GameFi, Blockchain gaming studio Vulcan Forged secured $8M Series A funding aimed at accelerating the growth of Vulcan Forged “Metascapes”.
Neoteric NFTs
DC fans are in for a treat as pop culture and lifestyle brand Funko is collaborating with Warner Brothers to launch a new NFT collection based on DC Comics.
Opensea announced a new “immersive and secure minting experience” that allows NFT creators to display “collections on specialised drop pages with greater discoverability”.
Decentralised Governance – It was a whirlwind of events all week, encompassing partnerships, launches, and so much more!
It seems that partnerships are sailing boats for many. BNB Chain joined hands with leading blockchain security audit firms to marvel at the security infrastructure project AvengerDAO.
Gaming up a bit, Pro Gamer DAO and Avocado DAO joined up in the League of Kingdoms to assist and encourage new entrants into the gaming arena and help create a robust game ecosystem. Furthermore, Brandon Martyn AKA MYSTIC7, joined Ready Player DAO to promote Web3 Gaming’s widespread adoption.
On the launch front, it's a party for doge lovers as Dogecoin announced the launch of a dedicated decentralised governance platform for Dogechain projects, called Dogegress.
Embracing the ecosystem, Ambrosus joined the party and launched a community-owned ecosystem of dApps called AirDAO that will provide an accessible and user-friendly suite of digital products in the market. Further, ViciNFT made it to the list after it announced the launch of the Restaurant Relief DAO to directly support local restaurants and provide financial relief to those determined by the NFT holding community.
Panda DAO put forth a new proposal to dissolve itself and return assets of around 500-700 million back to investors. In a similar incident, Tribe DAO confirmed that it would repay victims of the Rari hack, which amounts to around $80M.
Decentralised Identity – The stakes are pretty high here, considering the hype and buzz surrounding the concept of identity in the blockchain space.
Starting with some blazing launches, decentralised public infrastructure layer IDNTTY announced the launch of its public testnet for digital identity and web-of-trust infrastructure.
Moving on, NuID announced the launch of the Nu Identity (NuID) Ecosystem, providing internet users with the ability to own and control their digital identity by using services built upon NuID’s foundational zero-knowledge authentication solution.
Among the other news that's been doing the rounds include Findynet Cooperative and the Kela Social Security Agency announcing plans to use the $2.9M government grant to develop a self-sovereign identity network aimed at letting participants securely store and discretely share information.
And, Portabl announced the closing of a $2.5M seed round today led by Harlem Capital Partners, and launched its beta.
And that's not all! Crypto exchange Coinbase integrated with Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to give their customers usernames to replace their traditional Coinbase crypto wallet addresses. Further, in a bid to enable social discovery of decentralised apps, Singapore’s KNN3 built a graph database that analyses users’ relationships, status, memberships and other on-chain actions.
It can sometimes be overwhelming for our Web3 wanderers to get their heads around the Web3 world 🌎 with new things popping up every other day 🆕. So, let's learn more about Web3 as we wrap up.Welcome to the LearnVerse! ✨
Web3 Word Of The Week
Consensus Mechanism: Consensus mechanisms refer to the set of protocols, incentives, and concepts that allow network nodes to agree on the state of a blockchain. It's basically just a way to say "This is what we're going to use to make sure we all agree". The consensus mechanism is also used for verifying stored data, smart contracts, etc. in some more advanced blockchain projects. However, at the most basic level, they are used to verify transactions.
Lastly, have a go at this Web3 treat 🍩 over the weekend to get a taste of the Web3 realm, straight from ‘The Whitehouse’!
That's all for now!🤘
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Web3 Weekly Wonderland experience, and we'll see you next Friday! 💌
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