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Jan 23, 2024

Crypto's Gunning For Gamers 🕹️📉🗼

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Crypto's Gunning For Gamers 🕹️📉🗼Valko

Top News

  • 🕹️ Rollbit sponsors FaZe clan in multi-million dollar Esports deal

  • 📉 FTX sell $1B of Grayscale ETF, 50% of outflows since conversion

  • 🗼 Musée d’Orsay in Paris to showcase NFTs next month

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Specs’ Insights

Crypto Casino Rollbit Sponsors FaZe Clan in Multi-Million-Dollar Esports Deal - Decrypt

Rollbit will sponsor FaZe Clan’s top-ranked Counter-Strike 2 esports team, albeit only outside of North America.

⌐◪-◪ → This is allegedly one of the largest sponsorship deals in the history of Counter-Strike and esports more broadly.

FaZe is one of the best esports teams in the world and generates massive viewership from gamers, who, in my opinion, are the most poised demographic in the world to adopt crypto.

With that said, a lot of gamers still hate crypto — my theory is that they’re salty they missed out on generational profits — which means this deal might pour gasoline on the proverbial “crypto vs. gamers” fire.

More importantly, however, Counter-Strike has the most robust economy in the world for in-game items, but it still deals with classic web2 problems. The perfect opportunity for blockchain-powered solutions.

What do you think — will this partnership catalyze crypto’s takeover of mainstream gaming, or is it just another flash in the pan?

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FTX Sold About $1B of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF, Explaining Much of Outflow: Sources

BTC's price has fallen since bitcoin ETFs were approved. In theory, now that FTX is done selling its substantial holdings, the selling pressure could ease since a bankruptcy estate liquidating holdings is a relatively unique event.

⌐◪-◪ → FTX took full advantage of the exit liquidity opportunity created by the approval of spot BTC ETFs, selling $1B worth of GBTC since the ETF conversion earlier this month, bringing FTX’s GBTC ownership to zero.

For context, investors have sold more than $2B worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust since the conversion — likely due to GBTC’s high fees — which means FTX accounts for approximately 50% of total outflows.

This just goes to show that when something “goes public,” it's more often than not a massive liquidation opportunity for institutions/incumbents to dump on retail investors.

We really need to democratize access to pre-public investment opportunities. This “accredited investor” stuff is bullshit.

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Agoria's 'Le Code d’Orsay': Inside the Musée d’Orsay’s First NFT Exhibition - Decrypt

Le Code d’Orsay, a new project from the artist and DJ Agoria, will premiere at the Orsay next month. Here's a first look.

⌐◪-◪ → This is a major nod of approval from the traditional art world, legitimizing the lasting impact of blockchain on art and tech culture.

This might not seem like a big deal, but like gamers — much of the traditional art world has been standoffish with NFTs, saying it’s not “real” or “good” art — a classic story of the old vs. new guard.

As for the exhibit, the artist being featured is @agoriamusic, a talented electronic music and generative art artist. His work will be showcased next to masterpieces from Monet, Manet, van Gogh, and more.

Big congratulations to Agoria and the team at Musée d’Orsay for making this happen, and just in time for NFT Paris too!

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Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

  • Avalanche Foundation sets rules for meme coin purchases

  • Socket recovered 1,032 ETH following Bungee exploit

  • Cosmos Hub rejects prop to reduce ATOM inflation to zero

  • Maxine Waters asks Zuckerberg about Meta’s crypto plans

  • Kaspersky warns of Mac exploit targeting BTC wallets

  • SEC disabled 2FA on 𝕏 for 6 months, letting hacker waltz in

  • Dogecoin pumps amid speculation over 𝕏 payments

  • EigenLayer plans 'shared security' model for dapps

  • Ether supply could be affected by Dencun upgrade, says analyst

  • Vitalik’s Montenegro retreat inspires grants for 'Zu-Villages'

  • Ethereum gets ‘gasless' trading With New 0x API

  • Ethereum Foundation sells another $1.6M ETH

  • Gemini unveils plan to launch XRP perpetual contracts

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

  • Masa raises $5.4M seed funding for personal data subnet

  • Bagel secures $3.1M to develop marketplace for ML datasets

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Texas settles with Abra, opening $13.6M in withdrawals

  • Coinbase urges US Treasury to reconsider crypto mixing rules

  • Binance & SEC face-off, answering detailed questions from judge

  • Alameda Research voluntarily drops case against Grayscale

  • US, UK, Australia sanction Hamas-linked crypto wallets

  • Trump reiterates anti-CBDC stance, credits Vivek

🌎 Rest of the World

  • Taurus brings tokenized securities to retail customers in Switzerland

  • Bitrex CEO says FCA’s strict rules are hurting crypto firms in UK

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

  • Animoca-backed Gamee confirms major token contract exploit

  • Anon airdrops 21k ordinals to BTC users as part of mysterious game

  • 'Genesis Cat' ordinal sells for $254k in Sotheby’s auction

  • Floor Protocol partners with WOO

  • Tensor lets users go long or short on NFTs

  • Kanbas, a new NFT whale, purchases 2x Autoglyphs

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