Today's Headlines:
Improbable, the developer of Otherside, sold one of its game companies for about $97.1 million
Nexon's NFT game project MapleStory Universe announces $100 million investment
Regulatory News
According to the official Coinbase blog, the cryptocurrency industry has raised over $78 million to support candidates who promote innovation in the 2024 election. The potential of cryptocurrency can help update the financial system and give ordinary Americans a fair chance, depending on electing candidates who support responsible and fair rules and implementing relevant policies. Currently, only 9% of Americans are satisfied with the current system. The cryptocurrency industry has raised $78 million as a starting point to support the 52 million Americans who own digital assets and hopes to achieve a fair opportunity in the American dream.
Fairshake Super PAC and its affiliate representing the American cryptocurrency community have raised over $78 million (and are still increasing) from 20 companies and industry leaders to support candidates from both parties who support cryptocurrency in 2024. This donation has received support from the following cryptocurrency companies and individuals: Andreessen Horowitz, Ark, Brian Armstrong, Blockchain Capital, Wences Casares, Circle, Coinbase, Ron Conway, Cumberland, Framework Ventures, Hunter Horsley, Jump Crypto, Kraken, Lightspark, Messari, Multicoin Capital, Paradigm, Potter Ventures, Ripple, Fred Wilson, Cameron Winklevoss, and Tyler Winklevoss.
Metaverse
Improbable, the developer of Otherside, sold one of its game companies for about $97.1 million
According to CNBC, Improbable, the developer behind the metaverse Otherside, has sold its multiplayer game service company The Multiplayer Group (MPG), which it acquired in 2019, to Keywords Studios for £76.5 million (approximately $97.1 million).
Herman Narula, co-founder and CEO of Improbable, stated that this transaction is part of its "venture investment" strategy, which involves investing in or acquiring game and metaverse-related teams and choosing to expand or split these teams in the future. Although this move indicates that Improbable may reduce its investments related to games, Narula does not believe that selling MPG means reducing its business in this area. Narula stated, "We will not sell any technology, nor will we stop collaborating with game companies."
Keywords Studios is headquartered in Ireland and has over 70 studios in locations such as Los Angeles, France, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain, mainly developing games for third-party developers. MPG was founded in 2018 and is known for its work on games such as "Fallout 76" and "Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond."
Data disclosed by Animoca Brands recently shows that as of November 30, 2023, Animoca Brands held a cash and stablecoin balance of $172 million, with a total value of third-party tokens (including off-balance sheet SAND token reserves) of approximately $330 million, and off-balance sheet token reserves (including ecological tokens) valued at approximately $1.6 billion, totaling approximately $2.1 billion in assets.
In addition, Animoca Brands stated that the number of companies it has invested in has exceeded 400, including approximately 110 in the gaming sector, approximately 50 in the infrastructure sector, approximately 29 in the DeFi sector, and approximately 13 in the metaverse sector.
Project Updates
Sam Williams, the founder of Arweave, stated on the X platform that Irys, the Web3 storage solution in the Arweave ecosystem (formerly Bundlr Network), is considering forking Arweave. They intend to delete data sets and reset token supply in a manner that ignores the established mechanism in the Arweave network known as "protocol evolution," which allows for secure forking and network upgrades. The ar.io network plans to remove Irys bundlers from the trusted settings of the Arweave main gateway, which will result in significant delays before user data is available. Sam stated that a discussion will be opened on X Space regarding this event.
Sam believes that for a permanent storage network, forking needs to be done in the correct way of preserving and building states, not in a destructive way that would only lead to the inability to achieve information permanence, and all data would be regularly deleted. Sam claims that the only reason for Irys forking the network could be greed, and that Irys may stop uploading user data to Arweave at any time. He recommends users to switch bundlers, stating, "With the support of ar.io network, Forward Research is running a free Arweave bundler service, which will continue to be available to users after migration. If users want to use the free Arweave bundler service, they just need to change the Irys node URL in the code to up.arweave.net."
Hackers attack Solana-based game Aurory, no user funds or NFTs lost
Aurory, a game ecosystem based on Solana, tweeted that a few hours ago, our team noticed unusual activity in the market. After a quick investigation, we found that an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the market's purchase endpoint to increase their AURY balance on SyncSpace. This allowed them to withdraw approximately 600,000 tokens to the Arbitrum network and then sell these tokens. The team has disabled SyncSpace for maintenance, during which assets cannot be deposited or withdrawn. No user funds or NFTs were lost or at risk. The stolen AURY came from a team wallet that provided withdrawal support for accounts that had not previously deposited AURY. With SyncSpace offline for maintenance, there is currently no further risk of attack. The team has taken swift action to absorb selling pressure through market makers and fund pool rebalancing. SyncSpace underwent an audit a few months ago, and the cause of this vulnerability will be further investigated. Once the fix and investigation are completed, the team will conduct a more in-depth post-mortem analysis of the situation. SyncSpace is expected to be back online in the next few days.
According to Bloomberg, FTX Trading Ltd. has announced the latest proposal to return tens of billions of dollars to customers and creditors, initiating the final round of potential disputes on how best to end the bankruptcy of this fraud-affected crypto company. The restructuring plan leaves some of the most important issues unresolved, including whether FTX will restart its closed crypto exchange, how the company will estimate the value of some digital tokens, and how much creditors can expect to recover.
Next year, the plan will be submitted to creditors for a vote, possibly adding some key details, and then submitted to the US bankruptcy judge John Dorsey for final approval. The main creditor and client groups involved in Chapter 11 bankruptcy have agreed to the general framework of the plan. The payment plan calls for the distribution of tens of billions of dollars in cash after most of the company's cryptocurrencies have been liquidated.
Earlier today, FTX's new restructuring plan may result in losses of millions of dollars for creditors.
Control of ENS root node transferred to DAO through vote, marking decentralization of ENS governance
According to CryptoSlate, according to a message released last week by Nick Johnson, the founder and core developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS), ENS has achieved decentralized governance. Previously, the root node of the project was managed by members of the Ethereum community, but Johnson wrote in a post on X last week, "This is indeed the end of an era, this is the message I just sent to the holders of the ENS root key, requesting that they transfer their final power to the DAO."
Johnson's accompanying email stated that the DAO of ENS is a governance organization formed and controlled by ENS token holders, and a unanimous vote was obtained for control of the project's root node. In response to these voting results, he created a transaction to execute two operations, transferring root control to the DAO address (wallet.ensdao.eth), and transferring all remaining multisig responsibilities to the DAO, thereby "completely abolishing the multisig." It is currently unclear whether other multisig owners have approved this transaction.
Individuals who previously managed the ENS multisig include Sergey Nazarov of Chainlink, Dan Finlay of Metamask, Taylor Monahan of MyCrypto, Aron Fischer of Colony, Jason Carver and Martin Swende of the Ethereum Foundation, and Johnson himself. Johnson expressed his gratitude to these individuals in his message, saying, "Thank you very much for your service to ENS over the years."
BC Technology Group proposes to rename as "OSL Group Limited"
BC Technology Group announced that the board recommends changing the company's English name from "BC Technology Group Limited" to "OSL Group Limited," and changing the company's Chinese name from "BC科技集团有限公司" to "OSL集团有限公司."
The announcement stated that "OSL" is the brand name of the digital asset and blockchain platform operated by the group. The board believes that the proposed name change will provide a more suitable corporate image for the company's future business development and enhance the company's brand recognition. Therefore, the board believes that the planned name change is in the overall interest of the company and shareholders.
Binance to launch ACE 1-50x U-based perpetual contract
According to the official announcement, Binance will launch the ACE 1-50x U-based perpetual contract on December 18, 2023, at 18:00 (GMT+8).
Upbit to list ASTR on the Korean won market
According to the official announcement, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has announced that it will list ASTR on the Korean won market, with trading expected to start at 17:00 (Beijing time) today.
Later, ASTR token price breaks $0.14, with a 1-hour increase of over 80%.
Dfinity Foundation launches European subnet compliant with GDPR standards on ICP.
According to PR Newswire, the Swiss non-profit research organization and major contributor to the Internet Computer blockchain (ICP), the DFINITY Foundation, has announced the launch of a European subnet on ICP, providing infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps) that complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This new infrastructure enables developers to use a range of tools to deploy dApps in the European market that protect personal and financial data, in compliance with strict and mature regulatory practices. The European subnet is the first of its kind on the Internet Computer, geographically limited to ensure that all nodes are located within the European Union. This ensures that data is processed and stored within the EU, in accordance with GDPR jurisdictional requirements. The European subnet also provides the platform with the tamper-resistant infrastructure needed to build GDPR-compliant applications.
Funding News
Nexon's NFT game project MapleStory Universe secures $100 million investment
Nexon's NFT game project MapleStory Universe has announced a recent $100 million investment on X platform, with the investor undisclosed.
MapleStory first appeared in South Korea in 2003 and has since been released in several other countries worldwide. In the game, players create their own characters, embark on quests, battle monsters, and interact with other players in a virtual world. The game features a variety of different professions, each with its own unique skills. Earlier this year in March, Nexon announced the launch of the NFT game MapleStory Universe on Polygon.
Important Data
Solana Saga phones selling for up to $5000 on eBay
According to The Block, with the increasing popularity of the Bonk token, the "floor price" of Solana Saga phones on eBay has risen to around $2000, with two phones selling for $5000 yesterday, and another phone selling for $3361 today. Each phone owner can claim 30 million BONK tokens in the Bonk DApp. With the soaring value of BONK, the value of these tokens has now exceeded the official price of the phones, driving increased demand for the phones in the market.
Three crypto projects will unlock tokens this week, with a total release value of approximately $6.35 million.
Nym (NYM) will unlock approximately 3.34 million tokens worth nearly $614,800 on the morning of December 20th;
Euler (EUL) will unlock approximately 123,000 tokens worth nearly $404,500 on the afternoon of December 21st;
SPACE ID (ID) will unlock approximately 18.49 million tokens worth nearly $5.33 million on the morning of December 22nd.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a whale withdrew 60,000 ETH ($131.76 million) from Bitfinex and deposited it into Maker, then borrowed 58 million DAI. After exchanging the 58 million DAI for 58 million USDC, the whale deposited the 58 million USDC into Binance.
Ethereum EVM chain's daily GAS fee consumption surges to $8.3 million, hitting a record high
According to Cointelegraph, over the weekend, the number of transactions on the Ethereum EVM chain surged, leading to a sharp increase in GAS consumption. According to data from Dune Analytics, on December 16th, the GAS fees for transactions on the EVM surged to $8.3 million, reaching a record high. The Avalanche network had the highest GAS consumption, spending over $5.6 million on the same day. Arbitrum One ranked second, with GAS fees for EVM transactions reaching $2.1 million. In the past 24 hours, 58% of Avalanche's network GAS was spent on EVM transactions, while zkSync Era had 48% of fees spent on EVM transactions. Additionally, 73% of transactions on the BNB Chain in the past 24 hours were related to EVM transactions. This situation is particularly severe on the Arbitrum One network, to the extent that it caused a 78-minute interruption on December 15th.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin network also saw a surge in transactions over the weekend, leading to increased block space demand and transaction fees. According to data from mempool.space, there are currently nearly 280,000 unconfirmed transactions. Observers noted that this has led to Bitcoin transaction fees soaring to $37, making it unfeasible for most people to use the Bitcoin network for peer-to-peer digital currency. On December 18th, NFT and Ordinals expert "Leonidas" noted that in the past 24 hours, the sales of a single series of inscriptions (not specified which project) exceeded the total sales of CryptoPunks, BAYC, MAYC, Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, DeGods, Moonbirds, Doodles, and Meebits, with the "Bitcoin Frogs" series leading the Ordinal PFP series with a market value of $182 million.
According to Cointelegraph, court documents from December 5th to December 16th show that FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, paid a total of $118.1 million to bankruptcy lawyers and advisors from August 1st to October 31st, which is equivalent to $1.3 million per day or $53,300 per hour over 92 days. The largest bill came from the management consulting firm Alvarez and Marshall, with a service fee of $35.8 million for three months. The second-ranked firm was the global law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, charging $31.8 million. The average hourly rate for Sullivan and Cromwell's services was $1230. The global consulting firm AlixPartners charged $13.3 million for professional services related to legal investigations during this period. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan charged $10.4 million during the same period, while several smaller consulting firms collectively charged over $26.8 million. Meanwhile, an anonymous FTX creditor shared data in an X post on December 17th, showing that since the start of the FTX bankruptcy case, FTX has fully paid approximately $350 million in legal fees.
In a report submitted on December 5th by the court-appointed fee examiner Katherine Stadler, significant issues were identified in the invoices submitted by major consulting firms (including Sullivan and Cromwell, Alvarez and Marshall, etc.) for the period from May 1st to June 31st. Regarding the invoices submitted by Alvarez and Marshall, the report stated: "The fee examiner identified significant overstaffing, excessive meeting attendance, expenses related to non-work travel time, and various technical and procedural deficiencies in time entries (including vague and block billing)."
According to CoinShares' weekly report, digital asset investment products recently experienced a small-scale outflow of funds, totaling $16 million, ending an 11-week streak of fund inflows. However, trading activity remains well above the average level for the year, with total trading volume reaching $3.6 billion last week. This slight outflow of funds was mainly concentrated in the United States, with outflows of approximately $18 million, while Germany also saw a minor outflow of $10 million. Meanwhile, Canada and Switzerland continued to see inflows of $6.9 million and $9.1 million, respectively. This mixed regional flow trend indicates that it is more due to profit-taking rather than a shift in sentiment towards this asset class.
Bitcoin experienced the largest outflow of funds, reaching $33 million last week, while products shorting Bitcoin also saw a minor outflow of $300,000. Other cryptocurrencies such as Solana, Cardano, XRP, and Chainlink collectively saw inflows of $21 million, but Ethereum and Avalanche saw outflows of $4.4 million and $1 million, respectively. Meanwhile, blockchain stocks continued to receive positive sentiment, attracting a significant inflow of $122 million last week, bringing the total inflow over the past 9 weeks to $294 million, setting a new record high.
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