Crypto Daily Digest - March 10th

DeFi

• Crypto exchange FTX in Europe is partnering with music festival Tomorrowland to help the festival make the leap into Web3 and NFTs. Source
• Symbiosis Finance, a multi-chain liquidity protocol, announced the launch of its Beta mainnet. Source
• The Multichain team got the multichain.xyz domain from Andre Cronje and redirected it to multichain.org. Source
• The European Commission said that crypto assets will fall under additional sanctions targeted against Russia in response to the military conflict in Ukraine. Source
• zkSync upgraded version 2.0 portal, including support for paying Gas fees in any ERC20 tokens. Source
• BitMEX Co-founder Samuel Reed pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Source
• Conservative Party candidate Yoon Suk-Yeol, a former top prosecutor who promised to deregulate the crypto industry, will become South Korea’s next president. Source
• FTX and FTX.US have launched FTX Access, a tool for institutional investors. Source
• Cross-chain protocol Soluna has released the rules for its governance token $SLNA. Source
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is exploring offering over-the-counter bilateral crypto options. Source
• Moonbeam Foundation announces the successful bid for the 27th Kusama parachain slot auction. Source
• Optimism launches next-generation fault proof cannon and bug bounty program. Source
• The dYdX Grants Program announced details of its fifth round of grants, with six grants totaling $132,400 planned in areas including funding for media platform. Source
• Cross-chain smart contracts platform Clover Finance announced that it has changed its name to CLV and is enabling the CLV brand in the wallets and chains it will release. Source
• Robinhood will expand its beta program for its cryptocurrency wallet. Source
• Elrond Network acquires payments firm Twispay, wins E-Money license. Source
• RSS3 announced the results of the vote on the proposal to destroy the remaining 12.6 million LBP tokens, and the option to destroy that portion of the tokens won. Source
• The UAE government has passed a law on virtual assets. Source
• Ukraine has received nearly $100 million in crypto donations. Source
• Tether CTO: CBDC to Replace SWIFT, Privately Issued Stable Coins Will Still Exist Source
• US Senator Lummis: Bill to integrate cryptocurrencies into financial system ‘almost ready’ Source
• Biden signed an order placing the development of a potential U.S. CBDC option at the top of the list of priorities. Source
• FTX hires former WB Games executive to lead gaming partnerships. Source
• Thailand’s SCB launches virtual headquarters in The Sandbox metaverse. Source
• Adobe's Behance is adding support for the Polygon network. Source
• EU Says Russia, Belarus Sanctions Extend to Crypto Source
• State Street inks institutional crypto custody deal with Copper Source
• Owner of Bitstream Mining will list on Nasdaq. Source
• Blockdaemon acquires crypto on-ramp company Gem. Source
• Paxos wins regulatory approval from Monetary Authority of Singapore. Source

NFT

• Z Holdings, the subsidiary of SoftBank, plans to launch its NFT marketplace in 180 countries worldwide this spring. Source
• Gucci will collaborate with 10KTF to launch the 10KTF Gucci Grail NFT collection. Source
• Cake DeFi launches $100m venture capital arm CDV, which will focus on Web3, Metaverse, NFT and more. Source
• NBA star LeBron James files trademark application for NFT collection. Source

Fundings

• Swim Protocol, a Solana-based multi-chain liquidity protocol, has closed a $4 million seed round led by Pantera Capital. Source
• Altered State Machine, an AI metaverse platform, closed a seed funding round for an undisclosed amount with Coinbase Ventures and others. Source
• MetalCore, a mechanized combat game, closed a $15 million private funding round through token and NFT sales. Source
• StarkWare, an Israeli zero-knowledge proof research and development organization, is raising a new round of funding at a $6 billion valuation. Source
• Spartan Group will launch a new $200 million fund that will focus on projects building in the metaverse. Source
• Powerbomb Finance closes $1 million in funding led by Delta Blockchain Fund. Source
• Lunar, the Nordic neo-bank, raises $77M at a $2B valuation and launches crypto trading platform and B2B payments. Source
• Blockchain game studio Epic League closed $1M seed round with YGGSEA and others. Source
• SoicalFi network Richverse Web3 closed $3.75 million in funding with AKG Ventures and others. Source
• Loco, a game streaming platform, announced the closing of a $42 million funding round led by Hashed. Source
• UK-based consumer technology company Nothing closed $70 million Series B funding round with participation from Animoca Brands and others. Source
• DAO management tool Upstream closed $12.5m series A funding round led by Boldstart Ventures. Source