Crypto Daily Digest - September 7th

Ethereum mainnet Merge countdown: 8 days until the expected date (September 15th).

DeFi

• Frax Finance launches its own borrowing and lending market Fraxlend. Source 
• 1inch's $OP airdrop to active 1inch Wallet users on Optimism is available to claim. Source
• BendDAO will suspend services about 3 hours before the Merge. Source
• SpaceGodzilla exploiter has transferred 1,075 $BNB to an intermediary address. Source 
• Project Galaxy rebrands to Galxe. Source
• Lending protocol Compound reverts to V2. Source

Infrastructure

• Project registration for zkSync 2.0 mainnet is now open. Source
• Axelar Network introduces quadratic voting in Maeve mainnet upgrade. Source
• Polygon integrates with crypto infrastructure provider Wyre. Source

Metaverse & NFTs

• Paradigm launches token distribution mechanism Gradual Ownership Optimization (GOO). Source
• Sorare partners with NBA to launch a NFT-based fantasy basketball game. Source
• Data: Coinbase NFT marketplace surpasses $6.4 million in total trading volume. Source
• Trust Wallet integrates with Arbitrum NFTs. Source
• NFT marketplace OnePlanet completes migration to Polygon. Source

CeFi

• Nexo launches trading platform Nexo Pro. Source
• Binance.US launches $ETH Staking service. Source
• KPMG Report: the crypto market is maturing. Source 
• Ripple advisor teases more CBDC announcements in the next few weeks. Source 
• Coinbase adds $CVX, $OCEAN, $INJ, $PUNDIX, $AUDIO, $XMON to listing roadmap. Source 
• Franklin Templeton launches a metaverse ETF in Europe. Source
• BitMEX adds support for $USDC. Source

Policy & Regulation

• Thai SEC has charged Zipmex and its CEO to the Technology Crime Investigation Headquarters. Source
• Russia is working with several friendly countries on the creation of clearing platforms for cross-border settlements in stablecoins. Source

Fundings

• Metaverse device maker Varjo has closed a $40 million funding round with participation from EQT Ventures and others. Source 
• Metaverse architecture firm Smobler Studios has closed a $1.2 million seed round with participation from The Sandbox and others. Source
• Fuel Labs raises $80M in funding with Alameda Research involved. Source
• Web3 energy company Tesseract raises $78M with Balderton Capital involved. Source
• Gameplay Galaxy has closed a $12.8 million seed round led by Blockchain Capital. Source