The weekly Web3 investments

Hello, and welcome to De.Nomics newsletter, your daily digest to stay ahead in the world of Web3 and decentralized technologies at a regional focus. Today, we have plenty of trending news and stories. So, get your cup of tea and some biscuits, and let’s go ahead.
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The Blends Briefs
TL’DR: Here’s a sneak peek into today’s newsletter

• The Web3 investments tracker for this week

• Microsoft’s Project Airism shuts down

• SBF is expected to testify on today, Thursday

• JPM Coin’s $1 Billion Daily Transactions

• GBTC outshines Nividia

• Sharjah NFT Platform

• UK FCA adds 221 firms to its warnings list

• Mexican Senator Pushes for Bitcoin Acceptance

• Word of the day: Greenlighting

A must-have
Web3 investments landscape this week

This week in the ever-evolving world of Web3 and blockchain technology, several notable investments and developments have taken center stage. Here’s what happened

Neon Machine, the game studio behind the Call of Duty-style crypto video game "Shrapnel," has successfully raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. Polychain Capital led the round, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures, Tess Ventures, and more. This funding will be used to further develop "Shrapnel," which is built around NFTs on the Avalanche blockchain. The game is set to launch an early-access version in December 2023, with a full launch planned for 2024. "Shrapnel" allows players to own and create in-game assets using blockchain technology, offering a unique gaming experience. The Shrapnel maker has now raised a total of $37.5 million from its seed funding, Series A, and private token sale rounds.

Hong Kong-based crypto trading execution tool provider Anboto Labs has secured $3 million in funding and launched an institutional-grade non-custodial trading platform. The investment, obtained in the third quarter of this year, came from investors including Kronos Ventures, Cherry Crypto, Mechanism Capital, XBTO, and Matrixport. The fresh funds add to the $1.9 million raised last year, bringing the company's valuation to $35 million. Anboto's new platform, after an 18-month closed beta, has already registered $4 billion in trading volume across 20 exchanges and blockchain networks. It offers execution algorithms and enhanced security features and plans to expand its trading services in the coming months to cater to crypto traders.

And moving to healthcare, Rymedi, a web3 healthcare data platform, has raised $9 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital, with additional participation from Blockchange Ventures and Avalanche's Blizzard Fund, as well as angel investors. Rymedi utilizes blockchain technology to streamline the transfer of medical records and data. This funding will be used to enhance data security, expand into the North American market, and explore global opportunities. Rymedi's decentralized data platform aims to improve healthcare systems by reducing data entry errors and compliance issues that can hinder research, patient care, and occupational health processes.

And for our last order, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin has invested in Nocturne Labs, a startup focused on bringing private accounts to the Ethereum ecosystem. Nocturne Labs raised $6 million in seed funding with participation from notable investors, including Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital. The startup aims to enable private accounts within the Ethereum ecosystem, allowing users to transact anonymously. Users will have internal accounts within Nocturne, and they can deposit or receive payments while maintaining anonymity through zero-knowledge-proof technologies. Nocturne's protocol is set to launch on the Ethereum mainnet next month and focuses on achieving a balance between compliance and permissionlessness in the realm of privacy-focused crypto platforms.

These substantial investments and initiatives within the Web3 and blockchain space underscore the growing recognition of the technology's transformative potential across various industries, from gaming to healthcare and beyond.

Global Biscuits

Microsoft’s Project Airism shuts down.
Microsoft has announced that it is discontinuing its 'industrial metaverse' product, Project Airsim, and has laid off the entire team behind it. Project Airsim was a platform that used AI to create realistic simulations of physical environments and scenarios for industrial applications, such as training, testing, and prototyping. Microsoft said that the decision was part of its new AI strategy, which focuses on collaborating with OpenAI, the research organization co-founded by Elon Musk. Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and has since partnered with it on several projects, such as the GPT-3 language model and the Azure cloud service. Microsoft said that it will continue to support existing customers of Project Airsim but will not develop new features or updates for the platform. The company also said that it will help the affected employees find new opportunities within or outside Microsoft.

SBF is expected to testify on today, Thursday
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, is expected to testify on Thursday in his trial, where he faces accusations of fraud, including misappropriation of customer assets leading to FTX's bankruptcy. His decision to testify comes after weeks of speculation and is anticipated to span an entire day, followed by cross-examination on Friday. His defence encountered setbacks before the trial, including the denial of seven expert witnesses and various motions concerning trial arguments and evidence.

This development has heightened interest in the closely watched crypto-related legal case. If convicted on these charges, he could face significant prison time. The trial has seen several pre-trial disputes, including the denial of seven expert witnesses proposed by Bankman-Fried, with the judge leaving open the possibility for four rebuttal witnesses.

JPM Coin’s $1 Billion Daily Transactions.
JPMorgan's JPM Coin payment system, a permissioned blockchain-based intra-bank value transfer system, is now handling $1 billion in daily transactions, according to Takis Georgakopoulos, the company's global head of payments. Although this amount is a small fraction of the $10 trillion in daily payments processed through traditional platforms, it highlights significant growth for JPM Coin. In June, the system had reportedly processed over $300 billion in transactions since its 2020 launch. JPM Coin initially supported U.S. dollars and expanded to include euros in 2023. The bank plans to eventually offer a retail version of JPM Coin for consumers. Additionally, JPMorgan is involved in the Partior project, aimed at improving cross-border payments.

GBTC outshines Nividia
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has delivered a remarkable 220% gain this year, outshining Nvidia, the best-performing S&P 500 stock, which rose by 198%. This impressive performance comes amid hopes that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the conversion of GBTC into an open-ended exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on Bitcoin. As this approval seems increasingly likely, the discount in GBTC shares relative to the trust's net-asset value (NAV) has narrowed from 46% to 13%. Traders have been buying GBTC shares while hedging downside risk by selling Bitcoin in the spot/futures market, and it's expected that market makers will bring the price back to NAV once the conversion is approved. This growing optimism has led to a surge in Bitcoin prices as well, reaching 17-month highs above $35,000 due to spot-ETF rumors and expectations of more ETF approvals next year.

Tastes of the regions

Sharjah NFT Platform
Sharjah City in the UAE has introduced "Sharjah NFT," an initiative that utilizes NFT technology to issue and track verified digital certificates on the blockchain using QR codes. This move is part of Sharjah's digital transformation campaign to embrace emerging technologies. The platform offers an innovative system that allows various entities, including government authorities, educational institutions, private businesses, and event organizers, to issue authenticated certificates as non-fungible codes stored in a digital record. The technology aims to enhance security, efficiency, and reliability in document certification.

UK FCA adds 221 firms to its warnings list.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to authorized cryptocurrency firms regarding their advertising practices. The FCA has added 221 companies to its alert list since implementing new cryptocurrency marketing rules on October 8. These rules require crypto service providers to either become registered with the regulator or seek approval for their communications from authorized firms. The FCA has noted "common issues" in crypto promotions, such as claims of "security" or "safety" without proper risk warnings and the use of illegible fonts, hard-to-read colouring, or non-prominent positioning for risk warnings.

Additionally, the FCA recently took action against the approval process, blocking unregistered firm Binance's chosen ad approver from greenlighting any crypto-related communications, which resulted in the suspension of new client onboarding by the world's largest crypto exchange in the country. The FCA is actively collaborating with various entities to block illegal promotions and protect UK consumers.

Mexican Senator Pushes for Bitcoin Acceptance.
Mexican Senator Indira Kempis, who introduced a bill last year to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC), is now pushing for Bitcoin to be integrated into her political agenda. She represents the state of Nuevo León, north of Mexico City, and began exploring Bitcoin after learning of the challenges entrepreneurs were facing. Her initial bill focused on a CBDC issued solely by Banco de México, but she later modified the proposal to include Bitcoin. While her bill faced minimal opposition initially due to a lack of understanding about Bitcoin, the crypto community has started asking more questions and the bill is now receiving both positive and negative attention. Kempis aims to map where Mexican legislators stand on the bill to inform the public about their representatives' interest in this innovation.

Dictionomics
Word of the day… Greenlighting

Greenlighting is the process of granting approval or permission for something to proceed, especially in the context of media production or business. In the case of crypto-related communications, greenlighting means that an authorized firm has reviewed and verified that the promotion complies with the FCA's rules and standards. The FCA can impose fines on crypto service providers that fail to obtain greenlighting for their advertisements or that breach the regulations in their communications. Without greenlighting, a crypto service provider cannot legally advertise its products or services in the UK market.

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