SushiSwap Axes Lending Protocol and Token Launchpad

Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol SushiSwap has made the decision to shut down Kashi, its lending protocol, and Miso, its token launchpad.

Founded in 2020, SushiSwap allows customers to swap, lend, and borrow cryptocurrencies using their own external wallets, such as MetaMask, in contrast to centralized exchanges such as Coinbase.

Explaining the move, the group’s chief technology officer (CTO) Matthew Lilley said in a tweet that Kashi “had a number of design flaws, ran at a loss, and had a lack of resources to dedicate to it.”

However, he said that Miso merely suffered from a “lack of resources.”

Long term, Lilley said that SushiSwap has plans to launch new staking and launchpad products to replace the soon-to-be-defunct services, once it has the necessary resources available.

Lilley said he believes that this goal requires focusing on the exchange element of the business, which he described as being “inarguably” the “breadwinner’ of the company.

MicroStrategy to Offer Bitcoin Lightning Solutions in 2023

MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor has shared his firm’s plans to release Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered software and solutions in 2023.

In a Twitter Spaces event on Dec. 28, Saylor shared that the company is exploring software and solutions that utilize the Lightning Network, such as solutions that “support” enterprise marketing as well as a cybersecurity solution aimed at corporate websites.

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment protocol layered on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain that allows for off-chain transactions, raising payment throughput and lowering transaction fees.

The business intelligence & tech company is known for its massive Bitcoin holdings, MicroStrategy has been looking to beef up its Lightning Network-versed team, most recently announcing it was looking to hire a software engineer to build a Lightning Network-based software-as-a-service platform.

During the Twitter Spaces conversation, Saylor explained that chief marketing officers could use the Lightning Network to incentivize customers — such as giving out satoshi rewards for engaging in activities such as posting good reviews or completing surveys.

The company also wants to make it possible for any enterprise to “spin up” Lightning infrastructure in an “afternoon,” he said.

The MicroStrategy chairman again made mention of his “Lightning wall” cybersecurity idea, essentially a Bitcoin-based paywall that would protect websites from cybersecurity attacks by requiring visitors to put down a deposit in Satoshi.

Saylor explained that users who want to access sensitive corporate websites would be required to deposit “100,000 satoshis” to “guarantee” safe passage, which would be returned instantly once the user has finished their visit.

He noted this is something that credit cards could not offer due to the time delays involved in getting funds back, stating:

“The problem with credit cards is that you couldn’t reasonably post $20 to 100 websites each day and then you get the $20 back in one second, could you?

Saylor believes it is only a matter of time before someone creates the Lightning version of the “Netscape browser," which he believes will involve “something like” a Lightning wallet that holds dollars and various cryptocurrencies.

He believes that if this wallet is created in a non-custodial way, it has the potential to spread to 100 million people.

During the Twitter Spaces conversation, Saylor again hailed the Lightning Network as the “internet of money” and praised its “inspirational” progress.

He said the company has teams working on it and are looking to bring something out by “next year,” adding that it’s more likely it will be able to show something in the first quarter.

MetaMask Removes Wyre from Aggregators Amid Shutdown Reports

Crypto wallet MetaMask is ending support for services of Wyre crypto payment platform amid reports of Wyre planning to shut down operations soon.

MetaMask took to Twitter on Jan. 5 to announce that it has removed Wyre from its mobile aggregator, which allows users to buy crypto directly through its digital wallet.

“We’re currently working on extension removal and appreciate your patience,” MetaMask said, asking users not to use Wyre on the mobile aggregator.

According to the announcement, MetaMask still supports a wide number of other payment gateways, including Transak, MoonPay, and Sardine. The services are available on Apple Pay, bank cards, and transfers, MetaMask noted.

The news comes soon after Wyre CEO Ioannis Giannaros reportedly announced to employees that the firm is going to soon shut down operations.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can, but I want everyone to brace themselves for the fact that we will need to unwind the business over the next couple of weeks,” Giannaros reportedly stated.

Npixel’s Gran Saga: Unlimited Announces Game Title Reveal and Aptos Blockchain Integration

Npixel‘s Gran Saga: Unlimited had a recent official title reveal and will be the first game to be published on the Aptos Network, a new Web3 platform.

The game is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and it will be based on Npixel’s original Web2 game Gran Saga. Gran Saga was one of the top-grossing games on the iOS app store.

Now the companies are bringing out Gran Saga: Unlimited to take advantage of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, and GameFi. Web3 gaming will be a core focus for Aptos heading into the new year, and this upcoming title with Npixel, a fast-growing South Korean game maker, will be the first of many gaming projects to launch on the network, the company said.

Palo Alto, California-based Aptos has built a Layer 1 blockchain dubbed Aptos Network. Aptos has raised more than $400 million from investors including a16z, Jump Crypto, Binance Labs, Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures.

Within the Web3 gaming ecosystem, Aptos provides the fundamental tools for verification, security, connectivity, and creativity for game developers both within and beyond the crypto space. Since Aptos launched on mainnet just two months ago, the network has seen hundreds of thousands of users, millions of transactions, and $47 million total value locked.

Gran Saga: Unlimited will be the first gaming title from Npixel’s metaverse ecosystem Metapixel to utilize Web3 and blockchain technology. It will be a sequel to the original Web2 game, Gran Saga, which has more than four million downloads.

Users will have the opportunity to earn in-game assets and mint gaming equipment as NFTs, which they will be able to freely trade inside a variety of NFT marketplaces built on the Aptos Network. The game will be launched for PC platforms first and will later be able to access the game via mobile smartphones.

Square Enix Reaffirms NFT Commitment in 2023 New Year's Letter

In its New Year's letter for 2023, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda confirmed that the publisher would be "most focused" on blockchain entertainment and NFTs in its medium-term plans. While admitting that it was a "source of turmoil" throughout the year, he expressed hope that "blockchain games will transition to a new stage of growth in 2023."

"Our Group has multiple blockchain games based on original IPs under development, some of which we announced last year, and we are undertaking preparations that will enable us to unveil even more titles this year," wrote Matsuda.

Matsuda's commitment is notable as during 2022, several developers announced NFT plans and not long after, reneged on those ambitions after player reception was unkind toward the idea. In other instances, studios danced around the player turnout of NFTs after fully embracing them.

The blockchain market has been through significant upheavals in 2022, including crashes and arrests. But for Matsuda, all of that counts as the technology receiving "significant recognition as a field in 2022, as evidenced by 'Web 3.0' becoming a firmly established buzzword among businesspeople."

According to Matsuda, Japan's government spent part of 2022 encouraging crypto and NFT businesses to thrive via NFT-focused study groups, in turn validating the studio's plans.

What does the future hold for NFTs and the game industry?

Towards the end of the year, the Final Fantasy publisher made strides toward integrating blockchain as a major part of its future business endeavors. It partnered with blockchain dev Oasys, and also announced its very first NFT title SymbioGenesis for a spring 2023 release.

And in its annual report from the end of October 2022, Matsuda flat out said the technology would be a "key part" of the business strategy going forward.

Even its mid-2022 sale of western studios Eidos Montreal, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montreal was part of the publisher's move to the blockchain space.

Outside of Square Enix, the attempts at getting NFTs into the mainstream games space haven't been entirely successful, at least in the west. But that isn't stopping other studios like Konami and Sega from attempting to make it happen in the near future.

Illuvium Zero: Illuvium’s Resource-generating, City-Building Game has Launched its Beta

The third aspect of Illuvium’s highly anticipated “interoperable blockchain gaming” ecosystem is launching today (Jan 6).

It’s not only a significant milestone for the Australian-founded project but the Web3 gaming space in general, as Illuvium, is a title widely touted within crypto circles as a serious contender for genuine AAA game status.

What is Illuvium: Zero? It’s the resource-generating, city-building-style companion game to the other two core aspects of Illuvium – Overworld and Arena (both in beta-testing modes).

This component is being released in an alpha state and can be played by any land-owning Illuvium participant. Once it reaches beta status, Illuvium: Zero will become free to play and open to the public.

Commenting ahead of the event, co-founder and Chief Gaming Officer Aaron Warwick said:

“Illuvium: Zero is one of the three pillars of the Illuvium Universe, and players will quickly see the utility of owning Illuvium Land. We can’t wait to see the gameplay strategies that develop as we continue to create the metagame amongst all Illuvium titles.”

Meanwhile, Illuvium’s Chief Technology Officer John Avery is confident that players of casual mobile games will enjoy what Illuvium describes as the “simple yet intricate gameplay” of Zero, not to mention opportunities to influence the in-game pricing of Illuvium’s two other games.

“One of the unique aspects of Illuvium Zero is the deep interaction between the in-game economy and real-world markets,” said Avery. “Players can use their in-game industrial complex to create and transform ERC-20 tokens, which leads to interesting possibilities. For example, you can use your in-game factories to convert one token to another to take advantage of small market differences (arbitrage).”

HTC's New Mixed Reality Headset Is 'Gateway' to Metaverse: CES 2023

Taiwanese tech firm HTC launched its new Vive XR Elite mixed reality headset at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, billing it as a "gateway" to the metaverse.

The Vive XR Elite will act as "the ideal physical gateway to the universe of experiences offered by Viverse, our version of the metaverse," said Cher Wang, co-founder, and chairwoman of HTC, in a statement accompanying the launch.

Priced at $1,099, the device functions as a virtual reality headset with wide 110 FOV, 4K resolution, and a 90Hz refresh rate, plus directional audio, four wide FOV cameras, and a depth sensor for 6DoF (six degrees of freedom) spatial accuracy.

Like rival firm Meta's Quest Pro headset, the Vive XR Elite can also be used as a mixed reality headset and includes a full-color RGB passthrough camera and hand-tracking.

The headset comes with two controllers with hand tracking and capacitive sensing features and is compatible with HTC's Wrist Tracker.

The device's battery delivers a claimed two hours of full XR use and can be removed to convert the device into a glasses form factor when connected to an external power source. The Vive XR Elite also includes a novel feature: adjustable lenses for spectacle wearers.

HTC's metaverse ambitions

HTC is making no secret of its metaverse ambitions; the company is collaborating with layer-1 blockchain Lamina1, founded by "Snow Crash" author Neal Stephenson and Bitcoin Foundation co-founder Peter Vessenes.

In a statement, HTC noted that it will be using Lamina1's tools to "enable more efficient cross-world cross-platform asset distribution and management," meaning that users can migrate digital assets such as avatars, clothes, and artwork between metaverse platforms.

HTC has made no secret of its metaverse ambitions; in June 2022, it launched the HTC Desire 22 Pro smartphone, billing it as a metaverse phone and touting its built-in NFT wallet and Viverse integrations.

H&M Launches New Game within Metaverse Platform Roblox

Fashion brand H&M has launched a new game within the metaverse platform Roblox. The game, H&M Looptopia, lets players create a virtual wardrobe for their characters by experimenting with materials and patterns.

“People who shop and wear H&M garments and accessories are increasingly spending time in virtual spaces and digital worlds. The H&M Loooptopia Experience on Roblox is now allowing us to explore new ways to engage with our current and new customers in the places they love to be, both online and offline,” says H&M Americas Head of Customer Activation and Marketing Linda Li “In the coming years, H&M will continue to explore this fast-growing expanse of virtual and augmented realities.”

The game aims to help users define their digital identity within the emerging metaverse and features mini-games, events, styling sessions, and social interactions, alongside other features.

“We loved collaborating with H&M to build the H&M Loooptopia Experience on Roblox- the place on Roblox where anybody can be a fashion designer,” says Dubit Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Douthwaite. “H&M wanted to offer an experience that promotes fun and sustainability, in keeping with their brand DNA of Style, Creativity, and Culture. It’s been amazing to see the concept evolve from the initial design and workshop through to this iconic launch.”

Gaming with Style

With Looptopia, H&M becomes the latest in a long line of fashion brands and icons to carve out a place in the metaverse. The world is becoming more connected, and people worldwide are spending increasing amounts of time online. As such, consumers are seeking out the opportunity to reflect their personal style within digital spaces, and fashion brands are increasingly recognizing this desire by offering branded skins, increasing their own brand image while opening up new revenue streams.

Fashion has long had a space within gaming, with branded skins and designs by established fashion designers popping up everywhere from Devil May Cry to Final Fantasy. With the emergence of the metaverse as a growing part of our lives, some of the biggest names in fashion are increasingly turning to the digital world, while consumers are finding fashion more and more accessible than ever before.

How Smart TVs Could Help the Metaverse Crack the Mass Market

LAS VEGAS — Is Web3 ready for prime time?

Some of the televisions unveiled this week at the annual CES trade show purportedly make accessing metaverse worlds or non-fungible token (NFT) wallets as easy as clicking the remote, escalating a long-running race among manufacturers to produce the screens with the most bells and whistles.

In addition to the usual streaming apps and voice-control capabilities, over the past year a few manufacturers – notably Samsung and LG – have added Web3 features such as NFT marketplaces and metaverse platform integrations to their internet-connected “smart” TVs. These moves represent a bid to ensure their sets appeal to a tech-savvy and, in the long term, potentially influential customer base.

From the other side, Web3 companies see smart TVs as a possible path to reaching a mass audience. Samsung and LG are the top two TV makers in the world by market share, and these days you can’t throw a rock in a TV showroom without shattering the screen of a so-called “smart” model.

After unveiling an NFT marketplace on its smart TVs in September, LG this week announced an upgrade to the feature: Its TVs now support Blade Wallet. (They previously used only LG’s proprietary wallet, Wallypto.)

Blade is part of the Hedera ecosystem, the same blockchain powering LG’s marketplace. Why does LG have a thing for Hedera, instead of, say, Ethereum, which holds the lion’s share of NFT activity? Hedera is backed by a coalition of a few dozen companies, including LG, video game publisher Ubisoft, Google, and others. Even though NFT platforms on Hedera are tiny compared with major services like OpenSea and Nifty, the blockchain prioritizes security and energy efficiency, which is probably why it was attractive to a mainstream brand like LG.

Shopify Merchants Can Now Sell Avalanche NFTs Through Their Online Stores

If any of Shopify’s millions of merchants want to sell NFTs, they don’t need to point customers to a dedicated marketplace like OpenSea or Magic Eden. Instead, they can mint and list NFTs through their existing storefront through one of Shopify’s blockchain apps. Thanks to Venly, those NFTs can now be minted on Avalanche.

Venly, a blockchain tech startup, announced the expansion of Avalanche support today through its Shopify NFT minting app. The layer-1 blockchain platform, which is billed as a faster and cheaper alternative to the top NFT platform Ethereum, was previously only accessible to select Shopify users but is now offered to any merchant on the platform.

Shopify is a major e-commerce platform that powers online storefronts for millions of sellers around the world, the company claims. CEO Tobi Lütke is a Web3 advocate who also serves on the board of directors at crypto exchange Coinbase.

Buyers won't need to have an existing Avalanche wallet to purchase an NFT, according to Venly, nor do they need to handle cryptocurrency. Instead, they can pay with fiat money (such as with a credit card) and then will receive a link to a newly-created Avalanche wallet with the freshly minted NFT inside, which they can then transfer elsewhere if they please.

Venly, which was founded in 2018 and also offers blockchain wallet solutions, is one of several blockchain app partners integrated within the Shopify ecosystem. Other partners have provided tools for users to mint NFTs on blockchain platforms like Ethereum and Flow in the past.

Tim Dierckxsens, co-founder and CEO of Venly, told Decrypt that it first offered NFT minting tools to brands and artists on Shopify, but that it saw growing demand for a simple, no-code tool that any seller could use to create NFTs. He said that Shopify asked Venly to develop an app for its merchants to enable streamlined NFT sales to mainstream users.

“I believe it's one of the biggest evolutions [for NFTs] where this can be taken to a mass market,” Dierckxsens told Decrypt, “and you don't need to understand the necessity of crypto to make the purchase.”

Polygon Paid y00ts NFT Collection $3 Million to Leave Solana

DeLabs, the startup behind top Solana NFT collections DeGods and y00ts, has revealed that it received a $3 million grant to move y00ts to the Ethereum sidechain Polygon.

According to a statement published on Discord by founder Frank, aka Rohun Vora, DeLabs will put the funds toward hiring efforts and launch a crypto incubator to support its NFT ecosystem.

Y00ts is a spinoff profile picture NFT collection from the DeLabs team, which first found success with its DeGods PFP collection on Solana.

The money seems to come with no strings attached besides the promised move to the new blockchain. Frank said the funds are coming in as a “non-equity grant,” meaning Polygon is not receiving a stake in DeLabs in exchange.

“DeLabs as a company has been understaffed for a while,” said the DeLabs founder. “Securing extended runway with non-dilutive capital is huge for us because it means we can be a little less conservative in our monthly burn.”

While Polygon has not yet publicized the y00ts grant sum on its own social channels, the firm is supportive of Frank’s decision.

“Polygon fully supports Frank and the y00ts team’s dedication to transparency and we look forward to all of the projects that will build on Polygon via their launchpad,” a Polygon spokesperson told Decrypt via email.

DOJ Files Charges Against Alleged Mutant Ape Planet NFT Rug Pull

The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday it had arrested and filed criminal charges against the founder of an NFT project it alleges “rug pulled” holders and defrauded them of $2.9 million in cryptocurrency.

Aurelien Michel, 24, the founder of the Ethereum NFT collection Mutant Ape Planet, was arrested last night at JFK airport in New York City by federal authorities on wire fraud charges. Michel, a French citizen, resides in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The move constitutes the third time federal prosecutors have pursued charges against orchestrators of so-called NFT rug pulls—schemes where an NFT project’s creators sell NFTs on false promises of community benefits, utility, and financial perks, only to abandon the project and make away with investors’ funds.

In this case, the DOJ alleges that Michel promised Mutant Ape Planet NFT holders giveaways, tokens with staking features, and merchandise collections, but followed through on none of those commitments and instead pocketed almost $3 million.

Federal prosecutors cooperated in this action with both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Making matters more complicated for Michel is the fact that prosecutors claim they have evidence that he conceded in a social media chat with current and prospective Mutant Ape Planet NFT purchasers that he had indeed choreographed a rug pull, but only—allegedly—in response to the conduct of the Mutant Ape Planet community.

“We never intended to rug, but the community went way too toxic,” Michel allegedly told holders.

“Michel can no longer blame the NFT community for his criminal behavior,” Thomas Fattorusso, IRS Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, said in a statement. “ His arrest means he will now face the consequences of his own actions.”

NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Swamped by Fake Digital Artwork

Plummeting prices for nonfungible tokens have not stopped certain individuals from scamming NFT lovers into buying fake digital artwork.

Counterfeit NFTs were listed and sold within real collections on Magic Eden, the leading NFT marketplace on the Solana blockchain, according to a company statement. Magic Eden said that in the last 24 hours, 25 unverified NFTs were sold across four collections, but that it was safe to trade on its platform again. The startup said that users who mistakenly bought the fake NFTs would be reimbursed.

The affected collections included y00ts, a popular NFT project that is currently switching over to the Polygon network from Solana. Some scammers were able to sell the fake NFTs to users for a couple of hundred dollars worth of Solana tokens, according to on-chain data. Magic Eden attributed the incident to a bug in two updates made to its Snappy Marketplace and Pro Trade tools that allowed unverified NFTs to be listed. The San Francisco-based company said it had added additional layers of NFT verification.

The Magic Eden exploit is the latest setback for the NFT market, which saw global monthly sales plummet 86% in December compared to their all-time high of more than $4.9 billion in January of last year, according to blockchain data tracker CryptoSlam.

The bug is also the second challenge Magic Eden has faced this week. Users reported that they could see pornographic images instead of pictures of their NFT collections. Magic Eden said the problem was not caused by the platform itself, but by a third-party image provider.

NFT Marketplace SuperRare Cuts 30% of Staff

The NFT marketplace SuperRare is cutting 30% of its staff, according to a Slack message from CEO John Crain. Crain posted a screenshot of the message on Twitter.

“During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market. In recent months, it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable,” Crain wrote. “We over-hired, and I take full ownership of this mistake.”

TechCrunch reached out to Crain for comment.

SuperRare raised a $9 million Series A in March 2021, led by Velvet Sea Ventures and 1confirmation. The round also included celebrity investors like Mark Cuban, Marc Benioff, and Ashton Kutcher.

SuperRare differentiates itself from competitors by focusing more closely on working with artists, but broader platforms like OpenSea were more successfully able to take advantage of the bull market. Yet even though OpenSea has managed to raise at a possibly inflated valuation of over $13 billion, it has not been immune to the downmarket. The company laid off 20% of its staff, or about 230 employees, in July.

“We know that there is still much innovation and transformation yet to come for Web3, NFTs, crypto art, decentralized finance, and governance,” Crain wrote. “We are facing headwinds, yes — but there remains an incredible uncaptured opportunity as we continue building something totally new.”

Singapore’s Lobbyists Oppose Proposed Blanket Ban on Lending Crypto Tokens

A crypto lobbying group based in Singapore has voiced its opposition to the proposal from the central bank to prohibit crypto firms from lending crypto tokens.

On Oct. 26, Singapore’s central bank issued consultation papers and proposed banning digital payment token service providers from offering “any credit facility” to consumers, including both fiat and cryptocurrencies. However, the Blockchain Association of Singapore (BAS) believes it may be overly restrictive.

In a feedback document sent to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), BAS reportedly argued that a blanket ban could push crypto users to pursue lending their tokens to offshore firms that are unregulated. BAS also highlighted that one of the main things attracting users to lending is the interest that they earn, which the association argues is one of the reasons people hold crypto.

In a statement to Bloomberg, BAS board chairman Chia Hock Lai said that instead of a blanket ban, BAS proposes an approach that is more measured and targeted. This includes focusing on educating consumers on the risks of using unregulated entities. The chairman explained:

“The proposed measures, while well-intended, might have unintended consequences if implemented in its entirety, including leading consumers to move towards unregulated service providers.”

In addition, BAS also argued that a complete ban on companies providing incentives to retail customers is “too draconian” and suggested a different way of allowing gifts not connected to financial purchases.

The consultation paper issued by MAS in October 2022 came in the midst of a series of crypto debacles in the country, including those involving the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) hedge fund, crypto platform Vauld and crypto lender Hodlnaut.

French Central Bank Governor Pushes for Crypto Licensing Ahead of EU Laws

The Bank of France’s governor has called for more stringent licensing requirements for crypto companies in France, citing the current turmoil in the crypto markets.

During a speech in Paris on Jan. 5, Francois Villeroy de Galhau said France shouldn’t wait for upcoming EU crypto laws to enact obligatory licensing for local digital asset service providers (DASPs).

The European Parliament’s Markets in Crypto Assets bill (MiCA) that provides a crypto-licensing regime isn’t expected to come into force until potentially sometime in 2024.

According to a Jan. 5 Bloomberg report, Villeroy addressed the country’s financial industry in his speech, stating:

“All the disorder in 2022 feeds a simple belief: it is desirable for France to move to an obligatory licensing of DASP as soon as possible, rather than just registration.”

Currently, crypto businesses providing crypto trading and custody are required to be “registered” with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the country’s market regulator.

A DASP license is optional, with those licensed forced to comply with a slew of requirements related to business organization, conduct, and financing.

However, out of the 60 AMF-registered crypto firms, none are currently licensed as a DASP.

The call from Villeroy comes after an amendment was proposed in December by Senate finance commission member Hervé Maurey to eliminate a clause allowing companies to operate without a license.

Current laws in France allow firms to operate unlicensed until 2026 even if, or when, MiCA passes into law and establishes a licensing regime.

Deliberations in Parliament regarding the amendment will begin in January.