Welcome to Inbox Dump where we include the updates and announcements that flood our DMs each week and didn’t make it to The Defiant’s content platforms. Sometimes announcements here didn’t meet the bar to become a news story, sometimes they may have slipped through the cracks, or they came late and we haven’t had a chance to cover.
At The Defiant we cover the most important DeFi-related news and developments but we know many of you are hunting for projects before they are fully developed and before they are newsworthy. Our goal with this installment of the newsletter is to help you find them. Look at this as the starting point to DYOR.
We also include a compilation of DeFi and crypto funding rounds in the past week so you have these in one handy place.
Keep in mind these have been unedited. With that—here we go!
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Inbox Dump!
✉️ ConsenSys Updates Privacy Policy for MetaMask, Infura After Community Pushback
Following hefty pushback from the crypto community last month, ConsenSys has updated and clarified how it uses MetaMask and Infura data
✉️ TRON (TRX) Hit 2.1M Average Daily Active Addresses, 2.5x More than Bitcoin
While Bitcoin (BTC) undoubtedly leads in price and market cap, despite its ongoing price correction, the world`s largest cryptocurrency was recently outperformed by one other digital coin when looking at the number of daily active users.
✉️ Binance YTD Trading Volume Double that of OKX, Coinbase and FTX Combined
Since the beginning of 2022, the world’s largest crypto exchange has recorded a trading volume almost six times higher than the second-ranked OKX and even 14 times more than some other leading crypto exchanges.
✉️ Steve Aoki and 3LAU Launch PUNX Music Project Using CryptoPunks IP
DJs and NFT enthusiasts Steve Aoki and Justin “3LAU” Blau have teamed up on a conceptual music and art project called PUNX, inspired by their own CryptoPunks non-fungible tokens (NFT).
✉️ Ex-PayPal exec Leo Kahn appointed CEO of Undeads
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 6, 2022 — Undeads Metaverse, an upcoming AAA Web3 game, is pleased to announce the appointment of Leo Kahn as its CEO.
✉️ Data Provider Coingecko Joins Access Protocol, Pushing Exposure of The Access Ecosystem to Nearly 30 Million Monthly Readers
5th December, 2022 -The Access Foundation is excited to announce that the world’s largest independent cryptocurrency data aggregator, CoinGecko will be joining Access Protocol as a launch partner.
✉️ DeFiChain’s Much Anticipated ‘Grand Central’ Hard Fork Goes Live
Singapore, Singapore, 8th December – DeFiChain, the world’s leading blockchain on the Bitcoin network dedicated to bringing decentralized financial applications to everyone, has officially activated the much-anticipated Grand Central hard fork on its network at 01 AM EST on Thursday, December 8th on Block Height 2,479,000.
✉️ Koinly to lay off 14% of staff
Digital asset tax startup Koinly has pruned its staff strength by 14% ahead of the incoming tax season. The firm was forced to lay off 16 full-time employees in a move that has left the remaining staff bewildered.
✉️ Six-Time NBA Champion Scottie Pippen and Orange Comet Team Up to Celebrate Hall of Famer’s Legacy with Exclusive Metawear Digital Sneakers Collaboration
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 — Orange Comet, Inc., a leading Web3 entertainment company, today announces its collaboration with basketball legend Scottie Pippen, celebrating the Hall of Famer’s love for the game and his passion for sneakers.
✉️ Union Bank of the Philippines partners with Hex Trust to tap into the metaverse
Union Bank of Philippines (UnionBank), a long-standing partner of Hex Trust, is expanding their digital asset exposure by tapping into the metaverse. As a continuation of their “Tech-up Pilipinas” advocacy, UnionBank has announced their entrance to The Sandbox, with the help of Hex Trust’s digital asset custody services.
✉️ Exactly Protocol launches a Bug Bounty Program to improve DeFi security
Exactly is a decentralized, non-custodial, and open-source crypto protocol. One month after its launch on Ethereum Mainnet, Exactly protocol announces a partnership with Immunefi and the launch of its Bug Bounty Program.
✉️ Reality+ Owns The Zone with FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Web3 game
Reality+ has partnered with OTZ Sports to launch Own The Zone, an officially licensed FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Web3 game that gives fans a chance to win limited edition digital collectables and real-world prizes.
✉️ Bosonic launches Cross Custodian Net Settlement
LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK, December 09 –Bosonic, a decentralized Financial Market Infrastructure (dFMI) business, announces an industry first in going live with Cross Custodian Net Settlement (CCNS) in which trades in USDC and ETH were executed, cleared, and settled atomically between two digital asset custodians, First Digital in Hong Kong and Propine in Singapore.
✉️ Battlebound, A Web3 Studio by AAA Gaming Vets Launches Pet Racing Game Cosmic Cup
Cosmic Cup’s game avatars which are a blend of cats and turtles draw inspiration from the iconic NFT game CryptoKitties. Battlebound has announced a new game mode Cosmic Cup, a pet racing game that will also allow players to mint rare collectible packs called “Purrtle Packs” that evolve through the gameplay into NFT avatars.
✉️ Nuon Joins Chainlink BUILD Program
PANAMA – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022 – Nuon, the first unbiased, decentralized and overcollateralized “flatcoin” whose value is pegged to an independent cost of living index, has announced that it has joined the Chainlink BUILD program.
✉️ Cowen Digital Continues International Expansion with Appointment of Taylor Cable as Managing Director, Cowen Digital Europe
NEW YORK and LONDON, Dec. 06 — Cowen Digital LLC, the digital asset division of Cowen Inc., has announced the appointment of Taylor Cable as Managing Director, Cowen Digital Europe.
Funding
💰 Bitwave raises $15 million for crypto-focused tax and accounting platform
The crypto accounting and compliance platform Bitwave today announced that it has closed a $15 million Series A led by Hack VC and Blockchain Capital, with participation from other funds including SignalFire.
💰 DeFi derivatives protocol Perennial raises $12 million, launches mainnet
Polychain Capital and Variant co-led the round, with Archetype, Coinbase Ventures, Scalar Capital, Robot Ventures and others participating.
💰 Pplpleasr’s Shibuya NFT Video Platform Raises $6.9M to Build the ‘A24 of Web3’
Shibuya raised $6.9 million in a round co-led by VC heavyweights Andreessen Horowitz and Variant Fund. With participation by angel investors including NBA star Kevin Durant, entertainer (and NFT creator) Paris Hilton, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, and Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov.
💰 NFT-focused startup Metagood raises $5 million to grow ‘social good’ impact
Investors in the recent funding round include Animoca Brands, Morgan Creek Capital founder and CEO Mark Yusko and Virgin Group investment manager Freddie Andrewes, to name a few.
💰 Earn Alliance Announces $4.75m Seed Raise and Launch of Web3 Game Platform
This round was co-led by CoinFund and Fabric Ventures with other participants such as Blockchain Coinvestors, MAD World Ventures, angel investors, etc.
💰 Uniswap-based DeFi protocol Panoptic raises $4.5 million
Gumi Cryptos Capital led the round, with Uniswap Labs Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Jane Street, Avalanche Foundation’s Blizzard fund and others participating.
💰 Optimism announces 2nd round funding for Retroactive Public Goods
Optimism has taken to Twitter to share the news about its upcoming Retroactive Public Goods Funding round. It is tentatively scheduled to go live in February next year with the initial distribution of 10M OP.
💰 Binance Labs Leads GoPlus Security Funding Round
Binance Labs, the accelerator and the venture capital division of Binance, informed on Thursday that it has led the private round II for GoPlus Security, a Web3 security infrastructure provider. The value of the investment has not been disclosed.