• Meta Platforms, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, announced it would be winding down its NFT program.
• AI continues to make its way into Web3 with intellectual property (IP) rights of works created with the help of AI being discussed.
• We spoke to NFT artists about their view on utilizing AI in their work.

Meta Platforms End Support for NFTs

Meta Platforms, the parent company behind popular social media websites Facebook and Instagram, recently announced that it would be winding down its support for NFTs after a test period of several months. This feature allowed some NFT creators to mint and sell their creations on the platforms, as well as allowing collectors to display their NFTs. Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial services, said in a statement that while they had “learned a ton” during the test period they would continue to build products which supported creators and people interested in buying art digitally.

AI’s Impact on Web3Meta

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to become more prevalent within Web3 platforms, questions have been raised about the intellectual property (IP) rights of works created with the help of AI. To gain insight into this issue we spoke to several NFT artists about their views on utilizing AI in their artwork or digital creations.

NFT Artists Speak Out

The feedback from many of these artists was mixed but largely positive – some were hesitant due to fears around IP rights while others were excited by what could be done using such technology. Several suggested that there should be regulations put in place regarding how much control an artist has over an artwork once it has been generated through AI processes. In general though many agreed that using AI could open up new possibilities within digital art creation which could potentially benefit both artists and buyers alike.

Web3 Creators Affected

The news from Meta Platforms is definitely a setback for Web3 creators who use social media as part of their promotion strategy or just to interact with other members of their community – however there are still plenty of alternatives out there for those looking for ways to market themselves or sell their art online without relying solely on Meta Platforms’ services.

Conclusion

Although ending its support for NFTs is disappointing news for some web3 creators, it doesn’t mean that creators can’t still find success online through alternative outlets like decentralized exchanges or even through integrating new technologies like AI into their workflows – something which many are already doing with great results! As more regulation comes into play regarding IP rights when using such technologies we may see even more exciting opportunities emerge in the near future!

• Web3 community NounsDAO has passed a proposal to create an animated feature-length film featuring its popular non-fungible token (NFT) characters.
• The budget for the first installment has been set at $125,000 and the pilot will be revealed in 90 days.
• Atrium creatives will help write, produce, and animate the movie.

Web3 NounsDAO Approves Proposal for Feature-Length NFT Movie

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of Web3 community NounsDAO has moved ahead with plans to produce an animated film based on its popular 8-bit NFT characters. The budget for the first installment is set at $125,000 and the pilot will be revealed in 90 days. Atrium creatives William Yu, HKJay, Zen Doubt, 3DPrint Guy and Meta Ent will help write, produce and animate the movie.

Atrium Network

Atrium is a network of independent Web3 artists and creators that plans to continually produce a series of episodic content via consecutive proposals. The proposed movie is titled “Nouns: A Movie” and it will be created in multiple story acts that can be pieced together to form a feature-length cinematic production introducing Nouns to the world.

Daniel Alegre’s First Public Appearance as CEO

On Mar 15th 2023 at 2:24 am UTC, Yuga Labs’ new CEO Daniel Alegre made his first public appearance since assuming his position. He discussed this project as well as other emerging technologies like VR/AR that Yuga Labs is currently pursuing.

Rosie Perper

Rosie Perper is Deputy Managing Editor for Web3 news section focusing on metaverse, NFTs DAOs and other emerging technology topics like VR/AR. She also holds small amounts of BTC & ETH as well as several NFTs.

Conclusion

This project marks a major milestone for both Web3 communities and the crypto space as a whole with this being one of few truly decentralized organizations making such commitment towards quality feature length film productions.

• FDIC officials have been consulting with Silvergate Capital executives to help keep the company in business.
• One option for boosting liquidity may involve recruiting crypto industry investors.
• Last week, FDIC examiners were authorized to visit Silvergate’s headquarters by the Federal Reserve.

FDIC Meets with Silvergate Executives

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) officials have been consulting with executives of troubled crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital (SI) on how to keep the company in business, according to a report from Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Options for Boosting Liquidity

One option may involve recruiting crypto industry investors to help boost Silvergate’s liquidity, according to one of Bloomberg’s sources. The FDIC did not immediately return a request for comment. Silvergate shares were rising 2.5% to $5.34 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Delay in Annual Report Filing

Silvergate announced last week it would delay the filing of its annual report because it needed to answer requests from its independent auditors and accounting firm, in addition to pending regulatory and other inquiries and investigations. The company further warned that its ability to remain as a going concern was “in doubt”.

Authorization from Federal Reserve

FDIC examiners were authorized to go to Silvergate’s La Jolla, California, headquarters last week by the Federal Reserve, which is Silvergate’s main federal overseer, according

• Klaytn Blockchain will focus on increasing KLAY token demand in 2023.
• This includes burning nearly 50% of token supply and utilizing decentralized oracles to increase transactional utility.
• The blockchain platform also intends to transfer decision-making authority to the community by launching a permissionless network pilot and establishing community governance council selection processes.

Klaytn Blockchain: Increasing KLAY Token Demand

Klaytn, a public blockchain platform developed by South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp., is aiming to increase demand for its native KLAY tokens in 2023. To accomplish this, the company has released a technology and developer road map that focuses on several initiatives that would make KLAY more valuable over time.

Burning Token Supply

Klaytn recently passed a governance proposal to burn nearly 50% of its token supply as part of its plan to make KLAY deflationary asset. By reducing the overall supply of tokens, it creates scarcity which increases the price of each token and makes them more desirable over time.

Utilizing Decentralized Oracles

Another key initiative outlined in Klaytn’s road map is identifying key crypto infrastructure services where KLAY can be used. This includes utilizing decentralized oracles, which are mechanisms that connect smart contracts with the outside world and feeds information from the world to a blockchain. By using these services, users can pay fees with KLAY which further increases transactional utility and leads to more gas burns (coin burnings).

Launching Permissionless Network Pilot

In order for Klaytn to transfer decision-making authority to the community, it will launch a permissionless network pilot in the second half of 2023 on its Cypress mainnet. This automates entry and exit of validators–the entities responsible for verifying transactions on that network–allowing token holders greater say on who sits on Klaytn’s Governance Council (GC). The GC currently oversees governance of the Klaytn network.

Conclusion

KLAY tokens are nominally used as gas fees when transacting with smart contracts on Klaytn’s blockchain platform, but they may soon become much more than just a transaction fee as Klaytn works towards making them an integral part of its technology roadmap in 2021-2022. With initiatives such as burning tokens, implementing decentralized oracles, and transferring decision-making authority to users via a permissionless network pilot, there is potential for increased demand for KLAY tokens over time.

Ankr’s Token Surges 73% Following Microsoft and Tencent Partnerships

• Ankr (ANKR), a decentralized finance protocol, saw its native token surge 73% following partnerships with Microsoft and Tencent.
• The agreement with Microsoft will offer support to enterprises looking to use blockchain technology.
• Tencent has also signed an MoU with Ankr to develop a full suite of blockchain API services.

Background Information

Ankr is a liquid staking token that has recently seen a surge in trading activity. Liquid staking tokens are derivatives that remain untouched by regulation, allowing investors to earn yields on their crypto holdings. The total value locked (TVL) in the Ankr protocol is $163 million according to DeFiLlama. In addition, the ANKR token’s daily trade volume across all exchanges has exceeded $1.5 billion over the last 24 hours according to CoinDesk data.

Microsoft Partnership

On Tuesday, Ankr announced a partnership with technology giant Microsoft. Under this agreement, the two companies will provide support for enterprises looking to use blockchain technology. This announcement sent price surging from 3 cents up nearly 6 cents per token.

Tencent Partnership

Following this news, China-based Tencent announced it had signed an MoU with Ankr in order to develop a full suite of blockchain API services. This further contributed to the positive price action of ANKR and its 73% surge since Tuesday’s open.

Regulatory Action

The emergence of liquid staking tokens as a bullish asset class was spurred by regulatory action against exchanges offering traditional staking products such as Kraken which immediately shut down all related products and paid a $30 million fee for not complying with SEC regulations.

Conclusion
Overall, these developments have caused ANKR’s price to skyrocket across all exchanges due its partnerships with Microsoft and Tencent as well as other factors such as regulatory actions that have made liquid staking tokens an attractive asset class for investors seeking yield on their crypto holdings.

• Den, a multi-signature wallet startup, has closed $2.8 million in seed funding led by IDEO CoLab Ventures.
• Den is building tools that make it easier for crypto projects to fully move their operations on-chain and solve coordination problems when it comes to multi-signature wallets.
• The co-founders of Den are also core contributors of the viral hit ConstitutionDAO and experienced the coordination problem firsthand.

Den Raises $2.8M in Seed Funding

Den, a multi-signature wallet startup, has closed $2.8 million in seed funding led by IDEO CoLab Ventures with notable participants such as Gnosis also partaking in the round. The company declined to disclose its full valuation.

Building Tools for On-Chain Projects

Den is building tools that make it easier for crypto projects to fully move their operations on-chain which includes solving coordination issues with multi-signature wallets. These wallets require designated signers to approve a transaction before it can be executed on a blockchain, an issue that Den aims to address through automated notifications and bots designed specifically for these tasks.

ConstitutionDAO Experience

The duo behind Den are also core contributors of ConstitutionDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization renowned for its bid on Sotheby’s copy of the U.S Constitution last November 2021. It was then when they encountered first hand the coordination problems associated with executing single transactions across multiple signers when they had to swap over $40 million worth of Ethereum from one currency into another within 48 hours – an experience which shaped their vision for developing better solutions for on chain organisations moving forward.

The Importance of Coordination

Coordinating is often cited as one of the biggest challenges faced by on chain organisations – something that Erlich and Svidler have identified as being key towards making decentralised systems more efficient and reliable going forward. By developing tools designed specifically to facilitate this process, Den hopes to bridge this gap between traditional centralised networks and those running entirely on blockchain technology or smart contracts platforms such as Ethereum’s own Solidity language..

Making Crypto Projects Easier

By creating solutions which automate complex processes like token transfers within multi signature wallets, Den is aiming to making crypto projects simpler and more accessible than ever before – allowing users who may not have technical knowledge about how blockchains operate but who still want access to its benefits without having to worry about coordinating activities between multiple parties or understanding complex scripting languages like Solidity . This could open up an entire new world of users who may have previously been too intimidated by decentralised technologies without sacrificing any security or reliability guarantees offered by current systems built upon them today..

• Digital Surge, an Australian crypto exchange, is set to come back online after stakeholders sign the recovery plan.
• The exchange will resume trading next week and this is the first successful restructuring of a Australian cryptocurrency exchange.
• Creditors were notified earlier today through a circular and the documents were signed before the deadline ended on Wednesday.

Australian Crypto Exchange Digital Surge Set to Come Back Online

Australian cryptocurrency exchange Digital Surge is set to come back online after stakeholders signed the recovery plan on Wednesday, according to documents seen by CoinDesk. The exchange is expected to resume trading next week, a person familiar with the situation said.

Background

The Brisbane-based exchange was hit hard by the collapse of FTX as it held 33 million Australian dollars on the defunct platform founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. In December, Digital Surge passed into voluntary administration, a process in which the management hands over control to licensed insolvency practitioners who independently assess its financial situation. Melbourne-based investment firm KordaMentha was appointed as administrators.

Creditor Approval

In late January 2023, creditors approved a long-term recovery plan for Digital Surge that still needed the company and the administrators to sign on the dotted line within 15 business days. The documents were signed before the deadline ended on Wednesday. Under Australian law, the approval of a judge is not required, as the vote of the creditors is what decides the outcome.

Reaction

This is the first successful restructuring of a Australian cryptocurrency exchange according to Michael Bacina, digital asset specialist and partner at Piper Alderman. “Digital assets face challenging legal issues,” he said, “and it took hard work of knowledgeable specialists to get here”. He also added that this deal was testament “to goodwill seen throughout blockchain community in Australia”.

Conclusion

The successful restructuring of Digital Surge marks an important milestone for crypto exchanges in Australia and shows that stakeholders can come together in order to successfully recover from difficult situations such as these ones.

• Robinhood reported a 24% decline in crypto revenue to $39 million in Q4.
• The company missed both earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter.
• Robinhood rolled out its Polygon-based Web3 wallet to more than one million waitlisted users in 2022.

Robinhood’s Crypto Revenue Declines

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) reported $39 million in crypto trading revenue for the fourth quarter, a 24% decline from the previous quarter’s figure of $51 million. Despite this drop, the online trading brokerage still had a board authorized to pursue purchasing all or most of the 55 million shares that a holding company for former FTX execs Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang purchased in May 2022, and canceled nearly $500 million of its share-based compensation.

Rollout of Polygon-Based Wallet

In September 2021, Robinhood rolled out a beta version of its Polygon-based Web3 wallet which was later released to more than one million waitlisted users in 2022. This new wallet allows customers to store their cryptocurrencies safely and securely on the platform.

Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates

Overall for the fourth quarter, Robinhood posted an adjusted loss of 19 cents per share, ahead of the consensus analyst estimate of 15 cents per share according to FactSet data. However, revenue came up short at $380 million compared to estimates of $396 million. Shares were up 3% at $10.80 after hours following these results but are down 21% over the last year.

Upcoming Analyst Call

The company is scheduled to hold an analyst call at 5 p.m ET on Wednesday where they will discuss these results further and offer insight into their strategy going forward as well as any other pertinent information related to their business model and operations.

Conclusion

Though Robinhood’s crypto revenues were down 24%, it was able to cancel nearly 500M worth of share based compensation which may have offset some losses associated with it’s quarterly performance overall resulting only slightly lower than estimated earnings despite missing revenue targets . Investors can look forward to further insights when they hold their upcoming call with analysts later today.

• The Lido DAO Governance token has fallen approximately 15% due to a withdrawal proposal that is being met with criticism by Galaxy Digital.
• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies finished January with strong momentum, with Bitcoin up 40% during the month.
• The Federal Reserve is set to make a rate decision soon, and Bitcoin is expected to react positively to the news.

The cryptocurrency market had a strong finish to the month of January, with Bitcoin and other top digital assets posting double-digit gains and providing some hope for the year of the rabbit. Bitcoin closed out the month with a 40% gain, while Ethereum also had a very successful month, rising 17%.

However, not all cryptocurrencies had a successful January. The Lido DAO Governance Token, a governance token of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), has fallen approximately 15% since its peak last week, in part due to a withdrawal proposal that has been met with criticism by Galaxy Digital. The proposal, which would allow users to withdraw their staked Ether, has yet to be formally presented.

The cryptocurrency markets also have their eyes on the Federal Reserve, which is set to make a rate decision in the coming days. Analysts believe that a positive outcome from the decision could lead to a further increase in the price of Bitcoin, as investors will likely look to the asset as a safe haven.

Overall, the crypto markets had a strong start to the year and the year of the rabbit looks to be even more successful. With the withdrawal proposal from Lido DAO still up in the air and the Federal Reserve announcement looming, it will be interesting to see what the next few months bring for the cryptocurrency market.

• Crypto market capitalization dropped 3.5% in the past 24 hours due to a decline in U.S. equity markets.
• Ether and dogecoin led the slide among major tokens, falling more than 5%, while bitcoin lost just 1.6%.
• Outside of majors, Avalanche (AVAX) and Lido (LDO) dropped 7.7% and 10% respectively, while a few tokens traded in the green.

The crypto market has seen a significant pullback as traders likely took profits after weeks of an uptrend. In the past 24 hours, the market capitalization dropped 3.5%, with Ether and Dogecoin leading the slide among major tokens. Ether dropped by more than 5%, while Dogecoin fell by an even greater amount. Bitcoin, on the other hand, lost just 1.6%. This caused upward of $173 million in longs, or bets on higher token prices, to be liquidated, with Ether futures seeing $86 million in liquidations and Bitcoin futures seeing $46 million in liquidations.

Outside of the major tokens, Avalanche (AVAX) and Lido (LDO) both saw notable drops, with AVAX falling 7.7% and LDO dropping by 10%. This ended a multi-week bump that saw LDO’s value jump 135% in the past month. On the other hand, a few tokens traded in the green, with Quant (QNT) and Aptos (APT) both rising over 4%.

The pullback of the crypto market is likely due to a decline in U.S. equity markets, as well as traders taking profits after weeks of an uptrend. It remains to be seen if the pullback will be short-lived or if it is a sign of a more prolonged downtrend. In either case, it is important to remember that crypto markets are volatile and investors should approach them with caution.