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☆ Crypto billionaire Michael Novogratz's firm has tokenized a 316-year-old violin owned by Catherine the Great in order to back a loan
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mike Novogratz's firm has tokenized an 18th-century violin as collateral against a loan, Galaxy said in a press release. Tokenizing the instrument is a way to boost liquidity, and make it more available to interested investors. AdvertisementThe crypto-focused firm Galaxy Digital has tokenized an 18th-century violin, creating a blockchain version of the instrument to use as collateral for a multimillion loan, Bloomberg reported. It is now in the care of Galaxy, which provided Siu a loan, and is using the violin to back it. He added that he is open to eventually fractionalizing the tokenized instrument, allowing investors to purchase a claim.

Persons: Mike Novogratz's, Galaxy, Yat Siu, —, Catherine the Great, Siu, Michael Novogratz Organizations: Animoca Brands, Service, Galaxy, Bloomberg

☆ This Sequoia-backed EdTech startup that's bringing NFTs to classrooms just secured an $8.5 million funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

EdTech startup TinyTap raised $8.5 million for staff expansion and product development, Insider has learned. A cofounder says the round took longer to close because of uncertainty in the crypto space at the end of last year. TinyTap, an educational technology startup and Animoca Brands' subsidiary, has secured an $8.5 million funding round, Insider has learned. Sequoia China, Shima Capital, Polygon, Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, and GameFi Ventures are among the backers for the company's latest funding round. As a result, the round took a bit longer to close, and we had more to prove."

☆ Crypto firm Animoca Brands cuts target for new fund again -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Animoca Brands said in November that it was working on a new Animoca Capital fund with a target of $2 billion, but then halved that target in January to $1 billion. Recently, it has trimmed the target by another 20% to $800 million, two people familiar with the matter said. Latest data on the platform show that the company’s market cap stood at just under 1.9 billion Australian dollars ($1.26 billion) earlier this week. A spokesperson for Animoca Brands declined to comment on its fund raising plans. Animoca Brands was removed from the Australian Securities Exchange in 2020 by the regulator because of its aggressive expansion into the cryptocurrency industry.

☆ Here's how a serial founder and former US diplomat raised $25 million to create a crypto superapp — and why it's gotten backing from investors like JetBlue and the Winklevoss twins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kresus, which is building a crypto superapp, has raised $25 million led by Liberty City Ventures. Traina's company, Kresus, has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Liberty City Ventures, the company's first round of financing, to bring that vision of a crypto superapp to fruition. JetBlue Ventures, Craft Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Gemini cofounders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss also participated in the round. That track record helped win over Liberty City Ventures, whose portfolio includes the Web3 companies Animoca Brands, BlockApps, BitGo, and The Sandbox. James Lang, a managing director at Liberty City, told Insider that the quality of Kresus' team stood out among similar companies he'd reviewed.

☆ EA founder Trip Hawkins dives into Web3 with Barcelona-based startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Eva Mathews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Former Apple executive Trip Hawkins, who founded the company behind the best-selling sports videogame franchise "FIFA", is joining a Web3 startup, looking to take on top blockchain games like Axie Infinity. The founder of Electronic Arts (EA.O) will join as co-founder and security chief of Games for a Living (GFAL), Hawkins told Reuters in an interview. Interest for Web3 gaming has risen over the past year as it is touted to attract more cryptocurrency users. Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming developer Animoca Brands, which backs popular NFT game Axie Infinity, raised more than $500 million in 2022. "Web3 is the bridge to the metaverse," Hawkins said on Thursday.

☆ Amazon's VC arm leads $20 mln funding at entertainment firm Superplastic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Entertainment company Superplastic said on Wednesday it had raised $20 million in a funding round led by the venture capital arm of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) as it looks to expand its universe of digital characters. The latest cash infusion, a Series A extension, takes Superplastic's total funding to $58 million, the company said. Other investors that participated in the funding round include Craft Ventures, Google Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Kering, Sony Japan, Scribble Ventures, Kakao, Animoca Brands, Day One Ventures and Betaworks. Superplastic sells toys, apparel and non-fungible tokens in collaboration with brands, including Gucci, Fortnite, Mercedes-Benz, Tommy Hilfiger and celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Post Malone and The Weeknd. Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi MajumdarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] People stand in front of the Blockchain Hub Davos 2023 at the Promenade road during the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023, in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Arnd WiegmannDAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19 (Reuters) - In the snow and ice on the main drag in Davos, the impact of the crypto winter is plain for WEF attendees to see. Executives in Davos said they are now all about blockchain technology, proper controls and regulation, and the promise of disruption that it holds for financial services and beyond. Colm Kelleher, chairman of Swiss bank UBS (UBSG.S), told a WEF panel that blockchain technology will help reduce costs for banks. "We kind of dodged a bullet," Kelleher said, noting that the collapse in the value of crypto currencies had not caused systemic problems.

☆ Binance deploys $1 billion to keep crypto industry afloat after FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In a blogpost, Binance said it will devote $1 billion in initial commitments to the recovery fund. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao shared the public wallet address showing its initial commitment and said: "We do this transparently." The fund is an attempt by Binance to keep the crypto industry afloat after controversial entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Since FTX's rapid winddown two weeks ago, investors have fretted over a possible crypto contagion affecting every corner of the industry. Around 150 companies have already applied for support from the fund, Binance said.

Crypto markets have come under intense pressure this year, as rising interest rates prompt investors to ditch risky or speculative assets. In the case of FTX, U.S. residents can't trade on its global platform due to strict regulations for the crypto space in the United States. Ken Lo, co-founder at Hong Kong-based crypto exchange and custodian Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange, said counterparty risk, which comes from a lack of transparency and information disclosure, underscores the need for "clear regulatory framework and vision statement." In an interview with Reuters in July, Bankman-Fried said his company still had a "few billion" on hand to shore up struggling firms that could further destabilize the digital asset industry. Max Boonen, co-founder of digital asset liquidity provider B2C2, said FTX's problems have set the crypto space back by six months.

☆ See the 14-slide pitch deck a former Citi banker used to raise $26 million for his Web3 startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The idea came after Ceesay helped the basketball player securitize his NBA contract using ethereum. Solo Ceesay, a 27-year-old ex-Citi investment banker, has paired up with the NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie to launch a new Web3 company. Ceesay and Dinwiddie first saw a business opportunity in Web3 after Ceesay used his investment-banking expertise to help Dinwiddie securitize a $34.4 million NBA contract using ethereum. On Calaxy, creators set all the rules and price out what their content is worth in "tokens" that their fans can buy. Ceesay walked Insider through the pitch deck that secured Calaxy $26 million in funding:

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