Web3 Wrap-Up: Ethereum hits 500,000 validators & National Australia Bank mints Stablecoin 🛠 🇦🇺

Welcome back to the Web3 Wrap-Up. Web3 & Blockchain news curated for you - all in one little newsletter.

In this issue, we cover news about some exciting raises, platform launches, and Web2 companies joining the metaverse, and we celebrate an announcement from Ethereum as they hit 500,000 validators ahead of the Shanghai upgrade. Before we dive into the Web3 Wrap-Up, can I check to see if anyone else saw the Beyonce performance in Dubai? We love to see a mother and daughter duo - go Blue Ivy. I also couldn’t help but notice parallels with Elvis Presley when he opened The International Hotel in Las Vegas. We are witnessing legendary iconic behaviour! Also, Austin Butler was a great choice to play Elvis by the way (in my opinion).  Anyway that’s enough pop culture for this week, back to “crypto culture” - should we make that phrase a thing.

Some industry updates. A court document has been filed detailing the $700M in assets that SBF will owe the court if he’s found guilty of the 8 charges that he plead “not guilty” to. Meanwhile, Genesis has been revealed as FTX’s largest creditor at $226M in claims. Axie Infinity’s token AXS went up by 40% in price right before a massive $64-million-token unlock. And Cardano had about 50% of its nodes go down all at once on Sunday. Hope you had a better start to the week than some of that news. No one can ever say that crypto news is boring, and I’m always happy to bring it to you!

Continue reading for a look at the past week’s news, recent events and market activity across Crypto, Web3, DeFi, NFTs and the Metaverse.

I present to you the Web3 Wrap-Up!

• Former Jam City and MySpace execs raise $32M in seed funding for Web3 social platform Plai Labs - Plai Labs is building social platforms that leverage Web3 and generative AI technology. The company’s first product is ‘Champions Ascension’, an MMORPG where players can port their existing NFT characters into the game. The game is currently in beta and open to NFT holders. Plai Labs is led by Josh Brooks, Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitecomb, former executives of video game developer Jam City and social platform MySpace. Jam City is known for mobile games based on IPs including Harry Potter, Family Guy, and Jurassic Park. The game studio has seven top-grossing titles, over 30 million monthly active users and billions of downloads. MySpace, founded in 2003, was one of the first social networks to reach millions of users globally. 
• China to launch first-ever national digital asset trading platform - China is preparing to launch the first legally-compliant secondary trading platform for digital assets across the country on Jan. 1, according to local news reports. The ‘China Digital Asset Trading Platform’ was jointly built by state-owned China Technology Exchange and China Cultural Relics Exchange Center in partnership with Huaban Digital Copyright Service Center, a private company. The China Digital Asset Trading Platform relies on the national-level exchange infrastructure of the China Technology Exchange, a national intellectual property rights trading institution jointly established by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Intellectual Property Office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. Earlier this month, a ruling by the Hangzhou Internet Court established the precedent that non-fungible tokens (NFT) constitute online virtual property and will be recognized under Chinese law. The court found that NFTs “have the object characteristics of property rights such as value, scarcity, controllability, and tradability” and “belong to network virtual property” meaning that they “should be protected by the laws of our country.” Their definition of NFTs set an important and far-reaching precedent for digital property in China, and further distinguished NFTs from cryptocurrencies and removing digital properties from the grey area they’ve existed in since China moved to make cryptocurrencies illegal in Sept. 2021.
• Mastercard's plan to bring music to the metaverse - Mastercard announces Web3 spotlight program to develop & launch emerging musical artists in the digital economy. The Mastercard Artist Accelerator will harness Web3 technologies on the Polygon blockchain, forging new territory by connecting artists with mentors and fans in an exclusive development program. Five upcoming artists will be selected to participate in the Mastercard Accelerator. The lucky winners can test out Web3 tools to boost their music careers. For instance, emerging artists can mint their own music NFTs and sell them to their fans. As NFTs are often utilised as intellectual property in the music industry, lucky musicians can sell their songs without paying a fee to a major label or middleman distribution service like DistroKid.
• Doodles to expand original content through Disney-affiliated animation studio - Doodles, the Web3 entertainment company behind its eponymous NFT project, is set to acquire animation studio Golden Wolf, according to a Deadline report. Golden Wolf has worked on the popular animated sci-fi series, Rick & Morty, and has partnered with Disney. This news comes after Doodles recently made three new hires to develop products for NFT holders. Last June, Doodles appointed American rapper Pharrell Williams as Chief Brand Officer and in September completed a funding round of $54 million led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six. The acquisition will also see the launch of a joint venture called Active Ingredient as Doodles leverages Golden Wolf’s strategic partnership with creative studio, Psyop. The joint venture will aim to “reinvent storytelling and the tools used to make them a reality” by using AI and blockchain technology to create tools and techniques for brands, filmmakers and producers.
• Hockey India enters the world of Metaverse - Hockey India becomes the first National Sports Federation to enter the world of metaverse. On Monday, only days before the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Hockey India launched the 'Hockeyverse' on their social media platforms. 'Hockeyverse' will provide a new virtual experience where global hockey fans can visit and experience their favourite sport from the comfort of their home, on their personal computer. Upon entering the 'Hockeyverse' URL in a browser they are welcomed to the 'hockeyverse' virtual world page. Fans can then enter their name, email address and then select their virtual Avatar’s gender between male avatar and female avatar. Once they are in, the Hockeyverse can be explored by fans using their keyboard and mouse. 
• Ethereum hits 500,000 validators ahead of scheduled Shanghai upgrade - While Ethereum (ETH) price continues to follow an upward curve since the onset of 2023, the community is looking forward to the Shanghai upgrade. The developers have recently dropped the news of preparedness for the upgrade’s launch in March. The upgrade will mean that the staked Ethereum will be open for withdrawals. Meanwhile, the number of staked ETH hit a major milestone on Monday, along with the number of active Ethereum validators. Ethereum has reached another milestone as the number of validators on its network now exceeds 500,000, data from BeaconScan shows. Validators are essential in guaranteeing the integrity and security of the Ethereum network. They operate by consensus to process transactions on the blockchain by verifying that the conditions specified in each transaction’s smart contract code have been met. A validator must deposit 32 ETH (roughly $45,000) to run a dedicated staking node on the proof-of-stake blockchain. Today, staked funds are locked in the network, and while they accrue staking rewards from Ethereum’s inflation, validators are unable to access the funds until after the Shanghai upgrade, expected to happen in March, which will allow withdrawals of staked ether for the first time. The increase in the number of active validators is a positive sign for the Ethereum ecosystem, John Jefferies, chief marketing officer at Blocknative, a real-time Web3 infrastructure company, told Blockworks. 
• National Australia Bank mints Stablecoin in blockchain push - NAB will be the second of Australia’s big four banks to launch a stablecoin, after rival Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) minted its own, dubbed A$DC, last year. The coin, dubbed AUDN, will launch on the Ethereum and Algorand blockchains later this year. Howard Silby, NAB’s chief innovation officer, told AFR the stablecoin would allow customers to settle transactions on the blockchain in real-time, using Australian dollars. Early uses of A$DC indicate that Aussie dollar stablecoins could play a role in Australia’s energy transition plans. In June, an investor used the stablecoin to purchase carbon credits. Under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who came to power last May, Australia has pledged to modernise the country’s financial system and update its regulatory framework to adapt to crypto and other innovations. Meanwhile, the country's central bank is moving ahead with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. A pilot of the scheme is due to be completed by mid-2023.
• NFT blue-chip Azuki's new virtual city Hilumia touches physical and digital worlds - Azuki has unveiled Hilumia, a metaverse space that serves as a physical representation of the company’s past, present, and future. This new world teases a unique way to engage the community and provides a glimpse of what’s to come. Hilumia is a metaverse city built by the Azuki NFT team, for the community. It features various locations such as Slowpoke’s Toy Haven, Ember Square, Golden Skate Park, and Garden Express. Additionally, each location teases to become a unique experience. Each world also has very detailed music and sound effects. The launch of Hilumia brings excitement for both the Azuki and the metaverse spaces. Now, the NFT community can enter Hilumia and feel more confident of the collection with glimpses of what’s to come. Moreover, the world looks incredibly detailed with its own music and sound effects, making it a truly immersive experience. Azuki is a digital brand most known for the January 2022 release of 10,000 avatars. The NFT collection aims to be one of largest brands in the metaverse, as it already forms part of the leaders of the NFT world. The launch of Hilumia is an exciting and innovative development for Azuki and the metaverse space, as this world provides a unique experience for users to explore and connect with the Azuki team and other members of the community. Finally, with its immersive atmosphere and ever-evolving features, Hilumia has the potential to become a revolutionary platform for the NFT space.
• Createra raises $10 million led by andressen horowitz to boost genZ-focused gaming metaverse - Createra is a user-generated content (UGC) metaverse engine enabling creators to create, distribute, and MetaFi games. Createra, a creator-oriented metaverse project, announced $10 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to continue its pursuit of building the largest Gen Z-focused metaverse platform. Createra offers users these exclusive crypto-native autonomous worlds with features including cross-play and instant accessibility. These advantages ensure both users and creators have the tools needed to adopt new industry trends for optimal gaming experiences in the metaverse. We’re witnessing a pivotal moment for the gaming industry, as it takes on blockchain-based methods of development and utilities. GameFi and MetaFi projects accumulated billions in investments over the last year, as they are the promise for the future of online interactions.
• Metaverse land developer LandVault signs with Hollywood powerbroker CAA - Virtual land developer LandVault, which has worked with global brands like Mastercard, L’Oreal and Heineken, announced it has signed with top talent agency Creative Artists Agency. CAA will advise LandVault “on talent and brand-led metaverse opportunities” and explore “opportunities for newly created” intellectual property, the metaverse land developer’s representative said by email. LandVault has worked on more than 200 “metaverse activations” and has developed virtual land for platforms such as Roblox, Sandbox and Decentraland, the company said.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great rest of the week. Until next time - don't forget to share this Wrap-Up! ✨

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