Follow me on Twitter @Jacqmelinek for breaking crypto information, memes and extra.
Welcome again to Chain Reaction.
As if the pessimism round crypto weren’t sufficient, the business is dealing with one more quarter of hackers and scammers wanting to make a fast buck. And to make issues worse, it’s getting tougher to hint and recuperate misplaced funds as properly.
According to a brand new report, solely $4.9 million was recovered of the $204.3 million the business misplaced to hacks, scams and rug pulls in the second quarter.
The report, by web3 “super app” and antivirus answer De.Fi and knowledge from REKT database, detailed that to date this yr, the business had recovered about $183 million, or practically 28% of the $666.5 million misplaced to scams and hacks.
The report additionally discovered that exploits and rug pulls accounted for $55.3 million and $47.3 million, respectively, in Q2, highlighting that dangers via unhealthy actors are “rampant in equal measure.”
The TLDR? Be cautious on the market, as a result of hackers are nonetheless hackin’ and scammers are nonetheless scammin’ — even in a bear market.
This week in web3
Q2 failed to carry a funding reprieve for web3 startups and unicorns (TC+)
We’re already midway into 2023, which implies we’re solely a pair weeks away from model new, scorching knowledge for the second quarter. However, it’s at all times smart to regulate the horizon, so we’ve determined to draw the few conclusions about web3 and unicorn funding tendencies that we will from early knowledge on the previous three months.
Coinbase execs: As international crypto coverage grows, U.S. has pressing want for laws (TC+)
Coinbase, certainly one of the largest crypto exchanges globally, has been round for 10 years. And whereas the firm has grown its choices, merchandise and companies, its coverage speaking factors haven’t modified dramatically, Kara Calvert, head of U.S. coverage at Coinbase advised Ztoog+. But what has modified, she stated, is the “momentum and urgency” for digital asset laws and guidelines at a federal degree in the U.S.
AI and crypto integration goes to occur whether or not you need it or not (TC+)
As synthetic intelligence continues to develop to new heights of recognition, business gamers are contemplating new methods the know-how might combine with crypto and blockchains. During Coinbase’s State of Crypto Summit on Thursday, enterprise capitalists and AI specialists shared their ideas throughout a panel on what similarities and variations the industries have and how buyers, builders and customers can capitalize on it.
Crypto startup Pillow, backed by Accel and Quona, to discontinue all companies
Singapore-headquartered Pillow plans to discontinue all its companies and app in the coming weeks, it warned prospects Friday, citing regulatory uncertainty that has claimed numerous different crypto startups in current quarters. It had raised about $21 million altogether and counted Accel India, Quona Capital, Elevation Capital and Jump Crypto amongst its backers. Pillow revealed its $18 million Series A funding in October final yr.
Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon jailed 4 months in Montenegro
Another chapter was revealed in the lengthy and weird saga of Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon. The disgraced crypto founder will spend 4 months in a jail in Montenegro for falsifying official paperwork. The subsequent step for Kwon remains to be unclear as each the U.S. and South Korea have been looking for to extradite him over expenses in each nations relating to the collapse of Terraform Labs.
The newest pod
For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Jack Lu, co-founder and CEO of NFT market Magic Eden. This is his second time on Chain Reaction, however the market has advanced lots since the final time he came on in August 2022, so we’re excited to have him again!
Before co-founding Magic Eden in 2021, Lu labored as a product supervisor at Google and a marketing consultant for Boston Consulting Group.
Magic Eden initially started as a Solana-based NFT buying and selling platform, however has expanded its help to different blockchain networks like Polygon, Ethereum and Bitcoin. Today, it has grown into certainly one of the largest NFT marketplaces, with over 8,000 collections, about $3 billion in NFT transactions and 22 million distinctive month-to-month guests. In June 2022, Magic Eden raised $130 million in a Series B spherical that granted it unicorn standing.
We mentioned why Magic Eden expanded its help to different blockchains, including BRC-20 token help to its secondary platform and how the firm plans on staying aggressive in the always altering market.
We additionally talked about:
- NFT market volatility
- Royalty charges
- Web3 gaming growth
- Advice for NFT neighborhood
Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite pod platform to sustain with the newest episodes, and please depart us a overview if you happen to like what you hear!
Follow the cash
- Bitpanda’s crypto alternate separated from Bitpanda and secured $33 million
- Gaming platform Mythical Games raised $37 million in an prolonged Series C1 spherical
- Web3 gaming platform Pixion Games raised $5.5 million
- AI-powered crypto search engine Kaito raised $5.5 million in a Series A spherical
- Startale Labs raised $3.5 million in a seed spherical for web3 infrastructure for public items
This checklist was compiled with data from Messari in addition to Ztoog’s personal reporting.
To get a roundup of Ztoog’s greatest and most essential crypto tales delivered to your inbox each Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe right here.