Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investment news
- Chaos Labs, a US-based cloud platform for securing blockchains and protocols, announced it raised $20 million in seed funding led by investment management firm Galaxy Digital and payments giant PayPal, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Polygon, Avalanche, OpenSea, and UniSwap, among others. The funds will be used “to automate on-chain risk optimization” and will allow the team “to expand our suite of products & keep risk management at an optimal level,” according to Chaos Labs’ founder and CEO, Omer Goldberg.
Blockchain news
- The Tezos Foundation, which promotes the adoption of the Tezos blockchain, announced today that it is working with Google Cloud to accelerate Web3 application development on the Tezos blockchain. The collaboration includes Google Cloud becoming a Tezos network validator (or “baker”) and Tezos helping Google Cloud’s corporate customers deploy Tezos nodes, said a press release. Through the collaboration, select Tezos incubator startups will also be eligible to receive Google Cloud credits and mentorship via the Google for Startups Cloud Program, it added.
- Router Protocol, an infrastructure enterprise enabling communication between blockchains, announced the devnet launch of its Layer 1 blockchain. Per the announcement, Router Chain’s primary purpose is to increase Web3 adoption by solving existing problems in cross-blockchain communications, such as security, scalability, decentralization, and a lack of true-blue cross-chain decentralized apps (dapps). It added that “Router Chain introduces the concept of composability for the first time in the interoperability space.”
- Web3 data provider Covalent announced the expansion of its work alongside blockchain infrastructure provider NodeReal, which will involve the release of Premium Balance API, a paid, upgraded offering for developers looking to leverage NodeReal’s infrastructure and Covalent’s pool of blockchain data. The Premium Balance API enables developers to maximize API capabilities by increasing the speed and efficiency of data queries, said the announcement.
Tax news
- Crypto payment service provider BitPay announced a partnership with crypto tax software company ZenLedger. BitPay users can sync wallet transactions directly from within the app to ZenLedger’s tax software, said the press release. “With just a few taps from the BitPay app, ZenLedger will automatically calculate cost basis, fair market value, gains/losses and tax-loss harvesting for a user’s transaction history,” it added. New and current BitPay app users will receive 20% off their annual subscription to ZenLedger, as well as free access to ZenLedger’s tax-loss harvesting tool.
Gaming news
- The Sandbox, a decentralized gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, in collaboration with video game publisher Ubisoft, announced 2,066 unique Rabbids avatars, each with its own special benefits and in-game features. Per the announcement, the Rabbids will unlock specific utility within the virtual world, such as special drops and surprises. The collection will go on sale on February 21 for buyers on the allow list, and the public sale will start the next day. The avatars will be revealed to their owners on February 25.
- Web3 game development studio Laguna Games announced the appointment of Andrew ‘Zyori’ Campbell as Product and Market Growth Lead. “As a former Program Lead to Axie Infinity for Esports and Content Creators and a leading voice in the Esports world, Zyori brings firsthand storytelling and extensive experience to Laguna Games and will aid in developing a sustainable game economy in web3 through Crypto Unicorns,” said the press release.
NFT news
- Opera announced the release of Alteon LaunchPad, a new tool exclusively available on Opera Crypto Browser, which allows anyone to mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs) ‘quickly’. There are no platform usage fees or special requirements, but users need to pay a standard minting fee, it said. Users can just drag and drop their files into Alteon LaunchPad to preview their NFT and review the details of their smart contract. Once approved, LaunchPad uploads the file to a blockchain, and users can view the NFT natively within Opera Crypto Browser, after which they can share these media files through dapps or sell them on private marketplaces.
- Kimo Sabe Mezcal announced Kimo Sabe Mezcal Sacred Heritage Collection NFT, with the press release saying that every bottle of Kimo Sabe 6 Year Grand Reserve Añejo is one-of-a-kind, featuring hand-beaded designs based on spiritual visions from Huichol artisans. “Kimo Sabe developed this project in collaboration with the Huichol (Wixarika) people, the last nomadic tribe in the Americas, to provide the exceptional artistry of the Huichol people with a platform that pays tribute to their heritage,” it said.
Web3 news
- The Web3 Domain Alliance, a member-led coalition dedicated to improving the technological and public policy environments for users of Web3 naming services, announced 51 new members, including Blockchain.com, Rarible, Wyre, Bitdegree, WazirX, and Klever, among other naming systems, projects, and companies, said a press release. The Alliance members, including Unstoppable Domains, will make contributions, including technology, to enable interoperability and security standards. “As part of this commitment, Unstoppable has irrevocably agreed not to assert against Alliance members its patents that are necessary to adopt the Alliance’s interoperability and security standards,” it added.
