Daily Market Observations — Dec 23rd, 2021
- NBA superstar Shaq O’Neill released the Shaq Gives Back NFT collection today
On December 23, NBA superstar, Shaq O’Neill announced the release of the Shaq Gives Back NFT collection. All proceeds from this sale were claimed to be donated to the Shaquille O’Neal foundation. Previously, it was reported that O’Neill had renamed his Twitter account “SHAQ.ETH” and his address held multiple NFTs.
It is reported that in addition to the annual Shaq-a-Claus activity, which provides millions of toys, clothing, and meals for poor young people across the country, the foundation is also committed to instilling hope and transforming the communities, collectively shaping a brighter future for young people.
2. Talent protocol, a Web3 platform, completed a funding of $1.7 million where Protocol Labs and others participated in the investment
On December 23, talent technology start-up company, Talent Protocol based in Lisbon announced that it had completed the funding of €1.5 million (about $1.7 million) and launched its beta platform. The institutions that participated in the investment include Protocol Labs, Good News Ventures, Flori Ventures, PANONY, LD Capital, GSR, Gate.io, and etc.
It is understood that Talent Protocol is a Web3 platform established in May 2021. Users can launch personal tokens on the platform, and employers can invest and hire talents by purchasing personal tokens. Previously, Talent Protocol was selected as the seed project of CoinList Seed Fall 2021 Batch.
3. Atlas DEX, a cross-chain decentralized exchange aggregator, completed a funding of $6 million led by Jump Capital
On December 23, Atlas DEX, a cross-chain decentralized exchange aggregator based on Solana announced the completion of funding worth $6 million, led by Jump Capital. The participants include Huobi Ventures, Genesis Block Ventures, Solidity Venture, Genblock Capital, 3Commas Capital, Solar Eco Fund, Momentum 6, GSR, 0xVentures, Bixin Ventures, AU 21, Paramount Council, and etc.
4. NFT collateral lending platform Arcade completed Series A funding of $15 million, led by Pantera Capital
On December 23, the Arcade platform (previously known as Pawn.fi) a platform that allows users to provide loans with NFT as collateral, announced the completion of Series A funding worth $15 million. The investment was led by Pantera Capitaland and participated by Castle Island Ventures, Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund, Golden Tree Asset Management, Eniac Ventures, Protofund, Probably Nothing Capital, Lemniscap, Zac Prince who is the CEO of BlockFi, and Richard Ma who is the Quantstamp’s CEO.
Robert Masiello, the co-founder of Arcade, said that this funding is a round of equity financing, which will help Arcade expand its team, publicly launch the platform and attract more users. Arcade is currently available as a private beta and will be open to the public early in the first quarter of next year. Arcade currently supports Ethereum based NFTs as collateral to obtain the loans for all ERC-20 tokens. Other blockchains and layer 2 networks are also being explored and will provide support in 2022.
5. Crypto companies raised more than $25 billion in risk financing in 2021, and at least 65 of them won the Unicorn status
On December 23, there were more than 1700 venture capital trading in 2021 focusing on the crypto field, bringing about $25.1 billion in financing for these startup’s companies, projects, and protocols. Compared with 2020, the new data shows that the trading volume increased by 126% annually, and the total capital increased by 719% annually. In addition, at least 65 crypto companies have acquired Unicorn status (i.e. valued estimated at more than $1 billion), a 491% increase in two years. Recent Unicorn funding rounds included FTX, Alchemy, TaxBit, and Dune Analytics.
6. Game giant Zynga and software developer Forte jointly develop blockchain-based games
On December 23, Zynga Inc., a global social gaming giant, has signed a cooperation protocol with Forte, a blockchain game developer. The two companies plan to develop a blockchain game based on Zynga’s IP and user background. The vice president of blockchain games recently hired by Zynga said: “Our goal is to bring a new level of quality and fun into Web3 and blockchain games, while also providing a safe and trusted ecosystem that will keep our valued players and communities entertained for years to come,” The two companies stressed out that they plan to build games focusing on security and participation.
In early November, Forte raised $725 million in Series B funding. Sea Capital and Kora Management led the investment, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Cosmos, Polygon Studios, and Solana Ventures had participated in the investment.
7. Uniswap V3 contract had been officially deployed on Polygon main network
On December 23, the decentralized exchange (DEX), Uniswap, and Ethereum scalability solution, Polygon, had announced on Wednesday that all Uniswap V3 contracts were deployed on the Polygon main network a few days after the UNI holders voted to pass the governance proposal.
Coingecko data has shown that Polygon (MATIC) prices hit another record high, ranking 14th in total market value.
