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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Adoption news
- The new Monopoly edition will showcase crypto. Per the press release, World of Women (WoW) and WS Game Company announced never-before-seen elements of Monopoly, with the new decentralized economy as the currency swaps from traditional money to Ethereum (ETH). The new MONOPOLY: World of Women (WoW) Galaxy Edition board game will be released online on October 17, under license from the toy and game company Hasbro. The game will also feature custom gold-toned tokens that pay tribute to popular Web3 communities, including Board Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), VeeFriends, CryptoPunks, CloneX, and Cool Cats, it said. Creative direction for the board was provided by World of Women’s co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Yam Karkai.
Gaming news
- Technology company Tokens.com launched a customized game in the popular Fortnite platform for Canadian sleep technology company Polysleep. Tokens.com subsidiaries, Metaverse Group, and Hulk Labs collaborated to build and launch a branded game for Polysleep in Fortnite called Woolen Warfare, said the press release. Woolen Warfare is a competitive multiplayer game developed using Fortnite Creative 2.0 in Unreal Editor For Fortnite (UEFN). Hulk Labs and Metaverse Group have the ability to program on Unity and Unreal Engine to develop activations in Fortnite, Roblox, and many other online platforms, it said. The company is also developing expertise to launch games and apps for the new Apple Vision Pro scheduled for release in 2024.
Blockchain news
- Blockchain intelligence firm Messari‘s latest ‘State of Ethereum’ report revealed that Ethereum‘s Layer-2 networks saw a majority share of activity in the third quarter with the launch of Base and the popularity of Friend.tech. It found that L2s account for nearly two-thirds of Ethereum transactions. Elena Sinelnikova, Co-Founder and Decentralization Coordinator of Metis, said that most Ethereum transactions now use Layer 2 solutions for efficient handling. Felix Xu, Co-Founder and CEO of Arpa Network, added that “Ethereum and its Layer 2 solutions are gaining traction due to their strong focus on decentralization and security.”
Hack news
- Per a report by The Money Mongers team, there were 297 crypto hacks in 2023 so far, resulting in a loss of $1.89 billion. That is $216,000 lost every hour due to crypto hacks this year, it said. From 2011 to 2023, there was a 1,053x jump in the amount stolen, rising from $1.79 million to $1.89 billion. Since 2011, crypto-related entities have lost $12.36 billion due to hacks, out of which 192 crypto exchanges have been hacked, incurring $3.80 billion in losses. Contract vulnerability and flash loan attacks are two common hacks, leading to a cumulative loss of $2.75 billion since 2011, the report said.
Regulation news
- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets supervisory authority, released an article on decentralized finance (DeFi), saying that “DeFi does not represent a meaningful risk to financial stability at this juncture, considering its small size, but this is something that requires monitoring as the phenomenon continues to evolve quickly.” The ESMA noted certain benefits of DeFi, such as greater financial inclusion, the development of innovative financial products, and the improvement in security, cost, and speed of financial transactions. The risks they highlighted include liquidity and counterparty risks, as well as vulnerability to scams and illicit activities.
DeFi news
- Spark Protocol, the DAI-centric DeFi lending platform, kickstarted its multi-chain strategy by deploying on Gnosis Chain, a decentralized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain, the press release said. This deployment marks Spark Protocol’s expansion beyond Ethereum. “This event signifies the first deployment of a MakerDAO-powered DeFi product on a blockchain other than Ethereum, underlining Spark’s dedication to innovation and accessibility for a wider user base,” it added.
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