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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Exchanges news
- TSM, one the most valuable e-sports company in the United States, is changing its name to TSM FTX — and getting paid USD 210m over 10 years in the process, The New York Times reported, adding that popular crypto derivatives exchange FTX, led by Sam Bankman-Fried, will foot the bill. The annual USD 21m payment is larger than many deals corporations have struck with traditional sports teams in recent decades to have their names attached to stadiums and arenas, per the report.
NFTs news
- A new Olympic-themed series of non-fungible tokens (NFT) is launching on June 17, 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced. The NFTs will represent Olympic pins with all the same features of physical collector’s items, including authenticity, scarcity, and provenance, and will be sold on tech platform nWay, but also obtainable through a free-to-play online game that will launch later this year.
Economics news
- In the US, nonfarm payrolls increased by 559,000 jobs last month, Reuters reported, adding that economists polled by this news agency had forecast 650,000 jobs created in May. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1% in April.
Regulation news
- India’s central bank is not changing their opinion on cryptocurrencies, stating that they have “major concerns” regarding this asset class, according to Bloomberg. This comes a few days after the bank announced that their 2018 circular, which warned against cryptocurrency trading, was no longer valid and should not be cited.
- Some 50 cryptoasset companies may be forced to close due to non-compliance with the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) anti-money laundering rules, per The Guardian. The companies have withdrawn applications from a temporary permit scheme that would keep them in business while the FCA audits their services, for which the authority has extended the deadline until the end of Q1 2022.
Investments news
- Financial services platform Unchained Capital said it has raised USD 25m in a Series A funding round led by financial services firm NYDIG and its parent company Stone Ridge Holdings Group. NYDIG has now committed a total of USD 150m to Unchained and the funds will be used to develop the latter’s bitcoin (BTC)-backed multisig lending platform.
- Institutional clients will have access to ethereum (ETH)-backed USD loans thanks to a partnership between digital asset platform Anchorage Digital and commercial bank BankProv. This means that crypto-native funds with ETH holdings that need capital will be able to get USD loans without liquidating their holdings, they said.
Mining news
- Data management solutions company Sphere 3D said it is merging with Bitcoin mining company Gryphon Digital Mining to help further Gryphon’s goal of using 100% renewable energy. The merger should close in Q3 2021. Sphere 3D will issue 111m common shares to Gryphon shareholders – Sphere 3D shareholders will own some 23% of the company and Gryphon shareholders the rest.
Career news
- Crypto company Blockchain.com said it has relocated their headquarters from New York to Miami. The move will let the team tap into the talent pool of the area and hire 100 full-time employees by the end of this year, with another 200 to follow in 2022. They will also add educational programming to the South Florida STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) community.
