The gaming industry, which has always been synonymous with fun, has grown massively in recent times, and a lot of money is now being mentioned when gaming comes up. Since the introduction of Web 3.0, there has been immense growth in the industry. At the end of 2019, the global gaming market was reportedly worth $152 billion. This growth has meant that, since the introduction of Web 3.0, there has been a consistent rate at which Web 3.0 games are growing and garnering increased adoption. A lot of money is being made, and this has, in turn, attracted a lot …

Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of nonfungible token (NFT) game developer Animoca Brands, believes NFTs offer a new way for culture to be stored in the virtual sphere. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Siu argued that while the technology underpinning NFTs may be new, the desire to “store culture” has long been with us throughout human history. “We describe NFTs as stores of culture because they embody a moment in history,” he said, adding, “What is art? Art stores culture.” Siu is a Hong Kong-based tech entrepreneur who previously worked at Atari and also founded the Outblaze gaming company. Animoca …

Dapper Labs targeting DAOs with Brud acquisition Dapper Labs, the $7.5 billion team responsible for NBA Top Shot and Flow Blockchain, acquired virtual influencer start-up Brud this week. In the Monday announcement, CEO Trevor McFedries announced a new initiative titled Dapper Collective, which will aim to support communities in building decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, through the Flow blockchain. Brud is infamous for its creation of social media avatars, most notably Lil Miquela, a fictional 19-year-old Robot living in Los Angeles with three million Instagram followers. The avatar influencer has intrigued social viewers with her fashion and beauty sponsorships, dramatized …

Sky Mavis, the studio behind the popular Axie Infinity nonfungible token (NFT) game, has announced a fresh round of funding for the company. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sky Mavis announced that it had closed a $152-million Series B funding round. According to the announcement, notable crypto and blockchain investors such as global exchange giant FTX, venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz participated in the investment round. Other investors in the $152-million funding round included Accel, Paradigm, Standard Crypto, as well as Fabric Ventures and Samsung Next among other notable backers. The Axie Infinity maker said it was going to …

A decade ago, Nike took a proverbial leap into the future of sneakers with their launch of Nike Mag — a fictional concept shoe inspired by the movie Back to the Future Part II. The 1,500 limited edition was so revered for its idiosyncratic self-lacing design that it wrote itself into sneaker folklore as one of the greatest productions of all time. From the moment legendary 80’s hip-hop trio Run-DMC unified the crowd in raising aloft their Adidas shoes to the sound of “My Adidas,” to the debut of basketball’s most iconic apparel — the “notorious” Air Jordan — sneakers …

Airdrops have become the cryptocurrency ecosystem’s equivalent of stimulus checks over the past couple of years and further proof of this can be evidenced from popular protocols, like Uniswap and dYdX, that rewarded their early adopters with token drops that are now worth $30,000 to $2 million. The latest protocol to surprise its userbase with a wallet fattening airdrop was Axie Infinity (AXS), a blockchain-based battle game that has risen in prominence over the course of 2021 as users embrace its play-to-earn (P2E) gaming model. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since bounding off a low of …

Bullish sentiment returned to the cryptocurrency ecosystem on Oct. 1 after a 10% spike in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) lifted it above the $47,500 level and resulted in the liquidation of more than $270 million in short positions. The altcoin market quickly followed suit with a majority of the tokens in the top 200 registering double-digit gains for the day. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24 hours were Oasis Network’s ROSE token, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Icon’s ICX token. The allure of privacy draws traders to Oasis Network …

Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn nonfungible token (NFT) game based on the Ethereum blockchain, announced the launch of a staking program for its native token, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). AXS holders can start staking their tokens, while the rewards will be activated in 24 hours to ensure all time zones could stake beforehand, according to a Thursday announcement. “Staking is a way for us to reward our community members for having a long-term mindset and locking up their AXS tokens,” the Axie Infinity team said as part of the announcement, adding that by staking, players can earn AXS rewards. The team …

Immutable X, the scaling solution for layer-2 NFT protocol Immutable, has penned an agreement with Together Labs to integrate into the platform's native social metaverse IMVU. The partnership will foster the creation and distribution of NFTs within the game's virtual ecosystem. IMVU, pronounced "imm-view," is a blockchain simulation game akin to The Sims or Second Life in which players can design, inhabit and interact with virtual worlds. Parented by Silicon valley-based firm Together Labs — a technological architecture working on the social media experience with the implementation of the crypto and all its ecosystem facets — IMVU has 200,000 active …

The sharp correction that threatened to pull Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin prices back toward their swing lows appears to have dissipated now that Evergrande has informed investors that it intends to make an on-time payment on its debt. With global markets feeling reassured, major equities, Bitcoin and altcoins prices all saw a rebound at the market open. After a swift drop below $40,000 on Sept. 21, Bitcoin (BTC) now trades above $43,300 and Ether (ETH) has reclaimed the $3,000 level. Altcoins have also seen a strong recovery, with many posting up to 15% gains at the time of writing. Data …

Animoca Brands, a nonfungible token (NFT) game developer, has announced a substantial investment in the NFT platform Bondly. According to a release issued on Friday, Animoca will own a majority stake in Bondly following the investment. Commenting on the rationale behind its investment in Bondly, Animoca chairman and co-founder Yat Siu told Cointelegraph: “We acquired a majority stake in Bondly because it will significantly assist us to drive true digital ownership via NFTs, and we see this as crucial to the future of gaming and the emergence of the open metaverse.” As part of the investment, Bondly’s NFT technology, including …

The world of nonfungible tokens and blockchain gaming has seen immense growth and progress towards mainstream adoption in 2021. Recently, the movement picked up steam as an array of celebrities and internet influencers jumped on the hype train by purchasing premium digital collectibles. One project that has quickly risen in value over the past two months as details about its ongoing development trickle to the public is Illuvium (ILV), an open-world fantasy battle game built on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Data from CoinGecko shows that after hitting a low of $29.32 on June 22, the price of ILV skyrocketed 1,765% …