Our PR partner, yourPRstrategist, is a proud event partner of Club Satoshi and is pleased to share an exclusive code for our community. Sign up on Meetup and use promo code ‘YPRBRC101’ for free entry!
For Bitcoin fans everywhere looking for like-minded people who believe in the transformative power of blockchain technology, crypto enthusiast community Club Satoshi is dedicated to embodying the principles of the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper, the Bitcoin standard and the decentralized spirit of cryptocurrency.
Club Satoshi — A Blockchain Community and Educational Initiative
Club Satoshi supports blockchain education and fosters discussions about all aspects of blockchain building solutions, new economic models, and new blockchain technologies. Club events and meetups often incorporate initiatives that promote blockchain innovation and mass adoption of blockchain industry standards.
Founded in 2016, the Satoshi Club currently boasts over 3,000 members spread out over Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, with more Asian countries being planned. It is free to join for anyone interested in blockchain technology. Members enjoy free access to Club Satoshi meetup events as well as community discounts for partnered events with established blockchain, Web3 and crypto conferences such as Blockshow & Blockdown, Global Blockchain Show amongst others, including invitations to Web3 networking events in various Asian cities.
As an active supporter of industry blockchain events and conferences, Club Satoshi opens up access to an active Web3 community and brings early brand awareness and promotion via community engagement and participation. Community members of the Satoshi Club are cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiasts, developers, investors, and advocates who bring high-value networking opportunities to partnered events, often leading to new business collaborations and investment opportunities for attendees, speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors.
The next Club Satoshi event will be happening this week in Singapore titled “Bitcoin Impact: Unlocking the Future — Exploring the BRC-20 Standard” with keynote and panel formats for Bitcoiners interested in learning more about the new Bitcoin Network standards. For members who are interested in attending, please sign up via Meetup or lu.ma.
For more information about Club Satoshi, visit clubsatoshi.io
Outlook: Web3 Games — Breaking into the Mainstream Market
As the Web3 industry moves into mainstream markets, the development of Web3 games continues to captivate the public’s attention, bringing in a significant influx of non-industry players and user traffic to the Web3 sector. The progress of Web3 games is a sector consistently followed and researched by Web3 native professionals and also considered a breakthrough eagerly anticipated by many traditional game entrepreneurs.
Despite the industry winter in the past two years, with many resilient entrepreneurs striving to survive and continuously improving game products and their operations in a subdued market, high-quality Web3 game projects consistently stood out in the cold spell. With the rapid rise of blockchain technology, an increasing number of Web2 game developers have joined Web3 gaming, injecting fresh and outstanding productivity. Today, the global Web3 game market has gained increasing attention and continues to grow, with a market value reaching several billion dollars.
With the bull market already beginning, the market is set to thrive again. Entrepreneurs and investors will have more opportunities for benefits, ushering in a new wave of entrepreneurial and investment enthusiasm in the Web3 gaming industry, a prime time for entrepreneurs to enter the scene.
ICC Camp — A Guiding Light for Entrepreneurs
As an accelerator focused on Web3 gaming entrepreneurship, ICC Camp is committed to cultivating and supporting outstanding entrepreneurs in the Web3 gaming industry, providing students with systematic high-quality offline courses, introducing rich industry resources, and offering substantial financial support.
In the current industry opportunity, ICC Camp will also invite numerous mentors from well-known institutions within the industry to interpret industry trends, share successful experiences, provide in-depth insights, and open up new perspectives on the Web3 gaming ecosystem for ICC Camp S1 entrepreneurs, assisting entrepreneurs on their innovative journeys.
ICC Camp has assigned a full-time dedicated mentor to each student from the first day of their enrollment, providing them with personalized and professional guidance throughout their journeys in ICC Camp. These five full-time dedicated mentors possess extensive experience in the Web3 industry and will share deeper industry insights during one-on-one coaching sessions with students. The five full-time mentors are:
Kevin Shao — Bitrise Capital Co-Founder, ABGA Executive President, ICC GROUP Advisor
Simon Li — Chain Capital Co-Founder, Kirin Fund Co-Founder, ABGA Executive Vice-President
Alex Yang — Blockhive Capital Founder
James Fang — PangaCapital Partner
Byrn — Senior investor in GameFi, DeFi, Web3
List of mentors for ICC Camp S1:
In addition, ICC Camp S1 has received support and recognition from many well-known institutions in the Web3 industry, including but not limited to prominent exchanges, VCs, Public Chains, Cloud Service Providers, Infrastructure Partners, Gaming Distribution Platforms, Launchpads, Traffic Platforms, Wallets, Media, Communities, KOL, Guilds, Daos, etc. ICC Camp have strategically partnered with institutions such as Gate Labs, Foresight Ventures, KuCoin Ventures, SlowMist, GSR, Bing Ventures, dtcpay, Alchemy Pay, TokenPocket, MixMarvel, Yeeha, Google Cloud, imToke, ABCDE, TZ APAC, RootData, Chain Catcher, PA News, Jinse Finance, BlockTempo, DeThings, among others. By integrating the strengths of various parties, ICC Camp aims to jointly build a robust global Web3 game ecosystem, supporting the vibrant development of outstanding startup teams in the future Web3 gaming.
Among these partnerships, the world’s leading blockchain content incubation platform, MixMarvel, will provide ICC Camp with a series of ecological support, scholarships for outstanding students, special investment project support, blockchain grants for gaming, and assistance with game publishing through Upchain. The premier content distribution platform, Yeeha, will enhance ICC Camp’s visibility by providing student platform traffic support. The leading Asia-based blockchain adoption entity, TZ APAC, will offer substantial grants and ecological support for ICC Camp, strongly supporting outstanding start-up projects. The top auditing institution SlowMist will provide exclusive discounts for outstanding projects of ICC Camp, while Google Cloud will offer up to $100,000 in credits and additional support within the Google ecosystem.
ICC Camp has selected 29 outstanding Web3 game projects from hundreds of applications to officially join the camp, covering various sub-sectors including GameFi, Fully On-Chain Game, Metaverse, SpotiFy, Rental-Based Gaming Platforms, Traffic Platforms, etc.
The official announcement list of the first batch of signed projects for ICC Camp S1 is as follows (in alphabetical order, without specific ranking):
Start-up projects are still in the process of being signed, so stay tuned for more updates from ICC Camp.
To celebrate the $MAVIA token listing, Bybit crypto exchange has announced a massive airdrop extravaganza for all traders and users.
Mavia is a Web3 mobile strategy game developed by Skrice Studios, with backing by Binance Labs, Delphi Digital, KickStreaming and Mechanism Capital.
Airdrop details
Total prize pool: 1,250,000 MAVIA and 30,000 USDT
Event Period: Feb 5, 2024 — Feb 26, 2024, 10AM UTC
Perk 1: 1,200,000 MAVIA Airdrop
To participate in the MAVIA airdrop, just follow these steps:
Follow the Bybit@Bybit_Official and Mavia@MaviaGame X accounts.
Quote/Re-tweet this post and attach a screenshot of your player base.
Here’s an example of the screenshot:
Complete Identity Verification Lv. 1 on Bybit.
Deposit 100 USDT and trade MAVIA, or deposit at least $100 worth of MAVIA before the event ends.
Answer the questions in the form when you register.
30,000 participants will be randomly selected to win 40 MAVIA!
New to Bybit? Signing up for a Bybit account is quick and easy.
Perk 2: Invite New Users, Unlock 5 MAVIA Each!
Invite new users to join Bybit via this referral link, and participate in Perk 1. Both you and your qualified referee will receive 5 MAVIA. Rewards will be distributed on a first-come, first served basis.
[Affiliate Special] Perk 3: Invite New Users, Unlock 5 USDT Each
For Affiliates and new referees of Affiliates: If you invite new users to join Bybit via this referral link and participate in Perk 1, both you and your qualified referee will each receive 5 USDT. Rewards will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Terms and Conditions:
Perk 1
Institutional users or Market Makers are not eligible for this event.
Only deposits and trades made within the event period will be considered in the reward calculation.
Users will still be eligible for the event even if they withdraw USDT during the event.
Deposits made using a Sub Account will not be counted toward this event.
The rewards will be credited to their Bybit Funding Account, Spot Account or Unified Trading Account within 14 days after the event ends.
Perk 2
New users must sign up using a referral code or link from their referral during the event period to be eligible for this event.
Rewards from this event can be combined with the existing Referral Program. Both referrals and referees can enjoy all associated perks.
The rewards will be credited to their Spot Account within 14 days after the event ends.
Users who signed up for their Bybit accounts via Affiliate referral are not eligible for rewards from Perk 2.
Perk 3
This perk is only available for Affiliates and new referees of Affiliates.
Users who are eligible for Perk 3 are excluded from Perk 2.
General
Users must complete Identity Verification Lv.1 during the event period to participate in the event.
Bybit reserves the right to disqualify any participants who engage in dishonest or abusive activities during the event, including bulk-account registrations to farm additional bonuses and any other activities in connection with unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful purposes.
Bybit reserves the right to modify the terms of this event without notifying users in advance.
Bybit reserves the right of final interpretation of this event. If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Support.
The PlayMining GameFi platform’s DEAPcoin ($DEP) token is performing very bullishly following the announcement of an NFT collaboration with the popular Devilman manga and anime series. At the time of this writing, DEP is currently a top-5 gaming token on Coinmarketcap by 7 day % change, with a 13% seven-day price increase and over 20% growth in market cap.
DEP’s bullish market performance comes at a time when other top-tier gaming tokens are experiencing a bearish slump — Guild of Guardians ($GOG), Oasys ($OAS), Immutable ($IMX) and Axie Infinity ($AXS) are all now dipping on the market charts. Meanwhile, DEP is still going strong, boasting one-month price and market cap increases of 41% and 49%, and respective three-month increases of 120% and 168%.
Major Brand Collab Driving Traction
Devilman is a well-known top-60 manga and anime franchise, having sold over 50 million manga copies since it first launched in 1972. Most serious fans of Japanese manga and anime will be familiar with the title, and PlayMining has a significant user base in Japan — making this new partnership a particularly prominent one in the Japanese GameFi space.
For PlayMining’s collaboration with the Devilman franchise, a new limited edition Devilman NFT collection is being integrated with the popular PlayMining card battle game JobTribes. Collectors can purchase limited quantities of six different Devilman NFT styles on the PlayMining NFT market until Jan. 31, after which the remaining cards will be raffled off over the following two weeks (or until supplies last). ‘Premium Recruitment’ raffle tickets can be purchased from within JobTribes from Jan. 31 until Valentine’s Day.
As a special bonus, whoever draws the very last Devilman NFT during the Premium Recruitment raffle period will receive a special one-of-a-kind Legendary “Rage of Fire Devilman” NFT as a prize.
JobTribes also has a “Devilman’s Invasion!” event prepared, which will run during the Premium Recruitment period. During this event, players will be able to win another kind of Legendary NFT depicting Devilman’s amulet, as well as other useful game items.
High-Profile #GamifyingWork Partnerships Bolstering DEP Token Rally
DEP’s rebound began three months ago, directly following an official PlayMining announcement of multiple high-level partnerships and a new business model that PlayMining calls #GamifyingWork. Under this new initiative, PlayMining is helping real-world companies from any industry outsource various work tasks to gamers, who can perform the tasks remotely as in-game quests and be rewarded with DEP for their ‘work’.
Kozo Yamada, co-CEO of PlayMining owner Digital Entertainment Asset, said that the new Gamifying Work solution is addressing a severe labor shortage crisis that is affecting many industries across the world. In fact, as many as four out of five companies may be affected globally, according to research by ManpowerGroup. But under PlayMining’s new initiative, companies that are not even traditionally part of the digital space, such as heavy industries, can remotely fill this labor demand in innovative ways.
PlayMining has a pilot project launching this spring in collaboration with the world’s fourth-largest electric power company, TEPCO Power Grid. The new PlayMining game will send teams of players out into their communities to photograph aging utility poles, with DEP tokens allocated to the teams that connect the most power lines in their game. As a result, TEPCO, which has been suffering from a lack of power pole inspectors, can now more efficiently maintain their aging power infrastructure.
A similar project is also underway to fill labor demands at waste processing facilities — this time via a highly innovative game in which players can remotely operate real-life waste-sorting robots. Japan’s second-largest telecom operator, KDDI, invested in DEA last summer to promote more such Gamifying Work projects. PlayMining went on to announce a slew of new collaboration partnerships in October, addressing numerous industries and social good goals including CO2 reduction, disaster prevention, animal welfare, local revitalization, inheritance, elderly quality-of-life and employment for people with disabilities.
For more information about PlayMining, visit their official website and follow them on social media.
The limited edition Devilman NFTs can be bought with PlayMining’s DEP token which is leading in the current gamefi rally ahead of Immutable ($IMX), Oasys ($OAS), Guild of Guardians ($GOG) and Axie Infinity ($AXS) in terms of one-month and three-month gains in both token price and market cap.
SINGAPORE, Jan. 24, 2024 — Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd. (DEA), a Singapore-based global GameFi company and owner of the PlayMining gaming platform, has announced the launch of a limited edition NFT collection for the Job Tribes Play-and-Earn (P&E) card battle game in collaboration with the popular Devilman manga and anime series. The announcement comes at the height of PlayMining’s DEAPcoin ($DEP) rebound, with prices and market cap up 115% and 166% respectively from where they stood when the GameFi market rally began three months ago.
Limited quantities of six different Devilman NFTs will be available for purchase from the PlayMining NFT marketplace from Jan. 24 at 14:00 to Jan. 31 at 10:59 (UTC+8). The limited edition collaboration NFTs will feature artwork of characters from the Devilman series across three Epic and three Legendary cards. After the sale ends, a limited quantity of cards will still be available to win via random draw by spending DEP to purchase “Premium Recruitment” tickets in the Job Tribes game. Premium Recruitment will be available from Jan. 31 at 16:00 until Feb. 14 at 10:59 (UTC+8), or while supplies last. As a special incentive, a one-of-a-kind “Rage of Fire Devilman” Legendary collaboration NFT will be awarded as a bonus prize to the player who draws the very last Premium Recruitment NFT.
To commemorate the Devilman collaboration, JobTribes will feature an in-game event called “Devilman’s Invasion!” from Jan. 31 at 16:00 until Feb. 14 at 10:59 (UTC+8). The tie-in event will see players competing to win Devilman’s amulet in the form of a Legendary collaboration NFT. Other game items will also be available to be won.
Devilman is a well-known manga and anime series that has had numerous iterations since it first launched in 1972. Over 50 million copies of the manga have been sold worldwide, placing it as a top-60 best selling manga series.
Sales Information
Legendary NFTs:
3 types, each limited to 10 pieces (total 30 pieces)
Immediate sale price: 360,000 DEAPcoin
One bonus Legendary NFT exclusively available through “Premium Recruitment”
Epic NFTs:
3 types, each limited to 10 pieces (total 30 pieces)
Immediate sale price: 60,000 DEAPcoin
$DEP: Dominating the GameFi Market Rally for Over Three Months
Late October 2023 saw a massive spike in many GameFi token prices, and the bullish market performance continued in a sustained GameFi rally through the new year. PlayMining’s DEP is one of the strongest performing high-profile GameFi tokens on the market today, surpassing Immutable ($IMX), Oasys ($OAS), Guild of Guardians ($GOG) and Axie Infinity ($AXS) in terms of one-month and three-month gains in both token price and market cap.
DEP is the proprietary token used to purchase NFTs on PlayMining’s marketplaces, and can be earned as a reward for playing PlayMining GameFi games. With DEP’s rising market price, PlayMining NFTs are also increasing in intrinsic value.
DEP listed on Tokenize Xchange recently where it is tradable with USD and SGD, and can also be traded on other popular cryptocurrency exchanges including OKX, Uniswap, Gate.io, Bitrue and Bitmart.
Boasting a Brand New Business Model: #GamifyingWork Across All Industries
DEP’s strong rebound immediately followed an official announcement by PlayMining of multiple high-profile partnerships with whom PlayMining is co-developing a new business model called “Gamifying Work”. The initiative will see new P&E games developed for the PlayMining GameFi platform that gamify work tasks for real-world companies.
“There are serious labor shortages across many industries all around the world these days, but many of these jobs feature work tasks that could be performed remotely. We can help alleviate labor shortages by gamifying some of these work tasks in PlayMining games, where players are incentivized with DEP tokens in exchange for ‘doing the work’ as in-game quests,” said DEA co-founder and co-CEO Kozo Yamada.
PlayMining’s labor shortage solution tackles a severe problem — four out of five companies suffer from a lack of talent worldwide, according to a 2023 ManpowerGroup report. In addition, a significant proportion of businesses suffering from labor shortages are in the heavy industries — a space that PlayMining is specifically addressing with a number of their recent partnerships.
For example, a pilot project is launching in Japan this spring for PlayMining’s partnership with TEPCO Power Grid, the fourth-largest electric power company in the world. TEPCO has had a hard time employing enough power pole inspectors to maintain their aging power infrastructure around Japan. But soon, PlayMining gamers will be able to fill this demand — a new game will send teams of players out into their local communities to photograph power poles, with winning teams earning DEP rewards.
Another ‘gamifying work’ collaboration underway is PlayMining’s novel solution for the waste management industry — a game that will allow players to remotely control actual physical waste-sorting robots at Japanese waste-processing facilities, thus alleviating a labor shortage in that space. Additionally, DEA has secured investment from KDDI, the second-largest telecom operator in Japan, opening the company up to business collaborations through their network. New projects revealed in PlayMining’s October announcement included initiatives across a wide range of industries, ranging from disaster prevention, local revitalization and CO2 reduction to social good projects targeting elderly quality-of-life, animal welfare, employment for people with disabilities and inheritance.
The PlayMining GameFi platform’s catalog of P&E games includes: JobTribes, Menya Dragon Ramen, Cookin’ Burger, Lucky Farmer, Graffiti Racer, SOUL Fusers and Rogue Roll Ruler’s. The platform also has two NFT marketplaces, a manga-integrated metaverse project and a ‘Watch-and-Earn’ streaming video application. And soon, it will feature a growing number of ‘gamifying work’ games!
Businesses and individuals interested in discussing collaboration opportunities with PlayMining can use the following email address to get in touch with the PlayMining business development team: recruit@dea.sg
About Digital Entertainment Asset
Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd. (DEA) is a Singapore-based global Web3 entertainment company founded in August 2018. DEA is a developer of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games — also referred to as Play-and-Earn (P&E) games. DEA also operates the PlayMining gamefi platform, NFT marketplace and ‘Verse’ metaverse project as well as DEAPcoin ($DEP) — the first P&E token approved by the Financial Service Agency (FSA) of Japan. The team is headed by two co-CEOs — Naohito Yoshida and Kozo Yamada — who together bring decades of experience in founding successful startups (with 3 IPOs), creating hit video games, producing Web TV programs and displaying a deep understanding of NFT gaming.
About PlayMining
PlayMining is a GameFi and metaverse platform that empowers creators who would otherwise benefit very little in the traditional IP creation industry. The PlayMining platform is a new business model for content creation, featuring an NFT Marketplace powered by the PlayMining DEAPcoin ($DEP), paired with an NFT gaming and Metaverse platform. Featuring both in-house games as well as third-party projects with their own native tokens that allow creators to capture much of the value they create, the PlayMining platform has 2.7 million users and a catalog of P&E game titles including Job Tribes, Cookin’ Burger, Menya Dragon Ramen, Graffiti Racer, Lucky Farmer, Rogue Roll Ruler’s and SOUL Fusers, as well as the metaverse project Fujiwara Kamui Verse.
About JobTribes
JobTribes is a card battle game themed around various occupations, featuring characters that personify different jobs. NFTs can be used as powerful battle cards significantly influencing the outcome of battles. The game’s story is handled by Shin Kibayashi, one of the top six creators in Japan selected by Netflix, offering a grand world view.
Devilman is one of the representative works of manga artist Go Nagai. It depicts a fierce battle between a demon army intent on destroying humanity and Devilman, who betrays them to side with the humans. This work, which was simultaneously serialized in manga and broadcast as a TV anime series, was a pioneer of mixed media projects in Japan.
Hong Kong, January 9, 2024 — Web3 games represent a new generation of games built on blockchain technology and decentralized principles. Paving the way for Web3 into mainstream markets, Web3 games attracts not only the native Web3 industry but is also a strategic breakthrough eagerly anticipated by traditional game entrepreneurs.
On January 5, ICC Camp, the accelerator dedicated to the Web3 gaming ecosystem, officially opened up student applications. It is recruiting dozens of outstanding startups globally in the Web3 gaming circuit for an extensive 6-month incubation program. This initiative aims to provide comprehensive support and training for entrepreneurs aspiring to explore the Web3 gaming ecosystem. The program includes a two-month high-quality systematic course with tour opportunities, and a four-month observation and service period. The course arrangement covers various modules in the Web3 gaming circuit, while services include investment matchmaking, project empowerment and value addition, resource and equity negotiations, and student support.
Meanwhile, the inaugural lineup of mentors for ICC Camp S1 has been announced. These mentors hail from prominent institutions and enterprises in the industry. They will collaborate to interpret industry trends, share successful experiences, provide profound insights, and develop new perspectives on the Web3 gaming ecosystem for ICC Camp participants, assisting entrepreneurs in soaring to new heights on their innovative journeys.
The mentor lineup includes:
Kevin Shao, Executive President of ABGA, Partner of Web3Labs, and Founder of Bitrise Capital；
Roland Ong, President of ABGA, and Partner & Director at Liminal Entertainment;
Simon Li, Vice Executive President of ABGA, and Founder of Chain Capital;
Johnny Ng Kit-chong, Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, and Founder of G-Rocket;
Jack Kong, Founder of Nano Labs, and Director of Hong Kong Cyberport;
Feng Xiao, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group;
Sebastien, Co-founder of The Sandbox;
Yawn, Co-Founder of StepN and Co-Founder of Find Satoshi Lab;
Feng Wang, Co-Founder & CEO of Linekong Entertainment Technology;
Lester Li, Founder & CEO of DeGame;
Jun Du, Co-Founder of ABCDE Capital, and Executive Director & CEO of Xinhuo Technology;
Hongfei Da, Founder of Neo;
Patrick Dai, Co-Founder of Qtum;
Uno Lee, VP of Business & Governance at Klaytn;
DiscusFish, CEO & Co-Founder of Cobo;
Caspar Wong, CEO of Web3Labs;
Forest Bai, Co-Founder of Foresight Ventures;
Sheldon Xia, Founder & CEO of GBM;
Kevin Ren, Partner of CGV;
Yushan Zheng, Co-Founder of Waterdrip Capital;
Blue Yang, Partner and CTO of SlowMist, and Director of G3 Lab;
Xin Song, COO of GSR;
Yuetian Chen, Founding Partner of Initiate Capital;
Nicole Zhang, Partner of Lingfeng Innovation Fund;
Shawn Shi, Managing Partner of Oak Grove Ventures;
May Liu, Partner of Spark Digital Capital;
Kevin, Partner of BTOK;
These industry elites will serve as mentors, providing students with rich online and offline courses, as well as entrepreneurial guidance.
Startup projects can now participate by scanning the QR code on the poster or clicking the application link below to embark on this journey of Web3 gaming innovation.
ICC Camp is committed to exploring and promoting the development of the Web3 gaming industry and has received strategic support from ABGA (Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance) and Web3Labs. The mission of ICC Camp is to nurture and support outstanding entrepreneurs in the future Web3 gaming industry, empowering more high-quality Web3 gaming projects and building a strong global Web3 gaming ecosystem.
Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the collapsed exchange Mt. Gox seems to have little in the way of sympathy for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s been trying to get released from prison to prepare for his upcoming trial, citing poor internet.
“When I was arrested back in 2015, the most computing power I got was a simple calculator (+-*/√),” Karpelès wrote in a Sept. 13 post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Karpeles was arrested on two separate occasions in 2015 for the alleged misappropriation of nearly $3 million of Mt. Gox customer funds.
When I was arrested back in 2015, the most computing power I got was a simple calculator (+-*/√). Had 20000 pages of evidence including over 5000 pages of accounting. Calculation I did at the time helped me to earn release under bail and eventually be cleared of all embezzlement…
Karpelès eventually earned release under bail using a trusty “little calculator” he bought from the prison commissary and was eventually cleared of all embezzlement and breach of trust charges.
“I spent a total of 11 months and 15 days in pre-trial detention, and didn’t have access to any of the evidence until about 7 to 8 months in,” he said.
By using supplies he’d gotten from the jail’s store, Karpelès used folders and stickers to create an index of all the evidence he’d been sent by his legal counsel, which was all squeezed into a very complex eight page file, he said.
Karpelès said he was even initially going to brave it with an abacus — an ancient counting tool that uses sliding beads to add and subtract — which was the only item listed that could assist with calculations. Luckily, a prison guard told him that he could use a calculator for accounting cases and was thus spared the headache.
“I spent around $120 to buy the best calculator they had, which could do additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions, square roots for some reason, and had buttons to add/remove consumption tax,” he explained.
Related: The Mess That Was Mt. Gox: Four Years On
Finally, four years after his initial arrest in Aug. 2015, Karpelès was said he was cleared of all embezzlement and breach of trust charges, “all thanks to that little calculator,” and “of course the tremendous work” done by his lawyers.
Karpeles comments come days after lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried filed a request to have him released from prison, claiming that Bankman-Fried’s poor internet access was a significant impediment to the preparation for the upcoming trial.
Bankman-Fried currently faces 12 criminal charges, which will be spread across two trials scheduled to begin on Oct. 2, 2023, and March 11, 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The team of Pods recently announced the mainnet launch of its 3rd strategy on Pods Yield: FUD Vault, which now complements ETHphoria and stETHvv.
FUD Vault provides a way for users to benefit from market downturns by offering a mechanism to hedge against significant price drops in ETH while preserving the deposited principal.
Who is this product for?
The FUD Vault is designed for individuals who have uncertainties about the future performance of ETH and want to find a way to potentially profit even when the market is experiencing a downward trend.
By depositing funds into the FUD Vault, users can take advantage of a specific strategy that aims to mitigate the risks associated with a falling market.
Therefore, if you feel uncertain or skeptical about the future performance of ETH and desire a strategy that allows for potential profit-making during market declines, the FUD Vault could be a suitable option.
Product Values
The FUD Vault offers several key values to its users:
Simplified Strategy: By consolidating a single strategy into one token, the FUD Vault enhances both DeFi composability and user convenience. Users can easily manage their deposits by transferring them between addresses, utilizing them as collateral on other protocols, and effortlessly verifying their holdings within a specific strategy. The aim is to streamline the user experience and provide a seamless interface for interacting with the vault.
Access to Intricate Strategies: With just a single click, users gain access to intricate strategies within the FUD Vault. These strategies are designed to optimize returns and navigate the complexities of the market. By offering these strategies in a user-friendly manner, the vault allows users to benefit from sophisticated investment approaches without needing in-depth knowledge or expertise.
Flexible Withdrawal: Users can withdraw their funds from the FUD Vault at any point after the deposit has been processed. This feature ensures that users maintain control over their assets and can access their funds whenever they need them.
Transparent Historical Returns: The FUD Vault provides users with a clear display of actual historical returns. This transparency allows users to assess the performance of the vault and make informed decisions about their investments. By presenting accurate and up-to-date information, the vault aims to build trust and confidence among its users.
How FUD Vault Operates
When you deposit USDC the vault immediately invests in Aave. Then, it utilizes the entire lending yield generated by Aave for purchasing ETH put options. These put options have a delta ranging from 0,03-0,12 and a maturity period of one week.
In simple terms, the put options act as a form of insurance against a significant drop in the price of ETH. If the price of ETH decreases by more than 10% within the one-week timeframe, the put options are exercised and the resulting profits are distributed to the depositors of the FUD Vault.
Summary
The FUD Vault offers a user-friendly experience, providing convenient deposit management, access to intricate strategies, flexible withdrawal options, and transparent historical return information.
These values ensure that users can easily navigate the vault, make informed decisions, and enjoy the benefits of the platform’s offerings.
About Pods:
Pods make structured products for crypto assets that are easy to use and seamless.Co-founded by Rafaella Baraldo, Robson Silva, and Guilherme Guimarães, the team has developed some of the most innovative and secure tools in DeFi. The success of the products, security audits, and brand efforts, have set a new standard for building DeFi methods in this rapidly expanding sector. Security audits conducted by OpenZeppelin further demonstrate the commitment to safety and reliability. Pods continue to focus on infrastructure and serving professional clients and investors looking to diversify their portfolios.
Contracts
The vault has undergone four audits by leading audit firms, including OpenZeppelin and ABDK. Audit reports are available athttps://github.com/pods-finance/yield-contracts/tree/main/audits
The open-source contracts can be reviewed athttps://github.com/pods-finance/yield-contracts
Deribit, a popular cryptocurrency derivatives platform, has announced the launch of zero-fee spot trading, allowing clients to buy and sell crypto while simultaneously managing risk using other derivatives.
Spot trading will start on April, 24th 2023 at 1 PM UTC with three pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BTC), providing clients with a simple and free solution for exchanging collateral and eliminating the need for external asset conversion. Clients will enjoy a zero-fee structure for trading these pairs.
Aiming to foster liquid markets, Deribit will offer 0% fees for makers and takers on spot. Note, due to this structure, there will not be any volume discounts, or affiliate/partner sharing offered on this model.
“Our goal has always been to provide our users with a complete exchange platform that meets all their trading needs. After years of being the leading crypto derivatives trading platform and ensuring that our exchange has the highest level of security and transparency, we have decided to apply our expertise to spot trading. By adding spot trading to our existing futures and options products, we are now able to provide a fulsome exchange offering that caters to all types of traders.” – Luuk Strijers, COO at Deribit
Currently, Deribit offers options, inverse & linear perpetuals, and futures (incl volatility futures) for three bases currencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum, and USDC), which allows investors to efficiently manage risk and hedge their investments. With the addition of spot trading, Deribit now serves a wider range of traders who seek to swap directly between assets with immediate delivery and ownership.
The introduction of free spot trading capabilities comes shortly after Deribit’s launch of BTC DVOL futures, a contract built on DVOL (the Deribit Bitcoin Volatility Index) that facilitates bitcoin volatility trading. Deribit has also experienced a continued increase in investor activity, seeing open interest on the platform hit an all-time high of over $20 billion on March 30th, 2023.
Japan-based banking giant Nomura, announced today that its digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has made a strategic investment in Infinity, a non-custodial interest rate protocol built on Ethereum.
Infinity’s wholesale exchange, the first of several planned infrastructures, provides inter-exchange clearing, fixed and floating rate markets, as well as enterprise-grade risk management utilizing hybrid on-chain/off-chain infrastructures that deliver transaction efficiency, security, and scalability.
Infinity is a pioneering interest rate protocol that forms the basis for benchmark rates, institutional-grade lending, borrowing, and risk management in DeFi. The money market exchange protocol was founded by ex-Morgan Stanley Head of Structuring, Kevin Lepsoe.
“Infinity is building critical infrastructure for DeFi, and its protocol enabling price discovery and management of risk within DeFi is transformative for institutions, Infinity’s groundwork paves the way for institutional flows on-chain, new levels of rates, and risk innovation, and we are keen to support their advances in the hybrid finance space.” – Olivier Dang, Head of Ventures at Laser Digital
Laser Digital was recently unveiled by Nomura to spearhead its digital asset ambitions and is chaired by Steve Ashley, who previously led Nomura’s wholesale division, with Dr. Jez Mohideen as its CEO. Headquartered in Switzerland, Laser Digital’s investments are focused on DeFi, centralized finance (CeFi), web3, and blockchain infrastructure.
The investment comes as the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) published guidelines for crypto exposures in December 2022, with bank-prescribed risk weightings for tokenized assets to be treated on par 1:1 with their analog counterparts. The guidelines for banks come into effect on 1 January 2025.
With USD $300 trillion of credit securities outstanding and multiples of that in the loan, derivative, and equity markets, the new guidelines portend a major wave of tokenization across financial and real assets.
Presently in Beta, the Inifinity mainnet is scheduled to launch by the end of Q2 2023.
