Kategorie: Crypto Business

• Visa and Mastercard are slamming brakes on respective crypto products and pausing new partnerships.
• A Reuters report published on Tuesday says the payment giants are citing uncertain market and regulatory conditions.
• The companies will however continue to focus on blockchain technology, according to sources. 

Visa and Mastercard, the world’s leading payment card companies, have reportedly put brakes on their respective crypto-related products, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The payment giants are taking this step as a result of the recent turmoil in crypto, particularly following shocking collapses and bankruptcies across the industry as witnessed in 2022.

Other than the market conditions that have derailed confidence, there is a fresh regulatory cloud that currently hangs over the broader crypto sector – factors that now see Visa and Mastercard push back on their plans, sources said.

Visa and Mastercard pause new crypto partnerships

Increased adoption of cryptocurrencies in the payments sector has over the past two years seen Visa and Mastercard take an aggressive approach towards integrating crypto. 

The US-based companies have indeed struck numerous partnerships with projects and services across the digital assets space. CoinJournal has indeed highlighted numerous Visa-related news as the company aggressively pursued deals that currently number more than 60 crypto firms, including those with Crypto.com and Nexo. 

Earlier this month, as covered here, the payments firm also inked a long-term partnership with crypto payments app Wirex.

Despite this, according to sources, the company has dropped plans for new partnerships as it pushes back on crypto-related products and services. This will be the case until the uncertain regulatory landscape changes.

However, both Visa and Mastercard are not scraping their crypto strategies just yet, people familiar with the developments noted.

Mastercard, for instance, will push forth with its blockchain technology efforts, a spokesperson said. The focus is on how to tap into this underlying technology to build efficient systems and to address existing pain points.

Mastercard announced support for cryptocurrencies on its network in February 2021.

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• The Hashgraph Association and Orange have partnered to promote digital assets and blockchain adoption in Morocco.
• Hashgraph will put 100 million euros into the project to support startups and entrepreneurs.
• Other than funding, the partnership will promote education and innovation in emerging technologies in Morocco and across the region.

The Hashgraph Association, the non-profit organisation helping to develop and promote the adoption of the Hedera blockchain platform, and global telecommunications provider Orange, have teamed up to launch a new accelerator program in Morocco.

The collaboration seeks to provide education and funding opportunities to young entrepreneurs, startups, government projects, enterprises and universities, the two firms said in a press release shared with CoinJournal.

Hedera is a proof of stake network with the native token HBAR. One can buy HBAR on most major crypto exchanges.

The Hashgraph Association allocates €100 million to accelerator

Orange recently launched its startup accelerator Orange Fab in the country, and this partnership will build on that. Specifically, The Hashgraph Association brings its AGV High-Speed Accelerator to the Kingdom, with the goal of helping with the adoption of digital assets and decentralised finance (DeFi).

Commenting on the partnership, Kamal Youssefi, President of the Board of The Hashgraph Association, pointed out that invention often thrives where there’s education and collaboration. The partnership with Orange is therefore set to bring the benefits of distributed ledger technology to the community.

Towards this end, The Hashgraph Association has allocated €100 million ($106 million) to promote fintech and blockchain projects.

Members of the accelerator program will also access development and managerial support, with a global exchange program in place to spur further collaboration between innovators and businesses.

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• Digital Currency Group reported a loss of $1.1 billion for 2022, according to the company’s fourth quarter.
• Cash and cash equivalents as of 31 December 2022 was just $262 million, while the Grayscale parent company had $670 million in investment assets.
• The consolidated balance sheet showed full year revenue of $719 million for 2022, with $124 million in Q4.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a US-based crypto company recently in the news for the troubles facing it and some of its subsidiaries following the crypto winter, has reported a $1.1 billion loss for the 2022 financia year.

Crypto publication CoinDesk reported on Monday.

DCG: Market crash and 3AC default impacted balance sheet

According to details in the company’s fourth quarter report, part of the hit to profits came from the crypto market crash. Other than the dump in Bitcoin price, DCG’s balance sheet was also impacted by a major default on Genesis, the firm’s lending platform.

In particular, the company suffered massively from the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the quarterly report detailed. Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January this year.

DCG reportedly held $5.3 billion in total assets as of 31 December, 2022, with cash and cash equivalents totaling $262 million. However, the consolidated balance sheet also shows investment assets of just $670 million, which included held tokens, venture investments and Grayscale trust shares.

For Q4, the venture capital firm reported revenues of just $143 million, while losses reached $24 million. DCG’s consolidated 2022 revenue was $719 million.

Digital Currency Group is the parent company of Grayscale Investments, Luno, Foundry Services, Genesis Trading, TradeBlock and CoinDesk.

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• Blockchain Founders Fund’s BFF Fund II is a $75 million fund for Web3 startups.
• Backers of the fund include Polygon, Ripple and NEO Global Capital (NGC).
• BFF launched its BFF Fund in 2018 and has invested in over 100 projects, including Splinterlands.

Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF), a Singapore-based early stage Web3 venture capital fund, has announced the final close of its second fund.

While BFF announced the principal close of its Fund II in early 2022, the latest announcement is a final close that included the participation of major crypto-focused investors, institutions and family offices.

Per the company, which revealed the development via a press release, participants in the $75 million fund include Polygon, Ripple, and NEO Global Capital (NGC). As highlighted last September, Polygon invested in BFF as part of its goal towards global blockchain adoption.

Others were Appworks, The Sandbox COO Sebastien Borget and Metavest Capital.

BFF Fund invests in early stage Web3 startups

The Singapore-based fund will use the financing to support the pre-seed and seed rounds of top startups across Web3 and blockchain.

According to BFF managing partner Aly Madhavji, the fund has already invested in projects that are currently reshaping the Web3 ecosystem.

“As we close this fund, we remain committed to supporting the next generation of visionary entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of Web3 and blockchain technologies. Together, we can build a more decentralized, transparent, and equitable world,” he added.

The BFF Fund fund launched in 2018, and has so far seen investments in more than 100 startups, half of these coming in the past year despite the crypto winter. 

Startups that have benefited from BFF’s support include multiplayer collectible card game Splinterlands, artificial intelligence (AI) metaverse protocol Altered State Machine, and token management platform Magna.

As reported earlier this year, BFF lead a $500,000 seed round for blockchain platform Koinos.

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• Magic Eden Ventures has invested in eleven Web3 game studios.
• The 11 studios include Epic League, MatchDay, Blockstars, Bunch, Bravo Ready, Honeyland, Intella X, and Stella Fantasy.
• Magic Eden launched its venture arm in July 2022.

Magic Eden Ventures, the venture arm of cross-chain NFT platform Magic Eden, has announced investments in 11 Web3 game studios. The eleven studios range from Web3-focused developers to traditional gaming startups, Magic Eden said in a blog post.

Magic Eden to help game studios launch NFTs

In the announcement on 23 February, Magic Eden said the investments are a continuation of its commitment to the development and adoption of Web3 gaming. The mission comes a few days after the platform expanded to the Polygon blockchain and hired Chris Akhavan as Magic Eden’s Chief Gaming Officer.

Launched in July 2022, the unit is backing Epic League, MatchDay, Blockstars, Bunch, Bravo Ready, Honeyland, Intella X, Stella Fantasy, Rooniverse, Moonveil (STEALTH), Strider and Lucky Kat. 

The partnerships will offer beneficiaries access to partner networks and launchpad capabilities, among other features.

Akhavan commented on the support the NFT platform was extending to the 11 studios, noting that the gaming industry is still an emerging sector that could yet see massive growth.

“Experienced game studios building Web3 enabled games are pioneering something special – fun games with digital asset ownership and powerful economies that enable communities and creators to deepen their connection with the games they love. It’s a powerful combination,” he added.

According to him, Magic Eden wants to help these game studios “achieve long-term success,” through its venture arm. This includes via monetization, with access to in-game marketplace support and fan engagement within the broader Web3 ecosystem key drivers of adoption.

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