The global crypto market cap is $2.09T 0.99%▼ with a 24-hour market volume of $127.84B 22.43%▲. Bitcoin's dominance is currently 42.43% 0.79%▼. CURRENT PRICES BY MARKET CAP | # | Name | Price | 24h % | | 1 | Bitcoin BTC | $47,288.80 | 2.63% ▼ | | 2 | Ethereum ETH | $3,428.00 | 2.94% ▲ | | 3 | Cardano ADA | $2.78 | 1.21%▼ | | 4 | Binance Coin BNB | $468.04 | 2.21%▼ | | 5 | XRP XRP | $1.21 | 5.30% ▲ | *Prices as of 4:30 p.m. ET.
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 MetaMask reached 10 million monthly active users, up 18,000% in the past year. MetaMask’s exponential growth is likely attributed to the widespread adoption of DeFi and NFTs. More: - MetaMask had only registered its 1 millionth monthly active user in October 2020.
- Noncustodial wallets like Metamask give users access to DeFi protocols and provide connectivity to NFT marketplaces.
- The total value locked in DeFi protocols has exploded to above $155B as these tools become more available for users of different blockchains and DeFi ecosystems.
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Famous NFT trader Vincent Van Dough launched the NFT investment fund “Starry Night Capital.” The $100M fund is a collaboration between Dough and Three Arrows Capital founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. More: - Both Van Dough and Three Arrows Capital are well known for their early entry into Art Blocks NFTs. Dough is currently the owner of over 900 Art Blocks.
- Three Arrows Capital recently purchased Art Blocks NFT #879 for a record 1800 ETH (~$5.8M as of Aug. 27).
- In addition to investing in NFTs, the fund will launch a physical art gallery sometime before the end of 2021.
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 🍋Fresh Funding🍋 Offchain Labs (Arbitrum), Ethereum Scaling: $120M ⮕ The Series B funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Polychain Capital, Pantera Capital, Alameda Research, Mark Cuban, and others. More: - Offchain is the developer of Aribtrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution aimed at increasing ETH transaction speeds while reducing costs.
- The fresh funding will be used to hire additional engineers and invest in research and development.
- Lightspeed co-founder Ravi Mhatre will join Offchain’s board as part of the deal.
Syndicate, DAO: $20M ⮕ The Series A funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and participated in by Snoop Dogg, Alexis Ohanian, Ashton Kutcher, and others. More: - Syndicate is an investment system that allows Syndicate community members to create DAOs easily.
- The fresh funding will be used to build new tools, hire securities attorneys and handle other legal formalities.
- Syndicate has already created several DAOs, including Komorebi Collective, Audacity Fund, and Fiat Lux DAO.
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 A message from OPTIMIZELY Opticon is once again taking place on a virtual stage. Have you registered yet? Opticon, brought to you by Optimizely, is happening once again! It will be taking place virtually from September 21-23 in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, respectively. This year's theme is the Path to Potential. Learn all about how you can take your organization from reactive to adaptive in this unpredictable climate. Right now, digital experiences mean everything as you begin to cultivate loyal customers. As a business, you only have one chance to make the perfect first impression. For those who have known a brand in-store, going online can alter an impression that took years to create. At pivotal moments like this, when customer habits are rebooting post-pandemic, the effects can last for years. At Opticon21, you’ll learn not only how to survive but thrive in this environment by adapting to change rather than reacting to it. Register here to save your seat
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▲ TOP GAINERS | # | Name | Price | 24h % | | 1 | Kusama KSM | $402.99 | 27.68% ▲ | | 2 | Polkadot DOT | $30.48 | 11.57% ▲ | | 3 | Arweave AR | $63.75 | 10.69% ▲ | | 4 | Uniswap UNI | $29.51 | 5.92% ▲ | | 5 | Algorand ALGO | $1.11 | 5.56% ▲ | ▼ TOP LOSERS | # | Name | Price | 24h % | | 1 | Celo CELO | $5.68 | 19.48%▼ | | 2 | Perpetual Protocol PREP | $20.25 | 15.00%▼ | | 3 | Terra LUNA | $31.78 | 10.61%▼ | | 4 | Fantom FTM | $0.7301 | 9.91%▼ | | 5 | Avalanche AVAX | $40.04 | 9.71%▼ | *Limited to cryptocurrencies in the Top 100. Prices as of 4:30 p.m. ET.
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 Cosmos (ATOM) is trading near its ATH of $31.70 following a massive overnight jump of 25%. ATOM is the latest Layer 1 cryptocurrency to rally this month. More: - Previous Layer 1 cryptocurrencies that reached new highs this month included Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Avalanche (AVAX).
- Cosmos is a blockchain network aimed to create an interoperable, decentralized communication system between various blockchains.
- Like Algorand (ALGO), Cosmos is designed to overcome the blockchain trilemma (decentralization, security, scalability).
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 Topps announced a new series of NFT MLB trading cards for September. The 2021 Topps MLB Inception NFT Collection will launch a Topps-specific NFT platform built on the Avalanche (AVAX) blockchain. More: - Topps' first release, the 2021 Series 1 baseball cards, were made available through the WAX blockchain.
- A spokesperson from Topps said the move to the Avalanche was because of the blockchain’s dedication to reducing its environmental impact and its compatibility with Ethereum.
- Last month, the MLB ended its 69-year deal with Topps as the exclusive producer of MLB trading cards. A new deal with Fanatics is expected to begin in 2025.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria partnered with Bitt Inc. for the development of a Nigerian CBDC. With Bitt Inc. supporting Nigeria in its development, the central bank expects a pilot CBDC to launch as soon as Oct. 1. More: - The “e-Naira” is expected to be non-interest-bearing and implement transaction limits for customers.
- Transfers from user-to-merchant and P2P wallet transactions will not require transaction fees to be expected.
- Bitt Inc. previously worked on the development of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s DCash CBDC.
- A spokesperson from the central bank stated that they decided to partner with Bitt Inc. because of its proven track record with creating and launching CBDCs and other digital assets.
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- New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Adrienne Harris, a former Obama-era fintech regulator, to lead the New York Department of Financial Services.
- Simone Biles will release an NFT collection on Autograph and join Autograph’s advisory board on Thursday.
- iHeartMedia announced an NFT collection created by Cory Van Lew ahead of the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.
- Financial authorities in Slovenia proposed a 10% tax on crypto-related activities.
- Find out how 90% of enterprise software vendors reported growth in on-prem sales over the past 5 years.*
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Upcoming Events - September 2 – A SPACES Conversation with Anand Iyer (Set A Reminder)
- September 8-11 – LTX Quest: Meet thousands of leading Latinx professionals at the largest Latinx networking event in the world. (Free ticket on us)*
- September 15 – Psychedelic Medicine: Fad or Phenom? (Register Here)
- September 21 – AMA with Katie Stanton of Moxxie Ventures (Register Here)
- September 29 – Livestream Shopping: The rise of the next billion-dollar industry (Register Here)
- October 6 – Design for Startups (Register Here)
- October 26-27 – Meet our Fund Fall ’21 Cohort (Register Here)
Want to see all of our upcoming events? Visit us at https://inside.com/events DID YOU KNOW WE'RE HIRING? *This is a sponsored post
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 |  | Griffin McShane is a J.D. candidate currently living in Portland, Maine. He is a graduate of Providence College, where he studied both computer science and business. Griffin aspires one day to go to the moon and bring some of his altcoins along for the ride. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
Opticon21 promises a day of high-profile speakers and industry-shaping digital leaders. | |
Clearco provides up to $10M in equity-free capital for e-commerce and SaaS companies looking to grow their business while retaining ownership. | |
