Some of the biggest companies in the world are expected to report their 2Q earnings in October, including electric automaker Tesla on Oct. 18. Tech giants Meta and Microsoft on Oct. 24, Apple and Amazon on Oct. 26, and Google on Oct. 30. Currently, the possibility of an even more severe global economic slowdown is on the cards and lackluster profits could further add to the uncertainty. Given the unprecedented nature of the U.S. Federal Reserve tightening and mounting macroeconomic uncertainties, investors are afraid that corporate profitability will start to deteriorate. In addition, persistent inflation continues to force businesses to …

Web3 and tech companies participated in a funding round for a data platform called Space and Time that aims to transform central databases into trustless data sources powered by smart contracts. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Space and Time mentioned that they’ve raised $20 million in strategic funding from investors like Microsoft's M12 fund, the venture capital arm of Microsoft, Avalanche and Polygon. In addition to these, investors also included Framework Ventures, HashKey, Foresight Ventures, SevenX Ventures, Stratos, Hash CIB, Coin DCX and other Web3 communities and angel investors. Nate Holiday, the co-founder and CEO of Space and Time, …

A recent report from the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) highlights how the Ethereum ecosystem has matured to a point where the network can be used by businesses to solve real-world problems. From supply chain management use cases to payment solutions utilized by companies like Visa and PayPal, the report demonstrates how the Ethereum network has grown to become one of the most valued public blockchains. Although notable, the EEA report also points out that the rapid growth of the Ethereum ecosystem has created a number of challenges for companies, specifically regarding energy consumption, scalability and privacy. For example, the document …

Tech billionaire, and currently the world’s fourth-richest person, Bill Gates, spoke at the TechCrunch Climate Change conference Tuesday about the progress society has made in supporting the climate movement, his assessment of current global economics, alongside his skepticism of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The NFT market has closely correlated the tumultuous financial decline of cryptocurrencies over the past few months, as previously sought-after collections resort in the vicinity of 60%–80% reductions in value. As a result, cynical attitudes have emerged to dominate the industry narrative. In his interview, Gates singled out the market's most popular collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club, sarcastically …

Lacoste launches NFTs and DAO Accessible luxury brand Lacoste has launched a nonfungible token (NFT) project named Undw3 that includes a new decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that will offer token holders voting power on certain products and business partnerships. There are 11,212 NFTs in total — in a nod to the firm’s popular polo shirt L1212 — that were sold for a mint price of 0.08 Ether (ETH) or roughly $96 each on June 14. The NFTs depict an animated alligator that pokes the top of its head out from underwater. The collectibles appear to have had reasonable demand, as …

Ether’s (ETH) market structure continues to be bearish despite the failed attempt to break the descending channel resistance at $2,000 on May 31. This three-week-long price formation could mean that an eventual retest of the $1,700 support is underway. On the non-crypto side, a number of equities-related factors are translating to negative sentiment in the crypto market. This week Microsoft (MSFT) lowered its profit and revenue outlook, citing challenging macroeconomic conditions. The U.S. Federal Reserve signalled in its periodic "Beige Book" that economic activity may have cooled in some parts of the country and the Fed is about to reduce …

Crypto prices have been exploring new lows for weeks and currently it's unclear what it will take to reverse the trend. Despite the downtrend, cryptocurrencies within the Polkadot (DOT) ecosystem began to rally on May 24 and have managed to maintain gains ranging from 10% to 25%, a possible sign that certain sub-sectors of the market are on the verge of a breakout. Here’s a look at three Polkadot ecosystem protocols that have seen their token prices trend higher in recent days. Acala launches a $250 million aUSD ecosystem fund Acala (ACA) is the leading decentralized finance (DeF) platform on …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and the Metaverse are three of the hottest trending topics in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and each is helping the world slowly move toward the mass adoption of blockchain technology. One project looking to capitalize on these trends is CEEK VR (CEEK), a entertainment and creator-focused platform aiming to use virtual worlds to connect music artists, athletes and digital content creators with their fans. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since trading at a low of $0.289 on March 15, the price of CEEK has gained 123% to hit a daily high …

Metaverse startup Portals has raised fresh funds to finance its browser-based metaverse that allows people to enter without virtual reality (VR) equipment. Portals co-founder Adam Gomez told Cointelegraph that a browser-based platform lowers the barrier to enter metaverse for many people. Simply clicking a link would allow users to enter the metaverse or someone else's space. He added that users shouldn't have to get a VR headset or a gaming PC to enter or shape the metaverse. Powered by Solana blockchain, Portals metaverse works on a web browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. It allows people to build …

The stock price of popular video game store chain GameStop (GME) surged roughly 13% in one day amid rumors circulating online regarding a partnership with Microsoft to work on NFT gaming. At the time of writing, GME sits at $115.60 as of market close on Feb. 8 and has also held around that level in after-hours trading according to data from TradingView. GME started February at around the $100 region and has been pumping this month on the back of GameStop’s partnership with NFT focused Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution Immutable X to develop its upcoming NFT marketplace. As part of …

This week’s Crypto Biz explores Microsoft’s Activision purchase, the new partnership between Coinbase and Mastercard and the latest funding news from the world of crypto. For a comprehensive breakdown of business developments over the last week, register for the full newsletter below. Microsoft enters the metaverse with Activision purchase It’s no secret that Microsoft has been eyeing its entry into the metaverse ever since Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta. The company found its perfect entry this week by acquiring gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Satya Nadella, who has served as Microsoft’s CEO since 2014, described video games as …

Microsoft Crop. is acquiring gaming giant Activision Blizzard Inc. for $69 billion as part of a move to ramp up its gaming and Metaverse plans. Activision Blizzard is home to a long list of iconic gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft and Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater. Following the deal, its games are set to be added to Microsoft Xbox’s Game Pass service that has 25 million subscribers. According to a Jan. 18 announcement from Microsoft, the firm will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share at a valuation of $68.7 billion. The deal is …