Bitwise Asset Management announced on Oct. 3 a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) to both institutional and retail investors, giving them access to companies "positioned to benefit" from Web3 growth. Bitwise in a statement said it marks "the next wave of the internet's development characterized by greater decentralization and individual ownership of data." We have exciting news! Today we launched the Bitwise Web3 ETF (BWEB), a fund designed to provide focused exposure to one of the fastest-emerging themes in technology. For more information about the fund, go to: https://t.co/8rjQbwFJrM pic.twitter.com/RumkXViGl8 — Bitwise (@BitwiseInvest) October 4, 2022 Traded under the ticker BWEB, …

Crypto-focused investment firm M31 Capital has launched a new investment fund dedicated to Web3 companies, further underscoring the industry’s shift toward decentralized internet projects. The M31 Capital Web3 Opportunity Fund will invest up to $100 million in token projects and private equity opportunities within Web3, the company announced Tuesday. Initially, the fund will invest in projects building decentralized internet infrastructure and applications. Presumably, the new investment vehicle will be a “liquid venture fund,” a structure that gives investors liquidity after only a 12-month lock-up period. M31 clarified that it has already secured $50 million in commitments from investors and will …

A blockchain project that's building an ecosystem for the future of NFTs, gaming and the Metaverse has unveiled an exciting new partnership. Funganomics has signed a marketing partnership agreement with Polygon Studios — and plan to work together closely in the coming years. It's being described as a perfect fit. While Polygon has over 39,000 projects in its ecosystem, Funganomics boasts a wide array of exciting technologies. Work is currently taking place on a new Layer 2 solution for Funganomics that's set to deliver scalability, sustainability and reduced infrastructure costs. At the beating heart of this crypto project is Fungatopia, …

Uber is a staple of the gig economy, for better or worse, and a disruptor that once sent shockwaves throughout the mobility space. Now, however, Uber is being taken for a ride. The company is handling a reportedly far-reaching cybersecurity breach. According to the ride-hailing giant, the attacker has not been able to access sensitive user data, or at least, there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Whether or not sensitive user data was exposed, this case points to a persistent issue with today’s apps. Can we continue to sacrifice our data — and thereby our privacy and security — …

Tennis legend Maria Sharapova appeared at the Binance Blockchain Week Paris 2022 to share her interest in nonfungible tokens (NFTs). During an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Sharapova mentioned that “she is exposing herself to this new world of crypto and Web3,” noting that the sector will help her better engage with her fans. Sharapova was also one of the strategic investors behind MoonPay’s Series A financing round, yet she mentioned that she aims to bridge her personal experiences to the digital world moving forward. Cointelegraph: What are you doing here today at Binance Blockchain Week Paris? Maria Sharapova: I’m crypto …

On Sept. 30, NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Spaces hosted by Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond, met with Mashiat Mutmainnah to discuss how regenerative finance (ReFi) can provide more accessibility and inclusivity to blockchain technology. As a "mission-driven movement," Mutmainnah explains that ReFi enables users to redefine their relationship with the current financial system and their relationship with finance and wealth. Currently, in many countries, millions of people lack basic, equitable access to the financial services that would allow them to meet their daily needs. What if there were newer models that could sustainably alleviate this? According to Mutmainnah, ReFi …

The company behind the Spartan Race has released a nonfungible token (NFT) collection which will immortalize the names of the initial holders in stone, with plans to build a 35 foot (10.5 meter) statue in Ancient Sparta encircled with 15,000 name-engraved stones. Spartan founder and CEO Joe De Sena plans to bury his ashes under his stone at the site dubbed the “Spartan 300 Memorial” which will pay homage to the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartans were killed. Of the 15,000 NFTs, 300 will be “Super Rare” with holders of that NFT type given the option of …

On Sept. 29, global music and entertainment company Warner Music Group (WMG) announced a partnership with nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, Opensea, to provide a platform for select musical artists to build and extend their fanbase into the Web3 community. According to the release, the collaboration between these two entities will allow select WMG artists to get early access to Opensea’s newly rolled-out feature, which enables artists to launch their NFT collections and limited-edition projects on their own customizable and dedicated drop pages. These WMG artists will have access to personalized storytelling on customized landing pages, as well as, to OpenSea’s …

Web3 is the buzzword that's on everyone's lips — but when you put the mania aside for a moment, there's a burning question that needs to be asked: Can these projects fully replace Web2… and what stands in the way of this happening? The likes of Google and Facebook have made a killing during the Web2 era, amassing billions of dollars in profits and a profound influence over the shape of the internet. But their continued influence is far from guaranteed. The 30-year history of the web is littered with the collapses of once-indestructible companies… MySpace being a notable example. …

After a series of successful high-priced nonfungible token (NFT) sales, Christie’s has launched its own dedicated NFT "on-chain auction platform," allowing auctions to be carried out fully on-chain on the Ethereum network. The 256-year-old British auction giant, which is also the second-largest auction house in the world by fine-art auction revenue, said its “Christie’s 3.0” allows for NFT auctions to be conducted entirely on the ETH network “from start to finish.” “All transactions, including post-sale, will be automatically recorded on the blockchain.” In its past NFT auctions, the payments from the winning bidder were not always conducted on a blockchain, …

Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood announced the launch of Robinhood Wallet, a self-custody, Web3 wallet, with Polygon (MATIC) as its first supported blockchain. Robinhood launched the beta version of its Web3 wallet on iOS and is being made available to the first 10,000 users that joined the waitlist on May 2022. Hosted first over the Polygon blockchain, Robinhood Wallet allows users to trade and swap cryptocurrencies with no network fees. Sharing his thoughts on the crypto wallet’s launch, Johann Kerbrat, CTO of Robinhood Crypto - Robinhood’s crypto trading platform said: “Like we did with the stock market, Robinhood Wallet …

What we have today in terms of Web3 gaming is not working. Play-to-earn has not worked and neither will play-to-earn or any X-to/and-earn. On top of that, traditional gamers view nonfungible tokens (NFTs) with suspicion. They dunk on expensive apes and are skeptical of large game publishers applying the lipstick of NFTs for further monetization. Nobody knows what a successful Web3 game will look like yet. To get there, we need more developers to experiment with more models. We need infrastructure that will lower the barriers to Web3 game development and make it easy for developers to experiment. That’s why …