Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has released a new tool to track transactions across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and multiple blockchains. Chainalysis launched a beta version of its Storyline software on Wednesday. Touted as a “Web3-native blockchain analysis tool,” Storyline aims to track and visualize smart contract transactions with a focus on nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and DeFi platforms. This is in line with the growing popularity and prevalence of NFTs and DeFi in the cryptocurrency space over the past year. Chainalysis provides blockchain analysis and annual reports on cryptocurrency crime trends and other analytics. The ever-changing landscape has seen DeFi and …

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups with a focus on Web3, saying it believes “Games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse.” Dubbed Games Fund One, the fund will invest in three main areas: game studios, consumer applications — which support player communities, with Discord used as an example — and gaming infrastructure providers. The a16z team said “The coming Metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies” and that the industry has already “solved many of the problems that need to be solved …

Tally Labs, a Web3 media company that oversees the business operations and infrastructural software development of Jenkins the Valet — a fictional nonfungible token (NFT) project orientated around the life of a Bored Ape character — has announced a seed funding round to the value of $12 million. The company has pledged to utilize the funds to expand the intellectual property and commercialization of Jenkins the Valet to a broader spectrum of entertainment mediums and hire for six newly-posted United States/remote job roles. The fund compiles a list of 19 investors, both venture capital and individual investors, who were consciously …

As the world accelerates towards a decentralized future, Fireblocks, a digital assets custody platform, announced the launch of their new Web3 Engine to help foster the development of the Web3 ecosystem. The company announced on Tuesday that the dedicated Web3 engine includes a set of tools for developers to create products and services in decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Fireblocks has also opened up a world of decentralized apps (DApps), exchanges, NFT marketplaces and more for alternative asset managers and capital market participants. "Web3 is the future," said Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, adding that "we’ve already …

Pocket Network, a relay infrastructure middleware protocol, announced a service integration to improve the network bandwidth of NEAR blockchain while enabling faster deployment times for Web3 developers. According to Pocket Network, the latest integration with NEAR allows native developers to deploy their applications on other supported blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Fuse, Avalanche, Harmony and Polygon. In addition, by having integrations with multiple blockchains, NEAR developers can overcome concerns regarding single points of failure due to bottlenecks or other service disruptions. Pocket Network aims to accomplish 100% up-time for projects via a globally distributed network of over 47,000 full nodes that …

Gaming giant Square Enix has revealed in its Q1 earnings report that it will expand nonfungible tokens (NFTs) into more game products as part of its medium-term business strategy in 2022. Square Enix (SE) is a Japanese game developer with $3 billion in assets under management, according to its latest earnings report. The firm owns the Final Fantasy property and sold the Tomb Raider franchise for $300 million on May 3. The report states that the firm piloted NFTs on the Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur game starting in February this year. The success of the pilot program will lead to the …

For most casual digital asset investors, the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade promises to be a game-changing event that will improve efficiency, reduce network costs and propel the entire blockchain and crypto space closer to a Web3 reality. Ethereum has been struggling with a lack of scalability and skyrocketing gas fees, and since it serves as the largest smart contract and DApp development platform, the move to a more reliable and scalable proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain will be a welcome reprieve. Unbeknownst to most casual investors, however, Polkadot's Substrate platform has been making massive inroads in the development of a parallel decentralized internet …

London-based asset manager Fasanara Capital has launched a $350 million investment fund to back fintech and cryptocurrency startups that can deliver new use cases for the emerging Web3 economy. The company, which manages $3.5 billion in assets, is targeting early-stage startups in the fintech and crypto spheres. It plans to establish long-term relationships with project founders and other industry veterans. This includes potentially larger equity commitments than traditional venture capital firms. Founded in 2011, Fasanara Capital is a fintech investment firm increasingly specialized in digital assets and lending technologies. The company is regulated by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority …

A transition to Web3 and the metaverse have been a topic of conversation for a while now, meaning both market participants and ordinary users already recognize the value blockchain can deliver. However, despite the benefits being heavily communicated, the entry threshold is much too high for the average user, often requiring special training, experienced consultants and other state-of-the-art resources to actually do so. Consider that in a Web3 setting, monetizing activities, creating games and holding events incorporates underlying blockchain and token technology, which requires a learning curve for those without experience. Not to mention, the extensive business opportunities are significant …

As the Fair Data Society puts it, we are laborers in the data economy. Our personal data — basically, the digital blueprint of our lives — gets collected by platforms we interact with, most often in a non-transparent way. At best, it is used to improve our user experience. At worst, our privacy gets breached, monetized and even weaponized against us. It all started with the emergence and growth of the user-generated web, as seemingly free social media networks, search engines and companies saw a new opportunity of profiting and went into the business of gathering, storing, analyzing and selling …

Google’s cloud unit announced on Friday the formation of an internal team that will build services for blockchain developers and those running blockchain-based applications. This comes amid an explosion of interest, activity and adoption of crypto and Web3 tools from traditional sectors of the economy. Web3 infrastructure of the future Vice president at Google Cloud, Amit Zavery, reportedly told his team in an email on Friday of the aim to make the Google Cloud platform the first choice for developers in Web3. Google Cloud is the company’s suite of cloud computing services, on which all Google-related projects run. As per …

Ready Games, provider of developer and creator tools for the Web3 community, will launch a new ecosystem with the goal of incentivizing Web2 game creators to explore and switch to Web3 with minimal development time and cost while distributing games “as normal” through traditional app stores. On Friday, the company announced the launch of the ecosystem that will include the utility token AURA and a set of developer tools, specifically aimed at bringing mobile Web2 games into Web3 in compliance with Apple and Google app stores’ rules. This process took only five days in the ecosystem’s Alpha version, Ready Games …