7-Day Market Moves

BTC delivered a 12.89% gain over the past week, according to CoinMarketCap. ETH trailed but still held up a 7.18% weekly increase. Most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptos slipped except for Tron, which saw a 0.63% uptick in the last day. Solana took the hardest hit, dropping 5% and reducing its weekly gain to 1.52%.

Analysts are forecasting a sunny July for BTC. Looking at past performance, they anticipate the cryptocurrency could hit between $33,000 and $36,000 by August.

This week's U.S. macro indicators include home sales, consumer confidence reports, and jobless claims. All ears will be on the Fed’s Jerome Powell, who's scheduled to speak at the European Central Bank Forum and the Banco de España Fourth Conference on Financial Stability. With U.S. interest rates at 5% to 5.25% (the highest since 2006), investors are holding their breath for potential rate hikes. Powell reinforced this sentiment last week, affirming consensus for more increases this year.

The CME FedWatch Tool adds fuel to this fire, predicting a 75.6% likelihood of another 25-basis-point rate hike, and a 24.4% chance rates will stay the course at the next meeting on July 26. Get ready for a long week ahead!

The Push and Pull at the Top

Bitcoin (BTC), now at $30,273, is wrestling with a double top resistance at $31,000, stirring worries of a possible price correction. Despite a minor 1% dip in the last day, BTC's market cap remains at $587 billion.

Current technical indicators suggest weakened bullish momentum, hinting at a potential drop towards $29,600 or possibly $28,250. However, a break above $31,000 could propel BTC towards $32,500 or even $34,000. Both RSI and MACD are in neutral territory, signalling a balanced market condition.

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Software Giant SAP, Experiments with USDC for Cross-border Payments

TL: DR

• SAP trials cross-border payments using USDC on Ethereum's testnet.
• The aim is to tackle issues of slow and costly cross-border transactions.
• SAP plans to integrate this system into its mid-market ERP solutions.

The global software giant SAP has started testing cross-border payments using USDC, on Ethereum's Goerli testnet. The goal of the experiment is to improve the speed, costs, and transparency of international transactions.

Bernhard Schweizer, the project lead of SAP Digital Currency Hub, stated that businesses worldwide are invited to participate in this trial, during which they will use test coins on the Goerli testnet to make and receive payments. The goal is to assess market interest and gather feedback on the solution.

As part of its long-term plans, SAP intends to incorporate blockchain-based payment processes into its mid-market enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, facilitating seamless issuance and payment of invoices using digital currencies. In addition, SAP is exploring further cryptocurrency solutions for potential applications in areas like commerce and employee payments.

In other news,

• Swiss authorities freeze $26M worth of Do Kwon, Terraform Labs crypto assets. Read more.
• HSBC Hong Kong now lets customers trade bitcoin and ether ETFs. Read more.

AI startup Kaito Raises $5.5 Million for a Crypto-Focused Search Engine

TL: DR

• AI startup Kaito raised $5.5 million in Series A funding for a crypto-focused search engine, pushing its valuation to $87.5 million.
• The search engine uses large language models (LLMs) to fill data gaps in the crypto space left by existing tools.
• The round was led by Superscrypt and Spartan, following a previous $5.3 million raise.
• Kaito's AI provided an insightful analysis of the potential impact of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF launch on Bitcoin.

Kaito has successfully secured $5.5 million in a Series A funding round. This raise stirs the startup's valuation to a frothy $87.5 million. Despite the bitter crypto winter, Kaito is harnessing the warmth of AI to develop a search engine designed exclusively for the crypto industry.

The Beta was launched last week to a thirsty audience of 35,000 waitlisted users, Kaito's search engine is a blend of large language models (LLMs) and real-time access to a rich menu of data sources from the web. "Existing tools, like ChatGPT, lack the ability to tap into a myriad of off-chain crypto-specific information silos or on-chain data, leaving a void in the crypto space," explained Kaito's founder and CEO, Yu Hu. However, LLMs like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard are adept at comprehending and generating human-like texts, making complex concepts easily digestible.

The funding round was led by early-stage crypto venture capital firms Superscrypt and Spartan, following a $5.3 million fundraising round in February led by tech VC Dragonfly with Sequoia Capital China and Jane Street participating.

In other news,

• Amazon shelves $100M for Generative AI startups. Read more.

Binance Continues to Withdraw from European Markets

TL: DR

• Binance withdraws its license application in Austria, marking another European exit.
• The company faces allegations from the US SEC of selling unregistered securities and mishandling funds.
• Binance closed operations in Canada and encountered regulatory issues in Australia.
• Despite these hurdles, Binance is committed to meeting European Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) requirements by next year.

It’s another dead end for Binance, which has reportedly withdrawn its license application in Austria, marking yet another European exit. The exchange has remained circumspect about this closure yet, reaffirmed its commitment to compliance across all regions of operation and focusing on meeting requirements of the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) in Europe by next year's end.

This move follows Binance's recent withdrawal from the Netherlands and Cyprus due to licensing issues. However, Binance's regulatory challenges are not confined to Europe. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a suit against the company and its CEO,CZ, accusing them of selling unregistered securities and mishandling customer funds. Binance denies these allegations, labelling the suit as "unjustified."

In May, Binance also closed its operations in Canada citing local restrictions on stablecoin use. The crypto exchange also encountered regulatory issues in Australia where the Australian Securities and Investments Commission stripped Binance Australia of its derivatives license, causing the exchange to suspend certain Australian dollar deposits for PayID transfers. As Binance grapples with regulatory hurdles worldwide, its global presence continues to diminish.

In other news,

• Hut 8 receives $50 Million credit facility from Coinbase. Read more.
• Bybit secures Cyprus crypto license weeks after Binance withdrawal. Read more.

Chiru Labs Launches New NFT Collection: Azuki Elementals

TL: DR

• Chiru Labs launches Azuki Elementals, adding 20,000 NFTs to the Azuki universe.
• Half of the Elementals were airdropped to current Azuki holders, the rest are for public sale.
• Elementals represent four mythical elements, with randomized rarity traits.
• Azuki collection boasts $1 billion trading volume; related Beanz NFTs add $273 million.

Chiru Labs, the creators of Ethereum NFT collection Azuki, are introducing a new series, Azuki Elementals which includes 20,000 fresh NFTs. The existing Azuki NFT owners have already received a token for an Elemental through an airdrop, leaving the rest for public sale. The Elementals will be auctioned in a Dutch auction, starting at 2 ETH (approximately $3,750) each, with prices dropping every 5 minutes until sold out. Both Azuki and Beanz NFT owners will have exclusive 10-minute pre-sale windows before the public auction.

The details surrounding Elementals remain mostly undisclosed, but the collection's slogan, ”Four Domains, One Garden,” seems to refer to a mythical landscape with four different elements: fire, water, earth, and lightning. These 20,000 Elemental NFTs will have randomized attributes of different rarity levels, and they will be distributed randomly during the pre-sale and public sale periods.

The Azuki collection has been a major hit, emerging as the highest-ranking new, original NFT project in terms of trading volume in 2022, generating over $1 billion, according to CryptoSlam. Beanz NFTs, a collection related to Azuki, account for another $273 million in secondary sales. Following this success, Chiru Labs is already in a partnership with Line Friends, a well-known media and merchandise company, and is working on more collaborations.

In other news,

• MetaBirkins permanently barred from selling Birkin-inspired collectibles. Read more.

RBL Labs at Collision 2023

The highly anticipated Collision Conference 2023 has kicked off in Toronto, bringing together the crème de la crème of the tech world. Among the attendees is RBL Labs, a pioneering Web 3 gaming studio known for their innovative Play2Earn NFT card game, LegendsofCrypto (LOCGame). Led by Founder and CEO Mik Mironov, the RBL Labs team is ready to network, forge strategic partnerships, and showcase the captivating LOCGame.

Described as the 'Olympics of tech,' Collision Conference is a massive gathering of tech enthusiasts. Taking place at the Enercare Centre in Toronto from June 26 to June 29, the event is expected to draw around 40,000 attendees and over 2,000 startups. As part of the Dutch Trade Delegation, RBL Labs aims to seize this golden opportunity to connect with influential industry players, investors, and visionaries.

Mythical Games Raises $37M in Series C Funding

TL: DR

• Mythical Games secures $37M in Series C1 funding, expecting an additional $20-30M this year.
• The company aims to reach profitability within a year, skipping a Series D round.
• NFT elements are being added to their NFL Rivals game, which has 1M+ downloads.
• Mythical is discussing with Apple and Google about integrating the NFT marketplace into the app.

Mythical Games has secured $37 million in a Series C1 funding round, with an additional injection of $20-30 million expected by year-end. The round was led by Scytale Digital and included participation from both new investors like ARK Invest, Animoca Brands, MoonPay, Proof, and Stanford Athletics, and existing investors like Andreessen Horowitz. According to CEO John Linden, more strategic investors are in negotiations for further funding expected later in 2023.

In November 2021, Mythical Games raised a $150 million Series C round and gained a unicorn status with a $1.25 billion valuation. The firm, known for titles like NFL Rivals and Blankos Block Party, did not pursue a Series D this time due to similar terms to the Series C. The recent funding maintains the firm's unicorn valuation, but no details were provided about any changes in valuation. The funding is targeted at driving the company towards profitability, expected within the next 12 months.

The company is seeing success with its mobile game NFL Rivals, which has over 1 million downloads on iOS and Android. Mythical is working to integrate NFT elements into the game and educating players on the benefits of such assets. Additionally, negotiations are ongoing with Apple and Google to bring the NFT marketplace directly into the NFL Rivals app, despite the tech giants' policies on NFTs. Looking ahead, the company is planning to launch the NFT-based mobile game Nitro Nation World Tour and migrate the Mythical Chain to Polkadot.

In other news,

• Move-to-Earn app Sweat Economy appoints new Chief Walking Officer (CWO). Read more.