Policy

SEC Seeks Comments on Proposal to Convert GBTC to a Bitcoin Spot ETF

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking a closer look at Grayscales new notice is soliciting feedback on the proposal. The agency has taken this approach in the past, most recently with VanEck's application. The Commission has continued to extend on VanEck, including a notice soliciting comments in June of this year. Still, VanEck is the furthest proposal in the application cycle, and the agency will have to come to a final decision on November 14.

Grayscale has had plans to convert its flagship fund for some time now, announcing in February of this year that it would convert GBTC. The firm has also said it intends to convert all of its products over time.

Since then, it has installed David LaValle as global head of ETFs, the previous CEO of index provider at Alerian and once head of ETF capital markets at State Street, and outsourced some fund administration work for GBTC to BNY Mellon in preparation for the planned conversion.（The block）

Blockchain Game

Ubisoft Announces Play-To-Earn, Blockchain, And NFT Game Development Plans

Ubisoft, a French game developer and publisher, has revealed its plans to become the industry’s leading developer of projects based on the play-to-earn model.

The gaming industry is being disrupted by blockchain technology and NFTs. Though Valve previously banned blockchain and NFTs on Steam, other platforms, such as Epic Games, have become more accepting.

Now it appears that Ubisoft wants to be a part of the action. The company not only invested in Animoca Brands, a blockchain gaming company, but also announced plans to incorporate blockchain technology into future video games. It should be noted, however, that the company’s plans remain hazy to this day.

Play-to-earn is a hazy concept in which game developers give away cryptocurrency in exchange for playing a game. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot elaborated on this during the company’s most recent earnings call.

The executive, who believes blockchain is “very attractive for the long term,” stated that the company is interested in developing digital economies.

“As you see, this industry is changing regularly with lots of new revolutions happening. We consider blockchain one of those revolutions. It will imply more play-to-earn that will enable more players to actually earn content, own content, and we think it’s going to grow the industry quite a lot,” During the earnings call, Guillemot stated.

“So we have been working with lots of small companies going on the blockchain, and we’re starting to have a good know-how on how we can impact the industry. We want to be one of the key players there,” Furthermore, the CEO stated.

The company intends to use a new method of monetization known as play-to-earn, according to Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet.

“[Blockchain] will enable more play-to-earn that will enable more players to actually earn content, own content, and we think it’s going to grow the industry quite a lot. We’ve been working with lots of small companies going on blockchain and we’re starting to have a good know-how on how it can impact the industry, and we want to be one of the key players here,” Duguet stated this.

Unknown to many, Ubisoft has been experimenting with blockchain for several years. Since 2018, the company’s Strategic Innovation Lab, a division that investigates new technology such as machine learning, AI crypto, and blockchain, has been researching blockchain. (thewestnews.com)

A16z Leads $150M Round for NFT Game Platform Mythical Games at $1.25B Valuation

Mythical Games has raised $150 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) at a $1.25 billion valuation, the company announced Thursday. The firm will use the funds to expand its team, scale operations and bring new game developers to its non-fungible token (NFT) platform.

Mythical has now raised over $270 million, with $225 million of that total raised in 2021. The startup closed its $75 million Series B round in early June.

Other participants in the Series C round included Binance, FTX, D1 Capital, RedBird Capital and The Raine Group. Galaxy Interactive was among the returning investors.

A number of entertainment brands and personalities also joined the funding, including the investment vehicles of the National Football League, the band The Chainsmokers and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder.

Mythical Games opened early access for its Blankos Block Party game earlier this year. Blankos Block Party is an open-world multiplayer game focused on custom art and design, building and exploration, and curating a collection of Blankos, which are digital vinyl toys. Each Blanko is a NFT that players can sell to each other for real money on the Mythical Marketplace.

Mythical also plans to license its Mythical Marketplace and Mythical Economic Engine to other developers. Earlier this week, Mythical announced its first developer partners. The company will help fund three new play-to-earn projects for its platform: an action strategy game from publisher Abstraction Games; a racing game from Creative Mobile, the studio behind the popular Nitro Nation franchise; and a digital trading card game developed by CCG Lab.

“Players spend billions of dollars on digital assets each year, but the value of their collections has been locked away from them. Utilizing NFTs in gaming creates a whole new set of game design principles built around scarcity vs. inflationary free-to-play economies,” said John Linden, co-founder and CEO of Mythical Games, in the company’s press release.

“Mythical Games played a formative role in the development of play-to-earn concepts, and has clearly established itself as a top player among gaming technology studios, attracting mainstream players with its distinctive design and quality gameplay,” said a16z general partner Arianna Simpson in the release.（coindesk）

Metaverse

Enjin floats $100M Efinity Metaverse Fund to boost NFT marketplace

Enjin has announced the creation of a $100 million fund to boost the development of its planned metaverse.

According to the announcement issued on November 4, the fund dubbed the Efinity Metaverse Fund will be used to support gaming and non-fungible token (NFT) developers in the Enjin ecosystem.

Enjin launched the Efinity ecosystem as a blockchain for NFTs on the Polkadot network back in March. At the time, the company secured $18.9 million in a funding round led by cryptocurrency exchange service Crypto.com.

Detailing plans for the metaverse fund, Enjin said the move was a conscious effort to support a free and open metaverse.

The news comes as several major tech brands, including Facebook and Microsoft, have begun outlining metaverse-related plans of their own.（The Block）

Metaverse interactive platform Gather has raised $50 million in Series B funding, led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures

On November 4th, Gather, a meta-universe platform focused on virtual interaction, announced that it had completed a $50 million SERIES B funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures, with participation from Next Play Ventures and others. Angel investors include Figma CEO Dylan Field, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, and others. This round of funding will be used to continue developing its metasverse. Gather is a virtual interactive metaverse platform that allows users to work, socialize, and learn, as well as build custom, interactive virtual Spaces for family dinners, rock bands, birthday parties, escape rooms, lessons and even weddings. Gather previously closed A $26 million Series A round in March, led by Sequoia Capital, with other investors including Index Ventures and YC Continuity. (theblockbeats)