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Quick Take

• Gemini is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, wallet, and custodian for digital assets established in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
• NFTs, gaming, and the metaverse, an emerging market of late, has been an area of focus since its acquisition of Nifty Gateway in 2019
• The establishment of Gemini Frontier Fund this year has resulted in an increasing number of investments in the crypto ecosystem by the exchange. In total, Gemini has made four acquisitions and 15 investments across nine verticals, which The Block has mapped out

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Quick Take

• In the “Building Blocks” series, we dive into the mechanics and developments behind major areas of Web3 as part of a larger effort toward a general categorization system of Web3
• Here, we look at storage, a relatively established area of Web3, and wireless networks, a rapidly emerging new use case for blockchain technology 
• Our main analytical method is category representation by exemplars – here, we examine IPFS as an exemplar case of Web3 storage and Helium as an exemplar case of Web3 wireless networks 

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Quick Take

• The Block has been analyzing political donations from within the crypto space.
• This report outlines the top donors to US political campaigns, drawing on 2021 data.

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U.S.-based crypto exchange FTX US signed on four more professional American sports teams through a partnership with their management company, Monumental Sports Entertainment (MSE), on Monday, according to an MSE release. 

FTX US is now the exclusive crypto exchange and non-fungible token (NFT) partner for MSE and its properties – adding to FTX US’s list of brands on its sports and entertainment-focused NFT marketplace launched on August 2. 

The four athletic professional sports teams newly bolstering FTX US’s roster include the Washington Wizards men’s basketball team, Washington Mystics women’s basketball team, the Capital City Go-Go basketball team and the Washington Capitals hockey team. FTX US also now has access to competitive e-sports teams Washington District Gaming and Caps Gaming, as well as the Washington, D.C-based Capital One Arena. 

FTX US’s new partnership makes the second sports partnership the crypto firm made this month. On December 14, FTX US had partnered with the Golden State Warriors to become the basketball team’s primary marketplace for forthcoming NFT sales. And FTX US’s parent company signed on the University of Kentucky basketball team to its platform just a month prior on November 3.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange FTX, joins The Scoop to close out 2021 in a two-part episode that explores the origin story of the increasingly ubiquitous trading venue, Bankman-Fried’s worldview, and what he expects for the digital asset market in the year to come.

We begin with Part 1, during which the former Jane Street trader and Stanford graduate harkens back to the precious beginnings of FTX, spun out of Alameda Research, a trading firm he also founded. 

Bankman-Fried also explained why the firm was launched in the first place back in 2019. 

“What it really was, was saying, OK here’s a business [that’s] making $1 billion-plus a year collectively at the time, which we understand deeply,” he said. “They were just not well built. The number of problems they had were enormous. Losing millions of dollars a day in customer funds … the risk engines just didn’t work. And you could see why.”

As Bankman-Fried recalled, some back-of-envelope math played a role in the decision-making process. He said he considered what the expected value of an exchange could be and figured that the odds of success were non-trivial:

“I don’t know exactly how high, but definitely not close to zero, so fuck, it let’s do it. That was basically the chain of logic there. Eighty percent chance we fail to ever get a user. If we do get users then there is a 50% chance that it goes pretty well.”

During this episode, Bankman-Fried and Chaparro also explore:

• FTX’s marketing campaigns and the underpinning ethos of its advertising strategy 
• How memes differentiate FTX from its competitors
• Why FTX wants to take a very different approach to public relations than most companies 
• The regulatory environment in crypto and why Bankman-Fried doesn’t think the conversation is partisan 
• Whether a crackdown on stablecoins is a potential concern for FTX

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

On December 20, Elad Roisman, a Republican commissioner on the Securities and Exchange Commission, announced that he will be stepping down at the end of January. 

A Trump appointee, Roisman has served at the SEC since 2018, including a brief tenure as acting chairman in the months before President Biden took office and appointed Gary Gensler.

Roisman’s term formally lasts until 2023. His announcement gave limited details as to his plans or reasoning, simply calling his tenure “the greatest privilege of my professional life.”

The news is part of a shift in the dynamics of the agency. Roisman and colleague Hester Peirce have publicly disagreed with Gensler’s resource allocation, and especially its revisiting of old rules rather than putting out new guidance for emerging areas like digital assets. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Cryptocurrency deal-making clocked in record volumes after a frenzied year for merger and acquisitions, with approximately $6.1 billion in M&A volume driven by crypto-native, finance, and technology companies. 

As noted by The Block Research’s 2022 Digital Asset Outlook report, M&A transactions hit a record high for the sector with more than 197 acquisitions so far this year. That growth represents a nearly 130% increase compared to last year, which clocked in 85 transactions.

The surge in dealmaking has been fueled by both crypto companies acquiring rivals that offer services that expand their bread and butter offerings. For instance, Coinbase — which is best known for its brokerage and exchange businesses — snapped up Bison Trails for an undisclosed amount at the beginning of the year to expand into blockchain infrastructure services. Plus, Galaxy announced it would acquire financial services provider BitGo in a $1 billion-plus transaction. That deal is expected to close next quarter. 

It’s not just crypto companies either. 

Credit card company Mastercard announced its acquisition of crypto sleuthing company CipherTrace, while popular equities broker Robinhood announced its first crypto acquisition in December. 

“Non-crypto businesses are beginning to make strategic moves to position themselves, both offensively and defensively, as crypto and blockchain-based applications, commonly referred to as dApps, emerge,” an email sent to clients by boutique M&A consultancy firm Architect Partners noted. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

WhaleFin represents the next generation digital asset platform that grows in lockstep with investors, as they embark on their digital wealth journey in a decentralized future

Amber Group, a global leader in digital assets, today announced the launch of WhaleFin, its flagship digital asset platform that is uniquely positioned to empower mainstream investors to build wealth in the digital era and further democratize access to the world of crypto finance. Built with the deep expertise that Amber Group has developed serving both institutional and retail markets, WhaleFin is an all-in-one platform that bridges the demands from both markets, serving as the preferred gateway to crypto for users, regardless of their experience.

The launch of WhaleFin marks an important milestone for Amber Group, delivering on its mission to unlock the value of crypto finance for individuals and organizations, at a time when digital assets are gaining mainstream acceptance and adoption across global financial ecosystems. Designed with universality in mind, the WhaleFin combines institutional-grade features of the Amber Pro, launched in 2019, with the intuitive user interface and features of the Amber App, launched in 2020.

“The concept of wealth has changed radically over the last few years and there is an urgent need for investors to rethink the way they build wealth in a future that is increasingly digital and decentralized”, said Michael Wu, CEO and Co-founder of Amber Group. “WhaleFin represents the gateway into the new world of finance, one that will be underpinned by the growth of the metaverse and the rising prominence of digital assets. At Amber Group, we are incredibly excited to help shape this decentralized future, as we onboard investors at all levels into the world of crypto finance.”

With WhaleFin, all users can now access institutional-grade digital asset trading tools through a seamless interface on both web browser and mobile app. The platform comes in two versions to cover the full spectrum of investing needs – the ‘pro’ version lends comprehensive trading features for diversified investing activities, while the ‘lite’ version enables crypto beginners to buy, earn and swap digital assets simply and securely.

Beyond empowering users with the best tools to make sound investment decisions, WhaleFin also empowers users with the opportunity to invest in a sustainable future. WhaleFin plans to harness resources from across the industry to support public education campaigns on the climate crisis as well as to mobilise communities to take action for our planet.

For more information about WhaleFin, please click here. Due to regulatory reasons, WhaleFin does not currently support or provide services to customers from some jurisdictions.

About Amber Group

Amber Group is a leading digital asset platform operating globally with offices in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The firm provides a full range of digital asset services spanning investing, financing, and trading. Amber is backed by prominent investors including Paradigm, Dragonfly, Pantera, Polychain, Sequoia, and Tiger Global.
For more information, please visit www.ambergroup.io, or contact them at pr@ambergroup.io.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Voyager Digital, the publicly listed crypto brokerage, announced Monday that it has added Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitfury and former CEO of US-based crypto exchange BinanceUS, to its board of directors.

Brooks also served as acting Comptroller of the Currency during the Trump administration, working in that role between May 2020 and January 2021. He was also chief legal officer for Coinbase between 2018 and 2020.

“Brian’s extensive background as an executive at major crypto companies and as the leader of important government regulatory initiatives in the crypto space will help propel the growth of digital assets and Voyager’s business,” Philip Eytan, Voyager’s chairman, said in a statement.

Brooks departed BinanceUS following a three-month stint. Bitfury announced that it had brought in Brooks to serve as CEO early last month.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Staking provider Figment has raised $110 million in a Series C funding round, with a $1.4 billion post-money valuation. This comes at a time when crypto staking firms are raking in the cash, due to the boom in prices for staking-based coins.

The funding round was led by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which manages more than $91 billion in assets and has started building a growth investing business aimed at crypto and fintech.

Other participants include Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global, ParaFi Capital, Avon Ventures and crypto exchanges Binance, Bitstamp, and Binance.US.

The funding will help the company add support for staking across more proof-of-stake blockchains and hire more developers.

A booming industry

The proliferation of proof-of-stake blockchains, in combination with a big surge in prices this year, has resulted in a gold rush for crypto staking companies. 

Figment itself is seeing $10 million in revenue per month, with a projected revenue of around $100 million this year. It runs validators on more than 50 blockchains and looks after $7.5 billion in assets — taking a cut from all staking revenue that gets generated.

“The majority of our staking revenue comes from our institutional clients, with some earning from retail delegators as well since a lot of our validators are public. We do stake tokens that are on our balance sheet, but it is nowhere near the majority of our revenue,” said Clayton Menzel, head of protocols and opportunities at Figment.

At the same time, costs are low. Menzel said the main costs are staffing, equipment and insurance premiums. “It can be fairly profitable in terms of revenue in comparison to base cost. On some networks, you’ll see upwards of tens of millions of dollars a year if you’re doing well,” he said.

Figment previously raised $50 million in a Series B funding round in August. That round was co-led by Senator Investment Group and Liberty City Ventures.

The staking provider has also launched an investment arm, Figment Capital, which will focus on investing in the crypto industry. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.