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The parent company of NFT-based digital property trading game Upland has completed an $18 million Series A funding round led by Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands. 

Upland was valued at $300 million in the new round.

The game, which involves buying and selling digital properties linked to real-world addresses, has already attracted more than 100,000 “landowners” that have bought more than 2 million NFTs.

The Mountain View-based gaming company will use the funding to continue building out a three-phase strategy, Upland co-founder Dirk Lueth told The Block. Right now it’s moving past a first phase focused on setting up infrastructure, which involves selling virtual land tied to addresses in cities like New York and San Francisco.

The game is currently focused on building a digital economy so that players can operate businesses. The third phase would be “mixed reality,” Lueth said.

Several other investors participated in the round, including some fresh faces. They include: OneTeam Partners, Block.one, Alumni Ventures Blockchain Fund, Global Founders Capital, former SoftBank managing partner Michael Ronen, Vorhaus Advisors’ Mike Vorhaus and Transform Group CEO Michael Terpin, among others. Frankfurt, Germany-based C3 Management also participated as a returning investor. 

Animoca Brands has been especially impressed with Upland’s focus on mobile apps and that its players can sell digital assets to one another for U.S. dollars, the venture capital firm’s co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu said in a press release. Siu will become a member of Upland’s board, Lueth said.

Upland is focused on supporting interoperability so that players can use their NFTs from elsewhere, Lueth said. Part of this is launching a NFT portal where users will be able to import NFTs from other blockchains and use them in the metaverse. This could help support things like running a digital art gallery using an NFT purchased from another marketplace, or participating in car races.

“We really want to build something where users can go between the different applications of the metaverse,” Lueth said.

© 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.

Gemini — the cryptocurrency exchange run by the Winklevoss twins — is eyeing the derivatives market. 

The firm, which offers cryptocurrency services for both institutional and retail users, is currently hiring for a director of derivatives to “build a best in class derivatives platform,” according to a job posting. 

“We are looking for a candidate with experience managing strategy & operations of exchange services in a constantly evolving business environment,” the job posting added. “The ideal candidate should have the ability to cultivate internal relationships to drive cross departmental collaboration and execution of our derivative strategy and go to market.”

Gemini isn’t the only firm looking to enter the derivatives market. In September, Coinbase filed an application with the National Futures Association to nab futures commission merchant status. Last month, FTX.US finalized its acquisition of LedgerX to offer derivatives to its clients. 

A spokeswoman for Gemini declined to comment. 

© 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 exchange FTX US has tapped former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Mark Wetjen as its head of policy and regulatory strategy, the company announced Tuesday.

The move comes at a time when the crypto industry is facing heightened scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and around the world.

• Wetjen will be responsible for FTX US’s communications with U.S. regulatory and legislative bodies, such as the CFTC, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various House and Senate Committees. He will also be advising FTX US on its compliance standards and reporting operations.
• Prior to joining FTX US, Wetjen served as a commissioner of the CFTC from 2011 to 2015 and was its acting chairman from January to June of 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. Most recently, Wetjen was the CEO of crypto exchange MIAX Futures, a position he held since the beginning of 2020.
• Wetjen also served as a member of the board of directors of LedgerX, a regulated futures exchange that was recently acquired by FTX US and rebranded as FTX US Derivatives. The deal means the exchange can move to offer crypto futures, swaps and options to U.S. retail traders.
• Wetjen will continue to serve on the board of directors of FTX US Derivatives, according to the company.
• “I look forward to helping FTX US continue expanding its product offerings in that same manner, while also advancing the regulatory conversation of the crypto landscape on behalf of FTX US,” Wetjen said in a statement.

Read more: The Revolving Door Is Good for Bitcoin

Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand’s oldest bank, has acquired a 51% stake in crypto exchange Bitkub for 17.85 billion Thai baht (around $537 million).

Bitkub announced the news on Tuesday, saying that the deal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2022, pending regulatory approval.

SCB CEO Arthit Nanthawittaya said the Bitkub acquisition will help “create new growth value in the long term amid a new financial world.”

SCB is not new to the crypto world. The bank operates a venture capital unit called SCB 10X that invests in blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) startups. SCB10X is an investor in crypto firms such as Ripple, BlockFi, and Alpha Finance.

As for Bitkub, it is one of the few licensed crypto exchanges in Thailand.

Recent spate of M&A activity

The Bitkub-SCB deal is one of the largest in crypto as mergers and acquisitions continue to grow in the space.

Yesterday, Coinbase acquired Agara, an AI-powered customer support platform, reportedly for a price range between $40 million and $50 million. Last week, NYDIG acquired British bitcoin startup Bottlepay for $300 million. Recently Mastercard acquired Ciphertrace, FTX.US acquired LedgerX, and Cboe is set to acquire crypto exchange ErisX.

© 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.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is set to launch micro ether futures on December 6, according to a statement.

At present, the CME offers trading on ether futures, with a contract size of 50 ETH ($222,000). With micro ether futures, the contract size will be much smaller, allowing for more precise trades.

“Since the launch of Ether futures in February, we have seen steady growth in liquidity in these contracts, especially among institutional traders,” said Tim McCourt, global head of equity index and alternative investment products at the CME Group, in the statement.

“At the same time, the price of ether has more than doubled since these contracts were introduced, creating demand for a micro-sized contract to make this market even more accessible to a broader range of participants. Micro Ether futures will offer even more choice and precision in how they trade Ether futures in a transparent, regulated and efficient manner at CME Group,” he said.

CME currently offers trading for bitcoin and ether futures, along with micro bitcoin futures and options on bitcoin futures. Trades are cash-settled and use CF Benchmarks reference rates.

So far, the exchange has seen all-time trading volumes of more than 675,500 ether futures, which is equivalent to 33.6 million ETH ($149 billion).

© 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.

Blockchain investment firm Sanctor Capital has raised $20 million for its inaugural fund, which will provide strategic capital and resources to blockchain-based online games (GameFi), decentralized finance (DeFi) and cross-chain infrastructure projects.

• “Our hands-on background and crypto experience gives us a unique perspective on crypto entrepreneurship,” Han Kao, founder of Crypto Briefing and Sanctor Capital, said in a press release. “We have been there before, and have done it all ourselves.”
• Sanctor Capital launched earlier this year with the goal of becoming a “sanctuary” for crypto founders. Sanctor partner Ilya Abugov previously headed research at Crypto Briefing.
• Last month, Sanctor co-led the $4.2 million funding round for Synchrony, a Solana-based, on-chain asset management protocol. Synchrony was one of the graduates of Sanctor’s Y-Combinator-style mentorship program, Sanctor Turbo.
• “While the initial boost came from decentralized finance, it’s become clear that the utility and value proposition of blockchain and crypto has now risen to a cultural significance that we could not have anticipated,” Abugov said in a statement. “We believe that this will open up the way for new entrants into the space who are rethinking the way we interact with games, art, music and so much more.”

Read more: Solana-Based DeFi Protocol Synchrony Raises $4.2M for Composable Indices

Upland, a metaverse game combining the EOS blockchain with real-world landmarks, has raised $18 million at a $300 million valuation, the company announced Tuesday.

The Series A funding round was led by Animoca Brands with participation from C3 Management, OneTeam Partners, Block.one, Alumni Ventures Blockchain Fund and Global Founders Capital at a time when Facebook (now Meta) is going big on its version of the metaverse.

Read more: Facebook Steals Another Crypto Idea for Its Nonsensical Rebrand

Upland is a mobile game that lets users buy and sell virtual land parcels that correspond to real-life property. First launched in early 2020, the game has more than 100,000 virtual landowners across 13 virtual cities and has facilitated the sales of over 2 million non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a press release.

Purchased properties are sold on a peer-to-peer market within the app using Upland’s virtual currency, with space in popular cities like New York and San Francisco being the most in demand.

At the time of writing, an apartment building-sized plot of land a few blocks from Central Park goes for around $5,000, while a similar-sized estate in a city like Bakersfield, Calif., can be purchased for less than $100.

Big congratulations to the winner of today’s Landmark Auction ‘Abdullah86sa’!🎉

They just got their hands on the beautiful Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, NY🗽 pic.twitter.com/r9VsKyDCVE

— Upland 🦙 (@UplandMe) October 8, 2021

Upland says the new funding will be used to grow the company in the U.S. and Europe, along with additional investment in brand partnerships and user acquisition. A representative told CoinDesk the game plans to unveil virtual real estate in London in the near future.

The company raised a $2 million seed round in June 2019.

Read more: ‘Monopoly’-Style Blockchain Property Trading Game Raises $2 Million

“What sets us apart is Upland’s connection to the real world in combination with engaging game mechanics driving an almost endless number of compelling use cases for NFTs,” said Dirk Lueth, co-founder of Upland. “We are proud that Animoca Brands, a clear thought leader in gaming and blockchain, led this funding round.”

Animoca Brands has been the dominant backer of metaverse gaming startups since raising $65 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in October.

Two of its recent investments include Genopets, the first ever “move-to-earn” GameFi project; and reNFT, a company creating lending protocols for NFTs with rentable use cases.

Compass Mining, the bitcoin mining service provider, signed a new 140 megawatt hosting deal with Canada’s Red Jar Digital, adding to Compass’s current 30MW capacity.

The facility will be located in Ontario, Canada and will be jointly managed. “More than doubling our current capacity with this newest deal is a big step forward in Compass Mining’s business model to provide retail bitcoin miners with the ability to compete at an institutional level,” said Compass Mining CEO Whit Gibbs.

Compass will help manage the site buildout, train the onsite staff, and provide operational oversight for the facility. The miners at the site will be ASICs or dedicated bitcoin mining computers and will come online by the end of January 2022.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again delayed its decision on approving Valkyrie’s proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

• The SEC gave notice Monday that it is extending the deadline for its decision to Jan. 7, 2022.
• The U.S. markets regulator most recently set Dec. 8 as its deadline.
• “The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised in the comment letters that have been submitted in connection therewith,” the notice said.
• While the SEC has approved the listing of bitcoin ETFs linked to the futures market, it is yet to approve funds that provide direct exposure to the underlying asset itself.

Read more: Crypto Fund Inflows Slow After Record Jolt From Bitcoin Futures ETF

Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining hardware marketplace and hosting services provider, announced Tuesday that it will host a new 140 megawatts (MW) bitcoin mining facility in Ontario, Canada.

The firm has partnered with hosting infrastructure provider Red Jar Digital Infrastructure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada-based Red Jar Capital, for the facility. Compass says the facility will be 95% powered by “clean energy,” meaning by electricity from nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass sources.

Compass CEO Whit Gibbs told The Block that the new facility’s capacity will be a significant increase from the firm’s current 30MW facilities in various locations, including the U.S. and Russia. “The new facility will be the largest single-site in North America for retail miners,” said Gibbs.

It will take at least a year to bring in the entire 140MW capacity at the new facility. Gibbs said mining machines will start coming online by the end of January 2022 and reach the planned capacity by the end of that year.

When at total capacity, the new facility is expected to contribute more than 3 EH/s (exahashes per second) of hash rate to the Bitcoin network, according to Gibbs. Currently, Compass customers contribute about 760 PH/s (petahashes per second), which is about 0.5% of the current Bitcoin hash rate, said Gibbs.

As for Red Jar Digital Infrastructure’s role in the partnership, Gibbs said the firm leases the facility and holds the power purchase agreement. “They have selected Compass to fill and co-manage the site/ ASICs,” he said.

“Our deep knowledge and experience in managing complex electrical projects and understanding of the intricacies of tariff structures across Canada complements Compass Mining’s expertise in ASIC sourcing and hosting,” said Ron Dizy, CEO of Red Jar Digital Infrastructure.

Dizy went on to say that this is the first bitcoin mining facility Red Jar is building and that the firm is looking forward to developing additional sites in the future in Canada.

© 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.