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The release of Polygon’s zkEVM comes just days after competitor Matter Labs released its own zkEVM, zkSync Era.

A room at the Wassie-themed hotel goes for $129 a night as of Monday.

DYDX is launching a private testnet of its Cosmos-based blockchain on March 28, and it will be open to some external parties for the first time.

The decentralized exchange is in the throes of moving from StarkEx, a Layer 2 network on Ethereum built by StarkWare, to its own application-specific blockchain in the Cosmos ecosystem. It’s a five-stage plan that focuses on gradual testing before an eventual rollout.

In stage two, the exchange ran an internal testnet for its own developers to check all of its basic functionality. This third stage will see a private testnet that will be open to whitelisted third parties, who will act as validators on the network. Looking ahead at the final two stages, the exchange aims to roll out its public testnet in July before a full launch in September.

During this private testnet, DYDX will focus on the creation of validators and performing network upgrades. The validators will also test out some of the exchange’s main trading features.

DYDX is also building an iOS app, an Android app and a website. It intends to make its blockchain link up to other blockchains in the Cosmos ecosystem using IBC, a way of sending tokens among Cosmos chains.

© 2023 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.

In a new report, the asset management giant outlines tech-driven megatrends that are shaping society, including decentralization.

Is your metaverse outfit or Gucci handbag lacking something Ape-themed? It might not be for much longer.

Gucci and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT creator Yuga Labs kicked off Metaverse Fashion Week with the announcement they have teamed up on an as yet undefined project.

“Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the House comes together with @yugalabs. Stay tuned as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital,” the luxury fashion powerhouse wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the House comes together with @yugalabs. Stay tuned as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital. pic.twitter.com/v60mzcgqqY

— gucci (@gucci) March 27, 2023

It’s all Gucci

The move comes as NFT brands search far and wide for new revenue streams, with a prolonged bear market stifling NFT trading and a struggle among rival NFT marketplaces cutting royalty payments to creators.

Bored Ape Yacht Club has long shipped out merch to its loyal band of token holders, but its owner has been looking elsewhere in recent months for new cashflow. After the NFT shop’s acquisition of CryptoPunks’ IP last year, it also turned to luxury — teaming up with top-end jeweler Tiffany to create NFT-inspired pendants. The so-called NFTiffs sold out at $50,000 an item. 

Yuga has form for working with Gucci. In August, the fashion house started accepting payment in ApeCoin, the token associated with the ApeCoin DAO. 

© 2023 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.

MicroStrategy scooped up about $150 million of bitcoin over the last month, bringing its total hoard of the cryptocurrency to a little more than $4 billion. The company also said it paid off a loan from Silvergate Bank.  

Michael Saylor’s company said it acquired 6,455 bitcoin between Feb. 16 and March 23 at an average price of $23,238 per bitcoin. The news was included in a regulatory filing. The $4.14 billion of bitcoin it now holds is at an average price of $29,817. 

The loan prepayment with Silvergate comes following the crypto-friendly bank’s decision to wind down and liquidate. MicroStrategy had taken out the $205 million term loan, which was set to mature in 2025, last year. It paid $161 million to repay the loan in full. 

MicroStrategy last month reported a net loss of $249.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to a loss of $90 million in the same period of the prior year. The software firm has become better known in recent years for its bet on bitcoin. 

In another bit of corporate housekeeping news, MicroStrategy said it sold about $340 million shares as party of a previously announced share-sale agreement. The proceeds, along with some cash reserves, were used to pay off the Silvergate loan. 

© 2023 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 company in March 2022 had borrowed $205 million from Silvergate Bank.

The latest price moves in bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets in context for March 27, 2023. First Mover is CoinDesk’s daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.

Traders on Binance now set the daily price for BTC with the crypto exchange’s share of trading volume reaching 80%, the report said.

Discussions on a global framework will speed up ahead of a May meeting of finance ministers and central bankers.