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GameStop has launched the public beta version of its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, the video game retail giant announced Monday.

In a statement, GameStop described the new platform as a “non-custodial, Ethereum Layer 2-based marketplace that enables parties to truly own their digital assets, which are represented and secured on the blockchain.”

GameStop launched a self-custodial Ethereum wallet in May, which will be one of the wallets that users can connect to the new marketplace. The company says it will eventually add more features to support “Web3 gaming, more creators and other Ethereum environments.” 

GameStop has publicly mentioned plans for the NFT marketplace over the past few months. In February, the retailer said it was partnering with Ethereum Layer 2 developer Immutable X to launch the NFT platform. GameStop also announced that the companies would launch a fund equaling up to $100 million in Immutable X’s IMX tokens, with the aim of providing grants to NFT developers.

During a March earnings call, GameStop said it was planning to launch the NFT platform by the end of Q2. 

© 2022 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 letter issued by Twitter’s legal representatives this weekend and released Monday, the company said Elon Musk’s move to terminate the $44 billion Twitter acquisition is “invalid and wrongful.”

The company, which has hired the law firm Watchell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, states that they have breached none of its obligations under the agreement. 

The letter is a response to news from Friday evening in which Musk aimed to terminate the $44 billion acquisition on account of a claim that there are too many spam and fake accounts on the platform. 

William Savitt, who wrote the letter on behalf of Twitter, asserts that Twitter “will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr. Musk under the Agreement and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction.”

This story is developing and will be updated as new information becomes available.

© 2022 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 Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) asked Texans and Texas businesses to voluntarily conserve electricity to conserve energy on Monday due to extreme temperatures.

Energy-intensive bitcoin miners have responded to the peak in power demand by temporarily shutting down operations.

Argo Blockchain said on Twitter that it would curtail power to its Helios facility, in Dickens County on Monday afternoon, in response to ERCOT’s appeal.

“We are doing our part to help stabilize the Texas grid,” the company said. 

Riot Blockchain’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer Chad Everett said that the company had already taken its miners offline on Saturday morning at 8 am.

“Rockdale curtailed all of the power to help the grid battle this extreme heat. The power remained off till 10:00 pm.,” Everett wrote on Twitter.

Development at Riot’s Rockdale site (which will have 400 megawatts in its first phase) is still currently under development. Argo is also midway through constructing its 200-megawatt Helios facility, in Dickens County.

Many Bitcoin miners in the state have set agreements with ERCOT to power down at peak energy demand times. Advocates say this kind of flexibility can be an asset to the grid.

ERCOT issued the warning to residents not just due to the increased electricity demand, but also because the wind would produce significantly less power than what it historically generated in this time period, according to the statement.

In early June, another heat wave that hit Texas, leading power use to break a record for that month at 72,785 megawatts. ERCOT’s forecast for this Monday said that power demand could reach. 79,000 megawatts. Meanwhile, it also predicted that the grid’s total capacity would be at 80,168 between the tightest hours of 2 and 3 pm.

The National Weather Service said that “dangerously hot weather” was expected in Texas on Monday, with temperatures reaching the 100s, like they did over the weekend.

© 2022 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.

Celsius Network, a centralized lending firm undergoing a major insolvency crisis, continues to repay and reclaim large amounts of collateral from DeFi protocols.

At around 9:14 a.m. ET, Celsius withdrew 6,083 wrapped bitcoin (worth approximately $124 million) from Aave, a popular lending platform it used to borrow assets and earn a yield.

After pulling out its bitcoin from Aave, Celsius transferred these funds to an Ethereum address that is known to regularly interact with centralized exchanges like FTX. 

Besides transferring out wrapped Bitcoin today, Celsius also repaid $60 million in USDC stablecoin to Aave in three transactions on Monday, thereby reducing its overall debt on the platform. Later, a fourth transaction raised that total amount to $78 million.

Facing a financial fallout caused by a sharp drop in crypto markets, Celsius has been winding down its DeFi positions on protocols like Compound, Aave, and Maker. Last week, the embattled cryptocurrency lender repaid all of its debt on MakerDAO before withdrawing $440 million in wrapped bitcoin.

According to on-chain data gathered from its wallets, Celsius still owes $90 million in USDC to Aave and $50 million in DAI to Compound. 

© 2022 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.

Compass Mining has recovered the miners hosted at a facility in Maine operated by Dynamics Corp, which the miner had sued over a conflict that started with claims of missed payments.

A court order issued on July 5 granted Compass access to the machines, the company announced in a blog post on Friday.

Per the miner, the court prohibited the facility, Dynamics Corp, from “operating, moving, or otherwise disposing of the equipment” and stated that Compass had the right to access the facility.

Compass sued Dynamics Corp on June 21, accusing the hosting provider of holding its machines “hostage,” according to Law360.

Dynamics Corp claimed on Twitter that Compass had missed some of its power payments. The miner denied those accusations, claiming in a blog post that it had fulfilled all its contractual obligations.

 “It appears that Dynamics misunderstood the contracts that it signed with respect to its facilities and its obligations thereunder,” it said.

Compass is now shipping back all the units from the Maine facility to its logistics and repair hub in Denver.

The company hosts mining machines from individual clients in facilities across the US and Canada. Following the court’s decision, the miner has given clients the option to take back their equipment, per the statement. At the same time, it is looking for a new provider to host the remaining machines.

Compass has also faced some turmoil internally in the past couple of weeks. Its CEO and CFO resigned at the end of June, as the company cited “multiple setbacks and disappointments.” And last week, the company announced it was cutting staff by 15% and reducing senior-level salaries.

© 2022 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.

Quick Take

• Trading exchanges offer various services, however, the fee generated from trading is the main source of revenue.
• Lowering the trading fees is one of the obvious ways to incentivize more traders to interact with the exchange.
• Overall, Luno and FTX are the cheapest exchanges whereas Gate.io and crypto.com are the most expensive exchanges for spot trading
• Luno maintains its ‘zero trading fees for makers’ status for the second year in a row, while Coinbase Pro increased its trading fees

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members of The Block Research.
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Quick Take

• A crypto veteran that survived multiple bear markets since 2011, Blockchain.com has been embracing a slow and steady approach, making business decisions based on long-term horizon rather than cyclical market spikes
• Blockchain.com’s product suite includes a non-custodial wallet, crypto exchange, Blockchain Explorer / APIs and institutional services
• In March 2022, Blockchain.com raised a Series D round at a $14 billion valuation – this round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with “significant participation” from UK-based independent investment manager Baillie Gifford (amount raised undisclosed)
• Blockchain.com’s 2022 focus includes increasing its marketing efforts, accelerating LatAm expansion and launching its NFT service
• A crypto veteran that survived multiple bear markets since 2011, Blockchain.com has been embracing a slow and steady approach, making business decisions based on long-term horizon rather than cyclical market spikes
• Blockchain.com’s product suite includes a non-custodial wallet, crypto exchange, Blockchain Explorer / APIs and institutional services
• In March 2022, Blockchain.com raised a Series D round at a $14 billion valuation – this round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with “significant participation” from UK-based independent investment manager Baillie Gifford (amount raised undisclosed)
• Blockchain.com’s 2022 focus includes increasing its marketing efforts, accelerating LatAm expansion and launching its NFT service

This research piece is available exclusively to
members of The Block Research.
You can continue reading
this Research content on The Block Research.

Bitcoin miner Greenidge Generation mined 230 bitcoin in June — a roughly 18% month-over-month increase.

The company increased its hashrate from 1.7 (EH/s) at the end of May to 2.5 EH/s now, according to a production update posted Monday.

Greenidge’s mining fleet totaled 27,500 machines as of June 30. Around 24% of the company’s hash rate was located at its most recent facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Greenidge has said that it planned to triple its US mining capacity this year, expanding mostly outside of New York, where it currently operates a 106-megawatt natural gas facility. 

A few days ago, the company saw its air permit renewal denied by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation for failing to comply with greenhouse gas emissions limits set by the state.

The company already said that it would challenge the regulator’s decision and continue to mine in the meantime.

© 2022 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.

After halting client withdrawals last week, troubled crypto lender Vauld has issued a letter to its creditors and disclosed an overall shortfall of around $70 million.

Sharing the letter exclusively with The Block on Monday, Vauld said it has assets worth around $330 million and liabilities worth about $400 million. But these figures might not be final because Vauld said it is currently undergoing forensic and financial audits and the disclosed numbers are to the best of its knowledge.

As for how Vauld landed up in this situation, the firm said the main contributing factors for the shortfall are mark-to-market losses on bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) trades as well as exposure to the collapsed algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST). Mark-to-market losses are losses generated through an accounting entry rather than the actual sale of a security.

“We also have a mismatch of tenure where we have committed a significant proportion of our AUM [assets under management] towards loans with a tenure of another 3-11 months that can’t be recalled early,” Vauld said.

Singapore-based Vauld, with most of its team based in India, suspended client withdrawals on July 4. The next day, its London-based rival Nexo signed a term sheet with the firm for a potential acquisition. Nexo is currently undergoing a due diligence process and Vauld customers’ funds remain stuck.

Some Vauld customers remain skeptical of the Nexo deal. In the creditors’ letter, Vauld said if the deal doesn’t go through, it has several other plans to make customers whole.

These plans are raising more venture capital, exploring alternatives to a complete acquisition, waiting for some of its deployed capital to be returned, converting debt to equity, issuing its own token and developing a payment plan tied to future revenue.

Vauld also disclosed in the letter that after halting withdrawals, its Singapore entity Defi Payments Pte Ltd filed for a moratorium on July 8 in the Singapore Courts according to section 64 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, as previously planned.

The moratorium was filed because of its shortfall. It gives Vauld 30 days to explore its options. The firm said such a moratorium might be sought and granted for a “longer duration.”

In the meanwhile, Vauld remains “very optimistic” that the Nexo deal will go through.

Founded in 2018, Vauld (formerly Bank of Hodlers) is backed by high-profile investors, including Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. Weeks before halting withdrawals, the firm cut 30% of its workforce to save costs. Its CFO Jatin Mazalcar also left the firm after its halted withdrawals, as The Block reported earlier today.

© 2022 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.

Klarna, the Swedish fintech company, has raised $800 million in common equity at a $6.7 billion post-money valuation, the company announced on Monday. 

The backing comes from existing investors such as Sequoia, the founders, Bestseller, Silver Lake, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Mubadala Investment Company and the Canadian Pension Plan have also made their first investments in Klarna.

After this round, Klarna is set to let smaller shareholders participate on a pro-rata basis in an ongoing process in the coming weeks. 

The company, which offers buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, said in a blog post that it had not been immune to recent trends in the public markets. “The company’s peers are down 80-90% vs peak valuations and consequently the adjustment in Klarna’s valuation is on par with its public peers from its $45.6bn valuation in June 2021,” it said.  

“The shift in Klarna’s valuation is entirely due to investors suddenly voting in the opposite manner to the way they voted for the past few years,” added Sequoia partner, Michael Moritz.

“The irony is that Klarna’s business, its position in various markets and its popularity with consumers and merchants are all stronger than at any time since Sequoia first invested in 2010. Eventually, after investors emerge from their bunkers, the stocks of Klarna and other first-rate companies will receive the attention they deserve.”

In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the valuation of Klarna Bank was set to plunge to $15 billion as it sought a $500 million fundraise. It had previously been valued at more than $45 billion. 

© 2022 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.