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Crypto exchange giant Binance is among a dozen outside investors backing Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter, according to a filing published on Thursday.

The amended 13-D, filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed a $500 million commitment from Binance. Venture capital firm Sequoia pledged $800 million, Fidelity offered up $316 million and a16z allotted $400 million.

Total equity commitments listed in the filing amount to around $5.2 billion. Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, an existing investor, has also opted to retain 34.9 million shares, subject to certain conditions. 

“We’re excited to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told The Block. “We hope to be able to play a role in bringing social media and web3 together and broadening the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.”

In April, the Tesla billionaire had agreed to pay $54.20 per share for Twitter. The transaction, which will make Twitter a privately held company, is expected to close sometime this year, pending approval from stockholders and regulators.

The announcement came four days after the billionaire unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition, which, Reuters reported, led Twitter’s board to take the offer more seriously.

Musk made the purchase with $25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing and an additional $21 billion equity commitment.

The Tesla CEO has previously said that, should his takeover succeed, he would open source Twitter’s algorithm and try to make it an inclusive arena for free speech. He also said he would try to tackle spam and bot accounts. 

The deal had led to speculation about how his involvement might change the makeup of ‘Crypto Twitter.’

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© 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.

Cometh announced a $10 million seed round on Thursday as the Paris-based startup launches its second blockchain-based video game.

Cometh is one of a rapidly growing number of studios dedicated to games built on blockchain technology. The startup creates games that can seamlessly connect with DeFi protocols, such that they come equipped with a suite of crypto-based financial tools. It also makes white label products to help established gaming firms build out crypto functionality.

Venture capital firm White Star Capital, gaming giant Ubisoft and DeFi group Stake Capital led the investment, with Serena Capital, Shima Capital and IDEO Colab Ventures all participating, according to a press release. Cometh did not disclose its valuation.

Gaming is entering “a new era of mass connectivity and digital ownership of playable assets,” Cometh’s founder Jerome de Tychey said in the release.

“Our team builds games that explore the new possibilities offered by blockchain technology along with the tools to enhance traditional games with it,” he added.

Today also marks the public release of the studio’s second title, Cometh Battle. Its first game, which was built on Polygon, amassed over 10,000 players, according to the company.

Cometh has also offered its technology to help brands showcase non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Artist Helena Hauss will be using Cometh to display her work at the Venice Biennale exhibition, for example.

White Star Capital recently drew in $60 million as the ‘first close’ of a planned $120 million second crypto fund focused on DeFi and gaming. Ubisoft served as its anchor investor.

“Today gaming touches many verticals including social media, e-commerce, entertainment and DeFi,” said Sep Alavi, general partner of White Star Capital, in a written statement. “Cometh is building a true end-to-end gaming platform powering the next generation of P2E [play-to-earn] games.” 

© 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.

Luxury fashion house Gucci is going to start accepting cryptocurrency payments in limited stores as the brand continues its ongoing experiments in crypto.

The pilot will launch at a few US stores at the end of this month, with eventual plans to expand into all its North American stores this summer, according to Vogue Business, which first reported the news.

Accepted cryptocurrencies will include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shuba Inu, and five stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Gucci’s crypto payments will happen through a QR code sent to a customer by email, which will allow customers to attach their wallets and pay.

Gucci has already taken significant steps in moving into the crypto and blockchain gaming space. The company has a specific team dedicated to Web3-focused initiatives and had 19 million visitors on Gucci Garden, its Roblox game. The company has also created “skins” which change the appearance of an avatar on games like Animal Crossing and Pokemon Go.

“There are more and more ‘second worlds’ where you can express yourself [but] there is probably an underestimation of the value being attached to individuals who want to express themselves in a virtual world with a virtual product, [through] a virtual persona,” said Gucci’s chief marketing officer Robert Triefus, in an interview with McKinsey, that The Block reported last month.

The brand has also purchased digital real estate on The Sandbox, a virtual real-estate platform backed by a blockchain. Last summer, Gucci drew attention online when a virtual purse on Roblox’s marketplace sold for over $4,000, exceeding the price of its real-world equivalent.

The move comes as a number of luxury retailers and brands are integrating crypto payments. Earlier this week, luxury fitness and health club Equinox announced accepting cryptocurrency in clubs in New York City, The Block reported. A few months ago, fashion brand Off-White began accepting crypto payments in Paris, London, and Milan. 

“We know that people are willing to pay good money for NFTs, for digital collectibles, and to have a second life in the metaverse,” said Triefus in the McKinsey interview. “So the revenue potential is absolutely there. One has to understand how to curate the experience as in the physical world, and make sure that experience Is delivering what the customer would expect from the respective brand.”

© 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.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday to begin the implementation of a crypto framework in the US state of California.  

The executive order builds on the recent order from Biden administration, which called on regulators to work together to mitigate risks and promote innovation.

“California will begin the process of creating a regulatory approach to spur responsible innovation while protecting California consumers, assess how to deploy blockchain technology for state and public institutions, and build research and workforce development pathways to prepare Californians for success in this industry,” said an announcement from the governor’s office.

The state plans to create a “transparent and consistent business environment” for crypto firms by harmonizing federal and California laws. It will also collect feedback from stakeholders to build that framework and for potential opportunities to include blockchain technologies into state operations and public needs.

In February of this year, California became the latest state to consider authorizing state agencies to accept cryptocurrency as a method of payment for government services. That bill, which is in California’s senate, is sponsored by State Senator Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democrat.

© 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.

According to its Q1 2022 results, the publicly traded bitcoin mining firm Marathon saw a net loss of $13 million, despite higher earnings.

Revenues in the first quarter of 2022 were $51.7 million — a 465% increase from the same period last year and a 14% decrease from the previous quarter.

“Despite higher earnings contributions resulting from the expansion of the Company’s bitcoin mining operations, GAAP net loss for the quarter totaled $13.0 million, or ($0.13) per share, compared to net income of $83.4 million, or $0.87 per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter,” the firm said. “The current-year quarter includes $19.6 million in impairment charges related to self-mined bitcoin held by the Company and a $5.5 million decrease in the fair market value of the Company’s investment fund. The prior-year period included $0.7 million in impairment charges related to self-mined bitcoin held by the Company and a $131.8 million increase in the fair market value of the Company’s investment fund.”

The bitcoin mining company produced a “record” 1,259 bitcoin in the first three months of the year, according to the earnings results published Wednesday. This represents a 556% increase from the first quarter of 2021 and a 15% increase from the previous quarter.

The company said the revenue decline from the last quarter was the result of an approximately 25% decrease in average revenue per bitcoin mined, which was “partially offset by the increase in bitcoin production” during that same time.

Marathon saw a dip of 30% in bitcoin production in April compared to the previous month, due to “maintenance issues” that caused their facility in Montana to below normal levels. The company said it’s still on track to meet its previously announced goal of reaching 23.3 exahash per second (Hh/s).

“We are cautiously optimistic that we are still on pace,” said Marathon’s chairman and CEO Fred Thiel.

In total, the company produced 299 self-mined bitcoin last month.

In April, 4,183 miners were installed — representing 0.4 EH/s — at one of Compute North’s (which has partnered with Marathon) new facilities in Texas. They were supposed to be powered starting April 17, which would have brought the hashrate up by 11% but that was delayed until May due to a requirement from the energy provider.

Thousands more rigs are to come in the next few months. Ultimately the company expects to have a total of 199,000 miners in 2023. 

As of now, Marathon is operating 36,830 active miners, which are producing a total of 3.9 EH/s. It holds $40.4 million in cash, 9,673 bitcoin (with a market value of $365.5 million) and $70.4 million in liquid assets — including both cash and available credit facilities.

The company is planning to move operations out of its facility in Hardin, Montana, and into places where it could achieve its goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral by year-end 2022, per a recent statement.

Marathon’s stock closed Wednesday’s trading session at $17.76, up 5.8% on the day.

© 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 International Monetary Fund (IMF) is assisting the Central African Republic (CAR) in addressing concerns posed by its recent move to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. 

The IMF, which works to promote sustainable growth and sound monetary policy for member states, told Bloomberg today that the CAR’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender raises major legal, transparency and economic policy challenges. 

Last week, CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera signed a law legalizing cryptocurrencies and making bitcoin a legally recognized currency in the country following a unanimous parliamentary vote.  CAR officials also said the nation is moving forward with broad-based crypto adoption plans.

The signing made it the first African nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, and only the second country in the world after El Salvador to make the move. Both El Salvador and the CAR don’t use a native currency.

The IMF also took issue with El Salvador’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. The fund’s executive board urged the country to remove the cryptocurrency’s legal tender status in January of this year, citing “large risks associated with the use of Bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection, as well as the associated fiscal contingent liabilities.”

© 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

• Last month, just shy of $4.1 billion was distributed across 244 crypto/blockchain companies and projects, making it the third-highest funding month in the sector’s history
• The number of crypto-related deals occurring each month has increased for three consecutive months, with April possessing the most ever deals in a single month for the sector
• NFTs/Gaming continues to be the dominant subsector within the crypto ecosystem, commanding 39% of the deals last month and the leading vertical for almost every primary deal type, from seed to later-stage

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French financial regulators afforded Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, a digital asset service provider license on Wednesday. 

Binance can now operate its digital asset trading platform in France, meaning it can facilitate digital asset custody, let users buy and sell crypto and help to exchange digital assets for each other, according to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), a French financial market regulator. 

The move adds another step in Binance’s expansion across Europe — and to particularly entrench itself in France, which Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao called, “uniquely positioned to be the leader of this industry in Europe” at the 2022 Paris Blockchain Week Summit. Binance has 50 employees already working in France, Zhao added. 

Last month, Binance invested 100 million euros ($108 million) into Station F, a startup incubator headquartered in Paris, in addition to poaching former AMF deputy general counsel Stéphanie Cabossioras as a Binance employee.

© 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.

Blur announced Wednesday that it will begin opening beta access to its trader-focused NFT marketplace.

“Monthly trading volumes for NFTs have hit billions, but existing platforms are slow and refresh-based,” the company tweeted. “The beta lets you see listings and sales on existing marketplaces in real-time. Never refresh again.” 

The beta waitlist is currently invite-only and “everyone who joins will be rewarded,” said the series of tweets.

The beta will allow users to see a new view of their portfolio which will feature real-time listings and activities, listings and delistings, and instant metadata reveals.

“When opportunity strikes, you can act fast by bulk listing and delisting directly on Blur,” the company said on Twitter. “Reveals are one of the most critical periods of the NFT lifecycle. You no longer need to wait hours for metadata to refresh. Blur indexes reveals faster than anywhere else, automatically.”

In March, Blur raised $11 million in a seed funding round led by crypto VC firm Paradigm,  as The Block previously reported.  

© 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.

Kazakhstan’s government has published its rules for cryptocurrency miners to report their activities. 

An April 29 order from the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development codifies registration and reporting requirements for cryptocurrency miners in the country. 

The order requires new miners and hosting centers to register company names as well as physical and IP addresses and contact information for responsible parties 30 or more days before beginning operations. Those reports also require expected power usage, hardware requirements and investment.

Miners will also have to show proof of residency in Kazakhstan. The order also mandates quarterly updates on this information from existing miners. Crypto miners looking to end their operations will also need to report that they have done so.

The ministry began implementing these registration requirements in the winter amid energy shortages across Kazakhstan at the end of last year. This involved seizing mining equipment operating outside of this registration. 

The recent order does not appear to be a new regime, but rather a codification of existing practice.

After China clamped down on its local crypto mining industry at the beginning of 2021 — which up to that point was by far the world’s largest — Kazakhstan saw a rush of cryptocurrency miners. 

Read the full order below: 

   Kazakhstan Miner Registration by Mike McSweeney on Scribd

© 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.