Crypto keeps bleeding

Today we are covering…

📉 Crypto market continues to bleed in July, losses worst since 2022

🧐 Is Sheryl Sandberg ‘just done’ with Zuckerberg due to the metaverse?

✈️ Etihad’s web3 loyalty program lets users stake NFTs for miles

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Crypto market continues to bleed in July, losses worst since 2022 [Link]

While in a longstanding bear market and facing a number of high-profile hacks, the cryptocurrency space continues to incur losses totaling $486M - over 6 times the total from 2022, according to a web3 outlet De.Fi report.

The new report by the numbers:

• With a current reported recovery total of only $6.15M, nearly 99% of all crypto and digital assets stolen in the month of July remain unrecovered, the researchers calling the recovery efforts “woefully inadequate.”

• A significant portion of losses occurred on the Ethereum network, with $447M lost across 36 cases, including the Multichain hack involving $231M (almost half of total losses) and the Alphapo exploit costing some $100M.

• Binance had a reported loss of nearly $11M over 18 cases.

The losses also come on the heels of attempted legislation in the United States and worldwide around crypto and digital assets.

Is Sheryl Sandberg ‘just done’ with Zuckerberg due to the metaverse? [Link]

Meta’s longstanding 2nd-in-command and Mark Zuckerberg’s main lieutenant Sheryl Sandberg has reportedly become disillusioned with the company’s shift from its bread-and-butter social media business toward the metaverse, according to reports.

Sandberg, who was the CEO’s no. 2 at Facebook’s parent firm for 14 years before stepping down in 2022, still serves on its board of directors - yet “wanted no part of the metaverse,” sources told Insider.

Reality Labs, Meta’s metaverse unit handling its VR and AR tech, recently reported an operating loss of $3.7B, trailing its $13.7B loss last year despite generating $2.16B in revenue mostly due to Quest VR headset sales.

Etihad’s web3 loyalty program lets users stake NFTs for miles [Link]

UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways is expanding its NFT staking loyalty program Horizon Club with a limited-ed 300-piece edition, promising holders new benefits such as Etihad Guest Silver Tier Status, priority check-in, lounge access, and the ability to stake their assets to earn miles.

The finer details of the deal:

• Launching on Aug 1, the release is the 111th 3D aircraft model added to Etihad’s EY-ZERO1 NFT collection.

• The new NFTs are designed to look like the Mission: Impossible-brandished Boeing 787 Dreamliner launched as part of a promotional tour for the movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

• In Sept, Etihad plans to roll out Horizon Club and introduce staking-for-miles to allow community members to lock up their NFTs and earn Etihad Guest Miles for perks like flights and upgrades.

Web3 loyalty programs continue to gain ground, including among carriers like Argentinian airline Flybondi (offering all tickets as NFTs on the Algorand blockchain in March), Spanish airline Air Europe (launching NFT tickets in April last year), and Japan’s ANA (unveiling an NFT marketplace in June).

Demand for technical roles in machine learning on the rise: Report [Link]

The need for ML engineering and technical skills is steadily rising over the last few years - with AI continuing to reshape the job landscape and bring in bigger incentives to attract and retain the needed expertise, notes a new report from UK-based data and analytics recruitment firm Harnham.

Foremost of these roles are in the MLOps space, their skills bridging the gap between data scientists and data engineers and thus helping deploy much-needed ML models.

When it comes to salaries and benefits:

• Technical leads/managers in computer vision, data science, deep learning & AI, ML engineering, MLOps, and natural language processing are earning annual base salaries ranging from $56.3K (£44K) to $153.5K (£120K), depending on experience and location.

• Besides competitive compensation, data science pros look for working options, bonuses, health insurance, flexible working hours, and shares.

• The number of female pros in the field has increased from 22% last year, signaling greater gender diversity.

Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Yuga Labs acquires gaming and music firm Roar Studios to elevate the AI-driven experience for players. (Link)

• GST Council contemplates blocking non-compliant online gaming services amid money laundering and tax evasion concerns. (Link)

• Hisplayer and Pallycon collaborate to enable DRM protected video streaming in Unity and Unreal games and metaverses. (Link)

• Pokemon Go trainers express concerns over reduced poke ball rewards from gifts and urge Niantic for reversal. (Link)

• Pixelworks debuts the IRX gaming experience brand, catering to smartphone users with cutting-edge visual processing and game-tuning services. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) embraces AI as a catalyst for future fashion endeavors. (Link)

• Here’s how Ralph Lauren’s phygital boot sale in Fortnite shows the pros and cons of virtual commerce. (Link)

• After a rollercoaster few years at the forefront of digital fashion, The Fabricant is returning to servicing brands as it pursues a sustainable, profitable business model. (Link)

• Bata India’s AI app revolutionizes visual merchandising and offers an immersive shopping experience for customers. (Link)

• Fashion designer Shawna Wu makes her mark in the metaverse, blending her Singaporean roots with virtual fashion as The Idol. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Sorare’s new cash wallet partnership with Mangopay streamlines fantasy sports experience for 5M+ users. (Link)

• As commercial deals prove lucrative for sports teams amid their growing international appeal and with fashion as an additional revenue stream, Adidas signs a $1.2B partnership with Manchester United. (Link)

• Even with the hype surrounding the metaverse dying off and NFTs losing their shine, don’t write off the benefits of blockchain, iStories founder Lee Robson writes – especially if you’re in sports. (Link)

• This avid NBA fan develops an AI referee assistant system with advanced basketball movement tracking. (Link)

• Meet Betty, the world’s 1st AI football assistant. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Cirque du Soleil Tycoon launches on Roblox, thrilling families worldwide with Cirque du Soleil's contemporary circus show ECHO. (Link)

• Dubai-based Landvault 2.0, now a year old, gets onto its next evolutionary phase. (Link)

• In South Korea, FingerLabs and CRB Media kick off their web3 content distribution ties with the drama Youth. (Link)

• Megavrse lets celebrities like Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg purchase land and construct virtual mansions. (Link)

• Music duo and band ZUPANOVA inspires the Fortnite experience dubbed as ZUPAWORLD. (Link)

• Bloom, co-founded by someone who built an AI-based photo app with 250K users, is a stock investing tool for teenage investors. (Link)

• The China Digital Entertainment Congress highlights the rapid development of the gaming industry. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Barbie’s Margot Robbie says Bitcoin is for "Kens" while Mattel pushes NFTs. (Link)

• Starbucks launches its 8th NFT collection called The Green Apron, a tribute to the company's 50+ years and baristas. (Link)

• NFT art galleries have emerged as a hub of activity in the metaverse, attracting collectors, artists, and investors. (Link)

• Patrick Amadon unveils the 404 August 2023 Art Catalog, touted as a monthly, decentralized, agnostic digital art exhibition. (Link)

• Experience cult AV art show Future Shock, one of London’s finest in 2022, in the metaverse. (Link)

• Introducing Terratron, where science fiction, space warfare, and web3 converge in the metaverse via digital art. (Link)

🤖 AI

• Instagram is reportedly developing an AI-generated image detector. (Link)

• Google revamps its assistant division to keep pace with rivals leveraging LLMs for chatbots and assistants. (Link)

• Science combines constant surveillance and AI to contain wildfires. (Link)

• Dell unveils new hardware and a managed service platform to facilitate gen-AI projects for enterprise. (Link)

• The Australian Taxation Office uses AI to identify $530M+ in unpaid taxes and hamper $2.5B in fraud. (Link)

• The FDA approves an AI guidance tech to enable users w/o sonography experience to take cardiac ultrasound images at the point of care. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Airalo locks in $60M to expand its eSIM-based global roaming "marketplace." (Link)

• Cyble secures $24M for advancing AI-powered threat intelligence platform. (Link)

• Flapmax partners with Intel to accelerate AI innovation in Africa. (Link)

• BigCommerce and Google collaborate to introduce AI-powered features for ecommerce. (Link)

• Winchester, VA-based Passage raises $6M in an initial coin offering. (Link)

• Olera.care raises $2.3M to develop AI tech for nationwide social assistance programs aiding senior citizens. (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

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