The Digest

• Microsoft (NASDAQ) moves deeper into the metaverse through Activision Blizzard’s (NASDAQ) acquisition, Animoca Brands raising $360 million

• OpenSea buys Dharma Labs, Coinbase (NASDAQ) and Mastercard.

• After EIP-1559 upgrade, whale purchases MATIC valued at $17 Million.

• Intel (NASDAQ:) is preparing to launch an ‘ultra low-voltage bitcoin mining ASIC.’

Microsoft Ventures Deeper in the Metaverse With Activision Blizzard Buy, Animoca Brands Raised $360 Million

Joining the slew of companies jumping into the metaverse, Microsoft has announced the $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard – an American video game holding company.

Microsoft stated that it will increase its participation in the game industry on all platforms, including mobile, desktop, console and cloud. Microsoft explained that it will provide its foundations for entry to the metaverse.

Another news item from the virtual world is that metaverse gaming company Animoca Brands announced the close of a $360million funding round. Liberty City Ventures was the lead investor in this round.

Crunchbase estimates that the total amount raised by metaverse has reached $604 Million. The latest funding round has pushed the valuation of Animoca Brands to above $5 billion – three times more than it was valued in October 2021.

Flipsider:

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:) emphasized that customers could have difficulty convincing companies to adopt new technologies.

What You Need to Care About

Microsoft joins an increasing number of companies investing billions to ensure that the metaverse becomes a reality.

Coinbase, Mastercard Enter NFT Partnership. OpenSea Acquires Dharma Labs

Coinbase announced its partnership with Mastercard as it continues to develop its NFT marketplace. Coinbase claims that the partnership will reduce friction during the NFT purchasing process.

As a result of the partnership, Coinbase users will be able to use Mastercard credit and debit cards to make purchases on the crypto company’s upcoming NFT marketplace.

OpenSea purchased Dharma Labs (a crypto wallet/lending platform) to enhance its NFT services. OpenSea wants to make it easier for people to buy, sell, or mint NFTs through its platform.

Dharma Labs’ operations will be shut down as part of this acquisition and integrated into OpenSea. Dharma will allow users to deposit fiat to trade on the platform. There are rumors OpenSea might explore using fiat as a means to buy NFT.

Flipsider:

• Dharma Labs is urging users to sell or withdraw their money before February 18th, as the Dharma Smart Wallet will be removed in just 30 days.

What You Need to Care About

OpenSea and Coinbase are looking for ways to get more people involved in the NFT industry’s growth.

Ethereum Whale Purchases $17 Million MATIC Following Upgrade to EIP-1559

Reports have surfaced about Polygon being acquired by the largest Ethereum whales since December (MATIC). However, these same investors are now turning to Layer-2 scaling solutions since EIP-1559 was introduced on the Polygon Mainnet.

EIP-1559 established a protocol for token burn to Polygon (MATIC). MATIC is a fixed-supply token. Therefore, the EIP-1559 introduced a token burn protocol to Polygon (MATIC). This is expected to produce a deflationary model that will positively impact MATIC.

On-chain data shows that the 157th largest Ethereum whale purchased 7,483,202 MATIC totaling $17,396,711 in seven transactions.

MATIC 24 hour chart Source: Tradingview

Flipsider:

• MATIC saw a dramatic 5% decline in the past 24 hours despite the initial uptrend.

What You Need to Care About

With its success in 2021, more people have turned to the Layer-2 scaling solution, with MATIC’s value predicted to gain by even more in 2022.

Intel Is Preparing to Launch an ‘Ultra Low-Voltage Mining ASIC’

Intel, one of the world’s largest computer chip makers, is reportedly planning to enter the crypto and Bitcoin mining hardware market in February. According to reports, the microchip giant has developed an “ultra low-voltage energy efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC.”

With Intel preparing to unveil its “Bonanza Mine” processor at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) commencing on February 23rd, many have suggested that the new mining chip could be announced alongside.

ASIC chips were widely adopted in cryptocurrency mining because they can handle all the calculations involved. In the marketplace for specialized ASICs to mine Bitcoins, Intel will be directly competing with MicroBT and Bitmain by launching an ASIC.

Flipsider:

• Gamers and environmentalists are both highly critical of cryptocurrency mining.

What You Need to Care About

Intel wants to be a part of the cryptocurrency mining hardware market. The rise in demand has increased prices and driven up the price for GPUs.

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