Weekly Update #7: Institutions Dive In, Builders Ship, FIFA Bets Big

Mega-Mergers, Web2-On-Chain Plays & AI’s Regulatory Chess

Hey there, it’s Akash.

Let’s dive into the biggest stories in Web3 and AI this week—no fluff, just the stuff you need to know.

---

🌐 WEB3: GAMES, PAYMENTS, AND POWER MOVES

1. Gaming’s New Era

• Yuga Labs’ Otherside Metaverse:

  • Stress-tested with 2,197 players battling at once (new world record!).

  • Launching in June with live concerts, virtual real estate, and NFT wearables.

  • Join the Beta.

• Wemade’s Web3 Dominance:

  • Night Crows hit $200M revenue—proof that play-to-earn isn’t dead.

  • New game Legend of Ymir (think Skyrim meets crypto) is crushing South Korea’s charts.

  • Gameplay Trailer.

• Immutable’s 500+ Games:

  

  • Partnering with Netmarble to launch Tokyo Beast, blending NFTs with classic RPG gameplay.

  • Full List of Games.

2. Payments Revolution

• GMT Pay:

  • Spend crypto earnings at Walmart, Amazon, and 10,000+ stores.

  • Partnered with Visa, Mastercard, and Alipay.

  • How It Works.

• Converge Blockchain:

  

  • Built by Ethena Labs and Securitize to bridge Wall Street and DeFi.

  • Key Features:

    • Compliance tools for institutions.

    • Partnerships with Aave, Fireblocks, and Maple Finance.

  

  • Whitepaper.

3. Wall Street Meets Crypto

• DAS New York Highlights:

  • 83% of institutions plan to boost crypto investments in 2025 (Coinbase & EY survey).

  • Why? On-chain finance is the new gold rush.

  • Full Report.

• Coinbase Buys Deribit:

  • Acquiring the #1 crypto options exchange ($1.2T volume in 2023).

  • Translation: Coinbase now rules spot and derivatives. Expect more consolidation.

  • Details.

• CME Launches Solana Futures:

  • Big institutions can now bet on SOL price moves.

  • Trade Here.

4. FIFA’s Crypto Play

• FIFA Coin: Exploring a token for 5B soccer fans (tickets, merch, exclusives).

• Trump’s Take: “That coin may be worth more than FIFA itself.”

• But… A scammy “FIFA COIN” (no relation) already pumped 142,000%. Stay sharp.

• Read Analysis.

5. Sony’s Web2-Onboarding Move

• Soneium L2 added mini-apps via LINE’s 200M users:

  • Sleepagotchi: Earn points for sleeping (1M users in a month).

  • Farm Frens: Web3 farming game for casual players.

  • Try Apps.

6. Acquisitions Heating Up

---

🤖 AI: REAL-WORLD IMPACT

1. AI Gets Physical

• OpenAI’s Operator:

  • Shops for groceries, books flights, and pays bills—all via chat.

  • Free for ChatGPT Plus users ($20/month).

  • Demo Video.

• Home Depot’s Magic Apron:

  • AI tool for staff: Fixes inventory gaps, answers customer questions instantly.

  • Rolling out to 2,000+ stores by Q3.

  • Behind the Tech.

• Shield AI’s $240M Raise:

  • Building autonomous drones for military/logistics.

  • Backed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

  • Tech Breakdown.

2. Healthcare & Finance Wins

• Apollo Hospitals:

  • Cut nurse workload 30% with AI scheduling and predictive care tools.

  • Case Study.

• State Bank of India:

  • Launched an AI unit to fund fintech startups in agri-tech and rural finance.

  • Apply for Grants.

3. The AI Chip War

• Celestial AI’s $250M Raise:

  • Using light-based tech (photonics) to speed up AI chip communication.

  • Partners: NVIDIA, TSMC.

  • Deep Dive.

• DeepSeek’s R1 Model:

  • Competes with GPT-4 at 1/10th the cost.

  • Focus: Low-code AI tools for small businesses.

  • Try R1.

4. Regulations & Real-World Impact

1. a16z’s SEC Proposal

• Pushed a “control-based decentralization” framework to ease compliance.

• Goal: Make crypto projects less likely to face lawsuits.

• Read Letter.

2. AI in Law Enforcement

• ElizaOS Rebrand: Now helps police analyze crime data 10x faster.

  • Used in NYC, London, Tokyo.

  • Case Study.

---

DATA DIVE

1. Stablecoins vs. Ethereum

2. Web3 Adoption

• Middle-Income Earners: Drive 68% of new crypto users (CrossFi Survey).

• Women: Represent 41% of Web3 banking users (up from 22% in 2023).

• Full Report.

---

💰 WHO RAISED $$$ THIS WEEK?

---

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

• TEAMZ Web3/AI Summit (Tokyo): Keynotes from Vitalik Buterin, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang.

  • Focus: AI oracles, quantum security, RWA tokenization.

  • Grab Tickets.

• ETH Denver 2025: Workshops on DAOs, DeFi, and AI agents.

  • Apply for Hackathon.

---

📚 WEEKEND READS

1. ARK’s 2025 Crypto Report → “Gaming will drive 100M+ users to Web3.” Read.

2. Coinbase x EY Survey → “67% of institutions now hold crypto.” Download.

3. The Future of Ticketing → “NFT tickets vs. dynamic pricing.” 51 Insights.

4. A16Z Crypto’s Letter to SEC. Read

5. Crypto Task Force Roundtables Link

6. The Death of Crypto and the Beginning of Onchain Finance. Simon Taylor. Link

---

News That Matters

• Xapo Bank launches $1.25B in Bitcoin-backed loans. Link

• Kraken will acquire NinjaTrader , a CFTC-regulated futures trading platform, for $1.5B. Link

• NVIDIA announced GR00T N1, the first open-source humanoid robot foundation model. Link

• TRX (Tron) will soon be available on Solana. Link

• Canary Capital files for PENGU ETF. Link

  ---

WHY THIS MATTERS

• Web3: Gaming and payments are going mainstream—think Netflix meets crypto.

• AI: Solving real-world problems in hospitals, stores, and even battlefields.

• Institutions are finally here.

• FIFA Coin could make crypto mainstream—or flop spectacularly.

Got 5 mins? Watch Yuga’s Otherside Metaverse Demo or Coinbase’s Deribit Deal Breakdown.

—
Want this in your inbox?

Cheers,
Akash

---

P.S. Larry Page’s stealth AI startup Dynatomics is hiring.