💃 Talent Continues the Web3 Waltz 🕺

July 9, 2022

|In Weekend Recap

|By Osprey Team

Last September, we published a post called Great Talent Migration which described the move strong employees are making from traditional finance to crypto. We wrote,

The smartest people in the world gravitate to the most vital fields of discovery.

This week, the TradFi exodus continues.

JPMorgan lost 3 executives to crypto,

- Eric Wragge, former JPM Managing Director joined Algorand as the Global Head of Business Development and Capital Markets.
- Puja Samuel, former JPM Head of Ideation, joined the Digital Currency Group as Head of Corporate Development.
- Samir Shah, former JPM Managing Director joined Pantera Capital as Chief Operating Officer.

Former PayPal and Acorns executive, Jasmine Lee also took the leap to web3. Lee announced that she is now the CFO of Binance US.

Well, talent continues the web3 waltz, undeterred by the recent volatility in crypto markets.

We love to see it.

🪦 Voyager Files Bankruptcy

Crypto lender Voyager Digital filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday.

Voyager CEO, Stephen Ehrlich shared,

This comprehensive reorganization is the best way to protect assets on the platform and maximize value for all stakeholders, including customers. Voyager’s platform was built to empower investors by providing access to crypto asset trading with simplicity, speed, liquidity, and transparency.

While I strongly believe in this future, the prolonged volatility and contagion in the crypto markets over the past few months, and the default of Three Arrows Capital (“3AC”) on a loan from the Company’s subsidiary, Voyager Digital, LLC, require us to take deliberate and decisive action now. The chapter 11 process provides an efficient and equitable mechanism to maximize recovery.

Read the company’s official press release here.

As of Thursday, the FDIC is investigating the crypto company. Here’s the WSJ with more.

🐒 Yuga Labs Metaverse Test Is Wild…

On Wednesday, Yuga Labs completed the first load test of its Otherside metaverse experience.

The test lasted ~ 25 minutes and supported 2,500 concurrent users.

The reception to the test was mostly positive — NFT collector, tropoFarmer tweeted,

And Sam Huber, founder and CEO of LandVault shared,

There were some delays sending messages and it’s a shame the world was empty, although granted it was only a Loadtest. The test was region specific to North America and Europe so others had to rely on VPNs. The voice sync worked well and the avatar mechanics were really smooth with functioning emotes and dances, à la Fortnite. No downloads or high end PCs required which is a bonus and creates a low barrier to entry.

The Otherside’s First Trip is scheduled to launch on July 16th. Here’s the Block with more.

🤖 Reddit’s Digital Collectables

On Thursday, Reddit launched an NFT-based avatar marketplace.

The social network partnered with Polygon to mint the collectables on-chain.

Currently, the avatars are exclusively available to members of the r/CollectibleAvatars subreddit. The company shared that everyone will have access to the digital collectables in the coming weeks.

Collectors do not need a crypto wallet to secure the tokens — Reddit will store the NFTs in its Vault.

🖼 What’s New in NFTs?

The Vincenzo Sospiri Racing GT Team, backed by Lamborghini, will use NFTs to certify and authenticate its factory auto parts.

Vincenzo Sospiri commented,

We have the great privilege to race in some of the greatest motorsport events in the world, with one of the world’s most recognised and beloved brands. This also brings great responsibility – to ensure that we can securely authenticate and audit every part of our racing fleet to monitor performance and ensure provenance. We are excited to pilot with Go2NFT and the renowned team at Skey Network to build NFT certification across our cars and other products to ensure we maintain the very highest standards of quality and control.

Read the press release here.

LimeWire teamed up with musicians Brandy, Travis Barker, Nicky Jam and more to launch a plethora of NFT collections.

The collections may include a combination of original artwork, music tracks, fan experiences, and physical giveaways.