TL;DR

• Follow the Hustle and the Nexus Twitter accounts for the latest news.

• Web3 gaming and tech: $PIRATE token, SOPHON farming, MON $ATH launch pool, Xociety raised $7.5M, TRALA raised $5M, FAME Network, ULTI token launch, crypto gaming VC money, and more news.

• Macro news: Coinbase smart wallet, ETH ETF S-1 forms, DMM Bitcoin hack, Biden vetoed against SEC, CZ goes to prison, and GDP growth.

🎮 Web3 Gaming and Tech

• The Pirate Nation Foundation introduced the $PIRATE token

  • $PIRATE will have a 1B supply - TGE on June 13th - 47% community allocation - 15% unlock on TGE

• Overworld launched “The Arena” event, a chance-based mini-game

  • The event comes with a $100K USDT and 1M $MCNT prize pool

• Sophon teased that social farming is coming

• The MON Protocol introduced the first launch pool for MON stakers: Aethir $ATH

  • Stakers had to allocate points they accumulated to the pool to participate

  • Aethir is building scalable decentralized cloud infrastructure for gaming and AI

• Elixir’s flagship game: Robo Kiden released a thread with more info on the game, partnerships, and how to unlock the airdrop

• Altura introduced the Altura Web3 Gaming Grant Fund

  • Each month $50K will be allocated to fund (small) Web3 gaming studios

• Market Wars is a private WoW server, which will layer on a Web3 P2P-marketplace

  • The “experiment” is funded by G7 DAO, however, the longevity of this project is uncertain as private WoW servers usually don’t last long

• Xociety announced a $7.5M raise in pre-series A funding

  • Hashed, SUI, Spartan Group, Big Brain VCs, and others got involved in the round

• Playground announced they are launching their player acquisition layer in June

• FAME Network is the on-chain ecosystem for global sports culture - powered by $FAME

  • The first game launched on the network is Rumble Kongs, the basketball game

• Trala shared they raised $5M in fundraising in total

  • Matter Labs, Animoca, Gate.io, and others were involved in the rounds

• Racino announced they joined the Helika Accelerator program

  • It’s a program to scale Web3 gaming startups

• Apix shared an overview of where all the crypto gaming VC money is going

  • Many of the enormous raises have little to show for to-date

• Ultiverse held their TGE yesterday and is trading at a ~$75M market cap and $566M FDV

  • The fact that Ultiverse outperformed MON is a testament to the power of Chinese money + the AI narrative

• Anomaly, “The AI Gaming Blockchain”, launched its mint yesterday

  • It’s an 888-supply collection, which is trading at a ~0.08 ETH floor price

• Cityverse Tycoon launched its Piggy Club NFT collection yesterday

  • It’s a 2222-supply collection, which is trading at a ~0.05 ETH floor price

🕹️ Gaming Narrative Play

• Gaming x AI: We have mentioned it before, however, the power of this narrative is undeniable, exemplified by what’s happening in the industry:

  • The KARRAT token’s resurgence

  • The Ultiverse launch yesterday

  • PlayAI which announced a $4.3M raise last week

• Either positioning yourself for existing AI x Gaming plays (like TODAY) or finding underrated positions (perhaps something like Anomaly) seems like the right strategy

🚀 Nexus V1 Alpha Launch

Welcome to the thirty-first version of the newsletter! Last Monday Jonny shared a bunch of hot alpha on which updates are coming to the Nexus platform. June + this Summer will be a good time to be a community member…

In the meantime, this is how you can get involved:

• Get a Nexus Pass NFT now for exclusive and immediate lifetime access.

When we launch publicly, you can:

• Subscribe for $49/month to unlock the full potential (live at a next-stage launch), or

• Use the free version (limited in features) of the platform

Don't miss out—follow our journey on Hustle's Twitter, YouTube channels, and Nexus Twitter.

📈 Macro Cryptocurrency News

• Keeping its promise, Coinbase introduced its Smart Wallet, a product specifically built to remove barriers for newcomers entering the DeFi world.

• Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and Invesco Galaxy have filed amended S-1 forms with the SEC for their spot Ethereum ETF applications. 

• DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, was hacked for $305 million worth of Bitcoin. Before this incident, over $473 million had been lost to cryptocurrency hacks in 2024. 

• President Biden vetoed a congressional resolution that would have overturned SEC guidance hindering banks' ability to custody digital assets.

• Former Binance CEO "CZ" has reported to a federal prison in California to serve a four-month sentence for failing to implement an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

• The Bureau of Economic Analysis's second estimate of the first quarter of US GDP revealed the economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.3%, down from the initial April reading of 1.6% growth (consistent with economist estimates).

🌟 Token Spotlight by Hustle

• Coin of the Week: $KARRAT

• Market Cap: ~$83M

• What is the My Pet Hooligan? Is a team-based shooter game from AMGI Studios. Recently, AMGI has been pushing more of its AI developments by showing applications of its AI characters. This has been the main driver of recent price developments. A few weeks ago the studios also released early access to MPH.

• Delve into Hustle's market wisdom with his “Daily Watchlist” and deep-dive analysis available on the TTOO Discord server and through his “In the Game" show. 

✍️ NFT of The Week

• Pick of the Week: Piggy Club

• Why CityVerse Tycoon?

  • Promising game - already 200K downloads

  • Social gambling genre: “Monopoly, but for REAL”

  • BASE narrative

  • PWA-infrastructure play

  • Immediate utility for the NFTs

• Utility

  • Airdrop

  • Multiplier on the points you accumulate

• Catalysts

  • Upcoming game launch

  • At the forefront of PWAs, which could position them for building PWA infrastructure = more money

  • Flying under the radar still (see NFT launch volume)

Nexus Market Talk Tweets

See you next week!