TL;DR

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

• Web3 gaming and tech: Ronin introduced zkEVM, MapleStory Universe, "The Genesis", Avalanche x Konami, Low Life Forms x Xterio, Saltwater Games Animoca investment, Sonic raises $12M, Moku Mint, and more news.

• Macro news: SEC drops the ETH security investigation, Tether gold-backed currency, spot ETH ETFs before July 2, Politifi, and more news.

🎮 Web3 Gaming and Tech

• Ronin introduced its zkEVM, meaning L2 blockchains are coming to Ronin

  • This will be a “major step towards infinite scalability” and allow them to onboard new games faster

• Maplestory Universe announced “The Genesis”, their upcoming questing platform

  • There are a few hints hidden in the teaser, including a potential launch date, a point system, and more

• Avalanche partners with Konami to debut Resella, an NFT platform simplifying NFT creation, issuance, and trading

• Elixir announced that Wemix made a strategic investment in their gaming platform

  • The partnership will support their launch platform, and new game IPs, and improve the gaming experience

• LowLife Forms is now live on the Xterio platform

  • The Xterio page mentions the game is launching in Q4 2024, as one of the more promising shooter games that’s pretty interesting.

• Saltwatergames announced that Animoca Brands has joined their SAFT round, investing in the upcoming XR token

  • This also means XR One (their platform) will be integrated with the Moca Network

• Heir of Light: Eclipse, a title from Com2Us integrated blockchain into its game

• Second World Games launches Fantasy Troop and raises $3M in a token presale

  • The game is Clash Royale-like, and Fantasy Troop is its new GambleFi layer where players can bet on player outcomes

• Goat Gaming (GG) came out of stealth and revealed the Mighty Bear Games team is behind the initiative

  • GG will be a cross-platform gaming hub, where players can play 100s of PvP games, compete, and win prizes

• Sophon has announced the launch of its liquidity farming program

  • The initiative aims to reward users who contribute to the TVL of the Sophon ecosystem by allocating 10% of the total $SOPH token supply

• The Beacon P2A campaign sees large success with 120K+ DAUs in less than a week

• Sonic announced they raised $12M in a Series A, Bitkraft led the round

  • Sonic is the first “atomic SVM L2” built to power game economies on Solana

• Moku announced they are launching an 8888 supply paid mint on the Ronin Network

  • This company has played a pivotal role in onboarding all the Ronin Games

• Raini Studios announces MMA Fighter Jon Jones will be featured in their new fighting game

• Heroes of Mavia is entering "Phase 2: Next Frontier," integrating the MAVIA token into gameplay with new features

  • The token, launched on Ethereum in February, will now have a function in-game, including trading legendary item NFTs for MAVIA tokens on a web marketplace

• Thirdweb acquired Blocktorch, endeavoring to bring performant infrastructure to every EVM chain

  • Blocktorch provides a complete toolkit for building, monitoring, fixing, and improving decentralized applications (dApps) across all EVM-compatible blockchains

🕹️ Gaming Narrative Play

• Ecosystems: Many Web3 gaming companies are starting to move to ecosystems/infrastructure (e.g. Ather Labs, The Beacon, Pixelmon, Revolving Games, AI Arena, etc.). What this leads to is:

  • More value accrues to these associated assets, in most cases tokens

  • Game ecosystems have a higher chance of success over a single game (more shots on goal)

  • These studios can raise much more money because it’s less risky and there’s more upside potential for VCs

• Seeing/predicting which teams have a good flagship product and have a good shot at creating the network effects to make these ecosystems scale, seems like a decent bet for medium/long-term holds.

🚀 Nexus V1 Alpha Launch

Welcome to #33 of the Nexus Power Up Newsletter. This week we’re happy to announce we partnered up with Galaxy, a platform that provides access to a new wave of users in the pre-market sector.

Before our (soon-to-be-released) public launch, this is how you can get access to Nexus in the meantime:

• 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

• The SEC is formally dropping its investigation into whether Ethereum is a security. Ethereum developer Consensys hailed the announcement as a “major win for Ethereum developers, technology providers, and industry participants.”

• Tether, the powerhouse behind the leading stablecoin USDT, is making a move into real gold. They're launching a new digital asset backed by the precious metal, expanding their crypto offerings.

• Coinbase is now offering a new way for traders to get in on the ground floor of exciting new crypto projects. They've launched pre-launch markets, allowing users to speculate on the future value of tokens before they officially start trading on a spot exchange.

• Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile and Europe's biggest telecom provider, has signaled its entry into Bitcoin mining.

• Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas says his “best guess as of now” is that spot Ethereum ETF will begin trading in the United States before July 2.

• The growing political influence of the cryptocurrency industry, along with its vast financial resources, is already impacting high-profile elections across the country.

🌟 Token Spotlight by Hustle

• Coin of the Week: $WOLF

• Market Cap: ~$162.7M

• What is LandwWolf? WOLF is a meme coin on Solana. The volume is high, the community is a cult, and they have good memes and socials. It's pretty much the recipe for a good memecoin.

• 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: Sugartown Oras

• Why Sugartown?

  • Web3 division by Zynga

  • Plans to build infrastructure (its own chain)

  • Teasing new “High Card” initiative

  • Repurposing games that were very successful (Zynga Poker)

  • Good grasp of the Web3 scene

• Utility

  • In the past, Oras gave players access to their gaming platform, which allowed them to earn NFT prizes.

    • We know that Sugartown has been building for the past year, without revealing too much. If Sugartown officially announces something infra-related, their NFTs will likely start to move.

• Catalysts

  • Upcoming game events, announcements related to infrastructure, and new initiatives (“High Card”).

Nexus Market Talk Tweets

See you next week!