Report paints bright picture of India’s Web3 development

WEMIX PLAY to Add Two New Blockchain Games to LineupSouth Korean gaming publisher Wemade said Monday that it has agreed to onboard two new sports games, Ballies and El Jefe Futbol, on its blockchain gaming platform WEMIX PLAY.Photo by ELLA DON on UnsplashThis is the latest development in Wemade’s continued efforts to expand its global partnerships in order to secure a diverse game lineup on WEMIX PLAY and diversify genres within its gaming portfolio.New Web3-enabled games for sports enthusiastsBallies, developed by Ballies LLC, is a blockchain-based, basketball-themed strategy card mobile game. It operates on an on-ramping lend-to-earn system as a Web2 game while incorporating the benefits of Web3 platforms. Users can engage in various blockchain-integrated content, such as lending avatars to other players or participating in tournaments to earn game tokens. The game recently wrapped up beta testing and will be released at the end of this month, according to an announcement on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.On the other hand, El Jefe Futbol is Studio 369’s new soccer strategy game set to launch on November 15. Players can create soccer teams, train players, and participate in various types of matches, including tournaments, league matches, and player-versus-player (PVP) games. They can also convert their athletes into non-fungible token (NFT) cards for trading.Once these games are released, users will have the opportunity to buy and sell NFTs from Ballies and El Jefe Futbol on the WEMIX PLAY marketplace.Opportunity for expansionKlemen Gradisar, Co-Founder of Ballies LLC, expressed his excitement to be a part of the WEMIX community, deeming the WEMIX PLAY onboarding a monumental step for the platform. Matt Candler, CEO of Studio 369, added that this will be an opportunity for Studio 369’s blockchain games to reach a wider audience. As a development studio with expertise in compatibility across various platforms and high-quality gameplay, he said that the studio is committed to providing top-notch gaming experiences.

Singapore-based decentralized liquidity infrastructure and on-chain funding project Solv Protocol has raised $11 million in funding, bringing its total inward investment to date to $25 million. Taking to Medium on Oct. 14, the project outlined that in this most recent funding round, $11 million had been raised with participation from Nomura subsidiary Laser Digital, Blockchain Capital, gumi Cryptos Capital, OKX Ventures and CMT Digital. Angel investors associated with a number of blockchain projects such as Berachain, Ethena, Mezo, Core, GMX, Curve and EigenLayer also invested. $200 million valuationThis latest funding round was carried out while placing a $200 million valuation on the company. Going forward, the company plans to roll out additional products over the course of the next few weeks, with a view towards further expanding yield opportunities for Bitcoin (BTC) holders. Solv Protocol’s leading product, SolvBTC, was introduced to the market last March as the world’s first-ever yield-bearing Bitcoin. The protocol initially ran on Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain and Merlin Chain. Since launch, it has been expanded across 10 blockchain networks. The product claims to enable BTC holders to earn additional BTC all the while maintaining Bitcoin exposure. In excess of 20,000 BTC is currently staked within Solv Protocol’s SolvBTC product, accounting for around $1.3 billion in value. The project claims to have 400,000 users, with 80% of their assets allocated to yield-generating strategies.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashMarket opportunitySolv Protocol’s Co-Founder Ryan Chow spoke to the market opportunity that Bitcoin staking presents. Chow stated: “With a market cap of over $1.2 trillion, Bitcoin holds immense growth potential, Bitcoin’s staking rate is currently much lower than Ethereum’s 28%. If we can unlock similar levels of participation, Bitcoin staking could unlock $330 billion in value. We believe BTCFi will drive the next wave of innovation in the blockchain space.” In a series of X posts published on Oct. 14, the project pointed out that the lack of a native yield, limited integrations with core DeFi primitives and fragmented BTC liquidity relative to DeFi are key challenges for Bitcoin, which Solv claims to have resolved. Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL)Earlier this month, Solv, alongside BNB Chain, Ceffu and Chainlink, launched the Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL). SAL is a framework which has been designed to simplify and standardize Bitcoin staking across a number of blockchain networks. Key SAL features include cross-chain compatibility with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chains, support for liquidity staking tokens (LSTs) and a focus on security and custody with the involvement of crypto custodian Ceffu deemed to ensure that the user’s underlying Bitcoin is secure. Solv has launched three LSTs. These include SolvBTC.BBN, an LST representing staked Bitcoin on Babylon, another Bitcoin staking platform. SolvBTC.ENA is a trading strategy involving Ethena’s basis trading. Meanwhile, SolvBTC.CORE focuses on providing Bitcoin liquidity on CoreDAO, a Bitcoin-aligned EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain. Bitcoin staking is a more recent development which appears to have considerable potential. As Solv pointed out on X, Ethereum has a 28% staking rate right now, with Bitcoin not coming anywhere close to this figure. Staking platforms on Ethereum like Lido has $23.7 billion in total value locked (TVL) while EigenLayer weighs in at $10.9 billion.

Japan’s Mt.Gox to commence creditor repayments shortlyCreditors of Mt. Gox, the Japanese Bitcoin exchange that suffered a devastating hack in 2014, have received a glimmer of hope with an announcement from the administrators of the Mt.Gox estate that repayments are imminent.The recent announcement from Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee overseeing Mt. Gox’s estate was made on Tuesday when Kobayashi initiated the distribution of emails to rehabilitation creditors, hinting at the commencement of repayments. Social media reports have fueled optimism, suggesting that creditors may start receiving repayments in cash in 2023.Photo by Manuel Cosentino on UnsplashFirst round repayments in 2023The email, sent in both Japanese and English, outlined Kobayashi’s plan to initiate the first round of repayments in 2023, with the process extending into 2024. The email highlighted the complexity of the task, citing the large number of rehabilitation creditors, diverse types of repayments and varied processing times required. Despite the lack of specific timelines for individual creditors, the email conveyed a cautiously optimistic tone about progress.Cash vs. bitcoinReaction within the Mt. Gox community has been mixed. Some commentators view Kobayashi’s email as “cautiously promising,” interpreting it as a positive sign that repayments are finally on the horizon. Long-suffering creditors had been informed of a one-year extension to the repayment deadline in September. Additionally, some observers have raised concerns, noting that the email specifically references cash payments, whereas many victims of the Mt. Gox hack anticipate the return of large amounts of bitcoin.The Mt. Gox trustee currently holds 135,890 BTC across known addresses, valued at nearly $5 billion. An additional 3,795 BTC (worth $130 million) are held on unknown addresses.While the email signals progress, questions remain about the nature and extent of the repayments, with the community keenly observing developments. The email stated:“The specific timing of repayment to individual rehabilitation creditors is undetermined, and therefore, it will not be possible to provide advance notice to each rehabilitation creditor regarding the specific timing of their repayment.”Deadlines were also pushed back on other occasions, including March of this year when creditors were sent a “change of deadline“ notification.Redemption of trust assetsThis news coincided with the Mt. Gox trustee’s announcement on Wednesday regarding the redemption of trust assets. A substantial sum of 7 billion Japanese yen (equivalent to $47 million) was redeemed, intended for funding the repayment of claims. Following the redemption, the remaining trust assets stood at 8.8 billion yen, or approximately $59 million. The trustee, as per the official statement, is actively preparing for the base repayment, early lump-sum repayment and intermediate repayment.The recent events surrounding Mt. Gox have sparked discussions within the broader crypto community about the potential for a bitcoin sell-off. It’s long been speculated that the sudden release of bitcoin to creditors could lead to the market being flooded with sellers. However, as it appears that cash is being distributed as well as bitcoin, this should soften any potential bitcoin sell-off.Despite the optimism in some quarters, skepticism lingers due to the history of delays in Mt. Gox repayments. Creditors remain cautiously hopeful for the most part, awaiting further updates and tangible progress in the rehabilitation process.