White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #93
The Sandbox Goes Green - Deploys on Polygon
The Sandbox Goes Green - Deploys on Polygon
White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #93
What is The Sandbox?
‘The Sandbox’ is a sandbox-themed blockchain-based gaming platform in which plays can build, own, and monetise their experiences. It is a metaverse where players can create their own virtual worlds, comparable to Minecraft, although with the ability to own everything they create in their games and to reap rewards for the hard work put into building the user-generated content.
The platform consists of three integrated products that provide a comprehensive experience for user-generated content (UGC) production:
VoxEdit - A 3D voxel modelling toolkit that enables users to create and design assets, and to export them to the marketplace to sell or to the Game Maker to use in-game.
Marketplace - An online marketplace where assets can be uploaded, published, and traded as NFTs.
Game Maker - The software used to play the game, allowing players to build 3D games for free, without coding.
The Sandbox has two more critical aspects to the ecosystem, LAND and SAND.
SAND - The utility token used in the ecosystem for transactions and interactions.
LAND - Digital plots of real estate that players can buy and build experiences on top of. LANDs can be combined to form larger areas called ESTATEs or DISTRICTS.
Migrating to Polygon
In order to stimulate more sustainable and affordable participation in the ecosystem, The Sandbox has successfully migrated its smart contracts onto Polygon (a Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution). Users who bridge their LANDs to Polygon will receive a cashback payment. There will also be LAND contribution multipliers available for the SAND staking programs, which means that users are eligible for staking rewards based on how much LAND they own on Polygon.
This move was designed to bridge the LAND and SAND tokens, to make the ecosystem more energy and cost-efficient. The Sandbox has made several commitments to reducing environmental impact. The shift to Polygon will use up to 100X less energy than it has been on Ethereum. At the same time, The Sandbox has also recently begun acquiring carbon credits to reverse emissions with carbon removals through blockchain-based platforms, along with renewing its partnership with WeForest with a commitment that 1% of proceeds for every hectare of virtual LANDs purchased goes to forest restoration.
Why is this important?
The Sandbox has been a facilitator for a plethora of brands from various industries to take their first steps into ‘the metaverse’. These names include the likes of Gucci, Adidas, HSBC, JP Morgan, Samsung, and many others. The Sandbox gives brands the flexibility to navigate their way through their exploration of digital initiatives and to design the narrative they want to build as metaverse collaborations gain more traction.
One of the most common critiques of crypto is that it is environmentally unfriendly. The Sandbox taking the approach to be more environmentally friendly enables users and brands partnered with The Sandbox to feel more at ease about the environmental impacts associated with engaging with Web3 and cryptocurrencies. In addition to the environmental element, the shift to Polygon making the ecosystem more affordable to engage with is a big plus for users and brands involved as it creates access to a substantially larger audience. With users being able to engage with the in-game ecosystem affordably, brands testing and growing their metaverse presence can get a better gauge for the appetite of users in the space for their campaigns.
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
Exclusible launches a new collection of NFT with French artist Richard Orlinski
In collaboration with the renowned French artist Richard Orlinski and Exclusible, The Collection World is launching a limited NFT edition of its exclusive membership card.
Lighthouse joined the Blockchain Game Alliance
The Blockchain Game Alliance is an open forum for individuals and companies to share knowledge and collaborate, create common standards, establish best practices, and network.
Haruko has recruited key people this month
Oliver Taylor-Higginson, Louise Borjes and Ian James who all joined the Haruko team this month.
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
Uniswap’s Proposed ‘Fee Switch’ Would Cut Into Liquidity Provider Payouts
If liquidity providers can no longer turn a profit, "they will be forced to move liquidity elsewhere or stop providing AMM liquidity altogether," Matt Fiebach, a Blockworks researcher, said.
Aave DAO approving overcollateralized stablecoin splits crypto community
The proposal received 99.9% votes in favor, and over 500,000 AAVE tokens were pledged by voters for creating the overcollateralized stablecoin GHO.
Crypto Firm Chiliz Nabs $100M Stake in FC Barcelona's Digital Studio
Chiliz has acquired nearly a quarter of FC Barcelona's Barça Studios, enabling the club to build better NFT and metaverse projects.
Tiffany & Co. Launches Exclusive CryptoPunk NFT Jewellery
World-renowned jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. is launching a special edition NFT collection which will be exclusively available to CryptoPunk holders.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
City of Miami to Launch 5,000 Ethereum NFTs with TIME, Mastercard, Salesforce
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez loves Web3. The city is planning to launch 5,000 NFTs with the help of TIME, Mastercard, and Salesforce.
Law Commission for England and Wales proposes reforms for digital assets
The U.K. Law Commission called for cryptocurrencies and digital assets to be classed as “data objects” in new reforms aimed at fostering growth and legal protection.
Luno granted digital asset license in France
Luno has been granted a digital asset service provider license (DASP) license by French regulators.
💰 Funding & Exits
Unstoppable Domains Reaches Unicorn Valuation With $65M Series A Round
The Web3 startup behind NFT-based domain names is now valued at $1 billion as it expands its online identity push into reputation.
Step-Counter App Sweatcoin Raises $13M to Fund Leap Into Web3
A new “move-to-earn” project has joined the race, with Sweatcoin pivoting to crypto fueled by a fresh round of funding and a new token.
Decentralized data platform Space and Time raises $10 million in seed round
Funds raised in the Framework Ventures-led round will be used to expand Space and Time's engineering team and decentralized network.
Aurora protocol Aurigami raises $12 million in token rounds
Aurigami, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol based on the Aurora network, has raised $12 million in token rounds.
Team Behind Hacked Beanstalk Stablecoin Raises $9M for Market Protocol
The Root Labs raise precedes Beanstalk’s “Replanting” relaunch strategy.
Mighty bear games raises $10M led by Framework Ventures
Mighty Bear is a collective of games industry veterans from the likes of King, Ubisoft, EA, Lucasarts, Disney, Gameloft, and Jagex.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
New Hedge Fund First to Take Investor Checks via Token Options
A veteran derivatives trader is readying the launch of a cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund firm with a unique twist.
Variant raises $450 million for two new venture funds
A new $450 million venture fund is entering the crypto market.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
Ethereum’s Final Testnet Merge Set for Early August
Goerli will be the network’s third and final testnet before the merge and transition to proof of stake, which is scheduled for mid-September.