Lawmakers weigh what to do with Sam Bankman-Fried’s political cash after FTX’s collapse

FTX executives made a splash during the 2022 midterm cycle, spending millions on political donations and funding for their super PACs  But after the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection, som...

NFT utility platform Tropee raises $5 million led by Tioga Capital: Exclusive

European web3 firm Tioga Capital led a $5.1 million (€5 million) seed investment in NFT utility platform Tropee.  Crypto founders such as The Sandbox’s Sébastien Borget, Exclusible’s...

WME talent agency signs Valfré, artist part of Instagram’s NFT push: Exclusive

Powerhouse Hollywood talent agency WME is once again showing its faith in web3’s future potential by adding contemporary artist Ilse Valfré to its roster, The Block learned exclusively. Valfré, ...

Integrated advertising coming to Decentral Games’ ICE Poker: Exclusive

Metaverse builders and advertising platform LandVault will partner with Decentral Games to introduce integrated advertising into its flagship poker game. LandVault will use ICE Poker to display ...

The Block: Binance had ‘at minimum ill-intent’ in revoked FTX proposal: Sen. Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz said that Binance showed “at minimum ill intent” regarding the offer it made and quickly took back to buy FTX last week. Noting the speed of Binance’s public offe...

Crypto prime broker FalconX will no longer use Silvergate’s SEN network

Crypto prime broker FalconX will no longer use the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), according to an email sent by FalconX to clients and obtained by The Block. “Out of an abundance of caution ...

CFTC Commissioner Johnson defends agency approach to FTX, crypto

Kristin Johnson, a commissioner at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, defended the agency’s approach to digital asset regulation in the wake of FTX’s collapse, saying the agency l...

Senate Banking Committee eyes hearing on Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX collapse

A key Senate committee could hold a hearing to investigate the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. The Senate Banking Committee is “working to schedule a hearing and details are forthcoming,” accor...

Class action filed against Tom Brady, Larry David and others who endorsed FTX 

Celebrities who promoted troubled crypto exchange FTX are facing a class action lawsuit.  Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry and Larry David are among the stars named in the lawsuit, which ...

FTX Crash Not Important for a Bitcoin ETF (Exclusive)

The past couple of weeks has shaken the cryptocurrency industry to its core. FTX filed for bankruptcy after a massive liquidity crunch and an inability to honor their customers’ withdrawal requests. W...

Lawyer who beat Microsoft, repped Theranos, eyes suit against FTX’s celeb backers

High-profile FTX promoters like Tom Brady and Steph Curry could have a lawsuit on their hands. Famed lawyer David Boies is talking to clients about a possible class action lawsuit against celebr...

Cristiano Ronaldo launches exclusive NFT collection on Binance

Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his first NFT collection is dropping this Friday, 18 November 2022. The CR7 NFT Collection will be exclusive on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency ecosystem an...

GOP lawmaker donates FTX exec’s campaign contribution 

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., is the latest member of Congress to donate political funds he received from an FTX executive, distancing himself after the troubled crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy prote...

After pausing withdrawals, BlockFi customers are confused and angry

In the aftermath of FTX’s dramatic demise, crypto lending firm BlockFi stunned users with an announcement that it would pause withdrawals. Now, they’re waiting confused and without many an...

FTX spent $74 million on real estate in the Bahamas this year: Exclusive

Now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Group went on a real estate splurge this year, according to government documents obtained by The Block and confirmed by two former FTX employees.  In total, the ...

B2C2 Chief Executive Officer Phillip Gillespie steps down: Exclusive

Phillip Gillespie, group CEO of crypto market maker B2C2 who managed its acquisition by Japanese bank SBI Financial Services, is stepping down, the company said today.  Effective Nov. 4, current...

Microsoft-backed Space and Time joins Nvidia startup program: Exclusive

Data warehousing platform Space and Time has joined chipmaker Nvidia’s startup program just over a month after raising a $20 million strategic funding round backed by Microsoft’s venture arm M12...

FTX turmoil, midterms scramble crypto’s D.C. agenda

With the digital asset market tumbling, the industry’s best-known face in Washington, D.C. in serious trouble, and control of the Senate in limbo, crypto policy advocates scrambled to chart a pa...

European crypto broker Aplo approved to offer banking solutions: Exclusive

Aplo, a crypto brokerage firm based in France, has received approval in Luxembourg to offer banking solutions across the European Union.  The Atomico-backed company currently offers hedge funds,...

Bankman-Fried’s priority crypto bill ‘dead’ after FTX sells to Binance

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried poured millions of dollars into political races and lobbying costs this year, becoming crypto’s best-known voice in the world of Washington policymaking.  But minutes a...

a16z-backed startup Flowcarbon launches carbon-offsetting NFT project

Flowcarbon, a blockchain startup co-created by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, will launch an NFT project that uses a majority of its proceeds to buy carbon offsets.  Dubbed Flow3rs, the project...

Crypto D.C. influence spending levels off after massive boom year

Crypto’s footprint in Washington has been on the rise for years. But one year on from the infrastructure fight that brought massive industry attention and lobby funds to the U.S. Capital, the crypto i...

European crypto venture firm LeadBlock Partners hits first close of $150 million fund: Exclusive

LeadBlock Partners, a venture capital firm based in London and Paris, completed the first close of its new fund, which has a target value of $150 million (€150 million). Founded only two years a...

Decentralized search startup Sepana raises $10 million

Decentralized search startup Sepana has announced today it has closed a $10 million funding round led by venture firms Hack VC and Pitango First. Protocol Labs, Lattice Capital and Balaji Sriniv...

Founders of short-lived NFT investing game Visionrare raise $1.5 million for web3 job network: Exclusive

The founders of a short-lived NFT marketplace for “fantasy startup investing” raised $1.5 million in funding for Job Protocol, a new decentralized recruitment network.  Buoyed by the...

Web3 gaming infrastructure startup Xternity raises $4.5 million: Exclusive

Web3 gaming infrastructure startup Xternity raised $4.5 million in a pre-seed funding round as the space continues to grab the most venture funding. NFX, a pre-seed and seed-stage-focused ventur...

OpenSea creates tool to help NFT collections enforce royalties on-chain

Marketplace giant OpenSea laid out the first of a suite of tools for its users this weekend, allowing creators of new NFT collections to enforce royalties on-chain.  Debuting on Nov. 8, the comp...

BetDEX to go live on Solana mainnet before World Cup in Qatar: Exclusive

BetDEX, a sports betting exchange built on a blockchain, will open on Solana mainnet on Nov. 17. The sports betting exchange will go live at the beginning of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, said Va...

Traditional finance is diving deeper into crypto

Traditional financial firms are working their way further into crypto and deeper down the rabbit hole, according to Fireblocks Head of Web3 Omer Amsel. Fireblocks custodies funds on behalf of mo...

Zerion prepares to take on MetaMask with in-browser wallet

Crypto wallet Zerion is gearing up to launch an in-browser web extension as it prepares to take on industry leader MetaMask. The web extension is now in a closed beta and is expected to go live by the...

DeFi advocates push back against FTX-backed crypto bill

Decentralized finance advocates are scrambling to slow the passage of a digital asset regulation bill until next year, teeing up a struggle between some of crypto’s largest players, with Washington la...

Solana yield manager Texture raises $5 million, enters private beta

DeFi yield platform Texture has raised $5 million in a round co-led by P2P Capital and Sino Global, and is now live in private beta testing. Other investors in the round include Wintermute, Sema...