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Jay-Z Adds Incubator to Portfolio of Blockchain/Crypto Investments: Report
The rap singer and mogul has invested in a tech firm that focuses on the metaverse and building blockchain-based products.
By Eli Tan
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:50 p.m. Published Oct 12, 2021, 6:54 p.m.
Jay-Z knows diamonds are forever, but what about crypto? The hip-hop legend and business mogul’s Marcy Venture Partners (MVP) is adding spatial LABS (sLABS), a metaverse and blockchain-based tech incubator, to his growing list of crypto investments, according to a report from Billboard.
- Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Iddris Sandu, next year sLABS will launch its first product, “LNQ,” a blockchain-enabled hardware platform that helps onboard young creators to the metaverse, Billboard reported.
- This is not MVP’s first blockchain/cryptocurrency investment. Others include blockchain developer Alchemy; French hardware wallet and security infrastructure startup Ledger; and ₿trust, a trust with an initial endowment of 500 bitcoin (currently worth almost $58 million) created in partnership with Square CEO Jack Dorsey to fund bitcoin development in Africa and India.
- In May Jay-Z also invested in the $19 million Series A round for Bitski, a self-described “Shopify for NFTs,” or non-fungible tokens.
- Jay-Z also sits on the board of directors of Square, which allows users to buy and sell bitcoin, after selling his Tidal streaming service to the payments provider last year for $300 million. In August, Dorsey said that Square intended to build a decentralized exchange for bitcoin.
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Read more: Jay-Z to Auction ‘Reasonable Doubt’ NFT at Sotheby’s
UPDATE (Oct. 12, 20:00 UTC): Updated with information about Square in the fourth bullet point.
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