Reddit Launches NFT Avatar Marketplace, New Gaming Investments + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

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NFTs news

• Social network Reddit is launching a new NFT-based avatar marketplace that allows users to purchase blockchain-based profile pictures for a fixed rate. It said it is releasing 90 different designs with the total number of NFTs going for sale in this early-access phase being “tens of thousands”, but that users will not need a crypto wallet to buy them.

Investments news

• Web3 game company Planetarium Labs raised USD 32m in a Series A funding round led by Animoca Brands. The funds will be used to build out fundamental tools for community-driven gaming and player governance, they said.
• Gaming blockchain project Oasys completed a private token sale round of USD 20m led by blockchain financing and investment platform, Republic Capital. The funds will be used to strengthen partnerships, invest in new marketing and business development initiatives, and increase local headcount, they said.

Politics news

• British prime minister Boris Johnson has announced that he is leaving office as soon as his successor is chosen, after losing support from the majority of his ministers and Conservative lawmakers, per Reuters.

Regulation news

• A legal advisory notice issued by the US Office of Government Ethics bans US officials who are personally invested in crypto from working on crypto-related policies and regulations that could affect the value of their assets. The directive applies to all White House staff and the employees of all federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.
• Belgian regulator, the Financial Services and Markets Authority, is seeking comments on its communication on the classification of cryptoassets as securities, investment instruments, or financial instruments.

Mining news

• Bitcoin (BTC) miner Riot Blockchain announced that it produced BTC 421 in June 2022, an increase of approximately 73% compared to the June 2021 production of BTC 243. As of June 30, 2022, Riot held approximately BTC 6,654, all produced by the company’s self-mining operations, they said.

Career news

• Crypto exchange Binance.US announced the appointment of Jasmine Lee as Chief Financial Officer. Lee was previously a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Acorns, a micro-investing app company.