Crypto Three Things (5/6)

The below content and projections are the opinion of the authors. Any conclusions or takeaways are their own. This should not be considered as investment advice. Investing involves the risk of loss and returns are not guaranteed.

1) LootRush raises $12M in seed round in push to bring NFT gaming to the masses

• The Steam-like platform has its focus on making blockchain and NFT-based games easy and affordable to play.
• The funding round was led by Paradigm, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Dapper Labs, and The Chainsmokers among others.
• Currently, the only play-to-earn game available on the platform is the popular Axie Infinity.

Titan’s Takeaway: LootRush is aiming to take on several issues at once with its recent launch – high barriers to entry, high costs, and time spent before users actually start playing. If the platform manages to make significant headway on even one of these challenges, it could mark a big step forward for NFT gaming.

2) Gucci to begin accepting crypto payments in select U.S. retail stores

• The payment program will be rolled out in 5 locations, including Wooster Street in New York, with plans to expand in the near future.
• Customers can choose to pay with 12 different digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and others.
• The company joins designer Philipp Plein, whose online store began accepting crypto payments last year.

Titan’s Takeaway: Gucci’s payment-in-crypto experiment is the latest push from a luxury brand to find a foothold in the crypto community, whether this be through NFTs, payments, or metaverse plans. We expect luxury fashion to remain a testing ground for bringing digital ownership into the physical world.

3) Katie Haun’s crypto fund leads bold move into NFT protocol Zora

• Haun Ventures led a $50M funding round that values Zora at $600 million.
• Coinbase Ventures and Kindred Ventures were among other firms that participated in the round.
• This round marks the first led by Haun Ventures since the firm’s launch in March.

Titan’s Takeaway: Amid robust growth of the web3 economy — and the ample funding available — we expect new NFT protocols to continue taking big checks from investors in months ahead to challenge OpenSea’s dominance in the space.