An attendee tweeted this past Monday morning that during the recent Mainnet 2021 cryptocurrency conference held in New York, he had witnessed an event speaker getting &lsquocharged by the United States SEC' prior to getting on stage.

The tweet sparked heated debate and rigorous discourse regarding the authenticity of the allegation, the recipient of the alleged subpoena, as well as the overall concept that the Securities and Exchange Commission was exploiting a cryptocurrency event to launch investigations and was reportedly overstepping its boundaries.

What just happened?

Attempts to independently verify the allegation were futile, and the attendee in question, namely investor Slava Rubin, has yet to reply to a follow-up request for clarification. Numerous attendees claimed, however, that multiple individuals were indeed served by the regulatory agency during the event.

Nevertheless, reports of the event were quickly corroborated by Ryan Selkis, the founder of Messari which was also sponsoring the conference. Ryan claimed in a tweet that the idea that these individuals could waltz into the event unannounced and uninvited without paying for a ticket and serving one of the speakers a subpoena has now in fact motivated him to compete for Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate position in 2024.

What does this mean going forward?

We can expect similar developments in the future if the SEC develops a habit of utilizing cryptocurrency meetings, events, gatherings, and conferences to serve subpoenas to potential targets. This tendency could have an impact on foreign nationals in particular, who may evade the authorities more easily if they just stay out of the United States' jurisdiction.

Furthermore, there are regulations that govern how individuals in corporations abroad must be served with subpoenas, according to blockchain attorney Daniel Payne. It would hence be a lot simpler as well as easier to issue these subpoenas when these foreign nationals enter the United States, and so this is definitely a technique that government officials have used before and in all likelihood will continue to do so going forward, he added.

Risk of getting left behind

It is becoming abundantly clear that the SEC is hell-bent on regulating the cryptocurrency sector as much as possible, as was made increasingly evident by federal and state regulators in the United States who have steadily increased their public-facing engagement in the industry. The still ongoing case against Ripple is a prime example of this.

Moreover, as the campaign against the stablecoins also rages on, one cannot help but wonder as to whether it would be more beneficial to simply avoid becoming involved with the U.S altogether as far as the cryptocurrency community, market, and industry may be concerned. American crypto enthusiasts are therefore worried that the country risks being left behind as the world continues to usher in a new age of decentralization.

Dapper Labs, creator of NFT fantasy basketball platform NBA Top Shot, raises another $250M in a funding round that closed September 21, 2021. This Vancouver-based company continues to impress and attract investors with innovation and vision. The lead investor for this round was Coatue, but existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, GV, and Version One Ventures have all increased their exposure. New investors like BOND and GIC have also joined the group. Dapper Lab&39s development of popular application-level NFT products like Top Shot and work on groundbreaking blockchain projects like Crypto Kitties have broken ground for the NFT industry and lay the tracks for future winning products.

Best known for their creations CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, Dapper Labs looks to expand the collectible lineup. Top Shot allows users to buy and trade blockchain-certified NFT digital representations of NBA players, and great video sports moments associated with players. Dapper Labs has just signed a new partnership with LaLiga, the Spanish football association. The circulation of these digital NFT collectibles can be controlled through minting, and as a result similar to their paper counterparts, their value is expected to increase over time.

NFT offerings like this require a blockchain to exist, and Dapper Labs proves to have the required known how to provide that as well. Building popular application-level NFTs and supplying the infrastructure to power them, amazing accomplishments indeed. Dapper Labs has developed blockchain FLOW, providing scalability, and built for practical use cases, such as NBA Top Shot. Dapper Labs expects to launch its LaLiga experience in June 2022, which no doubt will be hosted on their blockchain FLOW.

Dapper Labs has a bright future and is worthy of the confidence these investment rounds demonstrate. They lead the way in popularizing NFT as a user-friendly means to digital collecting, which to an extent replicates, and is not too far removed from hard copy trading card collecting. This statement is somewhat misleading as it could be easily said that NBA Top Shot is the superior, more engaging, and most permanent form for collecting sports "cards" and memorabilia.

Venture capital company Everse Capital, a seasoned cryptocurrency and gaming investor, recently expanded its exposure in the blockchain gaming market by committing long-term funding and support to play-to-earn startup Nakamoto Games. Nakamoto Games is working towards becoming the leading player in the growing play-to-earn field. Nakamoto Games is launching a sublime suite of play-to-earn games while also providing third-party developers with the tools to launch their own gaming creations.

For Everse Capital, this is not the first foray into either the blockchain or gaming industry. Everse Capital holds a broad portfolio of disruptive cryptocurrency startups and has helped each of them maximize their potential in the market by providing versatile incubation services. 

Within gaming, Everse Capital provided funding and long-term support to Star Atlas, a next-generation gaming platform that allows gamers to immerse themselves in a cutting-edge decentralized gaming environment. Everse Capital has also provided significant support to other gaming projects like Alien Worlds. Underpinned by the WAX blockchain, Everse Capital has helped Alien Worlds become one of the most active gaming decentralized gaming applications.

Beyond gaming, Everse Capital is also an astute investor in the rapidly growing fields of Web3, DeFi, and NFTs. Everse Capital has invested and supported countless projects which are on the frontier of innovation in their respective fields. Examples of such sublime projects include PolkaDEX, a leading decentralized exchange on the Polkadot network, and Mercurial Finance, a Solana-based decentralized liquidity provider, Coin 98, AIOZ, and Orion Money.

Everse Capital has provided versatile assistance to all of its supported startups. Everse provides resources and helps in areas such as fundraising, community building, marketing, industry connections, and legal support. The value of such support is evident from their exemplary track record as a venture capital company. Each of their supported startups have grown exponentially since Everse began providing their support. As Everse increases its exposure to blockchain-based gaming with its latest investment in Nakamoto Games, the play-to-earn startup is lining up to embark on a phase of extraordinary growth.

The alternating governing council of 23 institutions at Hedera Hashgraph has set aside just below 11 billion HBAR tokens (which are worth about $5 billion) to enhance network adoption. Hedera also recently announced that just over 5 billion tokens (worth $2.5 billion) would be donated to the newly formed HBAR Foundation. The remainder would be allocated to various programs targeted at bolstering the growth of Hedera&39s ecosystem.

For those who might be unaware, Hedera is a transactional distributed ledger that uses a novel consensus technique called hashgraph to handle a greater number of transactions at scale comparative to traditional PoS (Proof-of-Stake) and PoW (Proof-of-Work) networks. The gossip protocol, a method of transmitting and receiving messages between nodes influenced by human chatter, epidemics, as well as social networks, is used to reach consensus in the hashgraph. Leading worldwide businesses such as LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), Tata Communications, Wipro and Boeing all oversee and govern the platform.

HBAR Foundation

The HBAR foundation, led by M&A industry and software expert Shayne Higdon , shall be an autonomous entity that has complete control over how the HBAR tokens it receives are deployed. The foundation intends to increase the Hedera network's usage in DeFi, NFTs, CBDCs, and other interesting areas such as that of gaming.

Shayne stated that the primary objective is to hence finance a future in which entrepreneurs build digitally native ecosystems and economies, as well as manage their own assets, markets, data, identities, and so much more. He added that his team is therefore thrilled to work with and assist anyone who shares this vision.

What To Expect Going Forward

According to Mance Harmon , Hedera Hashgraph&39s CEO, the Hedera network is currently the most energy-efficient, widely used, enterprise-grade public ledger that you can find on the market today, before also mentioning that future growth is largely dependent on bringing in more companies. He added that the Hedera Governing Council has thus pledged a major commitment towards accelerating the network&39s decentralized usage along with its growth.

Moreover, the foundation and certain other development projects will get the allotted HBAR tokens via Hedera Treasury accounts in the near future. At the Governing Council meeting which had taken place on July 14th, the general idea to dedicate 20% of the token supply to developmental projects was agreed upon and granted approval.

Additionally, the HBAR tokens will indeed be included in the released supply, but shall be distributed as grants to apps as well as ecosystem partners who will develop on and use the Hedera network for years to come.

AMC theatre announces expansion of their support for cryptocurrencies. Last week the revealed that they will soon be accepting ETH (Ethereum), BCH (Bitcoin Cash), and LTC (Litecoin) to the lineup of accepted currencies, with BTC (Bitcoin) announced already. "You will be able to pay for tickets and snacks with crypto at AMC theatres by the end of 2021" proclaims Adam Aron the CEO, in a Tweet.

This is another big step towards mainstream crypto adoption, and AMC hopes to lure a new market of tech savvy customers bearing crypto. While AMC is only one theatre chain, this story speaks to the broader consumer facing adoption of crypto as payment. As these corporate dominos contine to fall, it becomes easier and easier for other corporations to fall in line and make similar moves.

AMC and the MEME Economy

AMC stock price is up 2,100% year to date. This was thanks to the meme-stock frenzy earlier this year, though the price has now pulled back by 15%. Criticism is flying on Twitter regarding AMC&39s coin selection for acceptance. Some suggesting replacements in the line up such as DOGE (Dogecoin), expressing disappointment, and that AMC did not do their homework. Reading Tweets, &ldquoPerhaps no one in your boardroom is familiar with The People's Crypto, Dogecoin, which embodies the meme economy and the spirit of AMC. After this year I figured you would know a thing or two about the meme economy!". Our stance on this discussion is that, no matter how hard you try, &39you can&39t please everyone.&39 The adoption of any cryptocurrency as means of payment is a step in the right direction. Those mediums can change over time, but the inital step is often the hardest.

We are still unsure if AMC plans to hold these cryptocurrencies on their balance sheet, or convert them into cash as soon as they are received. Therefore we cannot say for certian if this is a wholehearted move in support of the crypto industry, or just another attempt to make the MEME economy happy.

The highly anticipated blockchain gaming platform Nakamoto.Games have partnered with Synapse.Network to list their native NAKA token for initial public and private sale. Nakamoto.Games is a play-to-earn gaming ecosystem, complete with a developer SDK, making it easy for any developer to create and monetize their own blockchain games.

The Nakamoto.Games Network Effect

The first project to launch on the platform pays homage to the original Nintendo game, Duck Hunt. Nakamoto.Games will release their modern-day rendition, Duck Hunters, where players spend NAKA tokens to buy ammo. The Nakamoto team is also hard at work building a suite of other games that will be launched at a later date. All games built on their platform will run on their native currency, NAKA tokens. All NAKA tokens spent in-game will be added to a prize pool that is periodically distributed to the top players of each game, providing an economic incentive for playing. We suspect that the carefully planned token economics, matched with the network effect created by the developer SDK will catapult Nakamoto.Games to the forefront of the crypto gaming ecosystem.

1st Gem on Synapse.Network

There was a lot of excitement from both communities when Nakamoto.Games announced their partnership with the cross-chain launchpad Synapse.Network for the launch. Synapse.Network is the world&39s first truly cross-chain project finance platform. Synapse is less than one month removed from their blistering public sale which saw the price of the SNP token skyrocket from $0.08 to over $0.70 in under 24 hours. Synapse has wasted no time and excited the community once again by choosing Nakamoto.Games as their first IDO listing on their platform.

As investment in the crypto industry has exploded this year, private equity company 10T Holdings has received over $400 million in commitments for its initial two growth equity funds relating to digital asset firms.10T raised about $750 million for the initiative, which includes the 10T Fund as well as the 10T DAE Expansion Fund, through co-investment and sub-advised vehicles. According to the firm, the majority of the cash has already been allocated.

&lsquoDemand for the offering was fantastic', - Dan Tapiero

The 10T Fund initially closed with roughly $120 million this past January, according to CEO Dan Tapiero, who noted that the demand regarding the offering was indeed so high that the business kept it available to investors. Furthermore, the fund&39s initial couple of investments, namely concerning that of both eToro and Kraken, grew astronomically, per the words of the CEO. With the exception of these two, the business opted to establish the 10T DAE Expansion Fund to make investments in the same organizations as the inaugural fund. The portfolios are therefore divided into three categories, namely bridges to virtual asset ecosystems, blockchain infrastructure firms, and finally next-generation financial services.

The CEO stated that the aim was always to include up to four businesses within every &39box&39, so to speak, and establish a diversified exposure for traders. The investors in question primarily consist of those who do not possess a comprehensive understanding of tokens, cryptocurrencies, protocols, or early-stage enterprises, as well as those who may not be all that venture-oriented.

What to Expect for Bitcoin and Crypto in General

The CEO predicts that BTC's price would rise to somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000 within the next three to four years. He added that the argument could be made for much higher numbers, but that the aforementioned range is more or less reasonable as of this time. He added that even now, only a decade or so after Bitcoin had burst onto the scene, the asset could be undervalued and many still fail to realize just how much of a global impact its introduction has truly had.

Of course, this is not to say that Bitcoin doesn't have its fair share of critics, as naysayers have been spouting the same rhetoric for a long time and continue to do so about how the world's biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization will not last in the long-term. For his part, Tapiero believes that while the younger generation is on board with cryptocurrencies, those aged above 60 are still not entirely convinced.

Last Tuesday, September 7th will now forever be remembered as Bitcoin day as it marked the first-day legislation came into effect for Bitcoin to become legal tender in El Salvador. The central American country became the world&39s inaugural nation to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender and official alternative currency. Proponents of digital money, including the nation&39s leader Nayib Bukele, believe that the new policy is certainly revolutionary, ground-breaking, and historic to say the least.

However, it must be said that the first several hours of Bitcoin&39s legal status in El Salvador were hampered by technological issues and glitches when the government launched its digital wallet software to the residents in the beginning. Still, the significance of this recent decision to legalize the flagship cryptocurrency cannot be understated, and while Bitcoin might currently be in a dip, the country's government is hopeful that this was the right move and has hence bought even more BTC.

Why did El Salvador do this?

President Bukele has stated that legalizing Bitcoin will encourage investment in the nation and benefit the nearly 70% of the country&39s citizens who lack access to conventional financial services. The leader added that there is both a need and a desire to break free from the norms of the past and that El Salvador has earned the right to progress into the developed world. Furthermore, per the decree of the nation's leader, all businesses will now be required to accept Bitcoin, however, there will be a choice to receive either USD or BTC regarding the settlement of various transactions.

President Bukele had additionally stated that utilizing Bitcoin would be an efficient method to transmit considerable amounts in remittances that Salvadorans residing outside the nation send back to their homeland annually. In related news, El Salvador&39s government also reportedly has 550 BTC at the moment, with the country&39s other official currency being the United States Dollar (USD).

Not Everyone is on Board

While there were expectedly some technological challenges such as glitches and minor hiccups when citizens started actually using BTC that are still being resolved, the fact remains that not everyone has been supportive of the decision to legalize Bitcoin. However, most of the protestors have stated that the primary reason as to why there is so much anti-Bitcoin sentiment is because a sizable portion of the country's residents does not know the first thing about the flagship cryptocurrency, or the cryptocurrency industry in general. President Bukele has nevertheless stated that education-based efforts will be administered in order to remedy this situation.

Furthermore, both the IMF and the World Bank have been hesitant to support the new decision, especially the former as the International Monetary Fund believes that legalizing Bitcoin could jeopardize the country&39s ties with the global organization. 

Moreover, according to CNN, judges are chosen by El Salvador&39s parliament, which itself is largely governed by Bukele&39s party, declared this past Friday that the president may run for a 2nd term in 2024. According to a few analysts, this is reportedly prohibited by the national constitution. The decision, according to the U.S Embassy in El Salvador, &lsquosets a dangerous precedent and further erodes El Salvador&39s worldwide reputation as a liberal and reliable partner in the area'.

Meanwhile, other nations in the surrounding regions have expressed their support for the decision, and even Edward Snowden has praised El Salvador's efforts in legalizing Bitcoin.

London, UK - TOKEN2049, Europe's premier crypto conference, has today
announced a number of additional high profile speakers, including Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of
Galaxy Digital and former President of Fortress Investment Group, will take the stage in London on 7-8
October 2021. Taking place at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, TOKEN2049 is
returning for an in-person event featuring some of the largest names in the crypto and blockchain space.

As a global meeting place for entrepreneurs, crypto industry leaders, investors, and those curious about
how the token economy will transform their businesses and lives, TOKEN2049 will explore a variety of
topics, ranging from institutional investment, crypto regulation, DeFi, financial inclusion, Web 3.0 and
NFTs, among others. The event will feature a diverse scope of speakers, including some of crypto's early
founders and believers, as well as the most renowned voices in the industry.

Digital assets and cryptocurrencies are bringing about some of the most significant changes to the
financial ecosystem in decades. One of the earliest and most influential crypto thought leaders globally,
CEO and Founder of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, will take part in a fireside chat discussing the macro
thesis for crypto, exploring pertinent topics such as DeFi, NFTs and a look ahead to how the technological
innovation happening in the crypto economy will drive systems change on a global scale.

Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, commented, &ldquothe adoption of crypto and blockchain
technology continues to accelerate globally. Both myself and Galaxy&39s Head of Europe Tim Grant look
forward to participating in TOKEN2049 to discuss the most important trends in the sector and how we can
drive the crypto economy into its next phase of adoption."

Additional speakers announced include Genesis Global Trading CEO Michael Moro, prominent DeFi
Investor Santiago R Santos, Fabric VC Founder and Managing Partner Richard Muirhead, AVA Labs
CEO Emin Gün Sirer, Blockchain.com Co-Founder Nicholas Cary, and Arcane Investments CIO Eric Wall.
These speakers join a high calibre of already confirmed guests including Aave CEO Stani Kulechov,
Tezos Co-Founder Kathleen Breitman, Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov, Abra CEO and Founder Bill
Barhydt, Axie Infinity Co-Founder Aleksander Leonard Larsen amongst others.

Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of AVA Labs, concluded, &ldquoFollowing a significant year for DeFi, I am looking forward
to taking the stage in London to explore how we are scaling blockchains to support activity today, and
equip our ecosystem for mass adoption in the future."
For more information on TOKEN2049 London, visit: https://www.europe.token2049.com/

About TOKEN2049:
TOKEN2049 is the premier event for decision-makers in the global crypto ecosystem to connect,
exchange ideas, and shape the industry. Attendees will gain valuable insight into the global crypto
ecosystem, with a chance to exchange ideas with an established list of thought leaders, by learning about
the future of the token-based economy and the possible impacts on industry and society while being the
first to know about market-moving news, partnerships, and product launches. TOKEN2049 is an
unrivalled global meeting place for like-minded entrepreneurs, industry insiders, investors, and those
interested in how the token economy will transform their businesses and lives.

BTC Media, the organizer of the world's largest Bitcoin conference, has released details about the expanded 2022 version of the event. Bitcoin 2022 is scheduled for April 6 to April 9 in Miami. Bitcoin 2021 saw more than 12,000 attendees descend upon Miami and organizers expect Bitcoin 2022 to play host to more than 30,000 Bitcoiners from around the world and millions more who will tune in to the multi-language live stream. 

The four-day event will feature an industry day, two general conference days, and a one-day &ldquoSound Money Fest" music festival. It will unite founders, C-suite executives, bitcoin experts and newcomers in Miami for panels and discussions, networking events, live performances, entertainment and giveaways. 

Bitcoin 2022 Industry Day on April 6 will be where the Bitcoin ecosystem converges with legacy finance, fintech and energy infrastructure, including content tracks and targeted networking tracks for institutional finance, institutional bitcoin mining, and Bitcoin technical development. Industry Day will host more than 6,000 global industry leaders, 80 speakers, 4,000 companies, and a pitch day serving as a platform for the next generation of Bitcoin startups. 

Tickets are now on sale, with three tiers of access announced: General Admission (April 7-9), Industry Pass (April 6-9), and Whale Pass (April 6-9). 

The Whale Pass is the event's most exclusive ticket, granting VIP access across all four days of the conference and including premium food and beverage, exclusive networking opportunities and matchmaking, dedicated transportation and concierge services, front-row seating, and access to Whale Night parties. Whale Passes for Bitcoin 2021 sold out after topping out at $21,000 per ticket. 

Organizers are also offering gratis and subsidized tickets to open-source Bitcoin contributors and students. More details coming soon. 

&ldquoAt Bitcoin 2021, we booed, we cheered, we laughed and we cried," said BTC Media CEO and event organizer David Bailey. &ldquoThe conference ran the emotional gamut, and our 2022 pilgrimage will do the same. This conference is going to capture the world's attention. Let's show them what freedom, sovereignty, and prosperity really mean. Get your tickets today, and we'll see you in Miami." 

If you are interested in partnering, speaking, volunteering, or would like to discuss other ways to be involved in the event, contact the team. 

Link to purchase tickets: https://b.tc/conference/registration

Link to contact the team: https://b.tc/conference/contact-form

The latest chapter of the Ripple vs. SEC saga was written last week when Ripple filed a petition to force the SEC to provide evidence detailing the trading behaviour of its employees as it pertains to BTC, ETH, and XRP. Ripple wants to know if SEC employees were actively holding or trading XRP. The letter additionally acknowledged that the defendant had already sought to obtain the anonymized trading records four times from the SEC and made no progress.

The Significance

As per the defendant&39s legal counsel, Ripple wishes to learn about the SEC&39s trading regulations regarding regulating digital assets, as well as if the agency permitted its personnel to trade XRP. The court approved Ripple&39s request to force the SEC to submit such documents back in June.

Moreover, the regulator accordingly issued a guideline titled "Ethics Guidance Regarding Digital Assets" at the start of 2018. It demonstrated that, up until January 2018, the agency had not prohibited its employees from dealing in cryptocurrencies. This, according to Ripple, is congruent with the SEC&39s stance that digital assets would generally not be viewed as securities, and so the entire lawsuit, integrity and credibility are hence called into question.

Judge Netburn Goes Back and Forth

Judge Sarah Netburn has concurred with XRP&39s legal team and will make a decisive ruling on deliberative process protocols on September 28th.

Netburn&39s judgment came at the end of a recent phone call, which intended to make progress and move past a disagreement over Ripple&39s petition for &39fair use&39 access to confidential SEC information and documentation. Judge Netburn will now take part in an on-camera study of the internal papers without the presence of Ripple&39s legal team in an attempt to determine if the SEC crossed a line in terms of deliberative process procedures.

However, Judge Sarah Netburn has also recently ordered Ripple to turn over a million internal staff Slack-based messages, possibly in an effort to be as impartial and unbiased as possible. The decision came after the SEC filed a request this past August to seek access to the messages, which are also measured in terabytes.

The abovementioned messages involve conversations about Ripple&39s goals of creating speculative trading via XRP, as well as the impact of Ripple announcements, efforts, and various concerns about XRP&39s price. The SEC is also interested in the connection and overall significance of XRP sales regarding Ripple&39s business activities, in addition to XRP&39s regulatory status.

Jack Dorsey and Twitter seem poised to deliver on the challenge posed by Elon Musk in their conversation at the B-Word conference, by integrating Bitcoin into payment methods for tipping of content creators on the social network. Twitter is reported to have included code in recent software update that indicates Bitcoin will be added to the Tip jar, joining Cash App, PayPal and Venmo as payment options. Jack spoke of his vision for Bitcoin implementation for his businesses in the B-Word, confronting Elon Musk with facts surrounding Bitcoin&39s true use of renewable energy, and Tesla&39s current position regarding accepting it as payment. Faced with the grounded in fact arguments Elon shifted the focus of the conversation by calling out Jack to move forward with Bitcoin acceptance in his businesses. Though Jack seemed to dodge answering the callout directly, his acknowledgement and smile provided a glimpse of his intent. Well Elon that Bitcoin adoption channel seems to be in the works, your move.

This move by Twitter to lay the ground work for Bitcoin acceptance on the platform is just the tip of the iceberg for Jack Dorsey and his companies. In August it was announced that Twitter and Square also had plans to build out a decentralized Bitcoin exchange, develop Bitcoin educational material, and plans for Square to roll out an assisted custody hardware wallet. Jack is moving forward with his plans and vision of Bitcoin as a key component of his future, and diving deep to explore the possibilities within his business lines.

Though he did not speak to his exact intentions for Bitcoin integration in the B-Word, he did indicate things were in the works, and Jack Dorsey&39s commitment to the best principles of Bitcoin were very well expressed. As mentioned in our earlier article, the B-Word was an explorative conversation between some forward thinking, influential minds, who can and are effecting adoption of Bitcoin for the right reasons. We like Jack Dorsey and his efforts developing creative and groundbreaking use cases for Bitcoin. Hopefully these latest announcements will spur Elon and Tesla to ante up, and also again accept Bitcoin payments.