Katherine Ross

Ethereum Name Service’s lead developer Nick Johnson took to social media to call out Unstoppable Domains on Thursday.



Johnson penned a series of posts on X not only criticizing Unstoppable Domains for the lack of legal backing or binding behind its Web3 Domain Alliance group — which it both founded and runs — but also accused Unstoppable of patenting an innovation allegedly made by ENS.



Johnson claims that ENS and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/unstoppable-domains">Unstoppable Domains</a> attempted to discuss the situation outside of the social media platform, but “failed” to make headway.



He claims that <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-name-service">ENS</a>, in contrast to Unstoppable, “have not pursued patents on our work.”



The issue at hand can be traced back to January when Unstoppable was granted a patent — Resolving Blockchain Domains — based on “innovations that ENS developed and contains no novel innovations of its own,” according to Johnson.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-is-the-ethereum-name-service-ens">What is Ethereum Name Service?</a>



“It’s impossible for any organization to rely on such a nonbinding pledge when it concerns core aspects of its business operations. We are thus requesting that Unstoppable Domains put legal weight behind its PR commitment, with an unconditional and irrevocable patent pledge,” Johnson continued.



If the two remain at odds on the issue, then ENS “stands ready to challenge this patent.”



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/nick-johnson">Johnson</a> also included screenshots of alleged communication between Unstoppable and ENS.



According to the <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1725167190914011490">post</a>, Unstoppable responded to the initial ENS letter about patents to which Unstoppable said that the pledge proposed by ENS is not “necessary.”



Unstoppable did, however, agree to engage in a “constructive dialogue” but pushed for them to engage in it within the Web3 Domain Alliance instead of directly between the two disputing parties.



In response to Johnson’s open letter, Unstoppable founder Matthew Gould reiterated the open invite to join the Alliance, though Johnson said that the issue was that the patent was not being licensed openly.&nbsp;



“There are no forward guarantees that can be made that make sense given the changing landscape of the industry. IMO the only solution is to increase collaboration and discussion,” Gould responded.&nbsp;



“We will keep the door open,” Gould said in a final post.&nbsp;



Back in July, Unstoppable Domains said it was attempting to expand the Web3 community by integrating ENS domain names and not marking them up. 



The <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/unstoppable-domains-ens-integration">two have been competitors in the past,</a> and the move was not made as part of a collaboration between the two, as clarified to Blockworks this summer.



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ENS lead developer calls out Unstoppable Domain patents on social media

James Cirrone

Unstoppable Domains is bringing a messaging feature onto its app after announcing it in March.&nbsp;



Now, users with any of the Web3 domains that Unstoppable offers can send encrypted messages to one another. Since Unstoppable Messaging was built to be interoperable with Extensible Message Transport Protocol (XMTP), people with a domain can communicate with anyone on XMTP-enabled platforms, including the apps Lens and Coinbase Wallet.&nbsp;



Lisa DeLuca, senior director of engineering and product at Unstoppable, told Blockworks that this is a major step toward making Web3 domains useful for more people beyond what’s already been done in terms of functionality.&nbsp;



For example, Unstoppable introduced a single sign on (SSO) service for <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/polygon">Polygon</a> applications in January 2022. Decentralized websites are also a major use case for Unstoppable domains and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We absolutely believe in utility over hype, and it’s exciting to give our community another way to use their Web3 domain in their day-to-day life. Our community has been asking for decentralized messaging,” DeLuca said.&nbsp;



DeLuca added that people can use Unstoppable Messaging for any of the reasons a person would use a Web2-based messaging app.&nbsp;



It could be something as simple as “making plans with a friend or checking in with a contact you met at a conference,” she explained.&nbsp;



Or it could be used to “negotiate an <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/nfts">NFT</a> trade or domain purchase with the owner.”



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/unstoppable-domains-ens-integration">Unstoppable Domains chooses integration over competition with ENS</a>



The key difference between Unstoppable Messaging and other Web2 clients like WhatsApp is that you can interact with others without sharing your personal phone number, email or other information.



Blocking functionality and notification management, two major features of traditional social media, are included in Unstoppable Messaging as well.&nbsp;



DeLuca also sees messaging as a great way to build community across Web3, particularly with NFT projects. Unstoppable created badges last June that users could attach to their profile to, among other things, display which NFT project they’re interested in.&nbsp;



“Many people in Web3 use their domain as their alias,” DeLuca told Blockworks. “People could check out fellow owners of a badge for their favorite NFT community and message people who have similar interests.”



Consumer messaging is the primary focus for the initial rollout of Unstoppable Messaging, DeLuca shared, but there is an effort underway to allow decentralized apps and businesses to send mass messages to their communities.&nbsp;



This feature, powered by Push Protocol, doesn’t yet have a specific time table.



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Unstoppable Domains now offering encrypted messaging for Web3 domains

Unstoppable Domains, which integrated the sale of Ethereum Name Service domain names on its platform Monday, will not be marking up .eth names. The company said it will be selling them at cost, plus gas fees.&nbsp;



In fact, ENS founder Nick Johnson told Blockworks all sales of .eth names go directly to the ENS DAO.



Unstoppable is marketing the move by saying it’s expanding the Web3 community in “creating a one-stop shop for Web3 domains.” Users can now buy .eth, .nft, .crypto, .polygon and other domains all in one place.&nbsp;



When the company was asked if integrating .eth names on Unstoppable represents a consolidation, a spokesperson said no. She did admit that Unstoppable and the Ethereum Name Service have been competitors in the past.&nbsp;



“Ultimately we want to support the most important naming systems and blockchains in Web3, including .eth,” Unstoppable’s head of communications Nora Chan told Blockworks via email.



Chan also clarified that there isn’t any sort of active collaboration between ENS and Unstoppable.



“While ENS was informed of our plans, this isn’t a partnership,” Chan wrote. “We’re simply integrating .eth into Unstoppable Domains, expanding their functionalities, and enabling users to buy and, eventually, manage these domains to purchase via the platform.”



Johnson also confirmed that there wasn’t direct involvement from ENS with Unstoppable’s decision to integrate his organization’s native domain names. 



Johnson pointed out that as more .eth names are sold, it means more money for the ENS DAO, which ultimately “allows ENS to do more and be more.”



“ENS is a permissionless protocol, meaning anyone can integrate it directly without needing our involvement. We&#8217;re not surprised that Unstoppable Domains has elected this approach,” Johnson told Blockworks.



However, just because Unstoppable isn’t directly profiting off the sale of .eth names, it doesn’t mean the company is doing this entirely for free.&nbsp;



Unstoppable can make money off this integration through its auto renewal service. Just like a normal Web2 website, you have to renew your claim to your Web3 domain name every so often.&nbsp;



Unstoppable is charging $4 per renewal period for .eth user names, according to a <a href="https://unstoppabledomains.com/blog/categories/announcements/article/eth-on-unstoppable">statement</a>.&nbsp;



The company could also profit off individuals who decide to buy multiple domains, Chan told Blockworks. This means if someone bought an .eth, .nft and .crypto usernames in a bundle, Unstoppable would see cash flow.&nbsp;



Additionally, Unstoppable is offering customers a way to secure their domain names through a vault product. It’s managed by Unstoppable, but users retain full ownership of their domains, according to the company. Prices for a vault <a href="https://unstoppabledomains.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/48001235057-what-is-the-unstoppable-vault-#howto">range</a> from $4 a year for a domain worth less than $100, all the way up to $99 a year for unlimited domain storage.



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Unstoppable Domains chooses integration over competition with ENS

Shalini Nagarajan

Web2 to Web3 transitions often begin with a domain name purchase.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Web3 domains are, essentially and typically, akin to blockchain identities that are stored in a crypto wallet as an NFT. They’re important for interactions with blockchain apps and can be used for tasks like website hosting and building — or to receive crypto payments.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Unstoppable Domains and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-service-providers-focus-on-improving-the-user-experience">quickly become top blockchain domain name providers</a> for Web3 users. 



Given surging interest in the sector, companies have been lining up to drive Web3 utility initiatives. And domain name services have seen a jump in interest and adoption in the last year. Unstoppable Domains alone has over 3.3 million names registered, while ENS has over 2 million.



Unstoppable Domains’ chief operating officer Sandy Carter broke down which companies are in the process of entering Web3, or are likely to enter.&nbsp;



“There’s no shortage of big global brands exploring Web3 and the metaverse right now and it&#8217;s easy to see why,” Carter told Blockworks, pointing to big-name brands that have jumped into the space over the last few months.



Nike <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-watch-yuga-labs-adds-to-portfolio-nike-creates-nft-marketplace">in November launched an NFT marketplace</a> under the domain “.Swoosh,” hosting NFTs and virtual apparel up for sale on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/polygon">Polygon</a> blockchain. Starbucks, <a href="https://nftnow.com/podcasts/what-porsches-web3-debut-means-for-the-future-of-luxury/">Porsche</a> and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/build-a-bear-to-unveil-nft-collection-and-one-of-a-kind-collectible-bear-encrusted-with-swarovski-crystals-and-a-red-crystal-heart-301635630.html">Build-a-Bear</a> have also <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polygon-to-power-starbucks-nft-loyalty-program">launched their individual Web3 strategies</a>.



“This only promises that other similar companies will follow suit,” Carter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gucci, Prada among fashion icons setting up metaverse shop</h2>



Fashion in the metaverse is also becoming a hot trend, where brands are showcasing their digital collections by enabling users to dress up as avatars.&nbsp;



Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, Burberry, Christian Dior and Zara have all experimented with Web3 technologies, creating unique digital assets that customers can purchase and collect.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">How some of the world&#39;s most valuable clothing brands are betting on the metaverse 🧵&mdash; Blockworks (@Blockworks_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1598316516184887297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Carter expects an influx of not only more fashion brands in the space, but also industries including food services and transportation.&nbsp;



“I also think that other industries are bursting into the space too like automotive, sports, technology, hospitality and retail,” she said. “Think about BMW — they are in the metaverse co-creating with their customers and were one of the first to join the Metaverse Standards Association. And Lowe’s is using NFTs to track theft with their power tools.”



Thinking of getting one yourself? There are no formal industry-wide prerequisites to secure a Web3 domain. Once you have decided which service to use, simply look up the instructions and check if your desired address is available.



And proceed to pay.



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Global Brands Entering Web3? Look to Their Domain Names

Blockchain domain name provider Unstoppable Domains teamed up with Polygon Labs to launch the digital identity .polygon, giving users a new way to enter Web3 applications and the decentralized web.



Having the .polygon domain name allows users easier access to the many dapps, games and metaverses, built on the Polygon blockchain, according to a <a href="https://polygon.technology/blog/unstoppable-domains-and-polygon-labs-launch-polygon-web3-domains" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> Tuesday.



People will have the option to create profiles and connect these with their social channels, and display on-chain tokens such as tickets and awards.



From March 16 onwards, Unstoppable Domains will launch exclusive access to premium .polygon gaming and digital domains, meaning users can claim names like gamer.polygon or 00.polygon.



“User-owned digital identity is the future of the Internet, and with the Polygon ecosystem, we’re putting the power of user-owned digital identities into more people’s hands,” said Sandy Carter, chief operating offer at Unstoppable Domains.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-is-decentralized-identity">What Is Decentralized Identity? The Pillar of Web3</a>



Unstoppable Domains and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-name-service">Ethereum Name Service</a> (ENS) are the top two blockchain domain name providers. Web3 domains are essentially non-fungible tokens that can be traded, but they are more popular for being used as a shorthand name for crypto wallet addresses. These can be used to transact across a growing number of apps, wallets, exchanges and marketplaces.



Unstoppable recently partnered with Polygon on another initiative in Africa last week. To address the lack of female representation in the Web3 industry, both brands committed to onboarding six million African women to Web3 over the next five years.



They launched a diversity and education group called Women of Web3 to expand access to user-owned digital identity through free Unstoppable domains, which are available to claim until April 8.



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Unstoppable Domains and Polygon Launch New User-Owned Digital ID

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_63487cbfa516b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Yuga Labs gives back to Miami students and forms Ape Community Council</li>
 <li>Actor Anthony Hopkins&#8217; NFT collection became the fastest primary drop in OpenSea’s history, selling out in 7 minutes</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-adds-avalanche-marketplace-avax-traders-shrug/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea this week added support to the Avalanche (AVAX) chain</a> — its seventh blockchain for NFT transactions. AVAX traders, however, appeared indifferent, considering the token continued its steady decline in an uneven week for digital collectible markets.&nbsp;



And for gamers out there, the upcoming first-person shooter multiplayer Web3 game <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockchain-game-shrapnel-aims-for-aaa-status-in-web3/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shrapnel recently released its economic white paper</a> outlining its gameplay and in-game assets after dropping a movie-like game trailer.



Here are other notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch, starting with <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/french-authorities-charge-5-over-theft-of-bored-ape-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yuga Labs</a>, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The SEC wants a closer look at the Apes</h3>



The SEC has made Yuga Labs its latest target in a series of probes into crypto and Web3 companies.&nbsp;



The investigation will determine whether sales of its digital assets violate federal securities law. The brand portfolio includes BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Meebits, the Otherside metaverse and the ApeCoin (APE) token.&nbsp;



“We hope to partner with the rest of the industry and regulators to define and shape the burgeoning ecosystem,” Yuga Labs <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-11/bored-ape-creator-yuga-labs-faces-sec-probe-over-unregistered-offerings" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said in a statement</a>.



Whatever the outcome, Yuga Labs is the highest-valued NFT company — and the SEC’s decision will likely set an industry precedent.



ApeCoin’s upcoming staking plans on Oct. 31 may have piqued the regulator’s attention. Asked to comment on staking, Yuga Labs told Blockworks that while it was an initial launch contributor of ApeCoin, it is not involved in the independently-run ApeCoin DAO, “so there’s not much we can say on the matter.”&nbsp;



Within an hour of the SEC’s announcement, APE’s price fell from $5.16 to $4.77 and has continued to decline.&nbsp;



Yuga, however, keeps trudging through The Swamp and has since <a href="https://yuga.com/blog/miami-arts-education-initiative/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> its commitment of $1 million to supporting education and art initiatives in Miami — the hometown of its co-founders and CEO.



Additionally, Yuga Labs recently <a href="https://yuga.com/blog/bayc-community-council/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">assembled</a> the BAYC and MAYC Community Council — made up of seven of the earliest Ape holders. The idea is to keep ears to the ground and compile feedback from the community to relay back to the leadership team.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DeGods joins the zero-royalties club</h3>



DeGods, the most popular NFT project on Solana, tweeted that it is updating all of its NFTs to 0% royalties. DeGods collection will go from featuring 9.99% royalties to zero.&nbsp;



This “experiment” was done in the name of business. DeGods did not provide additional details.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">As this tweet goes live, the metadata for the DeGods collection royalties are being updated from 9.99% to 0%. Next, <a href="https://twitter.com/y00tsNFT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@y00tsNFT</a> (t00bs).&mdash; DeGods (@DeGodsNFT) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeGodsNFT/status/1579018798187044864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Other Dust Labs owned collections, y00ts and t00bs, will also have their royalties updated soon, according to the company.&nbsp;



The team has yet to reveal its artwork for y00ts, over a month after the initial mint. And the artist behind it and the greater DeGods ecosystem, known as SCUM, recently <a href="https://twitter.com/SCUMSOL/status/1580280071356440576?s=20&amp;t=0-A72s6BntHEBbCZ7OfheA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">left</a> the project.



The decision to eliminate the royalty structure calls into question the importance of royalties in the NFT space. <a href="http://Read more: How NFT Royalties Work – And Sometimes Don’t">Royalties</a> are the payment, denominated in percentages, that NFT creators get every time somebody sells their digital asset. 



For traders, this means lower flipping costs and added incentive to transact. Creators usually get to set their cut taken per sale.



Read more: <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/nft-royalties-sometimes-they-work-sometimes-they-dont/">How NFT Royalties Work – And Sometimes Don’t</a>



Twitter users reacted with skepticism with <a href="https://twitter.com/ElMarcSuarez/status/1579019022032855040?s=20&amp;t=hFcHSLrg3k0CXqWf5YnyQw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">questions</a> like, “But how will team make money?” to <a href="https://twitter.com/goku_nft/status/1579092815833083908?s=20&amp;t=hFcHSLrg3k0CXqWf5YnyQw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">comments</a> like “How about you pay everyone royalties for having your pfp?”&nbsp;



Founder Frank DeGods <a href="https://twitter.com/frankdegods/status/1579592433834545152?s=20&amp;t=YqLW4RX12ihWTvzuaZv6sA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">responded</a> by acknowledging how people had been labeling them a “dead project &amp; a rug” for months. He stated that: “If royalties go away…I think the space will be more open to redefining what ‘rug’ means.”&nbsp;



Back in August, NFT artist Beeple weighed in, <a href="https://twitter.com/beeple/status/1558573319347179520?s=20&amp;t=0GHLhx0r7SRFAw_BSzk_XA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeting</a>, “Creators will have to build a collector base that WANT to honor these royalties.” Treating holders “right” will likely lead to increased support.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Q&amp;A with Unstoppable Domains</h3>



Unstoppable Domains, founding member of the Unstoppable Women of Web3 (UWoW3) education group, announced on Tuesday its commitment to onboard over five million women across Latin America into Web3 by 2030 and to accordingly distribute $25 million worth of free NFT domains.&nbsp;



UWoW3 partnered with Latin America-based organizations CryptoConexión and H.E.R. DAO LATAM to create free educational courses in English, Spanish and Portuguese, along with workshops and hackathons, so female developers can transition to Web3.&nbsp;



Unstoppable Domains also recently ran a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/unstoppable-domains-gifted-blockchain-domain-names-to-1m-women-in-abu-dhabi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">giveaway in collaboration with Abu Dhabi firms</a> to ensure each woman residing in the Emirati capital receives a decentralized domain name.&nbsp;



Blockworks connected with the company’s Senior Vice President Sandy Carter to discuss Unstoppable Domain’s education initiatives.



Blockworks: Unstoppable Domains recently launched a set of online courses. Why would a student choose UWoW3 educational streams over other academic platforms?&nbsp;&nbsp;



Carter: UWoW3 educational streams are completely free and feature content from leaders across Web3. For university students, they can be a great resource to immerse themselves in the blockchain space and a supplement to any blockchain-focused academic content.&nbsp;



Blockworks: Why is UWoW3 now turning to Latin America? Which specific countries are being targeted?&nbsp;



Carter: When we launched our educational streams, one of the top requests we got was to provide content in Spanish. We’d also heard from Monica Talan, founder of CryptoConexión, who was excited to partner with Unstoppable Women of Web3 to bring our mission into Latin America. All universities that meet a set criteria will be eligible for free domains. Our first hackathons will take place in countries in Latin America with larger populations, and we’ll work with local partners to hold events in other countries.&nbsp;



Blockworks: While Latin American countries have embraced crypto largely due to necessity amid unstable economies, what specific skills or fields within the blockchain industry does Unstoppable Domains think that users in Latin America should focus on?



Carter: There are a wide range of topics in Web3 that are worth exploring, from how to mint your first NFT to developing for the blockchain. Our Web3 courses in Spanish offer topics at a range of levels, so we can support people on their journey whether they’re just learning about Web3 or are ready to start building in the space.



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Web3 Watch: SEC Probes Yuga Labs, DeGods Eliminates NFT Royalties

<div id="highlights-block_62fe795827f63" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Polygon leads $25 million fund for Web3 venture studio SuperLayer</li>
 <li>Art Block’s collection, Portal &#8211; Art Blocks Playground, saw the largest rise in floor price in the past 24 hours, going from 39 ETH to 300 ETH on OpenSea</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



This week blue chip NFT projects CryptoPunks and Meebits <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/from-moonbirds-to-cryptopunks-terms-of-service-are-changing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed their terms of service</a> to give holders more commercial use rights, a few weeks after Moonbirds switched to a Creative Commons zero (CC0) license.



In funding news, crypto investment firm <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinfund-on-the-lookout-for-promising-web3-companies-after-300m-raise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinFund raised $300 million</a> for a venture fund that plans to invest in companies after the seed stage.



Blockworks recaps other notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Layering on cash</h3>



Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform Polygon announced a strategic partner role in the Web3 venture studio SuperLayer after a $25 million investment.



The venture capital firm supports late stage projects and is led by gaming entrepreneurs <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinchou/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kevin Chou</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maheshvellanki/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mahesh Vellanki</a>, founders of various Web3 companies, including Rally.io, a creator economy protocol on the RLY network as well as the blockchain gaming publisher Forte.



The funding will be used to support and scale SuperLayer’s ecosystem of projects, according to the company, which intends to invest in and build new Web3 products for rapid mass adoption.



SuperLayer launched in October and is backed by several high-profile investors such as Animoca Brand’s founder Yat Siu, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/celebrities-shilled-crypto-at-the-top-can-they-learn-for-next-cycle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">celebrity Paris Hilton</a> and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) partner Chris Dixon.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Unstoppable Domains goes mobile</h3>



IPhone users can now download the Unstoppable Domains mobile app to manage any owned NFT domains.



This means users can easily buy and mint domains directly from the mobile app, instead of on a computer browser. Users can connect the following crypto wallets to the app: MetaMask, Rainbow, Trust Wallet, Ledger Live, AlphaWallet and MathWallet for now.



Domain names can be backed up manually or stored as an encrypted copy on the iCloud in the case the phone is lost or stolen.



 Because decentralized domain names are minted as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), the Unstoppable Domains app lets users choose a Web3 identity card with a profile picture that can be shared via social media.



Users can also log in to hundreds of WalletConnect-enabled apps, along with 180+ apps, metaverses, and games that have integrated login with Unstoppable single sign-on service. The perk is no more passwords to remember.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Introducing the <a href="https://twitter.com/unstoppableweb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@unstoppableweb</a> mobile app! 📱✨ Your identity and login for Web3, securely managed at your fingertips Thread 👇 (1 of 23) <a href="https://t.co/jD5C59wBR7">pic.twitter.com/jD5C59wBR7</a>&mdash; eddiee.nft (@eddiee_nft) <a href="https://twitter.com/eddiee_nft/status/1560001299084869632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">NFT Art as jewelry&nbsp;</h3>



On the heels of the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tiffany-co-turns-cryptopunks-into-12-5m-luxury-jewelry-sale/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tiffany &amp; Co.’s NFTiff collection of CryptoPunks jewelry</a>, the jewelry NFT market is undeniably growing. Auction house Sotheby’s is the next to jump on this trend of allowing collectors to wear their art.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-medium"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="300" height="168" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png" alt="" class="wp-image-28475" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=466 466w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-18-at-4.11.33-PM-300x168.png?w=1438 1438w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Sotheby&#8217;s 18-karat gold and emerald ring | Source: Sotheby&#8217;s</figcaption></figure></div>


A physical 18-karat gold and emerald ring and corresponding NFT called Ethereum Expedition will be part of Sotheby’s first auction dedicated to artist-made jewelry, titled “<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/art-as-jewelry-as-art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Art as Jewelry as Art</a>.” Its form was inspired by geodesic domes and intercontinental rocket launches.



Metagolden, a digital gallery selling NFT art tokenized by 18-karat gold jewelry, designed this piece for this upcoming September sale.&nbsp;



The buyer will be able to wear the ring in real life — in the metaverse, avatars can wear the digital wearable, the value of which is independent of the physical item.



The auction will also include jewelry pieces such as pendants by Picasso, earrings designed by Dalí and a piece by Man Ray.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Speaking of phygitals</h3>



Cult &amp; Rain is a phygital (physical/digital) Web3 fashion brand co-founded by fashion creative director George Yang. It creates both physical and digital projects such as luxury sneakers and most recently varsity jackets paired with NFTs. 


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-medium"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="300" height="199" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png" alt="" class="wp-image-28478" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=387 387w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=393 393w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=329 329w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cult-Rain-1-300x199.png?w=2034 2034w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Cult &amp; Rain luxury sneakers | Source: Cult &amp; Rain</figcaption></figure></div>


The brand recently launched its own metaverse called CULTR WORLD that plans to transform phygital fashion and commerce.&nbsp;



Blockworks spoke to Yang, a luxury fashion veteran who started Cult &amp; Rain because he thought “the system of fashion was broken.”



Blockworks: You’re known for selling phygital products via NFTs. Tell me more about the phygital market.



Yang: Version 1.0 is actually putting a chip in a shoe and tying this physical shoe to the blockchain for authentication and ownership transferring. But as the NFT market started to heat up, we saw a huge opportunity, which was to create phygital products and sell these 3D animated NFTs that have the physical counterpart and the physical twin tied to it.&nbsp;



We&#8217;re all about luxury. We&#8217;re all about scarcity, and we&#8217;re producing all of our physicals in Italy. Our sneakers are produced at the same factory that produces for LVMH and Kering.



I knew that digital fashion was the future, and I knew that metaverse digital wearables, phygitals, and this completely new transformation into Web3 would become the foundation of how different luxury brands would enter into the next phase.



Blockworks: Why start your own metaverse?



Yang: We know that the metaverse and avatars are where [the industry] is headed. So we know that we want to build an environment where you&#8217;re going to be able to connect your avatar into our metaverse and be able to go cross-platform into other metaverses in the future. That&#8217;s how people are going to go around in their alter egos, and they will need digital wearables to flex in. They&#8217;re also going to need space to hang out at, their own home to invite their friends over to. So we&#8217;re trying to jump ahead of that.



We also wanted to create a completely new experience based on photorealism, as opposed to the gamification of The Sandbox and Decentraland. A photorealistic view is hard to distinguish between whether it&#8217;s a game or it&#8217;s real life.



Blockworks: Can you talk to me a bit about the pain points of the traditional fashion industry?



Yang: There&#8217;s a tremendous amount of usage and waste — usage of time, energy, water. Take denim, for example. Denim&#8217;s one of the most toxic garment dye processes that&#8217;s really hard on the environment. So there&#8217;s a huge amount of environmental impact and this is why a lot of the professional brands are all talking about sustainability for a long time, because no one quite realizes that impact.



 So with this model we eliminate the wastage. We go directly to the consumer. This is almost like the ultimate direct-to-consumer model. We allow the consumer to shop on a website or shop in the metaverse.



Your digital asset that we sold you as an NFT becomes the ultimate Soho House membership card. And it&#8217;s going to have a bunch of utilities attached. The main utility is the matching physical luxury product, so it&#8217;s like two for the price of one.



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Web3 Watch: From Jewelry to Fashion, Phygitals May Be Here to Stay

Bessie Liu

<div id="highlights-block_62e124219fe29" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The web address provider plans to use the money to grow partnerships</li>
 <li>Matthew Gould hopes to grow the company’s product and engineering teams</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



San-Francisco-based Unstoppable Domains which connects Web2 to Web3 through blockchain domains has reached a $1 billion valuation after it closed a $65 million Series A funding round led by Pantera Capital.&nbsp;



Other investors that joined the round included Mayfield, Gaingeles, Alchemy Ventures, Redbeard Ventures and Spartan Group, just to name a few. Previous investors including Boost VC and Draper Associates also participated in its latest fundraise.



The decentralized web address provider plans to use this money to grow partnerships in the Web3 space and allow businesses and individuals to build their Web3 identity through their domains.&nbsp;



“The Web2 era failed in terms of protecting people’s privacy and personal information. The Web3 era holds much greater promise for giving ownership and control to the people,” Matthew Gould, founder and CEO of Unstoppable Domains told Blockworks.&nbsp;



The latest funding round will be used to fuel product innovation and partnerships in the Web3 space Gould said. It will also allow Unstoppable Domains to expand its team. Currently, the crypto unicorn has a little less than 200 employees working completely remote, and Gould said that the company plans to actively hire for a few select roles “primarily in product and engineering.”



“With this funding round, we’re laser-focused on putting our resources towards sustainable growth, which we think we can achieve by expanding our partnerships and continuing to build a platform for Web3 identity,” Gould said.



Unstoppable Domains has recently sent a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ded.79507/gov.uscourts.ded.79507.1.0_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cease and desist letter</a> against competitor Gateway.io for running a .wallet domain in the competing Handshake system. This may become a more significant issue when ICANN releases new domain names that could conflict with Unstoppable’s domains.



Despite this, Gould remains positive. In an <a href="https://domainnamewire.com/2022/07/20/unstoppable-domains-threatens-rival-handshake-domain-name/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a> with Domain Name Wire, he said “We’ll try to figure it out once we get to that point, with ICANN&#8230;and I think that we’re headed in the right direction here.”



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Unstoppable Domains Reaches Unicorn Status After Latest Raise

<div id="highlights-block_62ced49ece387" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Web3 identity providers such as ENS and Unstoppable Domains use NFTs as a gateway to alphanumeric wallet addresses</li>
 <li>MoonPay is one of 265+ applications that supports Unstoppable Domains</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Unstoppable Domains and ENS (<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=ethereum+name+service" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum Name Service</a>) have become the top two blockchain domain name providers for Web3 users. Web3 domains are NFTs that can be traded, but they can also be used as a shorthand for cryptocurrency wallet addresses to send or receive crypto.



On <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/opensea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a>, ENS <a href="https://opensea.io/rankings?category=domain-names&amp;sortBy=one_day_volume" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ranks</a> first within the domain names category in terms of cumulative trading volume and for having the largest collection of items, while Unstoppable Domains ranks second. 



During the first weekend of July, the number of ENS registrations peaked from 11,042 to 34,357, <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/8785928a-71d5-4b17-9fea-fe1c937b064f/page/RoKgC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to a data tracker created by ENS developer Nick Johnson, possibly due to the falling price of ether (ETH) and lower than average gas fees. Even social media activity surrounding ENS reached new highs that week, the social tracking platform Lunar Crush <a href="https://twitter.com/LunarCrush/status/1544591008230281216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1544591008230281216%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fethereum-name-service-registrations-surge-by-200-amid-lower-gas-fees" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>.



Unstoppable is the fifth collection under collectibles NFTs with the most users in the past 24 hours, <a href="https://dappradar.com/rankings/category/collectibles/1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to DappRadar, ahead of Art Blocks and Yuga Labs’ Otherdeed for Otherside.



Sandy Carter, senior vice president and channel chief at Unstoppable Domains, explained to Blockworks that Web3 may feel “complex and confusing for people getting started.” NFT domains serve to expand access and “bring more people into the world of Web3.”&nbsp;



Part of its mission is to make the user experience “easy to navigate,” which includes accepting credit card, PayPal and cryptocurrency to buy Unstoppable domains. In contrast to ENS domains, which can carry an annual renewal fee anywhere between $5 to $640 paid in ether, Unstoppable Domains charges a one-time fee that generally starts at $5 but can cost more.



On Wednesday, Unstoppable announced a partnership with crypto payment services provider MoonPay to enable users to buy cryptocurrency and send it to their wallet using their Unstoppable Domains name.&nbsp;



The two companies aim to make all .crypto or .nft decentralized URLs more useful.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Welcome to a simpler web3 🌙 We’re stoked to announce our partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/moonpay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@moonpay</a> to make buying crypto even easier 🤝 Try it out ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/nT3xr7s6zB">https://t.co/nT3xr7s6zB</a> <a href="https://t.co/bfgz4yL3BB">pic.twitter.com/bfgz4yL3BB</a>&mdash; unstoppable.nft (@unstoppableweb) <a href="https://twitter.com/unstoppableweb/status/1547174139131305988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



MoonPay enables users to buy and sell 90 cryptocurrencies using credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay to include over 30 fiat currencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;



That “reduces a major barrier to entry,” said Carter, who believes that NFT domains “will be as ubiquitous as email” in the future. As opposed to Web2, where “your identity and data are owned by corporations,” users can own, control and choose to share an identity built across Web3, she added.



MoonPay shared with Blockworks that it wants to “make sure that the infrastructure of Web3 is attuned to the evolving needs of consumers” in order to “support greater use and familiarity with Web3.”



The company also confirmed that there are no additional fees associated with the Unstoppable integration. Currently, a flat fee of $4.99 plus a 3.5% transaction fee is applied to purchases below $141, and a fee of 7% is deducted from purchases over $142.&nbsp;



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/moonpay-primes-nft-minting-service-hypermint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moonpay recently launched HyperMint</a>, a self-service platform that enables large companies and brands to create, manage and mint utility NFTs at scale.&nbsp;



Since its 2019 inception, MoonPay has processed more than $3 billion in transactions and counts on a customer base of more than 12 million global users.



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Web3 Service Providers Focus on Improving the User Experience

<div id="highlights-block_6299dd9749ad1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The announcement comes on the heels of a visit by Women in Web3 to the emirate</li>
 <li>Abu Dhabi is just one of many cities working with Unstoppable Domains, others to be announced throughout the year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Unstoppable Domains, a decentralized domain name provider, is running a giveaway in collaboration with Abu Dhabi firms to ensure each woman residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital receives a domain name.&nbsp;



The idea came out of a meeting of entrepreneurs from the US-based Women of Web3 organization, Access Abu Dhabi — a program that helps women-led business expand into the UAE — and the Emirati government’s Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><a href="https://twitter.com/unstoppableweb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@unstoppableweb</a> is giving free <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/crypto?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#crypto</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFT</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/blockchain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#blockchain</a> domains to all women in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbuDhabi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbuDhabi</a>! In partnership with Access Abu Dhabi, powered by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ADIO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ADIO</a>, the initiative aims to give women in Abu Dhabi the opportunity to enter the world of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Web3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Web3</a> and be part of shaping the future🌐 <a href="https://t.co/WvLFxcIdAV">pic.twitter.com/WvLFxcIdAV</a>&mdash; Abu Dhabi Investment Office (@InvestAbuDhabi) <a href="https://twitter.com/InvestAbuDhabi/status/1532298549144207361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The mission of the initiative, according to Unstoppable Domains&#8217; Senior Vice President Sandy Carter, is to give power back to the people. A “domain in Web3 is actually a domain with superpowers,” she said.



Each Unstoppable Domain web name is an NFT that is minted and sold like any other non-fungible token. While users can usually choose whatever domain they want, if available, the giveaway will allow people to secure their given names. The most popular top level domains are .nft, .crypto and .888 — which is popular in China and among Abu Dhabi’s large Chinese population, Carter said.



Tying a domain name to a singular, portable digital identity, whether from Unstoppable Domains or one from competitors such as Ethereum Name Service (ENS), enables the holder to replace complicated crypto wallet addresses and have more control over their data.&nbsp;



Carter told Blockworks that Unstoppable Domains’ vision is to help cities that are interested in educating their citizens on Web3 to get started. Abu Dhabi was the chosen location to kick-start this initiative that aims to educate its citizens on Web3 and support businesswomen. Other cities will be announced throughout the year, according to the company.



Sarah Omolewu, managing partner of Maven Global Access and founder of Access Abu Dhabi, said in a statement, &#8220;In a market of expats from more than 200 countries, this initiative could potentially impact the lives of generations of women around the world.&#8221;



She added that more and more women are recognizing the value that blockchain technologies have in growing and funding their businesses. But the biggest barrier to entry is making educational opportunities accessible and widespread.&nbsp;



That’s why earlier this year, Carter <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unstoppable-women-of-web3-launches-diversity-and-education-initiative-with-10-million-grant-by-unstoppable-domains-301497231.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">founded</a> the networking and training group “Unstoppable Women of Web3,” made up of a coalition of companies including Blockchain.com, Deloitte, Google Cloud, Polygon and Consensys. Unstoppable Domains pledged to distribute over $10 million worth of NFT domains to support women in their Web3 journey. 



Public figures including supermodel Tyra Banks represented America at the Women in Web3 delegation visit from May 24-26 in Abu Dhabi. Kevin O’Leary, &#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; personality and businessman, is an ambassador of Access Abu Dhabi but was not present at the meeting.



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Unstoppable Domains Gifted Blockchain Domain Names to 1M Women in Abu Dhabi

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_624766c9030f0" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A scalability solution, the Lightning Network allows for faster and cheaper bitcoin transactions</li>
 <li>Kraken originally expected to allow clients to withdraw and deposit bitcoin on Lightning Network in the first half of 2021</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Kraken has implemented Lightning Network to provide clients with instantaneous settlement of bitcoin transactions in an effort to help accelerate use of the asset as a medium of exchange.



The Lightning Network is a scalability solution, or layer-2, built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that allows users to quickly send and receive BTC with virtually no fees.



“In addition to enabling instant and inexpensive deposits and withdrawals, Kraken is providing core network services that enable the Lightning network to route payments,” a company spokesperson told Blockworks. “Overall, we hope our integration signals our support of Lightning to the broader industry.”



The network can execute millions of transactions per second — compared to Visa’s processing of about 65,000 transactions per second, according to the company.



Its system of payment channels does not publish intermediate transactions to the blockchain while open, holding them off-chain to enable instant and efficient value transfer, an April 1 Kraken blog post states. These off-chain channels remain secured by the Bitcoin blockchain’s multi-signature and timelocking features.



&#8220;Bitcoin has proven to be an effective store of value over the last decade and is now seeing increased use as a borderless global currency,&#8221; Pierre Rochard, Kraken&#8217;s bitcoin product manager, told Blockworks in an email. &#8220;The Lightning Network provides real-time settlement of Bitcoin payments, larger capacity than any other system and for the first time microtransactions at scale.”



The integration comes after Kraken had <a href="https://blog.kraken.com/post/7225/a-need-for-speed-kraken-to-launch-bitcoin-lightning-%E2%9A%A1%EF%B8%8F-integration-in-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced in December 2020</a> that it expected to allow clients to withdraw and deposit bitcoin on Lightning Network in the first half of 2021.



The crypto exchange revealed at the time that it would be hiring a team to focus specifically on the network. The blog post stated that “easier deposits and withdrawals are just the beginning of the additional features we are aiming to provide.”



The spokesperson declined to comment on potential future features.&nbsp;



The “rapid scaling” of Kraken’s business caused the Lightning integration to take longer than anticipated, the representative added, noting that the exchange saw trading volumes across all markets hit all-time highs and its client base double in 2021.



Matthew Gould, founder and CEO of Unstoppable Domains, noted that layer-2 solutions are a big part of improving digital assets’ usability, making it easier for the mainstream population to adopt and transact with digital currencies.



“The Lightning Network is a saving grace for scaling Bitcoin, and this represents a large-scale test for the network,” Colin Pape, founder of decentralized search engine Presearch, said. “I hope that Kraken’s integration is a proof point for the validity of the Lightning Network and something that other exchanges consider, because the success of Bitcoin is the success for the digital-asset space as a whole.”



Spokespeople at competing exchanges did not immediately return requests for comment.



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Kraken Supports Bitcoin’s Lightning Network After Delayed Launch

<div id="highlights-block_623db5c6dfc0b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Former legal counsel at Deutsche Bank joins Amber Group</li>
 <li>Ethereum scaling platform Polygon names a new chief information security officer</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Anthony Mazzarese and Brandon Mulvihill have left financial services company Jefferies to co-found a startup aiming to serve institutional clients in the crypto space.&nbsp;



Mazzarese was Jefferies’ global head of FX prime brokerage distribution, while Mulvihill served as its global head of FX prime brokerage. The two will now focus on bridging the gap between traditional financial services and digital assets through industrial-grade technology, trade flow expertise and attractive commercial terms, Mazzarese told Blockworks.



The former Jefferies executives are building a team and securing funding, he added. Additional details about the startup are set to come in the next few weeks.



Digital asset platform Amber Group appointed Ehsan Haque as its general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).



Haque joins Amber Group from his latest role as global head of legal and compliance for private equity firm Hamilton Capital Holdings. He has also recently worked as general counsel for investment technology platform AlphaSwap and Lending Block, an online digital asset lending and borrowing platform.&nbsp;



Earlier in his career, Haque was legal counsel for Deutsche Bank. He later joined Royal Bank of Scotland and was head of equities for Nomura’s EMEA legal department.



The hire follows Amber Group’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-trading-platform-amber-group-eclipses-3b-valuation-with-latest-raise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">latest $200 million raise</a> last month led by Singaporean state holding company Temasek, giving the company a valuation of roughly $3 billion.



Web3 digital identity platform Unstoppable Domains hired Sajjad Rehman as its head of Europe and Nilkanth Iyer as its head of Asia.



Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains allows anyone to purchase a domain name that is minted as an NFT on the blockchain. It has more than 2 million registered NFT domains.



Rehman joins from Amazon-owned video livestreaming service Twitch, where he was vice president of business development for the EMEA region. Iyer previously held roles at software intelligence company CAST and tech goliath IBM.



The two executives will seek to help Unstoppable Domains onboard millions of new users to Web3 by partnering with wallets, exchanges and other industry players in Europe and Asia.



Mudit Gupta recently announced on Twitter that he would be joining Polygon as its chief information security officer.



Gupta also serves as an advisor at SushiSwap and a technical partner at Delta Blockchain Fund, according to his LinkedIn profile. He had worked for nearly three years as a senior solidity developer and then lead blockchain engineer for software development company Polymath.



“Polygon is the leading Ethereum scaling platform, and I&#8217;m stoked about our upcoming ZK rollups,” Gupta said in <a href="https://twitter.com/Mudit__Gupta/status/1505918543766122500" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a Monday tweet</a>. “Security has been a priority at Polygon, and I will be pushing it to the next level.”



Decentralized financial market infrastructure company Bosonic hired Paddy Boyle as its global head of clearing and derivatives. Founded in 2016, the firm offers infrastructure aiming to eliminate counterparty credit and settlement risk in digital asset markets.&nbsp;



Boyle was previously a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 16 years as the investment bank’s global head of foreign exchange options. More recently, he was a managing director and global head of ForexClear at London-based clearing house LCH.



Former Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios joined the board of directors of Unicorn Hunters, a platform that connects companies looking for expansion capital to achieve a billion-dollar valuation.



Rios’ experience will be key to Unicorn Hunters achieving its strategic objectives, which include making Unicoin the top equity-backed cryptocurrency in the world, the company announced Wednesday.



Unicoin, which <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unicorn-hunters-introduce-unicoin-an-equity-backed-dividend-paying-cryptocurrency-as-a-solution-to-the-high-volatility-of-traditional-cryptocoins-301488540.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched last month</a>, pays dividends and is backed by equity in emerging high-growth companies.&nbsp;



The RLY Network Association hired Jeremiah Owyang as its chief marketing officer.



The non-profit supports the infrastructure and development of the RLY Network, which powers projects including Rally.io, Unite.io and SuperLayer.io.



Owyang is an advisor and angel investor in several early-stage startups, including blockchain gaming giant <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/metaverse-will-empower-creators-ceo-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Animoca Brands</a>. He also founded Catalyst Companies, a council for corporations that are seeking to innovate with new technologies.



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Latest in Crypto Hiring: Jefferies Execs Leave to Create Startup

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_610d4373249ae" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>In just one week, the number of NFT sales spiked 101.8% from 29,256 sales to 59,048</li>
 <li>People are beginning to think of NFTs “not only as collectibles, but as a major part of the future of digital ownership and identity, it’s easy to see how long-term growth is inevitable,” Gould said. </li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



It’s hard to log on to social media today without seeing news about the latest non-fungible token (NFT) being auctioned or sold for hundreds to thousands of dollars.&nbsp;



New NFTs are being released and sold in the crypto world every day and the excitement has caused some NFTs to spike in value and while the market is still fairly young, the trend of buying these digital collector items are far from over, Unstoppable Domains Founder and CEO Matthew Gould said in an interview with Blockworks.&nbsp;&nbsp;



NFTs began in 2017 and boomed in popularity after the crypto industry began gaining serious traction and as CryptoKitties, the Ethereum blockchain-based cartoon cats by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/dapper-labs-superrare-consensys-and-nifty-gateway-make-nft-news/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dapper Labs</a>, came into the market as collectible items. Soon after the hype dissipated, the market fell in less than a month from the <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market/history" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">all-time high</a> of 303,620 NFT sales in mid-December 2017 to an average of about 20,000 sales in January 2018. 



“NFTs gained initial mainstream hype with digital collectibles, but as the ecosystem matures, we’re seeing NFTs expand to new use cases,” Gould said. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="512" height="129" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg" alt="NFT market data" class="wp-image-6237" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=512 512w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NFT-marketplace-graphy.jpg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><figcaption>NonFungible market data for number of NFT Sales from August 2020 to August 2021</figcaption></figure></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Market rebound</h3>



While the market has seen volatility throughout the past few months and years, it is facing healthy corrections and already showing a rebound from recent dips, Gould said.



“I have no doubt that NFTs will continue to bounce back, but I hope that it’s steady, sustainable growth, and that NFT marketplaces put protections in place to help people invest responsibly,” Gould added.&nbsp;



NFT sales are still down about 81% from the all-time high in 2017, but are at the highest number of sales in the past 12 month period. In just one week, NFT sales spiked 101.8% from 29,256 sales to 59,048 as of August 5. Additionally, sales are up 312% from the year-ago date, according to <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market/history" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from NonFungible. 



“As NFT marketplaces evolve and become more user-friendly, customer retention and volume will improve. People will find it easier to buy, sell, and trade NFTs, and they’ll keep coming back,” Gould said. Additionally, as the market expands beyond the Ethereum blockchain into new verticals, market activity will also become less correlated to cryptocurrency markets like bitcoin and ethereum, he said.&nbsp;



Some crypto enthusiasts, gamers, musicians, celebrities and more are dipping their toes into the NFT market, but there&#8217;s still a long way to go until it reaches widespread adoption as more people need to be educated about the industry, Gould said.&nbsp;



Earlier this year, Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey auctioned his first tweet from 2006 as an NFT with a hefty final bid of $2.9 million, which gave the buyer ownership of the digital collector item. Separately, in June crypto exchange company<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/binance-to-debut-nft-marketplace-with-warhol-dali-thursday/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Binance launched a NFT marketplace</a> with an auction featuring works of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali and its competitor, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-launches-nft-marketplace/">FTX</a> also launched a NFT marketplace earlier that month. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Into the metaverse</h3>



“We’re definitely seeing traction that speaks to people’s interest beyond things like art and gaming. People are also purchasing NFTs that act as a “membership” to metaverses, as we’re seeing with projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club. In the next few years, NFTs that provide access to payments, Web 3.0, and the metaverse will continue to gain adoption,” Gould said.&nbsp;



Unstoppable Domains is also seeing the NFT market expand beyond its current space, Gould said. There’s a growing interest in NFT domain names and the company has recently sold more than 1 million blockchain usernames which are minted as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain to give users full ownership and control over the names, Blockworks previously <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/circle-and-unstoppable-domains-partner-to-make-usdc-exchanges-easier/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. 



The personalized usernames allow people to complete crypto transactions across wallets and exchanges, similar to how people want their own preferred usernames on Twitter, Instagram or Venmo, users are now claiming their blockchain domain name through their company’s platform, Gould said.&nbsp;



People are beginning to think of NFTs “not only as collectibles, but as a major part of the future of digital ownership and identity, it’s easy to see how long-term growth is inevitable,” Gould said.&nbsp;

NFT Market is ‘Far From Over’ as Sales Hit 12-Month High

<div id="highlights-block_610ac01fbe88d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>To date, Unstoppable Domains has sold more than 1 million blockchain domain names that are minted as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain to give users full ownership and control over the names</li>
 <li>The number of USDC in circulation increased 2640% to over 27.4 billion from about 1 billion on the year-ago date, according to CoinMarketCap data</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Global financial technology firm Circle is partnering with Unstoppable Domains, a blockchain domain name provider, to introduce simpler usernames for stablecoin payments, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday.&nbsp;



Circle is the principal developer of the USD Coin (USDC), the dollar digital currency with a market capitalization of more than $25 billion. Unstoppable Domains <a href="https://unstoppabledomains.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supports</a> more than 200 cryptocurrencies across over 50 wallets and exchanges.



To date, Unstoppable Domains has sold more than 1 million blockchain domain names that are minted as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain to give users full ownership and control over the names, the company said.&nbsp;



In a similar aspect to how PayPal and Venmo made it easy for people to send US dollars to one another, Unstoppable Domains said their “.coin” usernames provide the same simplicity and accessibility. USDC is a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-stablecoins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stablecoin</a>, which means it’s backed by a fixed asset that provides the cryptocurrency with more stability. In this case, each USDC is backed by US dollars so for users with a USD bank account, the 1:1 ratio is always redeemable, giving it a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/circles-allaire-talks-volatile-markets-and-stablecoins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stable price</a>.&nbsp;



The partnership will help users replace the classic lengthy alphanumeric wallet addresses into “easily readable .coin” usernames so that it’s easier to transfer USDC across over 30 applications, wallets and exchanges to accelerate decentralized peer-to-peer transactions, it said.



“&#8230;We aim to make blockchain domain names the standard for digital currency transfers across all wallets and exchanges,” said Matthew Gould, founder and CEO of Unstoppable Domains. “Simple usernames combined with dollar-pegged stablecoins take the fear and risk out of spending crypto.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="512" height="284" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-6143" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=512 512w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/circle-unstoppable-image.jpg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></figure>



The USDC market was launched in 2018 and has seen exponential growth in the past year. The number of USDC in circulation increased 2640% to over 27.4 billion from about 1 billion on the year-ago date, according to CoinMarketCap <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>. The stablecoin has also supported over $917 billion in on-chain transactions.



“USDC has grown dramatically in the last year, fueling commerce and payments activity across the internet,” Circle’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Josh Hawkins said. With the new simplified usernames, sending USDC can be as easy as sending an email and is a major step forward in making its payments accessible to all, Hawkins said.&nbsp;



Separately, in late June, Crypto.com announced it was<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-and-circle-partner-for-fiat-to-stablecoin-transfers/"> joining forces</a> with Circle to help users transfer fiat, or USD, in and out of the company’s app and exchange platform. The service requires users to deposit USD funds through a wire transfer and user-specific code via Circle and it will process, store and convert the USD to USDC. Those funds will be available in their crypto wallet on the platform within three business days, it said. 



Want more investor-focused content on digital assets? <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a> September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket. <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.