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GameFi Guides

Nvidia, Tesla Stocks on Tron: xStocks Expand After Hitting Trading Milestone

by admin August 20, 2025

In brief

xStocks, a feature which allows users to traded tokenized versions of companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Meta, is expanding to Tron.
The tokenized stocks are backed 1:1 with real shares in the underlying companies.
xStocks so far have generated more than $500 million in on-chain trading volume.

Tokenized versions of Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, and other major stocks are now available for trading on the Tron network thanks to a collaboration between the Tron DAO, Kraken, and Backed—the firm behind xStocks, which offers global investors access to tokenized equities.

The feature’s expansion comes shortly after xStocks eclipsed more than $500 million in on-chain trading volume to date, according to data from its official Dune dashboard.

“Expanding xStocks to Tron, a network that settles over $20 billion daily, will significantly boost brand visibility and adoption,” Kraken Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg told Decrypt. “More importantly, it brings us closer to a fully permissionless, borderless, and interoperable market where anyone can trade tokenized equities around the clock.”

Backed’s xStocks feature allows users to gain exposure to American equities via on-chain tokens that are 1:1 backed with actual shares in each respective company. Previously available to users on Solana and BNB Chain, and offered via centralized exchanges like Kraken, these tokens will now be available via TRC-20 tokens on Tron.

“This collaboration highlights how Tron’s decentralized network can bring tokenized equities into a more open, transparent, and accessible environment,” said Tron founder Justin Sun, in a statement.

“Tokenized equities represent a natural evolution for crypto, bridging traditional markets with blockchain,” he added. “As demand for popular equities meets a global base of previously excluded users, we’ll see a more efficient, flexible, and accessible market.”

To date, the network is arguably best known for its substantial stablecoin usage, which has grown by about $23 billion in the last year according to data from DefiLlama. The network holds $82.8 billion in stablecoins—primarily Tether’s USDT—trailing only Ethereum, which maintains $143 billion in stablecoins at the time of writing.

xStocks have generated more than $2.9 billion in volume between centralized exchanges and their decentralized counterparts, though the split falls heavily in favor of centralized exchanges which have accounted for more than 95% of the volume according to the official xStocks Dune dashboard. Over $500 million of that trading has taken place on-chain, per the dashboard.

The tokenized equities currently account for around $46.4 million in assets under management, more than 20% of which can be attributed to tokenized shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA).

As for bigger goals, Backed is focused on continuing to expand its xStocks product offering.

“Our priority is expanding the xStocks Alliance—bringing more partners, blockchains, and applications onboard as we deliver the gold standard in tokenized equities offerings,” Greenberg said. “That’s where the real growth happens.”

More features, chain integrations, and new offerings are expected in the coming weeks, he added.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Resident Evil Requiem’s gamescom Opening Night Live trailer has a lot of drama, not enough action

by admin August 20, 2025

Resident Evil Requiem has reminded everyone why it’s one of 2026’s most-anticipated games, having just reemerged to deliver something new for us to admire. That, of course, was a new trailer, broadcast live on the Opening Night Live stage.

Requiem has always seemed like a bit of an unusual Resident Evil, and though today’s look doesn’t change any of that, it signaled that it may not be the standard sequel some of us thought we’d be getting.

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The new trailer really is full of family drama. The game’s protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, is seemingly stuck with her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, in a house where something bad is about to happen.

There’s some gameplay in this, but most of it is spooky, slow-walky stuff with flashlights pointed at things in almost complete darkness. It still looks pretty good, but I wish there was more going on in the footage.

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Requiem was announced in early June, following what felt like years of leaks. Unlike what most of us expected, however, it is not the open-world, Far Cry-inspired game those leaks made us expect. Instead, it’s a linear horror title with some action elements that takes place in the future of the Resident Evil universe.

Requiem stars the – seemingly easily frightened – Grace Ashcroft, who will be revisiting a devastated Raccoon City. The game is playable entirely in first and third-person. Requiem is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S and is set for release February 27, 2026.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Best Student Discounts (2025): Laptops, Streaming Services, Shoes, and Software

by admin August 20, 2025

Looking for the best student discounts? I don’t blame you. Going to college is expensive. Between tuition, textbooks, and beer, there isn’t always a lot of wiggle room in the budget. Tack on the skyrocketing cost of living, and you might be wondering just how you’re supposed to manage your money. One way to stretch those dollars further is by taking advantage of student discounts. A valid .edu email address can help you save on plenty of necessities, with a little left over for binge-watching on Netflix or cheap food delivery. We’ve rounded up our favorite student discounts below.

Updated August 2025: We refreshed this guide with updated links and ensured accuracy throughout.

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How to Qualify for .Edu Discounts

In the good old days, it was easy to cheat your way into student discounts. You could photoshop a student ID or snag a fake email address for $5 after a Google search. But thanks to third-party verification services, it’s now almost impossible (and in some cases, illegal) to obtain and use a fake qualifying email. No, that hack you saw on TikTok probably isn’t legit.

We don’t advise attempting to get a student email address if you aren’t actually a student. But some educational discounts can also be used by teachers, parents of students, or alumni. Sometimes getting a student discount is as simple as confirming a code sent from the retailer to the email in question. Other times they rely on third-party services like Unidays to verify your student status after you upload a photo of your school ID. Your school may also have its own portal to verify your account.

Once verified, you can take advantage of student discounts either on the Unidays website or by logging in to your Unidays account when prompted at stores that use it as an authentication method. ID Me, Sheer ID, and Student Beans are other services that act as a verification method and shopping portal.

Tech Deals

Whether you need headphones, an office chair, or a USB hub, there are probably a few gadgets on your school shopping list. The stores below offer student discounts on all of the gadgets and gizmos you could need. Check out our buying guides, like the Best Dorm Gear, Best Laptops, and Best Buy It for Life Gear, for WIRED-tested recommendations.

Apple Store

Photograph: Apple

The Apple education Store offers about 10 percent off to students, their parents, and teachers. Usually, deals are sweetened around autumn. Right now there are offers like free AirPods with the purchase of a MacBook, or a free Apple Pencil with the purchase of an iPad. You can save on services like AppleCare+ or Apple Music too.

The Dell University store offers various up to 10 percent off to those with .edu email addresses. Simply sign up for a free Dell Rewards account, and then verify your student status. Savings are reflected in your shopping cart. Some Dell University discounts can be stacked with other deals at Dell to save even more. Most stores don’t let you stack deals, which makes these a bit more enticing. You can also get extra Dell Rewards which might be useful if you’re purchasing a lot of Dell gear.

Sign up for the HP education program discounts by verifying your .edu email address. (Some discounts are available to everyone, regardless of student status, but other deals are exclusive to students, teachers, parents, and faculty.) HP says eligible shoppers can save up to 40 percent off on select products.

Lenovo switches up its discounts on a regular basis, but students and teachers can always get 5 percent off, with additional discounts and bonuses being offered on occasion. In the past, those bonuses have included free Uber vouchers for spending a certain amount. Lenovo Education accounts are free and verified via ID Me. Discounts are applied automatically during checkout.

Snag 25 percent off at Logitech by validating your email via Unidays.

Microsoft offers up to 10 percent off a variety of products, including Surface devices and accessories. Parents, students, and faculty are eligible.

Samsung’s program is for students and educators, who get up to 30 percent off laptops, tablets, phones, and other gadgets. You can also sometimes get additional perks, like more base storage or free accessories with purchase. You can also check out WIRED’s page of Samsung coupon codes.

Razer’s education deals vary, but there’s a selection of discounted gaming laptops and PC components. Eligible shoppers include students, parents buying on behalf of students, and faculty. You can also save 15 percent on peripherals and 5 percent on Razer gaming chairs.

Unlimited phone plans and Fios home internet are both discounted for college students. As is typical with cell phone service providers, terms and conditions apply, but this is worth looking into if you’re a Verizon customer (or considering making a switch). We have Verizon coupon codes that could save you $1,100.

College students can get 20 percent off an entire qualifying shopping trip at Target. There are some exclusions, and you’ll need to join the free Target Circle program to redeem the offer. You can also save 50 percent on the paid Circle 360 membership, which gets you free 2-day shipping, early access to select sales, and more. These deals are generally valid from June through September. This year, they end on September 27.

Online Service Deals

The services you use every day might be even cheaper, thanks to that sweet, sweet institution inbox. Signing up for the first time? Our “What to Watch” and Best Music Streaming Services may be of some assistance. Your college or university may also offer their own private discounts. Insurance providers sometimes offer student benefits too.

Spotify Premium

Photograph: Spotify

Spotify Premium Student costs $6 per month, which is a 50 percent discount. It also includes a subscription to Hulu. Both of them come with commercials. If you love your TV, this is one of the best student discounts around, especially if you’re already paying $6 per month for Hulu. New signups can get a free 6-month trial for a limited time.

Usually, Apple Music costs $11 per month. Students pay $6 after a one-month free trial. The Apple Music Student subscription also includes Apple TV+. Your eligibility will be verified via Unidays.

Students can get 50 percent off a Tidal premium music streaming membership by signing up for the Student plan. The offer is available to high schoolers ages 16 and up as well, not just folks enrolled in higher education.

Formerly known as Amazon Prime Student, Amazon has a special discount for its “Prime for Young Adults” membership, which is meant for adults ages 18 to 24. You’ll be charged $7.49 per month, rather than the typical $15 price. Prime Student includes a few special perks, like free Grubhub Student+ access and discounted meditation app memberships. You may also be eligible for a free six-month trial.

Students can get the ad-supported Hulu plan for $2 per month instead of the usual $8. This is the best option if you want access to Hulu but not Spotify. If you don’t immediately see the offer, click “Sign up now” and look for the mention of the student discount near the bottom of the sign-up page.

Typically, YouTube Premium costs $14 per month, but the cost drops to $8 for students after a free three-month trial. The membership includes access to both ad-free YouTube videos and ad-free YouTube Music.

Peacock Premium usually costs $6 per month, but students and young adults can get it for $3 per month for a year. WIRED has several Peacock coupon codes that might be useful to you, too.

Software and Class Deals

Whether you need to subscribe to an online service for class or just want a tool like Adobe Photoshop, these discounts can help you save.

You Need a Budget

Photograph: You Need A Budget

Several of our Reviews team members have used and loved this service, which is enthusiastically recommended on nearly every finance forum on the internet. It can be pretty difficult to use, especially when you’re first starting—but if you don’t mind a steep learning curve, it’s worth a shot. (I found this video tutorial helpful.) Note that this deal is limited to college students.

Eligible students, parents, and educators get 50 percent off Ableton Live or can apply the same percentage off to Live bundled with Push. Ableton Live is our favorite DAW for DJs and live performers. This software is especially enticing for music creators, though if you’ve been considering uploading some fun projects to SoundCloud, it might be worth your while too. You don’t need to be a music major or a full-time student to take advantage of the offer.

Adobe Creative Cloud includes Photoshop, Illustrator, Firefly, Acrobat Pro, Lightroom, and more. You also get 100 gigabytes of cloud storage. It’s usually $70 a month. Students and educators can get it for $30 monthly. After a year, the $30 price is raised to $40, but it’s still a good discount if you can’t access needed Adobe apps another way. Note that this is billed annually.

This bundle includes licenses for Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, and more. It’s tailored to video and music creators and costs $200. Considering that Final Cut Pro sells for $300 on its own, this bundle is a worthwhile purchase if you plan on buying any of these software licenses individually.

Courtesy of Dashlane

This is a great deal on one of the best password managers.

This freebie from GitHub contains free and discounted apps, services, software downloads, and more developer tools. From a free year-long domain on Namecheap to free courses on Educative and waived Stripe transaction fees, plus access to GitHub Pro, there are dozens of options to choose from. You don’t need to use them all, but you do need to be an enrolled student age 13 or older.

Verified through Student Beans, this deal gets you half off the normal cost of an annual individual website plan or a website platform plan. WIRED also has a Squarespace promo code that might be helpful to you.

I haven’t used Ulysses yet, but several industry colleagues swear by the Apple-device-exclusive writing software. It’s known for limiting distractions and helping with edits—two tools that should come in handy for students. It typically costs $40 per year. The subscription ends automatically, so you don’t need to remind yourself to cancel it, but you can renew it for as long as you remain a student.

Evernote is one of the long-standing note-taking apps. (It’s not our favorite, but if you’re a devotee, this is still a solid way to save some cash.) A valid .edu email address gets you 40 percent off a one-year Evernote Professional membership. Professional is the most robust Evernote plan, and it includes special perks like Boolean search, calendar connections, and more.

Notion is similar to Evernote and Google Keep. It’s handy for everything from making to-do lists to building outlines and other documents. The Plus Plan for education is free for students and educators. It’ll stay free as long as you have access to a university-associated email address. You may also be eligible for a discount on Notion AI services.

Students and educators can use a valid .edu email address to get free access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Teams, plus a few AI tools. There are free alternatives to Microsoft Office products, but if you insist on writing essays in Word, this is worth checking out.

Prezi offers a slate of tools used to perfect digital presentations. It can be integrated with Zoom or Google Meet. The service has two educational premium plans for students and educators that cost $4 or $8 per month (usually $7 or $19 per month, respectively).

This is $22 off the usual cost of a three-month Babbel subscription. Babbel is our favorite language-learning app.

Deals on Clothing, Magazines, Food, and More

If you need some retail therapy (or you just want to upgrade your dorm room on the cheap), plenty of non-tech stores offer student discounts. Some standouts are highlighted below.

WIRED is one of the many magazines you can get for cheap as a student

Discounts on Magazine and Newspaper Subscriptions

We’re biased, but a year of unlimited digital access to WIRED costs $24 per year. Students can also get affordable subscriptions to The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, and more. If there’s a magazine or newspaper that you frequently read, you may be able to get a discount when you subscribe. You might also be able to get discounted or free subscriptions through the library.

Bring your student ID to the box office to get cheaper prices. Discounts vary by location, so check with your local theater for more details.

Unidays is the best way to find fashion retailers that have student discounts. A few athletic and outdoor stores are also listed, so even if you don’t need interview clothes for a fancy grown-up job, this could be a good way to save on sporting goods and other gear for your extracurricular activities.

Nike offers students 10 percent off most items. This offer is verified through Sheer ID and is valid for high school, college, and university students.

Amtrak offers a national discount to students between 17 and 24 years old.

This company makes some of our favorite paper planners. Your student status will be verified through ID Me at checkout.

DashPass usually costs $10 per month. Students can get it for half the normal cost, at $5 per month or $48 per year. DashPass gets you free delivery on most orders over $12, plus special discounts and promotions. You can also get credits back on DoorDash Pickup orders. If you’re looking for DoorDash coupons, we’ve got those here at WIRED including a $25 off promo code.

Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

‘BNB Microstrategy’ faces imminent Nasdaq delisting as price falls below threshold

by admin August 20, 2025

Windtree, a biotech-turned BNB treasury firm, is facing delisting from the Nasdaq on August 21.

Summary

Nasdaq is set to delist Windtree on August 21, following non-compliance with its $1 share price rule
Windtree’s stock price lost 97.74% in the past six months, to $0.11
Delisting would make it much harder for Windtree to gain access to public markets

Struggling biotech Windtree’s pivot to BNB treasuries could soon come to an end. On Tuesday, August 19, regulatory filings showed that Windtree, sometimes called “BNB Microstrategy,” is facing imminent delisting on Nasdaq over non-compliance.

According to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nasdaq will delist Windtree on August 21. Namely, Nasdaq companies must trade above $1 per share, while Windtree, under the ticker WINT, is trading at $0.11.

Critically, the move could place Windtree’s pivot to BNB treasuries at risk. Specifically, the Nasdaq listing effectively turns Windtree into a leveraged play on BNB available on the public market. Without access to the Nasdaq, it would be more difficult for average investors to acquire Windtree’s stock.

Struggling Windtree pivoted to BNB treasuries

Windtree, a biotech firm, announced its pivot to a BNB treasury firm after years of slow business. In the past six months, its stock price has fallen 97.74% to its current level of $0.11.

On July 16, the company first announced plans to purchase $60 million worth of BNB tokens from Build and Build Corp., with the potential to acquire $140 million more. This put the company’s total financing up to $200 million for its BNB treasury.

Just a week later, on July 24, the firm announced securing another $520 million in financing. $500 would come from an equity line of credit agreement with an undisclosed financeer, and another $20 million from a direct stock purchase from Build and Build Corp.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Crypto Advocacy Groups Double Down On Support Of Prospective CFTC Chair

by admin August 20, 2025

Several cryptocurrency and blockchain associations advocating for the industry are pushing for a “prompt confirmation” of Brian Quintenz as chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a Wednesday letter to US President Donald Trump, representatives from several crypto organizations reiterated their support for Quintenz’s confirmation in the Senate following the president’s nomination.

Signatories included the Crypto Council for Innovation, Blockchain Association, Decentralization Research Center, DeFi Education Fund, The Digital Chamber, Satoshi Action Fund and Solana Policy Institute

The advocacy organizations argued that Quintenz was “exceptionally well-suited” to head the CFTC in part due to his experience with and understanding of digital assets.

After being nominated to chair the agency in February, he was referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee, which delayed a vote days before the chamber was scheduled to break for an August recess.

The committee said that the delay came following a request from the White House. An August report also suggested that Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss pressed Trump to reconsider Quintenz’s nomination, claiming he would not fully enact the president’s crypto agenda as CFTC chair.

Wednesday letter to Donald Trump. Source: Crypto Council for Innovation

“As the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets Report clearly articulated, the CFTC has many critical, complex, and nuanced goals ahead of it, including working with Congress to establish a comprehensive federal market structure framework with appropriate oversight of digital asset commodities, in order to advance your Administration’s agenda,” said the letter, adding that:

Installing a permanent Chairman to the CFTC is absolutely critical to realizing these goals […]”

Quintenz previously served as a CFTC commissioner under Trump from 2017 to 2021, having been nominated by former US President Barack Obama in 2016.

Related: Trump’s CFTC chair pick won’t push president for bipartisan commission

Financial regulator facing a staff exodus

Even if Quintenz’s confirmation were to move quickly through the Senate once the chamber returns from recess on Sept. 3, the regulator still has vacancies that could slow its work related to crypto and otherwise. Currently, the five-member panel of commissioners is staffed only by acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham, and Commissioner Kristin Johnson.

Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero, as well as former chair Rostin Behnam, departed the CFTC earlier this year. Johnson said she would leave before 2026, and Pham said she planned to move to the private sector if Quintenz were nominated, suggesting that the prospective chair could be the sole voice until Trump picked other candidates to staff the agency.

In a statement to Cointelegraph, a representative for the Crypto Council for Innovation highlighted the need to confirm CFTC leadership amid the two-commissioner panel, no permanent chair, and pending legislation for crypto market structure.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the lead voices pushing for the chamber to pass market structure, said the bill — which could clarify the roles the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission will have over crypto — will be signed into law before 2026.

Magazine: Bitcoin’s long-term security budget problem: Impending crisis or FUD?

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

FTC Sues Gym Chains for Making It Hard to Cancel Memberships

by admin August 20, 2025

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the operators of several gym chains, including LA Fitness, on Wednesday over allegations that they make it too difficult to cancel memberships. And that’s probably welcome news for anyone who’s had the displeasure of trying to cancel with their gym.

The companies being sued by the FTC are Fitness International and Fitness & Sports Clubs, which own gym chains like Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio. The largest chain, LA Fitness, has over 600 locations across the U.S.

The 22-page complaint, which has been posted online, details how the FTC believes LA Fitness and others have created a cumbersome process for consumers to cancel. For starters, members are required to log in to their website and print off a cancellation form. But users are encouraged at sign-up to use the LA Fitness app and a QR code, meaning that many people apparently don’t know their login information for the website. There’s no way to cancel through the app, according to the FTC.

Customers who don’t know how to log in with their credentials need to jump through even more hoops to get them. The user must provide the original email address used to get the membership account, the “key tag number” handed out when they signed up, and the first five digits of the bank account or credit card number listed on the account, according to the complaint.

The cancellation form isn’t made publicly available on the company’s website and can only be found after users log in. And the form must be printed out, a very real hurdle for many households in the year 2025.

Even if you figure out how to log in with your credentials and print out the form, customers are required to either mail the form or bring the form to a physical location, where they’ll face even more hurdles. The FTC says customers are required to send cancellation forms via registered or certified mail. And even though most LA Fitness locations are open seven days a week, often for 19 hours a day, cancellations are only accepted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., when most people are at work.

Nobody really wants to take PTO to cancel their gym membership. And that’s how people can get stuck with gym memberships they no longer want.

The FTC’s press release announcing the lawsuit also alleges that LA Fitness has trained staff to reject requests to cancel by phone or email. And “consumers who try to cancel their memberships by stopping charges to their bank or credit card find they are rebilled, often under new account numbers.” The FTC says that violates the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). Cancelling with nothing more than a click on the app seems like it would be a reasonable and consumer-friendly way to conduct business.

“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced—a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release.

“Tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties—cancellation was often restricted to specific times or required speaking to specific managers who were often not present or available. The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when it believes companies are stifling consumers’ ability to choose which recurring charges they want to keep.”

LA Fitness is far from the only business that seems to thrive on cumbersome auto-renewal policies. How many times have you signed up for a digital subscription of some kind and failed to cancel before you were charged again? It seems like an increasingly popular business model these days. And the FTC has taken notice.

Fitness International, the operator of LA Fitness, didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed on Wednesday. Gizmodo will update this post when we hear back.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Esports

CSGOEmpire owner Monarch loses $19M in the largest public poker game ever

by admin August 20, 2025

The biggest poker match ever streamed played out on YouTube as Counter-Strike mogul Ossi ‘Monarch’ Ketola battled poker legend Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in a marathon session that ended with Monarch dropping $19 million.

Broadcast live on Onyx Live’s YouTube channel from Merit Royal Diamond on August 19, the spectacle featured six nosebleed stakes matches with buy-ins climbing as high as €5 million. Thousands tuned in as the pair collided in what is now being called the largest public poker game in history.

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Cates struck first in a €2 million opener, but Monarch bounced back in the next two contests, including a €3 million buy-in where he steamrolled Jungleman with back-to-back coolers and some fearless bluffs.

Record pots and brutal swings

As the night escalated, so did the buy-ins. The two traded massive blows, including a €2.8 million pot where Monarch flopped quads against Cates’ full house.

The games continued, with Jungleman pulling off an impressive bluff with 5-3, making Monarch fold his pair of Aces.

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Not long after, they battled in a staggering €7.7 million hand, the largest pot of the entire session.

Despite Monarch holding the lead at that point, the tide soon turned. Jungleman locked in key pots down the stretch, winning four of the six matches and leaving with a €13 million profit, equal to around $15 million USD.

For Monarch, he ended up losing $19M throughout the marathon in one of the most expensive single-night defeats ever publicly witnessed in poker. Still, the CSGOEmpire founder isn’t exactly strapped for cash.

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“lol rip ~$19m in one sitting,” he commented on X following the stream. “Worth the content though.”

The Finnish entrepreneur has been running businesses since he was 14 and built his fortune in 2016 when he launched the Counter-Strike skin gambling site that exploded in popularity.

While Jungleman walked away with the glory, the night cemented both players in poker history and gave fans a rare glimpse at the highest stakes the game has ever seen.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Stargate price surges as Wormhole floats acquisition bid

by admin August 20, 2025

Stargate price rose sharply as the Wormhole Foundation announced its intention to enter a bidding war for the cross-chain protocol.

Summary

Stargate price jumped by more than 10% amid news that Wormhole Foundation wants to acquire the cross-chain protocol.
LayerZero has bid $110 million for the protocol, but Wormhole feels this undervalues Stargate.

The price of Stargate (STG) jumped more than 10% to climb from lows of $0.1633 and hit $0.182 across crypto exchanges on Aug. 20.

STG, native to the cross-chain protocol Stargate, had dipped in the wake of the broader crypto downturn that saw top altcoins crash to support levels on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

However, as Bitcoin (BTC) bid to bounce above $114k and Ethereum (ETH) reclaimed the $4,300 level, Stargate’s price shot up. The double digit gains for STG however coincides with another development – a key announcement from the Wormhole Foundation.

Wormhole Foundation wants to acquire Stargate

Stargate has attracted the attention of Wormhole Foundation, the entity supporting the Wormhole (W) ecosystem.

Specifically, it believes it can offer a better deal if it acquires Stargate instead of LayerZero (ZRO).

At the WF, we have respect for the @StargateFinance protocol, its team, and especially its holders. Stargate is a leader in multichain asset transfers. That’s why we’re stepping up with our intent to acquire Stargate – to ensure holders get the fair deal they deserve.

— Wormhole Foundation (@WormholeFdn) August 20, 2025

On Aug. 11, LayerZero outlined a bid to acquire Stargate, and on Aug.17, Stargate announced that a snapshot for the proposed acquisition was live.

Terms include a figure of $110 million, with all circulating STG set to be swapped for ZRO, a revenue-sharing model, and the transition of Stargate operations to the LayerZero Foundation.

Now, the Wormhole Foundation says Stargate should pause the snapshot and allow for a competitive bidding process that will offer a deal that reflects Stargate’s worth and growth potential.

LayerZero’s offer of $110 million in ZRO for about $76.47 million in stablecoins and $15.9 million in ETH, and the “permanent capture of all future protocol revenue,” is low for Stargate, the Wormhole Foundation contended.

“Treasury alone is ~$92M, excluding STG tokens, yet the proposed deal hands over assets and ongoing economic upside for only $110M in token consideration. It doesn’t create a compelling offer, which values Stargate’s ongoing business at an unreasonably low number,” they noted.

Stargate protocol growth

In requesting a pause to the snapshot, the platform said its request is because STG holders deserve to get a better deal.

“The current bid undervalues the protocol’s assets, brand, codebase, and team. We’re prepared to submit a meaningfully higher offer, and we believe a competitive process will drive even more value for everyone involved,” WF wrote.

Stargate’s snapshot vote was scheduled to end on August 24 at 00:15 a.m. GMT.

The STG token traded to highs of $4.28 in April 2022, but has struggled to hit these highs since. However, the Stargate protocol has experienced notable growth, with bridge volume up 10x since July 2024 and the protocol’s total value locked hitting $345 million.

Stargate has gone live across more than 80 chains.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

In Full Bloom isn’t just about being a planet-devouring Sarlacc’s babysitter, it’s my brain on games showcase

by admin August 20, 2025

I drop the house into the great maw (not that one). It screams as it falls away from the clutches of my mouse clicker. It disappears from view, but there’s a sickeningly wet crunching that betrays its fate. Oh and the fact that the entity’s jaws immediately flare open once more, teeth and tongue dripping with anguish to cram vegetation, trees, towerblocks into its gullet.

This is In Full Bloom, a game that scores the full 10/10 in the wonderfully ironic naming category. Set in a greyscale universe sucked free of all hope and colour, it tasks you with accomplishing an impossible task. You’ve got to keep the infernal child of constant consumption happy by tossing an unending stream of junk into its mouth.

The demo I’ve just played for it has been out for a little while on Itch.io, while the Steam page foretelling a full release in 2026 went up a couple of months ago. The thing that led me to In Full Bloom today, of all days, was one tweet in a thread, which featured a picture of Swiss studio Obleak Games’ patch of Gamescom. I saw the giant mouth perched atop a dark planet, and decided this was a thing I had to play.

I’m glad I did. In Full Bloom’s described as a Katamari-like, and the truth is that it’s exactly what would happen if the folks who do Katamari were like ‘Right, how can we take everything that doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end in this game, and flip it so that’s a feeling so overwhelming you won’t be able to forget it’. To put it another way, the game’s like jumping into a MeatCanyon video about ASMR. Being not just present among the skin-crawling proceedings, but winding the crank that powers their descent into even more horrific depths.

Ok, I might be being a bit dramatic, but if you dislike the sound of people eating, this isn’t the game for you. The demo has three stages – small mouth, big mouth, and bigger mouth. You start off with the first, feeding it detritus and colourless veg from a garden as it grows with each gulp. The entity’s young at this point, so it makes panicked baby squeals and gurgles amid the slurping and swallowing of its three-toothed maw. I think they get more intense if you stop shovelling food in, but honestly they made me so uncomfortable that I couldn’t entertain slowing down to find out.

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Big mouth’s grown up, so it has a full set of human gnashers and can gradually work its way up to chowing down a full cul-de-sac. Fences, trees, screaming houses. There’s also a bus doing merry laps around the creature – you can have your weird son try to catch it by pointing with the mouse, but I didn’t manage it. The lethargy of this movement, while saving In Full Bloom from being a fully static experience and undeniably fitting with the rest of its atmoshere, does mean there’s nothing akin to the frenetic rolling that gives good universe Katamari its upbeat tempo and fuels a lot of the fun.

The sense of satisfaction you get from plucking up increasingly ludicrous amounts and sizes of object is still there, but that sense of satisfaction has become terrifying, as you sacrifice moons to a continent-proportioned pit of despair.

Image credit: obleak games

The demo will need plenty of fleshing out before it’s a game I can see myself playing for more than one sitting. It’s carried a lot by the novelty of the weirdness. As of right now, it’s a top class metaphor for the mechanisms of capital, always desperate for more, demanding constant and unsustainable growth because as the game’s description says, “there is only one way”.

I reckon it’s more universal than just that, though. It might be because the experience is fresh in my mind, but I spent my time with it being reminded of how helping cover the biggest game showcases has often left me feeling so far in my career. I like video games, but when they’re being fired at you one after the other, in a barrage of double digit minutes or hours, they tend to just blend into an overwhelming soup of lights, faces, rambling voices, bangs, booms, instrumental swells, platforms, release dates, jangling Keighs.

By the time your eyes have adjusted to try and take in one, the next has already arrived, like scoops of ice cream being fired from a machine gun. In the rush of the moment, the job’s to be a speedy vessel of information, from the stream to the virtual page. Ice Cream. Vanilla. Travelling at 50mph. Could have been double scoop if £50.99 deluxe edition was bought. Publish.

There’s a great skill to it, and even more of a skill to being able to take all of this in and occasionally give some useful commentary, like ‘the consistency of that mint scoop as it flies by may hint at chocolate chips, which would be an improvement from the last one, the chiplessness of which I and many long-time fans disliked’. As with folks watching at home, there’s a thrill to just seeing which games pop up, but the adrenaline rush is tied to a love of the scramble.

There may well be a day when this work feels more like classic Katamari rolling to me, but for now it’s more like feeding In Full Bloom’s great gob. Speaking of which, oh god, I think it’s hungry again.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

The Rogue Prince of Persia is officially out for PC and consoles

by admin August 20, 2025

Ubisoft and Evil Empire’s long-awaited The Rogue Prince of Persia is finally out and available for purchase. It’s been in early access on Steam for over a year and the developers have made plenty of changes during that time to get the game ready for a general launch.

It’s available for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It’s also playable in the cloud by using the Xbox Cloud service, Ubisoft+ and Amazon Luna. Nintendo fans will have to wait a bit longer. The game’s coming to the Switch and Switch 2, but not until later this year.

For the uninitiated, The Rogue Prince of Persia is a sidescrolling roguelike with plenty of fast-paced action and a graceful move set inspired by other games in the franchise. Co-developer Evil Empire is the company behind the iconic Dead Cells, which is also a sidescrolling roguelike.

Since launching in early access, developers have added more biomes and a new story, in addition to refining the gameplay and character designs. If you’ve been hankering for a new roguelike with some light Metroidvania elements (just like Dead Cells), this could be the game you’ve been waiting for. It costs $30.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments