Absurdly

Based on time of day and year, global fertility rates, and our own secret, illegal research into RPS supporter breeding patterns, I calculate that there’s a 12% chance you are reading this while carrying or cradling a small child. If that’s the case, then: what on Earth are you doing here? We post all kinds of awful grown-up things on RPS. Mark is threatening to do another salacious mod article and just this very morning, I posted a picture of a xenomorph covered in blood.

This piece should be safe for kids, however, as long as you don’t explain what a xenomorph is or what “salacious” means. It’s about Messenger, a free browser-based game in which you run around a very small 3D watercolour planet, delivering post. I suspect you and your child will enjoy it, unless we’ve already corrupted them and you’re now playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite.

Created using WebGL, Messenger is from the Short Hike school of vibes-driven pocket worlds with gentle to-do lists. The controls consist of moving with WASD and jumping – more of a lazy hop, really – with space bar. You’ve got a few deliveries to make off the bat, and you can take on more assignments by chatting to people.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Team Cherry

The dialogue writing is quite spry. I delivered a letter to a bald man which turned out to be from his past self. “Take care of your hair,” it read. Sad trombone. You don’t really need an objective, mind: it’s enough just to amble down the road and watch the horizon unroll. There’s also the option of customising your outfit, and an emoji system for communicating with the other players – yes, those are other players! – who pop into your session at random.

Find Messenger here. Try not to get it confused with The Messenger, an upsettingly hard game about ninjas. It’s ridiculous that this sort of game now hums along in a browser, isn’t it? Imagine that it’s 2000 and you found this on AOL – your head would asplode. Your modem would probably asplode, as well. “Asplode” is a reference to noted early noughties comedy website Homestar Runner, by the way – your kid likely isn’t old enough for Strongbad yet, but it’s the kind of thing they’ll love when they start school. Better than the rest of the junk you find on those modern videophones, anyway.

Among the mysteries of Messenger is who exactly made it. The creators are Abeto, who “craft interactive realtime experiences”, and have a picturesque, tastefully information-free website where you can wave away the petals that fall from a perpetually unfurling flower. Please don’t let this be a front for a seedy cryptocurrency joint, or a terrible data-harvesting exercise. Please let it just be a nice game about roaming a pleasant spherical suburb.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers to withdraw their 19b-4 filings, paving the way for a faster approval process after new rules removed a key regulatory hurdle, a person familiar with the matter told CoinDesk.

Earlier this month, the SEC signed off on generic listing standards, which allow exchanges to list commodity-based exchange-traded products (ETPs), including those tied to cryptocurrencies, without requiring a separate review for each one. These changes are expected to lower the regulatory hurdles for launching spot crypto ETFs.

Historically, issuers had to work with exchanges to submit 19b-4 filings — formal requests to amend exchange rules — before an ETF could be listed. But under the updated framework, that step is no longer required for certain products. Issuers now only need to file an S-1, the document that details an ETF’s structure and strategy, to receive the SEC’s green light.

“The SEC can move absurdly fast if they really want to — as we’ve seen in the past. Meaning that we could see approvals in a matter of days. But there’s no guarantee of that,” said Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart.

“They still haven’t greenlit Bitwise’s BITW to convert into an ETF which I’m guessing has to do with the first to file aspect that the SEC typically follows for the rest of the ETF industry. So perhaps they’ll will allow these things to launch in sorts of rolling waves or it could be a shotgun start by underlying asset.”

Over the past several months, asset managers have filed a growing list of spot crypto ETF proposals covering coins like SOL$209.81, LTC$105.93 and DOGE$0.2331. These proposals included both 19b-4 and S-1 filings, reflecting the two-part process required under the old rules.

Removing the need for 19b-4 forms could significantly speed up approvals. The 19b-4 route involved exchanges, such as Nasdaq or NYSE Arca, petitioning the SEC to change their own listing standards each time a new product was introduced — a process that often took months.

Now, with the SEC’s updated stance, exchanges can list crypto-based ETFs that fall within the generic commodity ETP category without having to seek a rule change every time. This places the approval burden squarely on the S-1 filing, which remains under the SEC’s direct review.

While it’s unclear how quickly the SEC will move on the outstanding S-1s, the change marks a shift in the agency’s approach to crypto markets — potentially opening the door for a wider range of digital asset funds to come to market with fewer regulatory delays.

“Everything is uncertain. Add in the prospect of a government shutdown and things can get really wonky,” Seyffart said.

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Messenger is an absurdly slick, perfectly lovely free pocket world exploration game you can play in a browser

SEC Tells Issuers to Pull 19b-4s; ETFs Could Be Approved ‘Absurdly Fast’