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Backlash

Polymarket Gains Ground as Kalshi Faces Backlash in Crypto Debate

by admin August 27, 2025

Prediction markets are grabbing attention as Kalshi and Polymarket emerge at the center of heated debates. These platforms let traders speculate on real-world outcomes, from elections and economic releases to cultural events and sports.

A contract on a potential Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in 2025, for instance, can be bought for $0.37 and pays out $1 on Polymarket if the prediction comes true.

Kalshi’s Push, Polymarket’s Momentum

Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated exchange in the United States, has been making noise with high-profile hires and a visible marketing drive. But on X, sentiment has leaned toward Polymarket.

One user posted, “Sorry, but Kalshi lost all respect after their coordinated polymarket propaganda tour during the election cycle. They tried destroying something that was built by one of our own. Don’t really care who they hire to help save face, I’m team polymarket because I’m team crypto.”

polymarket: onchain, uses immutable contracts, everything is transparent (including the uma whale stuff llamao)
kalshi: trust me bro, same as a CEX

one seems much more compelling than the other imo https://t.co/F1v0abUTqM

— 0xngmi (@0xngmi) August 25, 2025

Another compared the two platforms directly, “polymarket: onchain, uses immutable contracts, everything is transparent (including the uma whale stuff llamao) kalshi: trust me bro, same as a CEX, one seems much more compelling than the other imo.”

Polymarket’s position has been further strengthened by fresh backing. Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, has invested a double-digit million-dollar sum into the platform, with Trump Jr. also joining its advisory board.

The move follows a valuation above $1 billion by Founders Fund and Polymarket’s $112 million purchase of derivatives exchange QCEX, which secured a CFTC license and marked its U.S. entry.

Prediction Markets on the Rise

The rivalry between Kalshi and Polymarket highlights a bigger trend. Prediction markets are fast emerging as one of crypto’s most promising primitives, combining speculation, transparency, and regulation in a way that could reshape how global events are forecast and traded.

Also Read: Coinbase UK Ad Ban Sparks Crypto Debate, Says CEO Brian Armstrong

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August 27, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Paradox are “making adjustments” to Bloodlines 2’s day-one vampire clan DLC plans, following backlash

by admin August 27, 2025

Well, there you go. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 publisher Paradox look like they might be sticking a stake in their rather unpopular plans to sell two of the game’s vampire clans as paid day-one DLC. I say “might be” because nothing specific’s been committed to yet, beyond some nebulous making of “adjustments ahead of launch” in response to fan feedback on the gating-off of Lasombra and Toreador bloodsuckers.

In case you missed the announcement of these two clans being packed away into the £18.69/€21.99/$21.99 coffin of Bloodlines’ Shadows and Silk DLC pack, it came right as the long-in-the-works RPG got a fresh trailer and what should hopefully be its final release date. The only ways to get the clans were to buy that pack on top of the base game, or splash out £74.99/€89.99/$89.99 for the premium edition.

On the Bloodlines 2 Discord last night, World of Darkness community developer DebbieElla emerged from the shadows with what looks like the first inkling of an impending change. “We are listening to your feedback about the Lasombra and Toreador clan access, and we’re making adjustments ahead of launch to reflect this,” she wrote. “We will share more information about what this means as soon as possible.”

That was it, aside from a line promoting a livestream on World of Darkness’ Twitch channel at 4PM BST / 5PM CEST / 11AM ET today, August 27th, which I only mention here in case it turns out to be the place Paradox share that promised info.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Up to this announcement, Paradox and Bloodlines developers The Chinese Room had been sticking by the call to paywall the two clans. Our James grilled them about it at Gamescom, and the response was along the lines of the Toreador and Lasombra being additional work on top of The Chinese Room’s original plans for the game, so therefore fine to charge extra for.

“We’ve made a huge amount of changes over that time, based on that cycle, if you like, including a massive amount of story content and features and all the rest of it. So we have been expanding it from where we originally planned to land it, I think, constantly, and Paradox have been really good when we go, or when the clients go, or when Paradox go: ‘We should add a bit more here. Let’s push the date back.’ As you know, the date has pushed back, but that has been to fatten it out into something that we feel does land where the players want it,” Bloodlines 2 narrative director Ian Thomas told us.

Meanwhile, project design director Jey Hicks insisted that this ‘extra’ stuff is “not all, like, just fluff that we’re chucking in”. We’ll have to see what these promised “adjustments” look like, but a complete u-turn would rightly miff folks who’ve already pre-ordered the premium edition because it includes these extra clans. We’ll let you know when Paradox reveal exactly how they’re pulling their feet out of all this deathhound doo-doo.

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August 27, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Black Ops 7 u-turns on Black Ops 6 Carry Forward just days after announcing it because of the massive backlash

by admin August 27, 2025

Activision has made a major announcement regarding a particular feature in this year’s Call of Duty, Black Ops 7. The game, which had its full reveal at gamescom just one week ago, will no longer support Carry Forward.

Carry Forward is a feature that allows players to bring Black Ops 6 weapons, operators, skins and other cosmetics with them to the new game. Unfortunately, that’s made it more difficult for players to be excited about the upcoming game.

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While Carry Forward is something that would typically be celebrated for respecting the players’ legacy and time spent, it has gained an especially negative connotation. Over the course of Black Ops 6’s lifespan, Activision continued to deviate from the original art style and look of the game by introducing more cross-over and cartoony skins, which have practically turned it into Fortnite.

Since it was confirmed for Black Ops 7, fan reaction online has been overwhelmingly negative. The decision to drop the feature just a week after it was announced was made in a blog post that specifically points to that fan response. It also acknowledges that the series may have deviated from that cohesive look.

“We know there’s been a lot of conversation recently about the identity of Call of Duty,” the post reads.

“Some of you have said we’ve drifted from what made Call of Duty unique in the first place: immersive, intense, visceral and in many ways grounded. That feedback hits home, and we take it seriously. We hear you.”

I wouldn’t call this the most ‘authentic’ either… | Image credit: Treyarch, Raven, Activision.

What that means in practice is that Black Ops 6 weapons, operators – and crucially, operator skins, will not be available for use in Black Ops 7. This won’t affect Warzone, however, as the battle royale mode will continue to have continuity with previous games. Double XP tokens and GobbleGums are exempt from this, and will be the only items to carry forward to the new game.

The blog post also confirms that Black Ops 7 store bundles will be “crafted to fit the Black Ops identity.”

“We need to deliver a better balance toward the immersive, core Call of Duty experience,” it adds.

Before Black Ops 7’s launch on November 14, we’re getting a new edition of Call of Duty: Next on September 30, where multiplayer will be shown off for the first time. A few days afterwards, the Black Ops 7 beta will kick off.

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August 27, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Google Cloud sparks backlash with ‘private and permissioned’ L1

by admin August 27, 2025

Google’s new Layer1 platform faces heavy criticism from the crypto community. Dubbed GCUL, the platform is meant to facilitate cross-border payments and asset settlements through a distributed ledger.

Summary

Users on X criticized Google’s upcoming L1 for being a permissioned and private system.
The platform plans to be more open in the future and aims to simplify cross-border payments and asset settlements through a distributed ledger.

In its main blogpost, Google Cloud’s blockchain is described as a “private and permissioned system” which leverages Google’s technology. These are principles that go against the decentralized and permissionless values the crypto community is built upon.

“GCUL offers significant benefits to both clients and financial institutions. Clients experience near-instant transactions, especially for cross-border payments, along with low fees, 24/7 availability, and payment automation,” wrote the company.

Even though the announcement claims it plans to make the blockchain more open overtime, traders on X criticized the company for launching a blockchain that seems to oppose the core principles of crypto.

“It’s a permissioned chain, ran by an American corporation with close ties to the government. I don’t think these people understand what “credibly neutral” means in the context of blockchains,” said one trader.

“Fully centralized? Then they shouldn’t even call it blockchain,” said another X user.

The polarizing project invited comments from the CEO of StarkWare Industries Eli Ben-Sasson as well as co-founder of crypto investment firm DBA, Jon Charbonneau who had first heard of the project.

“I think corporations doing L1s is ngmi [not gonna make it]. Including base. I know this is a contentious opinion. But reminding you I said the same about Diem,” said Ben-Sasson.

Details surrounding Google Cloud’s upcoming L1

In a recent LinkedIn post, Head of Web3 strategy at Cloud, Rich Widmann, dropped details about the project that is still in its private testing phase. According to Widmann, the Layer1 blockchain is designed to enable Python-based smart contracts.

“As a product leader in crypto, you know that if you’re building a Layer 1 it has to be differentiated,” said Widmann in his post, which compared the ledger to the likes of Stripe and Circle.

In addition, the platform claims to be “credibly neutral” as to enable any financial institution to make use of it to build on-chain infrastructure.

At the moment, the L1 blockchain is still in its testing phase. However, its announcement implies that it will be opened to the full Google user base and “100s of institutional partners.”

According to the blogpost, GCUL will be aimed at simplifying the management of commercial bank accounts and facilitating cross-border transactions through a distributed ledger. It plans to integrate multiple currencies and assets, eliminating the need to build additional infrastructure.

Another highlighted feature it claimed to have was transaction fees that remain stable and are invoiced to the user on a monthly basis. All the while, it criticized other crypto protocols for having “volatile upfront crypto gas fees.”

At the moment, the company has yet to reveal a set date for when the project goes public.

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August 27, 2025 0 comments