Tag:

Earn

Dfinity Chief Scientist Dominic Williams speaks at Consensus 2019.

XRP Holders Can Now Earn Up to 8% Through New Liquid Staking Token

by admin September 22, 2025

Real-world assets (RWA) focused project Midas and Interop Labs unveiled mXRP, an attempt to channel dormant XRP supply into yield-bearing structures the could deliver returns as high as 8%.

Announced at XRPL Seoul 2025 on Monday and pitched as the first liquid-staking product tied directly to the XRP ecosystem, the product is minted on XRPL’s EVM through audited contracts. XRP is bridged in and wrapped under Midas’ tokenized certificate framework.

MXRP can be used as a structured vehicle that users can slot into existing decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure, with early strategies including market-making and liquidity provisioning.

Targeted net returns are set in the 6%–8% range, with outcomes fluctuating depending on underlying strategy performance.

“Much of the XRP supply has been dormant for years; mXRP provides a transparent mechanism for users to access on-chain strategies,” said Dennis Dinkelmeyer, co-founder and CEO of Midas. “With strong community demand and DeFi integrations, we believe mXRP can play a key role in unlocking new use cases for XRP.”

The mXRP token is fully integrated within the XRPL EVM ecosystem at launch and can be deployed across DeFi protocols, such as lending markets and native integrations, to access additional opportunities.

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September 22, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Gemini, SEC reach tentative settlement in Earn program row

by admin September 16, 2025

Gemini has struck a tentative deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, potentially ending a high-profile lawsuit over its Earn lending program.

Summary

Gemini and SEC reach tentative settlement over Earn lending program.
Settlement follows Genesis’ bankruptcy, which froze $900M in customer assets.
Announcement comes days after Gemini’s $425M IPO and strong market debut.

According to a recent court filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for both the SEC and Gemini, now operating as Gemini Space Station, said they had reached a settlement “in principle” to resolve the lawsuit tied to Gemini Earn fully.

The filing asked U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos to pause deadlines until Dec. 15 while the parties finalize paperwork. Neither Gemini nor the SEC provided immediate comment. The development was disclosed in a Sept. 16 report by Reuters.

Gemini Earn dispute and fallout from Genesis

Gemini Earn allowed customers to lend Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies to Genesis Global Capital in exchange for interest, with Gemini collecting fees of up to 4.29%. At its peak, the program attracted hundreds of thousands of users.

Trouble began in Nov. 2022, when Genesis froze withdrawals after FTX’s collapse. By January 2023, Genesis filed for bankruptcy, leaving $900 million in customer assets stranded from roughly 340,000 Gemini Earn users.

The SEC sued Gemini and Genesis that same month, claiming they sidestepped disclosure rules designed to protect investors. While Genesis later paid a $21 million penalty to settle without admitting wrongdoing, Gemini continued to contest the allegations.

The tentative agreement now signals an end to that standoff, although final terms remain subject to SEC approval.

IPO timing and shifting regulatory climate

The news comes just days after Gemini completed its initial public offering, raising $425 million at a valuation of $3.3 billion. Shares have since climbed to $32.52, 16% above their $28 debut price. The timing underscores how

Gemini is attempting to turn the page on its Earn controversy while positioning itself as a publicly traded exchange in a climate of lighter regulatory touch.

Since Donald Trump took office in Jan. 2025, the SEC has eased its oversight of the crypto sector, reflecting a broader policy shift that has benefited firms like Gemini. For co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, each now worth an estimated $4.6 billion, the settlement could help clear a major overhang just as the exchange embarks on its next phase of growth.

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September 16, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Bitcoin, XRP holders earn massive returns using IOTA Miner

by admin September 14, 2025

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

IOTA Miner reports XRP and BTC users saw portfolio gains of up to 30%, boosting passive income appeal.

Summary

IOTA Miner users report up to 30% portfolio growth as XRP and BTC cloud mining delivers massive passive income.
UK-based IOTA Miner helps 9m+ users turn crypto into steady yields with secure, green-powered cloud mining.
With no hardware needed, IOTA Miner credits profits to accounts, making crypto income simple and accessible.

As the crypto market gains momentum, investors are increasingly looking for reliable ways to enhance the value of their digital assets.

Today, IOTA Miner, a leading UK-based cloud mining platform, announced that XRP and Bitcoin (BTC) holders using its services have seen their portfolio value rise by up to 30%.

This milestone highlights IOTA Miner’s growing role as a trusted partner for both newcomers and experienced investors seeking stable passive income in the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Cloud mining: Turning passive assets into active gains

Traditional trading requires constant monitoring and market timing, which can be overwhelming for everyday investors. By contrast, IOTA Miner’s cloud mining system allows users to put their crypto holdings to work automatically.

Without the need for expensive hardware or technical expertise, investors simply rent computing power through the platform. Mining profits are generated daily and credited directly to the user’s account, creating a steady stream of passive income.

Why investors choose IOTA Miner

Proven Growth: XRP and BTC users report up to 30% portfolio growth through cloud mining contracts.
Accessibility: Ideal for beginners with no mining experience, while offering advanced options for professionals.
Sustainability: Operations are powered by renewable energy sources, reducing environmental impact.
Global Trust: Founded in 2018, IOTA Miner has served over 9 million users in 100+ countries.
Security First: Backed by McAfee® and Cloudflare® protection, ensuring funds and data remain secure.

A platform for every investor

“IOTA Miner bridges the gap between traditional trading and modern crypto income opportunities,” said a company spokesperson.

“Whether you’re holding XRP, Bitcoin, or diversifying into ETH, DOGE, or SOL, our platform makes it easy to achieve consistent returns. It’s designed to empower both first-time investors and seasoned crypto enthusiasts.”

Getting started is simple

Choose a Mining Plan: Flexible contracts designed for all levels of investors.

Earn Daily Income: Passive profits credited automatically to a wallet.

About IOTA Miner

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, IOTA Miner is a global leader in cloud mining, committed to providing secure, transparent, and profitable crypto solutions.

With a 100% renewable energy model, a strong compliance framework, and a portfolio of 8,000+ BTC in strategic reserves, IOTA Miner sets the standard for sustainable and scalable mining operations worldwide.

For more information, visit the official website or download the app.

Email: [email protected]

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

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September 14, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Web3 White Hats Earn Millions, Dwarfing $300K Cybersecurity Salaries

by admin September 13, 2025

Top white hats hunting vulnerabilities across decentralized protocols in Web3 are earning millions, dwarfing the $300,000 salary ceiling in traditional cybersecurity roles.

“Our leaderboard shows researchers earning millions per year, compared to typical cybersecurity salaries of $150-300k,” Mitchell Amador, co-founder and CEO of bug bounty platform Immunefi, told Cointelegraph.

In crypto, “white hats” refers to ethical hackers paid to disclose vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Unlike salaried corporate roles, these researchers choose their targets, set their own hours and earn based on the impact of what they find.

So far, Immunefi has facilitated more than $120 million in payouts across thousands of reports. Thirty researchers have already become millionaires.

“We’re protecting over $180 billion in total value locked across our programs,” Amador said, adding that the platform offers bounties of up to 10% for critical bugs. “These million-dollar payouts reflect the reality that many protocols have tens or hundreds of millions at stake from single vulnerabilities,” he said.

Immunifi has made 30 millionaires. Source: Immunifi

Related: New ModStealer malware targets crypto wallets across operating systems

$10 million bug bounty saved billions

The largest single payout to a Web3 white hat was $10 million, awarded to a hacker who found a fatal flaw in Wormhole’s crosschain bridge. Amador said that vulnerability could have vaporized billions.

Despite that vulnerability being uncovered, Wormhole suffered a $321 million exploit on its Solana bridge in 2022, the largest crypto hack of the year. In Feb. 2023, Web3 infrastructure firm Jump Crypto and Oasis.app conducted a “counter exploit” on the Wormhole protocol hacker, clawing back a total of $225 million.

Amador revealed that critical vulnerabilities account for the biggest rewards. Top researchers have pulled in between $1 million and $14 million, depending on the severity and scope of their findings. “These are the 100x hackers who can find vulnerabilities others miss,” he said.

While the early years of DeFi were plagued by smart contract bugs, 2025 has seen a rise in “no-code” exploits like social engineering, compromised keys, and lapses in operational security. Despite that shift, bridges remain the most lucrative targets due to their crosschain complexity and the vast sums they secure.

Patterns have emerged in the types of projects that get breached most often. “DeFi protocols handling significant TVL and lacking strong bounty programs are the most exposed,” Amador said. He warned that early-stage teams rushing to market without security measures, as well as complacent established players, carry elevated risks.

Related: DeFi whale loses $40M as Kinto winds down and SwissBorg suffers hack: Finance Redefined

Crypto hackers stole $163 million in August

As Cointelegraph reported, crypto-related hacks and scams hit $163 million in losses in August, a 15% rise from July’s $142 million. Despite the spike, overall incidents trended downward, with only 16 attacks recorded compared to 20 in June.

The majority of losses came from two major incidents. These include a $91 million social engineering scam targeting a Bitcoiner and a $50 million breach of Turkish exchange Btcturk.

Magazine: Meet the Ethereum and Polkadot co-founder who wasn’t in Time Magazine

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.6 brings new forms for Dan Heng and March 7th, and you can earn one of them for free

by admin September 12, 2025

The Honkai: Star Rail livestream just ended, and it brought us a first look at Version 3.6, and confirmed a few of the fan theories that have been going around. To begin with, 3.6 is titled Back to Earth in Evernight, and it’s going to arrive September 24.

If that title wasn’t enough of a hint, 3.6 will indeed deliver for fans of March 7th, and Dan Heng, and there’s even more great news for longtime players.

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Honaki: Star Rail Version 3.6 marks the start of a new storyline that will unfold over several chapters in the future. Miss Evernight’s Era Nova project is at the centre, and there’s a lot at stake for the world of Amphoreus.

The new story sees the return of Dan Heng, who’s going back to Amphoreus to reunite with the Express Crew. Which leads us nicely into the two new characters joining the roster. Evernight is a 5-Star Ice character who follows the Path of Remembrance. Evernight, of course, is a new form of March 7th’s, one of Star Rail’s starting characters.

Evernight is designed to fight with Memosprites summons. She increases the crit damage of all Memosprites on any team she’s on. This bonus grows the more characters on the team follow the Path of Remembrance. Evernight has her own summon, Evey, which grants her Memoria when summoned. The more of that she gathers, the higher Evey’s damage output.

Her Ultimate deals damage to all enemies, and places herself and Evey in a state called Darkest Riddle, which increases both of their damage outputs for as long as it lasts.

Watch on YouTube

Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae is the second playable character in 3.6. Like Evernight, this is also a new form of one of the game’s earliest characters, that being Dan Heng, of course. This evolved version (also 5-Star) of Dan Heng is post-Imbibitor Lunae, taking him further down the Path of Permanence.

Permansor Terrae is the name of his newly-unlocked power, which allows him to be a better defensive character. The way this takes form in combat is that he can pick one teammate and designate them as Bondmate, which summons a Souldragon for them.This form also grants all allies an additional Shield. Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae’s Ultimate deals damage to all enemies, and grants more Shields to the team, while enhancing the Souldragon.

Permansor Terrae may be the easier of the two new characters to get, because anyone (at Trailblaze Level 3 or above) who logs in can claim him for free. This offer is available until the end of Version 4.0.

Image credit: MiHoYo.

There’s more new content worth mentioning in Version 3.6, too. Anomaly Arbitration, the high-difficulty trial, arrives alongside the update. Anomaly Arbitration is made up of three trial stages, with one final stage.

You’ll need to form a separate team for each trial stage. Clearing all stages earns you an Interference Key, a new item, alongside other rewards. MiHoYo said you can also expect more events to roll out gradually, including the seasonal Colorful Mayhem.

The other major feature in 3.6 is Main Story Replay, which does exactly what you think. You can replay any Trailblaze Mission, Trailblaze Continuance, and Companion Mission, so long as you’ve previously completed them. The feature even lets you pick the specific segments/cutscenes you want to reexperience.

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September 12, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

SwissBorg’s SOL Earn Wallet Exploited for $41.5M

by admin September 10, 2025

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.

In this issue:

SwissBorg’s SOL Earn Wallet Exploited for $41.5M After Partner’s API Is Compromised
Ledger CTO Warns of NPM Supply-Chain Attack Hitting 1B+ Downloads
Backpack Opens Regulated Perpetuals Exchange in Europe After FTX EU Acquisition
Polygon PoS Sees Transaction Finality Lag, Patch in Progress

Network News

SWISSBORG’S SOL EARN WALLET EXPLOITED: Crypto exchange SwissBorg said about 192,600 SOL ($41.5 million) was stolen from an external wallet used exclusively for its SOL Earn strategy. The exploit stemmed from a partner’s compromised application programming interface (API), a mechanism that allows software systems to communicate with one another, affecting a single counterparty, the exchange said in a post on X. It was not a hack of the SwissBorg platform. The loss affected fewer than 1% of users and represented about 2% of SwissBorg’s total assets, the firm said. All other funds and strategies remain secure, and user balances within the SwissBorg app are unaffected. SOL Earn redemptions are paused while recovery efforts proceed. SwissBorg says it will cover any shortfall, ensuring no user losses. The company is working with white-hat hackers, security firms and law enforcement to recover the funds. A full incident report will follow once investigations conclude. This exploit arrives amid a sharp rise in crypto thefts, with over $2.17 billion already stolen in 2025. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

LEDGER CTO WARNS OF PNM ATTACK: Charles Guillemet, the chief technology officer at hardware wallet maker Ledger, warned on X that a large-scale supply chain attack was underway after a reputable developer’s Node Package Manager (NPM) account was compromised. According to Guillemet, the malicious code — already pushed into packages with over 1 billion downloads — is designed to silently swap crypto wallet addresses in transactions. That means unsuspecting users could send funds directly to the attacker without realizing it. Guillemet did not name the developer whose account he said was compromised. The incident underscores how deeply interconnected open-source software is and why security lapses in developer tools can ripple into the crypto economy almost instantly. A day later, Guillemet shared that almost zero crypto users had been affected by the hack. “NPM is a tool commonly used in software development using JavaScript, which makes integrating packages easy for developers,” said Guillemet in a message to CoinDesk. When an attacker compromises a developer’s account, they can slip malicious code into widely used packages. “The malicious code attempts to drain users by swapping addresses used in transaction or general on-chain activity and replacing them with the hacker’s address,” Guillemet added. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

BACKPACK EU GOES LIVE FOLLOWING FTX EU ACQUISITION: Backpack Exchange, a global cryptocurrency trading platform, said its European division, Backpack EU, is officially live. Operating out of Cyprus and licensed under the European Union’s MiFID II framework, the exchange is positioning itself as one of the first fully regulated venues in Europe to offer crypto derivatives, starting with perpetual futures. “As far as I’m aware, it’s just going to be us and Kraken” in Europe offering perpetual futures, Armani Ferrante, the CEO of Backpack, said in an interview with CoinDesk. The debut follows Backpack’s acquisition of FTX EU earlier this year. In January, the FTX bankruptcy estate said the sale of FTX EU to Backpack was not authorized. Since then, the issue has been resolved and in April the exchange began distributing funds to former FTX EU customers, fulfilling their pledge to compensate users affected by the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. Backpack EU will provide users access to over 40 trading pairs with up to 10x leverage, the team said in a statement. The platform says it aims to give both retail and institutional traders a compliant gateway to advanced crypto trading products. The rollout also highlights Backpack’s broader strategy of rebuilding trust in digital assets following a string of exchange failures. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

POLYGON POS CHAIN EXPERIENCES FINALITY LAG: Polygon’s proof-of-stake chain is live, but transactions are taking longer than usual to lock in, with finality running 10–15 minutes behind schedule. Finality is the assurance that a transaction or piece of data is irreversible once confirmed and added to a block in the blockchain. The foundation said in an X post that a fix has been identified and is being rolled out to validators and service providers. The slowdown was tied to issues on some Bor/Erigon nodes and RPC providers, according to Polygon’s status page. Node restarts resolved the problem for many validators, while others had to rewind to the last finalized block before resyncing, a status page shared. The disruption comes weeks after Polygon’s Heimdall v2 upgrade promised 5-second finality through a modernized consensus stack. – Shaurya Malwa Read more.

In Other News

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto protocol linked to Donald Trump and his family, blacklisted Tron founder and key investor Justin Sun’s blockchain address, preventing him transferring WLFI tokens. The move affects 595 million unlocked WLFI tokens held on the address, worth roughly $107 million at current prices, according to Arkham data. The action followed the Sun-linked address making several outbound transactions of WLFI tokens on the Ethereum blockchain — including one for $9 million worth of the tokens — blockchain data shows. Sun, in a translated post on X, said that the “address only conducted a few generic exchange deposit tests, with very low amounts, and then created address dispersion, without involving any buying or selling, which could not possibly have any impact on the market.” In a later statement Sun urged the WLFI team to unblock his tokens. — Sam Reynolds Read more.
Decentralized finance protocol Ethena submitted a proposal to issue Hyperliquid’s forthcoming stablecoin, joining a bidding competition that has already attracted companies including Paxos, Sky, Frax and Agora. The token would be fully backed by Ethena’s USDtb, a stablecoin issued with federally chartered bank Anchorage Digital and fully backed by BUIDL, the tokenized money market fund by asset management giant BlackRock and Securitize. If adopted, Ethena pledged that 95% of net revenue from USDH reserves would flow back to the Hyperliquid ecosystem, the proposal said. Ethena also said it would cover the costs of migrating existing USDC trading pairs on Hyperliquid to USDH to ease adoption. — Kristzian Sandor Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

Nasdaq, the U.S. exchange where the tech sector’s biggest names list their stocks, is seeking to put equities on the blockchain, asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to bless its effort even as others in the securities world are sprinting toward the same tokenization goal.If the SEC filing is approved, the exchange will let customers choose either the traditional route for trading equities or do so on-chain with tokenized stocks — an option that would be treated with the same priority as the legacy method. The move by Nasdaq follows an effort by digital brokerage Robinhood to issue stock tokens for European customers in July, giving access to some 200 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Bringing equities and other real-world assets onto blockchain rails has been among the most sizzling of the digital-asset world’s innovations, and the competition has been growing fierce for both traditional finance names and crypto natives to make moves. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
President Donald Trump’s new crypto guy, Patrick Witt, is picking up the baton from his predecessor, Bo Hines, in goading lawmakers to finish sweeping U.S. crypto policies and pushing regulators to put the new stablecoin law into practice, he said in an interview with CoinDesk. Working under the administration’s crypto czar, David Sacks, Witt is the new point of contact for crypto matters in the White House after the brief tenure of his predecessor, who went on to work for stablecoin giant Tether. While Hines saw the conversion of Congress’ stablecoin effort into law and was able to attend the White House ceremony to cement it, he left shortly after, leaving a lengthy crypto to-do list for Witt.”There’s no drop off here,” said Witt, who was elevated to the job last month, just two weeks after the administration issued its wide-reaching strategy report for tackling U.S. crypto policy. “We’re keeping the pedal to the metal with all of the different initiatives on the legislative front and the interagency actions recommended in the report.” — Jesse Hamilton Read more.

Calendar

Sept. 22-28: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
Oct. 1-2: Token2049, Singapore
Oct. 13-15: Digital Asset Summit, London
Oct. 16-17: European Blockchain Convention, Barcelona
Nov. 17-22: Devconnect, Buenos Aires
Dec. 11-13: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi
Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
Mar. 30-Apr. 2: EthCC, Cannes
May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami

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September 10, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Developer IO Interactive on why Bond needs to “earn” his iconic theme music in 007: First Light

by admin September 8, 2025

Getting your hands on an iconic and beloved entertainment property is surely a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you get the opportunity to mine the history of the franchise and its stories for your own gain, and get to leverage the interest of a dedicated congregation of existing fans. On the other hand… there’s a lot of expectation. People know this franchise. They know this character like a friend. They know how they want it.

This challenge isn’t just present in gameplay and the casting of Bond, but everywhere around the edges. There’s a ‘Bondian’ energy that absolutely must run through this game like lettering through a stick of seaside rock – and one of the departments most under the gun is surely IO Interactive’s audio department, who have to make sure gadgets and guns sound right but also manage one of the most iconic aspects of a 007 adventure: the soundtrack.

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“60 years of Bond, there’s a lot of sonic iconography,” admits Dominic Vega, the audio and missions director on 007: First Light. We’re chatting briefly as part of an overarching tour of IO Interactive’s Copenhagen headquarters where I got to see a chunk of Bond’s latest adventure and chat to some of the developers bringing it to life. Much as with the rest of the game, the musical challenge is summarized in its fresh-faced, young version of MI6’s most famous agent. This is a young Bond, and he isn’t yet fully-formed as the super-spy we know. At the same time, an expectation is there: fans want to hear certain sounds and themes.

Or, to put it another way, this Bond has to “earn his themes,” Vega says. “Throughout the campaign he grows, and he’s earning his number – and he’s earning his themes.”

The result is a soundtrack and audio landscape with ambition, and in turn quite unlike anything that IO Interactive has produced before. The moody rumble of Hitman wouldn’t be appropriate here, and nor would the atmospheric face-slap of Kane & Lynch 2’s score. Something different is required – and on top of all that, the studio wants to create a soundtrack that is distinctly Bond but also differentiated from the audio signature of the cinematic Bonds.

For that task Vega’s team has turned to the British composer duo of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith – aka The Flight. This duo has quite a list of credits to their name, including a range of big-name game soundtracks. Specifically, you’ve probably heard their work in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, Alien Isolation, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Odyssey.

“They’re a really great composer duo with some amazing credits and some amazing music,” says Vega. “They’re a perfect blend of the sort of orchestral mastery that is required for Bond while contributing something modern, something that players I think will attach on to as a fantastic foot forward for the 007 franchise.

“Their sound is somewhere between the orchestra and the synthetics, and so I think they signify as a group and a duo what we’re looking for in bringing a younger Bond who is discovering this world of MI6, this world of spycraft, espionage, and intrigue – and bringing all that to life.”

Audio is as important to Bond as visual. | Image credit: IO Interactive / MGM

Across a few demos, one certainly gets the idea of the gamut of potential soundtrack options. Car chases and gun fights are an example of when First Light takes on a more linear nature, bringing with it a score that is more cinematic by design. In open-ended areas, however, the game needs to be ready to react; its score needs to morph and shape itself to game design that is open-ended enough that you might transition from schmoozing at a party to a brutal hand-to-hand combat scenario in seconds.

That’s a challenge not just for The Flight as composers, but also for the technical team at IO Interactive building the game. Dynamic music is now the norm in games, but the nature of the Bond franchise and its strong melodic identity means its dynamic music arguably needs to be more carefully stitched together, as Vega explains.

“The game is a lot about creative choice, and taking on opportunities in whatever way the player sees fit – and the music should cater to that perfectly, the audio director notes.

“Melody is incredibly hard to get right inside of games because of the interactivity of games, and in First Light we’ve insisted on completing our musical ideas. No matter if the player goes from combat to still really quickly, we need to get that musical motif to close. It’s really hard. And on a spreadsheet it doesn’t look great,” he adds, laughing. “But we find it’s really important.”

This ties into a lot of work done elsewhere to take IO’s technology as part of its Glacier engine and make it conform to the shape required for a Bond game.

“Typical combat music and design wasn’t going to cut it for us,” Vega says. “Music in the Bond universe is angular. It’s mixed meter. It’s off-time. It has space, it has oxygen. It has room for dialogue, and room for impact. We want to embrace that. We’ve refactored a lot of our technology to make sure that not only is it about the melodies, the motifs, and the feeling of being Bond – it’s also about how we assemble that for the player.”

You can expect as much nuance in the music as you’d get in a cinematic Bond effort. | Image credit: IO Interactive / MGM

Fans can expect plenty of classic Bond theme moments reflected in what Vega gleefully calls ‘needle drop’ moments – but the team has also been careful not to overdo it. There’s plenty of original themes, and within that philosophy of Bond ‘earning’ his iconic themes, it’ll only be when he really deserves it that one of John Barry’s most beloved melodies will cut through. The soundscape will also reflect Bond’s globetrotting – you’ll hear in-universe music appropriate to wherever he finds himself, including licensed tracks. Dialogue will also reflect where you are in terms of the use of language and the accents you’ll hear.

There are elements of the Bond sound that are indelible, however. The franchise has its roots in 1963’s film scoring, and in the big band swing vibes of Monty Norman’s seminal ‘James Bond Theme’, which in turn gave the legendary John Barry the template from which he created a truly unforgettable sound. That sound has to be present, Vega says, for both old fans and newcomers alike.

“We’re really proud of where we’ve taken it, but it’s something that… all roads point to Bond, to that iconic sound.

“We have an orchestral sound to our game, but this is a young Bond. This is a Bond that we’re trying to find the orchestra through the soundtrack. We want to be a Bond for a new gaming generation, and we want to present a fresh sound while never forgetting that this is a classic IP that the fans of Bond should feel really satisfied and welcomed in, but also that the new players can be introduced to this sonic iconography that kind of coincides with the the character’s experience.”

There’s an electronic element to the soundtrack that reflects the present day, but there’s a strong belief from Vega that the Bond experience isn’t one that’s synthesized – and the soundtrack needs to represent that.

Music affects the overall mood. | Image credit: IO Interactive / MGM

“We’re proud to present a musical genre that is increasingly disappearing from media,” he asserts. “I think that’s something that we take really seriously. I think six French Horns in a hall sounds amazing, and I want to make sure that players have that.

“Some of the best soundtracks I can think of, and if I was to ask a room of hardcore gamers what is your best soundtrack… almost all of them were from composers and people who wanted to show the audience music that is music, right?”

“But then lastly – gamers deserve to hear a swing band. I think a big brass group is awesome, it’s not something you hear every day, and I think when you’re playing Bond, you want it.”

It’s an ambitious musical project – which only makes sense for any composer following in the footsteps of the likes of John Barry and David Arnold, among others. But in all this music talk, there is one other Bond staple missing: what about a theme song? That question provokes the classic ‘not yet’ reaction. You can imagine it, I’m sure. PRs stiffen, and a bit of an awkward shuffle ripples through the room.

“We have some great music announcements to make along the road,” Vega tactfully offers. “We are obviously going for the complete Bond experience.”

This preview is based on a visit to IO Interactive’s HQ in Copenhagen. IOI provided travel and accommodation. I wrote this while listening to this excellent mixtape, for what it’s worth.

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September 8, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

You Can Earn Ethereum by Playing These Free Mobile Games

by admin September 7, 2025

Ethereum recently surged to an all-time high price just shy of $5,000, finally breaking its long-standing record from 2021. And if you’re keen on racking up as much ETH as you can while it’s hot, then here’s another method you might not have considered: playing games.

Much like with Bitcoin, a number of free mobile games pay out real ETH rewards. Games like Ethereum Blast, Word Breeze, and even Bitcoin Solitaire are built on the Bling Financial platform, letting players earn points that can be converted to Ethereum or Bitcoin, with ETH available to withdraw to a Coinbase account.

Keep your expectations in check: The amount of ETH you’ll earn typically averages out to pennies’ worth per hour, and you’ll watch a lot of ads between levels. But you’ll also earn real ETH, and most of these iOS and Android games are solidly fun aside from the interruptions.

Ethereum Blast

Download: iOS or Android

The one Ethereum-named game on this list is a space-themed puzzler, and it’s a simple one: When two or more like-colored blocks connect, you can tap to clear them from the board. You’ll do so to either axe a certain number of blocks or complete some kind of mission, like clearing a path for gems to fall to the bottom. It’s relatively mindless, but a decent diversion.

Sweet Bitcoin

Download: iOS or Android

Sweet Bitcoin is an unabashed Candy Crush Saga clone, and there’s truly no shortage of those on the App Store or Play Store. But this one’s a decent enough copycat, tasking you with swiping to match like-colored fruits and clear them from the screen—and like the other Bling games on this list, it’ll net you ETH or BTC rewards along the way.

Word Breeze

Download: iOS or Android

One of the more entertaining games on this list is Word Breeze—a simple game that tasks you with completinga crossword-style grid with words via a jumble of letters. You can play a few levels between the ad breaks, and while not especially difficult, it uses your brain more than some other games on this list… and might teach you a few terms in the process.

Bitcoin Solitaire

Download: iOS or Android

It’s solitaire, but with Bitcoin (and Ethereum). Yep, Bitcoin Solitaire is exactly what it says in the title: It’s a simple, straightforward rendition of the single-player card game, but with the ability to earn cryptocurrency along the way. We’ve enjoyed this one, and since solitaire games last longer than most of the titles on this list, you’ll encounter fewer ads.

Bitcoin Sudoku

Download: iOS or Android

Much like the above, Bitcoin Sudoku is simply sudoku with an added dollop of crypto rewards. And just like with Bitcoin Solitaire, the longer games work to your advantage if you loathe video ads, though you still get to withdraw Bitcoin or Ethereum rewards. It’s a solid rendition of the beloved number grid game with no frills, but that works just fine.

And more

There are a few other Bling Financial games that offer rewards in both Ethereum and Bitcoin—regardless of what the title says—such as Bitcoin Blocks, Bitcoin Food Fight, Bitcoin Blast, and Bitcoin Pop.

You can also find several other mobile games that only pay out Bitcoin rewards, but of course, you’re welcome to take those BTC winnings and swap them for ETH or other coins. We’ve covered many of them, including Bitcoin Miner and Idle Mine.

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September 7, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

XRP enthusiasts choose Rich Miner cloud mining to earn passive income

by admin September 7, 2025

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

RICH Miner lets XRP holders turn idle assets into income through automated cloud mining contracts.

Summary

RICH Miner lets XRP holders earn passive income through secure hash rate contracts.
New users enjoy instant bonuses and daily earnings, plus flexible crypto deposits including XRP and ETH.
Combining hodling and mining, RICH Miner helps XRP investors grow wealth with stability.

Ripple investors are once again seizing the opportunity to choose the Rich Miner cloud mining plan. This model provides XRP holders with a new passive income channel: simply deposit XRP into the platform, and the purchase contract system automatically participates in the hash rate contract, achieving steady growth in assets.

RICH Miner cloud mining allows users to use their XRP to start the dual experience of mining and income, injecting continuous vitality into idle assets.

Is simply holding XRP unable to maximize assets?

XRP prices are affected by market fluctuations, policy trends, and the development of Ripple, and are subject to significant short-term fluctuations. For many investors, simply buying and waiting for an increase often means:

Long-term capital accumulation and a lack of cash flow
Inability to withstand short-term market fluctuations
Missing out on opportunities to convert digital assets into passive income

For this reason, more and more XRP holders are looking for ways to hold XRP assets while generating a stable cash flow.

Cash flow steps for XRP investors:

1. Register an account:

Visit the official website to create an account. New users receive a $15 signup bonus and earn $0.60 daily without a deposit.

2. Deposit XRP:

Supports a variety of major cryptocurrencies, including XRP, ETH, BTC, and USDT.

3. Choose a mining plan:

Choose a cloud mining plan according to investment budget and return goals.

View full contracts on the website.

4. Daily earnings:

Earnings are automatically settled and distributed to an account daily. Once the minimum withdrawal limit is reached, users can withdraw to their personal wallet or continue purchasing contracts to earn more.

Rich Miner’s core advantages

Industrial-Grade Data Centers: High-performance mining farms are deployed globally, operating 24/7
Green Energy Driven: Utilizing 100% clean energy, we reduce costs while promoting sustainable development
Low Barrier to Participation: Cloud computing power is available for just $100, making it suitable for investors of all levels
Mobile Management: View earnings in real time via the app and website, with one-click operation for simple and efficient operation

Real Earnings Examples:

For example, using the platform’s current hashrate contracts, users can easily generate up to $8,535 in passive income per day after activation. This allows XRP investors to enjoy substantial cash flow while holding onto their holdings and anticipating price increases.

For example, an XRP investor who invests $50,000 in cloud mining will not only receive a weekend bonus of up to 10% deposit rebate, but also receive a steady stream of mining income, exponentially increasing their capital utilization.

Future trend: Steady wealth growth

Investment models that rely solely on price increases are gradually becoming obsolete. Savvy investors choose a dual-track approach: hodling and mining XRP allows them to enjoy the long-term appreciation potential of XRP while generating a stable cash flow through Rich Miner, achieving steady asset growth.

Conclusion

For XRP investors seeking stable returns, Rich Miner cloud mining is undoubtedly the best option. Not only does it put XRP assets to work for you every day, but it also helps investors stay competitive in the future market and achieve long-term wealth growth.

For more information, visit the official website.

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September 7, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Justin Herbert shines as Chargers earn AFC West win in Sao Paulo

by admin September 6, 2025

Kris Rhim
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Kris Rhim
ESPN
Nate Taylor

Sep 5, 2025, 11:24 PM ET

SÃO PAULO — Since Patrick Mahomes became a starter in 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs have beaten up on much of the NFL, and perhaps no team understands what that dominance has felt like more than the Chargers. The Chargers went into Friday night’s game at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo on a seven-game losing streak to Kansas City and are 3-19 in their past 22 games against the Chiefs.

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It wasn’t always a beatdown for the Chargers, and the games were often decided in the final minutes — or seconds — but in the end, the Chiefs were on top more often than not.

The paradigm shifted Friday night.

Quarterback Justin Herbert scrambled for 19 yards on 3rd-and-14 in the fourth quarter to effectively end the football game and send his teammates into a celebrating frenzy. Herbert and the Chargers offense picked apart the Chiefs’ defense all night with ease, and the Chargers defense slowed Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense just enough to edge out a 27-21 victory.

Here are the most important things to know from Friday night for both teams:

Los Angeles Chargers (1-0)

What to make of the QB performance: This is a much different Herbert than we saw early last season. It wasn’t until Week 6 last season that Herbert had a game for over 200 yards, and he didn’t hit 300 until Week 7. Herbert hit the latter total Friday night, finishing with 318 yards and three touchdowns. It was Herbert’s first 300-yard passing, three-touchdown game since Week 10 against the Detroit Lions in 2023. Friday night’s performance reflected an improved wide receiving core and a vote of confidence for offensive coordinator Greg Roman, playing to Herbert’s strengths.

AP Photo/Doug Benc

Trend to watch: Mekhi Becton’s health: The Chargers right guard, L.A.’s top free agent signing, appeared to be exhausted throughout Friday’s game. Becton missed snaps throughout the contest while getting oxygen on the sideline. Becton missed three weeks of training camp practice with an undisclosed injury and came into Friday’s game questionable with an illness.

Stat to know: Keenan Allen became the third Charger with 60 touchdowns in franchise history. This is a milestone that just a year ago seemed like it would never happen, as the Chargers traded Allen to the Chicago Bears following a contract dispute. Allen ran an out route Friday night that left him wide open in the end zone late in the third quarter for an 11-yard touchdown catch. — Kris Rhim

Next game: at Las Vegas Raiders (10 p.m. ET, Sept. 15)

Kansas City Chiefs (0-1)

Even when the circumstances were dire, Mahomes still created magic, finding receiver Hollywood Brown for a 49-yard completion on fourth-and-7 with less than four minutes remaining. Kansas City stayed alive with a field goal to cut the deficit to 27-21 but could not get a stop when it mattered on the subsequent possession.

The loss was the Chiefs’ first regular-season defeat abroad. Prior to Friday, the Chiefs were undefeated in international games under coach Andy Reid, winning contests in London, Mexico City and Frankfurt, Germany.

What to make of the QB performance: In the second half, Mahomes was once again asked to put on a superhero performance. Without Xavier Worthy, who left early with an injury, Mahomes used every bit of moxie and determination to give the Chiefs an opportunity in the fourth quarter. Mahomes’ second-half performance — finishing with 160 passing yards and another 42 yards on the ground — ignited the Chiefs’ offense after a lackluster start.

In the third quarter, safety Derwin James Jr. was an unblocked blitzer and applied immediate pressure on Mahomes, who was forced to scramble up into the pocket. After James attempted to make a shoestring tackle in the middle of the pocket, Mahomes had the presence of mind — while his body was parallel to the turf — to flip the ball forward to receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster for a critical conversion on third-and-5 near midfield. Mahomes finished the drive with a perfect intermediate pass to right end Travis Kelce, who scored on an easy 37-yard touchdown reception.

Jean Carniel/Reuters via Imagn Images

Turning point: With 12 minutes left, the Chiefs appeared to have momentum following the second consecutive touchdown drive. All the Chiefs defense needed to do was get one stop to give Mahomes a chance to lead his team to a game-winning drive. Instead, the Chargers took seven minutes off the clock with a methodical, 11-play drive where Herbert completed all eight of his passes, many of them in the middle of the field. The reason was simple: Herbert and his two best receivers, Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen, exploited the Chiefs’ poor play from safeties Chamarri Conner and Jaden Hicks. Herbert finished the Chargers’ possession with a 23-yard touchdown strike to receiver Quentin Johnston, who beat Hicks on a one-on-one matchup. The score gave the Chargers a 27-18 lead from which Kansas City could not recover.

Stat to know: Entering Friday’s game, the Chiefs had won 17 consecutive one-score games, a league record. Herbert was excellent in the second half, allowing the Chargers to keep their lead despite Mahomes’ rallying efforts. In the second half, Herbert completed 13 of his 16 pass attempts for 147 yards and two touchdowns. The Chiefs blitzed Herbert often, sacking him twice, but the quarterback sealed the victory for the Chargers when he scrambled to his right for a 19-yard gain on a third-and-14 snap just before the two-minute warning. — Nate Taylor

Next game: vs. Philadelphia Eagles (4:25 p.m. ET, Sept. 14)

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September 6, 2025 0 comments