Tag:

Kevin

Kevin McCoy and Simon Sparks to host roundtable at GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit 2025
Esports

Kevin McCoy and Simon Sparks to host roundtable at GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit 2025

by admin


Next Jump’s Kevin McCoy and GameDataCore’s Simon Sparks will be hosting a roundtable at this week’s GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit.

Titled ‘Level Up or Get Left Behind: How to Win When You’re Short on People, Resources, Time, and Money,’ McCoy and Sparks will discuss the practical tools such as resetting your feedback environment and creating a coaching culture.

McCoy co-founded e-commerce and employee benefits technology company Next Jump in 1997. He founded the firm’s Cambridge, Massachusetts office before joining its UK operation in 2010 as managing director.

He recently led the implementation of Next Jump’s coaching programs with the UK Royal Navy – which is being used as a case study during the roundtable – and is head of the firm’s global finance and operations team.

Sparks is co-founder and COO of GameDataCore, which provides games industry intelligence. He is also a culture consultant, partnering with Next Jump coaches and has coached with the UK Navy.

“I am excited to share this case study and how I am implementing the same principles inside a new startup right now, feedback as creative infrastructure, individual ego work first, then team cadence and metrics,” said Sparks.

“When you get those pieces aligned, momentum stops being luck.”

McCoy and Sparks join the lineup of speakers attending the GamesIndustry.biz HR summit this Thursday (October 2), including Fresh Seed’s Sarah Brewster, Skillfull’s Gina Jackson and Amiqus’ Liz Prince, as well as Sega Europe’s chief people officer Nicky Ormrod alongside Simon Court and Dan Bobby of Value Partnership.

The event will take place at The Royal Institution in London, and tickets for the event (which includes entry to the Best Places to Work Awards) can be found here.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
CEO of BitGo Mike Belshe in a chair on-stage at Consensus 2023 (Shutterstock/CoinDesk)
Crypto Trends

Kevin Durant Recovers Bitcoin Bought at $650, Now Up Over 17,700%, After Nearly a Decade

by admin



NBA forward Kevin Durant has access to his bitcoin again, after being locked out of his Coinbase account for nearly a decade. In that time, the price of BTC rose by more than 17,700%.

“We got this fixed. Account recovery complete,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on X, responding to a viral tweet about Durant’s access issues.

The recovery comes days after Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, discussed the lockout at CNBC’s Game Plan conference. “It’s just a process we haven’t been able to figure out,” Kleiman said. Still, he noted, “bitcoin keeps going up… so, I mean, it’s only benefited us.”

Durant bought bitcoin in 2016 after hearing about it from then-teammates on the Golden State Warriors. At the time, bitcoin traded between $360 and $1,000 and Durant is estimated to have bought at around $650 per coin.

It’s now hovering near $116,000, according to CoinMarketCap data. Neither Durant nor Kleiman disclosed the size of his holdings.

Durant and Kleiman are investors in Coinbase and have promoted the company through their media outlet, Boardroom.

The episode comes amid growing frustration among some Coinbase users, who alleged they’ve faced similar issues retrieving account access or getting help from customer support. Armstrong acknowledged the criticism on social media, saying the company is “putting a big focus” on improving customer support.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Wall Street sign (Shutterstock)
GameFi Guides

Kevin O’Leary’s $13M Bet on Rare Sports Card

by admin



Kevin O’Leary is turning away from NFTs and putting millions into rare, physical collectibles, specifically high-end sports cards.

The “Shark Tank” star and O’Leary Ventures chairman recently co-purchased a $13 million dual Logoman card featuring Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, he said during an interview with CoinDesk TV’s Jennifer Sanasie. The card is one-of-a-kind, and O’Leary—often called “Mr. Wonderful”—sees it as a cornerstone of his growing “index” of unique collectibles.

“The majority of the returns over 20 years have accrued to the collectors who bought the piece uniques,” O’Leary said, comparing the strategy to his long-standing investments in Andy Warhol art and luxury watches. Rather than outbidding others, O’Leary partnered with two investors to acquire the card. “I’d rather own 33 and a third of it than zero,” he said.

Pouring millions into rare sports cards isn’t a passion project—it’s a calculated bet. “It once traded for $75,000 years and years ago, but it shows you the price appreciation,” O’Leary said.

“Grown men are going to weep when they see this,” he added.

Tokenization over NFTs

Despite the overlap with tokenization, O’Leary made it clear that he has no interest in NFTs.

“NFTs turned out to be a fad,” he said. “I’m only buying assets that are physical assets… That [NFT] fad came and went. I’m very fortunate I didn’t get involved in that because I never understood it.”

O’Leary’s sharp dismissal of NFTs comes just a few years after the market exploded in popularity. In 2021, trading volume on NFT marketplaces surged to $25 billion, up from just $95 million the year before, according to data from DappRadar and Chainalysis. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and Steph Curry rushed to launch collections, while major brands including Nike, Adidas and Coca-Cola entered the space.

But the hype was short-lived. NFT sales volumes fell more than 80% by mid-2022 amid the broader crypto downturn, and prices for high-profile collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks plunged from their peaks, according to the data.

O’Leary’s issue with NFTS is the lack of physical existence of the assets. “Where is the asset? Where can I put my white glove on and go touch it? That’s what you can’t do with an NFT.”

However, he said his collectibles “will one day be tokenized,” because “it would be much easier to deal with and manage them in an index that way.”

Wall Street on chain

O’Leary frames this shift as part of a larger mission: “Wall Street on chain.”

He believes blockchain infrastructure can modernize how assets are managed—improving transparency, liquidity and trust in markets that still rely heavily on intermediaries.

He remains bullish on foundational cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum, and infrastructure plays like mining operators and exchanges.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Decrypt logo
GameFi Guides

Kevin Spacey Reveals Film Created With Alleged Crypto Ponzi Schemer

by admin



In brief

  • Kevin Spacey has returned to directing with “Holiguards Saga—The Portal of Force,” a sci-fi film written by Russian entrepreneur Vladimir “Lado” Okhotnikov.
  • Okhotnikov, co-founder of Ethereum DeFi app Forsage, faces U.S. fraud charges tied to an alleged $300 million crypto Ponzi scheme.
  • The film, which is inspired by Okhotnikov’s libertarian principles, is the first chapter in a planned trilogy.

Kevin Spacey unveiled his latest comeback project at the Venice Film Festival this weekend—an intricate sci-fi film starring, produced, and written by a Russian man accused by the U.S. government of running a crypto Ponzi scheme.  

The film, “Holigaurds Saga—The Portal of Force,” was directed by Spacey, from a script written by Vladimir “Lado” Okhotnikov, a co-founder of Ethereum decentralized finance app Forsage.

In 2022, the SEC sued Forsage’s founders, including Okhotnikov, for engaging in a scheme to defraud investors of over $300 million, among other charges. Variety first reported the connection.

The following year, the Department of Justice charged Okhotnikov and his partners for running a “global Ponzi and pyramid scheme”, which federal prosecutors touted, at the time, as the first criminal fraud case in U.S. history “involving a DeFi Ponzi scheme.”



The DOJ has alleged that while Forsage promoted itself as a complex and lucrative decentralized matrix project, the project instead hinged on smart contracts on Ethereum, Tron, and BNB Chain that would automatically divert funds from new Forsage investors to earlier Forsage investors. 

The DOJ said over 80% of investors lost money investing in the project. Okhotnikov has repeatedly denied claims that Forsage intentionally defrauded its customers. 

In a YouTube video posted shortly after the SEC announced its charges against him, Okhotnikov said Forsage was not a scam because “real scams can never win people’s hearts.”

No court date has yet been set for Okhotnikov’s criminal case. The tech founder resides in Dubai, where he remains outside of U.S. jurisdiction.

This past weekend, the cast and crew of “The Portal of Force” gathered in Venice for an elaborate gala unveiling the film’s trailer. The evening featured a speech from Spacey, an opera singer, and a costumed troupe of two dozen Georgian dancers, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s the trailer shown in Venice for Kevin Spacey’s Holiguards Saga – The Portal of Force starring him with Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts and Tyrese, all seen in this 2-minute clip. pic.twitter.com/5pXXkjMyWe

— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) August 31, 2025

“The Portal of Force” is intended to be the first of a trilogy of films depicting an epic conflict between two ancient supernatural species, the Holiguards and the Statiguards, which is upended when one side uses a cosmic portal to contact an ancient force known as the Prime. The film stars Spacey alongside Dolph Lundgren, Tyrese Gibson, and Eric Roberts.

The movie marks the first Spacey has directed since 2004. It is one of a number of projects the Oscar-winning actor, who withdrew from filmmaking after facing allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017, has embarked on since being acquitted on sexual assault charges by a London jury in 2023.

In a recent interview with the Jerusalem Post, Okhotnikov said he wrote the film in part to reflect his libertarian worldview, and examine the eternal struggle between conformity and freedom. 

The entrepreneur is currently focused on a metaverse wellness startup, Holiverse, which promises to one day virtually simulate users’ bodies by integrating “various products, biohacking, genetics, creativity, and self-development,” and, by doing so, potentially extend human lifespans.

Daily Debrief Newsletter

Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.





Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan suspended over regional rant
Esports

Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan suspended over regional rant

by admin



Aug 29, 2025, 02:51 PM ET

Florida has suspended baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan for the first three games of the 2026 regular season following his profanity-laced language directed at site administrators during an NCAA regional in Conway, South Carolina.

“The suspension announced today reinforces Florida Athletics’ commitment to our standards, with Coach O’Sullivan accepting full responsibility for his behavior,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement Friday. “Sully has vowed to learn from the experience and serve as a better leader moving forward.”

The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee also issued a public reprimand to O’Sullivan for his aggressive behavior.

Editor’s Picks

The committee said O’Sullivan’s actions June 1 violated an NCAA bylaw that says misconduct in a championship event is “any act of dishonesty, unsportsmanlike conduct, unprofessional behavior or breach of law, occurring from the time the championship field is announced through the end of the championship, that discredits the event or intercollegiate athletics.”

O’Sullivan was upset because the start time of his team’s elimination game against East Carolina — an 11-4 loss — was pushed back an hour. East Carolina’s previous game had ended at midnight.

The Florida coach publicly apologized the day after his outburst, but videos of the tirade were circulated widely on social media. Kevin Schnall, coach of host Coastal Carolina, ripped O’Sullivan for the outburst during a news conference later that day.

“This is a national champion coach who thinks he can come in here and try to bully people around,” Schnall said at the time. “Disappointed. Disappointed somebody that a lot of coaches look up to, for him to act that way.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Kevin Spacey Was Weird And Difficult
Game Reviews

Kevin Spacey Was Weird And Difficult

by admin


There was a lot of fake laughter happening around Spacey while making the sci-fi FPS

In 2014, before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public, actor Kevin Spacey was one of the biggest names out there thanks to Netflix’s House of Cards. And his role in that year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was a highlight. But now, it feels like a problematic relic. However, the game’s director, Glen Schofield, doesn’t think the shooter is “tainted,” even if Spacey was “weird” to work with.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Glen Schofield was asked about Spacey’s involvement in Advanced Warfare as the shooter’s main villain. In 2014, Spacey delivered a fantastic performance that was praised by many critics and fans. In 2017, his role in the game became less celebrated after accusations of sexual harassment and assault were levied against the actor. While years later, he was ultimately not found liable for harassment and was acquitted of assault, Spacey’s reputation was still heavily damaged, and he appeared in fewer film and TV roles. Despite that, Schofield told the outlet that Spacey’s inclusion “doesn’t taint the game.”

“At the time, that’s the actor I wanted,” said Schofield. “When he was on set, and we said action, he was unbelievable. He just is a great actor, right? Then when we said cut, you could tell the video games weren’t his thing. We had to get him a trailer. So he had a trailer outside that he would go in and he was a little bit more difficult, I would say.”

On set filming @CallofDuty #AdvancedWarfare! pic.twitter.com/2Q0jZPkiwT

— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) May 9, 2014

Advanced Warfare’s director did claim that Spacey “got a little weird once in a while on the set.” Schofield added, “He would say things that just weren’t proper. We all had to fake laugh. There was some stuff.”

Schofield explained that the initial pitch for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 2 involved Spacey’s character returning in some form despite dying in the previous game. However, Activision passed on that pitch, which he’s grateful for now.

“We were going to go there,” Schofield admitted, “and I’m glad we didn’t, because it was like two months before we would have shipped when the scandal broke.”





Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Close