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Nasdaq-listed Netcapital acquires no-code Web3 gaming platform Mixie

by admin June 9, 2025

Netcapital, a financial technology company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, has acquired crypto-native protocol Mixie in a deal that has been described as a bridge between traditional and decentralized finance.

Mixie, a no-code Web3 gaming platform, was acquired by Netcapital’s portfolio company, Zelgor, for an undisclosed amount, the company told Cointelegraph on Monday.

A spokesperson said it was the first time a publicly-listed company has acquired a crypto-native protocol specifically to expand the blockchain industry.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Netcapital operates a digital capital markets platform that helps private companies raise capital while giving investors access to private equity opportunities. Its funding platform, Netcapital Funding Portal, is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company, which trades under the ticker NCPL, went public in September 2017. The stock is considered a nano-cap with a total market capitalization of roughly $6.8 million, according to Yahoo Finance data.

NCPL stock surged more than 16% on news of the Mixie acquisition. The stock is up more than 48% year-to-date. Source: Yahoo Finance

Netcapital said it was especially drawn to Mixie’s tokenization infrastructure and accelerator model that supports early-stage founders. The acquisition was touted for enhancing “synergies between Mixie’s tokenization capabilities and Netcapital’s browser-based security offering,” the company said.

Related: VC Roundup: Twenty One investors inject $100M into BTC treasury, Jump Crypto backs Securitize

Crypto M&A activity on the rise

2025 is shaping up to be a busy year for crypto mergers and acquisitions, signaling a broader wave of consolidation as the industry matures.

M&A deals reached another record high in the first quarter, highlighted by crypto exchange Kraken’s $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTraders, according to Architect Partners.

The research company counted six transactions valued at $100 million or more in the first quarter.

After a record-breaking 2024, crypto and blockchain M&As spiked again in the first quarter. Source: Architect Partners

M&A activity has ramped up in the second quarter, with Coinbase doling out $2.9 billion to acquire crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, and Ripple paying $1.5 billion for prime brokerage Hidden Road.

The M&A wave was widely expected to continue this year, driven by more favorable regulatory conditions in the United States and the potential for declining financing costs.

EARN’M CEO Dan Novaes told Cointelegraph that consolidation will likely persist, as the industry remains overcrowded and overtokenized.

Related: Crypto VC deals hit 2025 low despite $909M raised in May

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

YouTube now allows more harmful misinformation on its platform

by admin June 9, 2025

YouTube is following in the potentially dangerous steps of Meta and X (formerly Twitter) by relaxing its content moderation policies. New internal training materials viewed by The New York Times instruct moderators to leave videos live if up to half its content violates YouTube’s policies, an increase from a quarter of it. The platform introduced the new policy in mid-December, a month after President Trump was re-elected.

The new guidelines reflect what YouTube deems as “public interest.” These areas include discussing or debating elections, movements, race, gender, immigration and more. “Recognizing that the definition of ‘public interest’ is always evolving, we update our guidance for these exceptions to reflect the new types of discussion we see on the platform today,” Nicole Bell, a YouTube spokesperson, told The New York Times. “Our goal remains the same: to protect free expression on YouTube while mitigating egregious harm.”

The platform has reportedly removed 22 percent more videos due to hateful and abusive content than last year. It’s not clear how many videos were reported or would have been removed under the previous guidelines.

YouTube reportedly told moderators to now value keeping content up if it’s a debate between freedom of expression and risk. For example, they were shown a video called “RFK Jr. Delivers SLEDGEHAMMER Blows to Gene-Altering JABS” which falsely stated that Covid vaccines can change people’s genes. However, YouTube told the moderators that public interest “outweighs the harm risk” and the video should stay up. It has since been removed, though the reason why is unclear.

Other videos allowed to remain online included one with a slur aimed at a transgender person and one in which a commentator discussed a graphic demise for former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.

Engadget has reached out to YouTube for comment.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Alex Protocol to Reimburse Users After $8.3M Exploit on Bitcoin DeFi Platform

by admin June 7, 2025

Alex Protocol, a Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi) platform on the Stacks blockchain, suffered an exploit on June 6, resulting in $8.3 million in digital asset losses.

In an X announcement, Alex Protocol said the breach was caused by a vulnerability in its self-listing verification logic. The attacker used the flaw to drain liquidity from several asset pools.

The Bitcoin DeFi platform said the attackers siphoned about 8.4 million Stacks (STX) tokens, 21.85 Stacks Bitcoin (sBTC), 149,850 in USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT), and 2.8 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). The incident is one of the largest exploits in the Stacks ecosystem to date.

In response to the incident, Alex Lab Foundation, the organization supporting the protocol, pledged to fully reimburse affected users using its treasury reserves.

Cointelegraph reached out to Alex Protocol through its X account but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Alex Protocol to reimburse affected users post-exploit

According to Alex Lab, compensation will be issued in USDC tokens. The protocol will base its reimbursement calculations on the average onchain exchange rates between 10:00 am UTC and 2:00 pm UTC on the day of the attack.

Alex Lab said wallets affected by the attack will receive an onchain notification by June 8, including a personalized claim form. Users must submit the completed form with a receiving wallet address by June 10.

The team said it will verify submitted claims and distribute USDC payments within seven days. Users who do not receive a form were urged to contact the team via email.

The team did not reveal the technical mechanisms behind the exploit but is expected to release a post-mortem report.

Related: Bybit reveals security overhaul in response to $1.4B hack

Alex Protocol hit by another hack in May 2024

This is not the first security incident in which Alex Protocol has lost millions. In May 2024, the DeFi platform suffered an exploit involving its crosschain bridge infrastructure. The incident led to the unauthorized withdrawal of $4.3 million in crypto from the platform.

The DeFi protocol said the May exploit was likely linked to the North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus. The team pointed to three wallets used in the attack and said they worked with blockchain analyst ZachXBT to trace the stolen assets.

Magazine: China to ban owning Bitcoin? Gate.io to pay $30M over liquidations: Asia Express

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June 7, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

US Food and Drug Administration Launches AI Platform to ‘Modernize’ Agency

by admin June 3, 2025

In brief

The FDA launched Elsa, an AI platform that reduced one task from three days to six minutes.
Elsa summarizes reports, compares drug labels, and identifies high-risk sites while keeping data secure.
This marks the first of several AI initiatives as the FDA transforms its internal operations.

A scientific reviewer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration once took three days to complete a task. With a new AI assistant, it now takes six minutes.

That’s just one example FDA Commissioner Marty Makary gave Monday as the agency officially launched Elsa, a generative AI platform designed to overhaul how the FDA handles internal workflows, ranging from drug safety evaluations to inspection targeting.

He said the agency-wide rollout beat its original June 30 deadline and came in under budget.

“Today, the FDA has launched a new AI tool, agency-wide, called Elsa, to modernize how the agency functions,” Makary said in a video announcement. “We met that goal ahead of schedule and under budget, thanks to the willingness and collaboration of our in-house scientific leaders across the centers.”

The commissioner said Elsa is a secure, internal artificial intelligence assistant hosted in the FDA’s GovCloud environment, according to the agency statement.

It can summarize adverse event reports, compare drug labels, generate code for nonclinical databases, and help inspectors identify high-risk sites.

“All information stays within the agency, and the AI models are not being trained on data submitted by the industry,” Makary noted.

Chief AI Officer Jeremy Walsh called Elsa’s launch “the dawn of the AI era at the FDA,” noting “AI is no longer a distant promise but a dynamic force enhancing and optimizing the performance and potential of every employee.”

The FDA plans to expand Elsa’s role into data automation and generative artificial intelligence as the tool matures.

Makary said Elsa marks the first of several upcoming AI initiatives as the agency works to “rapidly transform” internal operations and better serve the public.

The FDA’s rollout follows a larger push by the federal government to integrate artificial intelligence into core operations.

In April, the White House issued new guidance requiring agencies to assign AI leadership roles and craft internal policies for managing high-risk uses of AI.

As federal institutions begin to scale AI internally, private-sector leaders are envisioning how the same technologies could reshape the structure of business itself.

At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev predicted a future of AI-powered solo ventures—lean, self-operating companies enabled by generative tools.

“I think you’ll have more single-person companies, and you have to imagine that they’ll be tokenized, and they’ll trade on blockchains—just like other assets,” Tenev said.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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June 3, 2025 0 comments

xqc and asmongold with a twitch background

Esports

Twitch hit with class action lawsuit alleging TOS bans users for criticizing platform

by admin June 3, 2025

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Twitch, accusing the Amazon-owned platform of violating California law by prohibiting users from criticizing the site.

On June 1, a lawsuit was filed in California by a Twitch user by the name of Daniel Blitch, claiming the platform was violating the state’s Yelp Law.

The law prohibits businesses from including clauses in contracts that restrict individuals from making statements regarding the business, its staff and its services.

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According to the lawsuit, through Twitch’s terms of service and terms of sale, the platform “unlawfully seeks to restrict users’ ability to freely share their experiences with Twitch’s platform and services, in violation of California Civil Code.”

Twitch accused of using TOS to silence criticism

Blitch, an individual from LA, has been subscribed to streamers since at least 2020, and claims that the platform prohibits or discourages users from making statements that could be harmful to its brand.

“Twitch’s Terms includes language to the effect that users may not post content Twitch deems harmful, disparaging, misleading, or offensive. Such provisions are enforced through moderation, account penalties, and removal of content,” the lawsuit alleges, further noting that the site can ban users for any reason,” the suit reads.

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Twitch is involved in a class action lawsuit with a “Daniel Blitch” leading the charge

Basically, he and others allege Twitch’s TOS is so specific and unique that he argues the entire Twitch TOS is invalid

Document is 9 pages

(1-4) pic.twitter.com/5Z04dyeYN3

— yeet (@Awk20000) June 2, 2025

As an example, the lawsuit referenced how at one point, there were discussions about Twitch not paying streamers well enough, leading Blitch and other users to be careful about how they approached the topic, even using words like “onionized” instead “unionized.”

“Twitch’s enforcement of its Terms deters users from expressing their genuine views, thereby chilling consumer speech,” the suit added.

Additionally, Blitch claimed that in at least one instance, a Twitch user was reprimanded for their criticisms of the platform.

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Because this is a class action lawsuit, other Twitch users in California who purchased subscriptions or goods may be eligible to join. Under the Yelp Law, civil penalties start at $2,500 per violation, but can increase to $10,000 for willful or reckless violations.

At the time of writing, Twitch hasn’t publicly responded to the lawsuit, but this isn’t the first time the site has found itself in legal trouble.

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Earlier in 2025, an exclusive Dexerto report revealed the platform had continued to bill some users for subscriptions to streamers who had been permanently banned on the site. Users were subsequently refunded after an attorney had planned a class action lawsuit on behalf of those affected.

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June 3, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

UK-Listed Investments Platform IG Offers Spot Crypto Trading to Retail Customers

by admin June 2, 2025

Investment platform IG (IGG) said it has begun offering crypto trading to retail investors, becoming the first publicly-listed firm in the U.K. to do so.

This marks IG’s first offering of crypto exposure through spot trading of bitcoin

, ether and a range of smaller tokens.

The company’s crypto service has previously been confined to derivatives products in the form contracts for difference (CFD).

IG has teamed up with U.S.-based crypto-focused fintech firm Uphold to build crypto trading into its existing platforms that customers currently use for dealing shares, FX, commodities and derivatives.

This may demonstrate the increasing integration between traditional finance (TradFi) and digital assets that investors and traders now expect to see.

The London-based firm’s move also coincides with the ongoing development of the U.K.’s plans to establish a regulatory regime for the crypto industry. The government published two consultation papers in April on draft legislation for activities such as crypto trading and stablecoin issuance.

IG shares are around 0.25% higher on the day at the time of writing, compared to the FTSE 100 index which is unchanged.

Read More: UK’s First Centrally Cleared FCA-Regulated Crypto Derivatives Trading Venue GFO-X Debuts

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June 2, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

OpenSea Relaunches Trading Platform With Rewards Ahead of SEA Token Debut

by admin June 1, 2025

In brief

OpenSea’s OS2 trading platform is now fully live, enabling NFT and fungible token trading across 19 blockchains.
The platform’s new XP-based rewards program, Voyages, encourages on-chain activity ahead of the future SEA token launch.
The launch follows regulatory relief, with the SEC recently closing its probe into OpenSea.

OpenSea has ended the beta phase of its reengineered marketplace, dubbed OS2, bringing full token trading across 19 blockchains, a new on-chain rewards system called “Voyages,” and structural changes that hint at its upcoming token launch.

“OS2 is the foundation for the next generation of OpenSea,” CEO Devin Finzer told Decrypt. “We’ve rebuilt the platform from the ground up to become the best destination for everything on-chain, from NFTs to tokens, across chains and communities.”

The rollout replaces OpenSea’s original NFT marketplace experience, which had seen declining use amid broader NFT market stagnation and growing competition from prominent rivals like Blur and Magic Eden.

OpenSea has evolved.

Beta complete. Full token universe unlocked.

New rewards program live. Welcome to the new OpenSea — the best place to discover, own, and trade anything onchain. pic.twitter.com/ccycD0bgCA

— OpenSea (@opensea) May 29, 2025

OS2 combines cross-chain NFT and fungible token trading with real-time analytics, wallet tools, and liquidity aggregation from decentralized exchanges, per a statement shared with Decrypt. The 19 chains include prominent layer-1 networks like Ethereum, Avalanche, and Flow, along with an array of scaling networks like Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Soneium.

A major component of the launch is Voyages, a gamified system that rewards users with XP for completing actions like minting NFTs, swapping tokens, and holding assets.

While XP is already live, users widely expect it to play a role in the launch of the forthcoming SEA token, which will be issued by the OpenSea Foundation.

In an accompanying blog post, OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander noted that the Foundation “won’t release SEA until core utility is in place,” calling it “the TGE”— short for token generation event.

Early beta testers have already received digital artifacts known as “Treasures” to anchor their eligibility for future rewards. The team has also confirmed that historical platform activity and ongoing XP accumulation will influence eventual token allocations.

OS2 first launched in beta in February after a year-long rebuild that included team downsizing and a reimagining of OpenSea’s core model.

Initial XP rewards triggered backlash after incentivizing mass NFT listings, prompting the team to restrict rewards to more deliberate actions such as buying and holding.

The platform’s community infrastructure has also been overhauled. A streamlined Discord server now offers role-based channels for DeFi, gaming, digital art, and other on-chain interests.

The update arrives just months after OpenSea said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had closed its investigation into whether the platform violated federal securities laws. The SEC has ultimately ended nearly all of its lawsuits and investigations against crypto companies following the return of President Donald Trump to the White House.

“Classifying OpenSea and similar NFT marketplaces as securities exchanges or brokers would be regulatory overreach,” the company wrote in a letter to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, in the wake of the regulator’s decision to end its probe.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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June 1, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

US Sports Betting Platform To Raise $1 Billion For Ethereum Treasury Holdings

by admin June 1, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Ethereum is on the spotlight again this week. SharpLink Gaming, a US-based sports betting firm, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer up to $1 billion in common stock.

The company says it plans to use the money to purchase Ether (ETH), the main cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. This big move comes just days after SharpLink announced its new Ethereum-based treasury strategy.

Their stock price exploded by nearly 400% during trading on May 27, just after the plan went public. At the same time, the company appointed Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as the new chairman of its board of directors.

Ether Is The Target

According to the May 30 SEC filing, SharpLink wants to put most of the raised funds toward buying Ether. But it’s not just about crypto. Some of the cash will also go toward running the business—things like working capital, corporate expenses, and affiliate marketing operations.

ETH was trading at $2,520 at the time of the filing, down 2.31% in 24 hours, based on Coingecko data. The timing of the purchase, and how much Ether they actually buy, could depend on the market. But the message is clear: SharpLink is going all in on Ethereum.

ETH is currently trading at $2,520. Chart: TradingView

Risks On The Table

The company also listed several risks that could affect its big Ether investment. One of them is the possible rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). If CBDCs take off, SharpLink believes demand for private cryptocurrencies like ETH could drop or lose their usefulness.

Image: BlockTempo

Another risk is regulatory. If the SEC or another agency decides to classify Ether as a “security,” SharpLink could face new rules and reporting requirements. That could complicate their plans and cost the company money in the long run.

Crypto World Reacts

The crypto community didn’t stay quiet. Many compared SharpLink’s move to what Strategy did with Bitcoin.

Crypto analyst 0xBoboShanti posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Ethereum finally has its own Saylor,” referring to Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). His firm now owns over 580,250 BTC, valued at more than $60 billion, based on Saylor Tracker.

SharpLink Gaming plans to raise up to $1 billion which they will then use to buy ETH

You are not bullish enough pic.twitter.com/rskEQVhP0p

— sassal.eth/acc 🦇🔊 (@sassal0x) May 30, 2025

Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano added to the noise, saying, “You are not bullish enough,” signaling strong support for SharpLink’s strategy.

ETF Buzz Adds Fuel

The timing could be key. Just before SharpLink’s filing, ETF provider REX Shares submitted paperwork that has analysts predicting Ethereum and Solana staking ETFs could launch in the US soon.

These ETFs would allow investors to earn staking rewards through regulated funds, something many providers have struggled to pull off.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

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June 1, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

All-in-One AI Platform 1minAI Is Now Almost Free, Get Lifetime Access for Up to 87% Off

by admin May 30, 2025

If you’re waiting for the AI craze to just fade out and go away, we have bad news for you. If you’re ready to accept AI as an incredibly useful technology that is only going to get smarter and more prevalent with every passing day, we have great news for you: StackSocial is selling a lifetime Advanced Business Plan subscription to the powerful and intuitive 1min.AI platform for just $80, which is a massive 85% discount. However, there are even cheaper options: the Pro Plan is only $30 (87% off), and the Business Plan is available for $50 (86% off).

1min.AI is more than just an artificial intelligence app — it’s several AI models combined into one robust platform, pulling the best results and smart technology from all the leading AI models into one source to assist you with everything from scheduling, problem-solving and decision-making, to dazzling creative projects that you can use to advertise your small business or individual sales and services.

See at StackSocial

AI In One Bundle

If you’re currently trying to navigate the rapidly changing world of AI, you may find yourself with numerous subscriptions to models like OpenAI, Meta, Stability.ai, Google, and others. Those add up quickly, and you don’t need AI to tell you that this could drain your wallet faster than you realize.

The beauty of 1min.AI is that it gives you access to all of those models and many more, including Leonardo.AI, cohere, and Midjourney. You can replace all of those monthly auto-billing subscriptions with a single payment of $80 that gives you lifetime access to 1min.AI’s top-tier service, the Advanced Business Plan. All of the updates to the app and news from the 1min.AI newsletter and Public Roadmap are included in the price, and there are no recurring costs or upsells.

Supercharge Your Business

1min.AI is like adding an entire staff to your small business without having to pay out salaries or benefits. Once you dive into 1min.AI and discover how easy it is to pick up and master even if you’ve never used AI before, soon you’ll be using it as a personal assistant and scheduler, keyword researcher and SEO assistant, author for ads and content for Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online platforms, image generator and editor, and PDF summarizer and translator. There’s already more it can do, and every day it gets more intelligent and useful.

The Advanced Business Plan gives you 2 million credits per month and the opportunity to generate up to 450,000 more every month for free, along with the entire suite of 1min.AI’s features, plus unlimited prompts, storage, and brand voice. Your lifetime subscription can have up to 10 members who can share and collaborate, which you can manage as admin. Everything is included in the StackSocial price of just $80, 85% lower than the list price of $540.

See at StackSocial

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May 30, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

OpenSea publicly releases OS2 platform as NFTs gain momentum

by admin May 30, 2025

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has launched its new platform, OS2, concluding its beta phase.

The company said the updated platform allows full token trading across 14 blockchains, including support for fungible tokens on Solana. It also introduces tools that aim to enhance crosschain functionality. These changes signal a shift for OpenSea, positioning it as a more comprehensive platform beyond NFTs.

OpenSea chief marketing officer Adam Hollander told Cointelegraph that the platform always believed in a broader idea that everything onchain should be liquid and discoverable in one place.

“OS2 lets a collector mint an NFT on Solana, swap a gaming token on Ronin and buy a memecoin that was just created, all from a single wallet flow,” Hollander said. “Users were already juggling half a dozen DApps and bridges; we streamlined that experience.”

Source: OpenSea

OpenSea exec says NFT tourists left while true users stayed

Despite a broader market cooling, OpenSea sees promising signs of user retention and growth. Hollander told Cointelegraph that while volumes may be down from its 2021 to 2022 peak, weekly unique collectors on OpenSea are up by 40% since January. He added:

“That tells us the tourists left, but the true users stayed, and they’re participating in more chains than ever.”

OpenSea’s data aligns with a broader trend among NFT buyers. Unique NFT buyers rose to 936,000 in May, up 50% from April’s 622,000. The month also saw NFT monthly volumes’ first uptick in 2025 after going through a five-month decline.

Hollander told Cointelegraph there’s still “real power” in provable digital ownership. “Once you can prove you own something onchain, whole industries open up,” Hollander added, pointing toward real-world assets (RWAs) gaining steam.

From April 15–22, NFTs on the RWA marketplace Courtyard, a platform that uses NFTs to tokenize physical trading cards, reached a sales volume of $20.7 million. This allowed Polygon to overtake Ethereum in weekly NFT sales.

“New tech is usually tried in one narrow way first and then evolves into far more powerful applications,” Hollander said.

Related: Exponential currency debasement: ‘You don’t own enough crypto, NFTs’

NFT business profitability depends on utility

Despite being down from the peak, the NFT space can still be profitable for teams with the correct strategy, Hollander told Cointelegraph.

“Profitability flows to businesses that keep adding real utility and options for users, which is why we remain the home for NFTs and are now investing in avenues like cross‑chain token trading,” Hollander said.

Magazine: Pranksy: Inside the anonymous life of an NFT legend — NFT Collector

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May 30, 2025 0 comments