Industry News

Tracks company news, strategic changes, funding activities, and personnel adjustments across the blockchain and crypto industries, delivering a full-spectrum industry overview for our users.

Meta Spent $90 Billion to Close the Metaverse, $2 Billion to Let AI Live in Your Computer

Meta spent $90 billion to build the metaverse, only to shut down its flagship VR platform, Horizon Worlds, on June 15. The virtual world, launched in 2021 with great fanfare, failed to attract a meaningful user base despite massive investment. Its closure marks a symbolic end to Meta’s ambitious—and costly—bet on the metaverse, which accumulated nearly $90 billion in losses over seven years. Simultaneously, Meta is aggressively pivoting to AI. It acquired AI startup Manus for $2 billion, which recently launched a desktop version allowing AI to operate directly on users' local machines—reading files, running apps, and executing commands. In contrast to the metaverse’s weak adoption, Manus reached one million paid users within eight months. The shift is stark: Meta is cutting 20% of its workforce—around 15,000 jobs—and reallocating nearly its entire $115–135 billion capital expenditure budget toward AI infrastructure. This abrupt turn reflects industry-wide FOMO (fear of missing out) on AI, similar to the metaverse hype half a decade ago. Companies like Block, Shopify, and Amazon are also slashing jobs to fund AI investments. While Meta faces internal challenges—including delayed AI models and executive departures—its drastic realignment underscores a broader trend: the consensus has shifted from virtual worlds to ambient AI. The question remains whether this new bet will prove more sustainable than the last.

marsbit03/19 04:53

Meta Spent $90 Billion to Close the Metaverse, $2 Billion to Let AI Live in Your Computer

marsbit03/19 04:53

Mastercard Spent $1.8 Billion on a Stablecoin Insurance Policy

Mastercard has acquired London-based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, marking the largest acquisition in the stablecoin sector to date. The move comes amid growing threats to Mastercard’s core business: cross-border transactions, which account for 37% of its revenue. Stablecoins enable faster, cheaper international settlements—often under 1% in fees compared to 3–6% for traditional systems—posing a long-term risk to card networks' profitability. BVNK facilitates conversions between fiat and on-chain stablecoins, handling $30 billion in annual transaction volume across 130 countries. Mastercard aims to integrate BVNK’s technology to offer seamless stablecoin settlements, checkout options, and currency conversions while maintaining front-end card usability. The acquisition reflects a broader trend of traditional financial giants like Visa, Stripe, and PayPal embracing stablecoins to avoid disruption. Regulatory clarity, such as the U.S. GENIUS Act, has enabled established players to absorb innovative startups rather than compete with them. Ultimately, Mastercard’s investment ensures it remains the closest layer to the user in the evolving payments landscape—where proximity to consumers guarantees dominance.

marsbit03/19 03:37

Mastercard Spent $1.8 Billion on a Stablecoin Insurance Policy

marsbit03/19 03:37

Sharplink’s 15,464 ETH staking milestone sparks fresh debates: Details

Sharplink has reached a significant milestone by earning 15,464 ETH (approximately $36 million) in staking rewards since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy. Unlike simply holding ETH, the firm stakes nearly all its 868,699 ETH to generate yield, creating a compounding effect. This approach differs from Bitmine, which holds a much larger amount of ETH (3.81% of total supply) but focuses on market presence rather than yield generation. The strategy has drawn criticism from some community members who argue that Sharplink is using staking to recover losses rather than attract new capital. Despite this, SharpLink’s stock has risen over 25% in the past month. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s price has seen mixed movement, with strong institutional demand through ETF inflows but conflicting on-chain signals. Ultimately, Sharplink’s model emphasizes reward accumulation over pure price appreciation, though some view it as a short-term recovery tactic rather than sustainable growth.

ambcrypto03/19 03:03

Sharplink’s 15,464 ETH staking milestone sparks fresh debates: Details

ambcrypto03/19 03:03

Disney's Olaf Robot Goes Viral, Trump Postpones Visit to China...

Here is a summary of the key discussions from crypto KOLs on X over the past 24 hours: **Disney's Olaf Robot Steals the Show at GTC:** A highly advanced, animatronic Snowman Olaf from Disney became a major talking point at the conference. Users noted its "humanized interaction" capabilities, powered by the Jetson AGX Thor chip, which allows for real-time multi-modal reasoning and complex motion training. This was seen as a significant milestone for AI scaling laws entering the physical world. Some pointed out that the on-stage dialogue was pre-recorded and that a similar robot has existed for years. **Trump Postpones Visit to China:** Former President Donald Trump's decision to delay a planned trip to China was widely discussed. Commentators characterized the move as typical of his unpredictable, "随心所欲" (whimsical) nature. Some speculated he might be "operating a prediction market," with one user quipping, "The first rule of winning: never go where you lose." **Yi Lihua Announces New Fund:** Crypto investor Yi Lihua announced he is preparing a new fund platform. The community response was mixed and skeptical. Replies ranged from praising his good attitude to accusations of market manipulation, suggesting his public statements are often contrary to his actual actions, such as secretly shorting the market or encouraging others to "lift the sedan chair" for his exit. **KOLs on Passive Income:** Several key opinion leaders shared their views and strategies for generating passive income, though specific details of these discussions were not elaborated in the provided text.

比推03/19 00:31

Disney's Olaf Robot Goes Viral, Trump Postpones Visit to China...

比推03/19 00:31

FTX to distribute $2.2B to creditors as repayments near completion

FTX will distribute approximately $2.2 billion to creditors on March 31, 2026, in its fourth repayment round under Chapter 11. Several creditor classes will reach full or near-full recovery, including U.S. customer claims at 100% and convenience claims at 120%. Creditors must complete KYC, tax documentation, and onboarding with approved partners like BitGo or Kraken to receive payments. Preferred equity holders will receive their first payouts on May 29, 2026. This marks significant progress in FTX's recovery, contrasting initial loss expectations after its 2022 collapse, and may impact market liquidity depending on how recipients deploy the funds.

ambcrypto03/18 18:02

FTX to distribute $2.2B to creditors as repayments near completion

ambcrypto03/18 18:02

Crypto Isn’t A Cult: Why Vanity Fair’s ‘True Believers’ Piece Misses The Point

A recent Vanity Fair article portrays the crypto community as a cult of "true believers," depicting participants as naive, decadent, and out-of-touch zealots clinging to a failed dream. The piece uses dramatic photography and mocking captions—such as "the most expensive religion in the world"—to caricature industry figures as extravagant and unserious. The crypto community has pushed back strongly, arguing the article focuses on stereotypical "degenerate" personalities rather than the developers and contributors building real technological infrastructure and value. Critics note that legacy media often ignores the serious, technical side of crypto in favor of sensationalist narratives. Despite the article’s claim that crypto is dead, Bitcoin continues to trade at high values, underscoring the resilience and ongoing activity within the ecosystem. The response highlights a demand for more serious and nuanced coverage of the space.

bitcoinist03/18 17:32

Crypto Isn’t A Cult: Why Vanity Fair’s ‘True Believers’ Piece Misses The Point

bitcoinist03/18 17:32

XRP Holders More Educated Than Bitcoiners? Bank Of International Settlements Report Shares Revelation

A Bank of International Settlements (BIS) report from 2021, as highlighted by crypto analyst Cool Breeze, suggests that XRP holders are more educated and wealthier than the average cryptocurrency investor. The report ranked XRP and Ethereum holders as the most educated, while Litecoin holders were considered the least educated, with Bitcoin investors falling in the middle. It also noted that crypto holders generally have higher household incomes, with Ethereum, Stellar, and XRP investors being the wealthiest. The report emphasized that long-term ownership plays a key role in these findings, and XRP holders, in particular, have shown strong loyalty—even during Ripple’s lengthy legal battle with the SEC. Recent on-chain data from Santiment shows that the number of XRP holders has grown to over 7.7 million, a record high since the network’s launch. The XRP Ledger also saw a spike in activity, with active addresses reaching a five-week high. Despite criticism from some community members, XRP’s performance has remained relatively strong. At the time of writing, XRP is trading around $1.52.

bitcoinist03/18 17:31

XRP Holders More Educated Than Bitcoiners? Bank Of International Settlements Report Shares Revelation

bitcoinist03/18 17:31

Vitalik Says New Ethereum Rule Could Cut Confirmations To 12 Seconds

Vitalik Buterin has endorsed a new "fast confirmation rule" (FCR) for Ethereum, which could reduce confirmation times to about 12 seconds. This change provides a strong guarantee that a block will not be reverted, assuming a supermajority of honest validators and network latency under ~3 seconds. While not full economic finality, it offers significant security for many use cases like exchanges, bridges, and Layer-2 systems. The rule, proposed by researcher Julian Ma, cuts deposit times from Ethereum mainnet to L2s and exchanges by 80-98%, drastically improving user experience and operational efficiency. FCR relies on counting attestations rather than block depth, making it faster and provably secure under specific conditions. It can be implemented without a hard fork and includes a fallback to finality if network conditions worsen.

bitcoinist03/18 16:02

Vitalik Says New Ethereum Rule Could Cut Confirmations To 12 Seconds

bitcoinist03/18 16:02

S&P 500 perpetual launches on Hyperliquid, bringing 24/7 equity exposure on-chain

A new S&P 500 perpetual contract has launched exclusively on-chain on Hyperliquid, developed through a collaboration between S&P Dow Jones Indices and trade.xyz. This product provides 24/7/365 exposure to the benchmark equity index, a significant shift from traditional market hours. It uses official S&P index data to maintain price alignment and operates as a crypto-native derivative, not direct ownership of the underlying stocks. The launch is supported by Hyperliquid's substantial growth, with its Total Value Locked (TVL) reaching approximately $4.7 billion, establishing a foundation for complex traditional finance products on-chain. This move challenges conventional market structure by offering global, continuous access to major financial benchmarks.

ambcrypto03/18 16:02

S&P 500 perpetual launches on Hyperliquid, bringing 24/7 equity exposure on-chain

ambcrypto03/18 16:02

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