Happy Tuesday! Today’s Daily reports that Metaplanet is buying more Bitcoin, PayPal and Venmo are integrating ENS for crypto payments, and Core Scientific is aiming for a $30 billion valuation with AI.
Meanwhile, Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 24 for fraud charges related to the FTX collapse.
Let’s get started.
Japan Metaplanet, additional Bitcoin purchases
Japanese investment firm Metaplanet announced the purchase of an additional 38.4 BTC worth approximately 300 million yen (USD 2 million).
- The acquisition brings the Tokyo-listed company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 398.8 BTC, worth approximately $23 million.
- Metaplanet’s stock price rose 5.9% on Tuesday following the announcement, closing at 1,101 yen, according to TradingView.
- MetaPlanet has been accelerating its buying in recent months since announcing in May that it would adopt Bitcoin as a strategic Treasury reserve asset.
- “These measures are a direct response to Japan’s ongoing economic pressures, particularly its rising government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates and the resulting weakness in the yen,” the company said at the time.
- Reflecting the enterprise Bitcoin initiative pioneered by MicroStrategy, Metaplanet’s stake represents just 0.2% of the 226,500 BTC ($12.9 billion) held by the Michael Saylor-founded company.
ENS integration for PayPal, Venmo, and cryptocurrency payments
PayPal and Venmo have integrated the Ethereum Name Service into their payment platforms, allowing US users to send cryptocurrency using human-readable ENS names like alice.eth instead of more complex wallet addresses.
- This new feature simplifies cryptocurrency trading on the platform by automatically identifying the wallet address associated with the ENS name entered by the user.
- ENS Labs claims that this integration will reduce the risk of errors when transacting with cryptocurrency on PayPal and Venmo and make it easier for users to manage their wallet addresses.
- Founded in 2017 with an Ethereum grant, ENS says it has over 2 million names registered on its chain.
PayPal and Venmo started supporting cryptocurrencies in 2021.
Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Expected to Be Valued at $25-$30 Billion With AI Services
Adam Sullivan, CEO of Core Scientific, sees exponential growth opportunities in AI data center services, and believes the company, currently valued at $2.5 billion, has the potential to grow to $25 billion to $30 billion in the next few years.
- But Sullivan told Bernstein that much depends on whether the company can demonstrate the ability to deliver gigawatt-scale AI data centers beyond its initial 382MW contract with CoreWeave.
- Core Scientific CEO claims that other data center companies haven’t achieved that scale, but the company has carved out its own niche by delivering solutions in less than three years, compared to three to five years for competitors.
- According to Sullivan, diversifying into high-performance computing services such as AI data centers could yield higher revenues and margins, but other Bitcoin miners are not competing in that space yet.
Nansen Diversifies Staking Services with Acquisition
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen is set to acquire staking service provider StakeWithUs, diversifying its platform into cryptocurrency investments.
- The on-chain data provider said it plans to integrate StakeWithUs into its platform, allowing users to stake over 20 cryptocurrencies, including assets from Ethereum, Solana, and Sui, directly through Nansen.
- “Over time, users will have tools to evaluate the performance of the various tokens supported by all of these blockchains and stake them,” Nansen said.
- Nansen did not disclose the size of the acquisition deal.
Paxos plans to expand with Arbitrum
Paxos will launch on Arbitrum One, a layer 2 network, expanding its service offering beyond Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana.
- Paxos plans to bring its stablecoin issuance and regulated tokenization platform to Arbitrum, strengthening the network’s DeFi ecosystem.
- Arbitrum One is one of the largest Layer 2 networks with over $4 billion in assets under management.
- Paxos said it expects stablecoin adoption among retail and institutional users to “explosively” grow over the next three years.
within the next 24 hours
- UK GDP data is released at 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The latest US CPI inflation figure is released at 8:30 a.m. Estimated MoM 0.2%; Core 0.2%. Estimated YoY 2.6%; Core 3.2%.
- The first Trump-Harris debate, hosted by ABC News, is scheduled for Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET.
- As Dubai AI & Web3 Festival kicks off, ETHSafari continues in Kenya.
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