The Bitcoin Frontier Fund, formerly known as Stacks Ventures, has launched what it’s calling the first Bitcoin Ordinals accelerator program on August 14, 2023.
According to the program’s website, the Bitcoin Frontier Fund is offering seed money to start-ups innovating in the Ordinals space, along with access to funding pipelines and mentorship.
“We offer $100k in investment and a badass program and community to take your start-up to the next level, in exchange for 2-3 per cent equity in common shares.”
Start-ups with no “substantial funding” will be required to sign over a 3 per cent equity share in order to receive the funds and join the program. Those who have already secured funding in the amount of $600,000 or more within the previous six months will only need to sign over a 2 per cent share.
While the exact requirements for acceptance into the program are unclear, the website lists several areas of interest, including infrastructure, proven Web 3.0 use cases, developer tools and accessibility, according to Cointelegraph.
Ordinals are a relatively new development for Blockchain and cryptocurrency. They were created by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor in January of 2023. Essentially, Ordinals are just inscriptions made on individual units of a digital asset. They are similar to a painter creating limited edition lithograph prints of a famous piece and then numbering them. Typically, the lowest numbers would have more perceived value by collectors even though the prints are considered exactly the same. Adding to this collectibility is the fact that data can be “inscribed,” or stored, within a Bitcoin Ordinal, making it function a bit like a non-fungible token (NFT).
Immutable zkEVM Begins Testnet Phase With 12 Web 3.0 Games
Web 3.0 gaming platform Immutable has commenced public testing of its Immutable zkEVM in collaboration with Polygon Labs.
Work on the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) network began in March 2023 after Immutable announced a partnership with Polygon Labs. Polygon’s own “holy grail” Ethereum-scaling zkEVM hit mainnet on March 27.
In an August 14, 2023 announcement, Immutable said that its zkEVM will give game developers access to lower development costs and the security and network effects that come with the Ethereum ecosystem.
Immutable’s co-founder and president Robbie Ferguson had said in March 2023 that zkEVM is aimed at increasing ownership rights for Web 3.0 gamers.
Incidentally, over 20 gaming companies have partnered with Immutable to support the launch, including GameStop, TokenTrove marketplace, Web-based game distributor Kongregate, and game designer iLogos, among others, according to Immutable.
Binance Seeks Protective Order Against SEC’s ‘Fishing Expedition’
Binance has accused the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of undertaking a “fishing expedition” with its discovery requests, and has accordingly asked the court for a protective order against the regulator.
In a court filing on August 14, 2023, Binance argued that while it worked in good faith with a June court order, the SEC has served overly broad and unreasonable discovery requests that seek “every single document in (Binance’s) possession related to customer assets.”
“BAM has worked in good faith, but the SEC has been steadfast in its belief that the Consent Order gives it carte blanche to investigate every aspect of BAM’s asset custody practices without any discernible limitation whatsoever,” it stated.
The June 2023 order allowed for the discovery of Binance’s custody, security and availability of customer assets.
