Crypto lending startup Celsius has announced major changes for U.S. customers. This comes amid scrutiny from at least three U.S. states concerned that its product might be an unregulated securities offering.
Why it matters: Celsius is a startup that allows consumers to deposit crypto and borrow crypto, as well. The interest rate for borrowers pays for the returns on deposits. It's been a great way for long-term holders to grow their holdings, but this opportunity to earn yield has Texas, New Jersey and Alabama giving it major side-eye.
Cryptocurrency changed the game for some investors. Now they can actively support portfolio companies on the blockhains where their projects run.
"It's just fun to work on something so different, where there's all these new levers," Shaun Maguire, of Sequoia, a venerable venture fund that dates back to 1972, tells Axios.
Tech giants are worried their employees will miss out on thousands of potential green cards this year as the U.S. continues to struggle with an immigration backlog.
Why it matters: In a tight labor market, industry leaders say they can't afford to lose talented high-skilled workers frustrated with long delays in granting permanent legal status.
Vending machines dispense all sorts of offbeat things these days — like hamburgers and pizza — and now it's time to add non-fungible tokens to the list.
Why it matters: While most people would be hard-pressed to define what an NFT is, the tokens were all the rage at SXSW this year, and their arrival in an ATM in New York City's Financial District may mean NFT-dispensing machines could grow as ubiquitous as cryptocurrency ATMs.
A Twitter shareholder is suing Elon Musk, Twitter's largest individual shareholder and the world's richest man, for allegedly making "materially false and misleading statements and omissions by failing to disclose to investors" his ownership stake in the social media company.
Why it matters: By failing to disclose his ownership stake within the time period required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk was able to acquire Twitter shares less expensively, Marc Bain Rasella alleges in the federal securities class action lawsuit.
Elder millennial nostalgia and modern multiplayer trends collide in MythForce, a new game announced today from Edmonton-based studio Beamdog, Axios’ Peter Allen Clark reports.
What’s happening: MythForce, Beamdog’s first original title, is a first-person, high fantasy, co-operative, rouge-like dungeon crawler. And it’s all wrapped in an art style that’s straight out of 1980s cartoons.
The long decline in the price of Axie Infinity's Smooth Love Potion (SLP) token illustrates the challenge of play-to-earn (P2E) gaming: players need more than a way to earn some random token, the token needs mechanics that enable it to hold value.
The big picture: P2E worked great, particularly with one game, Axie Infinity (whose treasury clocked $1.3 billion in revenue last year), until profits took a dive in early December that it has never recovered from, as Token Terminal shows.
A future economy transacting in bitcoin may invoke sci-fi imagery. But El Zonte in El Salvador is hardly that. Perhaps, that's why it is the most fascinating test case to date for a bitcoin-as-currency economy.
Driving the news: "60 Minutes" traveled to the 3,000 person surfing village known as "Bitcoin Beach."
Blockchain Brawlers, a new play-to-earn video game, is claiming to have driven hundreds of millions of dollars in trading volume in its first few days.
Details: Based on some very rough analysis by Axios, players in the new game may have collectively earned as much as $23 million or so in its native BRWL token, based on average earnings reported by the game makers.
Apple CEO Tim Cook made an impassioned plea Tuesday against looming U.S. and European regulations that could fundamentally change the App Store's model.
Why it matters: Apple is feeling the heat as it may be forced to change longstanding policies it argues are best for user privacy and security.
Snapchat is rolling out a new product that aims to make it easier for news publishers to upload their content in real time as stories break, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The update dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for news publishers — especially at the local level — to publish on Snapchat.
At the end of his week-long Twitter adventure — buying 9% of the company's stock, taking a seat on its board and then abandoning it — Elon Musk posted a meme reading: "In all fairness, your honor, my client was in goblin mode." Then he deleted it.
Goblin mode apparently means "I no longer care about what anyone thinks about how I look or what I say."
A startup's novel sensor device — which measures the gas emitted by fruit as it ripens — is making inroads in ensuring that only peak-ripe produce makes its way to grocery shelves, ideally reducing food waste.
Why it matters: The USDA estimates that 30%-40% of the food supply isn't consumed. IoT sensors from Strella Biotechnology determine which pieces of fruit should be put up for sale and when — making it more likely that consumers will savor them, not toss them.
Rachel Maddow returned to her 9 p.m. show Monday after a brief hiatus — announcing she'll continue to host her show Mondays through Thursdays for the rest of the month and then will only host on Mondays beginning in May.
Why it matters: Maddow was expected to fully leave her position as MSNBC's weekday 9 p.m. primetime host later this year. The new arrangement puts pressure on MSNBC to find Maddow's replacement.
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