Revolut pays rent with Bitcoin? ??; NFT platform raises largest Series B to date for a European startup ??; Are Crypto Wallets going mainstream? ??

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Last week (20-24 September) was a really hot and super exciting week in the world of Blockchain & Cryptocurrency.?We will look at?why Revolut pays its rent with Bitcoin; the NFT platform raising the largest Series B round to date for a European startup, and try to understand whether Crypto Wallets are going mainstream?; and other interesting news and developments.

Without further ado, let us dive into what has happened in the Blockchain & Crypto sector last week. Let’s connect the dots.

Revolut pays rent with Bitcoin? ??

The news???UK-hqed financial super app?Revolut ?is using Bitcoin to pay for its space in Dallas, Texas, with flexible office provider?WeWork .

US growth?????Revolut’s largest US space so far, located at 6900 Dallas Parkway, will be the hub for Revolut’s American expansion efforts, according to a press release. The space will be the workplace home to more than 300 Revolut employees as the company continues moving toward a flexible work environment.

Crypto???Revolut is WeWork’s first enterprise client to use bitcoin or any type of cryptocurrency, to be frank, for payment.

Rhebecka D’Silva, Revolut’s global head of real estate, said that the startup aims to “push the boundaries of innovation,” which makes WeWork a good fit as Revolut continues expanding in the U.S. and around the world.

D’Silva added that WeWork gives Revolut the “flexibility to pay using cryptocurrency,” which is something “we vehemently believe in.”

?? THE TAKEAWAY

It’s all about marketing ?????Although it might sound nice (especially for the crypto maximalists), there’s nothing more apart from a pure marketing play in the context of this announcement. If you believe in Bitcoin as digital gold, why would you pay rent with an appreciating asset? I wouldn’t do so and rather use cash (as it gets eaten by inflation). But it sure makes a nice headline though ??

NFT platform raises the largest Series B round to date for a European startup ??

The massive fundraise???Paris-based?Sorare, developer of a global fantasy soccer game where players can buy, trade and play with official digital cards, announced that it raised $680 million in a Series B round led by (one and only) SoftBank. This is just mind-blowing when you think about it… ??

The newest funding round values the 3-year-old French company at $4.3B.

The size ???Sorare says the round is the largest Series B to date for a European startup. Founded in late 2018, the company previously raised just over $50M, with most of that coming from a $50 million Series A round in February.

Some numbers ???The company says it now has over 180 clubs, 6000 licensed athletes, and 600,000 registered users on its platform.

The Paris-based startup has notched $150 million in cards sales so far this year.

The platform’s monthly active paying users grew by 34 times between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of this year, with quarterly sales up 51 times over the same period. Not too shabby!

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Sports on a blockchain. Soccer aka football?is the biggest global sport and a top 10 sport in all countries measured, as well as the dominant sport in South America, Europe, and Africa. For instance, the world cup final is watched by an estimated 600 million people. Hence, there are millions and millions of fans who are following their favorite club and top players - daily. Some are just crazy about them. Thus, one of the reasons sports NFTs have become popular is because they allow football fans a new way to connect with clubs and participate in the sport, even when there isn’t a match on. Add the ability to collect, own, and trade and tokens associated with football, and it’s not that crazy anymore as to why?Sorare?is now a $4.3B company. It looks like NFTs are only getting started here…

Are Crypto Wallets going mainstream? ??

The Robinhood effect ???Retail stock-trading giant?Robinhood?just announced the rollout of a crypto wallet. The wallet will be available for a small test group in the next few weeks, and then to the rest of its users next year.

The wallet ????The upcoming Robinhood wallet will allow users to trade, send and receive crypto tokens inside the app. The update brings Robinhood an oft-requested feature for crypto users and brings the app deeper into the crypto ecosystem.

Users had previously been able to buy and sell a few cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin and Bitcoin but had been unable to send those coins to external wallets or receive them from elsewhere.

Not your wallet - not your coins ???When you now buy crypto on Robinhood, the company buys it and then stores it in its own wallet. Crypto maxis say it defeats the entire purpose of crypto, hence, Robinhood is finally addressing that.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

So crypto wallets going mainstream??To some extent, definitely yes, and Robinhood is the driving force here. As I’ve written?earlier , Robinhood derived almost 50% of its revenues last quarter from trading crypto, with more than 60% of which came from trading one coin - Doge. That said, it’s obvious that the stock brokerage app is doubling down on crypto in an attempt to take on more crypto-curious clientele. Obviously, this effectively will bring even more regulatory obscurity to its doorstep, but you gotta risk those rewards! ??

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??

• Bitcoin in the Big Screen??As detailed in a tweet by AMC's Adam Aron, the theater chain is going to begin accepting Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin for online ticket and concession payments by the end of the year. That tweet was addressed to “cryptocurrency enthusiasts.”
• Another one… ??♂? pNetwork, cross-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, announced recently that it suffered an attack and lost 277 pBTC (worth over $12M at current prices). pBTC is a version of wrapped bitcoin in the pNetwork ecosystem. Wrapped bitcoin is a token on a smart contract blockchain that is backed by an equivalent amount of bitcoin. It's created so that the bitcoin can be used in DeFi protocols, to generate yield for instance. In this case, the pBTC exists on various blockchains, including Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
• Law-abiding citizen ???Following lawsuit threats by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC),?Coinbase?is killing its proposed loan product?Coinbase Lend ?and its associated waitlist. “Our goal is to create great products for our customers and to advance our mission to increase economic freedom in the world,” the company said in a?blog post . “As we continue our work to seek regulatory clarity for the crypto industry as a whole, we’ve made the difficult decision not to launch the USDC APY program.”

Money Moves??

• Ripio , a Latin American platform focused on crypto brokerage, has announced a $50M Series B investment led by?Digital Currency Group, according to?LABS.
• Dapper Labs, the company behind NFT-based?NBA Top Shot, has closed a?$250M funding round. Insiders value the company at $7.6B.?
• Iceland-headquartered bitcoin mining firm?Genesis Digital Assets?has?raised $431M?in a strategic funding round led by investment firm Paradigm.
• Blockdaemon?is now worth $1.26B.?Its funding infusion coincides with a push away from Ethereum and toward different blockchains.

Continue reading by subscribing to?Linas's Newsletter.?You will receive fresh news about FinTech, Blockchain & Crypto, with hot takeaways every day.

P.S.?You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

???The Perfect Pitch Deck: How Coinbase Raised Seed Capital and Began Journey Towards $100B Worth Public Company

???Cutting Through the Noise: Bitcoin Fundamentals & Why it Was Created

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About: I am?a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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