Five Projects With Updates This Week

Once again, It’s been an eventful week for the blockchain and crypto ecosystem. Here are five Web3 projects with key updates.

Web3 music streaming platform Audius announced on Thursday that it is adding support for TikTok. With the integration, new users can create accounts on Audius by linking their TikTok profiles. Users will be able to import their handle, information, and verification status. Additionally, users can share Audius songs on TikTok to amplify Audius’ reach and provide greater exposure to a larger audience.

Audius is a decentralized music streaming platform that empowers artists and curators. It removes middlemen and allows artists to retain full ownership of their music. Audius doesn’t take a cut from artists’ revenue. Music curators can earn up to 90% of their revenue in AUDIO, the platform’s token.

“TikTok has grown into a social-media juggernaut over the past few years, and we’d love to let the Audius ecosystem tap into that,” Browning said. “Anything that’s good for artists is good for the Audius community, and by letting artists import their verified status from TikTok, we think it’ll attract an even wider group of talent.”

Aptos Launches Accelerator Program With Outlier Ventures

The Aptos Foundation is now accepting applications for The Aptos x Outlier Move Accelerator Program. The program will be held in-person at Aptos Labs headquarters located in Palo Alto. It will also prioritize developers who build using the Move language.

Aptos Foundation, behind the development of the Aptos protocol, decentralized network and ecosystem. Aptos (APT) is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain that uses its own programming language, Move.

Web3 accelerators have become increasingly important in the ecosystem. They support early-stage startups by providing funding, mentorship, and other resources.

“We see strong synergies between Aptos Foundation and our goal of helping to educate and inform startups on how to improve and run their business, to help onboard one billion people into Web3,” said Jamie Burke, Founder and CEO of Outlier Ventures.  “More than ever, there is a need to enable a new form of secure and efficient blockchain, as more and more companies and users begin to adopt Web3 technology. Partnering with Aptos Foundation on The Aptos x Outlier Move Accelerator, Outlier Ventures brings its unparalleled deep knowledge and network within the industry to provide tailored support for founders building in Web3.”  

Web3 Veterans Dapper Labs To Lay Off 20% of Staff

Dapper Labs, the parent company of NBA Top Shot, is restructuring and laying off 20% of full-time employees. CEO Roham Gharegozlou announced this decision to investors on Wednesday. He emphasized the need for the right cost structure for long-term growth. 

According to the CEO, Dapper Labs is in a strong financial position with no outstanding debt, despite previous layoffs. 

A recent federal court ruling classified Dapper’s NBA Top Shot Moments non-fungible tokens as securities. Gharegozlou confirmed that no substantive decision had been made and the case would not be going to discovery.

NBA Top Shot is a blockchain-based platform for buying, selling, and trading officially licensed NBA collectible highlights, known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). When it launched in 2020, It was one of the earliest NFT collections by a major intellectual brand.

Eclipse To Launch First Solana Virtual Machine Layer 2 With Polygon

Polygon (MATIC), the leading Ethereum scaling protocol, is partnering with Eclipse to launch Polygon SVM, the first Solana-equivalent scaling solution. Eclipse, a Polygon Ventures portfolio company and recipient of a Solana Foundation grant, will deploy the Sealevel virtual machine (SVM) Layer 2 blockchain for Polygon SVM. 

This will enable dApps built for Solana to easily migrate or go multichain to Polygon SVM. It will provide users with a faster and more efficient experience. The new Solana-equivalent blockchain will offer superior speed for developers building games and DeFi applications. enabling new use cases and traffic for Polygon.

“We are thrilled to see Eclipse launch Polygon SVM on the Polygon Network, which will provide developers with a powerful new blockchain infrastructure,” Urvit Goel, VP of Games and Platform at Polygon Labs. “Our vision has always been to see development of novel modular blockchain architectures, and Polygon SVM is the latest addition to the ecosystem of cutting-edge scaling solutions.”

Google Cloud Partners With Tezos Blockchain For Web3 Tech

On Wednesday, Google Cloud announced a partnership with the Tezos Foundation. This partnership aims to grow web3 app development and provide new services for customers. Furthermore, Google Cloud plans to make it easier for all customers to become Tezos “bakers,” or network validators.

Tezos’ (XTZ) proof-of-stake mechanism is designed to help run the protocol and rewards its bakers. Google Cloud, along with existing bakers like Ubisoft, will become a baker. Tezos is an open-source proof-of-stake blockchain with more than 2.3 million funded accounts across 158.6 million transactions. It has partnered with major brands like Manchester United, McLaren, and Société Générale.

“Tezos as an ecosystem has built a reputation in institutional and B2B onboarding,” Mason Edwards, chief commercial officer at Tezos Foundation, told TechCrunch. He added, “This is going to enable us to onboard institutions and even more massive institutions into this space. This is going to be jet fuel and octane for that.”