On this week’s e-newsletter, examine the US Securities and Change Fee (SEC) dropping its investigation into the non-fungible token (NFT) market OpenSea, NFT recreation Illuvium chopping its workforce to hurry up its improvement, and in different information, discover out why Gunzilla Video games’ Web3 director thinks the blockchain gaming market is a “recreation of musical chairs.”
SEC drops investigation into NFT market OpenSea
OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer mentioned the SEC has closed its investigation into the NFT market. The chief mentioned this was a win for everybody creating and constructing the house. Finzer mentioned classifying NFTs as securities “misinterprets the regulation and slows innovation.”
In August 2024, the SEC issued a Wells discover to OpenSea, opening its investigation. The regulator alleged that the NFT buying and selling platform operated as a market for unregistered securities.
Magic Eden chief enterprise officer Chris Akhavan mentioned that whereas OpenSea is their competitor, he views the event as a win for the trade. The chief mentioned that whereas they’re rivals, they each deeply imagine in NFTs and what they permit.
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Illuvium CEO says agency has gone ‘tremendous lean’ to hurry up improvement
NFT creature collector recreation Illuvium reduce about 40% of its workforce within the final two weeks as the corporate makes an attempt to hurry up its recreation improvement timeline. Illuvium co-founder and CEO Kieran Warwick instructed Cointelegraph that the corporate had been downsizing within the final two years after peaking at 200 workers.
The newest layoff diminished the employees rely from 110 to 65. Warwick mentioned not one of the workers who had been let go had been builders, however labored in different capacities like advertising, operations, safety and high quality assurance.
The chief mentioned that whereas it’s a “somber second,” the corporate goals to be extra environment friendly. He added that they labored 12 to fifteen hours every day of their first yr after they solely had 50 to 60 folks “smashing out as a lot work as doable.”
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Blockchain gaming market is a ‘recreation of musical chairs’ — Gunzilla exec
Gunzilla Video games Web3 director Theodore Agranat mentioned blockchain gaming has develop into a “recreation of musical chairs.” The chief instructed Cointelegraph at Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong that no “new cash” is coming into the system.
Agranat mentioned the house’s current capital is being recycled between initiatives, and no new worth enters the ecosystem. The chief additionally mentioned that there’s no loyalty in blockchain gaming. He mentioned gamers will go from venture to venture and extract no matter worth they will. After that, they transfer on to a different venture.
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Thanks for studying this digest of the week’s most notable developments within the NFT house. Come once more subsequent Wednesday for extra studies and insights into this actively evolving house.