'Everyone Is Freaking Out.' What's Going On With Silicon Valley Bank? Federal Government Takes Control.

Panic spread as the financial losses of one slightly obscure California bank rippled in the stock value of banks in the U.S. — and now, the federal government has stepped in.

The government is stepping in again — just don't call it a "bailout."

After Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) went under, marking the largest bank failure since the 2008 recession, the federal government announced on Sunday that all depositors in the failed Silicon Valley Bank would be covered in full.

What’s Going on With Silicon Valley Bank?

‘Stay calm’

Silicon Valley Bank was founded in 1983 and over the decades became the go-to financial institution for startups. Today, it’s a household name in the Bay Area, deeply enmeshed in tech companies’ networks and infrastructure. SVB isn’t just a bank — it makes equity investments, patronizes startups’ services and sponsors lavish industry parties.

Esports Giant TSM Forges Ahead With Web3 Gaming on Avalanche

Team SoloMid will host tournaments on Blitz Esports’ Avalanche Subnet.

Despite the collapse of FTX and a scrapped $210 million naming rights deal, Team SoloMid’s affinity for crypto hasn’t soured. In fact, the esports org also known as TSM is now building its own crypto sub-network on Avalanche to facilitate esports transactions and tournaments, TSM parent company Swift announced Tuesday.

Esports Giant TSM Enters Into Web3 Gaming Partnership With Avalanche

Avalanche will be TSM's exclusive blockchain partner as it builds out its competitive gaming platform, Blitz.

Top esports team TSM said Tuesday that Avalanche will be its exclusive blockchain partner as TSM builds out its competitive gaming platform, Blitz.

As part of the deal, Avalanche will be launching a custom subnet that uses its native AVAX token as gas to bring Blitz on-chain.

America’s Best Startup Employers

About 50% of startups dissolve within five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With that uncertainty hanging over employees’ heads, it’s no easy feat when they feel engaged, inspired and supported.

But that’s exactly what the companies on Forbes’ fifth annual list of America’s Best Startup Employers have done. Energy businesses searching for sustainable power solutions dominate the very top of the list, while a wide range of industries—well beyond the traditional tech and software sectors—are also some of the highest-rated companies.

Powell Testimony in US Congress could wash out Silvergate FUD from crypto market

Traders are gearing up for Jerome Powell’s hearing before the US Senate committee for the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is expected to come up during the discussion as crypto prices failed to recover despite Monday’s stock market rally.

The crypto market is currently exposed to FUD around the Silvergate crisis.

Crypto Companies Have a New Crisis: Banks May Not Take Their Money

Silvergate Capital is in crisis mode after the crypto bank warned about its ability to “continue as a going concern.” The disclosure, made in a securities filing late Wednesday, sent its stock crashing 55% on Thursday to around $6 a share.

The disclosure also raised questions about the future of crypto companies’ relationships with banks; liquidity in the token market; and whether anyone could step into Silvergate‘s (ticker: SI) shoes if the company doesn’t survive its latest crisis of confidence.

Shopify’s blockchain partnerships are simplifying NFTs for merchants

Sellers are turning to plug-and-play solutions to experiment with Web3.

Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify is often lauded for lowering the barrier to entry for small businesses looking to succeed in the challenging world of online sales. With more than 2 million individual merchants in 175 countries, and an estimated $650 billion in total sales, it would be hard to overstate Shopify’s relevance in today’s retail landscape.

Loco will create esports and streaming experiences on the Avalanche blockchain

Indian game streaming platform Loco has teamed up with the Avalanche blockchain to create new kinds of fan experiences.

Loco is joining the Avalanche Multiverse incentive program and is launching a subnet, expanding Avalanche’s growing footprint in Asia.

A developing and deepening partnership between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Ava Labs is set to assist developers trying to “redefine the internet,” according to AWS’ global head of Web3.

Jeff Hasselman, who has led AWS’ Web3’s efforts since 2017, said during a Wednesday webinar that he has had conversations over the past two years with some of the world’s largest banks and entertainment companies looking to develop their own Web3 initiatives.

Bitcoin and other tokens haven’t budged much since one of the biggest crypto lending firms filed for bankruptcy protection. But don’t be fooled: The ramifications for Bitcoin, other tokens, and the industry are vast.

Genesis Global Holdco and two of its lending subsidiaries sought bankruptcy protection in New York late Thursday, citing the crypto market downturn and the failures of other large firms in the industry.

Despite plummeting crypto markets in 2022, Electric Capital’s annual developer report found that full-time crypto developers reached an all-time high last year, with 23,000 monthly individual developers contributing to open-source code.

The report measured the number of one-time, part-time, and full-time developers contributing to 250 million code commits in open-source code repositories, including GitHub and Bitbucket.

Imagine a world where transactions—selling a house, trading an asset, paying out a claim—finalize in seconds or less. Contract, payment, and receipts are all tied together in a single action, with the history of the trade permanently logged. The transfer does not require third-party involvement, bypassing centralized middlemen, such as banks, brokers, and agents.

Shopify Merchants Can Now Sell Avalanche NFTs Through Their Online Stores

Venly’s Avalanche app is now available to all Shopify merchants, letting them mint and sell NFTs through a no-code interface.

It’s 2023, where we ask Term Sheet readers—a slew of VCs, founders, private equity investors, and bankers—to look into their Crystal Ball and tell us what to expect in the year ahead.

11 crypto leaders on this chaotic year, and what’s next for 2023

Despite obvious setbacks, many in the industry remain hopeful that this moment could be the dawn of a new era.

Cryptocurrency’s meteoric ascent, then spectacular crash back down to Earth—in the span of roughly two years—might go down in history as one of the strangest, most thrilling, most vexing, head-spinning, and heartbreaking sagas of the internet age. And 2022 was both the peak and the valley.

After several crypto bankruptcies, centralized exchanges will lose ground in 2023. But NFTs will find new life in areas such as real estate, VCs said.

Central Bank Digital Currencies: How Will They Work And Could They Kill Crypto

Most people who have heard about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) hate central bank digital currencies. The only people who like central bank digital currencies are the central banks devising them, and maybe a few monetary policy geeks or savvy bulge bracket banks who think they can make a lot of money off them.

Cryptocurrency is coming to the oldest U.S. bank in what experts are calling a major milestone that adds an "aura of legitimacy" to the crypto industry.

Bank of New York Mellon said select clients can now hold and transfer bitcoin and ether via the bank's platform, according to a recent news release. This makes BNY Mellon the first large U.S. bank to safeguard cryptocurrencies in a similar fashion to stocks and bonds, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. The bank will store clients' crypto keys and offer some of the bookkeeping services to fund managers that it does for their other financial assets.

Episode 5 Podcast - Access and Creative Innovation with Web3

Host: Sheila Lirio Narcelo, Co-Founder & CEO of Proof of Learn and Founder of Care.com

Guests: John Wu - President of Ava Labs
Chuey Martinez - Filmmaker