The Daily: Metaplanet buys more bitcoin, PayPal and Venmo integrate ENS, Core Scientific eyes $30 billion valuation via AI and more

Happy Tuesday! In today's Daily, Metaplanet buys more bitcoin, PayPal and Venmo integrate ENS for crypto payments, Core Scientific eyes a $30 billion valuation via AI and more.

Meanwhile, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison is set to face sentencing on Sept. 24 following fraud charges connected to FTX's collapse.

Let's get started.

Japan's Metaplanet buys more bitcoin

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet announced the purchase of an additional 38.4 BTC , worth about 300 million yen ($2 million).

• The acquisition brings the Tokyo-listed firm's total bitcoin holdings to 398.8 BTC, valued at approximately $23 million.
• Metaplanet's stock traded up 5.9% on Tuesday amid the announcement, changing hands for 1,101 yen by market close, according to TradingView.
• Metaplanet has been on a buying spree in recent months after announcing in May that it had started to adopt bitcoin as its strategic treasury reserve asset.
• "The move is a direct response to sustained economic pressures in Japan, notably high government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates and the consequently weak yen," the firm said at the time.
• While mirroring the corporate bitcoin plan pioneered by MicroStrategy, Metaplanet's holdings represent just 0.2% of the Michael Saylor-founded firm's 226,500 BTC ($12.9 billion).

PayPal, Venmo integrate ENS for crypto payments

PayPal and Venmo have integrated the Ethereum Name Service into their payment platforms, enabling U.S. users to send crypto using human-readable ENS names like alice.eth instead of more complex wallet addresses.

• The new feature simplifies crypto transactions on the platforms by automatically identifying wallet addresses linked to ENS names entered by users.
• ENS Labs claims the integration will reduce the risk of errors in crypto transactions on PayPal and Venmo and make it easier for users to manage their wallet addresses.
• ENS, founded with an Ethereum grant in 2017, says it has more than 2 million names registered on-chain.
  Paypal and Venmo started supporting cryptocurrencies in 2021.

Bitcoin miner Core Scientific eyes $25-$30 billion valuation with AI services

Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan sees an exponential growth opportunity from its AI data center services, potentially becoming a $25 to $30 billion company in the next few years from $2.5 billion today.

• However, that depends on whether or not the firm can demonstrate the ability to deliver gigawatt scale AI data centers beyond its initial 382MW deal with CoreWeave, Sullivan said in an interview with Bernstein.
• While the Core Scientific CEO claimed no other data center company is delivering that size, the firm has also carved out a niche for itself by delivering on a sub-three-year timeline compared to three to five years for its competitors.
• Despite the higher revenue and margins of diversifying into high-performance computing services like AI data centers, other Bitcoin miners are yet to compete in the space, according to Sullivan.

Nansen diversifies into staking services with acquisition

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen has acquired staking services provider StakeWithUs , aiming to diversify the platform into cryptocurrency investments.

• The on-chain data provider said it plans to integrate StakeWithUs into its platform, enabling users to stake more than 20 cryptocurrencies, including assets on Ethereum, Solana and Sui, directly through Nansen.
• "Over time, users will be equipped with the tools to both evaluate the performance of and stake a diverse selection of tokens supported by all these blockchains," Nansen said.
• Nansen did not disclose the size of the acquisition deal.

Paxos plans expansion to Arbitrum

Paxos is set to launch on the Layer 2 network Arbitrum One , expanding its service offerings beyond Ethereum, Polygon and Solana.

• Paxos plans to bring its stablecoin issuance and regulated tokenization platform to Arbitrum, aiming to boost the network's DeFi ecosystem.
• Arbitrum One is one of the largest Layer 2 networks, with over $4 billion in total value locked.
• Paxos said it expects the adoption of stablecoins by retail and institutional users to "explode" in the next three years.

In the next 24 hours

• UK GDP data are released at 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The latest U.S. CPI inflation figures follow at 8:30 a.m. Est. MoM 0.2%; Core 0.2%. Est. YoY 2.6%; Core 3.2%.
• The first Trump vs. Harris debate, hosted by ABC News, is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening.
• ETHSafari continues in Kenya as the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival gets underway.

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