Crypto news never sleeps, although we have to occasionally. Before that happens, though, here’s some of the latest Web3 happenings from around the blockchain.

Polygon’s adoption as a favoured blockchain for big brands continues, with Doritos planning its NFT mints on the leading Layer 2 network. 

• The FTX firm’s debtors are chasing funds for creditors and they’re currently taking a firm line on US political entities who received donations last year. 

• Robert “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Kiyosaki reiterates his liking for Bitcoin, while billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya is bullish on the market. 

 

Doritos goes crypto digital

The crypto-adoption beast that is the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain simply can’t be stopped, it seems. Latest news?  Famed American corn chip maker Doritos is launching a series of Polygon-based NFTs.

Like plenty of other big brands in recent times (e.g. Disney, Coca-Cola, Nike, Adidas, Gucci) Doritos is making a move into the metaverse – partly through the Decentraland (MANA) platform, and partly through NFTs housed on Polygon.

According to an official Doritos statement shared on Twitter, the company is set to launch its first metaverse venue, called Doritos Triangle Studios, on the Decentraland platform. And that kicks off on February 8 and runs till Feb 10, with mini-games, airdrops and lotteries that amount to US$25,000 in giveaways.

Said prizes will include high-end custom gaming PCs, NFTs (the odd rare, valuable one), and various pieces of merch. All NFTs in the campaign will be minted on Polygon (MATIC), adding to the Layer 2 blockchain’s reputation as being a go-to for large brands when it comes to NFTs.

Disney, Adidas, Prada, Draftkings, Starbucks, Meta, NFL, Adobe, Reddit… these are just some of the other big names utilising Polygon for NFT-related activity.

 

FTX warns US pollies to return donations by end of Feb

The poor, but extremely well paid, sods brought in to clean up the FTX exchange mess have made it clear they want the political donations made by Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX execs returned. And they’ve now set an end-of-February deadline, according to a statement released yesterday.

It’s highly possible this may be causing a rise in the incidence of sweat stains in Washington right now as FTX-funding recipients possibly scramble to find/recall where, exactly, those funds actually ended up.

How much money are we talking? Oh, only at least US$84 million, according to an OpenSecrets.org public spreadsheet. And that’s a nonprofit that monitors US campaign finance and lobbying.

The request/demand is part of the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings being led by the new FTX CEO John Ray III, the guy who also oversaw the famous Enron bankruptcy saga. The aim is to repay as much as can be recovered to the exchange’s creditors, with total liabilities amounting to nearly US$9 billion.

The firm statemnt requests that “contributions or other payments” be returned by Feb 28, and further warns that FTX would go after funds not returned voluntarily through legal means “with interest accruing from the date any action is commenced”.

“The FTX Debtors are sending confidential messages to political figures, political action funds, and other recipients of contributions or other payments,” reads the statement.

 

Bitcoin is ‘people’s money’: Kiyosaki

Two rich blokes who’ve made a name for their investing nouse have both said some pretty bullish things about crypto in the past few days.

Well, in Robert Kiyosaki’s case, about Bitcoin specifically. The author of the 1997 Rich Dad Poor Dad self-help financial tome discussed the OG digital asset on his Rich Dad Radio Show podcast late last week, nominating gold, silver and Bitcoin as “the hottest subject(s) on the market today”.

Describing the US dollar as “fake money”, Kiyosaki said:

“I like Bitcoin. I call it people’s money. Now I don’t know much about Bitcoin, but I’m just glad I bought it at six. That’s all I know right now.”

We presume he means he bought it at $6k, by the way, although he did tell Kitco News in April last year that he’d bought BTC at US$9,000. “I think it’s going to $1.2 million in five more years,” he crystal balled at that time.

 

‘Off to the races’: Chamath Palihapitiya

Meanwhile, according to Daily Hodl, billionaire US/Canadian investor Chamath Palihapitiya says markets are likely to witness more bursts to the upside following the recent comments from Fed boss Jerome Powell.

Speaking on the All-In podcast he frequents, Palihapitiya referred to the change in gear from the Fed with regards to now easing off rate hiking and attempt a soft landing.

Referencing Powell’s recent post-FOMC-meeting speech, Palihapitiya said: “The reality was he basically capitulated. And then the market essentially said, ‘Okay, we’re at the end of this thing.’

“We’ve talked about this before but markets tend to bottom six to nine months before it’s clear that you could have done this. And so, we’re a little bit off to the races in the short term.”