'The Godfather' of Crypto goes down 🏗️

GM Builders! 🚧

Welcome back for a fun evening read of the BW3 newsletter— an edition that might just remind you its Friday 🗓️ 

Here’s what we pulled in for you today:

• Weekly Roundup 📍 

• Down goes ‘The Godfather’ 👇️ 

• Deal Flow Friday 💸 

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP 📍 

This week in crypto has been packed with significant events and trends across the board. Here’s your quick catch-up:

BTC on the move in the right direction 📈 
Bitcoin is defying the September slump, cruising towards one of its biggest gains for the month. Thanks to global interest-rate cuts—most notably from the US Federal Reserve—Bitcoin is gaining traction as a hedge in this lower-rate environment. September's supposed to be slow? Not for BTC.

Regulatory and Legal Actions ⚖️ 

• The SEC settled with Mango Markets who agreed to destroy MNGO tokens

• A lawsuit involving Swan Bitcoin claims former employees tried to steal its bitcoin mining business, allegedly with a little help from Tether. Drama much?

Technological and Project Developments 🏗️ 

• Celestia's TIA token soared, posting the biggest monthly gain this year, even with an upcoming token unlock. Normally, that means more sell pressure, but Celestia’s holding strong, showing there’s serious interest in their projects.

• Sky (formerly MakerDAO) is gearing up to launch its decentralized stablecoin USDS on Solana. This could beef up Solana’s DeFi ecosystem with some juicy cross-chain integration.

Big Moves 💪 

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs are all the rage, with BlackRock's IBIT drawing massive inflows.

• On the dev side, Jupiter launched Metropolis, a new API platform on Solana, to simplify development for blockchain projects—because who doesn’t love faster, easier building?

Crypto Sentiment & Public Figures 😀
Crypto and politics are nothing new. But on X, people are talking about Kamala Harris dipping her toes into the crypto pool and Mark Cuban potentially eyeing the SEC Chairman role.

Overall, it’s been a week of big gains, regulatory battles, and other big moves, proving that crypto continues to cement its place in both traditional finance and the tech world, all while navigating its usual share of risks and innovations. 🌐 

CRYPTO’S “THE GODFATHER” GOES DOWN 👇️ 

In a tale straight out of a crime drama, Adam Iza, the crypto mogul behind Zort, is in deep water after being arrested for allegedly running an extortion scheme with the help of L.A. County sheriff’s deputies. 👮 

Known in the crypto world as "The Godfather," Iza allegedly paid cops tens of thousands of dollars to conduct unlawful searches and arrests, all while hiding millions from tax collectors. 😂 

The charges?

Conspiracy against rights and tax evasion…

BUT the story doesn’t stop there. Iza supposedly spent his hidden funds on flashy luxuries:

• a Lamborghini Aventador

• a Rolls Royce Phantom

• a Bel Air mansion

AND even $64,000 on leg-lengthening surgery. Guess it takes more than just a big crypto portfolio to stand tall in his world. 🤣 

Here’s the real kicker:

Iza allegedly paid deputies $280,000 a month for their "services" and was involved in a 2021 kidnapping attempt, all in a bid to get his hands on a former business associate’s crypto-stacked laptop. But things went south when the victim, identified as "E.Z.," escaped and called 911, bringing the feds into the mix.

The fallout? Several deputies have been relieved of duty as the investigation continues, and Iza now faces serious charges with court appearances looming. His lawyer claims “things aren’t what they seem”—but with a track record like this, it’s hard to imagine there’s a clean slate behind that crypto empire. 👑 

So, who’s the real Godfather here—Satoshi or Iza?

DEAL FLOW FRIDAY 💸

The Web3 world is buzzing with action as major projects continue to secure significant funding rounds. Here's a quick look at the top deal flow highlights this week:

1. Celestia (TIA)

   • Raised: $100M

   • Category: Infrastructure

   • Investors: Bain Capital Crypto, 1kx, Robot Ventures

   • What they do: Celestia is all about modular blockchain infrastructure, making decentralized applications more scalable by decoupling consensus and execution layers.

2. Infinex

   • Raised: $62M

   • Category: DeFi, Infrastructure

   • Investors: Wintermute, Framework, Moonrock Capital

   • What they do: “The UX Layer”

3. Pencils Protocol (PenPad)

   • Raised: $30M

   • Category: Ethereum Ecosystem, Launchpad

   • Investors: N/A (Public sale)

   • What they do: Pencils Protocol offers a unique solution in the Ethereum and Scroll ecosystems, enabling decentralized access to fundraising through its launchpad.

4. Initia

   • Raised: $14M (Series A)

   • Category: Cosmos Ecosystem, Infrastructure

   • Investors: Theory Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Hack VC

   • What they do: Initia is expanding the Cosmos ecosystem by combining Layer 1 (L1) technology with application-specific Layer 2 (L2) infrastructure, aiming to create scalable and interconnected blockchains.

5. Mawari Network

   • Raised: $10.8M

   • Category: AI, DePIN, Metaverse

   • Investors: Anfield Ltd, Borderless Capital, 1kx

   • What they do: Mawari Network is all about building the infrastructure for decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), combining AI and metaverse technologies. T

These deals mark another strong week of innovation and investment in the Web3 space, with focus on infrastructure, DeFi, and metaverse tech.

Keep your eyes peeled—these projects are paving the way. 🛣️ 

MEME CITY 🏙️ 

Until next time, Builders! 🏗️ 

Keep shipping but please go touch some grass, I know I need to. 🦗