Gwyneth Paltrow denies backing NFT project Wild, Coinbase eyes AI after earnings lift shares

Gwyneth Paltrow denies backing NFT project

Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow’s team denies she invested in NFT project Wild.

Wild burst onto the scene earlier this year as a startup aimed at aspiring artists and backed by a flurry of angel investors such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Paltrow was at the time named as one of Wild’s investors. However, a representative from her wellness brand Goop labelled the notion that Paltrow invested in Wild as “completely false,” according to The Block.

Wild shot back, telling The Block that the “initial reporting is correct.”

The news comes after several celebrities were caught in the FTX fallout and now face lawsuits due to their alleged involvement with the failed exchange.

Coinbase eyes AI tech as earnings beats estimates

Coinbase is exploring artificial intelligence after the company reported modest losses in the first quarter on Thursday.

Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas told Bloomberg that AI is “the talk of the town.” Haas also confirmed that the crypto exchange will explore opportunities to cut costs and improve the customer experience with the burgeoning tech.

Coinbase reported a loss of $79 million in the first quarter, better than many analysts predicted. The stock rallied more than 10% in pre-market New York trading.

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Block’s Cash App revenues up 25% thanks to Bitcoin sales

Payment-transfer company Block reported a 26% increase in revenue in the first quarter, and attributed much of the increase to its Cash App digital wallet.

Cash App saw a 25% increase on the year in Bitcoin sales, at $2.16 billion in total. Block exceeded analyst expectations with an earnings per share of 40 cents compared to a predicted 30 cents. Block is headed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

SushiSwap launches v3 liquidity pools

Decentralised exchange SushiSwap launched its version three liquidity pools across 13 networks on Thursday.

Liquidity pools are smart contracts containing large portions of cryptocurrency, digital assets, tokens, or virtual coins. Basically, they are reserves that can provide liquidity for networks that facilitate decentralised trading.

The new liquidity pools will be available on chains such as Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum.

The v3 pools are touted by the company as “more efficient,” and will be available on around 30 blockchains upon final implementation.

The news comes on the back of an April hack which saw $3.3 ransacked from the protocol.

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Organisation calls on Congress to implement ‘internal audit function’ for exchanges

The Institute of Internal Auditors recommended that the US enforces an “internal audit function” on crypto exchanges in a letter to Congress on Thursday.

The auditor association’s letter contained four proposals which outlined concerns initially voiced by the organisation in 2022 following the collapse of popular exchange FTX.

The IIA said controls on US exchanges would bolster investor confidence and promote transparency in crypto markets.

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Voyager ‘weeks’ away from paying creditors

Bankrupt lender Voyager Digital is “weeks” away from paying its creditors, according to the case’s Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.

The statement comes despite a failed $1.3 billion deal last month where crypto exchange Binance.US pulled out of buying the firm’s assets.

Voyager will liquidate its assets after the submission of a conditional filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

More web3 news from around the web…

The SEC has 10 days to respond to Coinbase — Axios

Biden wants ‘to get rid of crypto,’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warns — The Block

Crypto has ‘lost its shine’ for institutional investors, says Northern Trust executive — CNBC