The Daily: Atari Partners Decentralized Gaming Company, Tagomi Goes Live

In today’s edition of The Daily, we cover stories that show how crypto assets and technology continue to impact the development of everything, from mobile games to artificial intelligence. We also feature a new crypto trading venue that aims to bring in more investment from ultra wealthy families and institutions.



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Blockchain-Based Atari Mobile Games

Classic gaming company Atari has announced it entered into a license agreement with the exclusive distributor of Crypto Kitties in China, Animoca Brands. The deal grants Animoca the rights to develop decentralized versions of the Atari mobile games Roller Coaster Tycoon and Goon Squad, and to market them around the world excluding greater China. The titles will feature what the companies refer to as “non-fungible tokens.”

“This deal marks a special moment for me because I started my career working with Atari and using Atari computers,” said Yat Siu, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands. “The Roller Coaster Tycoon franchise is, like many of Atari’s properties, a true evergreen, having been around for two decades. Given the strategic and commercial elements of this incredibly fun simulation, it is a perfect candidate for blockchain adaptation.”

Animoca expects to publish the games in the latter half of 2019. It will pay Atari a minimum guarantee against future revenues of $250,000, payable in shares of the company’s stock, and a revenue share will be payable to Atari after gross revenues exceed a total of $500,000. The terms of the deal extend through to March 31, 2022.

“We are proud and delighted to enter into this long-term and strategic relationship with Animoca Brands, which also allows us to become a shareholder in one of the most exciting innovators in the world of decentralized gaming,” said Frédéric Chesnais, the main shareholder and CEO of Atari. “We hope that this agreement paves the way to further cooperation on other Atari products.”

Bitcoin Prime Brokerage Tagomi Goes Live

Tagomi, an electronic brokerage offering prime services for digital assets, has announced it began executing client trades on Monday. In addition to access to cash spot markets and OTC liquidity, the venue offers institutional operational standards, treasury management, low transaction-costs, transparency, custody solutions, and other services.

“At this nascent stage for digital assets, investors are seeking a better way to execute large trades,” said Jennifer Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of Tagomi. “We’re excited to have built that. Our focus is on providing our clients, which include financial institutions, high net worth individuals and other sophisticated digital asset investors, a comprehensive solution that eases the operational challenges associated with trading at scale in this emerging asset class.”

The company has raised $16 million to date from notable investors such as Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Collaborative Fund, SV Angel, Joe Lonsdale, Brainchild, Digital Currency Group, Zhen Fund, Box Group, Elad Gil, Charlie Noyes, and others.

Tagomi’s management team comes from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Virtu Financial, Citadel, Nasdaq and other mainstream financial companies. “Cryptocurrency trading lacks the transparency and sophisticated execution that top family offices and wealth management firms have come to expect. I’m excited to see an ambitious team with the right experience in finance and technology fix this, creating a solution we trust,” said Joe Lonsdale, Founder of Palantir and Addepar.

Decentralized AI Network Launches Developer Portal

Singularitynet is a project promising to leverage blockchain to democratize access to Artificial Intelligence. Its founder, Dr. Ben Goertzel, recently went on the Joe Rogan podcast to explain how the technology powering cryptocurrency can be used to make sure that no single corporation or government will be able to dominate AI.

The company is today launching a portal meant to enable developers to discover, learn, and adopt the decentralized AI network. It aims to provide detailed resources, tutorials, descriptions, and guides, letting anyone create and monetize AI services at scale. Singularitynet states that while many companies are “struggling in the wake of the current crypto winter,” it continues to evolve and will be launching its beta in February 2019.

The foundation associated with the venture also just hosted its inaugural developer workshop in Helsinki, Finland, with over 250 participants. “We were really excited at the level of enthusiasm for the workshop and have already planned follow-ups and a number of video tutorials and webinars to meet the demand,” said Dr. Goertzel. “In subsequent workshops, we’ll follow these themes and add new AI content. This is a significant milestone for the Singularitynet project and its rapid movement from concept to reality — just a couple of months before the February beta release.”

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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