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Celsius executives cashed out $17m dollars in the months before the embattled crypto lending platform announced insolvency. Many of these execs have since resigned from the company. Let this serve as a friendly reminder: If you don’t know where the yield is coming from, it’s probably you.

A major DeFi protocol is investing $500m into US treasury bills and corporate bonds, floor prices for Renga NFTs are going through the roof, and our Research team looks into Internet Game’s Season 2.

This is the Delphi Daily. Let’s dive in.

🚨 In Case You Missed It

Top executives at bankrupt crypto lender Celsius withdrew between $17-23m in crypto during the months before the company suspended withdrawals.
The Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance agree to approve the use of crypto in international trade. Elsewhere, Russia blocks access to crypto exchange OKX.
On the other hand, the EU tightens sanctions on Russia with a ban on crypto payments from Russia and a ban on providing crypto services to Russians.
MakerDAO allocates $500m for investment in US treasury bills (80%) and investment-grade corporate bonds (20%).
Greyscale partners with Foundry to launch a fund that will purchase distressed bitcoin mining assets.

📊 The Rise of Renga NFTs

In the last 30 days, floor prices for Renga NFTs have increased more than 900% from a low of 0.26 ETH to a high of 2.7 ETH. Currently, the floor price sits at 2.08 ETH.
Renga Black Box NFTs, which holders can burn to mint a Renga NFT, have also charted a similar trajectory. In the last 30 days, floor prices for the Black Box NFTs have also increased more than 900% from a low of 0.47 ETH to a high of 4.72 ETH. Currently, the floor price sits at 4.18 ETH.
Renga is a PFP collection created by the artist DirtyRobot. The artist has previous NFT experience and has sold several NFTs for double-digit ETH prices. Renga Black Box NFTs were airdropped to holders of his first NFT collection.
In the last 7 days, the combined volume of Renga and Black Box NFTs on OpeaSea has been greater than the combined volume of CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Art Blocks.
Renga has cultivated a community that genuinely enjoys the artwork. The collection has received a large amount of attention from various Twitter influencers as well.
The collection does not have a clear roadmap, and its future will be largely decided by the team and the community’s preferences.
For more on Renga NFTs, Delphi members can read our latest NFT Insights report here.

⚡ September Gaming Insights

After a successful season one, Internet Game officially launched its season two gaming event. This season saw 4,800 tickets minted at 0.069 ETH each. The season raised more than 300 ETH, out of which 120 ETH was set aside for the prize pool.
The first single-player game went live on Sept 22nd, and roughly 3,600 players are steadily stacking points based on their performance in the game.
The main event will consist of three multiplayer, live-action games hosted by gmoney and Leah Lamarr. The final rounds (on Sept 28th, 30th, and Oct 3rd) are expected to be a high-stakes experience.
Internet Game season one launched in Q1 2022 and was a big success. The season raised $2.1m during the mint and a further $2m+ in transaction fees.
There were more than $1m in NFT prizes, including BAYC, MAYC, CloneX, Doodles, and many others that were all voted in by the community.
The market downturn has certainly dampened the hype compared to season one. The team has still improved upon season one with the lessons learned and the player experience has been extremely enjoyable so far.
Internet Game is not trying to build the next AAA web3 game. The team is much more interested in creating interactive community events centered around play.
For more on gaming, Delphi members can read our Delphi Pro report here.

🐣 Notable Tweets

Making Web3 Games Fun and Sustainable

🌶️ SPICY TAKE 🌶️ Fun games won’t solve blockchain gaming

(1/20) – A 🧵👇 with memes and an article with actionable insights

— nickmetzler.eth (@MetzlerGames) Oct 4, 2022

History of Gaming and its Web3 Future

Web3 Gaming Manifesto – The History of Gaming and its Web3 Future

I read 400+ pages of books, academic papers, and blogs about video game economic design so you don’t have to!

Some of these findings will surprise you🧵
1/50

— Sal.xyz (@sal_coin) Oct 1, 2022