When it comes to unforgettable artifacts in Baldur’s Gate 3, few items carry as much narrative weight (and pure aesthetic dread) as the Necromancy of Thay. This ancient, flesh-bound tome serves as the centerpiece for a major, multi-act questline that tasks players with a divisive choice: do you risk your sanity by reading its forbidden pages, or do you destroy it to prevent its dark magic from corrupting the world?
For those brave (or reckless) enough to crack it open, the rewards are actually worth the risk. Initially, the book grants you the ability to speak with the dead, a pretty cool and useful spell, especially in terms of uncovering crucial secrets or simply discovering what the hell happened in a specific place packed with deceased NPCs. Later on, once you finally unlock its full potential in Act 3, the tome even allows you to summon a small army of ghouls to fight by your side, which is quite handy during the game’s brutal endgame encounters.
Given its utility and unmistakably sinister design (which I personally love), it was only a matter of time before this iconic book crossed over into the real world – and now, you can mark your calendar to secure your very own copy.
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Bringing Forbidden Lore to Your Bookshelf
The publisher Penguin Random House has just revealed that Baldur’s Gate 3: The Necromancy of Thay, an officially licensed product that functions as a stunning replica of the infamous game item, is releasing way sooner than expected.
The gorgeous collectible will hit physical and digital bookstore shelves in literally less than two weeks, launching on July 21, 2026.
The replica is already available on their official website and will carry a reasonable suggested retail price of $25.00 and boasts a total of 272 pages. Most importantly for collectors, the exterior features an exact mirror image of the in-game cover design, with an intricately embossed skull sporting ominous, shimmering amethysts in its eyes and mouth.
However, before you get any grand ideas, it is important to note that purchasing this book won’t actually grant you the ability to converse with the deceased or summon an undead entourage to handle your daily errands – despite the official product description jokingly warning that the pages may contain traces of “unholy content.” That is because this premium replica is technically a blank, high-quality grid-paper notebook.
The gorgeous collectible will hit physical and digital bookstore shelves in literally less than two weeks, launching on July 21, 2026.
While it might not harbor ancient necromantic curses, it is an incredible commemorative item destined for hardcore collectors. Honestly, it sounds like the perfect companion piece for real-life tabletop sessions. Imagine rolling up to your next Dungeons & Dragons game night, setting the actual Necromancy of Thay down on the table, and using it to track your campaign notes! It is bound to instantly impress everyone in your party. And you can check out some images of the physical item and take a quick peek inside its pages in the media gallery right below:
I don’t know about you, but I am definitely setting aside 25 dollars over here to guarantee my pre-order ahead of the upcoming release date. After all, considering my own name is Tay, having the literal Necromancy of Thay sitting prominently on my desk simply sounds incredibly fitting and just feels right, you know?
Avalanche and NEC Corporation signed an MoU to develop a biometric identity verification system for blockchain payments.
A joint whitepaper outlines a framework for identity-verified stablecoin transactions on Avalanche’s multi-chain network.
The design uses NEC’s FaceVC technology while ensuring biometric data is never stored on-chain.
Avalanche, a public blockchain and smart contract platform, and Japanese technology conglomerate NEC Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore integrating biometric identity verification with blockchain-based payments.
The collaboration, announced on July 10, includes publishing a joint technical whitepaper outlining a proposed architecture for identity-verified stablecoin transactions on Avalanche’s multi-chain network.
The global leader in biometric identity is working with Avalanche.@NEC has deployed 1,000+ biometric identity systems across 70+ countries.
Now, NEC and Ava Labs are working together to build an architecture for biometric-verified blockchain based services. pic.twitter.com/CJpr06iOKx
— Avalanche🔺 (@avax) July 10, 2026
The initiative centers on combining NEC’s established biometric technology, known as FaceVC, with Avalanche’s infrastructure. NEC, a player in facial recognition systems, has deployed over 1,000 biometric identification setups across more than 70 countries for applications ranging from law enforcement to national ID programs and large-scale events like Expo 2025 Osaka.
What does the whitepaper include
According to details shared in the announcement, the proposed system would allow users to complete identity verification and stablecoin payments in a single step. Importantly, biometric data itself would not be stored on the blockchain. Instead, the architecture relies on verifiable credentials and selective disclosure mechanisms, where only proof of successful verification is shared on-chain.
The whitepaper describes a three-part structure utilizing Avalanche’s multi-chain design:
A permissioned Layer 1 subnet for managing identity registries, decentralized identifiers (DIDs), and credential revocation without exposing raw biometric information.
SETTL, a dedicated payment chain optimized for stablecoin settlements with built-in privacy features and selective auditability for compliance purposes.
The public C-Chain for handling reward tokens and promotional NFTs.
What it means for users
For everyday users, particularly international travelers in markets like Japan, the proposed system could simplify payments by allowing a single biometric verification to handle identity checks and stablecoin transactions simultaneously. This might reduce friction at merchants and speed up checkout processes compared to repeated document submissions or app logins.
However, the integration of biometric verification raises important concerns. Users must trust that sensitive facial data remains securely stored only in personal wallets and never exposed on-chain, despite the involvement of a large corporation like NEC and permissioned infrastructure. Potential risks include data breaches, function creep where biometric credentials are used beyond payments, and reduced anonymity in blockchain transactions.
While promising convenience, the system introduces new dependencies on biometric accuracy, wallet security, and enterprise-controlled identity layers that may limit user control and raise privacy trade-offs. Adoption will ultimately hinge on whether these risks are effectively mitigated in practice.
Avalanche push for Blockchain payments
In a separate development for the blockchain payments push, Avalanche has officially formed the Avalanche Payments Collective, a new industry group uniting 28 companies and organizations developing payment solutions on its layer-1 blockchain network.
Announced on June 18, the initiative brings together existing builders focused on various aspects of blockchain-based payments, including settlement, stablecoins, treasury management, and cross-border transactions.
The diverse group features participants such as Franklin Templeton, VanEck, WisdomTree, Paxos, Agora, Ethena, Anchorage Digital, Kraken, Zerohash, and the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, along with several specialized firms like SETTL, Nonco, OatFi, and Request Finance.
The collective covers multiple layers of the payments infrastructure stack, from issuance and settlement to foreign exchange, compliance tools, and merchant-facing solutions.
Also Read: Robinhood Chain Outperforms Hyperliquid in Dex Volume
Disclaimer: The information researched and reported by The Crypto Times is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Investing in crypto assets involves significant risk due to market volatility. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and consult with a qualified Financial Advisor before making any investment decisions.
Strategy has started selling Bitcoin to fund dividends on its preferred stock, a shift from its long-standing “never sell” stance that has unsettled the market.
Standard Chartered calls the selling “mostly noise” and a communication problem, and is sticking to its end-2026 Bitcoin forecast of $100,000.
Bitcoin trades around $64,440, up 3.8% on the week but down 42% on the year, while Myriad traders give Strategy a slim chance of holding 1 million BTC this year.
Strategy’s turn from hoarding Bitcoin to selling it, in order to pay dividends on its preferred stock, has “muddied” Bitcoin’s near-term prospects, according to a new Standard Chartered note that nonetheless urges investors to look past it.
Last week, Bitcoin treasury company Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for about $216 million between June 29 and July 5 to cover preferred-share dividends and top up a cash reserve, leaving it with 843,775 BTC. That came after a token sale of just 32 BTC in early June that triggered its worst week since 2022.
In a note published Friday, Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick wrote that the bank sees the sales as “mostly noise rather than a signal” of Bitcoin’s medium-term direction, and kept its end-2026 forecast of $100,000.
Strategy’s mNAV issue
For years Strategy ran a simple machine: as long as its shares traded well above the value of its Bitcoin holdings, a premium captured by a metric called mNAV, it could issue stock, buy more BTC, and lift both its own valuation and Bitcoin’s price. That premium has evaporated.
Standard Chartered puts mNAV at around 1 on an enterprise-value basis, while equity-based trackers land lower: BitcoinTreasuries has the stock at around 0.7 times the value of its Bitcoin on a diluted basis, a discount of roughly a third. Either way, the machine has stalled. Strategy’s BTC stack, bought for $63.7 billion, is worth around $54 billion at current prices, and the firm booked an $8.3 billion loss on its digital assets last quarter, almost all of it unrealized.
Backing the STRC dividend
With the accumulation model stalled, Strategy is repurposing its Bitcoin as collateral for STRC, a perpetual preferred stock known as “Stretch” that pays a 12% annual dividend and has about $10 billion outstanding, per Standard Chartered.
The shares are designed to trade near their $100 par value, but they slid to an intraday low of $71.25 on June 26 after the company disclosed its first Bitcoin sale earlier that month. Price action since suggests “the market has yet to be fully convinced of this pivot,” Kendrick wrote. Under a “BTC Monetization Program” unveiled on June 29, Strategy can raise up to $1.25 billion by selling Bitcoin to keep the dividends funded.
Kendrick argued that clear communication is “key to reassuring markets that wholesale selling is unlikely,” which should pull STRC back toward its $100 par and, in turn, ease pressure on Bitcoin. Because the stock is “heavily over-collateralised” by the Bitcoin behind it, he wrote, effective signaling could remove the need for Strategy to sell any more at all. The analyst noted that the reserve behind the dividend now holds $2.55 billion, almost a year and a half of coverage.
What the market thinks
Bitcoin changed hands around $64,440 on Friday, up 3.8% on the week but down 42% over the past year and about 49% below its October 2025 record of $126,080, per CoinGecko data.
Traders are doubtful Strategy’s buying spree will resume at full tilt. A market on Myriad, a prediction platform owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, puts the chance of the company holding more than 1 million BTC before 2027 at around 13%. Strategy holds 843,775 today, more than 4% of all the Bitcoin that will ever exist.
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Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, Marvel Super Heroes, once again encourages players to get chocolate in their peanut butter as Universes Within and Universes Beyond dovetail in surprising new ways.
From surprising commons to the infinite combo with The Incredible Hulk and Caltrops, there’s a lot to dig into. And, if yo’ve ever wanted to know how one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe can combine with a legendary god of, uh, bugs, then this Izzet (red-blue) combo is worth a look.
Image: Wizards of the Coast/Rimas Valeikis
Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards, is a new four-cost uncommon card from the set that is a 2/4 with reach. Whenever tokens enter, it allows you to draw a card. That ability is very welcome in any capacity, and Richards himself is a nice cheap card, too, sitting at around 50 cents on TCGplayer at the time of writing.
Image: Wizards of the Coast/Lius Lasahido
The other side of this combination is The Locust God, a six-cost 4/4 with flying. There are a few printings, but you can expect to pay around $7 — but it’s well worth the investment. That’s because whenever you draw a card, you can create a 1/1 insect creature token with flying and haste. You can probably see where this is going.
When you draw your first card of the turn, you’ll trigger The Locust God for a 1/1 insect. This then triggers Mister Fantastic, drawing another card and so on and so forth. You’re essentially getting infinite card draw and infinite creature tokens with which to overwhelm your foes. And, thanks to haste, you don’t need to wait another turn to do big damage. Thankfully, Mr. Fantastic’s ability is a “may,” meaning you won’t deck yourself.
The Locust God can trigger card draw on its own, too, with its activated ability. It won’t go infinite, of course, but it might just draw you Mister Fantastic at the moment you need him. In fact, if you get everything going your way, you could play this combo by turn six — sooner if you have some handy ramp. Also pretty scary is that your opponents will need to exile The Locust God to get rid of it for good. That’s because once it dies, it returns to its owner’s hand at the beginning of the next end step.
If you can get some protection on Mister Fantastic like Swiftfoot Boots or something similar, you can rest a little easier knowing that The Locust God can come back to your hand next turn. The Fantastic Four leader is just a great card for Commander, where token production is abundant. Expect to see “Stretcho” pop up in this type of combo quite often.
Image: Wizards of the Coast/Nathaniel Himawan
If you love comic book continuity in your Commander decks, or maybe you’re just a staunch defender of Universes Beyond, then consider adding Red Ghost, Intangible Genius. This classic Fantastic Four villain is a 2/3 that can’t be blocked and has ward 2. It creates 3/3 red Ape Villain tokens with haste when you draw your second card each turn. And, wouldn’t you know it, it’s also an Izzet card so it nestles nicely alongside the unlikely pairing of The Locust God and Mister Fantastic.
Kelly Osbourne’s new swimsuit photos grabbed fans’ attention after the reality star shared fresh vacation snaps.
According to HELLO!, Kelly posted the Instagram images on July 9. She is currently relaxing on a beach with her young son Sidney, whom she shares with ex-fiance Sid Wilson.
Kelly Osbourne and Sid Wilson: relationship and family timeline
Kelly Osbourne shares her son Sidney with musician Sid Wilson.
Sid Wilson is known as a member of the band Slipknot.
Kelly and Sid announced the birth of their son in 2023.
The pair were previously engaged before later reports described them as ex-fiancees.
The photos showed Kelly posing on a boat at sea. She looked relaxed and stylish during the outing.
She wore a white, figure-hugging corset-style swimsuit. She paired it with a wide-brimmed straw hat and statement sunglasses.
The look also showed off her tattoo collection. That included a recent tribute to her late father, Ozzy Osbourne.
According to reports, the tattoo features Ozzy’s iconic round glasses on her thigh. Kelly got it on July 1 in London at the world’s first rotating tattoo studio on The London Eye.
Kelly Osbourne stuns in swimsuit
Underneath Kelly’s post, fans praised her look with many saying she looked amazing. It came after some fans had expressed concern over Kelly’s apparent weight loss.
Kelly previously addressed scrutiny about her weight, saying on Instagram in March: “There is a special kind of cruelty in harming someone who is clearly going through something. Kicking me while I’m down, doubting my pain, spreading my struggles as gossip, and turning your back when I need support and love most.”
Following her latest Instagram post, one fan gushed: “You look amazing, healthy and happy.”
Another wrote: “You look strong and beautiful – so happy to see you enjoying your life as a mother.”
Someone else added: “You’re looking amazing! It does my heart good to see you happy and thriving.”
Meanwhile, a fourth said: “You look amazing babe so happy to see you healthy.”
Sharon Osbourne marks wedding anniversary after Ozzy’s death
The sunny update arrived after a painful moment for the Osbourne family. On July 4, Sharon Osbourne marked her first wedding anniversary since Ozzy’s passing.
Kelly shared a heartfelt public letter to her mother on social media. In it, she wrote: “I often find myself imagining him looking down on you with that magical smile the one that held so much pride and so much love.”
She continued: “I know he would want you to see yourself through his eyes: resilient, compassionate, courageous, and endlessly loving. Every day since he left, you’ve had to learn how to carry both grief and hope in the same heart, and somehow, you’ve continued to do it with extraordinary grace.”
Kelly also praised her mother for moving forward through grief. She added: “He would be so incredibly proud of the woman you are becoming. Not because you’ve forgotten him, but because you’ve found a way to keep living while carrying him with you.
“That takes a strength few people ever truly understand.”
Kelly Osbourne had previously sparked some concern over her weight (Credit: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)
What happened before these beach photos
Kelly later tried to lift Sharon’s spirits with a very different family moment. She shared another post that showed them dressed as clowns.
Ozzy Osbourne’s final weeks: key dates mentioned
Kelly Osbourne got a tribute tattoo for her father on July 1 in London.
Sharon Osbourne marked her first wedding anniversary since Ozzy’s passing on July 4.
Ozzy performed at the “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert in Birmingham on July 5.
Ozzy Osbourne died at home on July 22, according to the report.
She said their friend Evgeny Lebedev hosted a summer clown-themed party. Kelly explained that the event helped take Sharon’s mind off the sad day.
She wrote: “It was the perfect night and made what could have been such a hard day for my mum one we will both never forget. I don’t think we have laughed like that in quite some time,” adding that she was “forever grateful”.
Read more: Kelly Osbourne stuns in sheer dress following scrutiny about her weight
Ozzy passed away on July 22. He left behind Sharon and their children.
His death came just weeks after he performed at the “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert in Birmingham on July 5.
What do you think of this story? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.
Friend and stylist Tom Stubbs has become obsessed with vintage silk bomber jackets – when we saw him in one at a recent event, he looked amazing (above). It’s an interesting category, like a slightly military, fashion version of the gab jacket. Not for everyone for sure, but an easy one to explore if you like a blousy silhouette. Here’s Tom’s story of how he got into them – and where to get one.
By Tom Stubbs.
“I’m not gonna dress like bloody Kevin Bacon in Footloose for this whole series, alright?” my TV-host client instructed with defiance. “How about Don Johnson in Miami Vice, then?” I retorted. And thus my current stylistic obsession was set in motion.
The weekly NFL TV show I was dressing him for needed a wearable Americana accent to the presenter’s wardrobe. I dutifully searched the internet for silky, slinky bomber jackets, with a vague image of Sonny Crockett in mind.
Blow me, what a rich vein of cool, slouchy bomber-chic was revealed. Almost a genre unto itself, silk zip bombers (specifically with an eighties flavour) are certainly out there: a seemingly un-tapped resource that also delivered me a new look I hadn’t even realised I was desperate for. Intriguingly, all of these swiftly acquired ‘vintage’ pieces share particular characteristics.
As the ‘silk-bomb’s’ fundamental feature is silk, naturally they’re all lightweight. Whether Mr Johnson actually wore silky blousons in Miami Vice is beside the point, as the aim was just good-looking, light, TV studio-friendly outerwear in that general feel.
These silk ultra-lights worked well, worn as a cool insertions into the (contemporary) varsity style we’ve been running for the show. And I was left fixated, experimenting with the bevy of silk bombs I’d amassed, unleashing potent stylistic forces.
Although these blousy, parachutey jackets have military origins, they’re impudently non-robust; a contradiction I’m relishing. Rather like how a polo neck knit deformalises a tailoring ensemble, these silk bombs ‘de-functionalise’ military or workwear looks, rendering them comparatively flamboyant and frivolous. I’ve not accessed such light, voluminous men’s gear since Katharine Hamnett reissued her eighties emblematic parachute silks.
The military inspiration is also clear in details like the workwear topstitching and pocket detailing. Some feature huge map pockets and additional panelling. Double and triple stitches run parallel to zips, while hip pockets often have reinforced side entry and buttoned flaps from above.
How to wear
This ‘contra-casual’ style is an effective tool for outfit accenting. On the telly our silk bombs took a conservative edge off Dermot [O’Leary]’s chino-prep, rending it punchier and edgier. Silk juxtaposes well with denim too, which in turn allows quite outré silk colours.
Another presenter client wore a vivid jade bomber (with an amber sweatshirt) against true blue denim, and while I point blank reject the ‘it pops’ terminology, you can imagine the impact.
Even in lively colours the jackets are a surprisingly easy wear, and on that client’s 6’5” frame looked effortless, as we made sure the sizing was generous enough to maintain the essential slouch quotient. If you’re going silky slouch, for heaven’s sake go big.
I also propose these silk bombers beneath sturdier layers as indoor-out-wear. The thing evolved in the dead of winter, so I was wearing them under hefty shearlings or solid overcoats as layers.
For example, a metallic gammon-pink silk bomb with dark wide jeans and a big retro-sheepskin overcoat (below). Interestingly the sheepskin and the bomber share sixties skinhead references, though not in this kind of silhouette.
The indoor pay off comes when discarding the outer layer on arrival: you’re delivered up into chic-casual free-dynamism. It’s a look, a layer, a bomber but not a bother. Even with smart tailored trousers they operate in a sort of fifties US officer leisure look: sharp pleat volume with blouson silk proportion.
Shoulder pads
Yes. I was surprised to find that every single one of these guys is padded up! Their padded silhouette is a vital characteristic, and it ranges from subtle, non-obtrusive rounded ones to sharply angled ‘set in’ pads.
Fixated by this silhouette impact I’ve sourced an inventory of pad shapes and styles from haberdasheries, and taken to adding booster pads to any that lack them. My silk bomber squadron now all has them installed. Grasping how correctly fixed pads work as I go, most are merely safety pinned into the interior of the bombers, which now resemble giant makeshift brassieres.
I am careful to not expose these inserts in the abrasive environment of my local pub – The Prince George in Dalston – where I drink and run the fashion gauntlet, almost as a style testing ground. I long ago melded into the motley spectrum of older fellas there, and it’s one of the coolest gaffs in the capital, a heady mix of eighties pop stars and Gen Z ultra-trendies.
One last distinctive feature of these jackets: while they all have classic MA1 bomber rib-knit collars and waistbands, the collars are all dropped and exaggerated, accentuating the slouch.
Where to buy
Should any of this strike a chord with you, I recommend starting on eBay. Vintage shops, markets and charity shops are hit and miss, lacking as they do the specialist reach of the internet.
Among my pieces are almost zero brand names I recognise, and incredibly affordable prices. Shocking price revelation alert: my collection are all under £30. Some of the best are £13 or £16, and the most expensive was £22.70 (a rare actually recognised name of Dunn & Co – the ‘Silkthread’ line).
The unknown labels are fascinating, predominantly eighties items but with many early nineties pieces emulating eighties motifs. Peculiar and previously unknown brands include ‘Signé Incognito’, ‘Herren Globus’, and two models from ‘Pure Silk’ as well as ‘Avanti’ (which I suspect was a C&A in-house line).
When I wore the Dunn & Co aubergine-khaki bomber to the Permanent Style x Sebago dinner pictured at the top of this piece, Fashion Director Luke Day was convinced I was decked out in Celine, Saint Laurent or someone, until I demonstrated otherwise.
Current brands
Few contemporary brands are in accord with this story. Some, such as Stefano Ricci, do silk bombers, but they’re not blousy enough. Tom Ford’s are very silky but not remotely slinky, and more bloated.
The nearest potential is Giorgio Armani’s revisits of their mid-eighties collections. ‘Archivio’ has seen some excellent tailoring and outerwear offerings recently. Distinctly voluminous and blended with Armani’s distinctive cupro/viscose, this is the closest current designer echo.
On a recent visit to Armani on Sloane Street I was shown some stunning eighties-looking blouson leathers (much more trendy at the moment) which offered optional pads. These hand basted, well-formed pads are also options for regular clients who are into the Armani palette and fabric but can’t entertain the ultra-slouch empty shoulder vibe, or oversized effect.
I find my silk bombers utterly compelling to wear and work with. The celebrity fellas are happily sporting them, and even some of the aforementioned Hackney old boys at The Prince George are keen, wanting to know ‘the link’ or the way to buy similar. (Its ebay.co.uk and all for under a score, as I’ve explained.)
It’s gratifying, in a way, that they haven’t been picked up more generally, and the affordability makes it very low risk. The additional shoulder pads are the only real leap of faith. For now at least. Have fun.
Luke: “You’ll never guess how much Tom’s jacket was…”
The PS Team have been exploring away since reading this piece, as you might imagine, and suggest the following as examples:
A navy with nice articulated arms (£42, medium)
A faded dark purple (£12, X-large)
Interesting olive with black arms ($62, X-large)
Another navy (£35, large)
For any information on the other clothes Tom is wearing, please ask in the comments below.
Photography: dinner images, Sebago; walking image, The Telegraph; all others, Danny Millar. Many thanks from Tom to the Prince George pub and Luka for being such a stand-up guy.
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Biohacker Bryan Johnson Haters Can Come Laugh At My Funeral Diagnosed With Incurable Autoimmune Disease
Published
July 10, 2026
1:00 AM PDT
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Biohacker Bryan Johnson has been looking to defy Father Time by aging as gracefully as a bottle of wine … except now he’s faced with biologically insurmountable odds.
Bryan sat down with TMZ’s Charlie Neff … he discusses his incurable autoimmune disease diagnosis — which the longevity influencer revealed on social media last week — but it’s safe to say it hasn’t wilted his spirit.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Despite the sheer irony of a man who’s whole brand is defying age suddenly coming down with an incurable disease — Autoimmune Gastritis .– Bryan’s reaction to his diagnosis is “it’s wonderous.”
Bryan mocked the haters of his content who feel he’s playing god by divulging in ways of preventing the physical toll of the passage of time … urging them to come tell him “I told you so” at his funeral.
According to the longevity influencer … this disease has been progressing unnoticed for the last decade or two … and the result is he can no longer absorb iron, B-12, or other micronutrients which will inevitably lead to lack of nutrition and even to cancer.
If that sounds grim … Bryan certainly doesn’t think so! In fact, he says this diagnosis is only pushing him and his team to defy death by finding a cure!
Check out the full interview on YouTube where he also talks about whether he thinks its still possible to live to 160 years old and what his plans are for his body when he dies.
Maczo is highlighting the growing role of digital asset payments in online gaming as more users look for faster, clearer, and more flexible ways to access entertainment platforms. The shift comes as crypto payments continue to move beyond trading and into consumer-facing products where speed, transparency, and usability matter as much as the underlying blockchain network.
Online gaming is one of the categories where this shift is especially visible. Players who already use digital assets often expect deposits and withdrawals to feel direct, while newer users want simple explanations of supported coins, confirmation times, and account rules. For platforms, this creates a practical challenge: crypto cannot be treated only as a payment badge. It has to be part of the full user experience.
The Maczo online crypto gaming platform is positioned around that broader expectation. The platform brings together browser-based access, crypto payment options, and online casino-style entertainment for users who prefer digital asset rails. Instead of focusing only on speed, the stronger long-term opportunity is to make each step easier to understand, from funding an account to reviewing terms and managing responsible play.
The crypto market has already shown that consumers respond to products that reduce friction. Wallets, exchanges, and DeFi applications have all had to improve their onboarding flows as the audience widened beyond early adopters. Gaming platforms face a similar test. If payment steps are confusing, if bonus terms are unclear, or if users cannot quickly understand how their account balance works, crypto convenience can quickly become a source of uncertainty.
That is why transparency is becoming an important part of product quality. Clear information on supported assets, platform terms, and withdrawal processes can help users make better decisions before they play. In crypto-enabled environments, users are also more likely to expect visible records, straightforward rules, and fewer hidden steps than in older digital entertainment models.
For the wider blockchain sector, this matters because gaming can show how digital assets perform under everyday consumer pressure. A product may have strong infrastructure, but users judge it through simple moments: whether a transaction completes, whether the platform explains what happened, and whether the experience feels reliable enough to repeat.
Responsible design remains part of that standard. Faster payments should not replace clear terms, local legal awareness, or responsible gaming tools. As crypto gaming grows, platforms that combine payment utility with practical user protection are likely to earn more durable attention than those that rely only on promotional claims.
About Maczo
Maczo is an online crypto gaming platform focused on browser-based entertainment and digital asset payment options. Users should review local laws, platform terms, and responsible gaming resources before participating.
Welcome back, Spartans. I’ve spent years analyzing the Web3 space, building out the crypto categories here on Metaverse Planet, and tracking every major market shift. Usually, when we talk about crypto security, my warnings are about phishing scams, bad smart contracts, or centralized exchange collapses.
But today, we need to talk about a completely different beast. There is a storm brewing on the horizon, and it isn’t coming from regulators or traditional finance. It’s coming from the physics lab.
Quantum computing is advancing much faster than anyone anticipated, and it is directly threatening the cryptographic foundation of our entire $2 trillion digital asset market. Let’s break down what this “Quantum Y2K” actually means, why Bitcoin is particularly vulnerable, and what the industry is doing to save your bags.
The Google Bombshell: The Ticking Clock to 2029
For a long time, quantum computers breaking crypto was considered a sci-fi problem—something we wouldn’t have to worry about for decades. I certainly wasn’t losing sleep over it.
But the timeline just got aggressively compressed. In a research paper published this past March, Google dropped a bombshell: they predict quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption standards could be a reality by 2029.
To put that into perspective, the traditional computers we use today would take billions of years to guess the cryptographic keys securing a Bitcoin wallet. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer, using advanced algorithms (like Shor’s algorithm), could theoretically crack it in hours. Analysis from Citigroup and various research firms echoed this sentiment, noting that the explosive parallel growth of AI and quantum computing is accelerating this threat timeline exponentially.
Why Bitcoin is in the Crosshairs
You might be wondering: Why is this a crypto problem and not an internet problem? While the whole internet will need an upgrade, blockchain networks face a unique structural challenge.
Most major blockchains rely on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) to verify assets and approve transactions. In this system, your public key is mathematically derived from your private key. With traditional computing, reversing that math (finding the private key from the public key) is practically impossible. Quantum computing changes that math.
Here is why Bitcoin, the king of the market, is actually one of the most vulnerable networks:
17 Years of Exposed Data: Because Bitcoin is the oldest network, it has a massive transaction history. Every time you send Bitcoin, your public key is exposed on the ledger.The Vulnerable Supply: According to a recent draft study by independent researcher Ahmed Raza Muhammad Umer, roughly 35% of the circulating Bitcoin supply is currently vulnerable to a quantum attack. Other studies suggest that number could be as high as 50%.Irreversible Damage: Unlike a traditional bank that can freeze a hacked account and reverse the transaction, blockchain transactions are immutable. If a quantum computer fakes your digital signature and drains your wallet, those funds are gone forever.
Preparing for the “Quantum Y2K”
I don’t want to sound like a doomsayer. The industry is not standing still, but the transition is going to be incredibly complex. We are talking about moving the entire ecosystem to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
Think of this like the Y2K bug preparations from the late 90s, where the world spent over $300 billion fixing code—but with decentralized networks where nobody is officially “in charge.”
The Transition Nightmare: A top cybersecurity exec recently noted it will take at least two years for a major crypto firm to become fully quantum-resistant. For decentralized networks, it requires massive hard forks and community consensus.Who is Moving Fast? The Ethereum Foundation has publicly stated its goal to fully protect the network against quantum attacks by that critical 2029 deadline. Meanwhile, Algorand is leading the charge; they released their post-quantum roadmap last month and plan to implement post-quantum account support later this year.The Bitcoin Dilemma: The biggest concern is Bitcoin. Currently, there is no community consensus on which PQC solution to adopt or when to implement it. Knowing how slow and contentious Bitcoin upgrades can be, this is the space I am watching most closely.
I believe we will solve this. The financial incentive to protect $2 trillion is simply too high to ignore. But the transition period is going to be incredibly turbulent.
I have to ask: Do you trust decentralized networks like Bitcoin to reach a consensus and upgrade in time, or do you think the slow nature of decentralization is going to be our Achilles’ heel against quantum computing? Let me know in the comments below!
Zapper, one of decentralized finance’s earliest and most recognizable portfolio dashboards, is shutting down for good. Co-founder and CEO Seb Audet announced on X that the platform will wind down completely on August 3, closing its website, mobile apps, and API services after nearly seven years in the market.
An Orderly Exit After Years of Building
Audet said the team weighed several paths forward before settling on a controlled shutdown rather than a last-minute scramble. “After close to 7 years building Zapper, I regret to announce that Zapper will be winding down. We evaluated a number of different options, pursued some to the fullest extent possible, and came to the realization that an orderly wind down is the best course of action,” Audet wrote.
He didn’t offer a detailed breakdown of the internal factors behind the decision, but in a follow-up reply to a user, he pointed to softening demand as the underlying driver, stating simply that “at the end of the day, the market decides.”
Audet also used the announcement to advocate for his team, describing the group as one that had scaled a serious product with deep technical expertise. “This is a team that scaled a product to millions of users and $13B in transaction volume, with deep onchain engineering expertise alongside ops people who know how to build and run things at scale,” he said, effectively opening the door for other companies to recruit Zapper’s engineers and operations staff.
Zapper CEO Announces Orderly Wind Down After 7-Years
From Hackathon Win to DeFi Summer Staple
Zapper’s origin traces back to 2019, when the project built early momentum by winning a DeFi hackathon hosted by Kyber, a result that helped it raise a $1.5 million seed round shortly after. The platform was formally founded in 2020 by Seb Audet and Suhail Gangji, built as a remote-first startup during the COVID-19 pandemic — timing that placed it right at the center of the 2020 “DeFi Summer” boom, when users needed a simpler way to track fast-moving positions across multiple protocols.
That momentum carried into 2021, when Zapper closed a $15 million Series A led by Framework Ventures, with backing from Mark Cuban, Coinbase Ventures, and Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures. Across its funding history, CryptoRank data cited in earlier reporting put Zapper’s total raise at roughly $16.5 million, while more recent figures place the total closer to $16.6 million across six funding rounds.
At its high point, the platform was genuinely significant infrastructure rather than a niche tool: Audet said Zapper served more than 2 million monthly active users and processed over $13 billion in cumulative transaction volume, offering features like token tracking, liquidity pool and yield farm monitoring, and airdrop discovery.
Not Without Setbacks
Zapper’s run wasn’t without turbulence. In April 2025, the platform suffered a social engineering attack in which attackers temporarily hijacked its domain and redirected users to a malicious page containing phishing traps. The company also tried to broaden its scope over time — Zapper V2 repositioned the product as a wider Web3 exploration tool covering NFTs, DAOs, and cross-chain activity, and in 2024 the team floated Zapper Protocol alongside a planned ZAP utility token, an initiative that never reached launch before the shutdown decision was made.
What Happens Next for Users
Because Zapper functioned primarily as a read-only interface rather than a custodian, the shutdown carries limited direct financial risk — the company never held user funds. The practical impact is operational: anyone relying on Zapper for wallet history, portfolio views, tax-related records, or API integrations will need to export their data and migrate to another tool before August 3. Existing API customers are expected to receive transition guidance by email ahead of the cutoff.
Part of a Broader Industry Retreat
Zapper’s closure lands amid a wider contraction across crypto infrastructure. Ctrl Wallet, a multi-chain self-custody wallet, is set to shut down on the same August 3 date, and Moonbeam is entering a wind-down transition period after July 31. Other recent casualties include Cardano analytics provider TapTools, Bitcoin-focused DeFi platform Botanix, Ordinals platform Ord.io, and NFT marketplaces including Nifty Gateway and Rodeo.
The pattern points to a structural issue for consumer-facing DeFi tools: platforms built during a venture-funded growth cycle now need durable revenue models, something that’s difficult for products historically offered for free. Notably, overall crypto venture capital actually rose 57.6% year-over-year to $4.21 billion in the second quarter, but that capital is increasingly concentrated among fewer companies, with deal counts falling in nine of the last ten quarters, according to RootData figures cited in industry reporting.
For now, Zapper’s exit closes the book on one of DeFi’s original consumer-facing success stories — a reminder that even platforms with real usage and blue-chip backing aren’t guaranteed to outlast a prolonged market downturn.
