First Mover Americas: Axie Infinity Rallies After Apple App Store Debut

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Blockchain-based play-to-earn project Axie Infinity's native cryptocurrency AXS rallied after the company’s card-based strategy game debuted on the Apple app store. AXS surged over 12% from $7.16 to $8.04 on the news, becoming the top gainer on CoinDesk Indices' leaderboard. The game will initially launch in the Apple store across Latin America and Asia. Bitcoin traded down on Wednesday, struggling to hold the $27,000 mark as investors keep a close eye on developments around raising of the debt ceiling in the U.S. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value has lost 9% over the past month.

Crypto companies fleeing U.S. regulatory uncertainty have been offered a welcome in France, by officials boasting a regulatory framework that offers relative predictability. The European Union member already boasts around 74 registered crypto companies. “In France, we are proud to be pioneers,” said Benoît de Juvigny, Secretary General of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), noting his country’s crypto service asset provider regime – known as PSAN – was passed in 2019, “If American players want to benefit, in the very short term, from the French regime, and from the start of 2025 from European arrangements, clearly they are welcome,” he added. “We have good relations and discussions with our U.S. counterparts.”

Using distributed ledger technology (DLT) in securities markets could create savings north of $100 billion per year, a report produced by a major traditional-finance lobby group has said. In a paper published Tuesday evening, the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) called for regulators to allow the technology that underpins crypto to aid collateral management, asset tokenization and sovereign bond markets.“ Distributed ledger technology holds promise for driving growth and innovation,” said Adam Farkas, Chief Executive of GFMA, whose affiliates in the U.S., Europe and Asia count major players such as JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Nomura among their members.