KEYTAKEAWAYS
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Nothing secures $200M Series C funding to expand into AI-native Web3 devices, highlighting investor confidence amid challenges in adoption and iteration.
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Sui partners with Google’s AP2 to enable AI-driven payments, integrating blockchain for privacy and efficiency while facing compliance and security hurdles.
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Movement transitions to independent Layer 1, boosting scalability and decentralization with Move 2.0, staking, and improved developer flexibility via public testnet.
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NOTHING RAISES $200M IN SERIES C ROUND
Web3 smartphone maker Nothing has raised $200 million in a Series C funding round at a $1.3 billion valuation, led by Tiger Global with participation from GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, and Tapestry. This brings the company’s total funding to over $450 million. Previously, Nothing partnered with Polygon to launch the blockchain-integrated Nothing Phone. Following this round, the company plans to release its first AI-native devices next year, further expanding into smart terminals.
This move highlights both strong investor confidence in Nothing’s vision and the growing convergence of Web3 and AI in hardware innovation. By integrating blockchain and AI, Nothing aims to deliver a new user experience that could attract developers and users to its ecosystem. However, with AI and Web3 hardware still in early stages, challenges around rapid iteration and adoption remain, posing risks investors must consider.
SUI JOINS GOOGLE AGENTIC PAYMENTS PROTOCOL
Mysten Labs announced that Sui will be among the first partners to join Google’s Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2), which enables AI agents to execute payments on behalf of users. Originally developed by Mysten Labs, AP2 leverages Sui’s fast, programmable payment capabilities and privacy-first identity support. Sui also integrates decentralized storage, encrypted login, and identity management features to strengthen AI-blockchain synergies.
This partnership underscores Sui’s forward-looking strategy and the potential for blockchain in AI-driven automated payments and identity management. By collaborating with Google’s AP2, Sui could accelerate the practical integration of Web3 and AI, offering more efficient and privacy-preserving payment experiences. Still, regulatory compliance and payment security in AI-driven transactions remain key challenges ahead.
MOVEMENT UPGRADED TO INDEPENDENT LAYER 1
The Movement has announced its transition from a sidechain architecture to an independent Layer 1 blockchain, introducing native token staking and adopting Move 2.0 features. The new design will support over 10,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality, a major leap from the previous 500–600 TPS limit. Additionally, by removing reliance on a centralized sequencer, the upgrade eliminates single points of failure and strengthens decentralization. Only unlocked MOVE tokens will be eligible for staking under the new rules.
This transition represents a significant performance and security upgrade for Movement, while also marking an important step in the evolution of the Move ecosystem at the infrastructure level. Developers will benefit from enhanced flexibility and functionality, with plans to eventually migrate state and storage frameworks. For users, funds and deployed contracts will remain unaffected, reducing migration risks. With the public testnet now live, Movement could attract broader developer and community participation, though balancing scalability with ecosystem growth will remain critical.
