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Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories

🤑 NFT wash traders made $110 million from the practice

🎰 Sportsbet cops record $3.7 million fine

📱 Microsoft sets new guidelines for 'universal app store'

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NFT wash traders are making millions and the laundromat water has started to get real murky

Background: CommBank has been looking to get into the crypto world, so they've engaged New York crypto firm Chainalysis to advise them. And this crew just shared some wild crypto info.

What happened: First off, at least US$44.2 billion worth of NFT transactions were recorded in 2021, compared to just US$106 million in 2020. 

What else: Now for the juicy bit...110 wash traders generated around US$8.9 million from the practice.

So what's the key learning? 

💡 Wash trading is the process of raising the price of an NFT by acting as both the seller and the buyer in the trade. 

💡 Here's how it works:

• Someone who owns the NFT 'sells' it to themselves at a higher price the actual marketplace value.
• This makes other buyers think the NFT is more valuable than it really is...
• This results in other NFT purchasers making offers at falsely inflated prices.

💡Some traders wash trades to inflate the price and make a gain...while others was trades to make 'losses' on paper and offset their capital gains. It's a weird, weird world we live in. 

Sportsbet cops a record $3.7 million bill for spamming people and don't mess with ACMA

Background: Sportsbet is an online gambling company, which primarily targets the Aussie market. In 2020, the company spent $139 million on advertising and sponsorship.

What happened: A big part of Sportsbet's digital advertising strategy is texting and emailing punters. But after sending 150,000 texts to punters who had unsubscribed from them...this strategy backfired. 

What else: The Australian media authority (ACMA) estimates punters lost $1.2 million on betting after receiving those texts. Now, Sportsbet has signed a 3-year enforceable undertaking to refund the $1.2 million...and pay a $2.5 million fine for breaking the law. 

So what's the key learning? 

💡An enforceable undertaking is a legal agreement between a regulator and someone who hasn't followed the law. It is generally used in place of taking someone to court 'cos that's 💸💸💸.

💡It isn't an admission of guilt, so it's an easy way for a company to fess up...without really fessing up. Ya know, "we'll pay a fine...for what we did...but we're not saying we did it".

💡An enforceable undertaking usually involves paying back some cash, implementing training programs...and getting someone to conduct an internal audit of policies to make sure it doesn't happen again. Just like Sportsbet's doing now. 

Microsoft channels Dua Lipa, sets new rules for the future of app stores

Background: Microsoft recently announced a deal to acquire gaming company Activision (the crew behind Crash Bandicoot and Call of Duty) for US$69 billion. But the deal still needs to pass US regulators.

What happened: The regs have been coming down on big tech (think: Facebook & Google), so getting this deal over the line could be touch-and-go. 

What else: So, Microsoft have got on the front foot with a set of principles called the Open App Principles. It's kinda like the rules to a game developers utopia.  

So what's the key learning?

💡As the gaming industry evolves away from physical games to digital-only games, so too do the rules and principles guiding it. 

💡The entire gaming industry's structure and business model is based on when we used to buy physical games...but with Apple's App Store and downloadable games, something's gotta give. 

💡US regulators came up with the Open App Markets Act, which says companies that operate app stores with more than 50 million users (hello Apple and Google) can't engage in anti-competitive behaviour. So, Microsoft's modelled their new principles off that...and will hopefully get the warm and fuzzies 🤗 going with regs.