The Dfinity Foundation, a contributor to the Internet Computer blockchain (ICP), is collaborating with management consultancy Roland Berger to develop a global standard for incentivizing recycling activities. The initiative, called Voluntary Recycling Credits (VRC), aims to address the low recycling rates for global plastic waste.

Blackbird Labs, a technology startup founded by Ben Leventhal, has secured $24 million in series A funding led by a16z, with participation from Amex Ventures and Bolt QED. The company has created a blockchain-backed loyalty platform for restaurants, allowing customers to accumulate redeemable points and a digital token called $FLY for exclusive rewards.

On October 14th, derivative software developer IPOR Labs launched version 2 of the IPOR protocol on the Ethereum mainnet, with new features including custom APR with zap, stETH pool, extended term structure, and upgraded spread model. As previously reported by Jinse Finance, IPOR Labs completed a $5.55 million financing round last April, led by Arrington Capital.

Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform VirgoCX Inc., Australian cryptocurrency exchange Virgo.co, and Virgo Group's holding company Virgo Global Holdings Inc. announced the completion of a delayed financing of CAD 5 million, with participation from Waterdrip Capital, Skylean Capital, Nextport Capital, and others. The newly raised funds will be used to further develop their regulated entities and continue their expansion plans into new regions.

According to the official governance page, Gauntlet has proposed to abandon MAI/MIMATIC in the Aave community. The proposal suggests that, given that the price of MAI/MIMATIC has dropped to around $0.72 in the past 24 hours and has been unable to recover its peg for the past few months, Gauntlet proposes to begin abandoning MAI/MIMATIC with the goal of incentivizing repayment by reducing loan terms and increasing borrowing rates.

Cosmos ecosystem liquidity pledge project Stride will suspend its plan to convert its native token STRD into ATOM, the token of the core blockchain of the Cosmos ecosystem, Cosmos Hub. Just nine days ago, Vishal Talasani, co-founder of Stride Labs, proposed at Cosmoverse in Istanbul that Stride should merge with Cosmos Hub. However, the team stated: "After a week of public discussion, the Cosmos Hub+Stride community has suspended the STRD/ATOM conversion, which can be considered shelved, but not completely abandoned."

The deadline for applying for the Celestia airdrop is October 17th. Celestia has authorized TrustGo to check for EVM addresses that meet the application requirements. Users can check their eligibility for the airdrop directly on TrustGo and then apply on the Celestia official website.

According to ChainCatcher News and TechCrunch, Alpaca, a stock and cryptocurrency trading API service company, has received $15 million in financing in the form of convertible notes from SBI Group. Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO of Alpaca, stated that this strategic investment brings the total amount of financing for this Y Combinator-backed startup since its founding in 2015 to $120 million, which will accelerate Alpaca's expansion in Asia.

Trezor, a hardware crypto wallet provider, has launched three new self-custody products to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. These products include an upgraded Trezor wallet, a private key backup solution, and an exclusive Bitcoin-centric wallet.

According to official blog reports from cross-chain bridge Catalyst, it has announced integration with Ethereum scalability project AltLayer. This collaboration will enable Catalyst to smoothly exchange cross-chain assets between Layer 2 solutions enabled by AltLayer and connect with a wider crypto ecosystem.