funding

Kraken bags $42.5m from Optimism, Glow Labs raises $30m

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2024

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This week, crypto exchange Kraken stole the show with its $42.5 million grant raise from Optimism.

Kraken has disclosed its latest decision to launch Ink, a layer-2 on the Optimism (OP) blockchain. As a part of the deal, Optimism has announced that they will offer $42.5 million, or 25 million OP tokens.

This has brought the exchange’s funds raised to date to $164.8 million. Crypto.news dug deeper into the firms that raised the most capital from Oct. 27 to Nov 2.

Here are the firms that bagged million-dollar amounts during this period, according to data from Crypto Fundraising.

Glow Labs, $30 million

Glow Labs is a community-powered platform that aims at ramping up global solar energy adoption.
The firm raised $30 million from Framework and Union Square Ventures.

Nillion, $25 million

Nillion has raised $25 million from investors like Hack VC.
So far, the decentralized network for secure storage has raised $50 million.

Ellipsis Labs, $21 million

The platform that builds sustainable and efficient DeFi protocols has raised $21 million from HAUN.
Ellipsis Labs has raised a total of $23.3 million to date.

Chainway Labs, $14 million

The blockchain infrastructure company focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zero Knowledge technology has raised $14 million in a Series A round from Founders Fund and other investors.
Chainway Labs has raised $16.7 million so far.

Today, we announce our $14M Series A led by @foundersfund, joined by @maven11capital, @mirana, @erikvoorhees, @balajis, @bitfish1, @0xMert_ & more.
This will help us expand Bitcoin from digital gold to an active, programmable asset, with @CitreaOrigins driving this expansion 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DxkgoeLERH
— Citrea (@citrea_xyz) October 31, 2024

Gelato Network, $11 million

Gelato Network has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by HACK VC.
The decentralized backend for web3 has raised $23.2 million to date.

Sapien AI, $10.5 million

Sapien is a gamified Web3 platform where users play and train AI by completing various challenges.
The firm has raised $10.5 million in a seed round led by Variant.

PumpBTC, $10 million

The liquid staking platform has raised $10 million in a seed round.
Lead investors include SevenX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, etc.

BitSmiley, $10 million

BitSmiley encompasses a stablecoin, a lending platform, and a derivatives protocol.
The firm raised $10 million from various investors like Nxgen, IBC Group, etc.

Notable crypto VC funding rounds under $10 million

Spire Labs raised $7 million in a seed round.
Alliance Games raised $5 million in a Series A round.
81Ravens raised $4.5 million in a seed round.
Phylax Systems raised $4.5 million in a pre-seed round.
Nitro Labs raised $4 million in a seed round.
MagmaDAO raised $3.9 million in a seed round.
Native raised $2.6 million in a seed round.
Axal raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round.
Streamflow raised $1.9 million.
Cap Labs raised $1.9 million in a pre-seed round.
KRNL Labs raised $1.7 million in a pre-seed round.

Have a peek at last week’s column here.

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funding

Stripe buys Bridge, Bluesky bags $15m

Published

1 week ago

October 26, 2024

admin

Bridge, a stablecoin startup founded not even three years ago, announced a deal this week that would cause most crypto entrepreneurs to salivate.

Stripe, the San Francisco-based payment processing company, agreed to buy Bridge for $1.1 billion.

The transaction likely has crypto entrepreneurs wondering when their own ventures will be ripe enough to attract a big-name buyer. Until then, early-stage companies will have to continue courting venture capitalists to extend their runways.

Here are the latest startups doing just that, according to data from Crypto Fundraising collected between Oct. 20 and Oct. 26:

Bluesky, $15 million

Bluesky completed a Series A funding round.
The decentralized social media platform raised $15 million from lead investors like Blockchain Capital.

Bluesky raises $15M Series A investment
Decentralized social media project Bluesky has raised $15 million in Series A investment led by Blockchain Capital. According to Decrypt, SevenX, True Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also participated in this round. Bluesky also announced…
— CoinNess Global (@CoinnessGL) October 24, 2024

Variational, $10.3 million

Variational is a peer-to-peer trading protocol that is created for perpetual and generalized derivatives.
The firm has raised $10.3 million in a seed round led by investors like Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV Partners.

Validation Cloud, $10 million

Validation Cloud is a web3 infrastructure platform that focuses on scalable and compliant infrastructure for enterprises.
The firm raised $10 million from True Global Ventures.
Validation Cloud has raised a total of $15.8 million so far.

Crypto VC funding rounds < $10 million

Web3 mobile gaming platform Party Icons raised $9 million.
Digital investment marketplace STOKR raised $7.98 million from Fulgur Ventures.
Karpatkey, which provides DAO Treasury services, raised $7 million.
Full-stack decentralized platform Azura raised $6.9 million in a seed round.
Non-custodial crypto trading platform Shuttle Labs raised $6 million from CMCC Global.
Crypto exchange Hata raised $4.2 million in a seed round led by Castle Island Ventures and Nic Carter.
Hana Network raised $4 million from investors like Binance Labs, Sushi, Orange DAO, etc.
Decentralized borrowing platform Fluid Protocol raises $3.9 million in a seed round.
Moonwalk Fitness has raised $3.4 million from lead investors like Hack VC.
Borderless has raised $3.3 million in a pre-seed round led by Amity Ventures.
Opti Games Studio raised $2 million with L1 Digital as the lead investor.
NFT marketplace Ordzaar raised $2 million from lead investors like LongHash Ventures.
Decentralized infrastructure platform Craftt raised $2 million in a seed round.
Decentralized exchange BulbaSwap raised $1.3 million from lead investors like Foresight Ventures.
Skyfire raised $1 million from Coinbase Ventures and a16z crypto.

Check out our last week’s column from here.

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Bitcoin Core

Does Jack Dorsey Influence Bitcoin?

Published

2 weeks ago

October 25, 2024

admin

I recently stumbled upon a fantastic report from 1A1z on “Funding Bitcoin.” I was surprised to learn that Jack Dorsey funds over 60% of Bitcoin Core’s development via different organizations: over $5 million annually, out of a total of only $8.4 million in funding. Wild, right? For a $1.2 trillion asset, I expected way more diverse support.

Now, you might be worried that that concentration risks him having too much sway. If he turned against Core’s principles, his funding leverage could be a real concern.

But does Dorsey’s power really extend to controlling Bitcoin itself? Nope, no way. Bitcoin’s decentralisation means no single entity can dictate terms, not even the chief donor of the main Bitcoin implementation.

Here’s the key difference: Bitcoin Core versus the Bitcoin network. Core adds useful features, but people choose what nodes to run. If Core went rogue, people would just reject its changes or use different software.

So Dorsey can’t force changes to Bitcoin. His influence has hard limits, even if he decides to dictate to developers what to work on or what to push. Nodes hold the real power over Bitcoin’s evolution. (You can read more about Bitcoin Core’s governance here: Who Controls Bitcoin Core? by Jameson Lopp.)

Still, I think there should be more donors and organisations funding Bitcoin Core or other implementations. Many crypto companies benefit and earn millions in monthly profits, depending on Bitcoin’s success, but surprisingly, they don’t contribute anything. Ideally, people should also fund different implementations of Bitcoin in addition to Bitcoin Core.

Bitcoin will only thrive through decentralization. We’ve got to apply that ethos to funding Core, too. Dorsey’s funding concentration challenges it, while spreading the donor base protects Bitcoin’s antifragility.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Bitcoin

Praxis takes home $525m, Blockstream follows suit with $210m

Published

2 weeks ago

October 19, 2024

admin

Praxis and Blockstream grabbed headlines this week, each with six-figure fundraising rounds, per the latest data.

Crypto VC funding has seen a noticeable spike over the last seven days compared to last week, when Ithaca led the pack with a $20 million raise. However, this week, as Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed the $68,000 level, crypto.news analyzed and collected data from data from Oct. 13 to Oct. 19.

Here are the firms that topped the list, according to Crypto Fundraising.

Praxis, $525 million

Praxis is the first network state, which is building an online community of people with similar national consciousness.
The firm leads the week’s crypto VC funding with $525 million raised.
The primary investors in the fundraising include Gem Digital, Arch, Manifold, etc.

Blockstream, $210 million

Blockstream is building a crypto-financial infrastructure based on Bitcoin.
The company has raised $210 million from lead investor Fulgur Ventures.
Blockstream’s crypto VC funding stands at $621 million in total.

Blockstream has closed a $210M convertible note financing round led by @FulgurVentures, driving our mission to bring Bitcoin into global finance.
This capital accelerates layer-2 development, expands mining ahead of the next Bitcoin cycle, and grows one of the world’s largest… pic.twitter.com/gi1ov0LCYU
— Blockstream (@Blockstream) October 15, 2024

Azra Games, $42.7 million

Azra Games is a gaming studio that focuses on creating immersive-role playing games.
In a Series A led by Pantera, the company raised $42.7 million.

Yellow Card Financial, $33 million

Yellow Card Financial is a pan-African crypto exchange.
The exchange raised $33 million in a Series C led by Blockchain Capital.
Yellow Card Financial has raised a total of $89.5 million so far.

Big news at Yellow Card!🎉
We’ve raised US $33M in our Series C funding, led by @blockchaincap, bringing our total equity to $85M! This game-changing investment fuels our growth across Africa, enhancing our API and Widget products for seamless international payments. pic.twitter.com/w42CSo23aG
— Yellow Card App (@yellowcard_app) October 16, 2024

Towns, $25.5 million

Towns is a web3 group chat protocol that allows communities to build blockchain-based gatherings.
The firm has raised $25.5 million in a Series A by a16z Crypto, Benchmark and Framework.

Bitnomial, $25 million

Bitnomial is a crypto exchange based in the U.S. that offers futures and options trading for cryptocurrencies.
The exchange raised $25 million from Ripple via a Series C funding round.
Bitnomial has raised $36.6 million so far.

Bitnomial is announcing the upcoming launch of perpetual futures on our CFTC-regulated Bitnomial Exchange. As part of that, we will be launching @Botanical, a platform for all investors to trade perpetual futures, traditional futures, and options.
Read more here:… pic.twitter.com/oagZNhIAxh
— Bitnomial (@Bitnomial) October 15, 2024

ZkPass, $12.5 million

The identity verification solution has raised $12.5 million in a Series A round, with a round valuation of $100 million.
ZkPass has raised $15 million till date.

We’re thrilled to announce that zkPass has successfully secured $12.5M in a Series A funding round! This brings our total funding to $15M and will accelerate zkTLS development across Web3 ecosystems.
Shipping matters more than storytelling.
🧵 1/10 pic.twitter.com/RHeYeyxJIx
— zkPass (@zkPass) October 17, 2024

Opacity Network, $12 million

Opacity Network is a zero-knowledge proof protocol that aids in enabling verification without disclosing any details.
The firm has raised $12 million in a seed funding round.

Solv Protocol, $11 million

Solv Protocol provides investors with access to crypto investments via a trustless fund infrastructure.
The company raised $11 million in a strategic round with a round valuation of $200 million.

Announcing $25M in total fundraising to pave the way for mass adoption of Bitcoin staking, powered by our recently launched Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL).
🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/OOooj6g7Cr
— Solv Protocol (@SolvProtocol) October 14, 2024

Mento Labs, $10 million

Mento Labs is a platform that creates and operates multi-currency stable assets.
The firm has raised $10 million on Oct. 16.

📣 @MentoLabs proudly announces a $10M raise! 🎉
Amid growth and milestones, we’re unveiling a stablecoin roadmap to introduce new decentralized local currency stablecoins across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. pic.twitter.com/CvMGLeMseA
— Mento Labs (@MentoLabs) October 16, 2024

Crypto VC funding rounds < $10 million

Predicate: The decentralized network raised $7 million.
ZeroBase: The ZK proof generation platform raised $5 million from investors like Binance Labs, Lightspeed Action, etc.
Drop Protocol: Drop Protocol raised $4 million in a seed funding round.
Plasma: The zero-fee payment platform raised $3.5 million.
Pell Network: Pell Network raised $3 million in a pre-seed round.
Blockcast: The content delivery network raised $2.85 million in a seed funding round.
The Arena: The Arena raised $2 million in a pre-seed round.
Hyve DA: The data availability network raised $1.85 million in a pre-seed round.
Surge: Surge raised $1.8 million in a pre-seed round from investors like Gerstenbrot Capital, CoinGecko, etc.
Hermetica: The DeFi platform raised $1.7 million in a seed round.
Lombard: Lombard raised $1 million from Binance Labs.
World of Dypians, CCData, Bracket Labs and Marketnode raised undisclosed amounts this week.

Check out our last week’s column from here.

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