Last week, there were a total of 34 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, reaching a nearly two-year high | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Biscuit, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from January 22 to January 28, 2024, there were a total of 34 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, marking a new high in weekly financing numbers in nearly two years, with a cumulative financing amount of approximately $16.37 million.

From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure, AI, and gaming tracks. Popular projects include the ZK co-processor for Ethereum, Axiom, the Bitcoin Layer2 network B² Network, the Web3 bandwidth market Meson Network, the Ethereum interoperability hub Polymer, and the NFT lending protocol Singular.

In addition, the crypto startup Figure is seeking approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to issue interest-bearing stablecoins, having submitted an S-1 form. This move aims to create a new type of stablecoin with federal legitimacy, and if successful, Figure will become the first blockchain financial company regulated as a security in the U.S. Figure's digital asset division, Figure Markets, plans to complete a $50 million financing at a valuation of $250 million (excluding the financing amount), with Jump Crypto potentially as the lead investor. The funds will be used to support the operations of Figure Markets.

*（List of projects with financing greater than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）

1. Infrastructure

1. Bitcoin Layer2 project MAP Protocol receives strategic investment from Alchemy Pay
The Bitcoin Layer2 project MAP Protocol announced that it has received a strategic investment from crypto payment provider Alchemy Pay, with specific amounts not disclosed. Both parties share a common vision and enthusiasm for creating a new wave of decentralized financial applications and ecosystems centered around the Bitcoin ecosystem. (Source link)

2. Decentralized data marketplace developer Masa Network completes $5.4 million seed round financing, led by Anagram
Decentralized data marketplace developer Masa Network has completed a $5.4 million seed round financing, led by Anagram, with participation from Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Digital Currency Group, GoldenTree, OP Crypto, Unshackled Ventures, and PEER VC. (Source link)
3. Ethereum Layer 2 developer Polymer Labs completes $23 million Series A financing, led by Blockchain Capital
Ethereum Layer 2 developer Polymer Labs has completed a $23 million Series A financing, led by Blockchain Capital, Maven 11, and Distributed Global, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, Digital Money Group, North Island Ventures, and Figment Capital. (Source link)

4. ZK development company Zorp completes $5 million seed round financing, led by Delphi Ventures
ZK-L1 network Nockchain developer Zorp announced the completion of a $5 million seed round financing, led by Delphi Ventures, with participation from North Island Ventures, CMCC Global, Portal Ventures, Champion Hill Ventures, Breed VC, Octu Ventures, and Labyrinth DAO. (Source link)

5. Web3 infrastructure service provider 3thix completes $8.5 million financing, with participation from Sonic Boom Ventures
Web3 gaming infrastructure service provider 3thix has completed $8.5 million in financing, with participation from the family office Hand of Midas, founded by Xsolla's founder Shurick Agapitov, and Sonic Boom Ventures. The funds raised will be used for the monetization of Web3 games.

Additionally, Xsolla plans to integrate 3thix as its Web3 infrastructure for operations and partnerships. (Source link)

6. Bitcoin Layer2 network B² Network completes seed round financing, with participation from OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital
Bitcoin Layer2 network B² Network announced the successful completion of seed round financing, with investors including HashKey Capital, OKX Ventures, IDG Capital, KuCoin Ventures, ABCDE, Waterdrip Capital, OGs FUND, and Antalpha Group.

It is reported that B² Network uses ZK Rollup technology to solve Bitcoin's scalability challenges while ensuring security consistent with the Bitcoin mainnet, and is compatible with EVM. At the same time, B² Network also provides a data availability layer for other Bitcoin Rollups, being the first data availability layer in the Bitcoin ecosystem. (Source link)

7. Ethereum ZK co-processor Axiom completes $20 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto
Ethereum ZK co-processor Axiom has completed $20 million in financing, led by Standard Crypto and Paradigm.

It is reported that the funds will be used to further develop the protocol and for new hiring. Axiom allows smart contract developers to access historical data from Ethereum and then perform computations off-chain. (Source link)

2. CeFi

1. Cryptocurrency trading platform EDX completes Series B financing, led by Sequoia Capital and Pantera Capital
The cryptocurrency trading platform EDX Markets, supported by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Investments, and Charles Schwab, has completed Series B financing, with specific amounts undisclosed, led by new investor Pantera Capital and existing investor Sequoia Capital.

EDX CEO Jamil Nazarali stated that the funds will be used to develop new technologies and expand EDX's influence in new foreign markets, but declined to disclose the specific scale of Series B financing. (Source link)

2. Securities investment platform Dinari completes $10 million seed round financing, with participation from former Coinbase CTO
Blockchain-based securities investment platform Dinari announced the completion of $10 million in seed round financing in Q4 2023, with participation from former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, 500 Global, Alchemy, Version One Ventures, and Sancue Ventures. (Source link)

3. Cryptocurrency bank Sygnum completes over $40 million financing at a $900 million valuation, led by Azimut Holding
Cryptocurrency bank Sygnum announced today that it has secured over $40 million in financing during a strategic financing round led by Milan-based asset management company Azimut Holding, with a valuation of $900 million. This financing will enable it to further build a fully regulated solution to support investors in increasing their investments in this asset class. Sygnum intends to use the newly raised funds to drive the bank's expansion into new markets and further develop its regulated products, such as interbank digital asset services. (Source link)

3. DeFi

1. VETA Finance completes $2.85 million strategic financing, led by Matrixport Ventures
On-chain financial platform VETA Finance announced the completion of $2.85 million in strategic financing, led by Matrixport's venture capital arm Matrixport Ventures, with participation from imToken Ventures, WT Capital, Future Money Group, and 280 Capital. The funds will be used to further optimize the platform's product offerings, strengthen IT and data service construction, and expand cooperation channels to achieve a new round of business growth. (Source link)

2. Cross-chain lending protocol Synonym Finance completes $1.5 million seed round financing, led by Bordless
Cross-chain lending protocol Synonym announced the completion of $1.5 million in seed round financing, led by Bordless, with participation from Robot Venture, Big Brain Holdings, and the Wormhole cross-chain ecosystem fund. (Source link)

3. Bitcoin DeFi protocol Bitflow Labs completes $1.3 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by Portal Ventures
Bitcoin DeFi protocol Bitflow Labs announced the completion of $1.3 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Portal Ventures, with participation from Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Bitcoin Startup Lab, Big Brain Holdings, Newman Capital, Genblock Capital, and Tykhe Block Ventures.

It is reported that Bitflow, in collaboration with strategic wallet partners such as Hiro (Leather), Xverse, and Asigna, utilizes technologies like PSBT, atomic swaps, AMM, and second-layer solutions like Stacks to provide efficient decentralized exchanges and sustainable BTC yields. (Source link)
4. One-stop trading portal Arken Finance completes new round of financing, with participation from Arche Fund
Multi-chain DEX aggregator and one-stop trading portal Arken Finance announced the completion of a new round of financing, with participation from Arche Fund, with specific financing amounts undisclosed.

Arken Finance primarily provides seamless cross-chain trading and better liquidity, having integrated the OKX DEX API last October, and also offers multi-chain DEX aggregation trading features. (Source link)

4. NFT

1. NFT cross-chain lending protocol Singular completes $3 million seed round financing, led by IOBC Capital
The first NFT cross-chain lending protocol supporting the BTC ecosystem, Singular, announced the completion of $3 million in seed round financing, led by IOBC Capital, with follow-on investments from BCH Foundation, Bing Ventures, DG Capital, and Divide Labs. (Source link)

2. Decentralized NFT data platform bitsCrunch announces $2.4 million strategic financing

Decentralized NFT data platform bitsCrunch announced it has secured $2.4 million in strategic financing, co-led by Cypher Capital and HashKey.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, bitsCrunch is an AI-driven decentralized NFT data platform that enables developers to build reliable NFT applications. By leveraging AI technology, bitsCrunch provides accurate and in-depth analysis of NFTs, helping users make informed investment decisions. The BitsCrunch Network also offers detailed forensic data on NFTs, allowing users to identify potential risks, fraudulent activities, and maintain security.

5. AI

1. Decentralized data platform Bagel Network completes $3.1 million pre-seed round financing, led by CoinFund
Decentralized data platform Bagel Network announced the completion of $3.1 million in pre-seed round financing, led by CoinFund, with participation from Protocol Labs, Borderless Capital, Maven11 Capital, Graph Paper Capital, and Breed VC.

It is reported that Bagel Network plans to leverage blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography to compete with existing Web2 competitors such as HuggingFace, Kaggle, and Pinecone, targeting the mainstream machine learning and AI fields. (Source link)

2. Crypto chip company Ingonyama completes $21 million seed round financing, led by IOSG Ventures
Crypto chip company Ingonyama announced it has completed $21 million in seed round financing, led by IOSG Ventures, Walden Catalyst Ventures, and Geometry, with follow-on investments from RockawayX, BlueYard Capital, Samsung Next, StarkWare, IOBC Capital, Maven11, and Mirana Ventures.

Ingonyama is a next-generation semiconductor company designing accelerators for advanced cryptography. The technology stack accompanying Ingonyama's accelerators will enable programmers to build increasingly complex applications while leveraging privacy and scalability facilitated by ZKP. (Source link)

3. AI-driven brand protection platform Doppel completes $14 million Series A financing, led by a16z
AI-driven brand protection platform Doppel announced the completion of $14 million in Series A financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Strategic Cyber Ventures, Okta co-founder Frederic Kerrest, Datadog CISO Emilio Escobar, Capital One CTO and EVP Andy Ozment, Chainguard President Ryan Carlson, Material Security co-founder and chairman Ryan Noon, Octant co-founder Ramsey Homsany, OpenAI research scientist Prafulla Dhariwal, and other new investors, as well as existing investors South Park Commons, SVAngel, Gokul Rajaram, and Sabrina Hahn. Signal Sciences co-founder and Etsy CISO Zane Lackey is set to join its board.

Doppel is an AI-driven brand protection platform providing solutions to address large-scale digital risks. Doppel currently serves businesses across various industries, including Coinbase, ARK Invest, and VSCO. Doppel was previously positioned as an NFT fraud detection company and announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing led by FTX Ventures in May 2022. (Source link)

4. AI×DePIN project EMC completes million-dollar first round financing, with participation from Swiss Bochsler Group
AI computing and application network EMC (Edge Matrix Computing) announced the completion of several million dollars in first-round strategic financing, with investors including Swiss Bochsler Group, Future3 Campus, 1783 Labs, Frontier Research, DMC, VOFO Corp, Exabits.ai, Hashmeta, CEEX Labs, and BlueSea.

5. AI image generation project IgmnAI completes $1.6 million seed round financing, led by Hack VC
Crypto AI platform imgn AI announced the completion of $1.6 million in seed financing, led by Hack VC, with participation from Rana Capital, Selini Capital, West Ham Capital, Motus Capital, and dao5, with specific valuation undisclosed.

According to its website, the image generation robot platform was launched at the end of 2022, with its imgnAI crypto token used to unlock premium features and directly mint images as NFTs. Tokens spent on these features will be burned, thereby reducing the total supply. (Source link)

6. DAO

1. Social DAO organization developer FWB Labs completes $3 million seed round financing, led by a16z crypto
The social DAO organization Friends With Benefits (FWB) announced that its software development company Scene Infrastructure Company (SIC, also known as FWB Labs) has completed $3 million in seed round financing, led by a16z crypto.

SIC will be led by Jose Mejia and Ethan Daya, both long-time DAO contributors and co-founders of Zora. Scene Infrastructure is primarily focused on accelerating FWB software development and expanding the utility of the FWB token. (Source link)

7. Gaming

1. P2E platform Arcade2Earn completes $4.8 million financing, led by Crypto.com Capital
P2E platform Arcade2Earn has completed $4.8 million in financing, led by Crypto.com Capital, with participation from Solana Ventures, Shima Capital, KuCoin Labs, and GSR. Arcade2Earn has now shifted from Solana to Ethereum and Avalanche. Additionally, the platform will conduct a public token sale on February 27, with a total of 15 million tokens for sale. (Source link)

2. Web3 esports fan community Stan completes $2.7 million financing, with participation from Aptos Labs
Web3 esports fan community Stan has completed $2.7 million in financing, with participation from Aptos Labs, Pix Capital, Maelstrom Fund, GFR Fund, CoinDCX Ventures, Climber Capital, TDV Partners, and Coinswitch Ventures.

It is reported that STAN is a community gathering esports fans, allowing fans to interact, play, and grow with their idols through the use of digital collectibles/variable NFTs. (Source link)

3. Web3 game developer Aether Games completes $300,000 strategic financing
Avalanche ecosystem launchpad platform Avalaunch announced that Web3 game developer Aether Games has secured $300,000 in strategic sale financing.

According to crypto data platform RootData, in May 2023, Web3 game developer Aether Games completed $5 million in seed round financing, with participation from Mystenlabs, Polygon, and others. (Source link)

4. Blockchain game developer Mon Studios completes $1.35 million strategic financing, with participation from Yunt Capital
MMORPG game Spellborne developer Mon Studios announced the completion of $1.35 million in strategic financing, with investors including 32-Bit Ventures, Momentum 6, Yunt Capital, D64 Ventures, County Capital, and founders and executives from companies like Animoca Brands, YGG, Faze Clan, Immutable, and Tatsumeeko.

It is reported that the funds will be used to continue the development of Spellborne. (Source link)

5. Bitcoin game project 10n8 completes $1.5 million financing
Bitcoin game project 10n8 Little Dragon has completed $1.5 million in financing, with participation from Centauri Digital Asset Group, Mirai DAO, New Tribe Capital, 3M Capital, Ivan on Tech, SeedThrift Ventures, Boxmining, Spicy Capital, and Satoshi Stacker. (Source link)

8. Others

1. Web3 investment application Web3Intelligence completes $4.5 million private placement financing, with participation from Shima Capital
Web3 investment application Dopamine developer Web3Intelligence has completed $4.5 million in private placement financing, with participation from DAO MAKER, Shima Capital, and Gate.

It is reported that Web3Intelligence will issue the token DOPE as a utility token for accessing Dopamine. The goal of Web3Intelligence is to provide anti-money laundering information to institutions to offer compliance standards to their clients that are equivalent to traditional finance. (Source link)

2. Web3 security company KEKKAI announces completion of $1.5 million seed round financing, with participation from Mask Network
Web3 security company KEKKAI announced the completion of $1.5 million in seed round financing. Funds participating include Decima Fund, Bixin Ventures, Sora Ventures, Plug and Play, FlickShot, Mask Network, Stratified Capital, MZ Web3 Fund, Presto Labs, GoPlus Security, and Dora Ventures.

At the same time, KEKKAI launched its innovative product—KEKKAI Mobile, a mobile browser application that integrates Web3 security features, providing a safer and more reliable web browsing experience. (Source link)

3. Digital asset data company CCData completes strategic round financing, with participation from VanEck
Digital asset data company CCData announced the completion of strategic round financing, with participation from VanEck and MarketVector Index, with specific financing amounts undisclosed.

It is reported that the company currently aggregates real-time crypto data sources from global exchanges, providing comprehensive and accurate digital asset data, reference rates, and indices. Its data solutions have been adopted by traditional finance and digital asset institutions such as MSCI, Pantera, Ripple, BitGo, Metamask, Coinbase, and 21Shares, and have established strategic distribution partnerships with platforms like Refinitiv and SIX Digital. (Source link)

4. Gamified Bitcoin accelerator 10n8 Little Dragon completes $1.5 million financing, with participation from Centauri Digital Asset Group
Gamified Bitcoin accelerator 10n8 Little Dragon has completed $1.5 million in financing, with participation from Centauri Digital Asset Group, Mirai DAO, New Tribe Capital, 3M Capital, Ivan on Tech, SeedThrift Ventures, Boxmining, Spicy Capital, and Satoshi Stacker.

The project's future roadmap includes additional Dragon Pools utilizing other DeFi mechanisms and the development of an in-game Dragon Ordinals series and a Unity-based metaverse game that will expand the original legend of Little Dragon. (Source link)

5. Web3 data platform Hyperline completes $5.2 million seed round financing, led by Slow Ventures
California-based Hyperline announced the completion of $5.2 million in seed round financing, having created the first Web3 native data lake. This round of financing was led by Slow Ventures, with participation from South Park Commons, Script Capital, Canonical Crypto, Picus Capital, Volt Capital, Mischief, and Maelstrom.

This financing will help Hyperline develop a shared storage and computing engine for any Web3 developer looking to build AI products and analytical applications. (Source link)