Last week, there were a total of 24 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a cumulative financing of approximately 398.2 million USD | Investment and Financing Weekly Report
Opacity Network completes $12 million seed round financing; Bitcoin staking platform Solv Protocol completes $11 million financing, with participation from OKX Ventures; Crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial completes $25 million financing, led by Ripple Labs.Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from October 14 to October 20, 2024, there were a total of 24 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $398.2 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure and DeFi tracks. Popular projects include the privacy data oracle protocol zkPass, the blockchain financial service application Predicate, the liquid staking protocol Drop Protocol, and the blockchain video game developer Azra Games.
In addition, the blockchain video game developer Azra Games completed a $42 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and NFX.
*（List of projects with financing greater than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）
1. Infrastructure
New York-based on-chain AI oracle service Canyon Network announced the completion of $6 million in financing, with participation from DeData Technologies, DAO Venture, Vinci Labs, and Fission Digital Capital, achieving a valuation of $60 million. The new funds will be used to support the development and launch of Onchain AI Oracle, enhancing the transparency, efficiency, and security of AI-driven blockchain applications.
Canyon has developed an architecture consisting of a large off-chain validator and operator network and a set of on-chain Solana programs. When a dApp interacts with the Canyon AI Oracle Solana program to request AI inference, the AI Oracle network quickly generates verifiable results, ensuring the transparency, efficiency, and security of AI-driven blockchain applications.
Plasma completes $3.5 million financing, led by Bitfinex
According to The Block, Bitcoin-centric, EVM-compatible Plasma has completed $3.5 million in financing, led by Bitfinex, with participation from Christian Angermayer and venture capital firms Split Capital, Anthos Capital, Karatage, and Manifold Trading.
Plasma focuses on expanding access to the USDT stablecoin. Plasma will be fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, meaning it can run any Ethereum-compatible smart contracts, providing solutions to extend Bitcoin's functionality.
According to RootData, Plasma is a scalable, zero-fee, Bitcoin-backed payment platform.
The privacy data oracle protocol zkPass completed $12.5 million in Series A financing with a token valuation of $100 million, with participation from dao5, Animoca Brands, Flow Traders, Amber Group, IOBC Capital, Signum Capital, MH Ventures, and WAGMI Ventures. The Series A financing brings zkPass's total funding to $15 million.
The zkPass token is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year.
According to RootData, zkPass is a privacy data protocol that utilizes 3P-TLS and hybrid ZK technology, providing tools and applications for secure, verifiable data sharing from any HTTPS website without requiring Oauth API, ensuring privacy and integrity.
Bitcoin protocol layer Surge announced the completion of $1.8 million in Pre-Seed financing, with participation from Autonomy, Gerstenbrot Capital, Double Peak Group, Sats Ventures, Vamient Capital, Samara AG, and angel investors including Rushi Manche from Movement Labs, CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong, and TM Lee.
The new funds will drive the development of its MetaLayer to fully leverage Bitcoin's potential as a global monetary base layer.
Surge plans to launch its testnet soon.
According to RootData, Surge is a modular Rollup as a Service (RaaS) platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem. Surge provides a platform for launching high-performance, customizable, general-purpose, or application-specific Rollups on Bitcoin, significantly reducing their time to market.
According to CoinDesk, the on-chain data availability (DA) project Hyve announced the completion of $1.85 million in seed round financing, led by Lemniscap, with participation from Paper Ventures and Frachtis.
Hyve's solution, HyveDA, is a fully permissionless data availability layer that currently supports a throughput of 1 GB per second.
Financial services company Euroclear has acquired a strategic stake in Singapore blockchain company Marketnode, with the specific acquisition amount undisclosed. Euroclear's investment aims to leverage blockchain to modernize financial market infrastructure, focusing on simplifying fund management and reducing settlement times through distributed ledger technology.
Marketnode was founded in 2021 by the Singapore Exchange Group and Temasek, operating two blockchain platforms: Gateway and Fundnode, focusing on tokenization and digital fund management.
Web3 social Layer2 solution Vue Protocol completes $6 million financing
According to official news, Web3 social Layer2 solution Vue Protocol announced it raised $6 million in Pre-Seed and seed round financing, with participation from Eureka Capital, PAKA, Genesis Ventures, and AU21 Capital.
Vue Protocol is a decentralized platform that seamlessly maps multi-chain relationships, aiming to connect Web3 native developers and empower users with ownership of their data, allowing community collaboration.
Opacity Network completes $12 million seed round financing
The zero-knowledge proof data verification platform Opacity Network announced the completion of $12 million in seed round financing, led by Archetype and Breyer Capital, with participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Finality Capital Partners, Bodhi Ventures, and Escape Velocity (EV3). This seed round financing brings Opacity's total funding to $13.4 million, following a previous seed pre-round financing of $1.4 million.
According to Fortune, the blockchain financial service application Predicate announced the completion of $7 million in financing, with participation from Tribe and 1kx. The company plans to launch its product this week and will operate under a decentralized philosophy.
Predicate is a startup founded by two alumni of the blockchain Celo, aiming to connect blockchain applications with the financial world. The company has reportedly declined to discuss plans for launching a token.
Decentralized content delivery network Blockcast announced the completion of $2.85 million in financing, led by Lattice Fund, with participation from Protocol Labs, Finality Capital Partners, AllianceDAO, Zee Prime Capital, RW3 Ventures, and angel investors including Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko. Specific valuation information has not been disclosed.
According to RootData, Blockcast is a decentralized content delivery network and marketplace designed to help broadcasters gain more traffic and reach a wider audience. The platform aims to bridge the gap between television and online streaming by delivering content through tagging unused television spectrum. Streaming a 4K movie to 10,000 viewers via servers like Cloudflare typically costs around $1,000, but using Blockcast can reduce the cost by 96%.
2. DeFi
Liquid staking protocol Drop Protocol completes $4 million seed round financing, led by CoinFund
Liquid staking protocol Drop Protocol completed $4 million in seed round financing, led by CoinFund, with participation from CMS Holdings, Anagram, Interop Ventures, Cosmostation, and angel investors including Lido DAO co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov, Celestia Labs co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam, and Abacus Labs CEO, Hyperlane core contributor Jon Kol.
According to RootData, Drop is a cross-chain liquid staking protocol aimed at enhancing the economic viability of inter-chain economies by transforming stagnant, frozen resources into liquid opportunities.
According to CoinDesk, the development team of the decentralized EVM platform Mento on the Celo network announced the completion of $10 million in financing. This round of financing was supported by T-Capital, HashKey Capital, Richard Parsons, Flori Ventures, No Limit Holdings, Verda Ventures, and w3.fund.
Mento Labs also announced a stablecoin roadmap, planning to add three local digital currencies to its expanding decentralized stablecoin lineup: Philippine Peso (PUSO), Colombian Peso (cCOP), and Ghanaian Cedi (cGHS).
According to project documentation, the Mento stability protocol can be viewed as an over-collateralized, decentralized, and transparent stable asset mechanism. The protocol utilizes crypto reserves, allowing users to adjust the supply of Mento stable assets based on demand changes. Users can exchange between Mento stable assets and reserve collateral assets through the protocol.
Additionally, Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Mento Labs is a stablecoin and digital asset innovation lab derived from cLabs (Celo). The lab offers a basket of cryptocurrency asset platforms, with all Mento stablecoins (cEUR, cREAL, cUSD) fully backed by USDC and DAI. Furthermore, Mento has support for loyalty and engagement, regenerative finance, as well as risk management, monitoring, and maintenance.
Binance Labs announces investment in Bitcoin liquid staking platform Lombard
Binance Labs announced an investment in the Bitcoin liquid staking platform Lombard. Lombard co-founder and strategic officer Jacob Phillips declined to disclose the valuation in the latest round of financing but noted that the startup's total funding is currently around $17 million, up from $16 million in seed round financing four months ago, indicating that Binance Labs' investment is approximately $1 million.
According to RootData, Lombard was established in April 2024 and is dedicated to unlocking Bitcoin's potential as a dynamic financial tool by connecting Bitcoin with DeFi. Lombard enables yield-generating BTC to move across chains without fragmenting liquidity, paving the way to become the largest catalyst for bringing net new capital into DeFi. Its flagship product LBTC is a yield-bearing, cross-chain, highly liquid Bitcoin backed 1:1 by BTC.
Stablecoin developer Hermetica completes $1.7 million seed round financing, led by UTXO Management
Stablecoin developer Hermetica completed $1.7 million in seed round financing, led by UTXO Management. CMS Holdings, Ethos Fund, Trust Machines SPV, Newman Capital, Silvermine, and numerous angel investors participated.
Hermetica has developed a yield-bearing synthetic dollar USDh, which is issued on the Bitcoin network. The company intends to use the funds to strengthen the USDh ecosystem, such as through custody partnerships and enhanced liquidity. Hermetica plans to expand into other Bitcoin L2s in the coming months, such as Arch Network and Bitlayer.
According to RootData, Hermetica Finance is a non-custodial structured product protocol for Bitcoin. The Hermetica treasury uses automated options yield strategies to generate risk-adjusted returns in Bitcoin and stablecoins.
According to official news, Bitcoin ecosystem AVS platform Pell Network announced the completion of $3 million in Pre-Seed financing. This round of financing was co-led by Halo Capital, Mirana Ventures, and Paper Ventures, with participation from ArkStream Capital, Caliber Venture Builder, Cogitent Ventures, and Contribution Capital.
Pell Network is a full-chain, composable, adaptive decentralized verification service network based on re-staking technology. With the completion of financing, Pell Network's testnet has officially launched.
According to RootData, Pell Network aims to create a decentralized token economic security leasing platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem. By building a network that aggregates native BTC Stake and LSD re-staking services, it allows stake holders to choose to verify new software modules built on the Pell Network ecosystem.
Bitcoin staking platform Solv Protocol completed $11 million in financing at a valuation of $200 million, with participation from Laser Digital, Blockchain Capital, and OKX Ventures.
According to RootData, Solv is a decentralized Bitcoin reserve protocol that unlocks the full potential of Bitcoin assets through liquidity consensus infrastructure. By addressing the fragmentation of BTC assets, yield opportunities, and custody solutions, Solv provides Bitcoin holders with a gateway to BTCFi, continuously establishing pathways and confidence for traditional funds to enter the cryptocurrency world.
Previously reported, in August 2023, Solv Protocol completed $6 million in financing, with participation from Laser Digital, Bytetrade Labs, and others.
3. Gaming
Blockchain video game developer Azra Games completed $42 million in Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and NFX. The total funds raised by Azra Games have reached $68.3 million.
Azra Games CEO and founder Mark Otero stated that the $42 million will be used to develop a "world-class game," which will be available on the App Store, with the first game codenamed Project Legends.
According to RootData, Azra Games is a blockchain gaming company aiming to create a mainstream collectible battle RPG. Its first game, Project Arcanas, is a fantasy collectible and fighting arena RPG where players can earn NFT collectibles and build legions for battle.
According to Chainwire, the Web3 mobile game project Flappy Bird Foundation announced the completion of $2 million in new financing, led by Kenetic Capital and Scytale Ventures, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Optic Capital, and 4SV. The new funds will support the project in adding a range of new Web3 features to attract nostalgic players and a new generation of gamers.
Under the management of the newly established Flappy Bird Foundation, the intellectual property of the game will continue to be protected.
4. CeFi
According to TechCrunch, the African cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has completed $33 million in Series C financing, led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Coinbase, Kraken, OpenSea, and Worldcoin. This round of financing will be used to expand its B2B business. Yellow Card's total funding has reached at least $88 million.
According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Yellow Card completed $15 million in Series A financing in September 2021, led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures, and also completed $40 million in Series B financing in September 2022, led by Polychain Capital.
Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitnomial completes $25 million financing, led by Ripple Labs
According to The Block, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitnomial announced the completion of $25 million in financing, led by Ripple Labs. At the same time, Bitnomial launched a perpetual futures trading platform called Botanical, which is currently in closed testing.
The Botanical platform will provide investors with perpetual futures, traditional futures, and options trading services. Bitnomial CEO Luke Hoersten stated that the company is boldly advancing its mission to provide users with a regulated and innovative trading experience through Botanical, offering an alternative to the currently widely used decentralized exchanges and VPN-based workarounds.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes that Bitnomial's approach of introducing offshore trading models into the U.S. derivatives industry presents significant opportunities for establishing a compliant digital asset derivatives market (such as XRP). Bitnomial will use Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin for perpetual futures settlement.
Previously reported, Bitnomial has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), questioning its regulatory authority over XRP futures contracts.
5. Others
CoinDesk acquires crypto data providers CCData and CryptoCompare
CoinDesk has acquired crypto data providers CCData and its retail division CryptoCompare, which serves over 300,000 active users.
CCData is regulated in the UK and is one of the providers of digital asset data and index solutions.
CoinDesk CEO Sara Stratoberdha stated, "We are excited to begin integrating CCData's high-quality, robust, and trusted data platform and retail suite into CoinDesk's existing products and services, bringing more opportunities to our customers."
Social protocol The Arena completes $2 million Pre-Seed financing
Avalanche ecosystem social protocol The Arena announced the completion of $2 million in Pre-Seed financing. Investors include: Blizzard (Avalanche ecosystem fund), Ava Labs and Avalanche leadership team members, Balaji Srinivasan, Abstract Ventures, D1 Ventures, Saron Funds, Alpha Crypto Capital, and other angel investors from Galaxy Digital, Fenbushi, Republic, Espresso Systems, Efficient Frontier, and Dao5.
Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream has completed $210 million in convertible note financing, led by Fulgur Ventures. This round of financing will be used to accelerate the market adoption of its Bitcoin Layer 2 technology, expand its mining business, and increase Bitcoin reserves.
Blockstream's Layer 2 solutions include Liquid Network and Core Lightning.
It is reported that over $1.8 billion in assets have been issued on the Liquid Network, including stablecoins, tokenized bonds, and securities, with approximately 3,844 BTC (worth about $250 million) locked on-chain. The company plans to position Liquid as the "de facto infrastructure" for the tokenization of physical assets within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
