ChainCatcher news, according to TechCrunch, Avara, the development company behind Aave, Lens, and Family, has completed a $31 million financing round for the social protocol Lens, led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from Avail, AlchemyPlatform, Circle, Consensys, DFG, Fabric Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Superscrypt, Re7Capital, Wintermute Ventures, Caliber Ventures, G-20, Blockchain Coinvestors, Borderless Capital, and Bodhi Ventures.Avara founder Stani Kulechov stated that the Lens v3 version will launch on the mainnet in the first quarter of 2025, utilizing zkSync and validiums technology to reduce transaction costs, aiming to provide infrastructure for decentralized social applications.According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Avara was renamed from Aave Companies and is a vibrant collective of pioneering brands in the decentralized finance and social space, including Aave, Lens, GNO, and others.

ChainCatcher news, the European digital asset platform Bitpanda has received in-principle approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) of the United Arab Emirates, and Bitpanda will facilitate the continuous growth of users in the Middle East and North Africa region.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, Aave Labs and Lens parent company Avara announced the launch of a non-custodial crypto wallet called Family, which comes with a built-in messaging feature.According to the introduction, Family can be downloaded for free from the iOS App Store, suitable for users ranging from beginners to experienced crypto users, and is designed to help users trade or explore Web3.

ChainCatcher news, at the TON Gateway 2024 conference held in Dubai, Ben El-Baz, Managing Director of the licensed exchange HashKey Global, announced that HashKey Global has currently submitted a license application to the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will soon disclose the latest developments. The exchange is also advancing preparations for licensing in Europe.Ben stated that since its launch six months ago, HashKey Global has benefited from the rapid growth of its contract business, ranking 7th in the global exchange rankings on CoinGecko, making it one of the fastest-growing exchanges in the world.

ChainCatcher news, OKX CEO Star Xu announced the official launch of the VARA licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Dubai.Star Xu stated that it is the first licensed large global exchange in the UAE, serving both retail and institutional clients, and providing a wide range of cryptocurrency trading services in the UAE through the local entity OKX Middle East Fintech FZE, covering over 280 cryptocurrencies and 480 trading pairs.

ChainCatcher news, the Solana meme coin leverage platform Lavarage officially announced the launch of the Tephra Points Program. The program aims to incentivize users' trading, staking, and community participation through a series of regular "missions." Tephra Points reward users for their platform activities through a points system. The plan is to distribute points through tasks released every two weeks, with the specific content and point allocation of each task adjusted according to the platform's needs.According to official information, the first batch of Tephra tasks (Mission 1) has already begun, and early participating users can check their Tephra Points balance on the platform. New users can also accumulate points by participating in platform activities.According to a previous tweet from Lavarage co-founder Fire, there is a strong possibility that Tephra Points will be related to future token issuance.It is reported that since the platform went public at the end of June this year, Lavarage has processed over 5,000 leveraged spot trades.

ChainCatcher news, Solana meme coin leverage platform Lavarage co-founder Fire introduced the operation mechanism of its points system "Tephra" in a tweet:The Tephra points system aims to reflect users' contributions to the platform by rewarding their economic activities (such as paying transaction fees and increasing total locked value TVL), thereby promoting the alignment of interests and mutual growth between the platform and its users. Unlike other airdrops, Lavarage's points system creates long-term substantial value for the platform.Fire stated that the platform will gradually roll out 8 to 10 two-week "missions" for users to earn Tephra points (speculated that the token may be launched in the fourth quarter). The missions will balance the points distribution among traders, liquidity providers, and partners through engaging interactions, aiming to establish the fairest and optimal reciprocal structure before the token launch, maximizing its long-term value.The platform will recently clarify doubts for users through an AMA, aiming to strengthen the agreement and trust between the platform and its users. Fire looks forward to creating significant value with community members and achieving major breakthroughs in the DeFi space together.

ChainCatcher news, digital asset infrastructure Roma announced that it has obtained a virtual asset service provider license issued by Dubai VARA, which enables Roma to offer regulated virtual asset brokerage services, providing clients with digital asset deposits and withdrawals, brokerage, and over-the-counter trading services.It is reported that Roma was founded by former Sequoia Capital Managing Director Amit Jain, focusing on bridging the gap between legal assets and digital assets for global institutions, and raised $22 million in seed funding in 2022, led by Sequoia Capital India.

ChainCatcher news, Vara Network and the developer education platform HackQuest announced the launch of the Vara Learning Track on HackQuest, which includes courses on Rust syntax, an introduction to Substrate & Gear Protocol, and project development and deployment on Vara Network. Developers who complete the courses can receive a learning certificate jointly issued by Vara Network and HackQuest.Learners can earn corresponding rewards after completing challenges at Gear Academy, while Vara Network opens the Varathon hackathon to global developers every month. Vara Network will also support and fund HackQuest's global developer community activities as a strategic partner.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Matthew White, CEO of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), stated at Paris Blockchain Week that the agency is currently considering many things to try to make the system and regulation suitable for everyone. One of these is to find a way to address the compliance costs for small (crypto) entities.Currently, the agency observes that there are not many companies with sufficient resources to accept regulation, and the new regulatory scheme includes allowing larger market participants to host smaller market participants.

ChainCatcher news, the Fantom Foundation announced on platform X the introduction of Aave and Avara founder Stani Kulechov as an angel investor. Previously, the Fantom Foundation also announced the introduction of Superstate and Compound founder Robert Leshner, as well as Gauntlet founder Tarun Chitra and Frax Finance founder Sam Kazemian as angel investors participating in the latest funding round for the project.

ChainCatcher news, CoinGecko data shows that Vara Network (VARA) is currently priced at $0.1419, with a 24H increase of 51.4%.According to the introduction on the RootData page, Vara is a Layer1 blockchain built on the Gear Protocol, supporting developers to run Wasm-compiled smart contracts and achieving parallel computing through the Actor Model. Developers can build logically complex dApps on Vara using Rust.

ChainCatcher news, Gate.io will launch Vara Network (VARA) and open the VARA/USDT trading market on January 17, 2024, at 18:00 (UTC+8).It is reported that Vara Network is a fast and scalable Layer 1 decentralized network built on the Gear Protocol. With its parallel computing capabilities, Vara Network provides an ideal environment for next-generation gaming experiences, financial applications, and various innovative features, aiming to become a universal platform that supports multiple use cases, allowing both developers and traditional Web2 users to explore the infinite possibilities of Web3 technology.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Henri Arslanian, former cryptocurrency head at PwC, stated that the digital asset fund Nine Blocks Capital Management established in Dubai is the first cryptocurrency hedge fund to receive a license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and plans to make Dubai its global headquarters.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the blockchain technology company Aave Companies has been renamed Avara. Avara will become the parent company of Aave, Lens, the stablecoin GHO, Sonar, and other brands. Meanwhile, Avara has also acquired the Los Angeles Web3 startup Los Feliz Engineering, marking the company's second acquisition following the acquisition of the metaverse mobile app Sonar in December 2022.

ChainCatcher news, Solana ecosystem Web3 application Backpack has announced the launch of a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, Backpack Exchange. Currently, Backpack Exchange has obtained a trading services Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license issued by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will launch a beta version for existing Backpack and Mad Lads community members this November.The beta version of Backpack Exchange will offer spot cryptocurrency trading services, with the public version set to go live in the first quarter of 2024. Backpack Exchange will also add trading features such as derivatives, margin, and cross-collateral. Backpack is an integrated Web3 application that acts as a non-custodial wallet, providing a crypto-native experience through xNFTs. xNFTs serve as native decentralized applications within Backpack, representing a portal for applications, games, and assets built on any chain.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the layer 1 network Vara Network, developed in collaboration with the Gear Foundation and supported by Polkadot founder Gavin Wood, has launched its mainnet.Vara Network stated that it utilizes concepts such as the Actor model and persistent memory to enhance speed and reduce latency, introducing parallel processing and separate memory space for smart contracts, providing support for development in areas such as gaming and finance.