ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, early blockchain venture capital firm Portal Ventures is nearing the final close of its second fund, which has a target size of $75 million. Its founder and general partner Evan Fisher stated that the fund has been oversubscribed, reaching $90 million.According to documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, the initial fund target was $70 million, but Portal later decided to raise the cap by $5 million.Fisher and another general partner, Catrina Wang, stated that Portal's investment strategy differs from other funds, focusing on early-stage "pre-seed" investments and has garnered support from top-tier investors. Portal's first fund was fully deployed in May of this year, and Fisher expects distributions to begin next year.

According to ChainCatcher news, monitored by The Data Nerd, in addition to Wintermute, there are three market makers (MM) and one venture capital firm holding $NEIRO_ETH tokens. The specific holdings are as follows:• GSR holds 15 million $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $1.14 million;• Toka Labs holds 51,140 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $384,000;• Auros Global holds 36,000 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $270,000;• Arrington holds 51,070 $NEIRO_ETH, worth approximately $383,000.

ChainCatcher news, venture capital firms Spartan Group and Pantera Capital have increased their holdings of AERO on-chain, AERO being the native token of the decentralized exchange Aerodrome.Blockchain analytics firm Nansen reported that on Monday, Spartan Group exchanged approximately 903,000 AERO for 460 Ethereum in two transactions from one address, while Pantera received about 479,000 tokens from an unknown wallet.According to on-chain data, the acquisition of AERO by Spartan Group marks the first interaction with AERO for that address, but for Pantera's address, this is the second time in four days, as the firm received an initial 474,749 AERO tokens on October 4.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, venture capital firm Lemniscap has announced that it has raised $70 million to support early-stage Web3 startups. The fund will invest in various blockchain sectors, including zero-knowledge proof infrastructure, consumer applications, emerging Bitcoin ecosystems, and secure and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN).Since its establishment in 2017, Lemniscap has invested in over 130 Web3 projects, including well-known protocols such as Avalanche, Fairblock, and Celestia. The company emphasizes a focus on long-term success rather than short-term gains, providing funding and strategic guidance to the startups in its portfolio.According to Pitchbook data, crypto startups raised $2.7 billion in the second quarter of 2024, with total funding for the year expected to reach $10.8 billion, surpassing the $10.1 billion raised in 2023. Although the number of deals has decreased by 12.5%, the scale of investments in potential projects is increasing.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the team behind the TON ecosystem game Hamster Kombat recently revealed that they have received investment intentions from some top cryptocurrency venture capital firms, but "so far have rejected all proposals."The team stated that the decision to refuse venture capital funding was made to protect the player base of Hamster Kombat and to maintain the core focus of the development team, which is to provide players with a skill-based gaming experience that rewards them for actually playing the game.In an announcement on August 10, the team noted that this stands in stark contrast to many crypto games and projects that accept venture capital funding, where these venture capital firms often view the player base as a channel for exit liquidity. The Hamster Kombat team did not disclose which venture capital firms expressed interest in investing. The developers of Hamster Kombat also explained that 60% of the upcoming HMSTR token will be reserved for players, while the remaining portion will be used for liquidity, future partnerships, in-game rewards, and ecosystem development.

ChainCatcher news, according to a new quarterly report from PitchBook, cryptocurrency financing has grown by 2.5%, reaching $2.7 billion. Despite the increase in amount, the number of transactions has decreased by 12.5%.PitchBook senior analyst Robert Le stated, "Investors are concentrating capital on a narrower range of opportunities, marking a leap towards quality. A few years ago, their investments were more diversified across various sectors. Overall financing in 2024 is expected to grow by 20% or more compared to last year, reaching between $12 billion and $14 billion this year, up from about $10 billion last year."

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, the U.S. SEC has sent letters to venture capital firms such as a16z and Union Square Ventures regarding the Uniswap issue.Previously, the U.S. SEC issued a Wells notice to Uniswap Labs in April this year, warning that it may take enforcement action. Subsequently, Uniswap Labs responded to the U.S. SEC's Wells notice, stating that they are ready to fight and will continue to build.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News*,* sources familiar with the investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the SEC has issued subpoenas to at least three cryptocurrency venture capital firms this year. DL News reviewed the first page of the subpoena. The page states: "SEC staff is investigating the above matters to determine whether there have been violations of federal securities laws."Insiders indicated that at least two other crypto VC firms received essentially the same document requests. According to the source, the subpoenas sent to these crypto VCs request all contracts related to token transactions.Reportedly, sources familiar with the investigation stated that the SEC is interested in whether these accredited investors are issuing unregistered securities to the broader retail market on behalf of token issuers. The individual added, "This would poison the initial offering," referring to what happens when investors are alleged to sell tokens on the public market.Additionally, a lawyer from a crypto VC firm not affected by the subpoenas stated, "This is an excessive investigation and extremely costly."

ChainCatcher news, according to informed sources, despite signs of recovery in the Web3 market, the European venture capital firm XAnge has quietly stopped raising funds for its first cryptocurrency venture capital fund.In 2022, the venture capital announced it was raising funds for its dedicated cryptocurrency fund, the Digital Ownership Fund, with a target size of 80 million euros, recruiting Luc Jodet, co-founder of the Paris Web3 luxury platform Arianee. However, now due to difficulties in securing enough supporters to complete the initial fundraising, its CEO Cyril Bertrand has stated that they will no longer raise funds for this cryptocurrency-specific fund.

ChainCatcher news, according to CNBC, the AI startup Anthropic has launched a $100 million AI fund in collaboration with the venture capital firm Menlo Ventures. This move will intensify competition with OpenAI.

According to ChainCatchert's message and incomplete statistics from RootData, a total of 8 projects announced their cessation of operations in the first half of 2024, mainly distributed across DeFi (ClayStack, [Gridex Protocol](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Gridex Protocol?k=NjM0Mw== "order book-based decentralized trading protocol"), [Hector Network](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Gridex Protocol?k=NjM0Mw== "Defi product ecosystem"),) CeFi ([Yield App](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Yield App?k=ODM1NA== "digital wealth platform"), HKVAEX, CommEX,) GameFi ([Eternal Dragons](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Eternal Dragons - Trailblazer Games?k=NDY3OQ== "epic fantasy game series")/[Trailblazer Games](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Eternal Dragons - Trailblazer Games?k=NDY3OQ== "epic fantasy game series"),) and privacy track (Nocturne.It is worth noting that the GameFi project Eternal Dragons/Trailblazer Games previously raised $8.2 million, the privacy protocol Nocturne, which received support from Vitalik, raised $6 million in seed funding, and the liquid staking project ClayStack raised $5.2 million in seed funding led by CoinFund and ParaFi Capital, with support from Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, The Spartan Group, and others.The main reasons for these projects ceasing operations are quite diverse, primarily focusing on non-systemic risks. ClayStack's cessation was due to a lack of product-market fit during its more than three years of operation; Gridex Protocol stated it failed to secure additional funding from private investors and also faced liquidity issues; Eternal Dragons pointed out that Web3 has brought additional challenges to game design, user experience, and development, increasing costs and risks; while Yield App suffered losses because its assets were previously held on the now-defunct FTX exchange.

ChainCatcher news, Hypersphere Ventures has opened its $130 million liquidity fund to external investors, which will employ Wall Street-style strategies to generate returns from crypto assets.The fund's staff comes from high-frequency trading firm Millennium and hedge fund Bridgewater. Hypersphere intends to adopt the multi-manager approach used by Millennium and Bridgewater to provide investors with niche trading strategies while maintaining low volatility.In addition, Hypersphere will also raise a new venture fund to invest in early-stage crypto projects. The company plans to raise $75 million for this venture capital fund, with fundraising set to begin in the fall.

ChainCatcher news, according to PitchBook, gaming venture capital firm Griffin Gaming Partners plans to raise $500 million for its third flagship fund, which is 33% smaller than its second fund. In 2022, Griffin raised $750 million for its second flagship fund, at a time when venture capital enthusiasm for Web3 and crypto gaming reached its peak.It is reported that Griffin Gaming Partners led a $185 million Series A funding round for Web3 game developer Forte in 2021, and led a $46 million Series A funding round for blockchain game studio N3twork Studios in 2022.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune magazine, a survey found that Yida Gao, the founder of crypto venture capital Shima Capital, created a secret offshore entity and transferred assets belonging to his venture capital firm to a company registered in his own name, without the knowledge of other investors in the company. Lawyer Eric Hess stated that this completely violates the conduct permitted under the Investment Advisers Act.Yida Gao has not been charged with any crime, and a representative of Shima Capital stated that the company would not comment on "such regulatory matters." However, according to an anonymous source, Yida Gao's poor performance and behavior have clearly violated the investor protection rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), putting him in a difficult position for raising further funds. A representative from Shima Capital revealed that the company is currently not seeking financing.Shima Capital has also experienced a wave of high-level employee departures in recent months, including Chief Technology Officer Carl Hua and Research Director Alexander Lin, who left earlier this year to start their own venture capital firm, as well as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Compliance Hazel Chen. The departing executives did not respond to requests for comment. The latest SEC filings show that the firm manages approximately $158 million in assets—this figure is down from the $200 million raised in 2022.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, cryptocurrency and blockchain venture capital firm New Form Capital has launched a $100 million fundraising effort aimed at returning to the once-troubled cryptocurrency industry.New Form Capital stated that the venture will focus on reshaping traditional finance through crypto-related technologies, including trading markets and payment systems. Additionally, they revealed that they will also invest in some AI startups related to cryptocurrency and blockchain.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune magazine, a limited partner of the crypto venture capital firm Blockchange disclosed that the firm's first fund completed a total capital allocation of over $530 million to investors this March. Since its establishment, the fund has allocated a total of over $860 million.

ChainCatcher news, the crypto venture capital firm Aquarius, headquartered in New York and possessing a top-tier KOL network, has launched a multi-strategy liquidity fund today, managing assets of up to $600 million. Supported by Bisen Capital, miners, family offices, and KOLs, this multi-strategy liquidity fund aims to provide short-term and long-term liquidity management solutions based on different risk profiles. As the first institutional fund of its kind, it systematically manages on-chain liquidity, assisting various blockchain foundations and ecological projects in meeting their liquidity needs.It is reported that Aquarius, established in 2018, simultaneously manages venture capital funds and liquidity funds, focusing on Pre-Seed and Seed round investments in infrastructure, DeFi, artificial intelligence, the BTC ecosystem, modular architecture, data layers, and high-traffic applications. Aquarius provides comprehensive and in-depth support for its investment projects, including global KOL promotion, developer and user community building, on-chain liquidity management, media promotion, and market strategy formulation.

ChainCatcher news, the New York-based crypto venture capital firm Aquarius has launched a multi-strategy liquidity fund, managing assets of $600 million, supported by Bitrise Capital, mining companies, family offices, and KOLs. The multi-strategy liquidity fund aims to provide short-term and long-term liquidity management solutions based on different risk profiles. As the first institutional fund of its kind, it systematically manages on-chain liquidity and assists various blockchain foundations and ecosystem projects in meeting their liquidity needs.Aquarius was founded in 2018 and simultaneously manages venture capital funds and liquidity funds, focusing on Pre-Seed and Seed round investments in infrastructure, DeFi, artificial intelligence, the BTC ecosystem, modular architecture, data layers, and high-traffic applications.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, biotechnology company Blackrock Neurotech announced a strategic investment of $200 million from Tether's venture capital arm, Tether Evo.After this round of investment, Tether becomes the majority shareholder of Blackrock Neurotech. This investment will help Blackrock Neurotech fund the commercialization and promotion of its medical solutions and support its research and development efforts.