Compiled by: Golden Finance

The largest funding round this week

Practice

Praxis raised $525 million in a funding round from GEM Digital Limited, Arch Lending, Manifold, Dan Romero, Will Price, and Anirudh Pai, among others.

Praxis is a cyber-nation that aims to create a global online community with shared values, governance systems, and physical cities. It combines crypto infrastructure with social, economic, and institutional development to build a new social model. By crowdfunding physical space and leveraging blockchain for governance, Praxis promotes decentralized governance and financial systems. It works to rebuild Western civilization while moving toward a future of digital and physical collaboration.

Seed and pre-seed investment rounds

Hyve YES 

Hyve DA raises $1.9M in pre-seed funding round with participation from Lemniscap*, Paper Ventures, Frachtis, P-OPS Team.

HyveDA is a decentralized data availability network designed for high-throughput, low-latency data processing. It leverages advanced infrastructure to handle intensive data demands, supporting applications such as Layer 2 expansion, DePIN, decentralized AI, and DeFi. HyveDA achieves 1 GB/s throughput and sub-second latency, making it ideal for decentralized infrastructure that requires efficient data availability and verification.

Drop Protocol 

Drop Protocol raised $4 million in a seed round led by CoinFund*, CMS Holdings, Anagram, Chorus One, Interop Ventures, Vasiliy Shapovalov, Mustafa Al-Bassam, and Zaki Manian.

Drop is a decentralized platform that provides cross-chain liquidity staking, allowing users to earn staking rewards with automatic reinvestment while maintaining asset liquidity. Built on Neutron and secured by the Cosmos Hub, Drop offers dAssets that can be used in DeFi applications for additional yield. The platform also supports validators and developers, enabling them to integrate with liquidity staking tokens. Users can earn and redeem Droplets in the ecosystem in exchange for DROP tokens.

Surge 

Surge raised $1.8 million in a pre-seed round of funding from Gerstenbrot Capital, Samara Asset Group, Coingecko, Sats Ventures, Double Peak Group, Vamient Capital, Autonomy Capital, Bobby Ong, and TM Lee.

Surge is a decentralized MetaLayer designed to scale Bitcoin, supporting modular rollups and dApps. It leverages Bitcoin's PoS consensus for security while providing a high-throughput, low-latency infrastructure. Surge aims to unlock the next generation of the Bitcoin economy by facilitating seamless interoperability of decentralized applications, leveraging ZKP aggregation and Bitcoin liquidity without relying on third parties.

Hermetica 

Hermetica raised $1.7 million in a seed round led by UTXO Management*, Silvermine Capital, Newman Capital, CMS Holdings, Arch Network, Sats Ventures, Trust Machines, Ethos Fund, and Kilowatt Capital.

Hermetica is a DeFi platform that provides Bitcoin-backed, yield-generating stablecoins. Its core product, USDh, offers up to 25% annualized yield, allowing users to earn stable returns from perpetual futures funding payments. Hermetica supports staking, trading, and lending in the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem while maintaining price stability without relying on fiat currencies. The platform aims to provide sustainable yield opportunities and integrate Bitcoin liquidity into DeFi.

Opacity Network 

Opacity Network raised $12 million in a seed round led by Archetype, Breyer Capital, a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Finality Capital, Bodhi Ventures, North Island Ventures (NIV), Escape Velocity, Ambush Capital, and GD1.

Opacity is a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) protocol that enables trustless information verification without revealing details. Through its Verified Data Network (VDN), it connects provers and verifiers to enable secure data sharing across Web2 and Web3. Opacity leverages zkTLS for privacy protection, MPC architecture for scalability, and EigenLayer for economic security, providing a high-security solution for private data sharing and verification.

Blockcast 

Blockcast raised $2.9 million in a seed round led by Lattice Fund*, Alliance DAO (formerly DeFi Alliance), Protocol Labs, Finality Capital, Zee Prime Capital, RW3 Ventures, and Anatoly Yakovenko.

Blockcast is an open, decentralized content delivery network (CDN) that leverages a unique caching architecture to reduce delivery costs and improve content quality. It aggregates capacity from a global network of caching nodes, enabling efficient content delivery even in remote areas. By integrating multicast technology, Blockcast supports streaming, gaming, and other high-bandwidth services, enabling broadcasters, CDNs, and ISPs to expand capacity and coverage. Users and operators who run Blockcast nodes can be rewarded through token incentives.

The Arena 

The Arena raised $2 million in a pre-seed round of funding from Abstract Ventures, C² Ventures, D1 Ventures, Sarson Funds, AlphaCrypto Capital, and Balaji Srinivasan.

Arena is a SocialFi platform that combines social networking with decentralized finance, allowing users to connect, interact, and monetize their interactions. It integrates blockchain technology to provide a next-generation social experience where users can earn rewards and participate in decentralized communities. The platform emphasizes social engagement and financial empowerment through a user-centric ecosystem.

Pell Network 

Pell Network raised $3 million in a pre-seed round of funding from Halo Capital, Mirana Ventures, Paper Ventures*, ArkStream Capital, Cogitent Ventures, Caliber Venture Builder, Contribution Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, D11-Labs, J17 Capital, Mantle Network, Sats Ventures, Side Door Ventures, Web3Port Labs, and 071labs (Zero Seven One Labs).

Pell Network is a decentralized platform that specializes in providing verification services for the Bitcoin ecosystem. It focuses on enhancing the security, efficiency, and scalability of Bitcoin by providing decentralized infrastructure and services. The network combines the advantages of Bitcoin with decentralized technology to provide new use cases and improved performance for a variety of applications.

Other investment rounds

ZeroBase 

ZeroBase raised $5 million in a funding round from Binance Labs Fund, Lightspeed Faction, dao5 (daofive), IDG Blockchain, Symbolic Capital (formerly Hyperedge Capital), MH Ventures, Oak Grove Ventures, 10K Ventures, Web3Port Labs, 071labs (Zero Seven One Labs), Lecca Ventures, K24 Ventures, and PAKA.

ZeroBase is a decentralized platform designed to provide secure, real-time zero-knowledge (ZK) proof generation. It focuses on enabling scalable and compliant computing in multiple fields such as finance, AI, and blockchain while maintaining privacy. The platform offers solutions such as zkLogin (for privacy-preserving authentication), zkDarkPool (for confidential transactions), and zkKYC (for secure identity verification). By leveraging a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), ZeroBase ensures that sensitive data remains private without sacrificing transparency or compliance. It aims to make zero-knowledge cryptography more accessible, scalable, and efficient, enabling seamless integration in a decentralized ecosystem.

Plasma 

Plasma raised $3.5 million in a funding round from Bitfinex*, Christian Angermayer, Anthos Capital, Karatage, Manifold, and Split Capital, among others.

Plasma is a high-throughput, zero-fee payment platform built on top of Bitcoin. It enables feeless USD₮ transfers and supports over 1,000 transactions per second while leveraging Bitcoin's security. Plasma introduces a novel Nakamoto PoS consensus mechanism and hybrid UTXO/Account architecture that allows developers to build and execute modular smart contracts. The platform aims to enhance Bitcoin's utility for payments and decentralized applications with a scalable, low-latency solution.

zkPass 

zkPass raised $12.5 million in Series A funding from daofive, Animoca Brands, CE Innovation Capital (CEIC), L2 Iterative Ventures (L2IV), UOB Venture Management, Flow Traders, Amber Group, Leland Ventures, IOBC Capital, Signum Capital, Bing Ventures, MH Ventures, WAGMI Ventures, Taisu Ventures, Ceras Ventures, and Global Coin Research (GCR).

zkPass is a composable, privacy-preserving decentralized authentication solution designed for Web3 that leverages multi-party computation (MPC) and zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology to securely verify and verify private data without disclosing or uploading the data. It enables users to selectively and privately verify various types of data while maintaining trust and privacy in applications such as decentralized identity passes, DeFi lending protocols, and healthcare data markets.

Marketnode

Marketnode has raised an undisclosed amount from Euroclear in a funding round.

Marketnode is a developer and operator of financial market infrastructure (FMI) designed to manage data, transactions and lifecycle processes for digital assets. Using distributed ledger technology (DLT), Marketnode aims to revolutionize the issuance, trading and servicing of financial assets such as credit, funds and structured products. The platform, especially its Gateway service, provides a comprehensive solution for the issuance, settlement and automated services of tokenized assets, targeting issuers, financial institutions and their agents.

Lombard 

Lombard raised $1 million in funding from Binance Labs Fund in a funding round.

Lombard is committed to unlocking the potential of Bitcoin by integrating it into DeFi, establishing a universal standard for cross-chain, yield-generating BTC without fragmenting liquidity. Its flagship product, LBTC, is a liquid Bitcoin backed 1:1 by BTC, allowing users to earn, stake, trade, and participate in DeFi while using Bitcoin as a store of value. Lombard is currently in Phase 1 of the Ethereum mainnet, aiming to expand access and grow the Bitcoin re-staking ecosystem.

Yellow Card Financial 

Yellow Card Financial raised $33 million in Series C funding from Blockchain Capital*, Polychain Capital, Block, Winklevoss Capital, Third Prime, Castle Island Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Blockchain Coinvestors, and Hutt Capital.

Yellow Card Financial is a Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange.

Mento Labs

Mento Labs raised $10 million in a round of funding from T-Capital, Hashkey Capital, Flori Ventures, No Limit Holdings (NLH), Verda Ventures and w3 fund.

Mento Labs is a decentralized platform focused on creating and operating multi-currency stable assets. It aims to promote financial inclusion by providing transparent, low-volatility stablecoins, especially in emerging markets. The platform supports a variety of stablecoins, including cUSD, cEUR, and cREAL, and integrates an automated market maker (AMM) for efficient currency exchange. Mento Labs also provides customized solutions for partners to issue digital assets, while focusing on financial stability, low fees, and accessibility.

CCData 

CCData raised an undisclosed amount from CoinDesk in a round of M&A funding.

CCData is a provider of institutional-grade digital asset data, indices, and market insights. The platform provides real-time and historical data from more than 300 exchanges, covering 300,000 currency pairs. Its services include trading data, derivatives, order book insights, and regulated reference pricing. CCData is authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide financial institutions with reliable benchmarks and research to support data-driven decision-making in the digital asset market.

Azra Games 

Azra Games raised $42.7M in Series A funding from Pantera Capital*, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto), a16z Games, and NFX.

Azra Games is a studio focused on creating immersive role-playing games (RPGs) that offer rich storytelling and real-time action. Led by industry veteran Mark Otero, creator of (Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes), Azra is focused on creating next-generation RPGs such as (Project Legends), which is set in a dark fantasy world and features real-time combat and unique character abilities. Azra emphasizes interaction with fans, and the Azraverse allows players to participate in quests, earn rewards, and shape the game's evolving narrative. Azra combines innovative gameplay with community-driven experiences.

Towns 

Towns raised $25.5 million in Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto), Benchmark, and Framework Ventures.

Towns is a Web3 group chat protocol and application developed by Not There Labs that allows online communities to build blockchain-based meetups in a fully decentralized way. It provides a complete system for community builders: on-chain (Ethereum) ownership and actions, composability with smart contracts, end-to-end encryption, full decentralization, and open source.

Blockstream 

Blockstream raised $210 million in a funding round from Fulgur Ventures*.

Blockstream is a global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain technology, providing Bitcoin and blockchain technology solutions for the financial market. It builds crypto financial infrastructure based on Bitcoin.

Bitnomial 

Bitnomial raises $25 million in Series C funding from Ripple*.

Bitnomial is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States that offers futures and options trading on Bitcoin and other digital assets. It offers physical delivery contracts, allowing traders to receive Bitcoin when the contract expires. The platform focuses on institutions and professional traders by providing advanced risk management, regulatory compliance, and high liquidity.

Predicate 

Predicate raised $7 million in a funding round from 1kx, Tribe Capital, Figment Capital*, Reciprocal Ventures, Hashkey Capital, White Star Capital, Very Early Ventures, Cyber ​​Fund, GSR Markets LTD, Department of XYZ, Everstake Capital, ConsenSys, Near Foundation, Calvin Liu, Rene Reinsberg, Marek Olszewski, Sandeep Nailwal, Georgios Vlachos, and Waikit Lau.

Predicate is a decentralized network that enables customizable pre-trading rules for on-chain applications. It allows developers to create policies that are executed by operators, ensuring secure, rule-based transactions. Policies can manage anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC), and anomaly detection, and are stored on Ethereum for transparency.

Solv Protocol 

Solv Protocol raised $11 million in a strategic funding round from Laser Digital, Blockchain Capital, OKX Ventures (formerly OKEx Blockdream Ventures), gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC), CMT Digital, Berachain, EigenLayer, GMX, Curve Labs, Movement Labs, Ethena, Mezo, Core DAO, Binance Labs Fund, The Spartan Group, and 071labs (Zero Seven One Labs).

Solv Protocol is a decentralized platform that bridges liquidity between DeFi, CeFi, and TradFi, providing access to diverse asset classes and yield opportunities in a secure and transparent manner. It enables global institutional and retail investors to access trusted crypto investments through a trustless fund infrastructure powered by ERC-3525.

World of Dypians 

World of Dypians raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round from IBC Group.

World of Dypians is a metaverse platform built on blockchain technology that provides an immersive virtual experience where users can explore, interact and earn rewards. The platform combines DeFi and NFT elements, allowing players to own assets, trade and participate in governance. It provides multiple opportunities to play and earn and supports a community-driven ecosystem.

Bracket Labs 

Bracket Labs raised an undisclosed amount from 071labs (Zero Seven One Labs) in a funding round.

Bracket Labs, a project that aims to dramatically improve usability by building leveraged structured products on-chain with a simple interface and innovative, adaptive pricing, has launched the BracketX.fi platform, which helps traders quickly take advantage of volatility in sideways and trending market conditions.