Compiled by: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, from November 18 to November 24, 2024, there were 19 public investment and financing events in the blockchain and encryption industry, with a total financing of approximately US$145.1 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure and Defi tracks. Popular projects include Move ecological development platform Shinami, DeFi project Exponent, encrypted fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt, and hybrid payment platform Rise Labs.
In addition, the stablecoin company Noble completed a $15 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm. Noble has raised a total of $18.3 million in financing and has reached cooperation with stablecoin issuers such as Circle, Ondo Finance, Hashnote Labs and Monerium. The platform currently manages assets of more than $458 million.
(List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: Rootdata)
1. Infrastructure
Deblock, a crypto wallet founded by former Revolut and Ledger executives, has raised approximately $16.8 million in seed funding
According to Sifted, according to documents filed this month with the UK Companies House, Deblock, a crypto wallet founded by former Revolut and Ledger executives, has completed an additional £13.3 million (about $16.8 million) in seed round financing. Another October document showed that Headline, Hoxton, 20VC and Chalfen were the main investors in this round of financing. Sifted previously reported that the startup quietly raised 12 million euros last year.
According to reports, Deblock was co-founded by former Revolut cryptocurrency head Jean Meyer, payment head Aaron Beck and former Ledger engineering director Mario Eguiliuz in August 2022. Later that year, the startup poached Revolut European Banking Chief Operating Officer Adriana Restrepo as its fourth founder.
Deblock CEO Jean Meyer declined to comment on the funding round. According to its website, the Deblock app is currently only available in France, where it is regulated as an electronic money institution and digital asset service provider.
According to RootData, Deblock is a current account integrated with a non-custodial wallet that allows users to deposit, withdraw, spend and exchange euros or cryptocurrencies.
Move Ecosystem Development Platform Shinami Completes $5.645 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Race Capital
According to PRNewswire, Move ecosystem development platform Shinami announced the completion of a $5.645 million seed round of financing, led by Race Capital, with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Coinbase, Circle and Mysten Labs, and additional investment from Aptos Foundation (the specific amount was not disclosed).
According to RootData, Shinami is building an infrastructure developer platform for Sui, and its products are designed to help teams build applications faster with better user experience and less overhead, including node services, in-app wallets, etc.
Crypto AI startup OpenLayer completes $5 million seed round of financing, with a16z CSX participating
Crypto AI startup OpenLayer has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, with participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Geometry, IOSG Ventures, Spartan Group, LongHash Ventures, and undisclosed angel investors including EigenLayer, AltLayer, Puffer Finance, and Sei Network.
The financing process started in June and ended in August. This round of financing adopted a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) structure. OpenLayer plans to launch its own token in the future. Currently, OpenLayer in the United States has 7 employees and plans to hire two more engineers.
OpenLayer acts as an AI data layer, enabling users to contribute and verify data through a Chrome extension and earn points. According to its website, application developers can access this user data with user consent, thereby protecting privacy. Use cases include training AI models, user targeting, and enhancing functionality.
Stablecoin company Noble completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm
According to Fortune, the stablecoin company Noble has completed a $15 million Series A financing round, led by Paradigm. Noble has raised a total of $18.3 million in financing and has reached cooperation with stablecoin issuers such as Circle, Ondo Finance, Hashnote Labs and Monerium. The platform currently manages assets worth more than $458 million.
According to the RootData platform, Noble aims to bridge the gap between stablecoin issuers such as Circle and application chain builders by developing a platform that provides higher liquidity. Noble acts as a middleman, working with stablecoin issuers to efficiently distribute their products to 50 different blockchains and providing developers with a seamless user interface to ensure that their application chains are compatible with Noble. Noble has established partnerships with several stablecoin issuers such as Circle, Ondo Finance, Hashnote Labs and Monerium. The company has attracted more than $458 million in assets.
Bitcoin L2 solution Bitfinity Network completes $12 million in financing, with Polychain Beacon Fund and others participating
According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin L2 solution Bitfinity Network announced the completion of $12 million in financing, including $7 million invested by institutions such as Polychain Beacon Fund, ParaFi, Draft Ventures and Warburg Serres, and $5 million raised from community over-the-counter (OTC) token sales.
The project will use the Chain Fusion technology of Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) to enable the operation of Bitcoin native assets in an Ethereum-compatible ecosystem. The ecosystem plans to host decentralized applications including Sonic, Chapswap, Lendfinity and Omnity Bridge. It is worth noting that the founder of Liquity, a lending protocol with a billion-dollar TVL, also participated in supporting the project.
According to RootData, Bitfinity (formerly known as InfinitySwap) is a next-generation EVM that acts as a second layer for Bitcoin and other assets. It utilizes a threshold signature scheme and is built on IC.
Second, Defi
DeFi project Exponent completes $2.1 million in financing, led by RockawayX
DeFi project Exponent has completed a $2.1 million financing led by RockawayX, with participation from Solana Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Robot Ventures, and angel investors Stepan Simkin, Marius C., David Lu, MacBrennan, etc. The funds will be used to build Solana's DeFi fixed-rate market.
It is reported that the time-locked tokens issued by Exponent can generate fixed income or be used for yield trading. These tokens have an expiration date, enabling users to exchange variable DeFi yields for fixed income within a set time span, or expand their risk exposure to yield fluctuations.
DeFi liquidity solution Barter completes $3 million seed round of financing, led by Maven 11
According to The Block, Barter, a decentralized financial liquidity solution provider, announced the completion of a $3 million seed round of financing, led by Web3 venture capital firm Maven 11, with participation from Lattice, Anagram, Heartcore, DCG and Daedalus Angels.
Nikita Ovchinnik, co-founder of Barter, said that this round of financing will be used to expand the team, accelerate research and development, and continue to develop its DeFi tool AppChain. It is reported that Barter currently has a daily transaction volume of US$20 million on multiple EVM-compatible blockchains. The project was established in 2023 and mainly provides on-chain transaction matching and settlement services.
Alluvial, a staking protocol developer, completes $4.3 million in strategic financing led by Variant
According to official news, Alluvial, the software development company that supports Liquid Collective, has completed a new round of strategic financing of US$4.3 million, led by Variant, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital, F-Prime Capital (a venture capital company under Fidelity Investments' parent company FMR, LLC), Nascent, etc., bringing the total financing amount to US$22.5 million.
The funding is intended to advance the development of purpose-built, open and configurable solutions to accelerate adoption in the institutional staking market.
According to reports, Alluvial is a software development company that provides a set of enterprise-level staking products and services, focusing on promoting mainstream adoption and participation in proof-of-stake blockchains. Liquid Collective is a set of staking standards designed to meet the needs of enterprises.
3. Games
Decentralized game player network KGeN completes $10 million financing, led by Aptos Labs
Decentralized gamer network KGeN (Kratos Gamer Network) announced the completion of a $10 million ecosystem round of financing, led by Aptos Labs, with participation from Polygon and Game7, bringing its total financing to $30 million.
It is reported that the Kratos gamer network mainly operates in India, Brazil, Nigeria, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.
According to RootData, a Web3 asset data platform, since 2022, Kratos Studios' mission is to bring millions of micro-game communities in emerging markets to Web3 to create the most powerful POG (Proof of Player) engine and Kratos Game Network (KGeN). The POG engine will enable gamers and game developers around the world to interact with each other in a seamless way through the multi-chain game data network KGEN.
Crypto fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt completes $30 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital
According to PR Newswire, crypto fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt announced the completion of a $30 million Series A round of financing, which closed this summer, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Polychain Capital, PokerGo, Hack VC, Dream Ventures, Accomplice, Mirana, and Josh Hannah. This latest financing brings the total financing amount to more than $50 million.
According to reports, Monkey Tilt will be launched in early 2024, integrating prediction games, sports, poker and cryptocurrencies on one platform. Monkey Tilt plans to launch a new gamified cryptocurrency trading product in the first quarter of next year.
ChainCatcher previously reported that the encrypted fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt announced the completion of US$21 million in financing, with PolyChain Capital, Hack VC, Poker Go, Accomplice, Paper Ventures and Folius Ventures participating in the investment.
4. AI
EWA track Luluchain completed $5 million institutional round of financing with a valuation of $50 million, led by DG Capital
Luluchain, a project dedicated to transforming social scene data into quantifiable value virtual assets (Emotional World Assets), announced that it has completed a $5 million institutional round of financing with a valuation of $50 million. This round of financing was led by DG Capital, with participation from Smo Capital, LD Block, Unionblock vc, and Blockin.venture.
Luluchain is a unique blockchain platform that integrates AI+Web2 social scenarios+Web3 decentralized finance, and its underlying development is based on Comsos Sdk.
V. Others
Truemarkets raised over $4 million through public NFT sales, and Vitalik spent 32 ETH to participate in the minting
According to The Block, Truemarkets, a market-based news and entertainment platform, raised more than $4 million through public NFT sales, raising $4.03 million by selling 15,071 NFTs, with a minting fee of 0.08 ETH (about $250) per NFT. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin purchased 400 of the NFTs, spending a total of 32 ETH (about $107,000).
Truemarkets allows users to bet on real-world events. Truemarkets has two types of NFTs: Oracle Patron NFTs and Truth Seeker NFTs. NFT holders are eligible to claim the upcoming asset, TRUE tokens, during the platform’s token generation event.
Hybrid payment platform Rise Labs completes $6.3 million Series A financing, led by Draper Associates
According to official news, hybrid payment platform Rise Labs announced the completion of $6.3 million in Series A financing, bringing its total financing to $10 million. The investment was led by Draper Associates, co-led by Polymorphic Capital, and participated by DCG, JAM Fund, Ryze Labs, and Paradigm Shift Capital.
According to reports, Rise is a hybrid payment infrastructure that integrates fiat currencies, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies. Currently, Rise has more than 150 customers and more than 100,000 contractors. Its customer base includes traditional enterprises, Web3 enterprises, as well as DAOs, protocols, and platforms. Rise's comprehensive platform supports companies to recruit, hire, and pay global contractors and employees in local currencies and stablecoins while ensuring compliance with international tax regulations and employment laws.
Phantom acquires Web3 firewall technology provider Blowfish
Crypto wallet Phantom acquires Web3 firewall technology provider Blowfish for an undisclosed amount. The Blowfish team will launch new security features for Phantom, ranging from intuitive transaction previews to real-time insights into fraud.
AIGC blockchain game Gabby World completes $2 million financing with a valuation of $20 million, SevenX Ventures and others participate
According to official news, the community co-created AIGC game Gabby World announced that it has completed a US$2 million financing with a valuation of US$20 million. This round of financing was participated by 13 institutions including SevenX Ventures, OnePiece Labs, Everest Ventures Group, Phoenix Capital, Zonff Partners, and 8 angel investors including former partners of Republic, former partners of Hashed, and partners of Gam3Girl Ventures.
Gabby World is a community-created AIGC Dungeons & Dragons game, and is the first VC coin to be issued with a meme-like ultra-low market value through the "fair release" token economy. It aims to explore a new paradigm for VC coin issuance that is against "low circulation and high FDV" and against scheduled unlocking.
The GABBY token was quietly launched on Solana’s DEX at the end of October with a market value of $10,000, and has successfully verified the on-demand release and repurchase destruction advocated by the “fair release” token economic model in the past few weeks.
Paxos acquires Finnish electronic money institution Membrane Finance to enter EU stablecoin market
According to official news, Paxos, a blockchain and tokenization infrastructure platform, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Membrane Finance, a Finnish licensed electronic money institution. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, and upon completion, Paxos will obtain electronic money institution (EMI) licenses in Finland and the European Union.
Walter Hessert, Paxos’ head of strategy, said the acquisition will help Paxos launch assets and tokenization solutions that comply with MiCA (Market for Crypto Assets) regulations in the EU market. Currently, Paxos has issued multiple regulated digital assets, including PayPal USD (PYUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP) and Pax Gold (PAXG).
