News
Blockchain startups raise $258 million in one week
During the week of May 19-25, blockchain startups collectively raised over $258 million, led by decentralized social protocol Farcaster’s $150 million Series A round.
According to Crypto Fundraising, four startups raised $179.2 million in Series A rounds in the past seven days, while 12 startups raised $24.1 million via unknown rounds.
Fundraising for cryptocurrencies from May 19th to 25th | Source: Crypto Fundraising
Five startups earned $21.3 million from seed rounds; two locked in $20 million combined from strategic rounds.
Two other startups raised $9 million from private rounds, while the latest raised $5 million from a public sale round.
Below is a summary of the week’s VC crypto stocks.
Farcaster achieves unicorn status with $150 million Series A
Decentralized social media protocol based on Ethereum Farcaster has secured $150 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Paradigm. The round also saw significant contributions from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Standard Crypto, among others. It raised Farcaster’s valuation to a staggering $1 billion, marking its entry into unicorn territory.
Co-founder Dan Romero shared that the protocol will use the new capital in two main areas: increasing daily active users and improving development tools such as channels and direct messaging. Additionally, Farcaster plans to hire more engineers to support these initiatives.
Plume Network Raises $10 Million for L2 Blockchain
Plume Network, a modular Layer 2 (L2) network designed to facilitate on-chain integration of real-world assets (RWA), announced a $10 million seed funding round led by Haun Ventures.
The California-based venture capital firm was joined by Galaxy Ventures, Superscrypt, A Capital, SV Angel and Portal Ventures. Several angel investors also participated, such as Anthony Ramirez of Wormhole Labs and Andrew Kang of Mechanism.
Plume CEO Chris Yin said the funds will advance the company’s mission to simplify the process of transferring assets such as real estate and art onto blockchain platforms.
Blockless Secures $8 Million for Decentralized Infrastructure Expansion
Blockless, a network of decentralized physical infrastructures (DePIN), raised $8 million in two initial funding rounds.
The initial $3 million pre-seed round was led by NGC Ventures, followed by a $5 million seed round co-led by M31 Capital and Frachtis. Other investors included No Limit Holdings, MH Ventures, Interop Ventures and Plassa Capital.
The project’s co-founder, Butian Li, revealed that the funds will support the launch of a test network in the coming weeks. A mainnet and native BLESS token will be released in Q3 2024.
Pencils Protocol, IVX secures initial funding
Pencils Protocol, an auction platform and yield aggregator on the Scroll network, has raised $2.1 million in a seed round led by OKX Ventures, Animoca Brands and Galxe.
Meanwhile, another project, IVX, raised $1.2 million in a seed round backed by Animoca Ventures and other investors.
IVX is building a native options protocol on Berachain Polaris EVM, providing zero-day to expiration (0DTE) options for crypto assets, allowing users high leverage exposure without liquidation risk.
Cysic and RunesFi announce new funding rounds
Cysic, a zero-knowledge (ZK) hardware acceleration company, has raised $12 million in a pre-A funding round led by HashKey Capital and OKX Ventures.
According to the team behind the project, the funding will accelerate the generation of ZK proofs, making them faster and more cost-efficient.
Finally, RunesFi, a Bitcoin infrastructure hub, raised $400,000 in a funding round led by Cogitent Ventures.
Using the Runes Protocol, RunesFi aims to enhance Bitcoin’s decentralized finance (defi) capabilities with features such as a decentralized exchange (DEX) and infrastructure products to support efficient transactions and lower costs.
Browse previous “VC Collections” below:
News
How Ether Spot ETF Approval Could Impact Crypto Prices: CNBC Crypto World
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CNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and gives viewers a glimpse of what’s to come with high-profile interviews, explainers and unique stories from the ever-changing cryptocurrency industry. On today’s show, Ledn Chief Investment Officer John Glover weighs in on what’s driving cryptocurrency prices right now and how the potential approval of spot ether ETFs could impact markets.
News
Miners’ ‘Capitulation’ Signals Bitcoin Price May Have Bottomed Out: CryptoQuant
According to CryptoQuant, blockchain data shows signs that the Bitcoin mining industry is “capitulating,” a likely precursor to Bitcoin hitting a local price bottom before reaching new highs.
CryptoQuant analyzed metrics for miners, who are responsible for securing the Bitcoin network in exchange for newly minted BTC. As outlined in the market intelligence platform’s Wednesday report, multiple signs of capitulation have emerged over the past month, during which Bitcoin’s price has fallen 13% from $68,791 to $59,603.
One such sign includes a significant drop in Bitcoin’s hash rate, the total computing power that backs Bitcoin. After hitting a record high of 623 exashashes per second (EH/s) on April 27, the hash rate has fallen 7.7% to 576 EH/s, its lowest level in four months.
“Historically, extreme hash rate drawdowns have been associated with price bottoms,” CryptoQuant wrote. In particular, the 7.7% drawdown is reminiscent of an equivalent hash rate drawdown in December 2022, when Bitcoin’s price bottomed at $16,000 before rallying over 300% over the next 15 months.
This latest hash rate drop follows Bitcoin’s fourth cyclical “halving” event in April, which cut the number of coins paid out to miners in half. According to CryptoQuant’s Miner Profit/Loss Sustainability Indicator, this has left miners “mostly extremely underpaid” since April 20, forcing many to shut down mining machines that have now become unprofitable.
CrypotoQuant said that miners faced a 63% drop in daily revenue after the halving, when both Bitcoin block rewards and transaction fee revenues were much higher.
During this time, Bitcoin miners were seen moving coins from their on-chain wallets at a faster rate than usual, indicating that they may be selling their BTC reserves“Daily miner outflows reached their highest volume since May 21,” the company wrote.
Among the sales of Bitcoin miners, whales and national governmentsBitcoin’s price drop in June also hurt Bitcoin’s “hash price,” a metric of Bitcoin Miner Profitability per unit of computing power.
“Average mining revenue per hash (hash price) continues to hover near all-time lows,” CryptoQuant wrote. “Hashprice stands at $0.049 per EH/s, just above the all-time low hashprice of $0.045 reached on May 1st.”
By Ryan-Ozawa.
News
US Congressman French Hill Doubles Down on Trump’s Pro-Crypto Stance
US lawmaker French Hill has noted that Donald Trump will take a more pro-crypto approach than the current administration. The run-up to the presidential election has seen cryptocurrencies become an issue with lawmakers making huge statements ahead of the polls. Donald Trump has also been reaching out to the industry, making a pro-crypto case.
French Hill Backs Trump’s Pro-Crypto Stance
Republican Congressman French Hill has explained the type of cryptocurrency regulatory framework he believes Donald Trump could adopt in the country. In a recent interview with CNBC, French Hill said that the recently passed FIT21 bill is the type of regulatory framework the Trump administration will adopt in the sector.
#FIT21 passed the House with 71 Democratic votes, it’s exactly the kind of digital asset regulatory framework former President Trump would support if re-elected.
See more on @SquawkCNBC🔽 photo.twitter.com/ceTmU4LApU
— French Hill (@RepFrenchHill) July 3, 2024
THE FIT21 Bill It is intended to protect investors and consumers in the market by establishing clear rules and powers for the various regulators in the sector. According to Hill, Trump will adopt it because it directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on the specific regulatory framework needed in the market.
“… for people who are innovating and starting a crypto token, a related business, custody of those assets, how to ensure consumer protection, so I think that framework is the right approach and that’s what I’m going to recommend to the President to pass, which is that we have not passed it between now and the end of this Congress.”
He also called Trump an innovative and pro-growth president in financial matters.
Cryptocurrency is going mainstream
This election cycle saw the cryptocurrency industry taking a place in mainstream issues following broader adoption across demographics. From candidates moving toward enthusiasts to recent pro-Congress legislation, cryptocurrencies have become a rallying point for officials. The U.S. regulatory landscape has been criticized for stifling growth due to frequent SEC LawsuitsThis has led executives to push for pro-cryptocurrency laws and raise money for pro-industry candidates.
Read also: Federal Reserve Predicts “AI Will Be Deflationary” to Stimulate Economy
David is a financial news contributor with 4 years of experience in Blockchain and cryptocurrency. He is interested in learning about emerging technologies and has an eye for breaking news. Keeping up to date with trends, David has written in several niches including regulation, partnerships, cryptocurrency, stocks, NFTs, etc. Away from the financial markets, David enjoys cycling and horseback riding.
News
US Court Orders Sam Ikkurty to Pay $84 Million for Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme
A federal court has ordered Jafia LLC and its owner, Sam Ikkurty, to pay nearly $84 million to cryptocurrency investors after ruling that the company was operating a Ponzi scheme.
The ruling, issued by Judge Mary Rowland in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, follows a lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2022 after the fund collapsed.
Judge Rowland found that Ikkurty, based in Portland, Oregon, did numerous false claims on his company’s hedge funds.
These included misleading statements about his trading experience and the promise of high and stable profits. Instead, Ikkurty used funds from new investors to pay off previous investors, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.
The Ponzi Scheme
The court found that Ikkurty misappropriated investment funds for personal use without the knowledge of the investors. These funds were used for personal use and were reported as Fraudulent Investmentscausing significant financial losses to customers.
This non-transparent operation violated Transparency Commission regulations, which led to the imposition of a hefty fine to compensate defrauded investors and restore some public confidence in the financial system.
Judge Rowland emphasized that fraudulent activity such as this violates the law and undermines the integrity of modern financial markets. The $84 million award seeks to address the financial harm inflicted on investors and reinforce the importance of legal compliance in cryptocurrency trading.
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