📬 Inbox Dump #21

Hello Defiers! Welcome to Inbox Dump where we include the updates and announcements that flood our DMs each week and didn’t make it to The Defiant’s content platforms. Sometimes announcements here didn’t meet the bar to become a news story, sometimes they may have slipped through the cracks, or they came late and we haven’t had a chance to cover.

At The Defiant we cover the most important DeFi-related news and developments but we know many of you are hunting for projects before they are fully developed and before they are newsworthy. Our goal with this installment of the newsletter is to help you find them. Look at this as the starting point to DYOR.

We also include a compilation of DeFi and crypto funding rounds in the past week so you have these in one handy place.

Keep in mind these have been unedited. With that —here we go!

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🙏 Together with:

• Cosmos, an ever-expanding ecosystem of interconnected apps and services, built for a decentralized future.

Inbox Dump!

✉️ AllianceBlock Partners With Avalanche’s Pangolin DEX, Implementing Optional Compliance And Institutional Access to DeFi

Zurich, Switzerland – 17 August 2021 – AllianceBlock, the chain-agnostic blockchain project building compliant and data-driven products that enable financial institutions to access opportunities in decentralized finance, has announced a strategic partnership with Pangolin, a community-driven DEX powered by Avalanche.

✉️ ARGO BLOCKCHAIN BECOMES FIRST CLIMATE POSITIVE CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING COMPANY AND RELEASES CLIMATE STRATEGY

LONDON, UK – August 17, 2021 – Argo Blockchain plc (LSE: ARB; OTCQX: ARBKF), (“Argo” or the “Company”), a global leader in sustainable blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency mining, today announced it has become the first publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company to report it has become Climate Positive for Scope 1, 2, and 3 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with all of its respective crypto-related operations.

✉️ EQONEX Group announces the launch of EQONEX Lending and the execution of its first institutional crypto loan

August 17, 2021, Singapore: Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: EQOS), recently rebranded as EQONEX Group (“EQONEX” or the “Company”), a digital assets financial services company, today announced the launch of its institutional crypto lending platform, EQONEX Lending, and the execution of its first crypto loan to a European crypto native institution.

​​✉️ Windows Hello Support Added to Internet Identity

The Internet Computer community has approvedNNS proposal 14835 to upgrade Internet Identity, an easy-to-use cryptographic blockchain authentication system that enables you to securely and anonymously authenticate to dapps on the Internet Computer, so that it now supports Windows Hello — allowing Windows users to authenticate themselves with a key that is generated inside the Windows device’s hardware and that is protected by the device’s own fingerprint sensor or facial recognition feature.

✉️ Decentralized Social Media Network distrikt Launches on Internet Computer

• The world’s first decentralized social media network running 100% on a public blockchain
• Already close to 20,000 users signed up for the platform, around 4000 onboarded already
• distrikt will itself be tokenized allowing for user governance (decision making and governance) and user sovereignty (user will own data and identity)

11th August, 2021 – distrikt is a decentralized, professional social media network that empowers users to own and control their identity — comparable to LinkedIn combined with Medium, except governed by users opposed to a corporate entity. It has now launched as the world’s first decentralized social media network running 100% end to end on a public blockchain.

✉️ DFINITY Foundation Issues First $1M in Grants to Developers

• Over 50 teams have received developer grants from the near quarter of a Billion Dollar grant program – the largest in blockchain
• The Internet Computer has attracted over 500 developers and nearly 250,000 users of its dapps in its first 10 weeks after launch
• Now 3 months since public launch, thousands of developers have started building on the Internet Computer

Zurich, August 16th, 2021 — The DFINITY Foundation has today announced it has surpassed the $1M mark in grants to developer teams building on the Internet Computer. The Internet Computer has attracted 500 developers and nearly 250,000 users of its dapps in its first 10 weeks after launch. Decentralized versions of Reddit, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Medium, Dropbox, Trello, as well as DeFi and games are already up and running with users on the Internet Computer.

✉️ Global Crypto Exchanges Begin Phased Deployment of Veriscope: The Decentralized Solution to the FATF Travel Rule

Bridgetown, Barbados, August 17, 2021: Today, Shyft Core, in collaboration with Binance, Deribit, Bitfinex, BitMEX, Tether, Huobi and other collaborating Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), announced the launch of Veriscope, a decentralized compliance framework and smart-contract platform for VASPs to enable travel rule compliance.

✉️ Liti Capital Token wLITI Lists on HitBTC, Bringing Litigation Financing to the Masses

Geneva, Switzerland, 17 August 2021 — Liti Capital, the Swiss-based litigation financing company that has made private equity investing accessible to everyone through blockchain technology, has listed its wLITI token for the first time on a centralized exchange (CEX) - HitBTC. wLITI’s first CEX listing follows its recent listings on decentralized exchanges (DEXes) Uniswap and 1Inch Exchange.

✉️ Mercury Nominated production duo Jungle made available a series of exclusive NFTs to accompany their third album, Loving in Stereo

London & Sydney, August 18th 2021 – Music tech company Serenade has announced the launch of a groundbreaking new artist/fan-centric platform, which aims to break down the barriers to entry surrounding Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and make them easily accessible and affordable for artists and their fans.

✉️ Aleph.im Introduces Decentralized Indexing for the Solana Ecosystem

Enriching projects and Dapps with data and easy query opportunities

Paris, August 19 - Aleph.im, a cross-blockchain decentralized storage and computing network, announced today the release of decentralized indexing for the high-performance Proof of Stake blockchain Solana. Projects like Raydium, an automated market maker built on the Solana, have already benefited from Aleph.im’s custom-built indexing solution, helping them provide rich data to their users such as: historic token swaps, liquidity provision, token prices, the total volume across all trading pairs, and TVL for their fusion pools.

✉️ The Kraken Ring – Controversial Options Put NFTs Back In The Spotlight

Vancouver, BC (August 17, 2021) Volume and demand for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been surging for a variety of reasons, especially when selected NFT pieces are selling for millions of dollars. However, the debate about their utility never seems to end and they are in the news quite often. Although attempts have been made without success in bridging jewelry designers with NFTs, Au Palais Du Bijoux France Collection by Icon Art Gallery believe they have the winning ticket.

✉️ BUSTA Launches Token Sale for the First of Its Kind GameFi Platform on Binance Smart Chain

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - AUGUST 19, 2021 at 8 AM EST - Starter (https://starter.xyz), the leading multi-chain community-oriented launchpad, today announced its IDO (initial DEX offering) for the iGaming token $BUST on the BUSTA (https://www.busta.gg/) platform. Starter will host the $BUST IDO on its multi-chain launchpad on August 24, 2021. Starter will oversee the trading and staking of $BUST and its partner tokens and support their goal to offer a complete Gamified Finance (GameFi) ecosystem powered by their tokens. BUSTA is the first, and currently only, iGaming+DEX platform built on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It features a flagship multi-token progressive jackpot crash game that is built alongside its own DEX, staking and affiliate platform.

✉️ Gelato Network Announces GEL Token Whitelist Opening to Deliver Community Governance

[Zug] -- Gelato Network, Web3’s protocol for automated smart contract executions on networks like Ethereum, today announced the whitelist opening for the upcoming sale of the native Gelato (GEL) token. The GEL token will be used for staking by node operators in the system and as a governance token to melt the ownership of the network into the hands of token holders. With the group of angel funders including key figures of projects like MakerDAO, Aave, Yearn, Aragon, Frax Finance, and Instadapp, there is mounting excitement about automation propelling the DeFi space.

✉️ FUNKO SERVES UP AMERICANA ICON BIG BOY AS DIGITAL POP!™ COLLECTIBLES ON WAX

(Los Angeles, CA) - August 18, 2021The Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX) is partnering with Funko Inc. ("Funko,” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FNKO), the leading pop culture consumer products company, to release Digital Pop! Collectibles based on the iconic figure, Big Boy. With chubby cheeks and checkered overalls, Big Boy has been dotting American pop culture and roadways for 85 years. With a celebrated history of life as a bobblehead, Big Boy’s next adventure will be on WAX.

Funding

💰 Former Goldman Sachs employees launch DeFi protocol Ondo with $4 million in seed funding

Ondo Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol launched by two former Goldman Sachs employees, has raised $4 million in a seed equity funding round. Pantera Capital led the round, with Genesis, Digital Currency Group, CMS Holdings, CoinFund, and Divergence Ventures participating, among others. Angel investors such as Stani Kulechov (Aave founder), Richard Ma (Quantstamp founder), and Christy Choi (former head of investments at Binance) also backed the round.

💰 A16z Leads Yield Guild Games $4.6 Million Investment Round

Venture capital firm A16z has led a $4.6 million funding round in Yield Guild Games, a decentralized play guild specialized in play-to-earn universes. The funding round also saw participation from other companies. This investment will allow Yield Guild Games to keep expanding its scholarship program and searching for new opportunities in play-to-earn games.

💰 Figment Raises $50M to Build Up Proof-of-Stake Infrastructure

Blockchain infrastructure provider Figment raised $50 million in a Series B funding round that was led by institutional investors Senator Investment Group and Liberty City Ventures.

💰 DeFi Neo-banking App Scallop is set to Close Its $2.5m Seed Funding Round Led By Blackedge Capital

London, United Kingdom, 16th August, 2021 — Scallop, the world’s first regulated DeFi neo-banking app, is set to close its first investment round of $2.5 million with participation from a bevy of institutional and angel investors. The round, led by Blackedge Capital, includes both new key investors and early backers of the business.

💰 Tiger Global backs $24M funding round for blockchain security firm CertiK

Blockchain security firm CertiK has concluded a $24-million-dollar funding round as part of its ongoing efforts to expand its product and security offerings for the decentralized finance, or DeFi, sector. The funding round, which was co-led by Tiger Global and GL Ventures, comes on the heels of the successful launch of Skynet Premium, an active monitoring platform for DeFi applications.

💰 VC Firm FinTech Collective Raises $250M to Support New DeFi Strategy

Venture capital firm FinTech Collective has raised $250 million for its new strategy focused on decentralized finance (DeFi). Of the $250 million, $200 million will be used to focus on the firm’s early-stage investments, and $50 million will be used to support open-source, financial protocols and applications being built on Ethereum platforms, the firm said in a press release.

💰 NFT DeFi Platform Vera Raises $3M Seed Round Led by Animoca Brands

HONG KONG, Aug. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vera, a non-fungible token (NFT) decentralized finance (DeFi) blockchain platform, recently completed its seed round of funding for a total of $3 million. The round was led by Animoca Brands, one of the world's leading NFT gaming companies and investors, with participation from other venture capital and private equity investors such as OKEx Block Dream Fund, Genesis Block Ventures, Krypital Group, Shima Capital, SL2 Capital, Mozaik Capital, Sentor Investments, and Sandbar Investments.

💰 Babylons NFT Marketplace Closes $900,000 Funding Round Following Sold Out IDO

Babylons secured $900,000 through a private funding round amidst a multipronged campaign approach. The team highlighted that they are backed by an elite group of Web 3.0 investors from around the world.

💰 Galaxy Digital Leads $50M Funding Round in Crypto Staking Firm Figment

The crypto staking firm Figment hit $50 million in funding from its latest effort, which included big name investors like Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. Figment is a staking, middleware, and application layer solution for those utilizing and building on Web 3 technology. In a recent round of funding the firm managed to raise $50 million from an array of high level investors.

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