📬 Inbox Dump #22

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!

✉️ Defactor and Centrifuge Announce Strategic Partnership

LONDON -- August 26, 2021 --Defactor, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that bridges the gap between traditional and open finance, today announced a strategic partnership with Centrifuge, the leading protocol helping to finance real-world assets with DeFi liquidity. Through this partnership, Defactor will facilitate the onboarding process of real-world asset originators to the Centrifuge platform.

✉️ ANIMOCA BRANDS’ INVESTMENT INTO $EPIK PRIME MEANS DOMINANT PARTNERSHIP IN THE RED HOT NFT AND GAMING SPACE

Singapore – August 25, 2021 –Epik, which helps businesses license and produce immersive blockchain-powered in-game experiences and NFTs, revealed that Animoca Brands co-led the investment into Epik’s membership token, $EPIK, which will launch on the Huobi Prime cryptocurrency exchange on August 27th, 2021.

✉️ Hot Drops First NFT Release

SACRAMENTO, California -- Today, Hot Drops, Inc. minted their first NFT card featuring its CEO, Ashley Youdan, better known by her performer alias Kendall Karson. Hot Drops is set to disrupt the adult industry by empowering content creators to control all aspects of their content and receive fair compensation for their work.

✉️ UTA AND RALLY ANNOUNCE RELATIONSHIP TO EMPOWER CREATORS, ARTISTS, CELEBRITIES AND THEIR FANS TO BUILD NEW CRYPTO ECONOMIES

LOS ANGELES - (August 24, 2021) – UTA and Rally, a leading social token fan engagement and monetization platform, today announced an alliance to educate and inspire creators, artists, celebrities, athletes, and to launch their own social tokens with Rally. UTA Marketing, the agency’s consulting division, will spearhead the relationship and work alongside UTA Digital Assets division to educate and facilitate talent onboarding onto the Rally platform. UTA Digital Assets was one of the first among major agencies to delve into the crypto and NFT space.

✉️ AllianceBlock’s New Technical Roadmap is Designed to Bridge Traditional and Decentralized Finance Compliantly, Providing the Best of Both Worlds to Investors, Banks and DeFi Projects

Zurich, Switzerland – 27 August 2021 –AllianceBlock, the chain-agnostic protocol building compliant and data-driven products that improve the DeFi industry and enable financial institutions to access opportunities in decentralized finance, has today unveiled a new technical roadmap. The highly anticipated roadmap outlines the upcoming milestones that will bring AllianceBlock’s vision of bridging the gap between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi) closer by remedying issues that exist in both spheres and linking the two worlds of finance together.

✉️ Balance Transfers and EVM Are Now Enabled for Collator Staking, Project Deployments, Token Transfers, and Crowdloan Reward Distribution

Boston, MA – August 26, 2021 – Moonbeam, the Ethereum-compatible smart contract platform on Polkadot, announced today the launch completion of Moonriver, its community-led sister network on Kusama. Moonriver is now live. In completing the final phase of the launch process, balance transfers and EVM functionality have been enabled and the network is fully functional. Moonriver is the first EVM-compatible parachain on Kusama, and the only blockchain to deliver a seamless experience through full Ethereum compatibility. With this step, the 60+ project and integration teams in the Moonbeam ecosystem can start deploying their smart contracts and DApps to the Moonriver network in a permissionless fashion.

✉️ $RLY COMMUNITY APPROVES VOTE FOR UNIQUE DECENTRALIZATION PLAN TO EVOLVE THE RALLY PROJECT INTO FIVE SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT ENTITIES

• Announces Plans for Independent Venture Studio Led by Kevin Chou and Asia-focused Creator Engagement and Monetization Project led by WeiWei Geng
• Appoints Former Patreon exec Bremner Morris to CEO of Rally
• $RLY Community Raises $50 million USD to Expand Ecosystem

San Francisco, Calif. -- August 26, 2021 — Rally, a leading crypto platform for creators, announced that the $RLY community approved a proposal today to create five separate and independent entities, specifically:

• Rally
• SuperLayer Labs
• Creator-focused Project in Asia
• Non-profit $RLY Network Association
• $RLY Ecosystem DAO

✉️ AID:TECH LEVERAGES CIRCLE’S PAYMENT SOLUTIONS AND USD COIN TO POWER FRAUD RESISTANT DISASTER RELIEF DELIVERY

DUBLIN, BOSTON, August 26, 2021 -- AID:Tech, a financial services company that brings transparency and accountability to federal relief distribution, will soon be leveraging the power of payment solutions from Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides internet-native payments and treasury infrastructure. Utilizing USD Coin (USDC), a blockchain-powered digital currency, and leveraging Circle’s payment rails, AID:Tech’s platform provides people in need with a fast and efficient channel to access the funds they need while also securing their digital identity.

✉️ Former Marvel Artist and Crypto Veterans Launch Piñazza Gamified NFTs to Build a Metaverse-based DAO Supporting Mental Health

NEW YORK – September 26, 2021 - Piñazza, a gamified NFT project that financially supports mental health charities, today launched the first series of its two-part NFT drop. The Piñazza Piñas launch on Aug 26th exclusively on www.pinazza.fun. Everyone who mints a Piña will receive a free future airdrop of a Piñazza Pizza NFT. Collectors are encouraged to mix, match, and pair. Owners get 2 opportunities to receive a rare drop and ability to trade up with the community to create hilarious partnerships and unique perfect matches based on attributes.

✉️ The NFT Art Agency Announces Organization Launch and NFT Auction from Groundbreaking Contemporary Artists

SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO, AUGUST 26, 2021 – The NFT Art Agency (https://thenftartagency.com) today announced the launch of their organization that was established to promote iconic artists in the burgeoning NFT market, and offer a complete representation package that includes animation, minting, publicity, sale, rights management, career coaching, and financial planning. The NFT Art Agency is kicking off the launch of their organization with the auction of NFT pieces from three groundbreaking contemporary artists that are pushing the boundaries of modern artwork, and providing a path for mindfulness, provoking passionate discourse, and combining medium and marketplace for discerning connoisseurs and investors.

✉️ CoinDCX Joins Advertising Standards Council of India to Build Trust and Credibility in Crypto Advertising

Mumbai, India — 25 August, 2021 — CoinDCX, India’s safest crypto exchange and the nation’s first crypto unicorn, has joined the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a voluntary self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry. With this membership, CoinDCX will actively support the advancement of advertising standards within India’s cryptocurrency and digital asset industry — thereby promoting transparency in communications, and building public confidence in the space.

✉️ $300K grants for data-driven projects; Round 9 of OceanDAO is live

Singapore, August 25, 2021 -- OceanDAO’s ninth round is now open for submissions with $300K USD available and up to $17,500 USD per project. Proposals are due by September 7th at midnight GMT. The community voting period begins on September 10th. OceanDAO is a grants initiative to help fund projects oriented towards the emerging data economy. More information on the submission process can be found on OceanDAO’s website. The Streamr Network opens up to DATA miners

✉️ Swiss real-time data network Streamr wants to launch Testnet for mining

ZUG, 24.8.2021 - Streamr, the decentralized real-time data network, is opening up to miners on August 31st. After running several successful P2P networks internally, the project is now launching a series of testnets in which anyone can participate. Mining rewards total at 2M DATA tokens.

✉️ Deeper Network To Launch Much Awaited Mainnet With Access To New Basic Mining

SANTA CLARA, USA - August 27, 2021 - Deeper Network will be launching its mainnet on August 28th at 6 p.m. UTC. Deeper network is the decentralized infrastructure that will lay the foundation for Web3.0. The mainnet launch will allow users to access a more secure, more private, and fairer internet that combines blockchain network security and sharing economy.

✉️ Shivom Announces Rebrand to HLTH.network to Build Global Tokenized Healthcare Ecosystem

London, UK, August 26, 2021 - Shivom rebrands as the HLTH.network to become the base layer protocol for global health data and expand its product line. Founded by renowned scientists such as Harvard Professor George Church, Shivom, a project that developed the world's first blockchain-powered genomics marketplace, announced today that it would rebrand as the HLTH.network (pronounced the “Health” Network). This rebranding move is just the start of a new era in the global precision medicine industry, as the HLTH.network is set to release an all-new and inclusive ecosystem around their existing solutions to create the world's first base layer protocol for global healthcare data.

✉️ Crypto Industry Heavyweights, Dr Jane Thomason and Hartej Sawhney, join the Advisory Board at DeFi infrastructure project TheStandard.io

25 August, 2021. TheStandard.io, a new DeFi infrastructure project which aims to provide a bridge between traditional physical investments and digital assets has appointed two high-profile crypto industry figures to their Advisory Board - Dr Jane Thomason and Hartej Sawhney.

Funding

💰 DeFi Lending Protocol Euler Closes $8M Series A Round Led By Paradigm

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The developers of Euler, the first lending protocol that allows users to create their own lending markets in a permissionless fashion, announced today that they have completed an $8 million Series A round led by Paradigm. The new funding will help to grow the Euler developer team in anticipation of the protocol’s launch later this year and provide support to help integrate the protocol into the wider DeFi ecosystem.

💰 Solana's Apricot Finance Raises $4M in 'Party' Funding Round

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Apricot Finance has completed a $4 million funding round with participation from Delphi Ventures, Lemniscap and other investment firms.A spokesperson told CoinDesk on Wednesday the funding was more akin to a "party round" in which multiple investors participated. Solana Capital, Advanced Blockchain AG, Skyvision Capital, Ledger Prime, Valhalla Capital, MXC, Gate, a41 Ventures and several others participated.

💰 Integrated DeFi Hub OpenSwap Raises $1.5M in Latest Funding Round

OpenSwap, the interchain DeFi Hub and liquidity booster for traders, has raised $1.5 million in its latest funding round. Led by prominent VC firms NGC Ventures and Coin98 Ventures, the round attracted investment from BR Capital, Legos Capital, Double Peak Group, Prime Block Capital, Illusionist Group, and All In Ventures. Several notable angel investors also contributed.

💰 One-Stop DeFi Hub OpenSwap Raises $1.5 Million in Latest Funding Round

OpenSwap, the cross-chain DeFi Hub and liquidity booster for traders seeking concentrated and capital-efficient liquidity for trades today announced it had raised $1.5 million in its latest funding round. Notably, OpenSwap’s latest round was led by prominent VC firms such as NGC Ventures and Coin98 Ventures.

💰 Blockchain Startup InfStones Raises $10M in Series A Funding Round

Blockchain infrastructure startup InfStones raised $10 million in a Series A funding round that was led by Shanghai-based Qiming Ventures and included investments from DHVC, HashKey Capital, Plug and Play, SNZ Holdings and the family office of entrepreneur Liang Xinjun, a co-founder and former CEO of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.

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

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.

💰 NFT Play-to-Earn Platform DeFi Warrior Lands $2.3 Million in Funding

DeFi Warrior has successfully raised $2.3 million from a host of top investors like Hyperchain capital, OkEx Blockdream ventures, Signum Capital, and many more. The funds raised will be used to develop the DeFi warrior game, which combines Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Non-fungible Token (NFT) gaming according to the Accesswire press release. Ultimate DeFi platform, LaunchZone took to Twitter on 20th August to congratulate the Play-to-Earn DeFi x NFT blockchain gaming protocol.

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