📬 Inbox Dump #41

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 ...

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!

[This post is exclusive to subscribers]

🙏 Together with:

  • Matcha: Matcha makes sure you’re getting the best possible price by routing orders across all the various DeFi exchanges, now with an integrated fiat on-ramp. Start trading at matcha.xyz/defiant
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Inbox Dump!

✉️ AAA First-Person Shooter Game Shrapnel Unveils Plans To Build On Avalanche Blockchain

Seattle – 3rd March, 2022 –Shrapnel, the world’s first blockchain-enabled moddable AAA first-person shooter game, has selected Avalanche, the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as the network to underpin a new gaming experience.

✉️ Duke Launches Special Men’s Basketball NFT Collectibles via OneOf

NEW YORK – For a limited time beginning today, Duke Athletics’ first NFT collection will be available for purchase onOneOf, the multi-chain platform revolutionizing sports, lifestyle, and music blockchain collectibles and experiences. The collection runs from today through March 5, and coincides with Duke’s final regular season game on March 5 vs UNC’s Tar Heels.

✉️ Biconomy’s gasless technology now supports Fantom, Arbitrum and Moonbeam, enabling DApps to sponsor users’ gas fees

3rd March 2022 - Biconomy, a Web3 infrastructure tool and multi-chain relayer network that simplifies the Web3 experience, has integrated its gasless technology onto the next generation blockchains; Fantom, Arbitrum and Moonbeam. With this integration, DApp developers can implement gasless meta-transactions into apps built on these chains, creating a frictionless on-boarding experience for their users.

✉️ Katy Perry to Launch “The Witness Dice” NFT Collection Following Sold-Out First Drop

Los Angeles (Friday, 4 March) - Following the successful launch of her debut NFT collection in December of last year, global pop superstar Katy Perry is releasing a second collection of NFTs today on Theta Network that will look back to her 2017-2018 Witness Tour. The drop will take place on Friday 4 March at 1pm PST.

✉️ IMA Financial Group Unveils the Metaverse’s First Insurance Research & Development Facility

(DENVER – March 02, 2022) IMA Financial Group today announced the launch of IMA Web3Labs, the metaverse’s first insurance and risk management research and development facility. It will be located in Decentraland,a virtual world based on blockchain technology. Funded by IMA’s investment arm, IMA Investments Inc., Web3Labs sets new industry expectations for exploring, testing and bringing to market risk and insurance strategies specific to the metaverse.

✉️ NESTED RAISES $7.5 MILLION SERIES A TO DEMOCRATIZE DEFI

PARIS, March 2, 2022 – Nested,an all-in-one DeFi social trading platform based on financial NFTs, today announced that it has raised $7.5 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by renowned macro and digital asset investor Alan Howard and saw participation from Republic Capital, Kenetic Capital, CMT Digital, and the round was also joined by a range of angel investors and technophiles.

✉️ CoinList Unveils New Batch Of CoinList Seed Projects

San Francisco, CA, March 2nd, 2022 - CoinList, the trusted platform for new crypto offerings, has unveiled its new batch of crypto projects for CoinList Seed, its platform for early-stage crypto entrepreneurs to connect with the global CoinList community.

✉️ Router Protocol Integrates Avalanche to its Cross-Chain Messaging Protocol

[SINGAPORE, Mar. 3, 2022] Router Protocol - an infrastructure layer enabling communication between blockchains, today announced that it has integrated Avalanche network’s C-Chain to its cross-chain messaging protocol. Users now have the ability to utilize the true potential of the Avalanche network by performing cross-chain transfers and swaps between Polygon, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Avalanche C-chain.

✉️ Axie Infinity is the most Googled NFT collection in the world

Axie Infinity has been revealed as the most searched for NFT (non-fungible token) collection in the world. Creative resource Design Bundles researched the most sought-after NFTs based on the number of times they were searched on Google each month. Axie Infinity came out on top, with 3.86 million monthly global searches.

✉️ Cortex and Butterfly Protocol Announce Success with .hmn TLD Giveaway

(February 18, 2022) Over 18,000 .hmn NFT domains and .eth subdomains have been acquired since Cortex and the Butterfly Protocol announced the giveaway on February 2nd. This successful launch is just the beginning of Cortex’s goal to eliminate barriers of entry to web3.

✉️ CoinFund partners with Apex and Nori to move towards a more environmentally conscious web3

New York, March 1st, 2022: CoinFund, a leading web3-focused investment firm, is proud to announce its partnership with emission assessment leader, Apex Group, and transparent carbon removal leader, Nori, to calculate and offset its 2021 bitcoin carbon footprint as part of its active engagement with sustainability efforts across web3.

✉️ Out of this world NFT collection kickstarts launch of fictional universe

1st March 2022, London, UK: The Pandimensionals, an NFT collection featuring a race of cherryade-fueled aliens from another dimension, is set to launch on 18 March. Created by The Pandimensional Trading Company (PTCo.), the Pandimensionals (aka ‘Phanackapans’) are characters from the fictional universe and series of novels, ‘The Broadcliffs Saga’, from the creative mind of acclaimed illustrator and author Sam Banfield.

✉️ Ledger Appoints Alex Zinder as Head of Ledger Enterprise, Expanding to Staking, DeFi and NFT Security.

Paris and New York, March 1st, 2022 – Ledger Enterprise, the leading provider of technology solutions empowering organizations to secure and scale their digital value, today announced Alex Zinder as its new Vice-President. Zinder will also join the Ledger group’s Executive Committee. Zinder brings two decades of experience in capital markets technology to Ledger’s business unit.

✉️ CryptoTaxCalculator set to become global go-to for crypto taxes as millions gear up to report their first crypto tax returns

Sydney, Australia - 1 March, 2022 - CryptoTaxCalculator, a platform for simplifying crypto tax calculations, has today announced a funding round of A$4 million (US $2.9m), led by AirTree Ventures. Other participants in the round included Coinbase Ventures, and 20VC. With more than 1 in 10 adults now owning cryptocurrency globally, many millions will soon file their first crypto tax returns amidst a still-evolving tax regime.

✉️ Thetanuts Finance Raises US$18M to Democratize DeFi Structured Products

PANAMA CITY, MARCH 1, 2022 — Thetanuts Finance has closed an US$18 million seed round, led by Three Arrows Capital, Deribit, QCP Capital, and Jump Crypto. The funding will supercharge the development of Thetanuts Finance’s structured products platform and user-friendly instruments in the crypto derivatives ecosystem.

✉️ BILLBOARD AND “WORLD OF WOMEN” LAUNCH FIRST-EVER NFT MAGAZINE COVERS DESIGNED BY AN NFT ARTIST

Today, Billboardannounced a new partnership with World of Women (WoW) to commemorate the 2022 Billboard Women in Music event and summit. In the ever-expanding NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace, World of Women has established itself as the preeminent collective among fans, making it the top female-led collective in the NFT space.

✉️ First Fine Art NFT on Solana ~ Nepenthe Valley by Lawrence Lek ~ March 9th at Art Dubai

‘Nepenthe Valley’, a vibrant virtual world by immersive artist Lawrence Lek centred on healing, restoration and exploration is unveiled by HORIZONS, a new virtual gallery and curated Web3 partnership between SO-FAR and AORA. The Valley is the first fine art project to debut on the Solana blockchain, with NFTs available on the SO-FAR marketplace, powered by Metaplex. Launching as the first fine art NFT project on the Solana blockchain and powered by Metaplex, ‘Nepenthe Valley’ is a vibrant and engaging virtual world by simulation artist Lawrence Lek 陆明⻰ centred around themes of healing, restoration and exploration.

✉️ Tribal Launches Regional Partnership with Visa to Diversify Credit Options for Latin American SMBs

San Francisco, February 28, 2022 - Tribal, a B2B payments and financing platform for emerging markets, has announced a strategic partnership with Visa. The partnership will increase Tribal’s issuance of business credit cards in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic to create more innovative, safe, and convenient payment solutions for businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean.

✉️ Osmosis Lets Liquidity Providers Earn Dual Incomes from Staking and LP Rewards

Singapore (March 1, 2022) -- Osmosis Labs, one of the developers of the interchain DeX Osmosis, today announced the launch of Superfluid Staking, which allows liquidity providers (LPs) to earn staking rewards for backing Cosmos blockchains at the same time as they lend liquidity to Osmosis. With Superfluid Staking, LPs can increase their yields by earning rewards for providing the stability and security that staking tokens provides in addition to earning fees for providing the liquidity needed to enable token swaps on Osmosis.

✉️ BROOKLYN CHOP HOUSE SET TO OPEN MASSIVE TIMES SQUARE LOCATION MARCH 2022 WITH PRIVATE NFT MEMBERS-ONLY SUBCELLAR TO INCLUDE A 1 MILLION TOKEN BUY-IN

New York, NY - Brooklyn Chop House is opening its massive Times Square location at 253 W. 47th Street on March 2022. This new 25,000 square foot marquee location in the crossroads of the world, comes after their first location (150 Nassau Street) in the Financial District took the city by storm when it opened in 2018. There will be a few additions to Times Square: NFT Private Members Only Subcellar and FrosĂŠ Tropical Bar at Brooklyn Beach House Rooftop bar opening May 2022.

✉️ Lukas Graham and Fanaply Partner to Launch His First NFTs and the Very First NFTs for Fanaply on Polygon

LOS ANGELES, CA – February 28, 2021 – Pop artist Lukas Graham announced today the launch of his very first non-fungible tokens (NFTs), created by Fanaply, the leading developer of NFTs in music, sports and entertainment. The NFTs cannot be purchased, only earned, by streaming the new single, "All Of It All" by Lukas Graham, from the upcoming album Lukas Graham - Pink, in addition to streaming any of his music on Spotify. The competition begins Monday, February 28 at 3pm PT and end Friday, March 4 at 3pm PT for a chance to win one of 20 exclusive Lukas Graham NFTs.

Funding

💰 DeFi Platform Thetanuts Finance Raises $18M Seed Funding to Fuel Growth

Decentralized finance (DeFi) firm Thetanuts Finance has raised $18 million in seed funding to drive the development of user-friendly products on its platform. The funding round was led by Three Arrows Capital, Deribit, QCP Capital and Jump Crypto, Thetanuts announced on Tuesday. DeFi is an umbrella term used to describe lending, trading and other financial activities carried out on a blockchain without traditional middlemen.

💰 Nested raises $7.5M in Series A funding round to democratize DeFi

Paris, Feb. 21, 2022 — Nested, an all-in-one decentralized finance (DeFi) social trading platform based on financial nonfungible tokens (NFTs), announced on Feb. 21 that it raised $7.5 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by renowned macro and digital asset investor Alan Howard and saw participation from Republic Capital, Kenetic Capital and CMT Digital, among other investment firms.

💰 Serbian blockchain development platform Tenderly raises $40M in Series B round

Serbian blockchain development platform Tenderly secured a $40M Series B investment round, led by Spark Capital, and with participation from both new and existing investors Accel, PointNine Capital, Abstract Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Uniswap Labs, and Daedalus.

💰 Gal Gadot Participates in $2.6M Funding Round for AdaSwap

AdaSwap – one of Cardano’s first decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols – recently raised $2.6M to build a new decentralized exchange (DEX) native to the developing blockchain. Funding was led by iAngels – a female-led Venture Capital firm – and included nine other leading VCs such as Shima Capital, Pluto Digital, and Coti.

💰 HARUKO RAISES $10M TO EXPAND INSTITUTIONAL PLATFORM FOR CRYPTO AND DEFI

Haruko has closed a $10 million Seed funding round to further build its one-stop shop for institutional crypto investors, enabling them to interact with crypto markets both on centralized exchanges (CeFi) and decentralized protocols (DeFi).

💰 Hashstack Finance closes a $1 million seed funding round

Hashstack Finance has announced the closure of a $1 million seed funding round. The funds will be used for the development of the Open Protocol, hiring top talent and bolstering the community’s growth. The $1 million seed funding round has seen the participation of some of the most popular investment firms such as Moonrock Capital, Kane & Rao Group, Nimrod Lehavi, MarketAcross and Chainridge Capital.

💰 Alan Howard Backs DeFi Platform Nested in $7.5M Round

The team of DeFi social trading platform Nested has completed a Series A funding round led by Brevan Howard of billionaire Alan Howard. Participants in the funding round include CMT Digital, Kenetic Capital, Republic Capital and others.

💰 Lido Finance Generates $70M in Funding Round Led by a16z

American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has contributed to the first funding round of Ethereum staking solution Lido Finance since May 2021. Back in 2021, VC firm Paradigm led a $73 million financing round for Lido. Other contributors of the round include Alameda Research, Digital Currency Group, and Three Arrows Capital. According to a spokesperson of the venture capital firm, the investment is to help Lido adopt decentralized staking solutions for the ETH 2.0.

💰 AdaSwap Raises $2.6 Million in Funding to Build Cardano's DeFi Ecosystem

AdaSwap, an infrastructure developer who will create one of the first DeFi protocols on the Cardano network, has secured $2.6 million in a round lead by iAngels. The round was also attended by Shima Capital, Pluto Digital, GBV, Stardust, Efficient Frontier, Finova, Banter Capital, and Coti. The round included prominent angel investors such as actress and filmmaker Gal Gadot and filmmaker Jaron Varsano.

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The Defiant is a daily newsletter focusing on decentralized finance, a new financial system that’s being built on top of open blockchains. The space is evolving at breakneck speed and revolutionizing tech and money. Spread the word and share!

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