📬 Inbox Dump #45
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 ...
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Inbox DumpHello 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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Inbox Dump!
WAGMI United Purchases English Football Club Crawley Town FC, Plan Unprecedented Digital-First, Community-Powered Approach
LOS ANGELES (April 7, 2022) — WAGMI United, a new brand dedicated to bringing Web3’s most innovative ideas and passionate communities to the world of sports, announced today that it has closed a deal to take ownership of Crawley Town Football Club, which currently plays in English Football League Two.
Quantum is Expanding Into Digital Art
PALO ALTO, Calif. April 7. Quantum today announced the first Digital Art collection dropping on its curated platform - By Proxy, by the award-winning 3D virtual model creator Shavonne Wong and the acclaimed fashion photographer Lenne Chai. When you think of Quantum, you more than likely think of fine art photography; indeed, this has been the main focus of the NFT curation platform. Quantum has officially announced its expansion into Digital art, a development that has garnered a high level of excitement in the Web3 space.
Tribal Launches Tribal Ventures to Fund Early-Stage Web 2 and Web 3 Startups
San Francisco, April 7, 2022 - Tribal, a B2B payments and financing platform for emerging markets, has launched Tribal Ventures, a new fund that will offer equity financing for early-stage fintech companies. The fund is specifically designed to support projects that share Tribal’s mission to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) thrive in emerging markets. Tribal Ventures will provide qualifying startups across the globe with investments of up to USD 250,000.
peaq Advances Vision for Web3 Economy of Things by Leveraging Subsquid’s Data Solutions in New Partnership
6th April 2022 -peaq, the decentralized Web3 network powering the Economy of Things (EoT), has announced a partnership with Subsquid, a blockchain data processing solution that empowers Web3 builders and analysts with its development framework for robust, natively multichain APIs. Through the partnership, peaq and Subsquid are building upon their shared vision to offer better infrastructure for a decentralized future.
Sky Mavis Announces Early Access Release of Axie Infinity: Origin
April 7, 2022 — Sky Mavis, the creator of the category-defining NFT title Axie Infinity, announced today the global Early Access release of Axie Infinity: Origin (Battles v3) via Mavis Hub, Sky Mavis’ distribution platform. With over 1.5 million daily active users, Axie Infinity is an NFT game where players battle, collect, and trade digital pets called Axies. Through the early access release of Origin, Sky Mavis’ goal is to create a battle system that is more fun, beautiful, and engaging and open the Axie ecosystem up to a broader audience. Axie Infinity: Origin players will be able to enjoy new game mechanics, interfaces, art, special effects, and storylines. Additionally, by providing three free non-NFT starter Axies and extensive gameplay tutorials Axie Infinity: Origin will be more accessible than ever.
Web3 Media Collaboration Platform Joyn Raises US$3.5M
Joyn allows users to create, share, and grow their media content with like-minded supporters and creators on one platform.
- The seed round was co-led by IOSG Ventures and GBV Capital.
- The recent funds will be used to scale the platform and fund community development.
- Joyn is currently preparing the launch of its closed alpha, where the initial collaborative projects will be incubated.
TORONTO, APRIL 7, 2022 — Joyn, a collaborative platform designed to support the large-scale co-creation of Web3 media, has raised US$3.5 million in its seed round to scale the platform and fund community development.
Major Win for City Forests with First-of-its-Kind Carbon Credit Sale
April 6, 2022 - Regen Network, a technology company developing a global marketplace for earth's ecosystem assets, services, and data, has purchased all the city forest carbon credits currently available in the United States. The purchase is the largest and first-of-its-kind transaction and represents the carbon stored in 13 urban forestry projects across the country. Regen Network purchased credits representing over 31,000 metric tons of carbon for a total purchase price exceeding $1 million. The price per credit was between $34 and $45 per metric ton. Regen Network intends to digitize the credits and offer them for sale through their blockchain platform in the coming months.
Director Kevin Smith Makes History in Film-NFT Rights Acquisition Deal, Distributing New Film “KillRoy Was Here” with Legendao, Powered by Secret Network
April 06, 2022. LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filmmaker Kevin Smith announced that he and his producers Jordan Monsanto of SmodCo and David Shapiro of Semkhor have partnered with Secret Network’s Legendao to launch NFTs of Smith’s Horror Anthology “KillRoy Was Here.” This launch represents the first time in history that a movie will be released via NFT, expanding the possibilities of what NFTs can provide in a quickly evolving entertainment business.
Cronos announces Cronos Play and its firstintegration with ChainSafe Gaming SDK
Singapore, 6 April 2022 - Cronos today announced Cronos Play, a comprehensive modular suite of developer tools and services to streamline the creation of gaming and GameFi applications for the Cronos blockchain ecosystem. Live since November 2021, Cronos is an EVM-compatible chain designed to support the Creator Economy with applications such as DeFi and GameFi, ultimately serving as foundational infrastructure for the Metaverse. Cronos delivers dramatically faster and cheaper transactions than Ethereum mainnet, making decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts greener and more user-friendly.
LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2022 - In an effort to discover and support emerging talent in the film industry, Steven Soderbergh’s production company Extension 765 is launching a financing award in partnership with blockchain-powered non-profit Decentralized Pictures (DCP). Founded by Roman Coppola, Leo Matchett, and American Zoetrope’s VP of Production, Michael Musante, DCP is dedicated to elevating the voices of undiscovered independent filmmakers through a fair and transparent blockchain protocol. As an Academy Award® -winning producer and director, Soderbergh’s commitment to supporting rising talent will spur others in the film industry to make Hollywood more accessible to those without connections or financial backing.
Kalos Labs Launches Web3 Bridge for Global Brands
Los Angeles – April 5, 2022 – Kalos Labs (“Kalos” or “the Company”) today announced the launch of its proprietary web3 bridge technology that provides customized NFT platforms, wallets, and other metaverse experiences. Through Kalos, global brands can now seamlessly leverage their popularity and notoriety in the new digital ecosystem.
Ledger Enterprise Partners with Blockware Solutions to Secure Crypto Mining Firms’ Assets at Scale
Paris and New York, April 5th, 2022 – Ledger Enterprise, empowering organizations to secure and scale their digital value, has today announced a partnership with Blockware Solutions, the industry leader in blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency mining. Blockware Solutions have signed as a Ledger Enterprise client and will utilize the world-class security and highly customizable governance workflows that Ledger Enterprise offers. Ledger Enterprise provides infrastructure for financial institutions to securely control their crypto assets with a multi-authorization self-custody management solution. The partnership will allow easy access to security infrastructure for the Blockware Community.
Dynasets: AI is Conquering the World of Crypto Investment
- ‘Dynasets’, SingularityDAO’s AI-powered investment tool, is currently beating returns on Bitcoin and Ethereum by 18.2% and 16.6% respectively
- It is beating other popular crypto funds including the largest traded Bitcoin fund in the world
- AI-powered tool could quash the fear of bear markets for cautious investors within the industry
5th APRIL 2022: AI is currently beating its human counterparts when it comes to crypto trading. SingularityDAO’s AI-powered DynaSets solution, which launched earlier this year, is not only outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum by 18.2% and 16.6% respectively (by market returns over the previous three months), but is also beating popular crypto investment funds such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (the largest publicly traded Bitcoin fund in the world) and VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (which has around $27.1M net assets).
DiversiFi Partners With SupraOracles To Tackle the Future of DeFi
April 5th, 2022. DiversiFi is excited to partner with SupraOracles, a powerful cross-chain oracle that will allow DiversiFi to develop the premiere rewards token ecosystem on the Binance Chain and beyond. Armed with the SupraOracles developer tool kit, DiversiFi can now explore dApps, cross-chain bridges, using the RNG oracle to randomize the token reward order each cycle, and more with speed and agility, working towards its goal of DeFi Portfolio Diversification Made Easy.
Following the Collator Mainnet launch, Bifrost's Staking amount passes 2 million BNC ($2.1m) at 16.2% circulation
Singapore, 4th April 2022: Bifrost launched its Collator Mainet reaching the staking amount of 2 million BNCs (Bifrost’s native token) in less than ten days. Staking achieved 200% APY as the number of collators doubled. The current active collator set includes a diverse array of well-established and startup infrastructure companies such as IInfStones, HashQuark, Ryabina stakebaby, and staking4all.
GameFi platform & play-to-earn guild, Polemos, closes US $14m at $100m valuation
April 4, 2022 – Global GameFi platform and play-to-earn guild Polemos has closed a US $14 million seed round at a $100 million fully-diluted valuation, establishing it as one of the fastest-growing entrants to the extremely hot global GameFi sector. Funds will go to further developing its proprietary tech platforms, which will facilitate the lodgement and leasing of NFTs, data analytics, and educational resources for scholars, as well as investment into new play-to-earn games and growth of the team.
Ukrainian Startup V-Art Launches Next Digital Art Collection - ‘Make Art, Not War’ as a Humanitarian Aid for Kharkiv.
Art can speak loudly. On Thursday, 31st of March in partnership with IdeaSoft, V-Art will launch the next Digital Art collection “Make Art, Not War”. The collection will also be presented within a series of offline art events in the EU. In particular, on March 31, the first presentation was held as part of the self-titled event in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In light of current events, the launch of the V-Art platform has also pivoted to mark a Ukrainian-led effort in the war.
Ontology Promotes Web3 and Privacy Innovation Through DoraHacks Hackathon and $100K USD Developer Prize Pool
Singapore – 1st April 2022 – Ontology, the project bringing trust, privacy, and security to Web3 through decentralized identity and data solutions, is partnering with DoraHacks, a global hackathon organizer and Web3 developer community. Promoting the benefits of Ontology’s seamless, interoperable tech stack to Web3 developers, Ontology and DoraHacks will host a virtual hackathon as part of its ‘Grants’ programme running from 1st-30th April. The aim is to support Web3 innovation on Ontology, particularly in privacy and decentralized identity, and provide long term support to those driving change. A $100K USD developer prize pool will also be available.
Bybit: DeFi Needs More Soul-Searching and Fewer Heroes
LONDON, April 1, 2022 — Bybit, one of the world’s fastest growing crypto exchanges, said DeFi, or decentralized finance, as we know it today needs to reinvent itself to live up to the promise of decentralization in its name. "DeFi as it is currently set up is not at all what it promises to be. A lot of the projects are hugely dependent on the team running it,” Igneus Terrenus, head of communications at Bybit, cautioned against DeFi risks on a panel at the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit on Wednesday.
Funding
Sky Mavis, the Creator of Axie Infinity, Raises $150M Led By Binance
Vietnam and Singapore — April 6, 2022 — Sky Mavis, the creator of leading NFT breakout title Axie Infinity, today announced a $150 million USD funding round led by the global blockchain company behind the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, with participation from Animoca Brands, a16z, Dialectic, Paradigm and Accel. The round will be used to reimburse user funds affected by the Ronin Validator Hack. In addition to the funding, Sky Mavis and Binance will work together closely on projects that include exclusive Land sales and enable Binance login via The Mavis Hub.
Announcing $350 Million Investment in NEAR
NEAR Protocol has successfully raised $350 million in its latest funding round, accelerating its mission to help billions of people learn and use blockchain and decentralized technologies. Led by hedge fund Tiger Global, with participation from Republic Capital, FTX Ventures, Hashed, Dragonfly Capital, ParaFi Capital, Blockchange Ventures, PDO International, and MetaWeb.vc, this fundraise includes crypto-native funds as well as a notable move into crypto and the NEAR ecosystem from more traditional firms.
Parallel Finance Doubles Valuation in $5M Funding Round
Parallel Finance, a lending and staking platform based on the Polkadot blockchain, raised $5 million at a $500 million valuation, twice the valuation of its token round last November. Investors in the strategic funding round included crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), blockchain technology company StarkWare and Section 32, a venture capital firm founded by Bill Maris, a former head of Google Ventures.
Crypto gamification platform OWN raises $2 mn in seed funding round
One World Nation (OWN), a crypto gamification platform, announced on Monday that it has received $2 million in seed funding from seasoned investors like Better Capital, Polygon Studios, Cloud Capital, and Indigg, to name a few. In a release, OWN announced that it aims to build an NFT-based play-to-earn game. The organisation also announced that they plan on gamification of Defi as well. The brand aims at evolving into ‘Metaverse of Cryptos’ or a ‘Cryptoverse.’
Parallel Finance Doubles Valuation in $5M Funding Round
Parallel Finance, a lending and staking platform based on the Polkadot blockchain, raised $5 million at a $500 million valuation, twice the valuation of its token round last November. Investors in the strategic funding round included crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), blockchain technology company StarkWare and Section 32, a venture capital firm founded by Bill Maris, a former head of Google Ventures.
IndexZoo Closed $2M Seed Funding Round
IndexZoo, a Boston, MA-based provider of a decentralized, crypto asset index protocol, raised $2M in Seed funding. Backers included CMS Holdings, Warburg Serres, DefinanceX, Pragma Ventures, 0xVentures, BigBrainHoldings and angel investors including Nick Tong and Yenwen Feng (co-founders of Perpetual Protocol).
RockX Hits $30M Valuation With Completion of $6M Funding Round
RockX, one of Asia’s largest crypto staking providers, today announced the completion of its USD 6 million Series A funding round. The funding round was led by Amber Group, a leading global digital asset platform, and was joined by other prominent crypto industry leaders including Matrixport, Primitive Ventures, FBG Capital, Draper Dragon, IMO Ventures, Alpha CW and Megastake.
AlgoBlocks raises total $2.3 MM to bring seamless, beginner friendly DeFi to more crypto users
Apr 06, 2022 (AB Digital via COMTEX) -- AlgoBlocks raised $1.9 MM in its strategic and private funding, thanks to the addition of investors Draper Dragon and Kyber Ventures. The total funding goal is to reach $2.3 Mil through raising an additional $400K in the public round through 2 market leading launchpads, Poolz and KrystalGo. Public round fundraising with KrystalGO (April 07), Decubate (April 14) and Poolz (April 15). After the public round fundraising, it will be a simultaneous listing on MEXC and BitMart on April 19, 2022, 10:00 UTC.
CYBRID SECURES $3.8 MILLION CAD SEED ROUND TO HELP CHALLENGER BANKS LAUNCH CRYPTO
As crypto and DeFi products become more mainstream, a Canadian startup is looking to make it easier for FinTech startups and challenger banks to offer these services to consumers. Calling itself a “crypto banking-as-a-service provider,” Cybrid Technology has secured $3.8 million CAD ($3.1 million USD) in equity seed financing to bring its technology to market.
Crypto Platform OWN Raises $2 Million In Seed Funding Round
Crypto gamification platform OWN (One World Nation) announced that it has raised $2 million in seed funding round. The investments were led by Better Capital, Polygon Studios, Cloud Capital and Indigg, among other. Co-founded by Akhil Gupta, Dinesh Goel, Kunal Jadhav and Mayank Shekhar, OWN plans to disrupt the crypto ecosystem by gamification in a bid to simplifying its user’s journey in the understanding of the crypto world.
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