📬 Inbox Dump #50

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 ...

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

Inbox Dump!

✉️ TRM Integrates with Polygon to Provide Risk and Compliance Monitoring Capability

San Francisco, CA — May 12, 2022 -TRM Labs, the industry leader in crypto compliance and risk management solutions, announced its integration with Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform onboarding millions to Web3, to provide a full suite of anti-fraud and financial crime tools to members of the Polygon network who want to protect their applications from illicit financial activity.

✉️ Party Degenerates To Close Out BlockDown Festival With An Unforgettable Beach Party On The Croatian Coast

May 11, Croatia – Later this week, on Friday the 13th of May, Party Degenerates will be hosting the official AfterParty for BlockDown Festival – one of the best metaverse and web3 events of the year – with an electronic music extravaganza on the beach. One NFT To Rule Them All: With free access to the Closing Party on Bullish Beach Club, Party Degenerates are continuing to prove they are the coolest club in NFTs; giving you exclusive access to the world’s best DJs, digital art, events, and experiences in exotic destinations worldwide and in the metaverse.

✉️ Ignite recognized as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

Las Vegas (NV) and Berlin (Germany), 10 May, 2022: Ignite (formerly Tendermint), the leading developer of innovative tools for Web 3, has been announced today as one of the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers” for 2022. Selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the Technology Pioneers, Ignite now joins a diverse list of early to growth-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the use of new technologies and innovation, poised to have a significant impact on business and society.

✉️ RaceDayNFT, Charlotte Phoenix Esports Organization Reach Partnership Agreement

CONCORD, N.C. (May 10, 2022) – RaceDayNFT and the Charlotte Phoenix have reached a partnership agreement to feature NFTs for the professional esports organization in the first-of-its-kind digital marketplace for race fans. RaceDayNFT.com is a digital collectible marketplace for fans to buy, sell and trade NFTs. The Charlotte Phoenix has teams in iRacing, Rocket League, and Apex Legends. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas is a content creator for the Charlotte Phoenix.

✉️ Domingo Zapata And Sita Abellan’s NFT Series launches in May 2022

World renowned Spanish artist Domingo Zapata is partnering with fashion icon, stylist, and techno DJ Sita Abellan to make his NFT debut with a series of 8888 pieces featuring his iconic pandas, of which Sita will personally hand-style 50, with her unique personality and attitude.

**✉️ MADONNA AND BEEPLE COLLABORATE TO GIVE BIRTH TO MOTHER OF CREATION, AN NFT TRIPTYCH**

NEW YORK, NY, May 9, 2022 | Madonna and Beeple today announced their collaboration for an NFT triptych entitled Mother of Creation. A labor of love a year in the making, both artists partnered to connect to the idea of creation and motherhood as told through this visual medium. MOTHER OF CREATION IS MADONNA’S GENESIS NFT ARTWORK, DROPPING EXCLUSIVELY ON SUPERRARE MAY 11, 2022. Proceeds From the Sale Will Benefit Three Nonprofits Focused on Supporting Women and Children Around the World.

✉️ PALME D’OR WINNER WIM WENDERS TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE Q&A FOR HIS FIRST NFT AUCTION WINNER

New York, NY — May 9, 2022 — Wenders’ Executive Produced Short Film “Little Hands” NFT Artwork to be auctioned on SuperRare, alongside a live Q&A with the legendary director for the winner.The prolific artist and acclaimed filmmaker of Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire and Buena Vista Social Club is now moving into the NFT space with the release of his first NFT in support of the Oscar-shortlisted “Little Hands” by Rémi Allier.

✉️ Star Teen Filipino Race Driver Bianca Bustamante Unveils NFT Project to Achieve her F1 dream

MANILA - Bianca Bustamante, a 17 year-old rising motorsport star from the Philippines announced that she is launching a groundbreaking project, The Dark Horse – an NFT Access Pass that redefines the career progression of young athletes by embracing technology, social media and community building in the age of blockchain and web3.0. The project will ultimately enable her to build long term engagement with her fan community in ways never imagined before.

✉️ Doodles NFT Appoints Veteran Billboard President Julian Holguin as New Partner and CEO

MIAMI--Doodles, a leading web3 NFT, media & entertainment brand, announces the appointment of Julian Holguin as Partner and CEO. Holguin brings over a decade of experience leading the strategic growth and innovation efforts during Billboard's transformation solely from a B2B trade publication to a consumer facing music brand for fans.

Funding

💰 Crypto forensics startup Chainalysis raises $170M at $8.6B valuation

Chainalysis, a startup that provides crypto investigation and compliance services, has secured $170 million in a Series F funding round led by GIC, a sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. The company, which is known for helping law enforcement nab illicit crypto activities, saw its valuation double to $8.6 billion from its round last June.

💰 Cryptocurrency Exchange Kucoin Raises $150 Million in Pre-Series B Funding Round, Reaches $10 Billion Valuation

Kucoin, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it has raised $150 million in a pre-Series B funding round. The negotiation, which was led by Jump Crypto with the participation of other investors including Circle Ventures, IDG Capital, and Matrix Partners, has conferred the exchange a valuation of $10 billion. The exchange will use these funds to keep expanding in the Web3 sector.

💰 Talos Raises $105 Million Series B Funding Round As Institutional Adoption Of Digital Assets Accelerates

New York — May 10, 2022 — The round was led by global growth equity firm General Atlantic with participation from veteran investors in both the traditional finance and digital asset spaces. New investors including Stripes, BNY Mellon, Citi, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, DRW Venture Capital, SCB 10x, Matrix Capital Management, Fin VC and Voyager Digital, joined the round.

💰 Crypto Startup Moralis Raises $40 Million in Fresh Funding

Investors in the startup’s Series A funding round include Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc., along with EQT Ventures, Fabric Ventures and Dispersion Capital. The company declined to name the investor leading the round.

💰 Crypto Banking Platform BVNK Raises $40M to Drive Regulatory Push

BVNK has closed a $40 million Series A funding round at a $340 million post-money valuation. Interestingly, Tiger Global is leading the round despite being in the news because they’ve experienced a $17 billion loss during this year’s tech stock sell-off. Other investors include The Raba Partnership, Avenir, Kingsway Capital, Nordstar, Concentric, Base Capital and various business angels. BVNK signed its term sheet last month.