📬 Inbox Dump #59

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

Inbox Dump!

✉️ JPEX Announces Launch of MoonBirds NFT Index and Upcoming Giveaway

DUBAI, UAE, July 16 - JPEX, a licensed and recognized digital assets platform designed to facilitate seamless crypto transactions, has launched the MoonBirds NFT index in the RedHare NFT index contract.

✉️ Tokened Launches New NFT Platform - Mutant Ape Giveaway

MIAMI, FL, July 15 - Tokened.com is now accessible to users across the US and Canada. Tokened is a highly anticipated online NFT platform where users will get the chance to win some of the world's most sought-after NFT's.

✉️ BOT Planet Releases a Non-Custodial Crypto Wallet with Cross-Chain Swap Functionality

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, July 15 - BOT Planet is expanding its DeFi ecosystem with a blazing fast, secure and convenient non-custodial crypto wallet dedicated to become the one-door gateway to all services and platforms of the company.

✉️ EstateX is Revolutionizing the Future of Property Ownership and Investment

AMSTERDAM, July 15 - EstateX ($ESX) is revolutionizing the future of property ownership and investment, making it simple, affordable, and accessible for anyone to invest in real estate and to generate a passive income with as little as €100.

✉️ The Price Is Right and Theta Labs launch NFTs Linked To Iconic Games And Historic Props From Television’s Longest Running Game Show

July 14 - The Price Is Right, one of television’s longest-running game shows, is launching a new collection of gamified NFTs. They will launch on Theta Drop, Theta Labs’s environmentally friendly, low-cost NFT marketplace, in collaboration with Fremantle, the show’s producers.

✉️ PixEarn Launches, Aims Reshape The World For Arcade Game Lovers

LONDON, UK, July 14 - The team at PixEarn, a play-to-earn gaming platform, is pleased to announce the introduction of its product to the crypto community. PixEarn has gathered momentum and is already making waves in the crypto space, spreading across most European countries.

✉️ Lunar Launches Space Giveaway As NFTs Revolutionize Travel & Space Tourism

MIAMI, FL, July 14 - Lunar is pioneering the NFT revolution in partnership with some of the biggest companies committed to space exploration. Lunar, NFT Expoverse, Astranaut and The Planetary Society have teamed up to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to the edge of space.

✉️ Tencent and their breakthroughs in Web3.0

VIETNAM, July 14 - The NFT community has been abuzz with recent news regarding Tencent's testing of NFT profile photo (PFP) avatars on its QQ Music app.

✉️ Crypto hardware wallet maker Ballet announced the public launch of its NFT Services

13 July - Ballet Cryto steps into the world of NFT’s by announcing the launch of the NFT Consulting and Development Services for enterprises. Ballet created this consulting service to empower organizations of every kind to integrate non-monetary crypto assets into their business strategies.

✉️ Blockchain-Based Startup AltSwitch awarded Gold place by industry experts at Future Innovation Summit Dubai

July 12 - AltSwitch won the gold award at the recently concluded Future Innovation Summit V2’s Startup Olympics presenting their innovative solution to the multi-billion-dollar problem of digital asset theft.

✉️ WARNER RECORDS UK TO LAUNCH FREE NFT COLLECTION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AUDIO COMPANY BOSE

July 11 - Warner Records UK has teamed up with audio company Bose to offer a collection of 5,000 “utility-enabled” audio-visual NFTs for free (if you buy a Bose product). It “is the first major label to give collectors full creative and commercial freedom through ownership of the copyright”.

✉️ Proposal 72 is bringing Liquid Staking and DeFi to the Cosmos Hub

July 12 - Cosmos chains have been tested with high volume, black swan events, and more, and their blockchains just work the way they must. That’s because Cosmos does a ton of things right and makes it easy for someone to build out their blockchain. And their services work great.

✉️ ANIVERSE to Release UGC-Based Web3.0 Metaverse in the Second Half of the Year

SEOUL, KOREA, July 13 - ANIVERSE is a Web3.0 metaverse based on UGC (User Generated Contents) where anyone can easily create content using character IP. In ANIVERSE users can enjoy various services such as games, NFT staking, and governance and receive rewards accordingly.

✉️ Atlendis Labs Announces the Opening of a Borrower Pool for Wintermute

PARIS, July 14 - Atlendis, the capital-efficient DeFi credit protocol that enables institutional crypto loans without collateral, announced today the opening of a borrower pool for Wintermute, a leading global algorithmic market maker in digital assets.

✉️ Speedchain Announcing Partnership with Polygon

Atlanta, July 12 - Speedchain, Inc. a fintech focused on revolutionizing business-to-business payments via a modern connected data platform, has entered into an agreement with Polygon, a leading blockchain and scaling solution for decentralized systems and applications.

✉️ Hex Trust expands into Europe with an office in Milan, Italy and OAM approved Hex Trust Italia to be on the Italian VASP Registry.

HONG KONG, 12 JULY - Hex Trust, one of the global leading custodians of digital assets, has officially expanded to Europe by opening its first European office in Milan, Italy.

✉️ TrueFi, the OG in DeFi credit continues growth - partners with WOO network

California, July 2022 — TrustToken, responsible for building the leading unsecured lending protocol TrueFi unveils its collaboration with WOO X, a zero-fee digital asset trading platform incubated by Kronos Research.

✉️ InvestDEFY Reports Strong Performance of SYGMA Program Amidst Turbulent Market

July 12 – InvestDEFY announced the strong performance of the weekly market neutral yield harvest program, SYGMA, during the recent crypto market downturn.

✉️ CHAPTER 2 WELCOMES STEVE AOKI AND HIS A0K1VERSE

July 11 – We’re proud to welcome Steve Aoki to Chapter 2. Launched by 2x Grammy-nominated music producer, artist, and NFT visionary, Steve Aoki, A0K1VERSE is a new ecosystem, bridging the metaverse with the real world.

✉️ Welcome to Illuminati — The first Unlimited NFT Farming and Auto-Staking Protocol with the best sustainability in DeFi3.0

Hong Kong, July 12 - The very first DeFi project with NFTs Farming, Token Auto-Staking, and stable sustainability. The very first project that provides a successful mechanism for Unlimited NFT Farming and Token Auto-Staking.

✉️ BabyApe is Ruling the Memecoin Industry with its Revolutionary Tokenomics and Utilities

NEW YORK, NY, July 11 - BabyApe is a huge project with a large ambition that is driven by its community; NFT Gaming & Metaverse, collaboration with other projects that will be linked to it, and a brilliant strategy behind it all.

✉️ PlayEstates Web3 Gaming Platform Launches Its Fractional Ownership Model where Gamers Own IRL Real Estate Assets

LOS ANGELES, CA, July 11 - PlayEstates, a Web3 gaming platform, has launched its fractional ownership model, which allows gamers to own real-world real estate assets.

✉️ Pledged Capital, stopping scam projects in their tracks.

PORTUGAL, July 11 - Whether it is Ethereum, NEO, or Tezos, it is essential to consider what they have in common, ecosystems widely used globally, demonstrating an example of a successful ICO to launch the token.

✉️ Integrity Coin Introduces Its Matrix to Wealth Investors Don’t Want to Miss

The team behind Integrity Coin has years of experience in trading and business. The founders aim to make this project a household name in bridging the gap between crypto and fiat.

Funding

💰 Hong Kong blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands raises another US$75 million as crypto crash persists

Animoca is one of the most active investors in the NFT space, boasting a portfolio of more than 200 companies and projects, including OpenSea, the world's largest NFT marketplace, and play-to-earn game Axie Infinity.

💰 A16z, Variant Lead $18M Round for Lending Protocol Morpho Labs

Decentralized lending services protocol Morpho Labs raised $18 million in a funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Variant, with the participation of 80 other investors.

💰 Paradigm Leads $16M Funding Round for Hang

Hang, a Web3-powered platform that connects brands with members, went live Thursday and announced that it raised $16 million in a Series A funding round led by Paradigm.

💰 Decentralized Oracle Empiric Network Launches With $7M Funding Round

Variant led the round for the StarkNet-based oracle, which was created in partnership with StarkWare.

💰 DAO Platform Startup Drums Up 46 Investors In Pre-seed Round

The startup recently raised $5M a pre-seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners. Crypto-focused investment firms Better Ventures and iSeed II also co-led the round. The platform’s ensuing valuation was not disclosed.

💰 Decentralized derivatives protocol ZKX raises $4.5M in seed round from StarkWare, Alameda Research, others

ZKX, the first permissionless derivatives trading protocol built on StarkNet, raises $4.5 million in seed funding. Investors include StarkWare, Alameda Research, Amber Group, Huobi, Crypto.com, and others.

💰 DaoLens raises undisclosed sum in funding from CoinDCX cofounders, 35 others

DaoLens, a B2B DAO service provider has raised an undisclosed amount from 36 angel investors, including CoinDCX cofounders Neeraj Khandelwal and Sumit Gupta, Nazara Technologies, CEO Manish Agarwal, among others.