The Defiant

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!

ConsenSys Launches MetaMask Learn – The Next Step in Democratizing Web3

January 31, NEW YORK – ConsenSys announced its newest initiative, MetaMask Learn: a free-to-use resource available in 10 languages for anyone interested in learning about web3. It provides an interactive MetaMask UI environment to help onboard those new to self-custody, and guides users through the most common topics to help them get started in web3.

Tether and Partners Launch Free P2P Messaging Application

Holepunch, a fully encrypted platform for building peer-to-peer applications backed by Tether, announced today the launch of Keet Mobile, a free peer-to-peer (P2P) instant messaging application that works without the need for centralized entities on any device.

Solana Protocol Marinade Finance Launches “Open Doors” Program to Grow Solana TVL

Marinade Finance, Solana’s No.1 protocol by total value locked (TVL), has announced a major drive “to increase staking of SOL on the blockchain as the protocol aims to increase Solana’s decentralization and grow liquidity throughout its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.”

Nuon “Flatcoin” Goes Live: Cost of living-linked cryptocurrency launches on Arbitrum

HONG KONG, Feb. 2, 2023 / The Nuon Protocol has announced the launch of its mainnet for the NUON flatcoin: the world’s first cryptocurrency linked to an unbiased cost of living index. Decentralized and overcollateralized, Nuon will go live on the leading Ethereum scaling solution, Arbitrum.

After Partnering With Messi, Bitget Expands Copy-Trading to English-Speaking Countries

Bitget continues to make copy trading more accessible to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Their new One-Click Copy Trading product, helps novice users take cues from experienced traders.

“Japan is on the Forefront of Embracing a Web3 Future” LBank CMO Shares

Japan is developing policies and guidelines for stablecoins, NFTs, and DAOs, signaling an active warm welcome of a Web3 future. While many countries are still on the fence about Web3, Japan is seizing the opportunity and being proactive in pushing forward policies to lead the country into a new era.

PleasrHouse Episode 2 – Auctioning the actual couch from the doge meme

New York, NY – PleasrDAO is announcing the second episode of PleasrHouse, a live interactive art auction show. The show will stream live February 8th at 7:30 pm ET with guests Atsuko Sato and Kabosu, the Shiba Inu doge from the historic ‘Doge’ meme.

OKX and Manchester City stars launch immersive metaverse fan experience

Manchester, Feb. 2 — OKX, one of the world’s leading technology and Web3 companies, announced it has partnered with Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) stars Jack Grealish, Rúben Dias, Ilkay Gündoğan and Alex Greenwood to launch the OKX Collective, an immersive metaverse experience designed specifically for fans.

Steve Aoki and Seth Green’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Join Forces with Shibuya to Put a Creative Spin on Storytelling & TV Show Development

February 1st, 2023 – Steve Aoki and Seth Green’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios join forces with Shibuya to usher ReplicantX into a new era of interactive storytelling. In this next chapter, Aoki pioneers a new stop-motion production model in partnership with Replicant X PFP holders, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, and Shibuya.

Umee Launches “Historacle” – Industry’s First Price Manipulation Prevention Tool

NEW YORK – Umee, a Cosmos blockchain built for seamless cross-chain borrowing and lending of digital assets, today announced the launch of the Historacle – the industry’s first price calculation method to generate true and manipulation-proof on-chain prices.

The Anoma Foundation Promotes Interchain Privacy Through New Retroactive Public Goods Funding

31 January 2023 – The Anoma Foundation, which fosters the development and sustainability of the Anoma ecosystem, has today announced that it is making a substantial sum of retroactive public goods funding available to projects that contribute to common causes of privacy and autonomy.

First all-Latino animated series in Web3 “House of Chico” Finale Feb. 3

January 31, 2023, “House of Chico,” the first Web3 adult animated series with an all-Latino cast and the second installment of “The Gimmicks” – from Web3 entertainment studio, Toonstar, is slated to celebrate its season finale this Friday.

Membrane Finance launches the euro stablecoin EUROe on Ethereum

HELSINKI, FINLAND, February 2, 2023 — Finnish fintech company Membrane Finance has today launched EUROe – EU’s first and only regulated full-reserve stablecoin and payment network.

Ethos Reveals new Defi Trading Vault

(British Virgin Islands)- Ethos announced the new name of its upcoming major Defi app: Ethos Defi Trading Vault. The name Ethos Defi Trading Vault was chosen after several extended focus groups and surveys with the Ethos Product Council, a core group of Ethos volunteers and crypto enthusiasts.

DAATA AND INFINITE OBJECTS PRESENT A DIGITAL ART EXHIBITION IN THE HEART OF TIMES SQUARE

February 1, 2023 – Daata, the platform that produces, commissions, exhibits, curates, and sells all forms of digital art, is pleased to announce its latest exhibition in collaboration with Infinite Objects, a New York-based start-up that offers video art prints.

LIONS and WARC launch the Creative Impact Content Stream to drive the effectiveness agenda at Cannes Lions 2023

31 January 2023 – LIONS, the global benchmark for creativity, and WARC, the authority on marketing effectiveness, today announced Creative Impact – a co-curated stream of content that will run every day and across multiple stages as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Monday 19 – Friday 23 June 2023.

FARFETCH and Outlier Ventures Open Applications for Dream Assembly Base Camp Cohort Two

LONDON, U.K. January 30, 2023 – FARFETCH Limited (NYSE: FTCH), the leading global platform for the luxury fashion industry, and Outlier Ventures, the leading global Web3 accelerator, and investor, have opened applications for Dream Assembly Base Camp Cohort Two.

Funding

Blockchain solution Simba Chain awarded $30M from US Air Force

Blockchain solutions company Simba Chain said today that it was selected by the U.S. Air Force Strategic Technology Focus Initiative to receive $30 million in funding to follow multiple projects the company has worked on for the military in recent years.

BlockJoy Raises $11 Million As It Readies Disruptive Node Management Solution

Gradient Ventures, Draper Dragon, Dragon Roark, Active Capital, Bordeless HNT and Renegade Ventures were among the investors who participated in the round.

Blockchain security firm Sec3 raises $10 million in seed funding

Multicoin Capital led the round, with Sanctor Capital and Essence VC participating, Sec3 announced Tuesday. Several angel investors, including Santiago Santos, a former ParaFi Capital partner, and Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, also joined the round.

Crypto security startup Hypernative raises $9M to help prevent web3 cyber attacks

The funding round was led by boldstart ventures and IBI tech fund, with strategic investments from Blockdaemon, Alchemy, Borderless, CMT Digital, Nexo and angel investors.

Addressable Raises $7.5 Million to Help Web3 Marketers Reach Their Audiences

The round, which had the support of Viola Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Mensch Capital Partners, and North Island Ventures, banks on the capabilities of Addressable’s software.

Blockchain Scaling Project Sovereign Labs Raises $7.4M in Seed Round

The fundraise was led by Haun Ventures and included Maven 11, 1KX, Robot Ventures and Plaintext Capital.

Fungify raises $6M to build new NFT lending primitive

The round, led by CitizenX, included Distributed Global, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Taureon Capital, Anagram, Flow Ventures and more. Angel investors DCFGod, Joe Eagan (ex-president Polychain Capital), Mark Borsten (Merit Circle founder) and others also joined.

Oh Baby Games Raises $6 Million Seed Round to Redefine Web3 Gaming

The round was co-led by eGirl Capital and Synergis Capital with participation from gmjp and Merit Circle DAO, and angel investors: Kevin Lin (Co-founder of Twitch, Metatheory), Santiago Santos, Wing Vasiksiri (WV), Serkan Toto (Founder of Kantan Games) and the lovely characters in CT (Crypto Twitter).

📬 Inbox Dump #88