📬 Inbox Dump #89
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!
Aave’s New Stablecoin Is GHO for Launch on Ethereum Testnet
Open-sourced decentralized finance liquidity protocol Aave is deploying its native stablecoin GHO on Ethereum’s Goerli test-net. Aave’s native token (AAVE) spiked by about 10% on the news, before retreating 5%, to change hands around $86 as of Thursday at 11:30 am ET.
Tron Launches $100M AI Development Fund
February 9 – Smart contract blockchain Tron is leaning into artificial intelligence with the launch of a new $100 million AI development fund, to encourage developers to create applications using emerging AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, both in the back-end and front-end of development.
MetaMask Announces Partnership with Leading On-and-Off Ramp Solution Banxa to Make it Easier to Access Web3
TORONTO, February 07, 2023-BANXA Holdings Inc. the leading on-and-off ramp solution for Web3, today announced an integration with ConsenSys’ leading self-custody Web3 wallet, MetaMask, to simplify on-and-off ramping fiat to crypto.
StarkWare to Open Source Its Zero Knowledge Tech for Scaling Ethereum
StarkWare, the Israeli-based company that is behind popular Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions StarkEx and StarkNet, today revealed plans to make its STARK Prover software open source.
Polygon Appoints Ex-Aave Legal Chief and Top NYC Lawyer as Chief Policy Officer
Ryan Wyatt, President of Polygon Labs, announced the appointment of Rebecca Rettig as its first Chief Policy Officer to lead global policy. Rebecca will seek to ensure that the web3 community’s interests are represented with policymakers and regulators across the globe.
Uniswap’s BNB deployment should use multiple bridges, claims LIFI CEO
As Uniswap DAO’s vote to deploy to BNB Chain continues, LIFI CEO Phillip Zentner argued in a Feb. 6 forum post that the current proposal is flawed. According to Zentner, the plan to use Wormhole as the sole governance bridge for Uniswap should be abandoned.
Coinbase-backed DeSo unveils MegaSwap, a ‘Stripe for crypto’ product, with over $5M in volume
DeSo is excited to announce the launch of MegaSwap – a revolutionary, cross-chain smart service that enables users to securely and easily swap coins between different blockchains with a frictionless zero-login.
Chiliz celebrates 5th birthday with new look and exciting news
MALTA, FEBRUARY 08: Chiliz, the global blockchain technology business for the Web3 sports and entertainment industry, is marking its 5th anniversary with a rebrand and an alert to brands and developers that the genesis block of the new Layer-1 EVM Compatible Chiliz Blockchain has been validated.
Stellar Community Fund Kicks Off $10M Open-Application Funding Program for Soroban Projects
February 8 — Stellar Development Foundation announced a $10 million awards program through its Stellar Community Fund (SCF). Beginning on Feb 13 the Stellar Community Fund will support developers as they experiment with Soroban, the new smart contract platform built for Stellar.
MoonPay Announces Partnership with LooksRare
Feb. 9, 2023 — MIAMI: Today, MoonPay is pleased to announce a new partnership with NFT marketplace LooksRare. As part of the multiyear deal, LooksRare will allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies exclusively through MoonPay.
Crypto Giant Bybit Steps Up for Disaster Relief Following Earthquakes in Turkey
DUBAI, Bybit, the third most visited crypto exchange in the world, today announced it will donate $100,000 to Turkey’s disaster relief efforts in response to the recent earthquake that struck the country.
Paris Blockchain Week turns Carrousel du Louvre into Palace of Web3
Paris Blockchain Week, the leading international conference dedicated to professionals in the blockchain and Web3 space, will be hosted at the Carrousel du LOUVRE in the heart of Paris’ historic palace and largest museum in the world from 20th to 24th March 2023
BitKeep NFT Market soars to top 2 on Polygon
NEW YORK CITY, NY, Feb. 06 – As of 1 Feb 2023, BitKeep NFT Market has taken the number 2 spot on the top NFT marketplaces on Polygon, according to data from DappRadar, a platform that allows users to track and analyze the performance of decentralized applications.
Y Combinator-backed startup Courtyard, the Physically-backed NFT Platform, Partners with Brink’s To Safeguard Assets
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, Courtyard, a new physically-back NFT platform, has formed a partnership with Brink’s Inc., the global leader in secure logistics and asset protection. Through the partnership, Brink’s will provide secure storage for all physical goods connected to Courtyard’s physically-backed NFTs.
Ethos Launches Alpha Test of Its New Defi Trading Vault
(British Virgin Islands)- Ethos announced the release of an alpha version of its anticipated Defi Trading Vault application; being developed as a cross-platform app that will be released and updated simultaneously on Apple and Android devices.
Revelator Expands Web2-to-Web3 Bridge for Music Companies With New NFT Capabilities on Polygon
Revelator announces it has embedded a new, easy-to-use web3 layer into its flagship Revelator Pro platform, allowing its customers to mint and sell music NFTs, and aggregate web3 royalties alongside all their other business activity.
TokenTag Launches Platform to Connect Web3 Communities
NEW YORK, February 7, TokenTag, a Web3 social network, today announces the beta launch of their product. The platform disrupts how creators and community managers understand their audiences and how consumers interact with content across platforms.
Game7 and Moonstream.to Introduce NFT Inventory: Revolutionizing the Web3 Gaming Experience
METAVERSE, Feb. 7 — Today Game7, a Web3 gaming DAO, and Moonstream.to, a startup building economic infrastructure for Web3 games, announce NFT Inventory, an open-source NFT standard to enable previously unavailable Web3 gaming use cases.
Funding
Crypto lender SALT nets $64.4m in Series A raise
SALT Lending has closed a $64.4 million Series A funding round from a share sale to accredited investors less than three months after a planned sale fell through due to the implosion of centralized crypto exchange FTX.
UK blockchain carbon offset platform raises $45M in seed funding
Carbonplace has secured $45 million in an investment round from its nine founder banks with a combined $9 trillion in assets under management. The banks are BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS.
Crypto Protection Firm Coincover Raises $30M
Coincover, a provider of protection and insurance for digital assets, has raised $30 million in a funding round that will go toward hiring, product updates and pursuing partnerships. The round was led by Silicon Valley investment firm Foundation Capital, according to a press release.
Mino Games Secures $15M Series B led by Standard Crypto to Accelerate Global Growth
MONTREAL, Feb. 9 – Mino Games, a trailblazing creator of character-driven games, had secured $15 million in Series B, led by Standard Crypto, with participation from Boost VC, Collab+Currency, Earl Grey Capital, and Konvoy Ventures.
Decentralized Identity Protocol SPACE ID Closed $10M Strategic Round
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7, Decentralized Identity Protocol SPACE ID announced the completion of the $10 Million strategic round, led by venture capital firm Polychain Capital and dao5 with the participation of other institutions and industry leaders.
Elementus Raises $10M in Funding to Continue Building Infrastructure Needed to Make Blockchain More Accessible
NEW YORK, Feb. 6, Elementus announced a $10M Series A-2 funding round led by ParaFi Capital, a crypto-native investment and technology firm that has led early-stage rounds in dozens of blockchain companies.
BORDERLESS SUPER WALLET – CENOA – RAISES US$7 MILLION IN SEED FUNDING
The fund raise was led by Quiet Capital – an early backer of Robinhood; and Underscore VC. Further investors include Human Capital, Ulu Ventures, Acrew Capital, and Collective Spark.
Dymension Secures $6.7 Million in Funding to Enhance Scaling in Cosmos (ATOM) Ecosystem
The round was co-led by Big Brain Holdings and Stratos, while Shalom Meckenzie of DraftKings, on-chain gaming DAO Matchbox and others also backed Dymension in its fundraising efforts.
Sesame Labs Launches Marketing Platform for Web3 Companies with $4.5 Million in Funding
The round is co-led by Wing Venture Capital and Patron, with participation from DoubleJump, Forte, MoonFire, Samsung, Twin Ventures, and angel investors Balaji Srinivasan; Robin Chan, co-founder of fractal; and Ryan Spoon, ex-COO at Sorare
