📬 Inbox Dump #91
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!
Web3 Music Streaming Platform Audius Integrates TikTok
Feb 23, 2023, Audius users can sign up for the application with their TikTok profiles and use the streaming service’s songs in their videos on the social media platform.
Spotify Is Testing Token-Enabled Music Playlists
Music streaming Spotify is testing a new service called “token-enabled playlists,” which allows holders of NFTs to connect their wallets and listen to curated music. Currently, the service is available to token holders within the Fluf, Moonbirds, Kingship, and Overlord communities.
RTFKT And Ledger Announce Capsule Collection and Educational Partnership at NFT Paris
February 24 – LEDGER, the world leader in Critical Digital Asset security and utility, joins forces with innovative luxury brand RTFKT to launch the first in a series of education programs and collaborative drops.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s Last Unfinished Project Inspires New Online Marketplace
February 23, Zug, Switzerland -A fork of Bitcoin, known as Particl, has announced the completion of an eBay-style marketplace that’s been integrated into its wallet. Built using blockchain smart contracts, the marketplace is derived from an original concept first proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto
ETHPorto gears up for inaugural Web3 hackathon and conference
ETHPorto, a 48-hour hackathon, and conference running in parallel, hosted at Hard Club, brings Web3 to Portugal’s second-largest city for the first time. ETHPorto is a space for the local and global Web3 community to convene, learn and produce technical solutions at one of the world’s most crypto-friendly destinations.
Veecon 2023 Announces First Round of Speakers and Headline Entertainer
Gary Vaynerchuk announces today rap icon Busta Rhymes will headline Thursday’s opening-night entertainment at VeeCon 2023 on May 18. Additionally, Vaynerchuk revealed the growing lineup of entrepreneurs, artists, and influencers from around the world who will participate.
Supermoon Tower Will Be the Largest Networking Event at ETH Denver.
Supermoon is coming to ETH Denver with its three-day event at the Denver Clock Tower from March 1 through the 3rd, from 12:00 pm until 11:00 pm daily, featuring panel discussions, workshops, and social networking events all while enjoying beautiful views of Denver.
Push Protocol Launches Group Chat for Web3 Messaging App Push Chat
Today (Feb 25th), Push Protocol, the leading web3 messaging protocol, has announced the launch of its new group chat feature for Push Chat, its web3 messaging app. With this new feature, web3 users can create online communities to come together, chat, and share experiences in a web3 native way.
Ethos Announces Celsius Recovery Token Airdrop
(British Virgin Islands)– Ethos Corporation announced that it is showing love to the Celsius community by extending its recovery airdrop to any Celsius token holder or creditor. By filling out a form and showing proof of ownership or creditor status, the Celsius user will be eligible for a 1000 ETHOS tokens.
A0K1VERSE Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary With Announcements For Holders
Feb 24, Steve Aoki is celebrating the one-year anniversary of A0K1VERSE with a bang! To mark the special occasion, he is thrilled to unveil an amazing new rewards program. A new roadmap, subscription service, and other exciting features mark the start of Season Two of A0K1VERSE rewards.
Maison Hennessy Announces The Launch Of Web3 Platform H3nsy
Hennessy, the world’s leading producer of cognac, has unveiled its latest initiative in the Web3 space. The H3NSY eco-system, which features a new brand mark, website, and Twitter handle, reinforces the brand’s commitment to Web3 projects, collaborations, and innovations.
BitMart partners with Amber Group to unlock global liquidity and expand institutional trading
Feb. 24, 2022 — BitMart, the premium global digital asset trading platform, announced today that it would enter into a partnership with Amber Group, a leading market maker, to unlock global liquidity and further support institutional adoption of digital asset trading.
Biggest NFT Collectors Join the Undeads Metaverse NFT Drop
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 24, 2023 Undeads Metaverse, a highly anticipated AAA Web 3 game, has announced that its first public mint event attracted some of the most prominent non-fungible token (NFT) collectors.
Swarm launches world-first tradable stocks and bonds on DeFi
BERLIN, Feb. 21, 2023 — Swarm, the regulated blockchain platform, today announces the launch of a world-first public investment offering for AAPL. TSLA, and two US Treasury Bond ETFs on-chain.
Active Digital Launches Multi-Strategy Crypto Fund Led by Experienced Trading Team
Active Digital, a new digital asset hedge fund firm, has launched with a team of experienced traders providing a collective 27 years of crypto trading experience. The firm has already begun trading with personal capital and is seeking investments from funds of funds and family offices.
Streaming Platform Loco Launches Avalanche Subnet and Fantasy dApps
Loco, an Indian e-sports and videogame live-streaming platform, has joined the Avalanche Multiverse incentive programme and launched a subnet to offer a suite of Web3 products.
Flare Network Completes A Live Demonstration Of Its New Interoperability Feature
The layer-1 for data, Flare, has announced the completion of a live demonstration of new interoperability functionality now available in beta on the network.
Funding
This Israeli Firm Secures $70M In Funding For Blockchain Chips
Morgan Creek Digital led the just-completed fundraising round. Other participants include KCK Capital, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Hanaco Ventures, Blue Run Ventures, Atreides Management, and Exor.
A16z Leads $25M Round for Web3 Startup Building Online Towns
Here Not There has raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to build out Towns, a Web3 group chat protocol and app that lets online communities build blockchain-based gatherings in a fully decentralized way.
Beldex raises $25M from Web3 investor DWF Labs
Seychelles, Feb. 23— Beldex, a leading privacy-based crypto ecosystem, partnered with DWF Labs, a prominent digital asset market maker, and multistage Web3 investment firm that has committed $25 million to research and develop the Beldex network and ecosystem.
Kratos Studios Raises $20M in Seed Funding to Build Web3 Games
Kratos Studios has completed a $20 million funding round at a $150 million valuation. The seed round was led by Accel with participation from Prosus Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Jet Ventures, and Nazara Technologies.
PayPal Ventures Co-Leads Chaos Labs’ $20 Million Seed Funding Round
Chaos Labs, the first highly automated economic security system for crypto protocols, announced it has raised $20M in seed funding led by Galaxy and PayPal Ventures, with participation from Coinbase, Uniswap, Lightspeed, Bessemer, Hashkey and top angels such as Balaji Srinivasan and Naval Ravikant.
Azra Games raises another $10M from A16z for Web3 games
Azra Games has raised another $10 million from A16z to make games with non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Pantera Invests $10M in Metaverse Game Worldwide Webb
Worldwide Webb, creator of a pixel art-based metaverse game, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round from crypto-focused investment firm Pantera Capital.
Polyhedra Network raised $10 million
Polyhedra Network raised $10 million in a round co-led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital. The strategic round also saw participation from Animoca Brands and dao5.
Income-Backed DeFi Protocol Huma Finance Raises $8.3M Seed Funding Led by Race Capital and Distributed Global
Huma, a leading income-backed DeFi protocol, announced the close of an $8.3 million seed round led by Race Capital and Distributed Global with participation from ParaFi Capital, Circle Ventures, Folius Ventures, Robot Ventures, and more.
Blocto crypto wallet closes Series A round at an $80 million valuation
Blocto closed a Series A round at a valuation of $80 million, with participation from Mark Cuban and 500 Global. The wallet startup would not disclose the amount of funds raised in the round.
Blockchain observability platform Sentio raises $6.4M
Sentio announced a $6.4 million round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other participants in the round include Hashkey Capital, Canonical Crypto, Essence VC, and GSR Ventures.
Sequoia, Multicoin Lead $6M Round for Crypto Startup TipLink
TipLink has raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Multicoin Capital. Investors also included Asymmetric, Big Brain Ventures, Circle Ventures, Karatage, Monke Ventures, Paxos, and Solana Ventures, among others.
