📬 Inbox Dump #92

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]

Inbox Dump!

Ethereum Holders Can Now Purchase Solana NFTs on Hyperspace Thanks to DeSo-Powered MegaSwap

We’re excited to partner with Hyperspace, the cutting-edge Solana NFT marketplace, to integrate MegaSwap, the cross-chain smart service for web3. The MegaSwap integration will provide faster onboarding and easier access to cross-chain liquidity for Ethereum and Solana NFT users.

TRON Partners with Oraichain for AI Integration and HackaTRON Collaboration

Switzerland, 2nd March — TRON has taken a major step towards combining artificial intelligence with blockchain technology by partnering with Oraichain, the world’s first AI-powered oracle, and ecosystem for blockchains.

Spool Brings Simplified DeFi Access to 2.4 Million Addresses on Arbitrum One

Spool, the platform that helps users build customized and safe DeFi yield portfolios, has launched on Arbitrum One. This integration brings Spool’s tools and six strategies to Arbitrum’s ecosystem, which has over 2.4 million unique wallets.

Fan Token Project Chiliz Sets Up $50M Incubator Backed by Jump Crypto

Chiliz, a blockchain-based sports token platform, is starting a $50 million incubator program called Chiliz Labs to target early-stage projects in the sports and entertainment industries. The program is backed by Jump Crypto, the investment arm of Chicago-based market maker Jump Trading Group.

Xapo Bank Partners With Lightspark, Becoming The First Fully Licensed Private Bank To Offer Near-Instant Bitcoin Payments Through Lightning Network Integration

GIBRALTAR, March 2, 2023 – Xapo Bank, a leading Bitcoin custodian, and licensed private bank, has partnered with Lightspark and integrated with the Lightning Network to enable lightning-fast Bitcoin payments for its customers.

Sotheby’s x Unicorn DAO x Pussy Riot “MY BODY, MY BUSINESS”

IN ADVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ON MARCH 8, SOTHEBY’S AND UNICORN DAO ANNOUNCE “MY BODY, MY BUSINESS” AUCTION TO CELEBRATE WOMEN ARTISTS

Multichain and OKX Wallet Partner to Expand Cross-Chain Capabilities

March 1, 2023 – Multichain, the ultimate router for web3, has partnered with OKX Wallet, a leading self-custodial solution for digital assets, to expand cross-chain capabilities in the world of blockchain.

Top-notch Ethereum coders bring BUIDLing vibe to Dubai

ETHDubai, one of the Ethereum local events series, will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the world’s leading crypto and blockchain meeting destination on March 15 and 16, 2023.

Bitget Integrates with TradingView For Crypto Derivatives Trading

VICTORIA, Seychelles — Bitget, a leading crypto derivatives exchange and copy trading platform, has announced direct integration with TradingView, a charting and trading platform used by millions of traders worldwide.

BitMart offers zero fees on Bitcoin, Ethereum and 100+ other spot trading pairs

March 3, New York — BitMart, the premium cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain ecosystem, is introducing its new low-fees with a 10-day zero-fee campaign on a wide range of top, Class-A spot trading pairs, including BTC, ETH, XRP, DOGE, ADA, and MATIC, among others.

Atlendis focuses on bringing real-world business use cases to DeFi

Atlendis is focusing on real-world business use cases to offer lenders sustainable and impactful investment opportunities, and provide businesses and fintech intermediaries with a new source of liquidity in decentralized finance.

GameSwift’s Revolutionary Passwordless Sign-on System To Boost Web3 Gaming Adoption

To encourage widespread adoption of Web3 games, the GameSwift Platform has been launched in its open alpha stage alongside the unique GameSwift ID feature (a passwordless sign-on system with an automatically created in-built wallet).

Crypto Expo Asia Returns To Singapore After Successful 2022 Debut

SINGAPORE, March 2, 2023 – Crypto Expo Asia, the largest crypto conference and exhibition in Asia, announces that it will return to Singapore following its successful inaugural debut in 2022.

Shamal Ranasinghe Named Chief Business Officer at Audius

Ranasinghe comes to Audius following eight years at Pandora and, after the merger, as VP of Product Management, Catalog, and Creators at SiriusXM/Pandora.

Masa to Launch Soulbound Token-Powered “Prosperity Passports” on Celo

SAN FRANCISCO-Masa, the first Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible Soulbound Token (SBT) protocol, today announced its deployment on Celo, a carbon-negative, EVM-compatible blockchain.

Koii Labs, Idexo pioneer middleware bridge to bring secure, efficient cross-chain transactions to DeFi

Koii Labs and software company Idexo announced a new middleware bridge to advance deployments on-chain with a few lines of code. The solution aims to improve security, speed up deployments and replace centralized crypto exchanges with DeFi bridges.

Brian Brooks Appointed to the Board of the HBAR Foundation

DALLAS, March 1 — Brian Brooks, a fintech and global policy heavyweight, has joined the board of the HBAR Foundation, the organization helping drive the adoption of the Hedera network.

Funding

NFT Platform Few and Far Raises $10.5M in a Round Led by Pantera Capital

The fundraising also attracted participation from Cypher Capital, Huobi Ventures, Hypersphere, Metaweb, Mantis Partners, and K5 Global.

DigiFT DEX Raises $10.5M in Pre-Series A Funding Led by Shanda Group

The investment round was led by Shanda Group, a global privately-owned investment group founded by Chinese online entertainment pioneer Tianqiao Chen. Other investors included HashKey Capital, Hash Global, Xin Enterprise Pte. Ltd., and North Beta Capital.

Conflux Network’s $10M funding round propels CFX token rise

Developers of the blockchain network said it raised $10 million from DWF labs. According to a March 1 statement, the funds would be used to “expand, innovate, and create a barrier-free blockchain ecosystem.”

ZenGo Wallet Seeking to Raise $10M in a Series A Fundraiser

Although no information was provided about the investors, the recent fundraiser is valued at the same $100 million post-money amount as ZenGo’s Series A round almost two years ago. Notable investors at the time include Samsung Next, Insight Partners, and Austin Rief Ventures.

Web3 startup Impossible Cloud soars with $7.6M in seed funding to revolutionize the decentralized cloud storage

Impossible Cloud just closed a $7.6M seed round, including backing from prominent investors that was co-led by HV Capital and 1kx, and joined by Protocol Labs, TS Ventures, and very early Ventures.

Mangrove raises $7.4 million Series A to enable market makers to operate without locked capital

Decentralized exchange Mangrove closed a $7.4 million Series A fundraise led by Cumberland and Greenfield Capital. CMT and Gumi Crypto Capital (gCC) also participated in the raise.

ether.fi Completes USD 5.3 Million Funding Round Co-led by NIV and Chapter One, Launches Liquid Staking Platform

LONDON, March 1, ether.fi completed a USD$5.3m funding round co-led by investors North Island Ventures (NIV,) Chapter One, and Node Capital, with participation from Arrington Capital, Maelstrom, Version One Ventures, and Purpose Investments.

Web3 Infrastructure Startup Portal Raises $5.3M

Portal, a Web3 wallet infrastructure startup, has raised $5.3 million in a funding round that included Slow Ventures and Haun Ventures, the venture capital firm founded by Andreessen Horowitz alum Kaite Haun, according to a press release.

Helika Closes $4M Seed Funding Round To Expand Analytics Product Offering For Web3

The round was led by Diagram Ventures with participation from Fenbushi Capital, Sfermion, Big Brain Holdings, Builder Capital and Sparkle Ventures (strategic venture arm supported by Animoca Brands and The Sandbox)