White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #65
Web traffic to crypto exchanges in November reached second-highest level for 2021 ⬆️
Web traffic to crypto exchanges in November reached second-highest level for 2021 ⬆️
Crypto exchange websites saw internet traffic of 546.6m visits in November, according to The Block Research.
The November website traffic figure is the second-highest in 2021 behind the 638.2m visits recorded in May. December 2017 — the height of the crypto bull run from that year — is likely the monthly period with the largest cryptocurrency exchange website traffic.
Despite regulatory challenges across the globe, Binance still accounted for more than a third of total crypto exchange website traffic. Coinbase contributed almost a fifth of the total figure to place with KuCoin and Bybit in third and fourth, respectively. According to The Block Research’s Lars Hoffmann on Twitter, retail client inflows from traders in the United States contributed to KuCoin and Bybit’s high placement in the rankings.
By reaching 546.6m, November’s web traffic figure constituted a 15.5% month-over-month increase. Since experiencing consecutive volume declines in June and July, crypto exchange web traffic has been on the uptick.
This increase in web traffic has been in tandem with the crypto market recovery that occurred in Q3 following the May market dip that saw cryptocurrency prices fall by over 50%. Trading volume has also increased steadily during the same period.
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
Our investment in Index Coop
After having spent several months engaged with the team and contributing to the forum & Discord server, we are extremely excited to be further aligned Index Coop as part of their $INDEX strategic treasury diversification round alongside Sequoia, Blockchain Ventures, Galaxy Digital, 1kx and other phenomenal partners.
Our Investment in JellyFi
We are extremely excited about the rapidly growing DeFi lending market, and more specifically about new more capital efficient approaches to lending which will help grow the market exponentially over the coming years. We are equally excited to announce our backing of Alexis and the founding team of JellyFi in their $4.4m round alongside Lemniscap, ParaFi, Defiance, Tioga Capital and others.
Alethea AI has joined forces with Yield Guild
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
Visa forms new crypto advisory unit as client demand grows
The unit will sit within the company’s broader consulting and analytics division, which offers payments-related consultancy services.
AVAX’s Ava Labs among startups chosen for Mastercard’s crypto accelerator
The payments giant has chosen five new companies to be a part of its “Start Path Crypto” program.
Ledger unveils crypto debit card, partners with FTX, Coinbase, Rarible
Called the Crypto Life card, it supports a range of cryptocurrencies and can be tracked through Ledger Live, the software companion to Ledger’s range of hardware wallets.
MicroStrategy spends $82.4m in cash to buy even more bitcoin
The purchase came at an average cost of $57,477 per bitcoin and follows the $414m purchase announced last month.
Wells Fargo, HSBC to settle forex transactions using blockchain
The banking giants will use a blockchain product to settle U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, pound and euro transactions.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
What we learned at Congress' much-anticipated summit of crypto execs
Fiat-backed stablecoins are likely to face a new oversight regime for their reserves, but other issues are still very much up for discussion if the hearing was any indication.
SEC’s Gensler says crypto ‘fits in our broad remit’
The U.S. regulator also restated his request to crypto exchanges to “come in, work with the SEC.”
💰 Funding & Exits
Router Protocol raises $4.1m to bridge EVM and non-EVM chains
The funding round was supported by Coinbase Ventures, Bison Ventures, DeFi Capital, Polygon, QCP Capital, Shima Capital, Wintermute and the Woodstock Fund.
Play-to-earn platform Rainmaker nabs $6.5m seed round
Alameda Research, Animoca Brands and CoinFund participated in the round.
Burrata raises $7.75m from Stripe, Variant to build identity data bridge
Coming out of stealth mode, the startup plans to create a compliance toolkit that makes KYC a more seamless developer experience.
Passbase raises $13.5m to build ID verification system for crypto firms
Investors included Costanoa Ventures, Lakestar, Eniac Ventures and Cowboy Ventures.
Dapper Labs raising $13.5m in equity offering
The company has raised $6.5m to date from one investor. Dapper started accepting investments on Nov. 22.
DeFi trading platform Slingshot raises $15m in Series A
Ribbit Capital led the round, with K5 Global, Shrug Capital, The Chainsmokers, Jason Derulo (American singer), Guillaume Pousaz (Checkout.com founder), and Austin Rief (Morning Brew CEO) also participating.
Microsoft leads $27m funding round for Palm NFT Studio
Griffin Gaming Partners, RRE, Third Kind Venture Capital, Sfermion, The LAO and Warner Brothers also participated in the funding round.
Crypto derivatives platform Paradigm nabs $400m valuation in funding round
the firm has raised $35m in a funding round led by crypto trading giants Jump Capital and Alameda Research.
Web3 job platform Braintrust raises $100m in private token sale
Tiger Global and True Ventures as well as previous Braintrust backers like Blockchain Ventures and HashKey also took part in the private token sale.
Assembly Blockchain receives $100m investment
The investors include LD Capital, Signum Capital, Huobi Ventures, UOB Venture Management, HyperChain Capital and Du Capital.
NYDIG announces $1bn funding round, valuing company at $7bn
The round was led by growth equity firm WestCap with participation from other backers like Bessemer Venture Partners, FinTech Collective, Affirm, Fiserv, MassMutual, New York Life, Morgan Stanley, and FIS.
Crypto VC Chiron raises $50m to invest in Terra ecosystem
The fund is the latest cash influx into promising DeFi and Web 3 gaming projects from institutional investors.
Gala Games, C2 Ventures start $100m fund to invest in blockchain gaming
The fund will invest in projects being built with blockchain technology, including play-to-earn and metaverse ventures.
Solana Ventures looks to boost web 3 gaming with launch of $150m fund
The initiative tops an earlier $100m fund raised with FTX and Lightspeed in November.
ParaFi raises additional $200m for its flagship digital opportunities fund
The fund has raised over $216m from 226 investors since opening for investments.
Nike buys NFT collectables startup RTFKT
RTFKT is a collectables studio known for making NFTs that merge culture and gaming.
Metaverse company InfiniteWorld to go public in $700m SPAC merger
The stock will debut on the Nasdaq early next year.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
Meta's crypto wallet Novi launches on WhatsApp
Novi, the crypto wallet owned by social media giant Meta, has launched the ability to send and receive money via WhatsApp.
FTX US signs NFT deal with the Golden State Warriors basketball team
As part of the deal, the Warriors will create and launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and FTX US will be the main hub for the team’s digital asset launches.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
FreeRossDAO emerges winner of imprisoned Silk Road founder's NFT auction
A group called FreeRossDAO has won the auction for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s first non-fungible token (NFT) collection with a winning bid of 1,446 ETH (about $6.2m)
Leading crypto trade association doubled membership, quadrupled funding in 2021
The Blockchain Association, a 501(c)6 trade association for the crypto industry, has been a player in Washington, DC since its founding in 2018. But 2021 has seen record growth.