White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #54
China bans crypto again while the ecosystem continues to move onward and upwardđ
The next iteration of the China crypto ban
Coming off back to back conferences in NYC, the WSC digital asset team is extremely bullish and excited for what the future has in store for the digital asset ecosystem. Old and new friends matched our excitement for whatâs to come!
In the latest round of China crypto bans, we saw significant changes coming out of the region this week. Crypto exchange Huobi announced their plan to cease all mainland China user accounts, China-based ethereum mining pool Sparkpool shuts down all services, Alibaba said it will block sales of cryptocurrency mining equipment starting next month, CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, TradingView now blocked in China and much more.
China crypto bans are nothing new, having happened multiple times over the last few years:
Fall 2013
China bans banks from handling bitcoin transactions, calling it a âvirtual goodâ and not legal tender.
BTC China, the countryâs largest bitcoin exchange, stops taking deposits in yuan under pressure from payment processors and the government.
Winter 2017
Amid a crypto boom, China says it is investigating market manipulation and money laundering through bitcoin.
Fall 2017
China bans initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Crypto exchanges are banned in China. Citizens largely get around the ban by using offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer trading.
Fall 2019
China considers eliminating crypto mining but eventually declines to act.
Spring 2021
China cracks down on crypto mining, as mining activities start to threaten the countryâs environmental goals.
The government bans financial institutions and payment companies from providing crypto-related services.
Nuances in the language of the most recent PBOC announcement led some to believe that China had made cryptocurrency illegal, whereas the announcement was really a clarification that there is significant risk in crypto ownership that the law canât protect against.
This announcement echoes prior court rulings from Shandong, a province in Chinaâs east, that came out in August which said that âthe behavior of investing or trading cryptocurrency is not protected by lawâ after the defendant asked for compensation for a digital asset transaction gone wrong. âRegular investors should protect their personal property and stay away from virtual currencies,â the presiding judge wrote.
This is all to say that news outlets have taken the opportunity to continue to speculate on the future of digital assets in China. We do believe there will be similar updates coming out of China in the short term but there will be some interesting developments in the mid to long term with the launch of Chinaâs central bank digital currency.
đŚ White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
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đŚ Enterprises & Institutions
Burger King launches 'Keep It Real Meals' NFT campaign
As part of the Burger King Real Meals NFT initiative, QR codes will appear on nearly 6m meal boxes, unlocking a digital collectible.
Robinhood is rolling out crypto wallet and transfer features
It will allow customers to store crypto and move it in and out of their apps.
Invesco and Galaxy Digital team up to develop crypto ETF suite
The companies said they aimed to develop âa comprehensive suiteâ of physically-backed digital asset ETFs.
Crypto exchange FTX signs sponsorship deal with F1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas
The length of the deal hasn't been disclosed, but FTX said it will span multiple race seasons, with the FTX logo being featured prominently on both the cars and the drivers.
Twitter rolls out bitcoin tipping for iOS users via Lightning, looks to NFTs for the future
Clicking on the feature enables users to tip creators through third-party services like CashApp, which is operated by Square, a payments company founded by Jack Dorsey. But in an effort to make monetization accessible in places that may not have easy access to fiat, users can also tip in bitcoin.
Circle integrates with Plaid to simplify ACH payments
The integration makes connecting bank accounts and accepting ACH payments faster and easier because Plaid enables quicker account verification.
Coinbase is rolling out a direct paycheck deposit feature for US users
With the new feature, users will be able to set up once and make recurring buys, earn interest on yield-generating assets or spend with their Coinbase Card, depending on whether they choose to get paid in U.S. dollars or crypto.
Revolut to launch crypto token
In terms of the timing of a Revolut token launch, the source said this is subject to approval from the U.K.âs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
AngelList introduces USDC enabled funds
BNY Mellon beefs up digital assets unit with three senior hires
The three executives will fill newly created roles at the company as it looks to ramp up its crypto activities.
âď¸ Government & Regulation
Canadian securities regulators release crypto exchange guidance on advertising, social media
Released in conjunction between the CSA and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada â "provides guidance for crypto trading platforms or CTPs on how requirements under securities legislation and IIROC rules relating to advertising, marketing and the use of social media may apply to them."
China issues tougher measures to keep cracking down on crypto trading
The Chinese central bank said in an announcement that all services that let you exchange fiat currencies and crypto assets or between crypto assets themselves are now treated as illegal activities.
Nigeriaâs eNaira website goes live ahead of scheduled October rollout
The central bank digital currency will be accompanied by a CBN-sanctioned wallet that a user can link to a bank account.
đ° Funding & Exits
Solana-based Grape protocol raises $1.2m in seed funding
The round was led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from SkyVision Capital, Definitive Capital, LongHash Ventures, Double Peak Group, and Solana Capital.
Mines of Dalarnia raises $2.7m
Notable investors in this round include Crypto.com, Animoca Brands, Coin 98, Jump Capital, NGC, Impossible Finance, Kyros Ventures, ICO Drops, x21 Digital, Bitscale Ventures, Crypto J, and Sanctor Capital.
âSolcialâ raises $2.9m to build censorship-free social media on Solana
The round led by Alameda Research with Solana Foundation, Rarestone Capital, GBV, Shift Capital and Noia Capital participating.
Bitcoin startup Moon raises $2.1m to enter new markets
The funding round included participation from Fenbushi Capital, New Form Capital, SBX Capital, Manresa Ventures, Fulgur Ventures, Flight.VC, Bentaus, Block0, litecoin creator Charlie Lee and Bill Murphy, the former CTO of Blackstone.
Paladin raises $2.55m to champion open activism in decentralized governance
The round was led by Greenfield One and with the participation of Galaxy Digital, NFX and Semantic.
Waggle Network successfully raises $3m
Investors include GBV, SVC, Genesis Block Capital, Pragma Ventures, Basics Capital, Bixin Ventures, NGC, AU21, Gate.io labs, MEXC, HG Ventures and Spark Digital.
Clearpool raises $3m to build decentralized capital markets on ethereum
Funding has come via Arrington Capital, GBV Capital, HashKey Capital, Hex Trust, Sequoia Capital India, Sino Global Capital and Wintermute.
Angle Labs raises $5m to build derivatives-backed stablecoins
Andreesen Horowitz is joined by Fabric VC, Wintermute, Divergence Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Alven, Julien Bouteloup and FrĂŠdĂŠric Montagnon.
Avantgarde Finance closes $5.5m Series A
Blockchange Ventures led the round along with Placeholder VC, Jump Capital, Collaborative Fund, Acrew Capital, Coinshares and others.
NFTrade secures MetaPurse as backer to finalize $3.7m seed round
Other investors include Sfermion, Metapurse, DAO Maker, Zokyo and others.
Nahmii raises $8m for layer 2 commercial scaling for ethereum
The round was led by DARMA Partners and included Aligned Capital, CMT Digital, Delta Fund, and Fourth Revolution Capital.
Social token platform Roll raises $10m in Series A funding
IOSG Ventures led the round. Other participants include Animoca Brands, Alchemy, Huobi Ventures, Weekend Fund, Audacity, and Mischief Fund.
Solana-based DEX Orca raises $18m from Three Arrows Capital and others
Three Arrows Capital, Polychain, and Placeholder co-led the round.
Crypto custodian Cobo raises $40m to expand DeFi-as-a-service
The round was led by DST Global, A&T Capital and IMO Ventures.
Blockdaemon raises $155m in Series B funding
SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 led the round. New investors Matrix Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures and Morgan Creek Digital participated in the round.
Dapper Labs said to reach $7.6bn valuation in $250m funding round
The firm behind NBA Top Shot and the Flow blockchain also announced a deal with Spainâs top soccer league, LaLiga.
Bitcoin mining firm Genesis Digital Assets raises $431m led by Paradigm
Other investors in the round included NYDIG, Stoneridge, FTX, Ribbit, Electric Capital, Skybridge, and Kingsway Capital.
Former ConsenSys venture exec launches $50m fund
Less than two months after starting the deck for it, Kavita Gupta â a former executive at ConsenSys â announced the close of the cryptocurrency market's last crypto fund: Delta Blockchain Fund.
Thai firms SCB, CP Group form venture fund seeking $800m
Thailand's third-largest lender Siam Commercial Bank Pcl has set up a venture capital fund with top agro-industrial conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group.
đ Project Launches & Updates
Permissioned DeFi platform Aave Arc gears up for launch
Fireblocks, an institutional custody firm, has made a proposal to Aave's governance forum for it to be the first whitelister for when it is deployed.
đĽ Other Bits We're Excited About
Snoop Dogg has entered the Metaverse!
Dolce & Gabbana launches their NFT collection
This 9-piece, one-of-a-kind collection was personally designed by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana exclusively for UNXD. It features entirely hand-made, museum-grade items across Alta Moda (women), Alta Sartoria (men), and Alta Gioielleria (high jewelry).