White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #46
Half a billion in financings this week alone + increased crypto adoption data 📊
Increased crypto adoption proven in raw data
Despite market volatility, mischaracterized environmental concerns, negative reactions to a largely constructive emerging regulatory framework, and the largest hash rate migration, the crypto ecosystem continues to grow. Over half a billion dollars worth of crypto venture funding was announced this week alone!
Cryptocurrency adoption has seen an accelerated growth this year, with the global crypto population doubling since January.
The number of crypto users worldwide has more than doubled from 100m in January 2021 to 221m in June 2021. For comparison, it took nine months for the number of global crypto users to reach 100m from 65m in May 2020.
The study also found that a massive surge in crypto users this year came alongside some notable growth in the popularity of cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin and ethereum.
All of the above findings make complete sense when we take a step back and look at the phenomenal projects that have gained adoption over the last 6 months – MakerDAO, Uniswap, Compound and Paraswap to name just a few.
Beyond the data of crypto users, we are seeing more and more traditional enterprises create entirely new blockchain divisions to prepare their organizations for continued adoption. Further to that point, Paypal recently announced that they’re hiring for over 100 crypto-related positions. The positions range from crypto engineering managers, program managers, strategy managers, and blockchain AML analytics managers, to investigators, operations managers, crypto investigations specialists, crypto tax reporting managers, and crypto legal directors. This aligns with the exciting trend we’ve seen of professionals leaving the traditional corporate world for a job in crypto!
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
ParaSwap has implemented limit order functionality
Listen to Alethea AI CEO Arif Khan discuss iNFTs
Check out a tutorial on how to stream tokens via SuperFluid
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
UBS mulls offering prime brokerage services for crypto ETPs to European hedge funds
The Swiss bank is operating a pilot program with plans to possibly launch a wider rollout to clients in a few months.
First U.S. bitcoin mutual fund launched by $60bn fund manager
ProFunds announced the launch of its Bitcoin Strategy ProFund (BTCFX). This will be the first publicly available U.S. mutual fund that generally tracks the price of Bitcoin.
State Street to provide crypto fund administration services
Working in partnership with software provider Lukka, State Street will offer collection, reconciliation, processing and reporting related to crypto and other digital assets.
Bank of America calls CBDCs ‘more effective’ than cash in research note
The second largest U.S. bank said that the rise of CBDCs was "inevitable."
Robo advisor Wealthfront adds support for Grayscale's bitcoin and ether funds
The company is making the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale Ethereum Trust available alongside a raft of new options for users.
Arca launches actively managed ‘digital yield’ fund
The fund seeks to offer a digital-asset investment with minimal volatility and is targeting effective yields in the low double digits.
GoldenTree, $45bn asset manager, is buying bitcoin
The New York-based firm has been adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet as a diversifier for the broad mix of debt-focused strategies it has run for years.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
Bank of Estonia finds ‘unlimited’ potential in digital Euro test
Eesti Pank found a blockchain-based solution could support an almost unlimited numbers of payments being processed at the same time.
Ireland’s central bank governor says digital Euro is ‘very likely’
Introducing a digital euro would represent a "fundamental shift" in the eurozone's financial architecture, Governor Gabriel Makhlouf noted.
Brazilian central bank projects ‘significant migration’ to digital payments
According to director João Manoel Pinho de Mello, central bank digital currencies can expand financial inclusion and reduce the cost and time of cross-border transactions.
💰 Funding & Exits
Horizon Blockchain Games raises $4.5m in new funding ahead of product launches
The pre-Series A round drew support from investors such as BITKRAFT Ventures, CMT Digital, The Xchange Company, Khaled Verjee and Zyshan Kaba.
Sense Finance raises $5.2m to bring yield trading to DeFi
Dragonfly Capital led the funding round with participation including Robot Ventures and Bain Capital.
Crypto tax firm Zenledger raises $6m amid Senate infrastructure bill battle
The Series A funding round was led by Bloccelerate VC. Mark Cuban’s Radical Ventures, G1 VC, Borderless Capital, 4RC, Centrality, BIGG Digital Assets and CoinGecko, among others, also participated.
Mark Cuban joins in $6m fundraise for AlchemyNFT
Key investors include Crypto.com Capital, Framework Ventures, Mechanism Capital, LongHash Ventures, and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
Blockchain infrastructure provider Biconomy raises $9m in funding
Venture firms DACM and Mechanism Capital co-led the round, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Bain Capital, NFX, Ledgerprime, Huobi Innovation Labs, Primitive Ventures, and others
Bitcoin rewards provider Lolli raises $10m in Series A funding
The new round comes just four months after Lolli raised $5m in a pre-Series A funding round. The Series A funding round was led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Banana Capital, Formula VC, UpNorth Media, Animal Capital, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six Ventures.
Multiverse secures a $15m investment from Samsung Next, leading blockchain VCs
With the raise, Multiverse now has an implied valuation of $250m, making it one of the largest ecosystem developer funds at the intersection of blockchain and AI.
Australian lending startup Loda raises $15m to further crypto collateralization efforts
Loda is among the first of its kind in the country that allows users to borrow Australian dollars against crypto.
Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures leads $25m Series A in crypto platform Vauld
With participation from Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, CoinShares, CMT Digital, Gumi Cryptos, and Robert Leshner’s Robot Ventures, among others.
Ethereum-based video streaming platform Livepeer raises $20m in Series B funding
Digital Currency Group led the round, with Northzone, Coinbase Ventures, CoinFund, Animal Ventures, and 6th Man Ventures also participating in the round.
Crypto software startup TaxBit triples valuation in Insight-led round
TaxBit, a startup that develops tax software for traders of cryptocurrency, is raising over $100m at a $1.5bn valuation in a new funding round
Bitmain spin-off Matrixport raises $100m in Series C funding, valuation over $1bn
The round was led by partners of DST Global, C Ventures and K3 Ventures. Qiming Venture Partners, CE Innovation Capital, Tiger Global, Cachet Group, Palm Drive Capital, Foresight Ventures and A&T Capital also participated.
Prime Trust raises $64m to scale fintech infrastructure biz
The round was led by Mercato Partners’ growth equity fund, Traverse. Nationwide, Samsung Next, Kraken Ventures and Seven Peaks Ventures also participated.
Genesis Digital Assets raises $125m to fuel US and Nordic expansion
The investment was led by Kingsway Capital, a U.K-based private equity fund with over $2bn in assets under management.
CoinDCX in talks with Facebook co-founder to raise as much as $120m
The funding round would accord the Indian company unicorn status, with a valuation of more than $1bn.
Paxos adds Bank of America, Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund & FTX to Series D funding round
This follows the initial announcement of $300m in Series D funding on April 29, 2021, led by Oak HC/FT with participation from previous investors Declaration Partners, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital and more.
EU-backed investment fund puts $30m into Fabric Ventures’ new $130m vehicle
Other notable backers include Ethereum and Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood as well as 33 other tech executives from firms including PayPal, Square, Google, PayU, Galaxy Digital and Ledger.
Ex-poker pros raise $130m fund for DeFi bets
The latest fund dwarfs Ascensive’s maiden $24m fundraise back in 2019, which backed the likes of Polkaswap, Benqi, Yield Guild Games and JennyDAO.
Trading and quant shop Jump Trading makes first crypto acquisition
The firm is set to acquire blockchain infrastructure firm Certus One.
Voyager acquires crypto custody and payments platform Coinify
Coinify was already established in over 150 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Voyager intends to bolster its international expansion, particularly into Europe, in addition to its business-to-business capabilities through acquiring Coinify.
Bitcoin ATM operator LibertyX is being acquired by Fortune 500 company NCR
LibertyX was founded in 2013 and operates over 10,000 ATMs in the U.S. NCR, formerly known as National Cash Register, is a software company that makes business-related products such as ATMs, sale terminals, and scanners.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
BitGo and Index Coop partner to build ‘blue chip’ experience for DeFi investment
BitGo and Index Cooperative recently announced their plans for an index funds of DeFi investment opportunities, custodied at BitGo — one of the first digital asset trusts.
Dolphin Entertainment, FTX launching NFT marketplace for sports and entertainment brands
The pact will combine Dolphin’s creative and marketing prowess with FTX’s knowledge of cryptocurrencies.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
Coca-Cola creates its first collection of brand-inspired NFTs
Weekly NFT trade volume surpasses $300m for the first time
Biggest DAOs now hold $6bn worth of digital assets
The 20 largest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) hold $6bn worth of digital assets, according to the latest DeFi report from ConsenSys
Who’s the ethereum whale buying up all the CryptoPunk NFTs?
A single buyer purchased over 1% of the CryptoPunk NFT supply, spending over $6m. And they are still buying.