White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #52
Some thoughts on the multi-chain future ⛓
Upcoming crypto conference circuit & our thoughts on the multi-chain future
The pace of the crypto ecosystem shows no signs of slowing down! With Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit this week and Messari’s Mainnet conference next week, we’ll continue to have a presence meeting founders and co-investors in-person. If you are in New York attending the conferences, please reach out!
We have been receiving some inbound regarding Solana and other smart contract blockchains and have decided to lay out our thoughts here and on Twitter. Smart contract blockchains are currently undergoing a period of rapid innovation. Ethereum has laid the groundwork for what the future of the internet as we know it will look like – DeFi summer made that abundantly clear.
If 2020 was about ethereum, then 2021 is most certainly about ethereum alternatives – Solana, Avalanche, Algorand, Flow, etc. Most of these blockchains have been dubbed “ethereum killers” more than once but the question here is why can’t they all thrive while serving their own unique purpose?
We don’t have all the answers (yet) but we foresee a not-too-distant future where Ethereum will remain the major DeFi blockchain while Solana or Flow may perhaps take the cake in gaming. Others will have their own unique purposes as well.
We’re continuing to look for promising projects building on ‘alternate’ smart contract blockchains that aren’t simply trying to be an ‘Aave for Solana’ or a ‘Yearn for Avalanche’. We firmly believe we are in a nonzero sum world where the success of one project substantially increases the chances that crypto as a whole is societally relevant.
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
The first NCAA athlete launches a social token on Rally!
ParaSwap is now live on Avalanche 🔥
More teams are streaming their salaries via Superfluid
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
Robinhood announces new crypto investing feature as it looks to bulk up offering
Robinhood announced a new feature for its crypto product that will allow users to automatically make investments in the market on a recurring basis
Brevan Howard hires former CMT Digital boss to lead crypto unit
The British hedge fund has also revealed the launch of a new entity named BH Digital, which will manage cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
Interactive Brokers Group introduces cryptocurrency trading through Paxos
Through Paxos, IBKR clients will be able to trade cryptocurrency alongside other asset classes available on the Interactive Brokers platform.
Coinbase announces $1.5bn private debt offering
Crypto exchange Coinbase intends to conduct a private offering of $1.5bn in senior notes due 2028 and 2031.
MicroStrategy takes its bitcoin holdings to 114k BTC ($5.1bn)
The firm spent $3.16bn on this entire stash, which has a current value of $5.1bn — a 42% gain.
Tencent mints NFTs to digitize a world heritage
Tencent has partnered with the Dunhuang Academy to digitalize the landmark wall paintings of the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site in China's Gansu province.
Crypto miner Argo Blockchain launches IPO on Nasdaq
With the last closing price for Argo’s ordinary shares of £1.334, a successful IPO could raise as much as £100m.
E&Y announces Polygon integration for its blockchain products
The firm would use the Polygon to deploy its own blockchain products on the ethereum mainnet.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
Panama lawmaker introduces proposed crypto regulation law
An independent lawmaker in Panama has introduced a bill to the country’s National Assembly that if approved will regulate crypto assets and promote blockchain adoption.
Ukrainian Parliament passed a law that legalizes and regulates bitcoin in the country
The main purpose behind this bill seems to provide clarification on the asset and protect those who own bitcoin, as it was not previously legal or illegal in the country.
SEC punts on VanEck bitcoin ETF decision until November 14
Now, hopefuls can expect an answer on November 14, 2021, as the notice names that day "as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change."
US Treasury, IRS retain cryptocurrency tax guidance as a 'priority'
The Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have reiterated their intention to tax issue guidance on cryptocurrencies.
The Miami Commission has voted to claim $4.3m in MiamiCoin treasury
El Salvador’s biggest bank is now accepting bitcoin payments
Clients of El Salvador’s largest bank, Bancoagrícola, will now be able to pay down their loans and credit card bills in bitcoin. They can also now use the cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services from merchants connected to the bank’s payment gateway.
💰 Funding & Exits
Solana-based game, DeFi Land, raises $4.1m to teach you how to DeFi
Over 40 investors participated in the funding round, including Animoca Brands, Alameda Research, Jump Capital and NGC Ventures.
Fractionalized NFTs get funding boost as SZNS raises $4m from Framework, Dragonfly
SZNS allows users to create “albums,” or collections of NFTs, that can be fractionalized as governance tokens and managed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
Cross-chain protocol DeBridge gets $5.5m in seed funding round led by ParaFi Capital
Participation in the round also came from investors including Animoca Brands, Huobi Ventures, Lemniscap, Crypto.com Capital, MGNR, IOSG, Fundamental Labs and bitScale.
Zero-knowledge credit risk platform X-Margin raises $8m
Coinbase Ventures, HashKey Capital and Spartan Group participated in the Series A funding round.
SubQuery, indexing protocol for Polkadot ecosystem, raises $9m
Digital Currency Group, Arrington Capital, and Stratos Technologies co-led the round, with Hypersphere Ventures, NGC Ventures, Wintermute, and Skynet Trading also participating.
a16z leads $10m round for social DAO Friends With Benefits
Friends With Benefits started last year as an informal crypto social club on Discord and is now valued over $100m.
Citi leads $15m Series A for crypto data startup Amberdata
Other participants in the funding round include Franklin Templeton, Rovida Kruptos Assets and Galaxy Digital.
Eden, priority transaction network for Ethereum, raises $17.4m in token sale
Multicoin Capital led the round, with Jump Capital, Alameda Research, Wintermute, GSR, and DeFiance Capital also participating.
Market making on Polkadot gets prospective boost with $22.3m raised by dTrade
The market-making fund has been amassed with investment from big names like Alameda, Polychain, DeFiance, CMS, Hypersphere, Divergence and Altonomy.
NFT scaling startup Immutable raises $60m in Series B funding
BITKRAFT Ventures and King River Capital co-led the round. Other participants included Prosus Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Fabric Ventures, Alameda Research, AirTree Ventures, Reinventure, Apex Capital, and VaynerFund.
Steve Cohen-backed NFT platform closes Series A at $333m valuation
Riding the wave of interest in the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a startup with support from hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen has closed a $50m Series A.
SoftBank values cryptocurrency startup Blockdaemon at $1.2bn
SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the $30bn venture fund of SoftBank Group, is leading the investment.
Steven Cohen to invest in crypto quant trading firm
Cohen is investing in Radkl in his personal capacity, not via his hedge-fund firm, Point72 Asset Management.
Bain Capital Ventures files to create a new crypto investment fund
Months after announcing a $1.3bn in fresh funds to invest in startups, Bain Capital Ventures — the venture arm of Bain Capital — has disclosed the creation of a new crypto-focused fund, public filings show.
Algorand sets up $330m fund that's focused on DeFi
The fund will be focused on growing out the DeFi ecosystem on the Algorand platform.
10T Holdings raises $750m for first growth equity funds
Billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard and the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan are among the funds’ largest investors
Harmony raises a $300m fund for layer 1 projects
The Layer 1 blockchain Harmony unveiled a $300m ecosystem fund today to back startups working on applications and protocols.
Jump Trading raises a $350m fund with a focus on crypto
The fund will have a significant focus on crypto and will invest in dozens of companies. It has already invested in several companies, including BitGo.
Mastercard acquires CipherTrace to boost crypto security and compliance
The amount offered for the acquisition remains undisclosed.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
DeFi trading platform dYdX opens access to its governance token
The decentralized finance (DeFi) platform first announced it planned to launch a token last month with an accompanying governance plan. It included plans for a safety staking pool, with users who stake $DYDX receiving a yield in the same token.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
Bored Ape NFT auction on Sotheby's closes with $6m premium
The Sotheby’s auction of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs closed at $24.4m — more than $6m above the originally anticipated price.