White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #37
Announcing Ledn's $30m Series A, and switching our newsletter to weekly cadence!
Ledn raises $30m Series A to accelerate its growth!
Missed us? We’re back by popular demand, on a weekly cadence going forward vs our prior two-week intervals.
In the past week, we’re thrilled to have formally announced Ledn’s $30m Series A, which comes shortly after we led their $2.7m Seed round earlier this year. The round follows the company’s more than 3x growth since the last round and will help fuel the company’s continued international expansion, team growth, and yield generating activities. Investors in the round included all existing investors, of which Kingsway Capital, as well as leading blockchain funds and angels, Hashed, ParaFi Capital, Alan Howard, Alexis Ohanian, and John Pfeffer.
Elsewhere in the portfolio, we’re also been blown away by Paraswap’s growth, which after hitting the $100m monthly volume milestone in January, crossed the $2bn mark in May!!
Outside of the White Star portfolio, we continue to see a growing interest from leading corporations, institutions, and governments in the space, while exits continue to accelerate and venture funding continues to pour into the space. Onwards!
🔦 Portfolio Spotlight
Announcing Ledn’s $30m Series A
Following our investment in Ledn in February 2020, leading their $2.7m Seed round, we’re extremely excited to announce that Ledn’s growth has exceeded all expectations and enabled the company to raise a $30m Series A, led by Kingsway Capital, with additional participation from all existing investors (White Star Capital, Coinbase, CMT Digital, Global Founders Capital, Susquehanna) and new investors including ParaFi Capital, Alexis Ohanian Sr., John Pfeffer, Alan Howard, and Hashed. We’re extremely honored to be able to continue to support Adam, Mauricio, and the team in their journey, and most importantly, extremely excited for what’s ahead! 🚀📈 The round was covered across top publications in venture and crypto such as Betakit, The Financial Post, Coindesk, or The Block.
Flashpoint partners with Rally.io to launch collectable NFT cards
CounterStrike:GO league Flashpoint has announced a partnership with an open cryptocurrency creator platform Rally.io. As a result of the collaboration, Flashpoint will launch collectable NFTs and physical holo cards featuring images of players participating in the league’s ongoing season.
Paraswap breaks $2bn monthly volumes
Paraswap’s growth shows no signs of stopping! Following our investment in early 2021, when the team was just breaking above $100m in monthly volumes for the first time, the DEX aggregator registered its all-time record, with over $2bn being transacted in May.
Our overall takeaway
The White Star portfolio is firing from all cylinders these days!
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
GameStop is building an NFT platform on Ethereum
GameStop has quietly unveiled a new web portal for a non-fungible token (NFT) platform. The exact scope of the project is unclear, though prominently featured on the page is a link to an Ethereum address.
Apple is looking for talent with crypto experience in “alternative payments”
Apple is looking to hire a business development manager with experience in the cryptocurrency industry to lead its “alternative payments” partnership program, in a recent job posting.
PayPal exec says payments giant is working on crypto withdrawal capability
Speaking at CoinDesk's Consensus 2021 Jose Fernandez da Ponte — a PayPal vice president and general manager for blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies — stated that the payments giant is working to allow its customers to withdraw their cryptocurrency holdings and self custody if they elect to, following a similar move from Revolut.
Fidelity's bitcoin fund has raised more than $100m from investors
In August 2020, the Fidelity-backed Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund I went public, providing a means for the asset management giant's clientele to gain exposure to bitcoin. Roughly 9 months later, the passively-managed fund has raised approximately $102m from investors, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission published Wednesday, May 26 shows.
Carl Icahn says he may get into cryptocurrencies in a “big way”
Activist investor Carl Icahn is interested in getting into cryptocurrency in a “big way,” and may eventually put $1.5bn into crypto assets. While Icahn hasn’t bought any cryptocurrency yet, the billionaire investor said in a Bloomberg TV interview that he studies Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the crypto sector as a whole.
VanEck Lists crypto ETPs on Euronext stock exchanges in Amsterdam and Paris
New York-based investment management firm VanEck is listing cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the Euronext stock exchanges in Amsterdam and Paris on June 1.
Google Cloud now provides blockchain insights for Ethereum layer-2 solution Polygon Network
Blockchain data for Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution, has arrived on Google’s Cloud platform. An integration with Google BigQuery enables developers to analyse on-chain data on Polygon in a more simple way. With the BigQuery support, Polygon's datasets have now been listed in the Google Cloud Marketplace under the public financial services category.
Our overall takeaway
After PayPal’s crypto debuts, Apple’s embrace could bring crypto payments to the mainstream!
⚖️ Government & Regulation
Nebraska bill creating bank framework for digital asset firms signed into law
A Nebraska bill that gives companies two paths to compliantly dealing in digital assets has been signed into law. The Financial Innovation Act allows state-chartered banks to create a digital asset division. More importantly, it allows digital asset firms to seek a newly created charter to become a bank that specifically deals in digital assets.
Rep. Soto prepares suite of crypto and blockchain legislation for return to Congress
Representative Darren Soto (D-FL) is busy setting the agenda for blockchain legislation in the new Congress. Soto re-introduced the Blockchain Technology Coordination Act before the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The bill aims to establish a new office within the Department of Commerce that manages the use of blockchain in the federal government, outside of the military.
OFAC wants to use blockchain analytics tools from Chainalysis
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) wants Chainalysis software for "mission-critical research." A new public notice dated May 26 outlines OFAC's intent to subscribe to the Chainalysis platform for its purposes
Sweden’s Central Bank to test digital currency with Handelsbanken
The Riksbank plans to test its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) with commercial bank Handelsbanken as it moves on from having only simulated participants. With this development, Sweden appears to be second only to China among major economies in the advancement of its CBDC plans.
US Treasury wants to expand crypto reporting
The Treasury has released its revenue explanations for 2022 in tandem with the White House’s publication of the Biden budget. Alongside broad aims to close tax loopholes and expand the IRS, the Treasury has put crypto asset brokers, including exchanges, on notice as to new reporting requirements on underlying beneficial ownership.
Our overall takeaway
The industry has been asking for it for years, and it’s now coming to life before our eyes: a dedicated legal framework/regime for crypto.
💰 Funding & Exits
Coinbase leads $6m funding for Indonesian crypto exchange Pintu
Pintu, an Indonesia-based cryptocurrency exchange focusing on first-time crypto users, has raised $6m to support its mission to drive industry adoption, in a Series A round led by Coinbase, with participation from Pantera, Intudo, Alameda, Blockchain Ventures, and Castle Island.
Meme.com, a platform pairing memes with tokens, raises $5m
Recently launched Meme.com has raised $5m from blockchain-focused venture capital funds including Outlier Ventures, Digital Finance Group, Morningstar, Blockhype, Spark Digital Capital, and other investors.
Cowen investment arm raises over $46m for new digital assets fund
A division of the financial services firm and investment bank Cowen has raised over $46m for a fund that will apparently make digital-asset-focused investments.
Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six leads $5.3m round for web3 startup QuickNode
Blockchain development platform QuickNode has raised $5.3 million in a seed funding round led by Seven Seven Six, a VC firm created by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Softbank’s Opportunity Fund, Arrington XRP Capital, Crossbeam, Anthony Pompliano, and more also participated.
Blockchain platform raises $12m to build javascript-like DApps
Reach, a blockchain development platform for decentralized applications has raised $12m from undisclosed investors to further its goals of simplifying the DApp creation process.
Talos raises $40m Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz
Talos, a startup helping financial giants trade crypto, just raised a $40m Series A as Wall Street wades deeper into digital currencies. The financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz and includes investments from PayPal Ventures, Fidelity Investments, Galaxy Digital, Elefund, Illuminate Financial, and STEADFAST Capital Ventures. Early-stage Talos investors also participated, including Castle Island Ventures, Notation Capital, Autonomous Partners, and Initialized Capital.
Balancer Labs raises $24.25m in private token round
Decentralized exchange Balancer announced a $24.25m strategic token round, which saw participation from Blockchain Capital, Fintech Collective, LongHash Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Continue Capital, Kain Warwick, Founder of Synthetix, and Jordan Momtazi, also from Synthetix.
Fold raises $13m Series A to bring bitcoin rewards to the mass market
Fold, the top bitcoin rewards app and Visa card, today announces a $13m series A round to fuel its growth. The round was led by Craft Ventures with participation from M13, Slow Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Set Labs Raises $14m to expand crypto’s tokenized indices
Set Labs, an upstart platform for creating structured decentralized finance (DeFi) investment products on Ethereum, has raised $14m. Early-stage token fund 1kx and crypto venture capital firm Hashed led the round. The Series A will help Set decentralize its protocol and grow its lineup from 4 to as many as 20 multicoin investment vehicles.
Privi raises $3.5m round for social platform designed to reward content creators
Privi, which is building the first DeFi-based social economy of NFTs, social tokens and DAOs, announced the successful raise of $3.5m in private funding led by Bitcoin.com Exchange, AU21, Master Ventures, and Waterdrip Capital.
DeFi oracle protocol Lithium raises $5m, led by Pantera and Hashed
Lithium Finance has raised $5m in a funding round led by Pantera Capital and Korean blockchain VC Hashed to build a decentralized data oracle protocol for pricing private assets. Other investors who have backed the round included Alameda Research, Huobi Ventures' Blockchain Fund, OKEx's Blockdream Ventures, NGC, LongHash and Genesis Block.
Composable Finance raises $7m for cross-chain and cross-layer DeFi interoperability
Composable Finance, a DeFi interoperability protocol has announced a $7m raise backed by 16 notable blockchain investment firms. The funding round was led by Advanced Blockchain AG and Rarestone Capital. Other participants included Alameda Research, Spartan Group, Divergence Ventures, and Blockchain Capital, among others.
Crypto derivatives firm Hxro raises $15m from macro hedge fund Commonwealth
Crypto derivatives firm Hxro (pronounced “hero”) has raised $15m in a token sale from hedge fund manager Commonwealth Asset Management. The investment is the largest single investor fundraiser that the firm has had to date. It comes in the wake of Hrxo Network, a decentralized protocol built on Solana that offers permissionless access to liquidity on options markets.
Dragonfly, Scalar are backing a startup that calculates DeFi 'credit scores'
ARCx revealed its new "DeFi Passport" recently. With the DeFi Passport, users can leverage their on-chain activity to prove their creditworthiness and thus qualify for additional benefits across various crypto protocols — similar to how high credit scores can help investors clinch lower rates. The project has clinched the backing of a number of big investors in the crypto market, including Dragonfly Capital and Scalar Capital. Those crypto funds poured $1.3m in a recent round for the firm alongside LedgerPrime.
Singapore-listed blockchain firm buys crypto staking platform Moonstake
OIO Holdings, a provider of engineering and blockchain-related services, said it bought Moonstake for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock transaction. Moonstake is the second-largest staking business in Asia, Singapore Exchange-listed OIO said in an emailed release Monday, with assets staked passing $900m as of end-May.
Football (soccer) NFT startup Sorare in talks to raise funding at a $3.7bn valuation from top tier growth investors
Sorare, a startup that allows football fans to trade digital playing cards and use them in a gamified fantasy sports league, is in discussions for a major new tranche of funding at a $3.7bn valuation as venture capital investors back the NFT rush. The Paris-based startup was founded in 2018 and has built an online marketplace where users buy and sell digital playing cards that represent football players ranked by their real-world match performance.
a16z aims to raise $2bn for its third crypto fund
Andreessen Horowitz's third crypto fund could garner $2bn if all goes according to plan, sources told venture capital writer Eric Newcomer for his newsletter. The news comes shortly on the heels of a $1bn fund rumor.
Circle raises $440m, and eyes SPAC deal
Circle, the company behind the fast-growing dollar-pegged coin USDC, has raised $440m in fresh capital. The sizeable funding deal comes ahead of a potential SPAC deal. Among those taking part in the $440m round were Fidelity, FTX, Digital Currency Group, Marshall Wace, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital and Willett Advisors, among others.
DocuSign to acquire ‘smart agreement’ firm Clause
Digital signature company DocuSign agreed to buy the intellectual property rights of Clause for an undisclosed amount. It will also hire most of the startup’s team, DocuSign announced. The San Francisco-based company said it is looking to bring contracts signed online “to life” through the use of Clause’s “smart agreements” (SA).
Leading exchange Kraken “still on track” for 2022 public listing
Kraken’s Dan Held said the crypto exchange is still going public: “Everything seems to still be on track for a direct listing sometime in 2022, but I don’t have any idea of what timing that might be,” he said during an interview at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2021.
Listed Canadian firm Hello Pal buys Dogecoin, Litecoin mining startup for $3.5m
Hello Pal, a Vancouver, Canada-based producer of phrasebooks and real-time translations apps, has acquired a startup bringing it direct exposure to cryptocurrency. Crypto Pal was acquired for the “low” cost of $3.5m, which was paid as $1.5m in cash and 1,800,000 common shares, plus warrants. As a result, Hello Pal owns a 51% stake in the miner, and will soon offer users the ability to own all or fractions of its cryptocurrency mining rigs and receive the crypto assets mined.
TechX acquires crypto-to-fiat gateway Mobilum for $13.2m
TechX Technologies Inc., a publicly-traded company out of Vancouver, Canada, is in the process of acquiring fiat-to-crypto gateway Mobilum for $13.2m, saying that it will help strengthen synergies between traditional fiat currencies and emerging crypto assets.
TokenData: The State of Crypto M&A 2021
TokenData released its third report on crypto M&A, noting that activity points at an industry that is in a much better state than the 2017-18 cycle, with accelerating intra-sector consolidation, participation from traditional companies, rising deal values, and last but not least, also an acceleration in decentralized (token) M&A. Lots to dig in here 📊
Our overall takeaway
Exits in the space are getting increasingly sizeable… while capital continues to pour into the early stages of venture funding.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
The Sandbox to feature Richie Hawtin and deadmau5 in hot new metaverse collaboration
Richie Hawtin’s and deadmau5's gaming venture Pixelynx has purchased LAND as it looks to expand the metaverse horizon. Both artists will have virtual LAND and build their presence inside The Sandbox’s metaverse.
NFT exchange OpenOcean enables trading on Solana network as it continues its multichain roadmap
Crypto exchange aggregator OpenOcean has connected to the Solana blockchain ecosystem. Already available on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Tron and Ontology, OpenOcean said it has added Solana due to the number of requests from users.
Fanatics, Gary Vaynerchuck and Mike Novogratz team up to launch sports NFT company
Popular sports merchandise company Fanatics and its founder Michael Rubin has partnered up with VaynerX Chairman Gary Vaynerchuck and Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz to create a non-fungible token (NFT) company called Candy Digital. The company will focus on sports-related NFTs.
Our overall takeaway
The future of media and the metaverse is built on crypto rails.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
Total stablecoin supply crosses the $100bn mark
While stablecoins primarily still serve a purpose solely within crypto capital markets and have yet to break into the mainstream for payments and other promising use cases, their volume has now reached the $100bn mark! Watch this space especially as less retail facing stablecoins (eg JPM Coin, Central Bank Digital Currencies…) come to market 👀
NFL Legend Tom Brady has “definitely” invested in crypto
Creators and athletes keep flocking to crypto. Most recently, Tom Brady has “definitely” gotten involved in investing in the cryptocurrency market, the seven-time Super Bowl champion said at Coindesk’s Consensus conference. “I’m a big believer in [crypto],” Brady said in a pre-recorded video interview with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Crypto exchange volume crosses $2tr in May — the highest ever in history
Crypto exchanges have seen more than $2tr in volume this month, setting a new record. May is the fourth month in a row where such exchanges have seen more than $1tr in volume
Our overall takeaway
Zooming out from the price of bitcoin, multiple key metrics remain at all-time highs!