Decentralized finance protocol Acala announced Monday that they have raised 8.5 million DOT (worth $451.8 million USD at time of publication) from over 53,000 participants. The protocol is also set to win the first parachain auction on Polkadot. Unlike typical crowdfunding rounds, Acala's financing mechanism is a crowdloan, which means it will eventually need to pay back the "crypto debt" it has solicited from investors. On Nov. 5, Polkadot developers added the first parachain onto its network. Parachains are custom, project-specific blockchains that can be integrated into a main blockchain. The distinguishing feature of Polkadot is its Cross-Consensus Message Format. …
On Thursday morning, Acala, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol operating on the Polkadot (DOT) network, announced it had won the first-ever Polkadot parachain auction. Acala raised a total of 32.5 million DOT, worth roughly $1.28 billion, from 24,934 contributors via an initial coin offering (ICO) structured as a crowdloan. As the proceeds are classified as 'crypto debt,' Acala would eventually need to pay back the DOT it had solicited from investors. Users' DOTs are locked for the duration of the rental agreement for Polkadot's parallel chains up for sale. It’s a testament to the strength of @Polkadot that so many …
Galaxy Interactive, a venture capital firm focused on next-generation interactive technology, has announced it has raised $325 million for its second fund from 70 different investors. The fund is focused on virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain-based games. In a Tuesday announcement, Galaxy Digital, the majority owner of Galaxy Interactive, stated that $150 million from the fund has already been allocated to new portfolio companies, including Republic, 1047 Games, Elodie, Roar, Art Blocks and Masterworks, with other additional investments to be announced in coming months. Established in 2018 by general partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, the company …
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s chairperson Gary Gensler announced this month that the crypto industry should not escape the purview of the regulator. He highlighted that decentralized finance (DeFi) trading and lending protocols need particular attention when it comes to investor protections. Regulation can extend into a menu of options that covers custody, reporting, counterparty verification and asset classification and issuance. Reports are surfacing that people are waiting with bated breath on how the SEC will regulate the DeFi industry, but Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, has found a way to apply existing securities …
This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. Huobi Asset Management is looking to be the Grayscale of Asia with the launch of four cryptocurrency-related tracker funds. The funds include a Bitcoin Fund, an Ethereum fund, a multi-asset basket of digital currencies, and a private equity fund for mining businesses. The aim is clearly to entice major institutional investors into the space with a product that feels familiar. The fund and asset management company is set …