2023 is off to a tepid start for crypto venture capital, as the industry continues to emerge from a prolonged bear market. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals. In January, Cointelegraph reported a $125 million raise from Blockstream, a $60 million allocation to QuickNode and pair of ecosystem funds from Injective and SSV worth $150 million and $50 million, respectively. The latest edition of VC Roundup brings you seven smaller venture deals that may have slipped through the cracks. Related: Venture capital investments into blockchain continue to free-fall: Report =nil; Foundation closes $22M fundraise In January, Polygon Capital led …
Google Cloud has reportedly invested $300 million into artificial intelligence (AI) startup firm Anthropic, which also happened to receive over $500 million in funds from former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried about six months before FTX catastrophically collapsed. While the $300 million figure was reported by Financial Times on Feb. 4, Anthropic confirmed the investment partnership with Google Cloud on the same day despite not disclosing any figures: We're excited to use Google Cloud to train our AI systems, including Claude! https://t.co/IaqQ5lpJrP https://t.co/vOn5Cj4sPt — Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) February 3, 2023 In the same announcement, Anthropic also confirmed that they previously raised capital …
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the first national park in the world to run a Bitcoin (BTC) mine in an effort to protect its forests and wildlife. Cointelegraph spoke with Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of Big Block Green Services, and the man who introduced Bitcoin mining to the park. Speaking via video call, Gouspillou said with a smile: “Bitcoin mining saved the park from bankruptcy.” Virunga is Africa's oldest protected park and a symbol of the continent's biodiversity. A report by journalist Adam Popescu, published in MIT Technology Review, explained that the region was …
Crypto lender BlockFi has had a highly tumultuous 12 months. After getting caught up in the Terra fiasco, which resulted in one of the most prolific asset death spirals of all time, the company managed to avoid bankruptcy after receiving a $400 million lifeline in July 2022. The problem? Its lender was FTX US, and we all know what happened next. Although BlockFi has attempted to separate itself from Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse, its secret financials tell a different story. This week’s Crypto Biz delves into BlockFi’s uncensored financials, the likelihood of “Celsius token” ever …
Injective, a layer-1 blockchain protocol founded in 2018, has launched a $150 million ecosystem fund to support developers building on the Cosmos network. The so-called ecosystem group is backed by a large consortium of venture capital and Web3 firms, including Pantera Capital, Kraken Ventures, Jump Crypto, Kucoin Ventures, Delphi Labs, IDG Capital, Gate Labs and Flow Traders. According to Injective, the consortium is the largest assembled within the broader Cosmos ecosystem. Developers selected for the fund will receive support through “bespoke token and equity investments,” in addition to mentorship, technical assistance, business development and marketing, Injective said. Projects building decentralized …
While the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term socioeconomic effects are yet to be known, most economies are still dealing with the effects of the global financial crisis. Moreover, millions of households are under or unbanked, and there are additional obstacles faced by people, including slow wage growth, skyrocketing property costs and government debt as more and more individuals are living hand to mouth. After the global financial crisis of 2008, financial advancements like blockchain-based assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and more cryptocurrencies emerged. However, they have been through roller coaster rides due to extreme volatility and mismanagement of businesses. In …
Digital asset infrastructure company Blockstream has raised $125 million to finance its Bitcoin (BTC) mining colocation services, underscoring heightened demand for its institutional hosting services amid the bear market. The $125 million raise was financed by convertible note and a secured loan, Blockstream announced on Jan. 24. Venture capital firm Kingsway Capital led the convertible note raise, with additional participation from Fulgur Ventures. Cohen & Cohen Capital Markets, part of J.V.B. Financial Group, advised Blockstream on the deal. The funding will enable Blockstream to expand mining capacity for institutional hosting customers — a segment the company said was “resilient” in …
Blockchain development platform QuickNode has closed a $60 million funding round as part of a global expansion intended to onboard more users and developers to Web3 applications. The Series B raise, which valued QuickNode at $800 million, was led by venture capital firm 10T Fund, with participation from Tiger Global, Seven Seven Six and QED, the company announced on Jan. 24. QuickNode’s management said the capital would fund its global expansion and streamline the transition to Web3 “at scale,” which includes providing developers with the deployability required to onboard new blockchain users. The Series B was the company’s most significant …
Amid ongoing investigations around the defunct crypto exchange FTX, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) questions the due diligence conducted by institutional investors and their accountability regarding the loss of users’ funds. CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero stated that VCs that had to write down their investments in millions of dollars to nearly zero raises “serious questions” about the due diligence conducted over the last year, speaking to Bloomberg. She raised concerns about FTX CEO John Ray’s revelations in court about not having any records and controls over the exchange’s financials. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service …
The former head of FTX US is launching a new cryptocurrency software company and has raised $5 million from several investors, according to Bloomberg. Brett Harrison, who served as president of FTX US between May 2021 and September 2022, has received backing from Coinbase Ventures and Circle Ventures to launch a new software startup. SALT Fund, Motivate VC, P2P Validator, Third Kind Venture Capital, Shari Glazer of Kalos Labs and Anthony Scaramucci also participated in the seed round. His new startup, dubbed Architect, will develop trading software for large institutions looking to access crypto markets. He told Bloomberg that he …
Validator infrastructure developer ssv.network has launched a new ecosystem fund to support Ethereum proof-of-stake decentralization — a move that the company said would promote innovation around Ether (ETH) staking technologies. The ecosystem fund, valued at $50 million, will support projects building applications using distributed validator technology, or DVT, the company announced on Jan. 17. The fund is solely dedicated to backing DVT use cases in support of Ethereum’s long-term decentralization efforts. DVT is an open-source protocol that allows a validator’s responsibilities to be distributed across multiple nodes. The protocol was a key component of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s roadmap for …
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) are redefining how charities raise donations and distribute funds to those most in need. Through ever-evolving crypto and blockchain-related technology, crypto philanthropists told Cointelegraph that they've witnessed “new wealth distribution mechanisms" never seen before. “Philanthropy has traditionally been seen as a high-cost-of-entry, individualistic activity but with web3, collective decision-making bodies like DAOs can use tools that streamline financial coordination and encourage more participation,” explained Omar Antila, Product Lead at Crypto for Charity. “Crypto enables new innovative fundraising strategies, like charitable NFT-drop campaigns, or allowing people to pool their crypto …