The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure, and the increasing attention that companies are showing to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in the Cryplogger review.
Bitcoin company Unchained raises $60 million
Bitcoin-focused Unchained has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners.
Other investors include NYDIG, Trammell Venture Partners, Ecliptic Capital and Highland Capital Partners.
The firm was founded in 2016 in Austin, Texas. It provides retail and institutional clients with custody, lending and trading services.
Unchained CEO Joe Kelly stressed that recent shocks like the FTX crash helped the company find new customers despite falling demand for loans and declining trading volumes.
The firm plans to use the raised funds to launch new products, including mobile applications.
Berachain Tier 1 Blockchain Raises $42M
Tier 1 blockchain team Berachain has raised $42M in a funding round led by Polychain Capital.
Other investors include Hack VC, Shima Capital, Robot Ventures, Goldentree Asset Management, as well as Tendermint co-founder Zaki Manyan and Celestia founder Mustafa Al-Bassam.
Blockchain has been in development since the end of 2021. The project aims to enable users to lock tokens in staking while providing liquidity for DeFi protocols.
The Berachain network is built on the Cosmos SDK using the Proof-of-Liquidity consensus mechanism and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
According to the developers, the first public testnet will be launched in the coming weeks.
Crypto custodian of Standard Chartered bank raised $36 million
Standard Chartered’s crypto custody subsidiary Zodia Custody has raised $36 million in a Series A funding round.
Previously, the London-based custodian was owned exclusively by the bank (90%) and financial services provider Northern Trust. Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer declined to disclose the ownership structure after the round, but noted that Standard Chartered remained the majority shareholder.
The venture capital division of SC Venutres and the Japanese financial group SBI Holdings took part in the financing. The latter became the second-largest owner of Zodia Custody, Sawyer said.
The company will use the funds to expand beyond its current markets in Europe and Asia. According to the head of Zodia, the firm is considering business opportunities in the Middle East. However, the US is “out of the foreseeable future” due to regulatory uncertainty.
Zodia is also using the capital raised to expand the list of supported digital assets and add services, including Ethereum staking.
Thetanuts DeFi protocol raises $17 million
Structured crypto-focused DeFi protocol Thetanuts Finance closed a $17M funding round led by Polychain Capital, Hyperchain Capital and Magnus Capital.
The project will use the proceeds to “create a thriving two-sided altcoin options market” and expand the list of assets available for trading.
The platform currently features contracts for Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX) and several other cryptocurrencies.
Thetanuts Finance is one of the first projects to implement the decentralized option storage model. However, the company noted that the development of bilateral markets requires a significant expansion of the diversity of assets.
With the funding, the project will add a leverage feature, develop a new design, and allow users to purchase options around the clock without prior approval.
Animoca Web3 Education Unit Raises $8.5M
TinyTap, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has raised $8.5 million from Sequoia China and Polygon for a $100 million valuation. Other investors include Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital and Shima Capital.
The company was founded in 2012 in Israel. It offers a library of over 250,000 educational games in 24 languages for kids and teens.
Animoca acquired TinyTap in July 2022 for approximately $39 million, buying an 84% stake in the organization. The company began fundraising in October and closed it in February.
The organization will direct the received investments to the development of the existing infrastructure and expansion in the Web3 sector.
TinyTap will offer students custodial wallets to store tokens and credentials, as well as access content from PublisherNFT, an educational program based on non-fungible tokens.
The company also has plans to decentralize the education system, which will be announced later.
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Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!
The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure, and the increasing attention that companies are showing to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in the Cryplogger review.
Bitcoin company Unchained raises $60 million
Bitcoin-focused Unchained has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners.
Other investors include NYDIG, Trammell Venture Partners, Ecliptic Capital and Highland Capital Partners.
The firm was founded in 2016 in Austin, Texas. It provides retail and institutional clients with custody, lending and trading services.
Unchained CEO Joe Kelly stressed that recent shocks like the FTX crash helped the company find new customers despite falling demand for loans and declining trading volumes.
The firm plans to use the raised funds to launch new products, including mobile applications.
Berachain Tier 1 Blockchain Raises $42M
Tier 1 blockchain team Berachain has raised $42M in a funding round led by Polychain Capital.
Other investors include Hack VC, Shima Capital, Robot Ventures, Goldentree Asset Management, as well as Tendermint co-founder Zaki Manyan and Celestia founder Mustafa Al-Bassam.
Blockchain has been in development since the end of 2021. The project aims to enable users to lock tokens in staking while providing liquidity for DeFi protocols.
The Berachain network is built on the Cosmos SDK using the Proof-of-Liquidity consensus mechanism and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
According to the developers, the first public testnet will be launched in the coming weeks.
Crypto custodian of Standard Chartered bank raised $36 million
Standard Chartered’s crypto custody subsidiary Zodia Custody has raised $36 million in a Series A funding round.
Previously, the London-based custodian was owned exclusively by the bank (90%) and financial services provider Northern Trust. Zodia Custody CEO Julian Sawyer declined to disclose the ownership structure after the round, but noted that Standard Chartered remained the majority shareholder.
The venture capital division of SC Venutres and the Japanese financial group SBI Holdings took part in the financing. The latter became the second-largest owner of Zodia Custody, Sawyer said.
The company will use the funds to expand beyond its current markets in Europe and Asia. According to the head of Zodia, the firm is considering business opportunities in the Middle East. However, the US is “out of the foreseeable future” due to regulatory uncertainty.
Zodia is also using the capital raised to expand the list of supported digital assets and add services, including Ethereum staking.
Thetanuts DeFi protocol raises $17 million
Structured crypto-focused DeFi protocol Thetanuts Finance closed a $17M funding round led by Polychain Capital, Hyperchain Capital and Magnus Capital.
The project will use the proceeds to “create a thriving two-sided altcoin options market” and expand the list of assets available for trading.
The platform currently features contracts for Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX) and several other cryptocurrencies.
Thetanuts Finance is one of the first projects to implement the decentralized option storage model. However, the company noted that the development of bilateral markets requires a significant expansion of the diversity of assets.
With the funding, the project will add a leverage feature, develop a new design, and allow users to purchase options around the clock without prior approval.
Animoca Web3 Education Unit Raises $8.5M
TinyTap, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, has raised $8.5 million from Sequoia China and Polygon for a $100 million valuation. Other investors include Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital and Shima Capital.
The company was founded in 2012 in Israel. It offers a library of over 250,000 educational games in 24 languages for kids and teens.
Animoca acquired TinyTap in July 2022 for approximately $39 million, buying an 84% stake in the organization. The company began fundraising in October and closed it in February.
The organization will direct the received investments to the development of the existing infrastructure and expansion in the Web3 sector.
TinyTap will offer students custodial wallets to store tokens and credentials, as well as access content from PublisherNFT, an educational program based on non-fungible tokens.
The company also has plans to decentralize the education system, which will be announced later.
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER
Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!