Crypto Today 12.29 | Sperax completes $6 million funding round at $200 million valuation, with investments from Amber and Alameda
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Crypto Today 12.29 | Sperax completes $6 million funding round at $200 million valuation, with investments from Amber and Alameda
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Funding Updates
Sperax raises $6M at $200M valuation, backed by Amber and Alameda
On December 29, decentralized finance project Sperax announced it has raised $6 million at a $200 million valuation. The round was supported by Amber Group, Alameda Research, Jump Capital, and renowned DJ Steve Aoki. The funds will be used to expand its Solidity development team. Previously, on December 24, Sperax-launched hybrid algorithmic stablecoin USDs went live on the Layer2 solution Arbitrum, allowing users to mint USDs using tokens like SPA. Additionally, Sperax is integrating Curve staking yield functionality for USDs, enabling holders to earn yield.
InfinitySwap secures $1.5M seed funding led by Beacon Fund
On December 29, InfinitySwap, an automated market maker protocol in the Dfinity ecosystem, announced it has completed a $1.5 million seed round led by Polychain Capital’s Beacon Fund. a16z and Dfinity acted as limited partners, with participation from Draft Ventures, cycle_dao, Dfinity Ecosystem Fund, and others.
Kudo Money raises $4M Series A at $40M valuation, LD Capital among investors
On December 29, metaverse identity issuance protocol Kudo Money announced it has raised $4 million in a Series A round at a $40 million valuation. Over 60 institutions participated, including AU21 Capital, LD Capital, Bixin Ventures, Gate.io Labs, Digital Strats, Ex Network, Zokyo Labs, BTX Capital, Bitcoin.com, Magnus Ventures, X21, Insignious Capital, DCI Capital, Dweb3, ZBS Capital, Mih Ventures, Sentinel, Arcanum Capital, Extrawatts, Coinsummers, Damo Labs, Oasis Capital, R8 Ventures, CatcherVC, 7O Clock, Black Dragon, Scorpio VC, Tradecoin, Basics Capital, NXG, Novabit, Peech Capital, GTA Ventures, Hashrate Group, BlockOG, and Lumo Labs.
Metaverse identity issuance protocol Kudo Money announces $4M strategic financing
On December 29, metaverse identity issuance protocol Kudo Money announced it has secured $4 million in strategic funding, with over 60 VCs and ecosystem stakeholders participating. Investors include early contributors such as AU21 Capital, Bixin Ventures, LD Capital, Gate Labs, Digital Strats, Ex Network, Zokyo Labs, BTX Capital, Bitcoin.com, Magnus Ventures, X21, Insignious Capital, DCI Capital, Dweb3, ZBS Capital, Mih Ventures, Sentinel, Arcanum Capital, Extrawatts, Coinsummers, Damo Labs, Oasis Capital, R8 Ventures, CatcherVC, 7O Clock, Black Dragon, Scorpio VC, Tradecoin, Basics Capital, NXG, Novabit, Peech Capital, GTA Ventures, Hashrate Group, BlockOG, and Lumo Labs.
Decentralized dead man's switch app Sarcophagus raises $3.67M
On December 29, decentralized dead man's switch application Sarcophagus completed an on-chain fundraising round totaling $3.67 million, with participation from Inflection, Infinite, and Lo Enterprises. Sarcophagus is incubated by Decent Labs, a Web3-focused studio. The platform is a decentralized dead man's switch built on Ethereum and Arweave, allowing users to upload files and designate private key recipients. If a user fails to perform a specified action or after a set time expires, the recipient receives the private key to access the user’s files stored on Arweave. Use cases include wills and trusts, password recovery, and credential storage.
Dfinity AMM InfinitySwap completes $1.5M seed round led by Beacon Fund
The Dfinity ecosystem’s automated market maker protocol InfinitySwap announced it has closed a $1.5 million seed round led by Polychain Capital’s Beacon Fund, with a16z and Dfinity as limited partners, and participation from Draft Ventures, cycle_dao, and the Dfinity Ecosystem Fund.
DeFi
DeFi oracle Umbrella Network launches governance forum and voting portal
On December 29, DeFi oracle Umbrella Network announced the launch of its governance forum and voting portal, enabling community members to participate in discussions and help shape the future development of Umbrella Network.
Decentralized trading protocol Slingshot launches on Optimism
On December 29, decentralized trading protocol Slingshot officially launched on the Ethereum Layer2 network Optimism on December 24. Slingshot also supports Arbitrum and Polygon networks. Earlier this month, the project raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Ribbit Capital.
Raydium to launch MEAN-RAY Fusion Pool on December 29
On December 29, Raydium Protocol, a Solana-based on-chain order book AMM, announced it will launch the MEAN-RAY Fusion Pool for MeanFi at 11:00 UTC (19:00 Beijing time) on December 29. The pool will offer rewards in both MEAN and RAY tokens.
NFT/GameFi
ProShares plans to launch metaverse-focused ETF
U.S.-based professional exchange-traded product (ETP) provider ProShares filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday to launch a metaverse-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), named the ProShares Metaverse Theme ETF. If approved, the ETF will track the performance of the Solactive Metaverse Theme Index, which consists of companies providing or utilizing technologies related to the metaverse. Apple, Meta, and NVIDIA are the top-weighted holdings in the index.
Metaverse game Islandswap goes live on OEC mainnet
According to official announcements, metaverse blockchain game Islandswap officially launched on the OEC mainnet at 11:00 SGT on December 29, 2021. Within 30 minutes of launch, its market cap surpassed $100 million. Islandswap is an island-building game featuring six major components: pools, IFO, base creation, marketplace, exchange, NFT mystery boxes, and lucky draws. It is a multi-chain DeFi + GameFi ecosystem co-designed by players, DAOs, and game developers.
Others
Glitter Finance receives grant from Algorand Foundation to bridge Solana
On December 29, Glitter Finance announced it has received a grant from the Algorand Foundation to support the development of cross-chain bridges connecting five blockchain ecosystems: Algorand, Solana, Cudos, Terra, and Polygon. Glitter Finance’s first product will establish a two-way bridge between Algorand and Solana. Using AI solutions, Glitter Finance aims to solve asset transfer issues within the DeFi ecosystem, enabling traders to move digital assets across blockchain networks without intermediaries.
StarkWare proposes deploying Aave on StarkNet via governance forum
Yael Doweck, product manager at StarkWare, has submitted a proposal on the Aave governance forum to deploy Aave on L2 StarkNet. Yael stated that all design considerations and risk analyses will be conducted with the approval of the Aave DAO to ensure alignment with the DAO’s goals. StarkWare also proposed jointly funding the initiative with the Aave DAO at a 50/50 ratio.
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