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Crypto Wallet and Data Giant Reported to Raise $50M Funding Round

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, Blockchain (not to be confused with the name for the technology), is raising a VC fund to invest in both equity and crypto.

A reporton Wednesday mentioned two sources had confirmed that Blockchain is in discussions with investors to raise a total of $50 million USD as the target for the fund.

Blockchain managing partner, Sam Harrison who was previously a principal at investment firm Naspers Ventures had suggested further that the fund is already in existence and is also backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, a Blockchain investor.

According to Harrison’s LinkedIn profile it states:

“Co-founded Blockchain.com Ventures – A Venture Capital Fund anchored by Blockchain.com, the world’s largest non-custodial wallet platform & Lightspeed Venture Partners.”

Crunchbase reported that Blockchain has successfully raised $70 million over four rounds, this is including a $40 million Series B that saw the support of Richard Branson and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The company had also launched a platform for exchange which is called The PIT recently, and last year it was said to have released its first-ever hardware crypto wallet. According to the firm’s website says its wallet app has been downloaded over 41 million times and is being used worldwide.

Image via Shutterstock

Leading Asian Fintech Company WeLab Completes the Largest Ever Fintech Fundraising in China

Leading fintech company, WeLab announced on Dec. 12 that it has raised US$156 million in Series C of strategic financing, becoming the largest fintech fundraising in China so far. WeLab was one of the first virtual banks established in Hong Kong, after receiving a virtual banking license from Hong Kong’s de facto central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in April 2019.

According to the press release, this round was backed by new investors as well as existing investors including Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and China Construction Bank (International).

Simon Loong, Founder and CEO of WeLab said: “This financing will be used to further develop and broaden our platform as a fintech enabler. Further investment in technology research and development will enable us to apply these innovative technologies around the region and roll out additional products and services for our customers to provide holistic financial services digitally.”

WeLab Group CEO, Simon Loong.

WeLab is expected to launch its virtual bank, WeLab Bank in 2020, providing a new digital banking experience to its customers. In Mainland China, WeLab positioned itself with three key brands, including WeLab Digital, which focuses on small and microloan applications, Taoxinji, which focuses on new economy leasing solutions, and Tianmian Lab, which provides cloud-based solutions enabling other fintech-enabled services as well.

WeLab’s Series C strategic financing has also become the fourth largest fintech fundraisings in Asia, aligning itself in the Top 10 rankings of unicorns in the Greater Bay Area after the Series C round on the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019.

The fintech company is looking to develop and broaden the platform further, targeting to launch the digital bank in 2020, expand China’s B2B business partners to over 1,000 and enter into th South East Asia market beyond Indonesia in the next two years.

Image via The Economist Events

PwC Reports Huge Shift in M&A and Fundraising from US to Asia and EMEA in 2019

In 2019, crypto fundraising and M&As began migrating over to Asia, Europe and the Middle East and saw a lack of new VC investments as the majority of funding came from crypto firms within the industry, according to PwC’s latest report released on April 6.

PwC Global Crypto Lead, Henri Arslanian discussed the 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report’s findings with Blockchain.News and offered his take on what they mean for the digital ecosystem.

Crypto fundraising and M&A moving to Asia and EMEA

As outlined in the report, the majority of global crypto fundraising and M&A deals in 2019 took place outside of the United States with increased activity in both APAC (29%) and EMEA (22%) recorded.

In 2019, it was found that traditional VCs, crypto-focused VCs and family offices represented the majority source of new funding, with a share of 57%, for crypto companies. These new findings mean that crypto firms now represent the majority of M&A in the sector which is an increase compared to 2018’s 42%.

Arslanian said, “We expect to see APAC and EMEA play a bigger role in the global crypto fundraising and M&A space. In particular, we expect to see more APAC and EMEA based family offices looking at the market turbulence as a good time to invest in promising crypto companies.”

In total, the number of M&A deals recorded in the report dropped from 189 in 2018 to 114 in 2019, while the actual value of M&A deals plummeted by 76 percent from nearly two billion dollars to just under half a billion. Arslanian commented, “The crypto industry is not immune to the global headwinds and the number and value of crypto fundraising and M&A deals may be impacted in 2020.”

Top 5 Investor Deals in 2019 Compared to 2018Per the report, while 2018 saw traditional VCs andincubators among the top investors, 2019 saw a contrast with the majority of funding provided by crypto-focused incumbents like Coinbase and ConsenSys.Source: 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report

Crypto Companies Offer Complimentary Services to their Core business

Whilst 2018 saw a lot of crypto fundraising in blockchain infrastructure projects or M&A in the crypto mining space, 2019 saw a rise in investments in solutions for the crypto ecosystem like compliance and regulation; as well as M&A activity in the crypto service providers.

“We expect to see further consolidation in 2020 with some of the larger or more profitable players acquire firms that offer ancillary services to their current offering in areas like crypto media, research or even compliance,” said Arslanian.

PwC’s Global Crypto Team  

These latest insights come from PwC’s Global Crypto Team which has continued to lead research in the space since its inception. Henri Arslanian discussed the ever-growing role of his team in interview with Blockchain.News in January.

In the last 2 years, PwC has conducted over 320 crypto engagements globally, spanning across 15 different countries. “I think it’s very exciting to see how PwC is getting involved in the crypto ecosystem,” said Arslanian. “Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems and there is a big need for that in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. We set up this PwC crypto team almost three years ago as the crypto ecosystem was growing, to support crypto firms not only on areas like strategy or fundraising but also on day-to-day functions such as crypto accounting, tax or KYC/AML reviews.” Arslanian believes that firms like PwC are essential for the ecosystem to “go from 1.0 to 2.0,” and “that PwC has a big role to play.”  

Fundraising by Crypto Companies Accounts for $8.2B in Q3

As cryptocurrencies continue gaining steam, crypto companies raised capital worth $8.2 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

Mason Nystrom, a research analyst at MessariCrypto, explained:

“Total Q3 crypto company fundraising surpassed over 300 funding rounds accounting for $8.2 billion dollars.”

Centralized finance (CeFi), whose use cases include earning interest on savings, borrowing money, and spending with a crypto debit card, took the lion’s share with $4.1 billion, followed by infrastructure and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at $2 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively.

Web 3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) took the fourth and fifth position with $410 million and $342 million, respectively.

This study shows that crypto adoption continues to gain traction as more companies seek to enter this space.

Furthermore, crypto users are upward because Coinbase has emerged as the most sought after iPhone app, surpassing social media applications like TikTok and Instagram. Coinbase is a leading American crypto exchange.

Where is Bitcoin heading?

After surging from lows of $28K to highs of $66,900 in three months, Bitcoin (BTC) has shown how a paradigm shift can be witnessed in this market.

Bitcoin has been correcting since it hit a new all-time high (ATH) of $66,900 on October 20. The leading cryptocurrency has been down 9.13% in the last seven days to hit $60,493, according to CoinMarketCap.

Reportedly, this trend has been triggered by long-term BTC traders taking profits.

Some analysts believe that it might drop to the $57K and $58K levels. Market analyst Michael van de Poppe noted:

“Bitcoin couldn’t break through $63.6K and tests the other side of the range. Might be dropping another time if $61.6K can’t break, and then I’m looking at $58K next.”

On the other hand, crypto trader Joseph Young said:

“Bitcoin is at $59K~$60K but doesn’t feel like a blow off top at all. – Overall leverage is a bit high but not very high – Decent support – Strong fundamental news coming from Asia – Institutional catalysts continue to emerge. Eyes on $57K but not worried yet.”

As crypto adoption continues experiencing an uptick, it remains to be seen how the top cryptocurrency plays out in the short term.

FTX and FTX.US Looking to Raise New Funds after Acquisition Campaign

FTX Derivatives Exchange and its American subsidiary FTX.US are exploring the options to raise new sets of funds after the duo injected the bulk of the funds they raised earlier in the year into supporting distressed crypto companies.

As reported by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, the global FTX trading platform is looking to raise an almost equivalent amount it pulled earlier this year. As reported earlier by Blockchain.News, FTX concluded its Series C funding round in January, where it raised the sum of $400 million to increase its valuation to $32 billion.

FTX.US has also been active in the equity round scene, receiving $400 million in funding to top $8 billion in valuation. Riding on the back of this capital injection, FTX.US has notably acquired Embed Financial Technologies Inc., including its wholly-owned subsidiary Embed Clearing LLC for an undisclosed sum back in June, a move that aligned with its corporate strategy at the time.

By acting as a lender of last resort, FTX Global has positioned itself as a firm where distressed companies in the digital currency ecosystem run to.

Since the menacing turmoil that has caused several crypto lending platforms to halt transactions on their platform atop a deep-cut liquidity crisis, FTX Global has come to the aid of BlockFi and Voyager Digital, which are very large sums of money, including the $250 million credit facility extended to the former.

While Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX co-founder and CEO, acknowledged that the firm also has many more crypto firms it has helped without disclosing yet, it appears the two FTX arms will be better off with the proposed fundraising.

Known as one of the most liquid and profitable companies in the Web3.0 ecosystem nowadays, the attractiveness of the two FTX offshoots is still very much known to investors who may also bet on the future of the exchange yet again.

DeFi Startup Arch Secures $5m from Seed Round, to Achieve 'BlackRock of Web3'

Arch Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) startup, has acquired $5 million in funding from a seed round to make an effort to accomplish its goal of becoming the “BlackRock of web3.”

As reported by The Block, this new seed round funding will be used to tokenize an extensive range of decentralized finance indices and to build the platform into a decentralized asset management protocol.

According to the company release, the fundraising is co-led by Digital Currency Group and SoftBank spinoff Upload Ventures. Other investors include the venture arm of Latin America blockchain firm Ripio, TechStars, and GBV.

Andres Fleischer, a managing partner of Ripio Ventures, stated that Arch Finance provided solution is compelling since it’s bringing in something complex but making it easy for everyone to do it.

Arch is a portfolio management startup that aims to make investments in DeFi accessible to the public.

Christopher Storaker, co-founder and CEO of Arch, in an interview with The Block, stated, “diversification is the only free lunch in finance,” and he wants to make it simple for the web3 ecosystem.

Storaker said his decentralized asset management protocol, Arch finance, creates well-diversified tokenized investment portfolios that individuals will be able to buy using smart contracts and self-custody.

When asked why investors should choose Arch over buying a crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) from a player like BlackRock or 21Shares, Storaker replied, “Arch will take a different approach by going beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum to provide investors exposure to the cutting-edge of what’s happening in web3.”

“When we say ‘BlackRock of web3,’ we really want to be on par on the methodology side with what they do and what people expect from passive products,” said Storaker.

Notably, Arch Finance has previously raised a pre-seed round and went through the TechStars accelerator program.

The portfolio management platform will offer two index tokens, including the Arch blockchain token. These index tokens would be used to track the largest blockchains, and the Arch Ethereum Web3 token will track native tokens of notable protocols like Uniswap and Chainlink.

Speaking of seed rounds, in June, Astaria, an NFT lending platform unlocking instant liquidity, raised a total of $8 million in a seed round from significant venture capital and angel investors to Improve NFT Lending Liquidity.

With this series of funding, even amid the bear market, the saying “bear markets are for building” seems to have been justified.

Animoca Brands refutes claims of scaling back metaverse fund target and plummeting valuation

Animoca Brands, a venture capital firm and Web3 game developer, has refuted recent claims that it has scaled back its metaverse fund target by $200 million, or 20%, amid volatility in the crypto market and instability in the banking sector. The firm also downplayed suggestions that its valuation has plummeted from $6 billion as of July 2022 to roughly $2 billion in March 2023.

The claims were reported by Reuters on March 24, citing anonymous “people familiar with the matter,” who alleged that Animoca initially halved its $2 billion metaverse fund target in January and recently cut it another 20% to $800 million. The fund was announced in November 2022 to allocate capital to mid-to-late-stage startups with a metaverse focus, and Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu outlined at the time that the fund target was between $1 billion and $2 billion, depending on how much capital was raised.

While Animoca acknowledged that the banking collapses in the United States have had an impact on available venture capital, the firm stressed that the final amount raised for the fund has yet to be determined. “When the raise is concluded, we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund,” the firm stated.

Regarding the company’s valuation, Animoca asserted that the figures reported by Reuters and “two other” unnamed sources were inaccurate. The firm argues that its total market cap is not fully represented by the data from PrimaryMarkets, where its shares have traded since being delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2020.

Animoca terminated its arrangement with PrimaryMarkets in the second half of 2020, but the platform continued to trade its shares. The firm stated that “trading volume is far too low to provide the price accuracy you would find on an actual primary market.”

While the claims made in the Reuters report remain unverified, they highlight the impact of recent events on the crypto market and fundraising efforts. Animoca’s stance suggests that the firm is still confident in its ability to raise capital for its metaverse fund and that its valuation is higher than what has been reported. However, it remains to be seen how successful the fundraising efforts will be and whether Animoca will meet its original target for the fund.

Hong Kong Investors Launch $100M Fund for Web3 Startups

Hong Kong is once again opening up to the crypto market, as local investors launch a $100 million fund to finance the digital industry. The new fund, ProDigital Future, will focus on supporting early-stage Web3 companies oriented at the regional market.

According to a Bloomberg report from March 30, ProDigital Future has completed its half-year fundraising period with about $30 million in its pockets. However, it aims to raise $100 million by the end of 2023. The fund is led by Ben Ng, a partner at Hong Kong-based equity firm SAIF Partners, and Curt Shi, a long-time tech investor from China. Sunwah Kingsway Capital Holdings and Golin International Group have already invested in the fund.

Shi, the co-leader of ProDigital Future, told journalists that the fundraising process has been “relatively smooth,” although the investors are cautious about putting their money into crypto projects. ProDigital Future has attracted Hong Kong investors, as well as some family offices from China, Australia, and Singapore.

The fund aims to “embrace Hong Kong and its policies” while expanding its reach to Australia, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. ProDigital Future has already invested in six digital-asset projects, including metaverse company GigaSpace and One Future Football, a digital football league from Australia currently operating in stealth mode.

The launch of ProDigital Future comes amid growing regulatory efforts to oversee the crypto market in Hong Kong. In October 2022, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto. On Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission released a proposal for a licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges, set to take effect in June.

The proposed licensing regime includes a necessary licensing procedure, demanding that potential market players meet several prerequisites, including the safe custody of assets, Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism regulations.

Despite these regulatory efforts, the launch of ProDigital Future signals a growing interest in the potential of the crypto market in Hong Kong and the wider Asia-Pacific region. With a focus on Web3 startups and a commitment to regulatory compliance, the fund aims to support the growth and development of the digital industry in the region.

Saros Cryptocurrency (SAROS) will be listed on Bybit

Bybit, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, recently announced the addition of Saros (SAROS) to its Spot trading platform. This listing, scheduled for January 19, 2024, follows the deposit opening on January 18 and precedes the withdrawal availability set for January 20. As part of this significant event, Bybit has unveiled a special promotion involving a 50,000 USDT prize pool, aiming to celebrate Saros’ listing and engage both new and existing users.

This approach is not new for Bybit, as evidenced by a similar initiative for the Inspect (INSP) token listing, which featured a 70,000 USDT prize pool, marking a consistent strategy by the exchange to attract users to new listings.

Saros, a blockchain-based platform, has recently completed a substantial fundraising round, garnering $3.75 million from various investors. This round witnessed significant participation from notable entities such as Solana Ventures, Hashed, Spartan, Arche Fund, and other industry leaders. The funding is pivotal for Saros’ expansion plans and the development of the Saros Super App, a comprehensive, non-custodial web3 application targeted for launch in the first quarter of 2024.

The Saros Super App aims to offer a one-stop solution for global payments and transactions, facilitating the transfer of digital assets. The funds raised are expected to drive the app’s development and assist in its expansion strategies. Alongside the app, Saros plans to launch SarosID, a privacy-preserving digital solution intended to enhance the adoption of the Super App’s services. This decentralized ID system is designed to provide flawless access and foster user engagement with the Saros ecosystem.

The successful completion of this funding round is a significant milestone for Saros, marking a strategic move towards reshaping the decentralized finance landscape. With its focus on fostering innovation and building a more inclusive financial ecosystem, Saros is well-positioned to make a profound impact in the world of digital assets.