Stablecoins are a controversial subject in crypto. Questioning the legitimacy and backing of Tether (USDT) is a right of passage for many entering the crypto market for the first time. The meltdown of the Terra (LUNC; or the old LUNA) ecosystem left little doubt that algorithmic stablecoins don’t have a future beyond Do Kwon’s fantasies. Pesky regulators are constantly poking and prodding at dollar-pegged assets to carve out firmer rules on their usage. But, if you look beyond all the fear, uncertainty and doubt, stablecoins are providing liquidity to millions of people who don’t have access to dollars because of …

Digital asset exchange Huobi Global has spun out a new investment arm focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 projects, further highlighting venture capital interest in the blockchain economy. Dubbed Ivy Blocks, the new investment arm has over $1 billion in crypto assets under management to deploy, a spokesperson for Huobi confirmed. These funds have been earmarked for “identifying and investing in promising blockchain projects,” the company said. In addition to financing, Ivy Blocks will offer various services to selected projects, including an asset management platform, a new blockchain incubator and a dedicated research arm. The firm’s asset management department …

Algo-adviser startup Delphia has closed a $60 million investment round backed by some of crypto’s biggest venture funds as it embarks on the creation of a new data-focused decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Series A was led by crypto-focused venture firm Multicoin Capital, with additional participation from Ribbit Capital, FTX Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, FJ Labs, Lattice Ventures and Cumberland. Delphia will use the funds to launch a new rewards token as well as expand the ways users can contribute data to algorithmic models, which will be used to enhance investor returns. According to Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain, data …

Indonesian crypto asset platform Pintu announced the closure of a $113 million Series B funding round with participation by four prominent investors: Pantera Capital, Intudo Ventures, Lightspeed and Northstar Group. Licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, or Bappebti, under the Ministry of Trade, Pintu caters to Indonesian crypto investors dealing in popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Bappepti previously highlighted that the number of Indonesian crypto investors in 2022 doubled from 2021, to which Jeth Soetoyo, founder and CEO of Pintu, said: “We believe that crypto adoption in Indonesia is only in its beginning stages, and …

This short-term decline in investments can be correlated to the recent market correction, which made Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies lose 50% or more of their value. According to new data released by Dove Metrics, total venture capital investment in crypto declined 38.2% over the past month, from $6.8 billion in April to $4.7 billion in May, while surging 97.8% since last year. Data on investment distribution showed infrastructure companies received 21% of the pie, while decentralized finance (DeFi) startups accounted for 14%. Centralized finance (CeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) projects each accounted for 13%. This goes to show …

Binance Labs, the investment arm of crypto giant Binance, launched a $500 million fund in partnership with global investors including DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital to drive innovation across the crypto, Web3 and blockchain landscape. Binance Labs plans to allocate the latest $500 million fund to projects across various stages — incubation, early-stage and late-stage growth. Sharing his take on accelerating the adoption of the crypto ecosystem, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance, revealed the importance of a connection between values, people and economies: “The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and …

Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader cryptocurrency market have provided very little comfort in recent weeks, as macroeconomic headwinds and the implosion of the Terra ecosystem continue to reverberate. But, if we look beyond the immediate price action, we observe an industry that continues to grow and evolve, as well as attract sizable capital investments from major funders. The latest edition of venture capital (VC) Roundup highlights the continued growth of Web3 gaming, metaverse applications and even decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Related: Crypto Biz: Smart Money is betting big on Web3, layer 2, May 19-25 Andreessen Horowitz backs Irreverent Labs Blockchain …

Billions and billions. That’s what venture capitalists are spending to get ahead of the curve in crypto. Their latest fixation is Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions and Web3, an umbrella term that describes the next stage of the internet’s evolution. So, while the cryptocurrency market is in a state of extreme fear, smart money investors — TradFi folks who invest with expert knowledge — continue to pour countless sums into the space. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter gives you the latest funding stories from the world of blockchain and explores interesting developments surrounding Google and Sam Bankman-Fried. Andreessen Horowitz closes $4.5 …

Crypto prices have been exploring new lows for weeks and currently it's unclear what it will take to reverse the trend. Despite the downtrend, cryptocurrencies within the Polkadot (DOT) ecosystem began to rally on May 24 and have managed to maintain gains ranging from 10% to 25%, a possible sign that certain sub-sectors of the market are on the verge of a breakout. Here’s a look at three Polkadot ecosystem protocols that have seen their token prices trend higher in recent days. Acala launches a $250 million aUSD ecosystem fund Acala (ACA) is the leading decentralized finance (DeF) platform on …

Crypto-focused venture firm NGC Ventures has launched a new ecosystem fund dedicated to Web3 projects, underscoring heightened investor demand for startups that are contributing to the development of a decentralized internet. NGC Metaverse Ventures, the company’s third blockchain fund, raised $100 million from investors that included Babel Finance, Huobi Ventures, Nexo Ventures, Altonomy and GBIC. The fund will allocate capital towards “high-potential projects” in the Web3 economy, according to Roger Lim, NGC Ventures’ general partner. The Web3 fund has already invested in three startups, NGC disclosed on Wednesday. Based in Singapore, NGC Ventures was founded in 2017 as a blockchain …

Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 developer StarkWare has raised a further $100 million in its latest fundraising round despite the prevailing downturn in cryptocurrency markets. StarkWare’s series D fundraising round sees the firm’s valuation up to $8 billion, marking a four-fold increase in value just six months after its Series C round in November 2021. Tech investment firm Greenoaks Capital led the latest fundraising round in addition to private equity firm Coatue, Tiger Global and other investors. StarkWare has established itself as a major player in the Ethereum layer-2 scaling space, boasting more transaction throughput than the Bitcoin network and collectively more …

Three years after being ousted as CEO of WeWork, Adam Neumann has jumped on the crypto bandwagon, raising $70 million in the first major funding round for his climate tech venture Flowcarbon. The project aims to make carbon trading more accessible by putting carbon credits on the blockchain. Neumann is an Israeli-American businessman and investor famous for his role in founding coworking space provider WeWork in 2010, a company once heralded as the future of workspaces. However, it all came crashing down in 2019 when the company attempted to go public, which instead lifted the lid on WeWork’s unprofitable business …