Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s decentralized finance newsletter. As the DeFi space continues its technical resurgence, essential news on funding, innovation and DAOs continues to drive adoption in what remains a nascent industry. For the full version of this newsletter including longer, more descriptive analysis of the top stories this week, subscribe below: Alchemy raises $200M in latest funding, ACH token soars 77% Web3 platform Alchemy announced the launch of a $200-million Series C funding round this week, giving the company a decacorn status and a valuation of $10.2 billion. The seven-investor round was led by two California-based …

A lot has changed since I first started covering Bitcoin (BTC) in 2012. A market once relegated to the deepest corners of the internet has now spawned a global revolution that has forced corporations and governments to form an opinion on digital assets. Now, Wall Street is chiming in, with analysts at major banks increasingly convinced that crypto is a maturing asset class with long-term potential. That was the general takeaway of a new report from Wells Fargo’s research division. The report’s bullish undertones are truly remarkable when you consider how big banks treated Bitcoin just a few years ago. …

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, is making a strategic investment in the 104-year old magazine Forbes to improve consumer understanding of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Forbes and Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), officially announced Thursday securing a $200 million strategic investment from Binance. Forbes previously announced plans to go public through a business combination with Magnum Opus in August 2021, with the deal expected to close in Q1 of 2022. Binance’s strategic investment will be through Binance’s assumption of subscription agreements representing $200 million of commitments in the $400 million private …

Merger and acquisition deals in the cryptocurrency industry, simply known as M&As, have massively increased in 2021, with associated value jumping nearly 5,000%, according to PwC, one the largest accounting firms in the United States. The total volume of crypto mergers and acquisitions soared 4,846% last year, with the average deal size reaching about $180 million from $53 million in 2020, PwC said in a new study, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. PwC detailed that crypto fundraising deal volumes surged 645% in 2021, with top-five investors by deal count including blockchain investor AU21, Genesis Block Ventures, Genblock Capital, Coinbase Ventures and …

Crypto exchange Coinbase has filed for a political action committee reportedly to support "crypto-forward lawmakers" ahead of the 2022 midterm elections in the United States. According to a Feb. 7 filing with the Federal Election Commission, Coinbase’s chief financial officer Alesia Haas and head of U.S. policy Kara Calvert registered the Coinbase Innovation PAC. The lobbyist/registrant political action committee will likely be required to make disclosures of funds to designated representatives in Congress. Political action committees, or PACs, are organizations often aimed at raising funds to elect candidates supporting similar causes, implying Coinbase is looking to get behind crypto-friendly candidates …

Web3 development platform Alchemy announced a fresh round of $200 million funding, bringing up the company’s valuation to $10.2 billion, just above the decacorn threshold. The latest funding round was led by venture capital firm Lightspeed along with Silver Lake, an American global private equity firm. Alchemy’s funding also saw participation from previous major investors as well. As Cointelegraph previously reported in Oct 2021, Alchemy attained a $3.5 billion valuation following a $250 million Series C fundraising round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Since October, Alchemy reported a three-fold growth in the number of Web3 initiatives being built on their platform. …

The DeFi lending and borrowing market has grown significantly in volume as new lending protocols continue to attract capital and NFT-backed loans become more popular. According to Dune Analytics, the top three platforms in terms of market capitalization are Aave, Maker, and Compound. These platforms, however, still are facing issues when it comes to collateral requirements and volatile digital assets. Hashstack Finance is a DeFi platform whose crypto-native lending protocol, called Open, is trying to provide a solution to collateral requirements, specifically the over-collateralization of loans. Hashstack announced on Monday the release of its closed beta testnet that enables the …

Layer-2 scaling solution Polygon has raised $450 million in a funding round that was backed by some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds — offering further evidence that major investors are looking to support the future of Web3 development. The investment round was led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from more than 40 venture capital funds, including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Galaxy Digital, Tiger Global and Republic Capital. Billionaire investor Kevin O’Leary also participated in the raise. Polygon will use the funding to expand its scaling solutions, which includes Polygon PoS, Polygon Edge and Polygon Avail, and support mainstream adoption …

Zero-knowledge applications platform Aleo has raised $200 million in a solid investment round, pushing the company forward and supporting its goals to develop products and services that encourage and assist developers in building applications on top of its decentralized network. The Series B investment round was led by Kora Management LP and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which invest in fintech projects within emerging digital economies. Samsung Ventures also participated in the raise along with Tiger Global, Sea Capital, Slow Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Aleo is building a network that integrates zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptography technique that lets the platform …

Truckers protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Canada have turned to Bitcoin-based crowdfunding platform Tallycoin, following a barrage of mounting political pressure from all sides that culminated in GoFundMe axing their “Freedom Convoy Campaign.” GoFundMe pulled the campaign and $9 million in donations with it on Feb. 4 in response to reports of violence, which it claimed broke its terms of service. Initially, donors needed to apply to have their funds refunded. However, following a flurry of criticism, the platform backtracked on Feb. 5, deciding it would automatically refund donors instead. Shortly after GoFundMe axed the campaign, a group of …

Last year was impressive for blockchain startups, as research from CB Insights found that venture capital funding reached new heights during every quarter of 2021. According to CB Insights’ “State Of Blockchain 2021” report, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups last year, demonstrating a 713% increase from $3.1 billion in 2020. The report also found that the United States led the greatest amount of funding deals in Q4 of last year, generating $6.26 billion for 157 deals. The document notes that global growth was driven by increasing consumer and institutional demand for crypto-related products …

Is Bitcoin (BTC) in a bull market or a bear market? Has the current market cycle already peaked or can we expect another leg higher? Venture capital funds don’t seem to care either way. They’re too busy building equity in promising blockchain plays. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter features two major funding rounds from the world of blockchain, as well as Jack Dorsey’s scathing critique of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse plans. We also highlight a company that’s making it easier for employees to start getting paid in BTC. So, while it’s easy to get bogged down in the bull versus bear …