Despite recent advances in academic research into the blockchain for everything from central bank digital currencies to pacemakers, universities and governments lag in their willingness to fund basic research in the sector. While researchers are getting creative when presenting their work to traditional institutions, the situation is holding up research. Output under current restrictions Recent pre-print research on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network drew wide attention in the crypto sphere, largely thanks to its underlying allegation that the network is a way of centralizing the network. As attractive as such a controversial study is, it is not alone. Research into crypto topics …

Most of the fundraising in the cryptocurrency space shifted from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific regions (APAC), according to a recent report by Big Four auditing firm PwC. According to PwC's 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report, during 2019, fundraising efforts in the crypto space obtained 18% less funding, while funds in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the space decreased by 40%. As funding decreased overall, APAC and EMEA's share of the pie got larger. While APAC and EMEA saw 44% of combined fundraising and M&A deal value in 2018, …

The International Blockchain Monetary Reserve (IBMR) announced it has raised $3.48 million as an investment seed into ARCC Currency Reserve. The reserve is a basket of cryptocurrencies that includes Algorand (ALGO), Bitcoin (BTC), and Binance Coin (BNB) as well as 700,000 U.S. dollars in seed investments for United States-based tech startup companies. These assets back the value of the Asia Reserve Currency Coin, or ARCC. The funding, according to an announcement on March 25, will come directly from Borderless Capital and other companies and coincides with the official listing of the ARCC token on BiKi Exchange — a company that …

A report published by research firm CB Insights has found that equity funding has dramatically overtaken initial coin offerings (ICOs) as the dominant means of finance in the blockchain space. While the largely unregulated ICO boom of 2018 raised $7.8 billion, initial coin offering funding fell more than 95% to raise $371 million in 2019. By contrast, equity funding raised $2.8 billion last year. The report also notes the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), noting that there are currently more than $1 billion in assets on DeFi platforms — up from $300 million as of January 2019. Crypto firms are …

The Tezos Foundation released its second Biannual Report, detailing the group’s progress in Q3 and Q4 of 2019. Published on March 19, the report reveals that the foundation owns $635 million in assets — much more than the $232 million raised in its infamous initial coin offering. When asked how the foundation was able to achieve such a warchest, the company’s CFO, Roman Schnider, revealed to Cointelegraph that the project benefited from positive crypto market dynamics. He said: “The increase is largely due to the appreciation of our blockchain assets over the last three years, BTC and XTZ in particular.” …

Interoperability project Interlay has been selected to receive a Web3 Foundation grant to continue its work on Polkadot. The money will be used to develop a parachain on Polkadot that will connect to the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. According to the March 5 announcement, Interlay is one of the recipients of Web3 Foundation’s fifth wave of grants deliberated in Q1 2020. The Web3 Grants program funds teams and projects working to improve Polkadot in a variety of contexts. Each grant is for a maximum of $100,000 and is tied to the execution of specific proposals, though the foundation does not disclose …

Square Crypto, the payments company launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is now officially supporting Bitcoin (BTC) development through a grant program. This formalizes the already significant contributions made by the company toward the cryptocurrency. Through a March 4 announcement, the company announced that the Square Grants program would be made publicly available. Two developers had already received grants: BTCPayServer received $100,000 to continue development of its open-source payment processor, and a pseudonymous developer received an undisclosed sum in connection to Lightning Network development. With the announcement, Square revealed to have also granted undisclosed amounts to Jon Atack and Tankred …

Venture arms for Salesforce and Samsung participated in a second Series C funding event for a startup called Digital Asset. After gathering $35 million in its first Series C raise that ended in December 2019, Digital Asset decided to run another round, a Feb. 4 press release read. This second Series C funding attracted investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Salesforce Ventures, among others. “Salesforce Ventures and Samsung joining our Series C financing round demonstrates the potential that technology giants see in DAML as the standard for smart contracts,” Digital Asset Co-Founder and CEO Yuvol Rooz said in the …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has invested an undisclosed sum in blockchain data monetization startup Numbers. According to a post published on Binance’s official blog on Jan. 21, Numbers aims to create an open, transparent and traceable data sharing, verification and management system. The firm’s open source application reportedly allows individuals to own and monetize their personal data. Since last year, Numbers has reportedly worked with nonprofit Shoah Foundation, the Stanford University and IBM to develop data traceability and verification systems to preload on the Exodus, the blockchain smartphone of tech giant HTC. Binance’s strategy officer Gin Chao said: “Numbers app …

TaxBit, a crypto-oriented tax compliance firm, has raised $5 million in a seed round that saw participation from the Winklevoss twins’ family office, Winklevoss Capital. In a Jan. 6 announcement, TaxBit said that it plans to use the raised funds to enhance its software products on an international scale as its tax reporting tool has amassed thousands of everyday crypto users so far. Specifically, the Utah-based firm is planning to accelerate customer growth both in the U.S. and in regions like Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, TaxBit noted. TaxBit’s crypto tax reporting tool is backed by a team of CPAs, …

Blockchain has become a buzzword in the startup ecosystem and multinationals alike. Numerous benefits provided by the technology has incentivized businesses and governments to adopt, explore or invest in it. However, a surprising turn of events took place in 2019 when it comes to the amount invested into blockchain technology and companies behind them. After the incoming funds peaked in 2018 with $5.5 billion in capital raised, this year saw a sharp decline — with less than $3 billion of capital flowing into the ecosystem. There are numerous reasons to explain this, however. The bullish hysteria around Bitcoin was over …

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcoin (XZC) has launched a new crowdfunding system similar to one by another major privacy coin, Monero (XMR). In a Dec. 26 blog post, Zcoin announced the launch of the Zcoin Crowdfunding System (ZCS), a new platform that is designed to serve as shift from direct funding from block rewards to a donation model. ZCS to help Zcoin to further decentralize the project and fund additional initiatives The new ZCS system will help further decentralize the project in line with the company’s vision of a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, Zcoin’s project steward Reuben Yap said in the announcement. The executive …