British mobile banking firm Revolut is negotiating with investors to raise at least half a billion dollars next year, Reuters reports on Nov. 12. Since the end of 2017, Revolut’s app has allowed its users to complete transactions in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC) and Ether (ETH). According to Reuters, Revolut plans to raise the funds next year to fuel its expansion and hire new personnel, and will expand its partnership with payment firms Visa and Mastercard. The firm’s co-founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky said: “We want to raise at least $500 million in direct equity and potentially, maybe …

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has led a $5 million funding round for Arweave, a blockchain-startup focused on permanent online data storage. On Nov. 5, the Arweave project reported that it had attracted world-leading funds in a $5 million investment round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Crypto, with the participation of other top investors such as Union Square Ventures and Multicoin Capital. Arweave hopes to be the Library of Alexandria The startup was founded in mid-2017 by Sam Williams on the promise to permanently host data, web apps and pages on its so-called permaweb. Williams commented on the partnerships: “These …

The Kadena network, which is led by JPMorgan blockchain veterans, has gone live on Monday, with the firm announcing a new $20 million token sale. Kadena mainnet launch unlocks mining Kadena coins According to an announcement on Nov. 4, Kadena has launched its mainnet Chainweb alongside the Kadena token wallet Chainweaver. The firm is also planning to carry out its third token sale from Nov. 5–Nov. 22. As specified on Kadena’s website, the launch of Kadena’s mainnet means that miners can participate in the Kadena public blockchain network and mine for real Kadena coin. Co-founded in 2016 by early JPMorgan …

Singapore-based blockchain firm Zilliqa launches blockchain workshops in collaboration with Oxford University to encourage diversity in the industry. Together with Zilliqa, the Oxford Women in Computer Science Society (OxWoCS), an Oxford society that aims to support women in computer science, will carry out a series of interactive workshops called Blockchain A-Z, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Oct. 31. Winners to apply for grants to Zilliqa's $5 million Ecosystem Grant Programme According to the announcement, Blockchain A-Z will be conducted on-site at the University of Oxford and will be open to all students currently enrolled at the …

The Guangzhou government has announced a $140 million subsidy fund to encourage the development of blockchain initiatives. The local authorities are reportedly planning to spend 1 billion yuan ($141 million) to selectively sponsor two blockchain-related projects per year, according to a tweet of a senior exec at crypto investment holding firm Primitive Ventures. “No-coin” public chains Citing a report by Beijing-based media outlet Caijing on Oct. 30, Primitive Ventures’ co-founder Dovey Wan emphasized that the government is specifically planning to support two types of blockchain-related projects: federated chain projects and “no-coin” public chains. Wan elaborated that the announcement defines a …

China Electronic Information Industry Development (CCID) announced on Oct. 27 that there are over 700 blockchain enterprises in China, with over 500 relevant investments reported. China sees aggressive blockchain development According to a collective study conducted on Oct. 24 by the Central Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, of the aforementioned 700 blockchain enterprises, 83 are research institutions and 34 are banks. Furthermore, over 500 investment and financing events took place in the domestic blockchain industry. The data also reveals that 12 blockchain policies have been issued by the state and various ministries and commissions …

Verisart, a company that certifies art authenticity through blockchain technology, has raised $2.5 million to further expand its commercial art platform. Verify and track provenance of art In an Oct. 3 article by Techcrunch, it was announced that Verisart raised $2.5 million in seed financing led by Galaxy Digital EOS Fund, alongside investment firms Sinai Ventures and Rhodium. The funding will go toward expanding Verisart’s product and engineering team and will make it possible to launch a whole range of services aimed at artists, galleries and collectors. Verisart’s CEO Robert Norton said: “With this new round of funding, we’re able …

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded $143,478 to Vienna-based Danube Tech to develop blockchain security solutions. Silicon Valley Innovation Program On Sept. 26, the United States DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced in a press release that Danube Tech was awarded a contract to assist the department in its ongoing fight against forgery and the counterfeiting of certificates and licenses. The news release states that services such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration, and Citizenship and Immigration Services can all benefit from blockchain-based security solutions, adding: “Current issuance processes are …

Blockstack PBC, a decentralized computing network, announced that it managed to raise more than $23 million in the first-ever U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-approved token offering. Participation from U.S. retail investors Muneeb Ali, co-founder and CEO of Blockstack PBC wrote in a blog post on Sept. 10 that the blockchain-based startup Blockstack has raised more than $23 million in token offerings, which include its SEC-qualified token offering and its offering to investors outside the United States. Retail investors in the U.S. were able to partake for the first time in a token offering qualified by the SEC. More than …

Cryptocurrency-inclusive trading platform Robinhood has raised $323 million in a recent funding round. Robinhood shared the figure in an official announcement on July 22. As per the report, the investment firm DST Global led the Series E financing round that also included Ribbit Capital, NEA, Sequoia and Thrive Capital as other contributing members. Additionally, the announcement specifies that this funding round puts Robinhood at a $7.6 billion post-money valuation. Today’s announcement follows previous reports that Robinhood was planning to raise upwards of $200 million to set the firm’s post-funding valuation between $7 billion and $8 billion. According to Robinhood’s website, …

FairX, a financial services company involved with banking and digital assets, has shut down its operations as it failed to establish a licensed national bank. According to a FairX Twitter thread on July 19, the company has fallen short of setting up a licensed national bank due to a lack of funding. FairX was trying to raise funds for the planned bank over the past 14 months, which it described as: “A new, licensed, fully regulated national bank, modeled as a financial market utility, that would work with individuals and banks to create a dematerialized bank deposit, denominated in USD. …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given blockchain-based startup Blockstack the go-ahead to run a $28 million public token offering under Regulation A+, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on July 10. Blockstack will reportedly launch its token offering online tomorrow, July 11. While other firms have previously taken advantage of Regulation A+ funding, this marks the first time that investors will receive a token, rather than shares in the company. Regulation A+ is an initial public offering (IPO) alternative geared towards startups in need of early funding. Regulation A+ funding was introduced …