Subsquid, a query node framework for Substrate-based blockchains, announced Thursday that it has closed a $3.8-million seed round led by Hypersphere Ventures. The company said that it expects to use this seed capital for developing the first blockchain indexing solution. The new data query technology, as per the announcement, will tap into a network of indexers and allow anyone to join and contribute data to Subsquid data users. While commenting on the successful seed closure, Subsquid’s technical founder, Dmitry Zhelezov, stated that: “We are looking forward to rolling out more functionalities in the coming weeks, allowing blockchain developers to harness …

The Malta Financial Services Authority has greenlit the crypto asset index fund from asset manager Iconic Funds for listing on the Malta Stock Exchange. In an Wednesday announcement, Iconic Funds said it expected to list its BITA20 XA Crypto Asset Index Fund on the exchange “in the coming days,” with the fund offering direct exposure to cryptocurrencies. The fund invests most of its capital in the top 20 cryptocurrencies in addition to depositing tokens into certain staking and interest-bearing accounts. According to Iconic, only individuals who qualify—and not the general public—will be eligible to invest in the fund. “While the …

Galaxy Digital Holdings has teamed up with Alerian and S-Network Global indexes to launch eight crypto-focused blockchain indexes. According to an Aug. 24 announcement, the duo have launched two crypto index families named “Alerian Galaxy Global Blockchain Indexes” and the “Alerian Galaxy Global Cryptocurrency-Focused Blockchain Indexes,” which the eight offerings are listed under. The passive indexes offer exposure to “public companies and select investment vehicles” that are actively engaged in the crypto and blockchain sectors, such as crypto miners, companies that hold crypto on their balance sheets, infrastructure tech developers and blockchain researchers. The indexes are rebalanced monthly and equally …

In the past two decades, index and exchange-traded funds (ETF) have become some of the most popular forms of investing because they offer investors a passive way to gain exposure to a basket of stocks as opposed to investing in individual stocks which increases risk of loss. Since 2018, this trend has extended to the crypto sector and products like the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index (BITX) tracks the total return of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Solana (SOL), Chainlink (LINK), Polygon (MATIC), Stellar (XLM) and Uniswap (UNI). The ability to access multiple …

A Canada-based Bitcoin fund, operated by 3iQ Corp, has witnessed a dramatic decline in its BTC reserves since June. Literally named the Bitcoin Fund (QBTC:CN), the closed-end investment product, was holding around 24,000 BTC in its vaults in early June. However, as the monthly session progressed, the reserves first dropped to below 16,000 BTC in a dramatic, straight-line decline. Later, another massive withdrawal pushed the Bitcoin Fund's BTC reserves to around 13,000 BTC, according to on-chain data from South Korea-based analytics firm CryptoQuant. However, the withdrawals from the QBTC fund across June coincided with an inflow spike in 3iQ's exchange-traded …

Bitwise, a four-year-old crypto asset management firm, has closed a Series B funding round, raising $70 million in fresh capital from investors. According to a report by CNBC on Tuesday, major Wall Street figures such as billionaire investor and Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Stanley Druckenmiller and David McCormick, CEO of asset management giant Bridgewater Associates, participated in the funding. Commenting on the stellar cast of investors, CNBC quoted Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stating that the company was keen to attract major Wall Street and crypto backers. Bitwise will reportedly utilize the newly raised funds to beef up its balance sheet as …

A new report from analytics firm Coinshares shows that while the market dip may not have ended, prices are now at levels where stock market investors are once again showing signs of interest in digital asset funds. A report published yesterday from Coinshares shows that multiple funds have begun seeing net inflows after weeks of record outflows in the wake of a crippling, market-wide crypto dip. In totally, legacy markets poured in $74 million into crypto investment vehicles, though not all products showed signs of strength. Cryptocurrencies show inflows after record outflows in previous two weeks. Ethereum investment product market …

The source code for the upcoming Polkadot Index Network Token, or PINT, has been made public, with half a dozen projects putting their hand up to be included in the index. The project has outlined a four-phase roadmap that it expects to culminate in mainnet launch within three months. According to an announcement on Wednesday, six of Polkadot’s leading projects have already given “soft commitments” for inclusion in the index, including Acala Network, Equilibrium, HydraDX, Litentry, Moonbeam and Plasm. The PINT token seeks to offer investors balanced exposure to the emerging Polkadot ecosystem, hedging the volatility of individual projects against …

PowerPool, a project exploring the utility of Ethereum-based governance tokens, has launched YETI — an index and “meta-governance” token for the Yearn.finance ecosystem. YETI was conceived by Messari’s Ryan Watkins, who published the proposal for a Yearn.finance ecosystem index token to PowerPool’s governance forums on Dec. 4. The Messari researcher noted that “despite development and community resources being merged” among the YFI ecosystem members, “governance among these protocols remains separate.” He wrote the index would offer investors “a passive vehicle for board exposure to the Yearn ecosystem” while providing Yearn an opportunity to formalize its recent mergers, and align “the …

Index investing in the stock market has become extremely popular thanks to the proliferation of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which often track popular market indices like the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100. Investing in the entire market can be a simple, but effective, strategy. Instead of spending energy and time on trying to beat it — often unsuccessfully — investors are guaranteed average returns, which in the past 10 years have been more than respectable both in stocks and in crypto. The rise of decentralized finance in the summer of 2020 seems to have reinvigorated the concept of passive investment …

Iconiq Funds, the asset management arm of Germany-based Iconiq Holding — the team behind the ICO and token sale accelerator program Iconiq Lab — is launching a series of digital asset index funds beginning in Q4 2018, the company announced on Aug. 17, 2018. Investment into crypto assets will become available through traditional and regulated financial vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs). The first digital asset index fund is planned to be launched under Maltese jurisdiction as a Professional Investor Fund (PIF). It is currently under review by Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The company claims …