Hundreds of people have lost their jobs at companies owned by crypto venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG), as the longer crypto winter boosted by the FTX collapse continues to affect the sector. Amidst the recent layoffs, London-based cryptocurrency exchange Luno announced on Jan. 25 a reduction of 35% in its workforce, letting go nearly 330 professionals as a result of turbulence in the tech and crypto industries, which affected the firm's overall growth and revenue members. Luno was part of DCG's portfolio alongside HQ Digital, an asset management subsidiary incubated by DCG since 2020 that managed $3.5 billion …

Cointelegraph Research has analyzed all the deals and trends from venture capital in the blockchain industry during the fourth quarter of 2022. The second half of 2022 saw a dramatic decline in capital inflows across all five major sectors of the blockchain industry: decentralized finance (DeFi), centralized finance (CeFi), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), infrastructure and Web3. The first half of 2022 brought in just under $30 billion of investment, while the second half only saw $7.3 billion — a dramatic plunge. As the crypto industry moves into 2023, Cointelegraph Research has looked at the data from its Venture Capital Database, which …

Injective, a layer-1 blockchain protocol founded in 2018, has launched a $150 million ecosystem fund to support developers building on the Cosmos network. The so-called ecosystem group is backed by a large consortium of venture capital and Web3 firms, including Pantera Capital, Kraken Ventures, Jump Crypto, Kucoin Ventures, Delphi Labs, IDG Capital, Gate Labs and Flow Traders. According to Injective, the consortium is the largest assembled within the broader Cosmos ecosystem. Developers selected for the fund will receive support through “bespoke token and equity investments,” in addition to mentorship, technical assistance, business development and marketing, Injective said. Projects building decentralized …

Blockchain development platform QuickNode has closed a $60 million funding round as part of a global expansion intended to onboard more users and developers to Web3 applications. The Series B raise, which valued QuickNode at $800 million, was led by venture capital firm 10T Fund, with participation from Tiger Global, Seven Seven Six and QED, the company announced on Jan. 24. QuickNode’s management said the capital would fund its global expansion and streamline the transition to Web3 “at scale,” which includes providing developers with the deployability required to onboard new blockchain users. The Series B was the company’s most significant …

Amid ongoing investigations around the defunct crypto exchange FTX, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) questions the due diligence conducted by institutional investors and their accountability regarding the loss of users’ funds. CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero stated that VCs that had to write down their investments in millions of dollars to nearly zero raises “serious questions” about the due diligence conducted over the last year, speaking to Bloomberg. She raised concerns about FTX CEO John Ray’s revelations in court about not having any records and controls over the exchange’s financials. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service …

Large enterprise businesses spend tons of money keeping track of their financial dealings — think accountants, financial analysts, consultants and enterprise-grade accounting software. Sam Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, used Microsoft Excel. On Jan. 17, in another sloppy Excel spreadsheet, SBF revealed that FTX US was solvent. The Excel file purportedly showed customer balances, bank deposits and assets held in cold storage. “S&C forgot to include bank balances” of roughly $428 million, SBF said, referring to FTX’s former legal counsel Sullivan & Cromwell. “Once you add those back in, you get in the neighborhood of my prior balance sheet” of around $350 million, …

The former head of FTX US is launching a new cryptocurrency software company and has raised $5 million from several investors, according to Bloomberg. Brett Harrison, who served as president of FTX US between May 2021 and September 2022, has received backing from Coinbase Ventures and Circle Ventures to launch a new software startup. SALT Fund, Motivate VC, P2P Validator, Third Kind Venture Capital, Shari Glazer of Kalos Labs and Anthony Scaramucci also participated in the seed round. His new startup, dubbed Architect, will develop trading software for large institutions looking to access crypto markets. He told Bloomberg that he …

Venture capitalists battling with the difficulties of proper crypto firm due diligence should be looking at getting back to the basics — to "trust the chain," a crypto-focused venture fund executive argues. Speaking to Cointelegraph, John Lo, head of digital assets at Recharge Capital — a $6 billion fund with crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects on its portfolio — said that FTX shook the "confidence in this industry." "There will be a lot of soul-searching," he said. According to Lo, due diligence has always been a problem in the venture space, even outside of crypto. He said the action …

According to a press release published on Jan. 18, U.S.-based capital markets advisory and token offering platform Deal Box has launched a new $125 million venture capital arm dedicated to blockchain and Web 3.0 startups. The fund, dubbed Deal Box Ventures, will invest in companies categorized in the emerging growth, real estate, fintech, funtech, and social impact fields. Commenting on today's development, Thomas Carter, founder and chairman of Deal Box, said: "Deal Box Ventures is an important milestone in our journey to invest in the most promising and disruptive blockchain startups, providing them with the tools and funding ecosystem they …

Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) has told shareholders it is halting its quarterly dividend payments until further notice as it attempts to preserve liquidity. According to the letter sent to shareholders on Jan. 17, the firm is focused on “strengthening our balance sheet by reducing operating expenses and preserving liquidity.” Its financial issues are derived from the woes of its subsidiary, crypto broker Genesis Global Trading, which reportedly owes creditors more than $3 billion and DCG is also considering selling some of the assets within its portfolio. Customers are currently unable to withdraw funds from Genesis after it …

2022 was a huge year for the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming scene. An influx of capital and users was followed by a sharp downturn in blockchain game token prices and a decrease in players — and the market is still reeling. And, with fallout from the FTX disaster reaching into every corner of the industry, play-to-earn’s prospects seem bleak on the surface. But peeking under the hood, the numbers tell a different story: Strong funding this year has set the stage for serious “buidling” in 2023. A consistent flow of strong raises for Web3 gaming studios has been silently infusing the …

2022 was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs for the blockchain industry. While the year’s first quarter looked promising, the crypto industry has been on a downward trajectory ever since. While indications of a global macroeconomic slowdown increase, these headwinds hamper the blockchain industry’s potential recovery. There are some signs of stabilization in the crypto market and a potential upside at the start of the new year. For those serious about understanding the crypto space’s different sectors, including venture capital, derivatives, decentralized finance (DeFi), regulations and much more, Cointelegraph Research publishes a monthly Investors Insights report. Compiled by leading …