A fast riser in the decentralized finance, or DeFi, world has announced a $4.9 million raise on Sunday led by major industry venture capital groups — as well as some unusual upstart players. Alchemix, a DeFi lending protocol whose loans automatically repay themselves via deposits into other yield-bearing protocols, announced on Discord the $4.9 million raise led by 10 investors, including industry mainstays CMS Holdings and Alameda Research, as well as upstart crypto VC players such as eGirl Capital. Rounding out the investors are Immutable Capital, Nascent, Protoscale Capital, LedgerPrime, Fisher8 Capital, Orthogonal Trading and one unidentified “individual.” Exiting news! …

A venture DAO is taking on the heavyweights of the blockchain VC world with a community-driven venture capital protocol and accelerator. Stacker Ventures claims that the current landscape is often dominated by exclusive deals that see VCs get significantly greater value than mainstream investors. As well as delivering capital to early-stage projects, the platform is also going to provide the manpower and skills that startups need to succeed through its involved DAO participants. Stacker Ventures is backed by a line-up of renowned crypto venture capital firms — including Senary Blockchain Ventures, Supernova Fund and Fourth Revolution Capital — who are …

Some major venture capital names are ‘sett’ to join the Badger DAO community. Bitcoin on Ethereum-focused decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Badger DAO announced today a $21 million sale of DAO treasury assets to four major investors: Polychain Capital, Parafi Capital, Blockchain Capital, and noted whale wallet 0xB1. The sale was made as part of a wider “Treasury Diversification through Strategic Partnerships” plan first outlined in Badger Improvement Proposal (BIP) 37. The Badger treasury, currently worth over $600 million USD, is primarily allocated in $BADGER, the DAO’s native governance token, and $DIGG, a synthetic rebasing Bitcoin. According to Badger DAO founder …

Da Vinci Capital, a major investor in Telegram’s Gram token $1.7-billion initial coin offering, has reportedly requested compensation for the failed launch of the Telegram Open Network, or TON. Investors at Da Vinci Capital reportedly sent a letter before claim to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, stating that the fund is planning legal action against TON Inc. and Telegram, Forbes Russia reported Monday. Citing anonymous sources close to Da Vinci, the report initially stated that the fund has demanded $100 million in compensation from Telegram and other firms involved in the Gram ICO. According to the report, Telegram now has two …

Why wait for one of your investments to release a new feature when you can just build it yourself? Delphi Digital’s newly announced expansion aims to do just that. The cryptocurrency investment, media and research company is now adding a Delphi Labs department that will be focused on contributing to Ventures portfolio company development. 0/ We’re happy to announce the next stage in @Delphi_Digital's evolution: Delphi Labs Our goal with Delphi Labs is simple: to become the leading contributor helping to build out the decentralized futurehttps://t.co/DEmgfPORmQ — Delphi Digital (@Delphi_Digital) February 26, 2021 The move will help expand Delphi’s current …

The SEC’s recent inquiry into the Tim Draper-backed DeFi Money Market platform is the most recent example in a concerning trend of increasing action by regulators against unregistered securities. As a result of regulatory inquiries, DMM is ceasing operations. mTokens can be redeemed with interest accrued to-date through the following link: https://t.co/mWB1WacKaH — DMM DAO (@DMMDAO) February 5, 2021 It joins Kik Interactive, Ripple and Coinseed as crypto projects facing the wrath of regulators under aspects of securities law. The mystery behind DeFi Money Market’s abrupt closure on Feb. 5 was unveiled in the project’s official Telegram channel on Feb. …

The Synthetix DAO has added some new, perhaps surprising voices to its governance. Today the synthetic asset protocol announced a $12 million dollar fundraise led by venture capital firms Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and IOSG. The funds purchased SNX tokens directly from the DAO treasury, and “will contribute where possible by providing liquidity in the form of SNX collateral, and also participate in its rapidly evolving community governance system,” the announcement reads. “We’re excited about supporting the synthetixDAO as it builds the leading synthetic asset platform,” said Paradigm investment partner Arjun Balaji. “Synthetix has one of the best communities in crypto …

A global chip shortage is affecting various sectors of industry from gaming to automotive and cryptocurrency mining. Amid Bitcoin's (BTC) ongoing bull run, the crypto mining industry became massively profitable. Many miners started aggressively stacking mining hardware —by sometimes unconventional methods— which led to shortages in other sectors. The COVID-19 fueled surge in gaming consoles, computers and TVs has even had knock-on effects for car manufacturers, who are major consumers of silicon semiconductors. Chip shortages have even led General Motors to shut down three plants and slow production at others. Amid this shortage, Chinese internet giant Baidu is reportedly raising …

Siam Commercial Bank — Thailand's oldest bank, established by royal charter back in 1907 — is cementing its reputation as a strong backer of innovative financial technologies. The institution's venture arm, SCB 10X, has today announced a new $50 million fund that will be dedicated to investments in global blockchain, decentralized finance and digital asset startups in their early and growth stages. The fund is just the latest of Siam Commercial Bank's forays into the blockchain and fintech space. The institution has previously partnered with Ripple on a blockchain-powered mobile app and worked with Azimo to use RippleNet for cross-border …

Several high-profile figures in finance and entertainment are reportedly backing a new venture capital crypto fund from former Digital Currency Group investor Travis Scher, Silver Lake Partners co-founder Glenn Hutchins, and his son James Hutchins. According to a report from Yahoo Finance, the crypto fund has raised roughly $72 million from investors including Paul Tudor Jones, rapper and actor LL Cool J, and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi. The Hutchins father and son team along with Scher will manage the fund through the New York-based company North Island Ventures. "We believe that crypto offers solutions to some of the world's …

Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Bitcoin (BTC) investment firm Pantera Capital, has maintained his bullish Bitcoin prediction for 2021. Bitcoin is poised to hit as much as $115,000 by August 2021, surging 200% in the next eight months, Morehead reportedly said at a conference call on Jan. 12. The exec initially made this prediction in August 2020, when Bitcoin was trading at about $11,600. At publishing time, the cryptocurrency is trading at over $38,000. On Tuesday, Morehead said that Bitcoin still has lots of room for growth: “Is bitcoin overvalued? I would say no. [...] Bitcoin has spent three …

In a largely celebratory community call devoted in part to commemorating lending protocol Aave’s January 8th “Aaveversary” — a full year of Aave on Ethereum mainnet — there was also a look into Aave’s possible future: a proposal from Delphi Digital seeking to fundamentally alter Aave’s Safety Module and create a new insurance product offering. Currently, $aave governance token holders can stake their tokens in the Safety Module, a pool of liquidity designed to help insure the protocol against a “shortfall event” such as a smart contract exploit. Stakers risk up to 30% of funds they lock in the Module, …