During the market downturn in March 2020, Bitcoin (BTC) fell over 50% in value across a two-day period. Traditional financial markets also dropped vastly in March. Although Bitcoin posted a standout recovery, going on to smash all-time price highs, one might wonder what, if any, condition could instigate a similar future drop for crypto’s largest asset. Dermot O'Riordan, partner at venture capital outfit Eden Block, recently gave his thoughts on the matter. “In the short-term Bitcoin’s value prop as a non-sovereign censorship resistant hedge to the dollar is growing stronger by the day,” O'Riordan told Cointelegraph. “Saying that, Bitcoin’s volatility …

Hashed, one of South Korea’s largest crypto asset fund managers, has raised $120 million to fund new blockchain ventures in the so-called “protocol economy.” The funds were raised via Hashed Ventures Inc., a new entity that will oversee the deployment of the nine-figure investment. The company has yet to disclose its backers, though a spokesman indicated that some of South Korea’s largest IT companies are involved. In the announcement, the company said: “Hashed plans to invest heavily in domestic and overseas startups that want to realize the'protocol economy,' which has recently emerged as a hot topic, as well as technology …

Mythos Capital founder Ryan Sean Adams called Ethereum killers “toothless” based on initial token allocation schemes that often prioritize insiders: Adams was referring to a recent Messari report, which summarized the token distribution for some of the most popular Ethereum (ETH) alternatives launched in the last couple of years. There are four main distribution categories: public presale, community allocations, insiders, and each project's respective foundations. The report's authors suggest that the proportion of tokens allocated to insiders (which includes team, company and VCs) is crucial when assessing projects, “projects that distribute tokens to insiders (team, founders, and VCs) at the …

Following the collapse of initial coin offerings, venture capital became the primary funding source for cryptocurrency projects. A slew of crypto-native funds opened their doors, one of them being Framework Ventures, a fund primarily investing in decentralized finance that was co-founded by Michael Anderson and Vance Spencer. Cointelegraph previously reported on Anderson’s philosophy of network capital, a change in investing mindset that is almost necessary in a space where decentralized protocols take the place of traditional companies and equity structures. Framework Ventures has made several investments, notably into Chainlink’s LINK token and Synthetix’s SNX token. But the fund is not …

Many believe that Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the art industry. To prove this hypothesis, a blockchain firm in Switzerland is hosting, alongside Cointelegraph, its first online event devoted to blockchain in art. CV Labs, the blockchain incubator arm of Swiss blockchain investment firm CV VC, has organized an online panel to discuss the hottest issues in areas of blockchain use for art. Titled “Blockchain in Art,” the online event will feature major industry players such as Niko Kipouros, CEO of 4ARTechnologies; Christina Steinbrecher, co-founder of Blockchain.art, a digital platform for artists and collectors; Nanne Dekking, CEO of …

Morgan Housel, partner at venture capital firm Collaborative Fund, said the government actually can control people's digital assets. In a recent podcast episode with Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano, Housel mentioned that some arguments in favor of crypto are illogical. "The idea that the government cannot touch your crypto [...], of course they can," he explained as an example, noting the industry views the assets as "hands-off," out of reach by the long arm of the law. Housel referred to the confiscation of gold almost 100 years ago as backing for his point. In 1933, while staring down the …

Pantera Capital, a crypto investment firm that has $600 million under management, had a very good year, but still not as good as 2018. According to a recent SEC disclosure, Pantera Venture Fund III has raised $164,705,834 to date — and a whopping $68,841,379 of that has come over the last twelve months. While the fund raised only $24,419,455 last year, it still has not topped its 2018 raise of $71,445,000. Pantera Capital fundraising 2018-2020. Source: Cointelelgraph, SEC. The average investor ticket size, which amounts to roughly $1.77 million, increased more than fourfold relative to 2019 and doubled versus 2018. …

Securing seed money for blockchain startups is a tricky business in normal times, but with a pandemic raging, it’s really touch-and-go. Private investors have been walking away from startup deals lately, looking to conserve working capital in uncertain economic times. But fortuitously, governments and government-like entities have been rushing in to fill the gaps. Richard Fetyko, founder of altFINS — a blockchain startup that enables crypto investors to screen, analyze and trade digital assets across exchanges — told Cointelegraph that he had an investor lined up to provide development and launch funding for the platform, “but then Covid rolled in.” …

Digital asset research and consulting firm Delphi Digital has launched a venture capital fund focused on emerging crypto asset projects. A July 30 announcement describes the move as allowing Delphi “to become more active participants" in the projects it believes “will make a material impact on the space” while opening new opportunities for the firm beyond participating in acquisitions and initial public offerings. The VC wing has been funded primarily using internal capital, with Delphi’s research and consulting business having been “fully bootstrapped” by its founders. The new Delphi Ventures arm will focus on “early-stage projects, a majority of which …

Big Four auditor PwC and Swiss blockchain investment firm CV VC, together with Cointelegraph, have released a preview for their new periodical report devoted to blockchain technology in various industries. Published on July 21, the report provides an overview of the upcoming full release featuring the top global blockchain companies focused on implementing blockchain technology in art. The report was co-authored by PwC and CV VC with contribution of PwC Switzerland and Nicolai Reinbold, ecosystem and incubator manager at CV VC. As part of the upcoming full release, CV VC's ecosystem CV Labs will host an online panel to discuss …

Johann Schneider-Ammann, who served as the President of Switzerland in 2016, recently joined the board of Crypto Valley Venture Capital, or CV VC. CV VC is a venture capital firm that invests in crypto firms near Zug, Switzerland, the “crypto valley” of the namesake firm. Corresponding with Cointelegraph, Schneider-Ammann credited CV VC with creating “its own ecosystem,” but saw blockchain as a major factor in Switzerland’s future: “I am fascinated by the potential of this new technology and I am convinced that this gives us in Switzerland a unique opportunity to become a leader in the technology of the future.” …

Tim Draper, a famous American venture capitalist and serial cryptocurrency investor, believes that initial public offerings, or IPOs, are not the best source of funding for industry firms. The billionaire investor joined the Unitize conference on July 6 to talk about investing in early stage blockchain startups. Draper’s thoughts on IPOs During the Unitize panel, Draper highlighted that existing regulations make it difficult for blockchain companies to go public. “I don’t recommend going public to anybody right now unless your company is worth at least $10 billion,” the investor said. Draper continued that it makes more sense for blockchain entrepreneurs …