The cryptocurrency industry is drawing an increasing number of institutional players. This is evident in the growing investments in infrastructure and in the rising attention companies are paying to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most notable developments of the past weeks are in ForkLog’s roundup.
Polygon raises $450 million from Sequoia Capital India and other investors
The Polygon team raised $450 million from Sequoia Capital India with the participation of more than 40 venture investors.
Tiger Global and SoftBank via Vision Fund 2, as well as Galaxy Digital, Republic Capital, Makers Fund, Alameda Research, Sino Global Capital, billionaire Alan Howard, Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian, Animoca Brands, Spartan Fund, Dragonfly Capital, TV personality Kevin O’Leary and others participated in the round.
The raised funds will be used to develop its solutions and deploy Web 3.0 applications.
Compute North raises $385 million to expand mining infrastructure in the United States
The Minnesota-based mining infrastructure solutions provider raised $385 million to develop new data centers in the United States.
Of that amount, $85 million comprised the Series C round led by Mercuria, Generate Capital and National Grid Partners.
Another $300 million came as debt financing from Generate Capital, which participated in the round.
The Minnesota-based company plans to use the funds to build new hosting facilities in the United States, in Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas.
Alchemy, the blockchain infrastructure platform, raises $200 million at a $10 billion valuation
The platform for blockchain developers, positioning itself as the Amazon Web Services of the crypto world, raised $200 million in a further Series C funding round.
The startup was valued at $10.2 billion. The round was led by Lightspeed Ventures and Silver Lake. It also included Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coatue and Pantera.
Founded in 2017, the company provides a wide range of tools for creating decentralised exchanges and NFT platforms: from node management to monitoring the functionality of applications.
Amber Group raises $200 million at a $3 billion valuation
The cryptocurrency platform Amber Group raised $200 million in a Series B+ financing round led by Singapore’s investment holding Temasek. Investors valued the company at $3 billion.
The round also included Sequoia China, Pantera Capital, Tiger Global Management, True Arrow Partners and Coinbase Ventures.
CEO Michael Wu said the funds would help meet institutional demand in Europe and the Americas. The firm will also continue to develop the WhaleFin app and the OpenVerse division.
Founded in 2017, Amber Group offers a wide range of products for institutional and retail investors: market-making services, trading services, investment instruments and DeFi infrastructure.
Total assets under management exceed $5 billion. The company serves more than 1,000 institutional clients worldwide.
A privacy-focused project Aleo raises $200 million
The privacy-focused platform for building decentralized applications with enhanced privacy Aleo closed a $200 million Series B financing round. It was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Kora Management.
Financing also provided by Tiger Global, a16z, Samsung Ventures, Slow Ventures and Sea Capital.
Under the deal SoftBank and Kora received one seat each on Aleo’s board. As of writing, seats have not been allocated to specific representatives of the firms, said Aleo’s CEO and CTO Howard Wu.
Representatives said they would expand Aleo’s developer grant program from $1 million to $5 million.
The project aims to facilitate the creation of zero-knowledge proof-based applications that protect privacy and data security.
The idea of Aleo is an internal ecosystem extending beyond simply creating yet another privacy-focused app, such as a virtual private network. The mainnet launch is planned for the third quarter of 2022.
Metaverse-focused Everyrealm raises $60 million from a16z and Coinbase Ventures
The digital real estate-focused investment company Republic Realm raised $60 million in a Series A round and announced a rebrand. It is now called Everyrealm.
The round was led by a16z. Financing also provided by Coinbase Ventures, Dapper Labs, The Sandbox, Animoca Brands and other investors.
Everyrealm is actively buying digital real estate and developing related projects. In June 2021 the company bought a block of 259 virtual land parcels in Decentraland for $913,000, and in November spent a record $4.3 million on a land plot in The Sandbox.
Tiger Global and Ripple back Philippine digital asset exchange PDAX in $50 million funding round
Philippine cryptocurrency exchange Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX) raised more than $50 million in a Series B round led by U.S. investment firm Tiger Global Management.
Participants included Kingsway Capital, Jump Capital, Draper Dragon, Oak Drive Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Ripple and UBX Ventures — the venture arm of UnionBank. The platform was also backed by Beenext Ventures and Cadenza Capital Management, which led seed and Series A rounds.
According to PDAX CEO Nichel Gabay, the funds will be used to meet growing demand in the NFT and Play-To-Earn segments.
Axelar raises $35 million at a $1 billion valuation
The cross-chain interoperability network Axelar closed a $35 million Series B round. The valuation of the startup reached $1 billion.
Investors included Polychain Capital and Dragonfly Capital. North Island Ventures, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Cygni Capital, Lemniscap, Olive Tree Capital, Blockchange Ventures and Node Capital also participated.
The funds will be used to further develop the ecosystem. In late January Axelar began phased deployment of the mainnet, as well as adding validators, integrating wallets, and configuring monitoring tools and node infrastructure.
The team plans to launch a beta version of the Satellite application on the mainnet. The Dapp will enable asset transfers across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Terra, Avalanche and Moonbeam.
Former ConsenSys executive’s startup Aligned raises $34 million
The startup Aligned raised $34 million in funding. Founded by former ConsenSys chief strategy officer Sam Cassatt, the firm focuses on Web 3.0 infrastructure.
Aligned was backed by GSR, Altium Capital, Cavalry Fund and Ninja4, as well as several angel investors. There was no lead investor in the round.
According to Cassatt, the firm aims to become the equivalent of Amazon Web Services for the future decentralized Internet. The hardware and infrastructure behind the startup enable such a solution, the entrepreneur said.
Cassatt announced plans to expand Aligned’s operations and grow the team, which currently numbers 30 people.
OpenNode, Bitcoin payment processor, raises $20 million at $220 million valuation
The Los Angeles-based Bitcoin processor OpenNode closed a Series A round of $20 million at a $220 million valuation. It was led by Kingsway Capital.
Participants also included Twitter, Tim Draper and the Fidelity Investments-backed Avon Ventures fund.
The funds will be used to launch a digital wallet and an account-linked payment card. The company will also expand its team.
Also on ForkLog:
- Ethereum wallet Rainbow raised $18 million.
- Wirex raised $15 million in investments and opened job openings for developers in Ukraine.
- Banger Games raised €10 million to build a gaming blockchain hub.
- A Web 3.0-focused startup raised $7.5 million from Coinbase and other investors.
- Pantera Capital and Coinbase invested in the GameFi project Summoners Arena.
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