Institutional Update: FTX raises $420 million, Mythical Games valued at $1.25 billion

The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evident in the new investments in infrastructure and in the growing attention that companies devote to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of the past few weeks are in ForkLog’s review.

FTX exchange raises $420 million at a $25 billion valuation

FTX closed its Series B-1 financing round of $420.69 million, after which the company’s market value reached $25 billion.

Its investors include 69 backers, among them Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Sea Capital, IVP, ICONIQ Growth, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, as well as BlackRock-managed funds.

According to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the team aims to build a ‘transparent and regulation-compliant cryptocurrency platform’.

Alchemy’s blockchain infrastructure platform attracted $250 million at a $3.5 billion valuation

Positioning itself as the Amazon Web Services of the crypto world, the platform for blockchain developers Alchemy raised $250 million following a Series C financing round. The startup was valued at $3.5 billion.

The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). It also included Lightspeed, Redpoint, Coatue, Addition, DFJ and Pantera Capital.

The funds will be used to broaden access to its tools for developers, create educational resources, and bolster infrastructure. Plans include opening new offices in the United States and elsewhere, and increasing the number of supported blockchains.

Founded in 2017, the firm provides a broad range of tools for building decentralized exchanges and non-fungible token (NFT) platforms: from node management to so-called application functionality monitoring.

The Mythical Games, an NFT game developer, raises $150 million at a $1.25 billion valuation

Mythical Games raised $150 million to launch the multiplayer NFT game Blankos Block Party and a platform for creating similar applications.

The Series C round was led by a16z. It also included the bitcoin exchanges FTX and Binance, as well as D1 Capital, RedBird Capital and The Raine Group.

The valuation of Mythical Games reached $1.25 billion.

CoinList raised $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation

CoinList raised $100 million in a Series A financing round. The valuation stood at $1.5 billion.

The round was led by Accomplice VC and Agman Partners. Also participating were Alphemy Capital, CMT Digital, GoldenTree Asset Management and others.

The funds will be used to expand the team and scale activities.

The Sandbox NFT project raises $93 million to build a metaverse

The Hong Kong gaming platform The Sandbox raised $93 million in a funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

The app, available on iOS, Android and Windows, allows users to create their own universe within the game using a variety of elements.

The funds will help The Sandbox add NFTs to gameplay. This will enable users to monetise elements they create through the Ethereum ecosystem.

The cryptocurrency broker Voyager raises $75 million from Alameda Research

Voyager Digital raised $75 million from Sam Bankman-Fried’s venture firm Alameda Research. The parties emphasised that the investment is strategic.

The deal will allow the broker to expand its rewards programme.

Animoca Brands raises $65 million at a $2.2 billion valuation

The Hong Kong-based blockchain game developer Animoca Brands raised $65 million. The valuation reached $2.2 billion.

Investors included Liberty City Ventures, Ubisoft Entertainment, Sequoia China, Dragonfly Capital, Com2uS, Kingsway Capital, 10T Holdings, Tron founder Justin Sun, and others.

The funds will be used to finance strategic investments, product development and intellectual property licensing.

AscendEX raises $50 million from Polychain Capital and others

The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange AscendEX raised $50 million in a Series B financing led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC.

The round also included Alameda Research, Jump Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Eterna Capital, Acheron Trading, Nothing Research and Palm Drive Capital.

The funds will be used to accelerate international expansion and spur further product innovation.

Worldcoin by Sam Altman raises $25 million at a $1 billion valuation

The Berlin-based startup Worldcoin, behind the launch of the eponymous cryptocurrency, raised $25 million in a financing round led by a16z. Investors valued the project at $1 billion.

Participants also included Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group and a group of angel investors, including Sam Bankman-Fried and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Cross-chain exchange zkLink raises $8.5 million

The decentralised cross-chain exchange zkLink, built on the ZK-Rollups technology, raised $8.5 million in seed funding.

The round was led by Republic Crypto, with Arrington Capital, DeFi Alliance, Huobi Ventures, Ascensive Assets, Morningstar Ventures, GSR and Marshland Capital also participating.

The funds will be used to grow the team, launch the mainnet and add support for new features on the platform.

Also on ForkLog:

• Alan Howard and CMT Digital backed a $100 million fund focused on the metaverse.
• The Immunefi bug-bounty platform raised $5.5 million.
• The Solana-based Tulip Protocol raised $5 million.
• The Solana platform Synchrony Finance raised $4.2 million.
• Blockchain.com led a seed round of $2 million for Symbiosis Finance.

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