Last week, there were a total of 36 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, setting a new annual high | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

According to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, between March 8 and March 14, there were a total of 36 public financing events in the blockchain industry, setting a new high for the number of financings this year. The focus was mainly on sectors such as DeFi, Polkadot ecosystem, and exchanges, with investment institutions like Alameda, CMS, and Genesis Block being the most active.

1. DeFi:

1. DeFi smart investment advisory platform DAOventures announces completion of $1.4 million financing

On March 8, Singapore's DeFi smart investment advisory platform DAOventures announced the completion of $1.4 million in financing, with participating investment institutions including Genesis Block Ventures, Astronaut Capital, Ascensive Asset Management, Moonrock Capital, Zero2Launch, JUN Capital Partners, Faculty Capital, and X21 Digital.

DAOventures aims to lower the investment threshold for DeFi, becoming a smart investment advisor for a wide range of users, allowing more people to freely participate and easily complete DeFi investments. Through DAOventures, users can access a variety of DeFi products in one place, including smart investment advisory, lending, fund management, derivatives, and decentralized insurance.

2. xDeFi completes million-dollar private placement financing, set to launch on Ethereum mainnet and issue token XDEX

On March 8, the decentralized finance protocol stack xDeFi announced the completion of million-dollar private placement financing, with investment institutions including Spark Digital Capital, Dorahacks Ventures, Qtum Foundation, Youbi Capital, Waterdrip Capital, Liu Yi Capital, Hotbit Technologies, Incuba Alpha Labs, Carbon Blue Ventures, Skywater Capital, and HBTC Labs. Currently, xDeFi is conducting the second round of testing on the Ethereum Kovan testnet, and the project contract has passed security audits by SlowMist and CertiK, with plans to launch on the Ethereum mainnet and issue its mainnet token XDEX soon.

xDeFi includes but is not limited to xDEX (as an optimized automated market-making exchange), xHalfLife (as a liquidity payment protocol for delayed unlocking), and xOption (as European-style capped options for low-frequency hedging of spot risks).

3. DeFi risk management platform Saffron completes over $2 million financing

On March 8, the DeFi risk management platform Saffron completed over $2 million in financing, with investment institutions including Dragonfly Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

Saffron Finance is a DeFi protocol that introduces risk-selectable convertible bonds, allowing its users to obtain customizable risk management. Users of the protocol can choose from different mainstream token liquidity pools (DAI, ETH, SUSHI, etc.) and can personally decide how much risk they are willing to take by joining specific convertible bonds. It is currently the only DeFi protocol in the field that achieves this functionality.

4. Decentralized autonomous organization StakeWise completes $2 million financing

On March 8, the decentralized autonomous organization StakeWise completed $2 million in financing. The participating parties have not been disclosed. It is reported that StakeWise aims to make it easier for Ethereum users to stake Ethereum 2.0.

5. Decentralized service protocol Automata Network completes $1 million financing, Alameda Research participates

On March 9, the decentralized service protocol Automata Network announced its official launch and has secured $1 million in investment. This seed round financing was co-led by various blockchain and decentralized protocol investors, including Genesis Block Ventures, IOSG Ventures, and Alameda Research.

Automata Network is a decentralized service protocol designed to enhance DApp or application privacy features built on decentralized networks. Automata Network can provide seamless privacy services similar to middleware for applications on Ethereum, Polkadot, and Binance Smart Chain.

6. OpenOcean completes strategic financing, Binance, LD Capital, Multicoin, etc. participate

On March 9, the decentralized aggregation protocol OpenOcean.Finance (OpenOcean) announced that it has completed strategic financing. This round of financing was led by Binance, with other investors including Multicoin Capital, LD Capital, CMS Holdings, Kenetic, and Altonomy.

OpenOcean is a leading aggregation protocol on Binance Smart Chain and has aggregated four major public chains (Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Tron, and Ontology).

7. DeFi protocol Solv Markets completes seed round million-dollar financing, Axia8, IOSG, Spartan Group co-lead

On March 9, the DeFi protocol Solv Markets announced the completion of million-dollar seed round financing. This round was co-led by Axia8 Ventures, IOSG Ventures, and Spartan Group, with participation from GBV, Hashed, Krypital Group, and Mapleleaf Capital.

The Solv Markets protocol was initiated by well-known experts in the blockchain and DeFi fields, Meng Yan, Wang Wei, and Zhou Zhiqiang, and aims to build a diversified NFT trading platform based on a new note-type token protocol. Solv supports new features such as forward contracts, NFT share splitting, and mortgage installment payments. Solv is committed to bringing diversified financial and collectible NFTs and innovative trading models to the market.

8. Privacy payment project MobileCoin raises $11.35 million in latest two rounds of financing

On March 20, the privacy payment project MobileCoin (MOB) raised $11.35 million in two rounds of financing, with investors including Future Ventures and General Catalyst.

MobileCoin was founded in 2017 and is based in San Francisco, USA, aiming to enable everyone to conduct cryptocurrency transactions quickly and easily while maintaining privacy and decentralization.

9. DeFi protocol Sommelier announces $3.5 million financing, founder is former core developer of Cosmos

On March 10, the DeFi protocol Sommelier announced that it has obtained $3.5 million in financing led by Standard Crypto, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Alameda Ventures, Proper Cygni, and Power Planet Holdings. It is reported that the funds will be used for the development of the Sommelier multi-chain protocol and its DeFi applications, which are expected to launch in the first quarter of 2021.

The Sommelier protocol enhances the ability to compute and execute Ethereum transactions, programmatically planning DeFi liquidity across the Ethereum network, greatly improving the experience for developers and liquidity providers. It is known that the founder Zaki Marian was previously a core developer of Cosmos and head of Tendermint, leaving Cosmos in February 2020.

10. Digital identity protocol Shyft Network completes new round of strategic financing, Spartan Group and Bitfury participate

On March 11, the digital identity protocol Shyft Network announced the completion of a new round of strategic financing, with participants including Spartan Group, Bitfury, Blockchange, Morningstar Ventures, CoinFund, BlockTower, Maven 11, Connect Capital, GSR, Bering Waters, LD Capital, YBB Foundation, and Digital Finance Group. The financing amount has not been disclosed.

Shyft Network is a blockchain public protocol that allows for the secure transmission of cryptographically verified data. Shyft Network is developing compliance tools for decentralized finance to help mainstream financial institutions enter the DeFi space in a compliant manner.

11. BlockFi completes $350 million Series D financing at a $3 billion valuation

On March 11, cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi confirmed the completion of $350 million in Series D financing, currently valued at $3 billion. The investors in this round include Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures. BlockFi stated that the funds from this financing will be used to launch a Bitcoin credit card, expand internationally, and make strategic acquisitions.

12. Bitcoin brokerage River Financial completes $12 million Series A financing

On March 11, Bitcoin brokerage River Financial announced that it has completed $12 million in Series A financing. The company's CEO Alex Leishman stated that since its launch last summer, River Financial has accumulated nearly $1 billion in assets under management.

River Financial, formerly known as Alto Financial, aims to create a modern financial bridge to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, providing cutting-edge technical support such as the Lightning Network.

13. DeFi smart wealth management platform SIL.Finance completes $1.3 million private placement financing

On March 12, the DeFi smart wealth management platform SIL.Finance (Sister in Law) announced the completion of private placement financing, raising a total of $1.3 million. This round of financing was co-led by Axia8 Ventures and Jin Ke Capital, with participation from Genesis Block Ventures, Everest Venture Group, Lotus Capital, Cabin VC, AU21, and other early-stage supporters both domestically and internationally, including Boxmining, CryptoDaku, Lil Lambo, Garlam, and Crypto Dorm.

14. DeFi lending protocol Alchemix raises $4.9 million, CMS Holdings, Alameda Research participate

On March 14, the DeFi lending protocol Alchemix announced that it has raised $4.9 million in financing, with participation from 10 investors including industry leaders CMS Holdings and Alameda Research, as well as emerging crypto venture capital firms such as eGirl Capital. Other investors include Immutable Capital, Nascent, Protoscale Capital, LedgerPrime, Fisher8 Capital, Orthogonal Trading, and an undisclosed individual.

Alchemix is a DeFi protocol that helps users access future yields from deposits through a synthetic asset token model. The protocol allows users to withdraw part of their temporarily staked stablecoin deposits.

15. On-chain options protocol FinNexus completes $1.5 million financing

On March 8, the on-chain options protocol FinNexus (FNX) completed $1.5 million in financing, with participants including IOSG Ventures, Shata Capital, Parallel Ventures, DeFi Capital, SevenX Ventures, Incube Alpha Labs, and D1 Ventures.

FinNexus is a decentralized derivatives and options project, with the first derivative product being decentralized options for cryptocurrencies. FNX is the platform token of FinNexus, with multiple attributes including platform governance, management, revenue, and circulation.

2. Exchanges:

1. Cryptocurrency exchange FalconX completes $50 million financing, Tiger Global and B Capital Group lead

On March 12, cryptocurrency exchange FalconX completed a new round of $50 million financing, led by Tiger Global and B Capital Group, with participation from Accel, Coinbase Ventures, and Avon Ventures.

FalconX is a cryptocurrency exchange focused on institutional investors, with net revenue growing 46 times in the past 12 months.

2. Cryptocurrency exchange BTSE completes $22 million financing, valuation reaches $400 million

On March 12, cryptocurrency exchange BTSE announced that it has completed $22 million in Series A financing at the end of January, with a valuation reaching $400 million, mainly from a family office in Hong Kong.

BTSE, founded in 2018, is a licensed trading platform for various cryptocurrencies and derivatives, supporting 13 fiat currencies and offering up to 100x leverage and fiat channels.

3. Polkadot:

1. Storage acceleration network Meson Network completes $900,000 seed round financing, Mask Network, Yuobi, and SevenX participate

On March 8, the next-generation storage acceleration network Meson, based on blockchain Layer 2, announced the completion of $900,000 in seed round financing, with investors including Mask Network, Youbi Capital, SevenX, Zonff Partners, PAKA, Incuba Alpha, and Kernel Ventures.

Meson aggregates idle servers through mining, schedules bandwidth resources, and serves the file and streaming acceleration market, including traditional websites, videos, live broadcasts, and blockchain storage solutions. Meson decouples storage and data reading, building a low-cost commercial file caching layer on Layer 1 storage public chains, enabling large-scale application of blockchain storage in real business environments while monetizing idle servers.

2. CereNetwork completes $5 million private placement financing, mainnet to launch at the end of March

On March 11, the decentralized data cloud platform Cere Network based on the Polkadot ecosystem completed $5 million in private placement financing, led by Republic Labs, with participation from OKEx's Block Dream Fund, Kenetic Capital, NGC Ventures, Woodstock Fund, JRR Capital, Ledger Prime, G1 Ventures, ZB Exchange, and Gate Exchange.

Cere Network is the first decentralized data cloud platform built on Polkadot, optimized for service data integration and collaboration. Previously, the project focused on CRM ecosystem platforms. Their solutions can capture the entire customer process on the blockchain and store key user data in user wallets, such as purchases, achievements, and usage.

3. Decentralized data query service SubQuery announces completion of $1.8 million financing, D1 Ventures participates

On March 12, the decentralized data query service SubQuery announced the completion of $1.8 million in seed and private placement financing, with participation from DeFi Alliance, D1 Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Digital Finance Group (DFG), and The Lao. Previously, SubQuery received a grant from the Web3 Foundation in December 2020 to build the initial phase of SubQuery.

SubQuery is used to transform and query data for the future Web3 world, enabling the Polkadot and Substrate communities to find and use data faster and more reliably. Their services will allow users to extract, transform, retain, and query data, connecting and displaying data in the future.

4. Polkadot DeFi project Reef Finance receives $20 million investment from Alameda Research

On March 12, Polkadot DeFi project Reef Finance raised $20 million through the sale of REEF tokens, with Alameda Research as the investor. Previously, Reef Finance had raised $3.9 million through a token private placement, with investors including NGC Ventures, QCP Capital, and other venture capital firms. Reef hopes to use this funding to further develop its protocol for mainnet issuance. The project also plans to offer bug bounties and developer grant programs. Additionally, Reef will achieve cross-chain integration with Serum on Solana.

Reef is a smart liquidity aggregator and yield engine that combines liquidity from CEX and DEX, providing trading services while also offering users AI-driven smart lending, collateralization, and minting features powered by the Reef Yield Engine.

5. Polkaswitch completes $3 million seed round financing, LD Capital, Signum Capital participate

On March 13, the cross-chain liquidity protocol Polkaswitch based on Polkadot announced the completion of $3 million in seed round financing, led by Arrington Capital and Ascensive Assets, with participation from LD Capital, Signum Capital, Bitscale Capital, DFG, Gestalt Capital, Waterdrip Capital, and Vendetta Capital.

Polkaswitch is building a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol for Polkadot and Ethereum, which will be based on the synergy of these two blockchain ecosystems. By combining Ethereum's network effects and mature development toolsets with Polkadot's scalable architecture, Polkaswitch aims to create a powerful DeFi primitive for seamless cross-chain swaps.

6. Polkadot ecosystem data infrastructure component Kylin Network receives strategic investment from Blocksync Ventures

On March 14, Blocksync Ventures announced its investment in the Polkadot ecosystem data infrastructure component Kylin Network. It is reported that Blocksync Ventures participated in Kylin Network's seed round and private placement financing months ago. Other investors in Kylin include DFG, AU21, Signum Capital, CMS, Rarestone, X21 Digital, and Master Ventures.

Kylin is a decentralized Oracle network supported by Polkadot, providing multiple real-time data sources. It offers a reliable, efficient, and trustless solution for off-chain data, operating in a decentralized and scalable manner.

4. NFT:

1. Crypto art NFT platform BCA completes $2 million angel round financing, Distributed Capital and Zonff Partners lead

On March 11, BCA (BlockCreateArt) and its crypto art NFT trading platform BCAEX raised $2 million in angel round financing, led by Distributed Capital and Zonff Partners, with participation from Waterdrop Capital and several angel investors.

BCA is a crypto art NFT platform that integrates crypto art creation, trading, investment collection, and crypto culture education output.

2. NFT game Illuvium completes $5 million seed round financing, Framework leads

On March 12, NFT game Illuvium announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from IOSG Ventures, LD Capital, Delphi Digital, YBB Foundation Ltd, Stake Capital, Moonwhale Ventures, Lotus Capital, Blocksync Ventures, Bitscale Capital, Spartan Capital, Quantstamp, Yield Guild Games, and Bitcoin.com, with individual investors including Kain Warwick (Synthetix), Stani Kulechov (Aave), Anton Bukov (1inch), and Santiago Roel Santos (ParaFi).

Illuvium is an open-world RPG game that includes collectible and auto-battle elements. The team plans to recruit more top talent to create a AAA-level game based on NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to meet the needs of players, collectors, and crypto enthusiasts. Illuvium plans to launch an LBP liquidity bootstrapping pool on Balancer on March 30, with more information to follow. The project will be built on the Ethereum Layer 2 solution Immutable X and is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year.

3. NFT open-source lending platform Starter completes $400,000 seed round financing

On March 14, the NFT open-source lending platform Starter completed $400,000 in seed round financing, with investors including Magnus Capital, Tenzor Capital, Prometheus Labs, Pluto Digital Assets, X21 Digital, and Solidity Ventures.

Starter is a blockchain platform for entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators, driving the future of token-based fundraising activities, allowing users to launch crowdfunding or various token-based activities in minutes.

5. Others:

1. Blockchain development company Blockchain Foundry completes private placement financing of 10 million CAD

On March 8, North American blockchain development company Blockchain Foundry Inc. announced that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional investors to privately issue 29,792,595 shares of common stock and warrants, with a purchase price of CAD 0.3375 per share and related warrants, raising a total of approximately CAD 10 million (about USD 7.9162 million).

Blockchain Foundry's mission is to change the way software development and data provision are conducted. With data security as a top priority, it utilizes blockchain to store data, ensuring that all projects have cryptographic technology; it does not focus on specific blockchain protocols but rather on the application of blockchain technology beyond the financial sector while exploring private blockchains and providing blockchain consulting services.

2. Starry Endpoint Bertex raises over 10 million RMB in angel round financing, investment from Bitmain's fund

On March 8, Beijing Starry Endpoint Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as Starry Endpoint) announced the completion of over 10 million RMB in angel round financing, with investment from Bitmain Group's fund, Sienian Dalu Technology Center.

Starry Endpoint aims to realize the vision of integrating blockchain with daily life, quickly establishing an initial customer network in cooperation with CRM company Qunmai. Its business scope includes the sale of self-developed products; computer system services; basic software services; application software services; software development; software consulting, etc.

3. NYDIG completes $200 million financing, Soros Fund participates

On March 8, the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) completed $200 million in financing, with investors including Soros Fund Management, Morgan Stanley, and insurance giant MassMutual. NYDIG's CEO stated that these companies are not just investors; NYDIG will collaborate with them on "Bitcoin-related" programs involving investment management, insurance, banking, clean energy, and philanthropy.

NYDIG is a digital asset investment group based in New York, providing fully licensed, institutional-grade investment management, custody, and execution services in the digital asset market.

4. Listed mining company Argo raises approximately £268 million for additional investment in Pluto Digital Assets and other purposes

On March 9, UK-listed mining company Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) announced that it has completed a financing round that will enable it to make follow-on investments in Pluto Digital Assets and seek strategic opportunities in cryptocurrency mining, capital investment, DeFi, and Web 3.0 plans, as well as general working capital.

5. Crypto custody institution Komainu raises $25 million, led by Alan Howard

On March 9, the crypto custody institution Komainu, established by Nomura Securities, CoinShares, and Ledger, raised $25 million in a new round of financing, led by veteran hedge fund manager Alan Howard, with other investors including Galaxy Digital, NOIA Capital, and Nomura Research Institute.

Komainu is the first regulated digital asset custody solution built for institutions. It has the necessary regulatory, technical, and operational capabilities, aiming to become the ideal partner for institutions seeking investment opportunities in the digital asset industry.

6. Crypto venture capital firm Pluto raises approximately $40 million, led by Argo Blockchain Plc

On March 10, crypto venture capital and technology company Pluto Digital Assets PLC announced that it has raised approximately $40 million in its third round of financing, led by Argo Blockchain Plc, with participation from two other listed companies, Pires Investments Plc and Riverfort Global Opportunities Plc.

Previously, UK-listed mining company Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) announced that it had completed approximately £26.8 million in financing, enabling it to make follow-on investments in Pluto Digital Assets and seek strategic opportunities in cryptocurrency mining, capital investment, DeFi, and Web 3.0 plans, as well as general working capital.

7. MetisDAO receives strategic investment from Block Dream Fund, plans to provide more resources to support Metis' development

On March 10, Layer 2 DAO infrastructure protocol Metis announced that Block Dream Fund, an investment institution under OKEx, has strategically invested in MetisDAO and plans to provide more resources to support Metis' development. Previously, Metis completed $1 million in angel and seed round financing, with investors including Ralf P. Gerteis, P1X Capital, Waterdrip Capital, CatcherVC, and former Tron co-founder Liu Ming.

Metis is an open framework built on Layer 2 protocols for the creation, management, and development of decentralized autonomous companies (DACs). It distinguishes between DAOs and DACs, describing the latter as a subclass of DAOs. DAOs focus on governance issues, while DACs are specifically designed to address the daily operations and management of projects. It focuses on building sustainable, decentralized companies on high-performance underlying blockchains through the DAC framework.

8. Private network solution Start9 Labs completes $1.2 million financing

On March 12, the self-sovereignty and private network solution Start9 Labs recently completed $1.2 million in financing, with participation from Collider Ventures, Ten31, and ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees. The funds will be used to promote the further development of its hardware Embassy and to develop more decentralized application store applications and a killer communication application.

The Embassy developed by Start9 Labs is a plug-and-play personal server for running self-hosted software, similar to a user's private cloud, capable of installing open-source tools such as Bitcoin, Lightning Network, data storage, password management, and instant messaging, based on Raspberry Pi hardware.

9. Cosmos ecosystem dVPN project Sentinel completes $3.5 million financing, mainnet to launch on March 27

On March 12, the Cosmos ecosystem dVPN project Sentinel announced the completion of $3.5 million in financing and will launch its mainnet on March 27. The investors in this round include Woodstock Fund, AGE Fund, Atka Capital, Pangea Blockchain, Exnetwork Capital, as well as other investment institutions and individual investors. Sentinel will use the funds to increase development resources dedicated to the Sentinel Cosmos Hub and Sentinel dVPN network, as well as to expand the community and increase user adoption.

Sentinel aims to provide an SDK to simplify integration with third-party applications and will create dedicated networks for work, communication, and general access.

10. Digital securities issuance platform STOKR completes Pre-A round financing, Bitfinex participates

On March 13, Luxembourg-based digital securities issuance platform STOKR announced that it has recently completed Pre-A round financing, with participation from Borderless Capital, G1 Ventures, Utopia Genesis, and Bitfinex. STOKR stated that it plans to use the funds to expand its investment platform to meet the growing demand for security token offerings (STOs) that comply with EU standards.

Data shows that in the first quarter of 2021, STOKR plans to facilitate the tokenization of assets worth over €100 million (approximately $120 million).