🐙$15 Billion Kraken Staking Structured Products - TWJ #120
Kraken expands its effort in the crypto staking business.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is slightly down with the total market cap sitting at $2-2.1 trillion. WAVES is the most significant laggard in the top 100 assets after USDN failed its $1 USD peg. Global bond markets experience more downside after Fed Brainard said the central bank will start balance sheet reduction as soon as next month.
In other news, Kraken plans to release structured products, Abra targets HNW clients with a new AM division, and Binance US raises $200M at a $4.5 billion valuation.
We’re continually improving our content, please reach out if you have ideas or would like us to recap another segment of the market.
- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)
📰Market News
⎆Kraken Plans to Release Structured Products
US-based crypto exchange Kraken has been one of the earliest adopters of staking products, cementing its dominance in the Proof-of-Stake staking market. To bolster its staking business, the firm plans to release structured products focusing on staking as a way to enhance its institutional clients’ offerings. This move comes roughly one year after Kraken acquired a crypto staking provider named Staked.
⎆Abra Targets HNW Clients
Crypto brokerage firm Abra launched a new asset management division named Abra Capital Management (ACM) to target high-net-worth clients. The firm plans to provide clients access to actively managed, structured products and investment funds.
ACM launched with plans for five funds, three of which will target yield-generating opportunities in stablecoins, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), and two others that will target early stage token and equity investments, the company said in a statement.
⎆Binance US Raises $200M at a $4.5 Billion Valuation
The US arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange has announced its $200M funding round at a $4.5 billion valuation. Previously, the firm failed to raise a $100M round, which was along the time that Brian Brooks (Binance US’ former CEO) left.
The firm has raised over $200 million in a seed round at a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion. Investors included RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, VanEck, Circle Ventures, Gaingels and Gold House. There was no lead investor for the round.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Polygon Launches KPI-based Liquidity Mining 2.0
Yearn Introduces ERC-4626
Ronin Expands its Validator Node Pool
Stader Introduces sFTMx
Neon EVM Alpha — Now Live on Solana Devnet
Alchemix v2 Raise Deposit Cap
Index Coop Introduces icETH
Sasha Ivanov has Moved $300mm WAVES to Binance
Drift Mobile is Live
LongHashX Accelerator Partnership with Terra
$GEAR is Live
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
Compound - Reduce MKR Borrow Limit
Compound - Risk Parameter Updates for YFI and SUSHI
Fei - FIP-94: Remove GOVERN_ROLE role from Rari timelock
Stability - ReactSwap
Uniswap - Polygon 1bp Fee Tier
Unlock - Changes to Governance
🦮NFT & Metaverse
HSBC Debuts Metaverse Investment Fund in Asia
Ledger Launches NFT-focused Hardware Wallet
LooksRare’s Public API is now Live
Coinbase’s NFT Strategy Questioned by Mizuho Analyst
Universal Music Group Files 4 Trademarks for Its Bored Ape Band Leader
NFT Market Rebounds After Weak March as Q1 Trading Tops $12 Billion
Kevin Smith to Release New Horror Film Via Secret Network NFTs
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
LEAP - $3.2m Unknown Round
Parallel Finance - $5M Unknown Round
ReadyPlayerDAO - $10.2M Unknown Round
Hivemapper - $18M Unknown Round
Starlight - $5M Seed Round
GOALS - $15M Seed Round
Boba Network - $45M Series A
Lightning Labs - $70M Series B
Coinmetrics - $35M Series C
Sky Mavis - $1550M from Binance to Reimburse Hacked Victims
Binance.US - $200M Seed Round
⚖️Regulatory Update
US Sanctions Russia’s Hydra Darknet, Adds 100 Bitcoin Wallets to OFAC List
US House of Rep to Consider Legislation on El Salvador’s BTC Adoption
EU Consultation Looks at Issues With a Digital Euro
Georgia Central Bank Plans to Introduce New Crypto Rules
FCA Friction Said to Spook Investors Over Copper’s Reported $500M Raise
U.K. Embraces Stablecoins as ‘Valid Form of Payment’
Sweden Wants to Test E-Krona Viability for Smart Payments
📚Noteworthy Reads
Misaka’s Thread on Transaction Quality Trilema
Galois Capital’s Thread on Peg Liquidity on Stablecoins
Tokenbrice’s Read on Advanced CRV Warfare: Analysis of Protocols Built on Top of Curve and Convex
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.