👨🏻💻NEAR Foundation $150M Raise - The WAGMI Journal #62
SoLunAvax, FOAN, the layer 1 battle continues.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is down with the global market cap sitting at ~$2-2.1 trillion. SCRT led the past 24h price-performance amongst the top 100 crypto assets by market capitalization. Growth equities continue to face pressure as Fed policymakers continue their hawkish tones.
In other news, Dorsey’s Block confirms its BTC mining plan, DeFi Alliance becomes a DAO, and NEAR raised $150M from prominent VCs.
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
⎆Dorsey’s Block Confirms Plans for BTC Mining System
The company formerly known as Square is confirming its plan to develop a Bitcoin mining system. Founder Jack Dorsey emphasized that the firm aims to build a more open, decentralized, and efficient way to mine BTC; directly addressing the primary criticisms that BTC has been receiving in the past few years, environmental damage, and decentralization issues.
⎆DeFi Alliance Raised $50M & Converted to a DAO
The crypto-focused startup accelerator who took inspiration from the likes of Y-Combinator, DeFi Alliance, has announced its transition process to become a DAO. Rebranding its name to AllianceDAO, the firm aims to foster a crypto-native approach to community building and investing, replacing the centralized control that traditional startup accelerators such as Y-Combinator and Techstars still hold.
⎆NEAR Foundation Raised $150M
As the multichain battle continues amongst layer 1 protocol, the NEAR Foundation has raised a $150M funding round (token sale) from prominent VC firms. The round is led by 3AC with participation from Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, a16z, Jump, Alameda, and others. The foundation has also created an $800M grant fund to incentivize developers and fund projects in the NEAR ecosystem.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Yearn Finance Announces 7 new Yearn Vaults on both ETH and FTM
DeFi Alliance Goes Full DAO After Raising $50 Million
Alchemix V2 Coming Soon
DeFi Bribes Are on the Rise
EPNS Hits Ethereum Mainnet to Boost Links Between DeFi Projects and Users
Funds Lost to DeFi Hacks More Than Doubled to $1.3B in 2021: Certik
Zeta Markets is Going Live on the Solana Mainnet on Monday, 17-Jan-2022.
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
Angle - ANGLE Tokenomics Improvement
Compound - Risk Parameter Updates for ETH
Cryptex - CIP-11 Add AAVE and LINK Vaults
Gas DAO - Sushi LP Incentives
🦮NFT & Metaverse
Second Life Joins the Metaverse Discussion With the Return of Its Founder
World of Women Ethereum NFTs Prices Surge
China Aims to Separate NFTs from Crypto via New Blockchain Infrastructure
LÜM to Launch ‘Access Pass’ NFTs for 25 Globally Known Musicians
Candy Digital Launches Marketplace for Major League Baseball NFTs
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
It was suspected that these trades were wash trading on the LooksRare marketplace.
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
Allbridge - $2M Unknown Round
Friktion Labs - $5.5M Unknown Round
Proof of Learn - $15M Unknown Round
Conduit - $17M Unknown Round
Alliance DAO - $50M Incubator Fund
Near - $150M Token Deal
Seashell - $6M Seed Round
Bitria - Undisclosed Amount of Acquisition by Gemini
⚖️Regulatory Update
SEC Must Surrender Hinman Email on Ether to Ripple, Judge Rules
OCC Chief Hsu Says Regulation Could Boost Stablecoin Innovation
Judiciary Advisor Calls for English Law to Keep Pace With Crypto
FDIC Still Unclear if USDF Stablecoin Is FDIC-Insurable
Palau President Talks Stablecoin Plans
📚Noteworthy Reads
Kaleo’s Thread on Trading Process
Cpt n3mo’s Thread on Token Airdrops
Sandra Leow’s Thread on ve(3,3)
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.