👨💻StarkWare $8 Billion Valuation - TWJ #152
Ethereum L2 scaling is looking more promising.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is flat with the total market cap at ~$1.2-1.3 trillion. AVAX is the worst performer in the top 100 in the past 7-d. The Fed revised its preferred inflation gauge forecast -- the personal consumption expenditure index -- to 4.3% in 2022 before decelerating to 2.5% in 2023.
In other news, StarkWare hits an $8 billion valuation, Babel Finance hits a $2 billion valuation, and Ark Invest refiles BTC spot ETF.
We’re continually improving our content, please reach out if you have ideas or want us to recap another market segment.
- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)
📰Market News
⎆Starkware’s Valuation Quadruples to $8 Billion
Ethereum scaling solution that focuses on ZK-rollup technology, StarkWare, has raised a $100M Series D funding round at an $8 billion valuation. The new round was led by Greenoaks and Caotue, with participation from Tiger Global.
⎆Babel Finance Hits $2 Billion Valuation
Hong Kong-based Babel Finance raised an $80M Series B funding round at a valuation of $2 billion. Notable firms such as 10T Holdings, Dragonfly Capital, and Circle Ventures participated in the round. There was no lead investor in the round.
We’re seeing more and more DeFi firms with a focus on connecting the decentralized digital economy with real-world practical use-cases. Although the business model amongst these firms will vary, we’re seeing an emergence of the likes of Babel, Goldfinch, and others.
⎆Ark and 21SHARES Refile for Spot Bitcoin ETF
Having been rejected earlier in April, Ark Invest and 21Shares have refiled their Bitcoin spot ETF on May 13 which includes a proposed rule change from the CBOE BZX exchange. The new deadline is January 24, 2023.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Terra Prop 1747 to Burn Remaining UST will be End in Less than 24 Hours
Terra 2.0 is Coming
Lido Votes Against Supporting New Terra Blockchain
Ethereum Beacon Chain Experienced a Deep Reorg
Celestia Launches Testnet
Drift Settlement Update
Dopex Interest Rate Options is now Live
ApeCoin DAO to Build an Avalanche Subnet Proposal
Injective Partners with Wormhole to Bring 10 New Blockchains
InsurAce Says It Will Pay Millions to Claimants after Terra's Collapse
Wormhole Bridge Expands to Cosmos Ecosystem
Jae Kwon Returns to ‘NewTendermint’ to Battle for the Soul of Cosmos
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
🦮NFT & Metaverse
29 Moonbirds were Stolen by Clicking a Bad Link
Mirror Introduces Writing NFTs
‘Love, Death + Robots’ Returns to Netflix With NFT Scavenger Hunt
NFL and Mythical Games to Launch 'Play-and-Own' NFT Game 'NFL Rivals'
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
Commonwealth - $20M Unknown Round
MetaKing Studios - $15M Seed Round
ZenLedger - $15M Series B
Babel Finance - $80M Series B
StarkWare - $100M Series D
Volt Capital - $50M 2nd Crypto Fund
NGC Ventures - $100M Web3 Focused Fund
⚖️Regulatory Update
India's Crypto Policy Body Says No Contempt of Court Challenge vs. RBI
Portuguese Congress Rejects Two Bills Seeking to Tax Crypto
Paraguayan Bill Regulating Crypto Mining and Trading Moves Closer to Law
Circle Asks US Fed Not to Step on Its Toes by Launching a Digital Dollar
Binance to Advise on Crypto Strategy as Kazakhstan Looks to Boost Industry
📚Noteworthy Reads
Ivo’s Thread on MPC vs Smart Wallet
Richard Excell’s Read on Institutional Money in Crypto
Andrew T’s Thread on Market Condition
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.