The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure, and the increasing attention that companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in the ForkLog review.
Startup Auradine raised $80 million
The Auradine blockchain project, focused on privacy and artificial intelligence, has closed a Series B funding round in the amount of $80 million.
Thrilled to announce our $80M Series B funding. Getting great customer momentum with $80M in bookings achieved. https://t.co/vPkV3SJcQK#ai #genai #blockchain #bitcoin #bitcoinmining #bitcoininvestments
— Auradine (@Auradine_Inc) April 10, 2024Investments were provided by Celesta Capital, Mayfield Fund, Marathon Digital, StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures and Maverick Capital.
Auradine develops "breakthrough solutions in the field of scalability, sustainability and security", and also manufactures Teraflux ASIC miners.
The company has supplied devices to more than 30 leading cryptocurrency mining firms. Auradine's order volume reached $80 million.
According to Rajiv Khemani, co-founder and CEO of the company, the fresh capital will be used to increase production capacity and accelerate the development of new products.
In May 2023, Auradine raised $81 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firms Celesta Capital and Mayfield.
Bitcoin Scaling Network Mezo Raised $21 Million
The bitcoin scaling network Mezo has closed a $21 million funding round. This is reported by The Block.
It was headed by Pantera Capital with the participation of Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, ParaFi Capital, Nascent, Draper Associates, Primitive Ventures, Asymmetric Ventures and other investors.
Matt Luongo, the founder of Mezo and CEO of the Thesis project, refused to disclose the startup's valuation, but announced plans to issue a token. He called the network an "economic tier" that will focus on building an ecosystem of applications based on user needs.
Mezo uses "HODL proof" as a consensus mechanism. Users will ensure the security of the network by blocking BTC and MEZO tokens.
According to the project's website, at the time of writing, its TVL exceeds $81 million. 2616 hodlers entrusted their funds to the startup. Mezo employs 48 people and plans to double its staff by the end of 2024.
Puffer Finance's Liquid Restaking Protocol raised $18 million
Puffer Finance's Liquid Restaking Protocol has closed an $18 million Series A funding round.
https://t.co/QMz8d8LlP4
— Puffer Finance 🐡 (@puffer_finance) April 16, 2024It was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Electric Capital with the participation of Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Mechanism Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Consensys, Animoca, GSR, Lemniscap and other investors.
The co-founder of the protocol, Amir Foruzani, said that the project received funding from SAFT. The valuation of tokens has increased to $200 million.
According to Defi Llama, at the time of writing, the TVL of the project is $ 1.2 billion, which provides it with the third place in the ranking of liquid restaking protocols after Ether.Fi and Renzo.
With the new capital, the team intends to launch a mainnet that will expand the participation of validators in the Ethereum ecosystem and strengthen its decentralization.
In January, Binance's venture capital arm invested an undisclosed amount in Puffer Finance.
The Centrifuge DeFi protocol has raised $15 million
The decentralized Centrifuge protocol has closed a $15 million Series A funding round.
Centrifuge has raised $15M to scale the adoption of institutional DeFi.
With this round of Series A funding secured, we're excited to share our key focuses for Centrifuge's development, innovation, and adoption across the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance: ↓… pic.twitter.com/xYJ57Kai1K
It was led by ParaFi Capital and Greenfield with the participation of Circle Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Arrington Capital, Spartan Group, Wintermute Ventures and other investors.
The funds raised will be used to create a lending market for RWA based on the Base L2 network from the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange, as well as hiring new employees. The company aims to become a bridge between traditional and decentralized finance.
In February 2021, Centrifuge raised $4.3 million in a round led by Galaxy Digital and IOSG Ventures.
DePIN-Uplink protocol raised $10 million
The DePIN platform Uplink has closed a $10 million funding round led by Framework Ventures.
1/ Happy to announce our round, lead by @hiFramework , and to finally be able to announce the world what we're building at @uplink_xyz https://t.co/C6iaVrPd6x
— Carlos Lei Santos (@CarlosLeiSantos) April 11, 2024Uplink provides a decentralized network connection to create a more distributed and user-managed infrastructure. The aim of the project is to reduce dependence on traditional centralized telecommunications service providers.
Users and companies will be able to earn rewards for contributing to or using the network. Uplink plans to launch the token at the end of 2024.
DEX Thruster raised $7.5 million at a valuation of $70 million
The Blast — Thruster—based decentralized exchange (DEX) has closed a seed round of financing in the amount of $7.5 million.
We’re excited to announce a seed round led by @panteracapital to help power yield-first DeFi!
The round saw strategic participation from @okx_ventures, @mirana, @paraficapital, @dewhalescapital, @manifoldtrading, founders and backers across the @Blast_l2 eco, amongst others. pic.twitter.com/skdD0rsSAv
It was headed by Pantera Capital with the participation of OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Manifold Ventures, Arche Fund and other investors.
The project's valuation reached $70 million, a startup representative under the pseudonym 0xFri told The Block.
Thruster launched in March as the first DEX on Blast. According to Defi Llama, at the time of writing, the TVL of the project is $303 million.
The funds raised will be used to continue working with leading developers. The capital is also used to expand the staff of ten people and create a roadmap.
Also on ForkLog:
Solana and Ethereum's competitor has raised $225 million from Paradigm and other investors.Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has raised $7.2 billion.