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“Be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful.” It would appear it’s the perfect time for crypto fund managers to follow the second part of Warren Buffett’s advice.
With that in mind, and as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index tips further to the negative, let’s check out the biggest crypto-venture funding announcements from the past seven days or so… Sequoia Capital pushes deeper into crypto with US$600m fund
Not counting Warren Buffett’s US$1 billion shift into NuBank , which some are calling an indirect Bitcoin-exposure play from the 91-year-old crypto sceptic, Sequoia Capital made easily the biggest crypto-funding move over the past week.
The influential Californian venture capital firm announced last Thursday it’s launching a fund of up to US$600 million in budget, which will focus entirely on investing in crypto tokens and other digital assets.
The move reportedly marks the first time the 50-year-old Silicon Valley firm has created a fund that’s laser-focused on one sector. Hey Crypto Twitter, we’re excited to announce another tool in @sequoia ‘s toolkit: We’re launching a new crypto fund that will primarily focus on liquid tokens This forces us to level-up our infrastructure so that we can move faster and go even deeper. https://t.co/piycJOzBM8 — Shaun Maguire (smc.eth) (@shaunmmaguire) February 17, 2022 “Our goal with this fund is to participate more actively in protocols, better support token-only projects, and learn by doing ourselves,” reads the Sequoia announcement. The Graph pulls in US$205m funding from big backers
One of the Web3 sector’s brightest stars is data-indexing protocol The Graph (GRT), a broad ecosystem with tentacles all the way through numerous blockchain networks and projects.
The Graph is sometimes referred to as “blockchain’s Google” and its aim is to make on-chain data easily accessible to decentralised applications (dApps) right across the crypto sphere.
Last week, the project’s many backers launched a US$205 million fund designed to support developers building in the system. Financed by Digital Currency Group, Multicoin Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, Gumi Cryptos Capital, NGC Ventures and HashKey, the fund will provide grants to teams building dApps using The Graph’s querying technology. . @graphprotocol sits at the center of the Web3 stack. Excited to work with the community to back the most promising tools & projects in the network. https://t.co/7MHkOlgdvS — Digital Currency Group (@DCGco) February 17, 2022 Helping to grow the Web3 and crypto space in general, the developing applications will reportedly be designed for the DeFi (decentralised finance), NFT (non-fungible token), DAO (decentralised autonomous organisations) and metaverse sectors, with cross-chain infrastructure in mind. 5ire, Everyrealm, Axelar, Animoca (of course) and more
• 5ire , a layer 1, self-described “sustainable blockchain”, has raised US$100 million in funding from investment group Global Emerging Markets (GEM) as it seeks to go public with an IPO.
The Indian-based blockchain developer plans to use the funding to expand and grow its ecosystem while liaising with Indian government stakeholders as well as targeting international markets, Fortune 500 companies, family offices – the works. Holy crap, @5ireChain got 100 million in funding from GEM. “The minimum valuation we expect is around $1.1 Billion and the upper limit can be $2 billion or even higher” Probably nothing #Layer1 #5ire #blockchain #Sustainability #IPO https://t.co/6tdrX5GOIi — Tesla Taylor (@Tesla_Taylor) February 17, 2022 • Republic Realm , a metaverse investment company now rebranding to Everyrealm, enjoyed a $US60 million funding round last week led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (also know as “a16z”) and various celebrity investors.
Among the moneybags celebs joining the metaverse-investing craze are crypto fans Paris Hilton and Gene Simmons. Stockhead covered it in more depth last week.
• Axelar , a Greek-founded, Canadian-based blockchain interoperability network, has closed a US$35 million Series B funding round, giving it a US$1 billion valuation.
The round was led by Dragonfly Capital and Polychain Capital, with participation from North Island Ventures, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Cygni Capital, Lemniscap, Olive Tree Capital, Blockchange Ventures, Node Capital, Waikit Lau and Gokul Rajaram.
• Blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands and global venture accelerator Brinc have teamed up to create a US$30 million “Guild Accelerator Program” dedicated to growing the crypto gaming guilds that are becoming increasingly popular with the rise of the GameFi , play-to-earn economy. Read more about it on Stockhead here .
• Ethernity , an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace with big connections in the world of US sports and entertainment, has raised US$20 million in seed funding.
VC investors included Steel Perlot, Kenetic, Black Edge Capital, Morningstar Ventures, Ripple, Algorand Foundation, Banter Capital, and Polygon Studios. And […]
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