venture

According to The Block, the startup Brix, which is dedicated to tokenizing assets in emerging markets, announced the completion of a $5.5 million financing round, with participation from the venture capital arm of Yapi Kredi, FRWRD, Is Asset Management, as well as crypto investment firms Circle Ventures, ConsenSys, and Borderless Capital.Brix plans to launch on the MegaETH network, aiming to bring trading strategies traditionally dominated by large financial institutions on-chain.

According to Gate Ventures' latest weekly report, the temporary easing of macro risks has driven a market rebound, with the S&P 500 rising 3.48% last week, the Nasdaq rising 4.12%, and WTI crude oil falling over 14% in a week. The cryptocurrency market also saw a recovery, with BTC rising 2.5% and ETH rising 3.9%, accompanied by net inflows into spot ETFs, with BTC around $786 million and ETH around $187 million. However, market sentiment remains in the "extreme fear" zone, and the pace of capital inflow is relatively cautious.In terms of asset and industry dynamics, structural opportunities continue to emerge. Thanks to improvements in fundamentals brought about by network performance upgrades, TON rose 15.9%. At the same time, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued the first batch of stablecoin licenses to Anchorpoint and HSBC, marking the official implementation of a compliant digital currency framework.On the financing front, activity remains relatively active, with a total of 11 transactions completed last week, disclosing a total financing amount of approximately $73.7 million, a significant rebound compared to the previous week, with funds mainly flowing into infrastructure and early-stage innovation sectors. Overall, while the market has shown signs of temporary recovery, structural differentiation continues, with capital and narratives gradually concentrating towards those with fundamental and compliance support.

Y Combinator has completed its first investment entirely in stablecoins, paying $500,000 USDC to the prediction market startup Totalis, completed through three transactions on the Solana blockchain: a $1 test payment, $124,999, and $375,000. The funds are held by the financial operations platform Ramp.Y Combinator President Garry Tan stated on X that YC will offer stablecoin payment options for any startup it invests in, not limited to crypto-related companies, and noted that the new track of financial revolution will not be built on ACH or wire transfers. YC crypto sector access partner Nemil Dalal had previously stated that stablecoin transfer costs are typically less than 1 cent, settling in less than 1 second, far superior to traditional cross-border wire transfers.

Varys Capital's head of venture capital, Tom Dunleavy, posted on X that the financing environment in the cryptocurrency market has changed dramatically over the past six months. Previously, VCs had to constantly network, write content, appear on podcasts, participate in Spaces, promote their investment logic, and make countless calls every week to invest in good projects... But now, as long as there is money to spend, that's enough. Current projects are being "pushed in front of VCs," without VCs having to actively dig for them; as long as others know you have funds, projects will come knocking.Most VC firms are now in one of the following three states: they are out of money, they are shifting to later stages (Series A and beyond), or they are fundraising (but not smoothly). Fundraising that used to take 2-3 weeks now often drags on for 2-3 months. Projects with questionable business models or those that simply replicate the latest hot narratives can no longer secure new funding or follow-on investments (which is a good thing).Currently, there may be fewer than 20 firms that are still making pre-seed/seed investments. VCs can basically choose the projects they want to invest in at their leisure and have more time to conduct due diligence. The investment cycle in 2025 and 2026 is likely to become a historically significant "golden opportunity," but the premise is that VCs can hold on.

According to GlobeNewswire, the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform Libeara announced the completion of a new round of financing, with the venture capital firm AlloyX Ventures under the Nasdaq-listed company SOLOWIN HOLDINGS participating. The specific investment amount has not been disclosed, and the new funds will be used to advance the construction of compliant digital infrastructure.

According to CoinDesk, OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital have invested in the Vietnamese cryptocurrency exchange CAEX (Vietnam Prosperity Crypto Asset Exchange) and become its strategic partners.This financing raises CAEX's capital scale to approximately $380 million, reaching the entry threshold of the Vietnamese government's pilot program. This program is launched based on Resolution 05/2025, aiming to provide compliance licenses for local cryptocurrency trading platforms and guide trading activities back to the domestic market.It is reported that OKX and HashKey will provide CAEX with infrastructure, security, compliance, and liquidity support. Vietnam has previously officially recognized cryptocurrency assets and established a regulatory framework through the Digital Technology Industry Law, while strengthening anti-money laundering requirements to promote the compliant development of the industry.

DeFi solution provider Enhanced Labs announced the completion of a $1 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Maximum Frequency Ventures, with participation from GSR, Selini, Flowdesk, and a group of angel investors. The new funds are expected to support product development and operations, while also promoting the expansion of options-based yield strategies to a broader range of on-chain assets, including tokenized real-world assets.

The new DeSci project NanoVita announced today that it has completed its Pre-A round of financing, with a post-investment valuation of 20 million USD, co-invested by K24 Ventures, LandScape Capital, and WestLabs.It is reported that NanoVita is a decentralized science (DeSci) protocol that deeply integrates nanotechnology, AI biological intelligence, and real-world health data, aiming to build an open on-chain health research infrastructure that allows everyone to participate in and benefit from the next generation of personalized health research and data sovereignty revolution.After this round of financing is completed, NanoVita will accelerate the advancement of the TGE (Token Generation Event), which is scheduled to officially launch on the BNB Chain (BSC) at the end of April.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) recalled in his new book that after the "9·4" regulatory policy was introduced in 2017, venture capital firms as a whole became more cautious, and Sequoia Capital, which had originally expressed investment intentions, also paused related cooperation. He stated, "Seeing the venture capitalists collectively silent during our most difficult September, I was actually quite disappointed."CZ revealed that prior to this, Sequoia had expressed investment interest at the beginning of He Yi's joining, but chose to wait and see in light of the policy impact. Subsequently, Binance achieved rapid growth from September to October, with the number of users increasing from about 20,000 in August to about 120,000 by late October, ranking among the top ten exchanges globally and becoming profitable.CZ stated that by the end of October, after the risk phase had basically passed, Sequoia re-expressed its investment intentions, but they had proposed to raise the valuation requirement. Ultimately, the two sides could not reach an agreement due to valuation differences. The other party then proposed to pursue legal proceedings, and a week later, four large boxes of legal documents were delivered. CZ said this was the "first time in his life becoming a defendant." CZ mentioned that he later learned that the lawsuit was led by Sequoia's legal team in the U.S., who are skilled at using the media to create public opinion, "the media reporters knew before I, the party involved."

According to The Block, stablecoin payment card infrastructure service provider Kulipa announced the completion of a $6.2 million seed round financing, led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx, with participation from White Star Capital and Fabric Ventures. The company helps fintech companies issue white-label stablecoin payment cards without having to manage card operations themselves.According to Kulipa founder and CEO Axel Cateland, this round of financing was actually completed last December, using a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) financing model, but he declined to disclose details such as when the financing process began, the structure of the financing tranches, the company's valuation, and the allocation of board seats.

According to CBS News, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon revealed that the bank is considering offering prediction market services to clients.Dimon stated that JPMorgan may launch prediction market services similar to Kalshi and Polymarket in the future, but clearly indicated that it will not venture into sports and politics and will strictly adhere to regulations related to insider information.When asked about the attributes of prediction markets, Dimon believes they also have investment characteristics in specific areas—participants use deep expertise to judge that their predictions about a certain outcome are superior to those of their opponents.

Digital asset service provider Keyrock has completed a Series C financing round, led by SC Ventures, the venture capital arm of Standard Chartered Bank, with existing investor Ripple participating. After the financing, the valuation reached $1.1 billion. This round of financing is still open, with a total scale of up to $100 million. Keyrock stated that the funds raised will be used to strengthen the balance sheet, expand the service matrix, and promote mergers and acquisitions.The company was founded in 2017 and currently provides services such as market making, asset management, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and options, covering more than 80 centralized and decentralized trading venues, with over 200 employees globally. In terms of business expansion, Keyrock acquired Turing Capital, an alternative investment fund management company registered in Luxembourg, last September, and established an asset and wealth management department to focus on serving institutional clients and private investors.CEO Kevin de Patoul stated that by 2026, the company will continue to drive growth in services, customer base, and geographic coverage to expand market share and strengthen its industry position.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the company has established an internal venture capital program called "Next Bets," which allows employees to submit innovative projects and pitch directly to product leaders, and can proceed with implementation as long as they receive support. The program opens for proposals twice a year, typically executed by small teams of 2 to 3 people, focusing on high-potential directions.Armstrong mentioned that this mechanism aims to reduce the loss of excellent ideas and talent, inspired by historical cases in the tech industry. It was introduced that the Base blockchain project originated from this program, and more related developments will be announced in the coming weeks.

According to Fortune, Valinor, a blockchain private credit startup co-founded by former Blackstone employees, announced the completion of a $25 million seed round financing. This round was led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from the crypto division of Susquehanna, Maven11, and the founder of TeraWulf, a Bitcoin mining company transitioning to artificial intelligence.Valinor's core business is to put the private credit process on-chain. Traditional private credit institutions rely on manual verification and spreadsheet collaboration when handling revolving credit lines and other businesses. Valinor plans to replace these processes with smart contracts to achieve automated routing of funds and condition-triggered execution.Both co-founders have traditional finance backgrounds, having worked in banks and the private credit division of Blackstone before transitioning to the crypto industry in 2022. Initially, Valinor focuses on providing loans to crypto companies, and later plans to introduce blockchain technology into the loan process to enhance efficiency. Currently, the company has completed lending for several fintech and crypto companies through blockchain technology.The funds raised in this round will be used to expand the loan scale, broaden the customer base, and increase team personnel, with the current number of employees at 6.

According to The Street, Goliath Ventures, a cryptocurrency company based in Florida, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the Southern District of Florida.The company is alleged to be linked to a $328 million Ponzi scheme, with over 2,000 victim investors, including Gregory Wilson, who lost approximately $8.74 million, and John Euliano, who lost about $1.28 million. Additionally, plaintiffs have filed a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase early next month, accusing it of turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions involving Goliath Ventures.Previously, Goliath Ventures' former CEO Christopher Alexander Delgado was arrested for allegedly being involved in the $328 million Ponzi scheme and faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Delgado lured victims under the guise of investing in cryptocurrency liquidity pools and promising monthly returns, but the funds were used to pay returns to earlier investors, purchase luxury homes, and finance extravagant activities.

According to market news, the on-chain platform for real-time social entertainment experiences, Watch.fun, has completed a $8.6 million financing round, led by Crypto.com Capital and Solana Ventures, with participation from Spartan Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Griffin Gaming Partners, Animoca Brands, Morningstar Ventures, OrangeDAO, and others. The funds will be used to accelerate product development, expand the curated product catalog, deepen strategic partnerships, and grow the team size.

Foreign exchange trading startup XFX, which supports stablecoin trading, has completed a $17 million financing round, led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Haun Ventures and Coinbase Ventures.Santiago Alvarado, co-founder and CEO of XFX, declined to disclose the valuation of the company in this financing round. It is reported that XFX currently allows customers to exchange between stablecoins and also permits the exchange of three fiat currencies: US dollars, Mexican pesos, and Colombian pesos.

The cross-border payment company Tazapay, headquartered in Singapore, has completed a Series B extension financing round led by Circle Ventures, bringing the total amount raised in Series B to $36 million.New investors include CMT Digital and Coinbase Ventures, joining Circle Ventures, Peak XV Partners, January Capital, and GMO Venture Partners in this extension round, while existing investors include Ripple, Norinchukin Capital, ARC180, and RTP Global.Tazapay is committed to building cross-border transaction settlement payment infrastructure for businesses and currently holds licenses or has completed registrations in Singapore, Canada, Australia, and the United States, and is applying for relevant licenses in the UAE, the EU, and Hong Kong. The company stated that the funds from this round will be used to obtain more regulatory licenses and develop automated payment process products.