webn

The blockchain and Web3 incubator WebN Group, backed by billionaire Alan Howard, has announced its closure, according to insiders who say the organization has successfully completed its mission. In recent years, WebN has incubated several digital infrastructure startups, including the tokenization specialist KAIO (formerly Libre), the crypto staking platform Twinstake, the blockchain infrastructure company TruFin, and the zero-knowledge proof startup Geometry. In 2023, Laser Digital, a crypto collaboration institution under Japan's Nomura Bank, invested in WebN.Insiders indicate that WebN's closure is unrelated to Howard's own digital asset strategy, with some employees having transitioned to Howard's hedge fund Brevan Howard. Despite BH Digital's digital asset fund losing nearly 30% last year, Brevan Howard remains optimistic about digital assets, and its venture capital business continues to focus on the broad opportunities in this field.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital has partnered with WebN Group to launch the Libre protocol, which is an institutional Web3 protocol powered by Polygon technology. Libre utilizes asset tokenization and smart contracts, aiming to achieve compliant issuance and management of alternative investments. The protocol is built using the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) and can develop dedicated, zero-knowledge driven L2 blockchains on Ethereum.It is reported that Laser Digital is the cryptocurrency division of Nomura Securities, while WebN Group is a fintech and Web3 innovation incubation center supported by Laser Digital and Brevan Howard co-founder Alan Howard.

ChainCatcher News, Japan's financial services giant Nomura's cryptocurrency subsidiary Laser Digital has invested in the incubator Webn, supported by Alan Howard, to seek to provide more cryptocurrency-related services to mature financial institutions.The company announced today that as part of the collaboration, Laser Digital CEO Jez Mohideen will join the Webn board as a non-executive director. Laser Digital and Webn did not disclose the scale of the investment.It is reported that Webn was established at the end of 2021 and has already incubated several Web3 companies, including the cryptographic research institution Geometry, the DeFi protocol Trufin, and the non-custodial staking provider Twinstake.