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Crypto.com Becomes 1st Crypto, NFT Partner with Women's Professional Sports Team Angels FC

Crypto.com, the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Hong Kong, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Los Angeles’ Angel City Football Club (ACFC) for exclusive rights to issue official cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

This cooperation aims to expand the access and awareness of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Web3 technologies to the entire Los Angeles football fans, ACFC players, and also globally; thereby encouraging women to promote “education, independence, and financial empowerment.”

Angel City Football Club is a planned National Women’s Soccer League expansion team that is expected to debut in 2022.

The exchange has been committed to expanding the influence of the cryptocurrency industry in various communities and the team stated that it will focus on community participation, financial equity, and social impact initiatives.

Crypto co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said that Crypto.com has always been keen to create a community for the future of the Internet: Web3 — a platform that can provide builders, creators, and users with equal opportunities.

Julie Uhrman, co-founder and president of ACFC, said that：

“Given the speed with which Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency is changing our world, we want to ensure that women are being brought along on the journey as investors and creators. We are excited to work with Crypto.com to educate our community and players on crypto and allow our players to use the power of NFTs to connect with and create a deeper relationship with their fans.”

At the same time, Crypto.com stated that it will continue to find unique and influential ways to invest in Los Angeles, the world’s creative capital.

Just last month, Crypto.com signed a 20-year cooperation deal worth $700 million with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns the Staples Center and the L.A. Live.

The Staples Center will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena, and the official change in the arena’s name will take place on December 25, when the Lakers will be hosting the Brooklyn Nets

Analytics Platform Dune Analytics Raises Nearly $70M in Series B Round, Led by Coatue

Ethereum-centric analytics platform Dune Analytics has raised $69,420,000 in Series B funding led by New York-based private equity firm Coatue.

According to the announcement, the funding will educate, reward and empower a new generation of web3 data analysts.

Dune will be committed to attracting one million talents from all over the world to join the web3 field and become the most convenient and powerful data tool on the planet from three aspects: education, reward and Empower.

For education, anyone can access blockchain data with Dune for free. At the same time, the creators will be paid according to the creative content.

Dune Analytics says a brand new Dune query engine is coming soon. The new search engine will support all blockchains and allow users to import public or private data.

Other investors include Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital — who also participated in Dune Analytics’ $8 million Series A funding round on August 12 last year.

Dragonfly Capital Partners injected $2 million into it as the lead seed round investor on September 23, 2020.

Dune Analytics has raised a total of $79.4M in funding over 3 rounds. Dune Analytics is funded by 21 investors.

The company is currently valued at over $1 billion and achieves unicorn status with only 16 employees,

Unicorn refers to a technology start-up company that has been established less than 10 years ago but has a valuation of more than $1 billion ($1 billion) and has not been listed on the stock market.

Image source: Dune Analytics

Espresso Systems Raises $32M in Seed Funding, Bringing Scaling & Privacy Solutions to Web 3

On Monday, Espresso Systems, a rapidly rising scaling and privacy system for Web 3 applications, announced that it raised $32 million in a funding round led by Greylock Partners and Electric Capital.

Other firms, including Sequoia Capital, Blockchain Capital, Slow Ventures, Polychain Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund etc., also participated in the funding.

Espresso Systems said that it plans to use the fresh funding to offer resources necessary to grow its team dedicated to research and development and develop infrastructure and products that will make Web3 ready for broad adoption. The firm further mentioned that it intends to use the funds raised to bring such products to the market through a range of channels such as distribution of native end-user products, developer adoption, and partnerships with enterprises, entrepreneurs, and startups.

Ben Fisch, the CEO of Espresso Systems, talked about the development and said: “Today’s launch is only the beginning of what Espresso Systems will enable. The need for lower fees and more flexible approaches to privacy is evident across Web3 applications from cross-border and B2B payments to DAO payroll and voting to trading and investment. We are thrilled to start sharing more of the solutions we have been working on to address the needs of both existing users of decentralized applications and the needs of the next generation of users.”

Meanwhile, Seth Rosenberg, an investor at Greylock Partners, also commented about the business development and stated: “We are excited to back Espresso Systems as they tackle two of the key obstacles that will unlock long-promised applications of blockchain systems: lower fees and enhanced privacy guarantees. Espresso systems will allow developers and asset issuers to build stablecoins that are fast, private and compliant; NFTs that are accessible; and DeFi applications that are more efficient.” Rosenberg further said.

Enabling Businesses Gain Competitive Advantage in the Web 3 Industry

Compliant privacy is an essential feature for payments. Individuals do not want their net worth leaked. Traders do not want their trades visible. Businesses do not want competitors to see payments to their suppliers. And governments require monitoring and compliance.

Compliant privacy is unsolved primarily in the Web 3 industry. While existing solutions are fully public for competitors and bad actors to see, they lack risk monitoring and reporting ability.

Espresso Systems builds the infrastructure to reinforce more scaling and privacy solutions for Web 3 applications. The company is building layer 1 (base blockchain) infrastructure to enable configurable privacy and decentralized scalability to unlock an entirely new design space for businesses, firms, and entrepreneurs in the Web 3 industry. Espresso is working to enable anyone to build private and compliant stablecoins, private and fast DeFi, accessible NFTs and games, and entirely new private applications using zero-knowledge proofs.

Crypto Media Decrypt Secures $10m for Further Editorial Growth

Crypto news company Decrypt announced that it has gained new momentum by raising $10 million at a post-money valuation of $50 million after departing from its parent company ConsenSys Mesh.

The crypto news media was founded in 2018. More than 15 investors participated in this round of financing, including Hack.VC, Hash key Capital, Canvas Ventures, Protocol Labs, SK Group, and 22 investors including Global Coin Research DAO, Own.fund, Honey DAO, and Orange DAO.

The funds raised this time will be used to expand the current workforce in the editorial team of Decrypt Media. In addition, Decrypt Studios will be established, aiming to create branded NFTs for users and activate Metaverse focusing on the fields of fashion, entertainment, and real estate.

Roazzi-Laforet, senior media and technology executive from Decrypt said:

“At Decrypt Studios, we’re building out a production arm that will enable brands and advertisers to harness the full power of Web3, while giving consumers a more immersive and authentic experience with the brands they love.”

Roazzi-Laforet added that the company would share these narratives through an entirely new lens, utilizing the next generation of storytelling devices – like NFTs and virtual worlds in the metaverse – to create content that will take viewers beyond the confines of traditional media.

Meanwhile, the company will also launch PubDAO, a decentralized newswire Decrypt co-launched in October with other partners and advisors that are being used as a way to source stories, press releases, and other crypto work in a truly Web3-native way, according to the statement.

DApps Development Platform Moralis Raises $40m in Series A Funding

On May 11, Moralis, a blockchain development platform for web applications, announced the completion of a $40 million in Series A round, according to Bloomberg.

With the funds raised, the startup will save companies as well as individual developers the time and money they need to build web3, a vision for a decentralized internet owned and managed by users while expanding the cross-chain connectivity between blockchain interactions.

Investors in the Series A round include Coinbase Ventures, the venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, as well as EQT Ventures, Fabric Ventures and Dispersion Capital.

However, the company declined to disclose which company lead the investment.

Ivan Liljeqvist, co-founder and CEO of Moralis stated that:

“Web3 really democratizes the use of the internet, so you don’t have to go through the intermediaries that we have today, which normally is big tech.”

Moralis provides a complete end-to-end blockchain application development platform that supports decentralized applications (dApps), uniquely allowing developers and companies to focus on the front-end while handling the entire back-end of development.

Currently, Moralis supports users building on blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and Avalanche.

However, due to the growing demand for other blockchains, people are no longer satisfied with the establishment of the underlying network for most decentralized applications – Ethereum, so Moralis will also actively expand access to different blockchains.

Moralis has raised a total of $53.4M in funding over 2 rounds. According to relevant sources, the market value of Moralis will reach 215 million US dollars after completing this financing.

South Korean Telecom Operator SK Telecom to Develop Web3 Wallet

SK Telecom cooperated with AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC), a blockchain subsidiary of South Korean antivirus software company AhnLab, and blockchain company Atomix Lab to develop a Web3 digital asset, the South Korean telecom giant announced on Monday.

According to the company, the launch of the Web3 wallet service allows users to store, transmit and receive various types of tokens issued on the blockchain network. Users can manage their cryptocurrency assets through the Web3 Wallet jointly developed by the three companies.

To improve the security of the wallet, Atomix Lab’s latest encryption technology “Secure MPC(*)” is also incorporated without storing the user’s private key.

“The current online environment is transitioning to the Web3 era, where users directly own and manage all data,” said Oh Se-Hyeon, Head of the Digital Asset Unit of SK Telecom.

According to the company, in addition to being able to store traditional cryptocurrencies, it also contains word-content NFTs and soul-bound tokens (SBT) for membership identification and certificates of completion.

Last November, SK Square, an investment company owned by SK Telecom Co Ltd, invested 90 billion won (about $75.4 million) in the crypto exchange platform Korbit.

VC Shima Capital to Launch $200m Shima Capital Fund I for Web 3 Industry

Early-stage venture capital Shima Capital will launch Shima Capital Fund I, the first fund to support emerging digital assets for web3 and crypto startups.

The latest fund will deploy $500,000 to $2 million in pre-seed funding to potential companies for recruiting and retaining talent, building communities, marketing, and conducting technology research and development.

The company points to startups in the fields of decentralized identity, decentralized social media, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), blockchain gaming, Metaverse and decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized infrastructure, and next-generation blockchain technologies (e.g. Layer 1/2, proof of zero knowledge as the target groups.

This round of funding has raised $200 million from famous investors, including Dragonfly Capital, Bill Ackman, Animoca, OKex, Mirana Ventures, Republic, and Andrew Yang.

Company founder Yida Gao said, “As crypto-focused VC’s continue to raise massive billion dollar plus funds, we identified a pocket of opportunity to support Web3 founders with their first institutional checks that are considered too small for other Tier 1 investors. At Shima, we take the opposite approach and Spend the necessary resources to provide our portfolio companies with surgical support typically found only with larger funds.”

The announcement comes amid a severe downturn in the industry amid the crypto winter. The current market turmoil has prompted several companies to slash their valuations, declare bankruptcy and even close stores.

Web3 Music Platform Coop Records Raises $10 Million

Coop Records, a Web3 music-focused platform founded by NFT song collector Cooper Turley, has raised $10 million, according to Billboard.

The specific investors have not been disclosed to the public; only several well-known Web3 founders and investors have participated in the investment.

The platform aims to provide funding for music-loving users and creators by building a “community-as-a-community” portfolio with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to change the situation where contracted creators cannot control their own autonomy.

Coop Records will allow companies to share their code, infrastructure and assets,

Turley said artists can raise money and earn money from their work without selling their songs to record labels in the future—perhaps by tokenizing the ownership of their music-making companies.

He wrote on his official Twitter: “Coop Records invests in platforms, artists and tokens uniquely enabled by web3. Think of it as a hybrid between a venture fund, a record label, and an incubator. We work with founders to create new revenue streams for music.”

The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) approach changes the creation rules for creators. In the future, music can face the audience directly, without intermediaries and labels.

Cooper Turley, 26, started investing in cryptocurrencies about five years ago and has become a crypto millionaire.

He is also an angel investor in music NFT platforms such as Royal, Audius and Catalog.

Crypto music streaming platform Audius has developed a new feature that allows users to send the platform’s governance tokens to their favourite creators.

The platform has 7 million users and 250,000 artists and is currently valued at over $1 billion.

Revolving Games Raises a $13.2M Seed Round to Build AAA-level Web3 Games

Mobile free-to-play developer Revolving Games, which has raised $13.2 million in seed funding, plans to double down on Web3 gaming.

The seed round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from companies including Animoca Brands, Polygon, Dapper Labs, and Rockstar Games founder Dan Houser, the company announced.

Houser will also join Revolving Games’ advisory board as an advisor and investor.

He is a seasoned game producer, having worked as a writer on Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto games.

The startup’s valuation is unclear, with total funding raised to date at $25 million. The company said it would use the new funds to build “decentralized” AAA games.

Revolving Games was founded by three brothers Saad, Ammar, and Shayan Zaeem. Two games are currently in production. The first is the Battlestar Galactica 4X strategy MMO blockchain game in partnership with Gala Games and NBCUniversal.

The second is the Nintendo-inspired Polygon co-op RPG “Skyborne Legacy”.

“We will be able to bolster our technology and create a more scalable and fully decentralized gaming-focused future,” co-CEO Ammar Zaeem said in a statement.

Right now, Revolving Games’ mission is to primarily appeal to “traditional gamers” and to allow players to play our games for free, invest time in understanding our world, and create an immersive experience that engages players and then leaves them to their own discretion. Provide the experience they are looking for so they can use their hard-earned money to support our games.

Crypto Investment Firm M31 Capital Launches $100m Web3 Opportunity Fund

Crypto investment firm M31 Capital Management, LLC announced Tuesday the launch of a new Web3 fund, “Web3 Opportunity Fund,” focusing on investing in early-stage blockchain technology projects and protocols in the Web3 ecosystem.

M31 Capital is a global investment firm focused on crypto assets, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology, founded in 2016

The fund, which has a cap. of $100 million, has already received commitments of $50 million from some investors. The funds raised will focus on investing in projects that centralize Internet infrastructure and applications and crypto projects such as liquidity tokens.

Previously, M31 has launched a number of crypto fund products, including Bitcoin funds, DeFi funds and venture capital (VC) funds,

New York-based crypto-blockchain M31 Capital has also pioneered the concept of a “liquid venture fund.” Provides liquidity after a 12-month lock-up, unlike traditional VC funds where capital is typically locked for 10 years.

Nathan Montone, the founder of M31 Capital, said the current crypto market cycle is the first time in a decade that “prices are trending down, while fundamentals and revenue growth are hitting record highs almost daily.”

Based on the new GAMEFI coin Petworld (PW) on the Binance Smart Chain, it has reached a cooperation with the New York encrypted blockchain M31 Capital to help PW enter the cryptocurrency market in the United States; supervise PW GAMEFI in resource allocation, risk pricing, income output, etc. Establish a complete model to support promoting the game’s high-quality development.

Earlier in August, early-stage venture capital firm Shima Capital launched Shima Capital Fund I, the first fund to support emerging digital assets for web3 and crypto startups. The latest fund will give potential companies $500,000 to $2 million in pre-seed funding.