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
Privacy and artificial intelligence-focused blockchain project Auradine has closed a $80 million Series B round of funding.
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, 2024
Investments 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 areas of scalability, resilience and security” and also produces 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 the company's co-founder and CEO Rajeev Khemani, 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 raises $21 million
Bitcoin scaling network Mezo closes $21 million funding round. The Block reports this.
It was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, ParaFi Capital, Nascent, Draper Associates, Primitive Ventures, Asymmetric Ventures and other investors.
The founder of Mezo and the CEO of the Thesis project, Matt Luongo, refused to disclose the startup’s valuation, but announced plans to issue a token. He called the network an “economic layer” that will focus on creating an ecosystem of applications based on user needs.
Mezo uses “HODL proof” as a consensus mechanism. Users will secure the network by locking BTC and MEZO tokens.
According to the project's website, at the time of writing its TVL exceeds $81 million. 2,616 hodlers entrusted their funds to the startup. Mezo employs 48 people – they plan to double the staff by the end of 2024.
Puffer Finance Liquid Restaking Protocol Raises $18 Million
Liquid restaking protocol Puffer Finance has closed a $18 million Series A funding round.
https://t.co/QMz8d8LlP4
— Puffer Finance 🐡 (@puffer_finance) April 16, 2024
It was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Electric Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Mechanism Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Consensys, Animoca, GSR, Lemniscap and other investors.
Co-founder of the protocol Amir Forouzani said that the project received funding under SAFT. The token valuation has increased to $200 million.
According to Defi Llama, the project's TVL is $1.2 billion at the time of writing, making it the third-highest liquidity restaging protocol behind Ether.Fi and Renzo.
With the new capital, the team intends to launch a mainnet that will expand validator participation in the Ethereum ecosystem and enhance its decentralization.
In January, Binance's venture arm invested an undisclosed amount in Puffer Finance.
DeFi protocol Centrifuge raises $15 million
Decentralized protocol Centrifuge 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
— Centrifuge (@centrifuge) April 17, 2024
It was led by ParaFi Capital and Greenfield, with participation from 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 to hire 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 protocol Uplink raised $10 million
DePIN platform Uplink 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, 2024
Uplink provides decentralized network connectivity to create a more distributed and user-driven infrastructure. The goal 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
Blast-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Thruster has closed a $7.5 million seed round.
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, among others. pic.twitter.com/skdD0rsSAv
— Thruster (@ThrusterFi) April 18, 2024
It was led by Pantera Capital with participation from 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, the project's TVL is $303 million at the time of writing.
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 road map.
Also on ForkLog:
Solana and Ethereum Competitor Raises $225 Million from Paradigm and Other Investors. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz raised $7.2 billion.