March 29, 2024

Web and Technology News

Asymmetric Financial has a plan to unlock Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar potential with dedicated DeFi fund

As the digital asset industry picks up steam again, some crypto funds are looking to hone in on specific sectors. Crypto fund Asymmetric Financial is creating its Bitcoin DeFi Venture Fund I to focus on investing in the blockchain’s nascent space with …

Spearbit raises $7M to improve security audits in crypto through its open marketplace

Security is paramount in crypto, but as regular coverage of hacks and other exploits make plain it is not taken seriously enough. Spearbit wants to change that, and it just raised a new round to accelerate its efforts. The startup raised $7 million in a funding round led by Framework Ventures with participants including Nascent, […]

Arbitrum co-founder sees DAO’s resolution to voter drama as a “testament to decentralization”

For Steven Goldfeder, CEO and co-founder of Offchain Labs, Arbitrum DAO’s blunder is simply one of many early steps on the journey to decentralization.

Arbitrum co-founder sees DAO’s resolution to voter drama as a “testament to decentralization” by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain Base plans for 2023 mainnet launch

Welcome back to Chain Reaction, a podcast that interviews newsmakers in crypto to better understand the tech behind the hype and the people working to build a decentralized future. For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Jesse Pollak, the lead for Base and head of protocols at Coinbase. Base is an Ethereum-focused layer 2 blockchain launched […]

Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain Base plans for 2023 mainnet launch by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero raises $120M, hitting $3B valuation

LayerZero Labs, a web3 messaging protocol, has closed a $120 million Series B round, raising its valuation to $3 billion from $1 billion, the company said on Tuesday. Unlike Web 2.0 messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, this messaging protocol lets users send different types of messages between blockchains, like cross-chain interactions, eliminating the need […]

Blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero raises $120M, hitting $3B valuation by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Avalanche wants to digitize all of the world’s assets on the blockchain

Welcome back to Chain Reaction, a podcast that interviews newsmakers in crypto to better understand the tech behind the hype and the people working to build a decentralized future. For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Emin Gün Sirer, the founder and CEO of Ava Labs. Ava Labs has raised a total of about $640 million, […]

Avalanche wants to digitize all of the world’s assets on the blockchain by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Arbitrum co-founders see opportunity for continued layer-2 growth through DeFi, gaming

The Ethereum layer-2 space is continuing to see strong demand as one of its largest scaling solutions, Arbitrum, is seeing renewed growth

Arbitrum co-founders see opportunity for continued layer-2 growth through DeFi, gaming by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Aptos wants to shake up the blockchain space by creating more economic value, co-founder says

Welcome back to Chain Reaction, a podcast diving deep into stories, backgrounds and the latest news with the biggest names in crypto. For this week’s episode, I sat down with Mo Shaikh, co-founder and CEO of the layer-1 blockchain Aptos. Shaikh is a three-time founder with over a decade of experience in financial services as […]

Aptos wants to shake up the blockchain space by creating more economic value, co-founder says by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Injective launches $150M ecosystem fund to accelerate interoperable infra and DeFi adoption

Injective, a layer-1 blockchain focused on building financial applications, has launched a $150 million fund ecosystem initiative, the platform’s CEO and co-founder, Eric Chen, told TechCrunch. “We’ve seen a lot of ecosystem funds in the past do various things, but there isn’t really an established ecosystem fund for Injective and Cosmos as a whole,” Chen […]

Injective launches $150M ecosystem fund to accelerate interoperable infra and DeFi adoption by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Sneak peek: Look who’s pitching at the CCC Web3 Demo Day

We’re excited to announce two more early-stage startups participating in the Cross Chain Coalition Web3 Demo Day on January 11. If you haven’t heard, this free online showcase features more than 12 of today’s most exciting projects building web3 infrastructure, DeFi, NFT and gaming applications. Register today and join us as each startup team gets […]

Sneak peek: Look who’s pitching at the CCC Web3 Demo Day by Lauren Simonds originally published on TechCrunch

Terra’s Do Kwon looks for redemption with Luna token rebirth

Is Terra’s Do Kwon the Bernie Madoff of crypto? Hello and welcome back to the Chain Reaction podcast, where we unpack and explain the latest crypto news, drama and trends, breaking it down block by block for the crypto curious. This week, Terra relaunched its Luna token after the dramatic implosion of its cryptocurrency and the associated […]

Pear VC’s Anand Iyer goes solo with new $200M fund for crypto developer tools

Engineers are the bedrock of any tech product, and blockchains are no exception. As the race between different chains heats up, communities of loyalists are duking it out to attract developers to their blockchain of choice in hopes that doing so will turbocharge growth. And competition aside, without adequate infrastructure and tooling, the big ideas […]

Pear VC’s Anand Iyer goes solo with new $200M fund for crypto developer tools

Engineers are the bedrock of any tech product, and blockchains are no exception. As the race between different chains heats up, communities of loyalists are duking it out to attract developers to their blockchain of choice in hopes that doing so will turbocharge growth. And competition aside, without adequate infrastructure and tooling, the big ideas […]

Former OpenSea exec arrested and charged with insider trading of NFTs

A top former executive at the highly valued NFT startup OpenSea was arrested Wednesday and charged “with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York (SDNY). TechCrunch previously covered the firing of […]

Former OpenSea exec arrested and charged with insider trading of NFTs

A top former executive at the highly valued NFT startup OpenSea was arrested Wednesday and charged “with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York (SDNY). TechCrunch previously covered the firing of […]

SoftBank co-led $66 million round for blockchain-focused InfStones

Despite shaky markets, a steady stream of investors continue writing big checks for blockchain infrastructure providers. InfStones, which aims to help clients build applications across a number of blockchain platforms, closed a $66 million round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and GGV Capital, the company announced on Wednesday. Other investors in the raise include […]

Binance Labs closes $500M fund to focus on Web3 and blockchain adoption

Venture capital firms continue to deploy and raise capital for crypto markets despite volatility in recent weeks, with Binance Labs closing a $500 million investment fund to focus on web3 and blockchain technology adoption. “We really see the fund as another step in terms of us being able to build our mission statement, which is […]

New York-based Digital Asset to help Japan’s financial giant SBI develop ‘smart yen’

SBI Holdings, a Japanese securities and banking giant that launched a crypto-asset fund for retail investors last year, has been actively investing in the infrastructure that will allow it to roll out more crypto products. The firm has recently made a strategic investment in Digital Asset, a New York-based startup known for building enterprise blockchain […]

Why web3 companies get hacked so often, according to crypto VC Grace Isford

On the Chain Reaction podcast this week, Lux Capital’s newest investor, Grace Isford, joined us to talk about the opaque but crucial world of web3 infrastructure. At Lux, Isford invests in the companies working behind the scenes to make sure crypto exchanges are secure and reliable enough to avoid being hacked. Before joining Lux this February, […]

Can Andreessen Horowitz prevent the next crypto winter?

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we talked about the rough road ahead for Coinbase. This week, we’re talking a bit about Andreessen Horowitz’s multibillion-dollar bet on web3’s continued viability. Read on to check out the latest episode of the Chain Reaction podcast as well. To get this in your inbox […]

Can Andreessen Horowitz prevent the next crypto winter?

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we talked about the rough road ahead for Coinbase. This week, we’re talking a bit about Andreessen Horowitz’s multibillion-dollar bet on web3’s continued viability. Read on to check out the latest episode of the Chain Reaction podcast as well. To get this in your inbox […]

FlexID gets Algorand funding to offer self-sovereign IDs to Africa’s unbanked

Much of the world’s attention around blockchain is on the highs and lows of cryptocurrency values. Startups like FlexID remind us that distributed ledger technology has the potential to play other roles, including offering trusted records of identities without the need for a centralized authority. One of the startups working towards this vision is Zimbabwe’s […]