June 13, 2022by Matt Pilchard Welcome to The Chopping Block – in person at Consensus in Austin! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun...

This year, Silvergate Capital paid $182 million for Diem’s technology assets, bringing an end to Facebook’s plan to build a crypto payments network. The deal underscores how the social network giant, now Meta, has just a limited number of regulatory-approved options for becoming a prominent player in the blockchain space. These well-known investors participated in a strategic investing round, which was led by investors including Tiger Global, Multicoin Capital, Katie Haun and Coinbase Ventures. Blockchain System For Aptos Aptos, a project founded by ex-Facebook employees who just left the firm in December, has already received unicorn money from Andreessen Horowitz and other prominent web3 investors. Aptos Chief Executive Officer Mo Shaikh said in a recent blog post: “We are the founders, researchers, designers, and builders of Diem, the first blockchain developed for this purpose… while the rest of the world never saw what we produced, our job is far from done.” Aptos has disclosed that it has raised $200 million in capital from Tiger Global, Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures to pursue its goal of establishing a blockchain scalability system. Another prominent first-round investor is Silvergate Capital, while the Aptos team assures that they will not license or use any of Silvergate’s Diem IP as they develop their blockchain. Related Article | Gloomy Crypto Future? Book Author Warns We’re In The Biggest Bubble In History Crypto total market cap at $1.78 trillion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com No Direct Link With Facebook However, some in the crypto industry are skeptical of implementing Facebook’s web3 vision, even though Diem proponents like Andreessen Horowitz may rally behind a group aiming to take up the effort. “To be clear, we have no official connection with Facebook and no funding from them,” Shaikh said. As a result, Aptos sees another challenge in recruiting developers. Move, an open-source programming language developed by Meta, is being used to lure new developers to the company. The Aptos Devnet Instead of building on top of existing decentralized networks like Ethereum or Solana, Aptos will create its own decentralized network from the ground up. Additionally, Aptos launched its “devnet,” which will allow developers to explore and build on the Aptos blockchain before its public release, which the company expects to take place in the third quarter this year. The fundamental objective of Aptos is to develop a blockchain that is more scalable, faster, and has cheaper transaction fees than the current major networks. Customers that are interested in embracing blockchain technology should expect a more stable and dependable network from the project’s developers. Related Article | Abra CEO Predicts Ethereum Could Reach $40,000 – But Some Fintech Analysts Don’t Agree Featured image from SiliconANGLE, chart from TradingView.com

Former employees of the defunct Diem (or Meta) platform have secured $200 million from venture capital firms to launch their version of the Diem project. [...]

The Block's Frank Chaparro spoke with Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani.

The post Here’s the next big thing in NFTs, according to Multicoin Capital’s Kyle Samani appeared first on The Block.

Ren Labs, creator of a protocol for cross-blockchain value exchange, today announced that Catalog, the first consumer application built on the Ren blockchain, has raised $7.5 million in a seed funding round. Devised by Ren Labs, Catalog is a DeFi app powering cross and multi-chain exchange with zero gas fees. Now with the waitlist open, Catalog […]

The post First Ren blockchain app Catalog raises $7.5M to develop cross-chain asset metaversal exchange  appeared first on CryptoNinjas.

A group of venture capital companies have announced the launch of a $205m ecosystem fund to support developers building on ‘The Graph’ protocol.

FTX US, the American subsidiary of crypto exchange FTX has begun to accept users for a waitlist for its soon-to-be-launched stock trading platform, according to a tweet from CEO Brett Harrison. The waitlist is open for FTX US Stocks! https://t.co/Hhc0eSHSI8 Sign up to be the first to learn about our upcoming stocks platform, including details on web/mobile access, trading execution, asset support, and integration with our crypto platform. — Brett Harrison (@Brett_FTXUS) February 11, 2022 The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise concerning the company has been focused on adding equities for a while now. Infact, just last month Harrison tweeted that FTX US was working on a stock trading service and was planning features for portfolio tracking performance, up-to-date price quotes, among other features. The American affiliate is also eager to add derivatives trading, as crypto futures have propelled FTX’s global arm to prominence. We’re hard at work on stocks! Features we’re planning for day 1: -Live BBO and historical candles-Stock screening/search functionality-Basic fundamentals (market cap, P/E ratio, dividend yield)-Portfolio performance tracking, order/trade details What else should we have? pic.twitter.com/q2bTpsfuna — Brett Harrison (@Brett_FTXUS) January 11, 2022 Just last month, rival crypto exchange eToro announced it would offer stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading to its U.S. customers. Similarly, BitStamp exchange too disclosed similar plans. Meanwhile, traditional stock trading apps such as Robinhood have been moving to offer crypto trading. Last month, FTX US raised $400 million at an $8 billion valuation from investors which included Multicoin Capital, Paradigm, SoftBank and Temasek. The funding amount will be used to create new business ventures and explore strategic investments and acquisitions. FTX US currently ranks in the top 20 exchanges for spot trading while the parent exchange FTX ranks third, according to CoinMarketCap.

The post FTX US to Launch Stock Trading Soon appeared first on Cryptoknowmics-Crypto News and Media Platform.

From Alchemy to XYO, recapping the latest investments into the sector

The post Funding Roundup: $1.19 Billion Invested in Crypto Companies This Week appeared first on Blockworks.

The Wormhole exploit shined the spotlight on a number of things in the crypto industry as users scrambled for answers. Solana, Ethereum, DeFi, cross-chain protocols, and Solana’s proof-of-history consensus mechanism, all came under intense scrutiny. Now, with Wormhole releasing its incident report, there are more voices chiming in. Time for pest control The incident report […]

Earlier on Wednesday, February 2, DeFi bridge protocol Warmhole announced that the platform was hacked as hackers managed to steal a staggering 120 wETH worth $320 million. Warmhole is a DeFi blockchain bridge between Ethereum and Solana allowing users to swap SOL for other cryptocurrencies. However, the firm’s leaders have said that they have restored

The post DeFi Bridge Warmhole Restores $320 Million Worth of Stolen Funds, Here’s What Unfloded appeared first on CoinGape.

The Web3 analytics platform Dune Analytics has announced it has closed a $69.4 million Series B fundraise led by Coatue. The firm’s latest fundraise follows the company’s Series A last August when Dune Analytics raised $8 million. With the Series A and B combined, the firm has been propelled to unicorn status with a post-money […]

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