Hong Kong is once again opening up to the crypto market, as local investors launch a $100 million fund to finance the digital industry. The new fund, ProDigital Future, will focus on supporting early-stage Web3 companies oriented at the regional market.
According to a Bloomberg report from March 30, ProDigital Future has completed its half-year fundraising period with about $30 million in its pockets. However, it aims to raise $100 million by the end of 2023. The fund is led by Ben Ng, a partner at Hong Kong-based equity firm SAIF Partners, and Curt Shi, a long-time tech investor from China. Sunwah Kingsway Capital Holdings and Golin International Group have already invested in the fund.
Shi, the co-leader of ProDigital Future, told journalists that the fundraising process has been “relatively smooth,” although the investors are cautious about putting their money into crypto projects. ProDigital Future has attracted Hong Kong investors, as well as some family offices from China, Australia, and Singapore.
The fund aims to “embrace Hong Kong and its policies” while expanding its reach to Australia, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. ProDigital Future has already invested in six digital-asset projects, including metaverse company GigaSpace and One Future Football, a digital football league from Australia currently operating in stealth mode.
The launch of ProDigital Future comes amid growing regulatory efforts to oversee the crypto market in Hong Kong. In October 2022, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto. On Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission released a proposal for a licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges, set to take effect in June.
The proposed licensing regime includes a necessary licensing procedure, demanding that potential market players meet several prerequisites, including the safe custody of assets, Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism regulations.
Despite these regulatory efforts, the launch of ProDigital Future signals a growing interest in the potential of the crypto market in Hong Kong and the wider Asia-Pacific region. With a focus on Web3 startups and a commitment to regulatory compliance, the fund aims to support the growth and development of the digital industry in the region.
Animoca Brands, a venture capital firm and Web3 game developer, has refuted recent claims that it has scaled back its metaverse fund target by $200 million, or 20%, amid volatility in the crypto market and instability in the banking sector. The firm also downplayed suggestions that its valuation has plummeted from $6 billion as of July 2022 to roughly $2 billion in March 2023.
The claims were reported by Reuters on March 24, citing anonymous “people familiar with the matter,” who alleged that Animoca initially halved its $2 billion metaverse fund target in January and recently cut it another 20% to $800 million. The fund was announced in November 2022 to allocate capital to mid-to-late-stage startups with a metaverse focus, and Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu outlined at the time that the fund target was between $1 billion and $2 billion, depending on how much capital was raised.
While Animoca acknowledged that the banking collapses in the United States have had an impact on available venture capital, the firm stressed that the final amount raised for the fund has yet to be determined. “When the raise is concluded, we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund,” the firm stated.
Regarding the company’s valuation, Animoca asserted that the figures reported by Reuters and “two other” unnamed sources were inaccurate. The firm argues that its total market cap is not fully represented by the data from PrimaryMarkets, where its shares have traded since being delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2020.
Animoca terminated its arrangement with PrimaryMarkets in the second half of 2020, but the platform continued to trade its shares. The firm stated that “trading volume is far too low to provide the price accuracy you would find on an actual primary market.”
While the claims made in the Reuters report remain unverified, they highlight the impact of recent events on the crypto market and fundraising efforts. Animoca’s stance suggests that the firm is still confident in its ability to raise capital for its metaverse fund and that its valuation is higher than what has been reported. However, it remains to be seen how successful the fundraising efforts will be and whether Animoca will meet its original target for the fund.
Arch Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) startup, has acquired $5 million in funding from a seed round to make an effort to accomplish its goal of becoming the “BlackRock of web3.”
As reported by The Block, this new seed round funding will be used to tokenize an extensive range of decentralized finance indices and to build the platform into a decentralized asset management protocol.
According to the company release, the fundraising is co-led by Digital Currency Group and SoftBank spinoff Upload Ventures. Other investors include the venture arm of Latin America blockchain firm Ripio, TechStars, and GBV.
Andres Fleischer, managing partner of Ripio Ventures, stated that Arch Finance provided solution is compelling since it’s bringing in something complex but making it easy for everyone to do it.
Arch is a portfolio management startup that aims to make investments in DeFi accessible to the public.
Christopher Storaker, co-founder and CEO of Arch, in an interview with The Block, stated, “diversification is the only free lunch in finance,” and he wants to make it simple for the web3 ecosystem.
Storaker said his decentralized asset management protocol, Arch finance, creates well-diversified tokenized investment portfolios that individuals will be able to buy using smart contracts and self-custody.
When asked why investors should choose Arch over buying a crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) from a player like BlackRock or 21Shares, Storaker replied, “Arch will take a different approach by going beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum to provide investors exposure to the cutting-edge of what’s happening in web3.”
“When we say ‘BlackRock of web3,’ we really want to be on par on the methodology side with what they do and what people expect from passive products,” said Storaker.
Notably, Arch Finance has previously raised a pre-seed round and went through the TechStars accelerator program.
The portfolio management platform will offer two index tokens, including the Arch blockchain token. These index tokens would be used to track the largest blockchains, and the Arch Ethereum Web3 token will track native tokens of notable protocols like Uniswap and Chainlink.
Speaking of seed rounds, in June, Astaria, an NFT lending platform unlocking instant liquidity, raised a total of $8 million in a seed round from significant venture capital and angel investors to Improve NFT Lending Liquidity.
With this series of funding, even amid the bear market, the saying “bear markets are for building” seems to have been justified.
Arch Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) startup, has acquired $5 million in funding from a seed round to make an effort to accomplish its goal of becoming the “BlackRock of web3.”
As reported by The Block, this new seed round funding will be used to tokenize an extensive range of decentralized finance indices and to build the platform into a decentralized asset management protocol.
According to the company release, the fundraising is co-led by Digital Currency Group and SoftBank spinoff Upload Ventures. Other investors include the venture arm of Latin America blockchain firm Ripio, TechStars, and GBV.
Andres Fleischer, managing partner of Ripio Ventures, stated that Arch Finance provided solution is compelling since it’s bringing in something complex but making it easy for everyone to do it.
Arch is a portfolio management startup that aims to make investments in DeFi accessible to the public.
Christopher Storaker, co-founder and CEO of Arch, in an interview with The Block, stated, “diversification is the only free lunch in finance,” and he wants to make it simple for the web3 ecosystem.
Storaker said his decentralized asset management protocol, Arch finance, creates well-diversified tokenized investment portfolios that individuals will be able to buy using smart contracts and self-custody.
When asked why investors should choose Arch over buying a crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) from a player like BlackRock or 21Shares, Storaker replied, “Arch will take a different approach by going beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum to provide investors exposure to the cutting-edge of what’s happening in web3.”
“When we say ‘BlackRock of web3,’ we really want to be on par on the methodology side with what they do and what people expect from passive products,” said Storaker.
Notably, Arch Finance has previously raised a pre-seed round and went through the TechStars accelerator program.
The portfolio management platform will offer two index tokens, including the Arch blockchain token. These index tokens would be used to track the largest blockchains, and the Arch Ethereum Web3 token will track native tokens of notable protocols like Uniswap and Chainlink.
Speaking of seed rounds, in June, Astaria, an NFT lending platform unlocking instant liquidity, raised a total of $8 million in a seed round from significant venture capital and angel investors to Improve NFT Lending Liquidity.
With this series of funding, even amid the bear market, the saying “bear markets are for building” seems to have been justified.
FTX Derivatives Exchange and its American subsidiary FTX.US are exploring the options to raise new sets of funds after the duo injected the bulk of the funds they raised earlier in the year into supporting distressed crypto companies.
As reported by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, the global FTX trading platform is looking to raise an almost equivalent amount it pulled earlier this year. As reported earlier by Blockchain.News, FTX concluded its Series C funding round in January, where it raised the sum of $400 million to increase its valuation to $32 billion.
FTX.US has also been active in the equity round scene, receiving $400 million in funding to top $8 billion in valuation. Riding on the back of this capital injection, FTX.US has notably acquired Embed Financial Technologies Inc., including its wholly-owned subsidiary Embed Clearing LLC for an undisclosed sum back in June, a move that aligned with its corporate strategy at the time.
By acting as a lender of last resort, FTX Global has positioned itself as a firm where distressed companies in the digital currency ecosystem run to.
Since the menacing turmoil that has caused several crypto lending platforms to halt transactions on their platform atop a deep-cut liquidity crisis, FTX Global has come to the aid of BlockFi and Voyager Digital, which are very large sums of money, including the $250 million credit facility extended to the former.
While Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX co-founder and CEO, acknowledged that the firm also has many more crypto firms it has helped without disclosing yet, it appears the two FTX arms will be better off with the proposed fundraising.
Known as one of the most liquid and profitable companies in the Web3.0 ecosystem nowadays, the attractiveness of the two FTX offshoots is still very much known to investors who may also bet on the future of the exchange yet again.
The U.K. division of the WWF has begun to sell a series of non-fungible tokens themed around endangered species.
Over 300 people have purchased NFTs from the collection so far, producing a trading volume of $30,000.
However, critics argue that the WWF’s choice of blockchain supports the ecologically damaging practice of mining.
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The World Wildlife Fund’s U.K. arm began to sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) today to finance its conservation efforts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the move has attracted criticism.
WWF Is Selling Endangered Species NFTs
As of Feb. 3, the WWF U.K. has begun to sell NFTs themed around 13 different endangered species. The conservation group’s official website shows that about 7,900 individual NFTs are on sale, equivalent to the total number of animals remaining among those species.
So far, at least 300 people have purchased NFTs from the series, according to statistics from the group’s OpenSea marketplace. This amounts to a trading volume of 11.6 ETH ($30,800).
Users who buy the NFTs will receive ownership of the digital media attached to each token. They will also receive an online meeting with a conservationist, discounts on merchandise from CyberKongz and World of Women, and other promotional benefits.
The series features artwork from the digital artists Ted Chin (TedsLittleDreams) and Yam Karkai.
Sale Attracts Immediate Backlash
The WWF chose to issue tokens on Polygon (MATIC), a second-layer network for Ethereum. The conservation group noted that Polygon uses little energy: “Each transaction has the equivalent carbon emissions of a glass of tap water,” it says.
Despite the organization’s decision to use a sustainable blockchain, the announcement saw immediate backlash.
Catherine Flick, a faculty member at De Montfort University, noted that Polygon is a second-layer protocol for Ethereum. As such, Polygon arguably supports the energy-intensive practice of crypto mining despite the fact that it uses very little energy itself.
Ethereum is currently moving to a Proof-of-Stake system, which will eliminate mining and reduce its energy consumption. At present, however, Ethereum uses 106 TWh of energy per year, comparable to the annual energy consumption of the Netherlands.
Other critics noted that the German division of WWF issued similar NFTs last November, which saw similar backlash. Nevertheless, that campaign has successfully raised $245,000 to date.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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DAOLaunch operates as a decentralized protocol that directly connects investors and start-ups on the blockchain by offering unique fundraising alternatives to the start-up ecosystem. Lately, DAOLaunch has made several announcements for its users, which come with lovely news.
DAOLunch is delighted to share three of their collaborations.
The first is with the BSC Station platform, the second is with Trustpad, and the third is with Gate.io. The collaborations will be completed one after the other, with the first one taking place on November 17th at TrustPad and the second on November 18th at BSC Station, and the third on Gate.io on the 19th of November 2021.
DAOLaunch is backed by leading investors such as ZBS Capital, x21 Digital, BSCstation, Meridian Capital, Onebit Ventures. A recent development also includes its partnership and integration with Shiden, the 3rd parachain on the Kusama network, and there’s over $2M worth of $SDN in $DAL staking underway.
The launch on BSC Station, TrustPad and Gate.io
The first destination for DAOLaunch’s IDO is TrustPad, where they will release their DEX offering on November 17th, 2021 12:00 UTC to Nov17, 18:00 UTC. This agreement will allow users to stake TrustPad tokens and gain priority access to promising initiatives.
On November 18th, 2021 04:00 UTC – Nov18 14:00UTC, the partnership with BSC Station will go live. The IDO rate will be one $DAL for one BUSD. The vesting schedule is as follows: unlock 25% at TGE, then vest 25% per month for the next three months. The DAOLaunch project has a total supply of 6 million $DAL and an initial market cap of $283,014. The allocation for both releases will be $100,000 $DAL apiece.
From Nov18, 11:00 UTC to Nov19, 11:00 UTC, DAOLaunch will have its tokens available on Gate.io.
DAOLaunch
Users can use DAOLaunch to quickly develop and support new start-ups across all borders and participate in transparent, flexible, and fair financing rounds, regardless of whether they are crypto or non-crypto start-ups. The project aims to address the issue that venture capitalists and institutional investors dominate the start-up investment business.
The problem with this is that they may leverage their wealth by using their network, contacts, and brand to negotiate better investment conditions and generate significant ROI. The fundamental issue, however, is that these transactions take place in a closed and private setting. Typically, retail investors do not have access to this kind of offer.
The Decentralized Venture Capital concept is DAOLaunch’s approach for creating an open and inclusive competitive environment. It provides preferred investing conditions for retail investors based on their investment success as recorded on the blockchain. Because all talks are on-chain, registered investments cannot be edited.
There are two categories for its features: for start-ups and for investors. Both sides have something to gain by participating in the most inventive, new, and fresh products. Not only that, but users of the DAOLaunch platform can create tokens for their token sale. This feature is accessible to both new firms and individuals through simple steps with no extra knowledge.
Users can easily set the price, hard cap, soft cap, duration, and min-max per address. After the creation procedure is completed, the native tokens created will be distributed automatically, and the smart contract will distribute the funds. If the project fails to reach the token’s soft cap, the funds raised will be automatically distributed back to the investors.
DAOLaunch also provides various features for investors, such as DVC-NFT, which exists to provide secure, guaranteed returns to talented investors. NFT farming allows individuals to make exclusive earnings from a vast untapped market.
Aside from that, DAOLaunch aims to assist the startups that launch on its platform with marketing, public relations, and advisory services from its pool of professional advisors. The platform’s goal is to ensure that these startups hit the ground running with all the possible support they earn – which is often one of the most important aspects to the success of new projects.
DAOLaunch is here to revolutionize the industry and offer transparency opportunities to everyone, especially entrepreneurs.
Prepare to be a part of the most exciting project, and do not forget about their debut on November 17th, 18th and 19th.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
See full terms and conditions.
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