Welcome to Inbox Dump where we include the updates and announcements that flood our DMs each week and didn’t make it to The Defiant’s content platforms. Sometimes announcements here didn’t meet the bar to become a news story, sometimes they may have slipped through the cracks, or they came late and we haven’t had a chance to cover.
At The Defiant we cover the most important DeFi-related news and developments but we know many of you are hunting for projects before they are fully developed and before they are newsworthy. Our goal with this installment of the newsletter is to help you find them. Look at this as the starting point to DYOR.
We also include a compilation of DeFi and crypto funding rounds in the past week so you have these in one handy place.
Keep in mind these have been unedited. With that—here we go!
[This post is exclusive to subscribers]
🙏 Together with:
- Oasis.app: On Oasis.app you can do much more than just borrow Dai. You can use Multiply to change exposure to your collateral and Earn to increase your Staked ETH yield by up to 3x.
Inbox Dump!
✉️ Klaytn Foundation Awards Over US$1 Million in Prizes and Grant Opportunities to Inaugural Winners of Flagship Web3 Hackathon
Singapore, Singapore, 21st November — Klaytn Foundation, the non-profit overseeing growth of the Klaytn ecosystem, has announced the inaugural winners of Klaymakers22, the blockchain’s flagship web3 hackathon.
✉️ Phemex releases Proof-of-Reserves, liabilities, and solvency
While not the first exchange to publish its proof-of-reserves, Phemex has taken its time to create the most transparent and trustful approach, relying on code rather than third-party auditors.
✉️ Hex Trust receives MVP License from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority
HONG KONG, 24 NOVEMBER – Hex Trust, the fully licensed and insured provider of bank-grade custody and associated services for digital assets, has received the MVP license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). This follows the issuance of its provisional license in June 2022.
✉️ CAPEX. com Annouces In-Principle Approval of Crypto Trading License
Cyprus, Nov. 22 / CAPEX .com received the In-Principle Approval to operate a cryptocurrency trading license in Abu Dhabi. It´s not the first time the brand received a vote of confidence from Abu Dhabi Global Market, as it has been developing its strong MENA region presence since 2019.
✉️ Huobi launches refreshed brand, unveils post-acquisition global expansion roadmap
November 22, Huobi Global launches its refreshed branding strategy where “Huobi Global” will simply be known as “Huobi”. This upgrade unveils our global expansion roadmap after the acquisition by About Capital Buyout Fund last month.
✉️ Uquid integrates Polygon to bring best shopping experience in Web3
The integration will enable Uquid to power the shopping experience thanks to Polygon’s scalability, speed, low fees, and robust ecosystem. Uquid will work with Polygon to build Uquid on Polygon PoS Chain, wallet, and add $MATIC as a payment method for 85 million products.
✉️ Web3 Accelerator Masterblox Wants More Women in Web3
Portugal, 22nd November, Masterblox, a Lisbon-based crypto marketing company, has pledged to bring greater gender parity to the world of web3. Masterblox CEO Isabella Händel is on a mission to highlight the shortage of women working in the industry in a bid to foster greater inclusivity.
✉️ Blockchain-Backed K-Pop Girl Group tripleS Hits 28M Views with Debut Album’s Lead Track
Korea, 24th November, TripleS exploded onto the massive global K-Pop scene with its first subunit’s debut album, Access. In three weeks since its release, the Seoul-based girl group that blends blockchain with pop music has hit more than 28m YouTube views on the album’s lead track, “Generation.”
✉️ Hollywood producers and creators among keynote speakers at Philippine Blockchain Week
Philippine Blockchain Week announces the lineup of recognized speakers who will take the stage from November 28 to December 4. The inaugural event will feature the biggest names in blockchain, crypto, and web3 at Marriott Grand Ballroom, Newport World Resorts, Pasay City, Philippines.
✉️ Developers rush to snap up tickets for highly anticipated Polkadot Sub0
Sub0, the Polkadot two-day developer event prompted a stampede for tickets. Taking place in Lisbon, on November 28 and 29, the oversubscribed event will encourage new builders to explore getting the most out of the popular proof-of-stake network.
✉️ Bitget registers in Seychelles and plans to grow its global workforce by 50%
Seychelles, Nov. 22, Bitget announces that it has registered in Seychelles to aid global expansion. The exchange operates in a decentralized manner with no specific headquarters, with regional hubs in strategic markets, and plans to set up more regional hubs in the future.
✉️ Soul Æther Harnesses the Powers of Science, Magic, and Metaverse with Launch of Sci-fi Animated Series and Virtual Experiences
The future of fantastical, wholly-immersive storytelling is here with Soul Æther a sci-fantasy Web3-powered world that explores science and magic from the lens of digital assets, animation, games, and other metaverse experiences designed to raise the bottom line for creative storytelling.
✉️ ConsenSys Announces the Beta Release of MetaMask Bridges in the Portfolio Dapp
New York, November 18 — ConsenSys announced that users of MetaMask, the world’s leading Web3 self-custodial wallet, will now be able to bridge across multiple networks within the Portfolio dapp through a new feature called MetaMask Bridges.
✉️ 6,100 New Crypto ATMs Installed in 2022, 3x Less than Last Year
After their explosive growth in 2020 and 2021, the number of new crypto ATMs or Bitcoin ATMs significantly dropped this year.
✉️ Hex Trust Group Provides Staking Support for Hedera (HBAR) in Partnership with BCW Group
HONG KONG, 22 NOVEMBER – HT Markets, a member of the Hex Trust Group, now provides staking support for Hedera, an enterprise-grade public ledger for the decentralized economy, enabling financial institutions to participate in staking the protocol’s native token HBAR.
✉️ Dubai NFT global networking meet-up with Binance director of CIS and Asia by Connect+
Connect+ is organizing a private event gathering under one roof more than 500 techpreneurs and investors this Wednesday, Nov. 23, in Dubai, UAE. Nonfungible token (NFT) Private Party Cashuzbek Dubai is a private networking conference by Connect+.
Funding
đź’° Matrixport is seeking to raise $100 million in funding at a $1.5 billion valuation
It most recently raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation in a Series C fundraising round in August 2021. Investors in previous rounds for Matrixport have included DST Capital, Paradigm, Dragonfly and Tiger Global Management.
đź’° Cosmos-Based DeFi Protocol Onomy Closed $10 Million Funding Round
The round was backed by big industry investors such as Ava Labs, Bitfinex, GSR, DWF Labs, and CMS Holdings, with no specific lead investor.
đź’° Web3 Games Company Midnight Led by Ex-Soundcloud and Disney Execs Emerges From Stealth with $7.5M Seed Funding
Web3 games company, Midnight, emerged from stealth today with a $7.5 million fundraise in a seed round led by Shima Capital. Prominent blockchain gaming investors including Forte, Snackclub, Overwolf, the founders of gaming companies Illuvium and investors Woodstock Fund, FJ Labs, Bixin Ventures and more also participated in the round.
đź’° Polkadot-based protocol t3rn raises $6.5 million
Polychain Capital led the round, with Huobi Ventures, Figment Capital, Blockchange Ventures, Lemniscap and others participating, t3rn announced Thursday. The funding was secured via a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT)
đź’° Crypto infrastructure firm Nucleo secures $4m seed
The round was led by Bain Capital Crypto and 6th Man Ventures, and saw participation from investors such as Aleo, Espresso Systems and Aztec Network.
đź’° Multichain DAO Ecosystem XDAO Raises $2.3M at $50M Valuation In Seed Funding Round
XDAO, the multichain DAO builder for jointly managing crypto and DeFi projects, has announced that it raised $2.3 million at $50 million valuation from multiple investors in a successful seed funding round.
đź’° DEFYCA raises $1.3M in seed funding to build the next generation of decentralized capital markets.
DEFYCA, a Luxembourg-based digital securities platform has completed a seed funding round of $1.3 million USD led by QBN Capital and Blizzard Fund. The company makes private credit investment more accessible and more cost-effective.
đź’° Vezgo Closes $750k in Oversubscribed Pre-Seed Round to Accelerate Growth and Development of New Features for Our Leading Crypto Data API
Vezgo is proud to announce venture investments from Bitnomic Capital Inc., Flinks Technologies Inc., M2S Capital Inc., Chouinard Family Office and angel investors and serial entrepreneurs Andrew Izyumov (ex-Goldman Sachs) and Rachid Ajaja.
đź’° Binance Labs backs NGRAVE for crypto self-custody
Binance Labs, the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance, will be leading the upcoming Series A round of NGRAVE, a Belgium-based blockchain and digital asset security provider specialized in user-friendly, maximum security solutions for crypto users, from creating keys to advanced key recovery.