Author: Coindesk

Singapore-based Crypto.com Capital announced today that it is expanding the size of its fund to $500 million, from the $200 million it announced in March 2021. Jon Russell, its newly hired General Partner based in Bangkok, told CoinDesk the fund will do seed and series-A deals, typically up to a $10 million check for the series-A. So far Crypto.com’s maiden fund has invested in play-to-earn guild YGG SEA, Ledger, and Frax Finance The fund will be focused on investing in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. It will typically want to lead rounds. Russell said the fund will be focused on growing the overall crypto ecosystem, not…

Burnt Finance, a protocol built on Solana, has raised $8 million in a funding round led by Animoca Brands. It also launched its non-fungible token (NFT) platform. The capital will go toward adding staff and exploring partnerships with artists and other Solana-based projects.Burnt Finance, known for burning a piece of artwork from street artist Banksy before selling a digitized version as an NFT, also said it has launched its NFT marketplace, which will feature auctions and allows users to mint and sell digital assets.Other investors in the round included Alameda Research, Multicoin Capital, Valor Capital, Figment, Spartan Capital, HashKey, Terra, Fantom and…

Crypto.com Capital announced Monday that it is expanding its $200 million Web 3 fund, and it has appointed Jon Russell, a former technology journalist based in Bangkok where he wrote for Tech Crunch and The Ken, as an Asia-based limited partner. Crypto.com Capital initially launched the fund in March 2021 with $200 million in capital, targeting seed and Series A deals in verticals like DeFi, NFTs, blockchain gaming and the metaverse.The fund is currently run by Crypto.com co-founder Bobby Bao and is hiring more LPs around the world. Russell will help expand the fund’s exposure to Asia-based projects.Russell told CoinDesk that the fund is…

Hulu is looking for help breaking into crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse to target “the streamers of tomorrow,” according to a new job posting. The streaming platform is hiring a “culture trend marketing manager” to help the company “break through into other spaces outside of streaming,” with a background in “metaverse and/or crypto and NFT platforms” a plus, according to the listing. The company cited how younger demographics are consuming content in less traditional ways, identifying crypto and the metaverse as an emerging market. Hulu’s parent company, Disney, is eyeing the metaverse in a similar way – in a…

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex said customers based in Canada’s most populous province will no longer have access to any services beginning March 1. No reason was given for the move. Bitfinex told its Ontario customers they should withdraw their funds on or before March 1.Beginning today, customers without account balances will have their accounts closed. Those without open positions on the exchange’s peer-to-peer financing markets will lose access to those markets. And customers without open margin positions will also no longer have access to margin or borrowing.Crypto exchange giant Binance was recently told by the Ontario Securities Commission that it still wasn’t registered in…

Parler, a free-speech social media platform popular with U.S. conservatives, is launching an NFT collection highlighting former President Donald Trump “in a myriad of settings that capture the essence of the Trump Presidency using symbolic imagery with serious undertones.” The images were created by Jon McNaughton, an artist known particularly for paintings of American conservative political figures, especially Republicans, and Christian imagery.“[McNaughton’s] acclaimed style, creative message, and digital delivery align perfectly with Parler’s goal to move squarely into Web 3 technologies and partnerships that further our commitment to freedom of expression,” said Parler CEO George Farmer in a statement.The move follows last…

The year is only weeks old and Wall Street analysts are already trying to predict 2022 winners and losers. But Mike McGlone, Bloomberg’s senior commodity strategist, is going back to the basics: supply and demand. This week, McGlone, who won plaudits in crypto markets last year for being one of the first prominent Wall Street analysts to accurately predict that bitcoin’s price would hit $50,000, penned a pair of reports this week comparing the dynamic in the bitcoin market with that of raw materials oil and copper. Taking a look at oil, McGlone pointed out that prices for the benchmark U.S.…

Dogecoin (DOGE) payments went live on the Tesla store in Asian hours on Friday, with prices seeing an 11% increase shortly afterward. The store displays pricing information in both U.S. dollars and dogecoin. The Giga Texas Belt Buckle lists for 835 DOGE (≈$155.5); the Cyberquad sells for 12,020 DOGE (≈$2,296), while a Cyberwhistle goes for 300 DOGE (≈$57).Dogecoin was trading at $0.19 at the time of writing and is the world’s 11th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $24 billion.The move comes nearly a month after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in December 2021 that the electric-car maker would accept dogecoin as payment…

One of crypto’s most cash-rich ecosystems just got a little richer as it prepares for a major DeFi push. On Thursday, the NEAR Foundation announced the close of a $150 million funding round. Su Zhu’s Three Arrows Capital led the raise, with participation from major crypto-focused funds including Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Jump, Alameda, Zee Prime and Amber Group, among others. According to Dragonfly general partner Ashwin Ramachandran, the raise was completed “end to end” in two weeks, reflecting a level of excitement for the up-and-coming chain. “NEAR has done a great job from a technology standpoint, and we…

Cardano (ADA) followed many layer 1 tokens and posted gains during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. Cardano rose 7% soon after Coinbase restarted withdrawals on Wednesday. Traders started facing withdrawal issues last week.Sentiments in Asia were further buoyed after Hong Kong’s central bank, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), seemed to provide an open ear to crypto stakeholders in a new discussion paper. Cardano prices moved upwards during the Asia trading session. (TradingView) Cardano was trading at $1.30 by mid-day Hong Kong time, up 6% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.Other layer 1 tokens, such as Solana (SOL), also…