Weekly Financing Express | Riot Platforms, a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner, raised its credit agreement with Coinbase Credit to $200 million; Theta Capital Closes $175 Million Crypto Fund Financing (05.19-05.25)
Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina).
Author | Dingdong (@XiaMiPP).
According to incomplete statistics from Odaily, between May 19 and May 25, a total of 14 blockchain-related financing events were announced worldwide, an increase of 27% from 11 in the previous week. The total amount raised was about $600 million, a significant jump from $89 million in the previous week. It's worth noting that this increase is mainly due to Riot Platforms (a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner) raising its credit agreement with Coinbase Credit from $100 million to $200 million, not an actual new financing.
From the perspective of financing dynamics, the crypto industry continues to be favored by capital: Theta Capital Management completed more than $175 million in fundraising, showing that institutional investors are still increasing their layout. Among the subdivisions, the payment and AI track is the most active, becoming the main direction of financing this week.
The following are the specific financing events (Note: 1. Sorted by the size of the published amount; 2. Excludes fund raising and mergers and acquisitions; 3. *For companies in the "traditional" field whose business is partially involved in blockchain):
Riot Platforms' credit agreement with Coinbase raised to $200 million
On May 20, Riot Platforms, a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner, announced an increase in the amount of funding in its credit agreement with Coinbase Credit from $100 million to $200 million, with key terms of the credit line remaining unchanged, including applicable interest rates.
Riot Platforms said the move is aimed at diversifying funding channels and reducing the cost of capital to support long-term strategic objectives. Borrowing from this line of credit will be collateralized by a portion of the company's Bitcoin holdings at an annual interest rate of the upper limit of the federal funds rate (or 3.25%, whichever is higher) plus 4.5%.
Theta Capital closes $175 million crypto fund funding round to invest in blockchain startups
On May 21, Crypto Investment Firm Theta Capital Management announced the closing of more than $175 million in funding for its fund called Theta Blockchain Ventures IV. The fund will focus on investing in venture capitalists focused on the crypto space, indirectly supporting early-stage blockchain startups.
World has raised $135 million through the sale of WLD tokens, which will be used for U.S. and global expansion
On May 22, World Assets, a subsidiary of the World Foundation, a stakeholder in the Worldcoin project, announced on May 21 that it had raised $135 million to support the expansion of the World network in the U.S. and around the world by selling WLD tokens to Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital Crypto at market prices. Previously disclosed investors also include Selini Capital, Mirana Ventures and Arctic Digital.
OpenFX, a stablecoin cross-border trading startup, has closed a $23 million funding round led by Accel
On May 22, stablecoin cross-border trading startup OpenFX announced the closing of a $23 million funding round led by Accel, founded by Prabhakar Reddy with the goal of replacing SWIFT with the goal of creating a stablecoin-based cross-border trading network. OpenFX currently supports 7 currencies, including the US dollar, the euro, and the Mexican peso, with plans to expand to 10 currencies this summer, including the Southeast Asia region.
Catena Labs closed an $18 million seed round led by a16z crypto
On May 20, Catena Labs, an AI-native finance startup founded by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, announced the closing of an $18 million seed round led by a16z crypto with participation from Breyer Capital, Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Tom Brady. Catena Labs is committed to building an "AI-native bank" with AI agents at its core, and has developed an open-source protocol that supports AI payment and identity systems. The company has not yet released a valuation, and there are no plans to launch a cryptocurrency or stablecoin anytime soon.
Bitcoin project Roxom Global has closed a $17.9 million funding round with participation from Borderless Capital and others
On May 22, the Bitcoin project Roxom Global is building a BTC-denominated exchange and RoxomTV, a 24/7 media network entirely dedicated to the development of Bitcoin, and it is reported that Draper Associates, Borderless Capital, ego death, and Kingsway Capital invested $7.9 million in their exchanges and raised for RoxomTV in a private funding round $10 million.
True Markets closed an $11 million Series A funding round with participation from PayPal Ventures and others
On May 20, Solana-based cryptocurrency trading app True Markets announced the closing of an $11 million Series A funding round with participation from PayPal Ventures, Variant, and RRE Ventures and Reciprocal Ventures, a centralized matchmaking engine with 10 full-time employees and primarily for institutional users. Recently launched a client-facing real-time trading feature.
Hyperdrive, a decentralized stablecoin funding marketplace, has closed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Hack VC and Arrington Capital
On May 24, Hyperdrive, a decentralized stablecoin funding marketplace based on Hyperliquid, announced the closing of a $6 million Series A funding round led by Hack VC and Arrington Capital, with participation from Delphi Ventures, Proof Group, SIG, Caladan Group, Amber Group, CMS Holdings, Breed VC and multiple angel investors. The project aims to build a stablecoin money market and yield hub on the Hyperliquid blockchain, providing stablecoin deposits and loans, liquid staking $HYPE, and one-click yield strategies.
Web3 game developer Voya Games has closed a $5 million funding round led by 1kx and Makers Fund
On May 21, Web3 game developer Voya Games closed a $5 million funding round led by 1kx and Makers Fund, with participation from RockawayX, angel investors including Sky Mavis co-founder Jeff 'Jihoz' Zirlin and The Sandbox COO Sébastien Borget.
The funds raised will be used to support the development of Craft World, a casual Web3 game. Craft World is a casual resource management game where players team up with friendly dinosaurs to rebuild civilization after a meteorite destroys humanity. The game is currently in the testnet phase.
Bitcoin liquid staking protocol Rover closed a $4.1 million seed round with participation from UTXO and others
On May 20, Rover, a Bitcoin liquid staking protocol, announced the closing of a $4.1 million seed round with participation from Bloccelerate, Animoca Ventures, CMS Holdings, UTXO, Maelstrom, and others. Roveris developing a flagship liquid staking solution for Bitcoin holders on Botanix, the first fully decentralized Bitcoin blockchain. Rover also received a strategic investment from UTXO, an early-stage Bitcoin venture capital fund.
TON Ecosystem DEX Tradoor closed a $3.2 million funding round led by TON Ventures and others
On May 20, Tradoor, a TON-based decentralized exchange, announced the completion of a $3.2 million funding round, led by TON Ventures and Kenetic Capital, with participation from Sigil Fund, Protagonist, VentureSouq, T Fund, TONX, Re 7 Capital and BitsLab, and it is reported that this round of financing also includes $1.5 millionThe coin purchase commitment is used to support Tradoor's roadmap to enable high-frequency trading on TON, and the new funds will support the launch of token swaps and AI features, including text trading (which allows users to execute trades via text commands) and social copy trading products.
Crypto asset manager Blockrise has closed a €2 million seed funding round
On May 23, Rotterdam-based crypto asset manager Blockrise announced the completion of a €2 million seed round with participation from Golden Egg Check Capital, with the new funds intended to be used to prepare for the implementation of the European Crypto Asset Market Regulation Regulation, and to obtain a MiCAR license for crypto asset market regulation issued by the Dutch Financial Market Authority (AFM), and the company is expected to launch a Series A funding round and expand its bitcoin custody and asset management platform by the end of the year.
Stablecorp, the issuer of stablecoins, closed a $1.8 million funding round with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others
On May 24, Canadian stablecoin issuer Stablecorp closed a $1.8 million funding round from investors including Coinbase Ventures and Side Door Ventures.
NERO Chain has completed an early-stage funding round for an undisclosed amount
On May 23, according to official news, NERO Chain received investment from a number of leading Japanese institutions and global capital, including Arcanum Capital (with Tether participation), Csquare Ventures, Oddiyana Ventures, Triple GEM Capital and other institutions have completed early investments, and the specific financing amount has not been disclosed.