We are so back
Are we back? After all the red days and market turmoil, we’re finally seeing gains and the green shoots of hope as BTC reclaims the 85k level.
This week marks a monumental moment for crypto, highlighted by the largest single investment in a crypto company to date: Binance secured a $2 billion funding from Arab-based MGX. Impressively, the entire $2 billion transaction was conducted on-chain using stablecoins.
Let’s dive in!
1. Binance received $2B in a funding from MGX
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and MGX, the Abu Dhabi-based AI and advanced technology investor, have announced a landmark $2B investment.
MGX is a technology investment company focused on accelerating the development and adoption of AI and advanced technologies through world-leading partnerships in the United Arab Emirates and globally. MGX invests in sectors where AI can deliver value and economic impact at scale, including semiconductors, infrastructure, software, tech-enabled services, life sciences, and physical AI.
This $2B investment is:
- The single largest investment into a crypto company,
- The largest investment paid in crypto (stablecoin,
- The first institutional investment in Binance.
This investment marks MGX's debut in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors, acquiring a minority stake in Binance, aligns with MGX's broader strategy to support blockchain's transformative potential. By collaborating with a leading industry player, MGX seeks to drive innovation at the crossroads of AI, blockchain technology, and finance.
2. Axelar Network raises $30M in a private token sale
Axelar Network raised $30M in a token round from Arrington Capital, Distributed Global, Electric Capital, Laser Digital, C² Ventures, Plassa Capital and WAGMI Ventures.
Axelar is the Web3 interoperability platform. An open stack to connect all blockchains. A single click to use and build everywhere. This open architecture is essential for financial institutions now poised to enter the space: they need interoperability that doesn't introduce custodial risks or vendor lock-in, said by Sergey Gorbunov, co-founder of Axelar.
With new investors on board, Axelar plans to expand into tokenizing RWAs, facilitating institutional blockchain connectivity, and pave the way into the next era of finance, payments + the web.
Axelar recently went through a big upgrade with the code-name "Cobalt". This update implements new AXL tokenomics that sends 98% of network gas fees to a burn address, and the other 2% go to a community grant pool. As the network has matured, this new upgrade hardens the AXL token supply to incentivize interoperability without inflationary rewards.
Notably, this is just one of many OTC token deals happening recently in the crypto market.
3. Vest raises $5M to build The Universal Risk Engine
Decentralized perpetual futures platform. Vest Exchange raised $5M in a funding round from Jane Street, Selini Capital, Amber Group, QCP Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Mozaik Capital, Danish Chaudhry, DefiSquared.
Vest is committed to build a fully trustless and transparent financial ecosystem. Vest simplifies risk assessment by replacing scattered individual evaluations with a single, reliable system. Instead of depending on trust, it provides participants with a shared, unbiased model that automatically adjusts to changes in the market.
Vest’s first product is Vest Exchange, a perpetual futures exchange that uses the framework to create fair, liquid markets. Unlike CLOBs where pricing is determined by profit-seeking MMs, Vest verifiably enforces neutral, fair pricing using blockchain & zk proofs, guarantees a trading environment that is free of market manipulation, and has stable and predictable liquidity for traders.
They have recently launched an incentive points program on March 12th, where users can accumulate points by trading, providing liquidity, and interacting with the platform.
4. Templar Protocol secures $4M pre-seed funding to build cypher lending for Bitcoin
Decentralized Bitcoin-backed lending platform Templar Protocol raised $4M in a Pre-seed funding round from Robot Ventures, Digital Asset Capital Management, Proximity Labs, BlackDragon VC, NEAR Protocol, Zaki Manian, Will Price, Loi Luu, Sam Kazemian and Alex Shevchenko.
Templar is the first Cypher Lending Protocol that enables permissionless and private lending for Bitcoin and other digital assets. They are building a lending protocol that lets you borrow dollars against your Bitcoin without trusting centralized institutions using open source smart contracts using Chain Signatures and new MPC tech from NEAR.
This capital will accelerate Templar’s development roadmap and product launch. The team plans to go live with the protocol in Q2 2025. In the future, Templar will expand support for additional assets and expand privacy features.
The protocol has launched testnet for users to try out.
5. RedotPay secured $40M in Series A funding
RedotPay raised $40M in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, with participation from Galaxy Digital, HongShan (ex Sequoia China), Accel, Vertex Ventures.
RedotPay is a leading crypto fintech bridging Web3 and traditional finance through innovative, cost-efficient blockchain solutions. Founded in April 2023, RedotPay quickly established itself as a pioneering alternative to traditional banking for the unbanked. With over 3M registered users globally, it states itself as the industry leading crypto card & payment platform.
With this new funding, RedotPay plans to accelerate its product roadmap, enhance its payment ecosystem for a smoother user experience, reinforce regulatory compliance frameworks, and expand its licensing footprint across multiple jurisdictions.
Conclusion
This week saw a total of 24 funding rounds for crypto projects. The total capital poured in the crypto market this week is nearly $2.9B. Notably, the Binance deal contributed $2B, and $290M was raised through the WLFI public sale. This makes it one of the most significant weeks of the year-to-date for crypto fundraising.
Another notable trend in the recent fundraising market as well is private token OTC-deal. Ethena with ENA, Axelar with AXL, Across with ACX,... deal happens in the last few weeks are a good indicator.
Can you guess why more discount OTC token deals are happening? Let us know your answer in the comment section!