Funding Roundup: Despite Bear Market, Money Is Still Pouring Into Crypto

When FTX announced it would acquire BlockFi for up to $240 million on Friday, June 1, glimmers of hope emerged for struggling Web3 startups that larger, more financially stable crypto companies would lend a hand.

After Celsius announced it would be freezing customer assets, Nexo expressed interest in buying Vauld to accelerate its presence in Asia. The struggling firm was one of the many lending companies that found itself affected by the downfall of Three Arrows Capital (3AC). Nexo will have 60 days to decide whether or not it will buy Vauld in full.

Last week, layer-1 blockchain protocol for peer-to-peer data transfer and transactions Rubix landed a $100 million investment from LDA Capital, an investment firm specializing in cross-border transactions.

“This funding will help us continue to innovate and fully realize our vision of creating a better, greener world through Web3. It opens doors for new partnerships, community engagements, and solutions built on top of the Rubix platform,” KC Reddy, chief architect and founder of Rubix told Blockworks in an email.

Early-stage gaming venture capital firm Konvoy, backed by Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis, announced on Wednesday that it will launch a $150 million fund that will allow it to continue investing in blockchain games.

Although blockchain gaming remains a controversial space, attracting criticism from users for being profit-driven, according to Bloomberg, money continues to pour into the space. Among the latest rounds is Animoca Brands’ announcement that it will lead a $32 million Series A for Planetarium Labs, a startup building a community-driven Web3 game network. Republic Capital is also pouring $20 million into Oasys, an eco-friendly blockchain built for the gaming community.

Other notable capital raises of the past week: 

• Crypto data provider Kaiko raised a $53 million Series B led by Eight Roads Ventures.
• Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf received an additional $50 million in loans from​​​​ Wilmington Trust to build data center infrastructure.
• BlockSec, a security infrastructure dApp, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Vitalbridge Capital and Matrix Partners.
• Switzerland-based qiibee, a blockchain-based B2B rewards marketplace that offers crypto and loyalty platforms for businesses and consumers, closed a $4.8 million seed round led by Z5 Capital.

Check back next week for more funding news.

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