Secret Network Announces $400M Ecosystem Funding, Reveals Big-Name Investors

The privacy-focused blockchain will launch a $175 million accelerator pool and $225 million ecosystem fund

article-image

Blockworks Exclusive Art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Secret Network is best known for building a non-fungible token protocol, which advertises itself as the first “NFT with programmable privacy”
  • Investment firms that have taken a large SCRT token position include CoinFund, Alameda Research, HashKey and DeFiance Capital

Secret Network will soon deploy $400 million into its network’s ecosystem from big-name investors such as CoinFund, Alameda Research and DeFiance Capital, the protocol’s developer told Blockworks on Wednesday.

The privacy-focused blockchain will launch a $175 million accelerator pool and $225 million ecosystem fund, according to marketing materials. The $225 million raise will come from 25 different investors and the other $175 million will be deployed directly from SCRT Labs. 

The accelerator pool will be a source of non-dilutive early stage funding for various projects trying to build on Secret Network, according to a blog post from the startup. Early backers included KuCoin, Terra, DragonFly Capital, Blocktower and Huobi Capital. 

Secret Network is best known for building a non-fungible token protocol, which advertises itself as the first “NFT with programmable privacy,” according to its website. Both the NFT holder and creator can lease, own, and sell the [digital] art privately.

“[Unlike] normal NFTs, we can provide [user] access control,” Guy Zyskind, the founder and CEO of Secret Network, previously told Blockworks. “Essentially, if I’m an artist, and I’m publishing an art piece, I don’t have to reveal it to the entire world, I can publish it selectively.”

Secret Network previously made headlines for its partnership with award-winning director Quentin Tarantino last year, collaborating on a line of “Pulp Fiction” NFTs. Tarantino’s collection plans led to a lawsuit from Miramax, the movie studio that produced the 1994 film. 

Miramax accused Tarantino of committing copyright infringement, trademark infringement, breach of contract and unfair competition, according to court documents. Secret Network said in a statement to Blockworks that it has not been threatened with any legal action and still intends to work with Tarantino on his NFT efforts.

Zyskind said the $400 million will flow into the network’s ecosystem to help propel its growth. “With a strong network of supporters and a passionate global community, Secret Network is now entering its most aggressive growth phase to date,” he wrote in a statement. 

The network’s native token, SCRT,  is currently trading 4.2% lower at $9.22 after the news, according to data provider CoinGecko.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Unlocked by Template (7).png

Research

Union’s improvements upon Tendermint consensus through CometBLS, coupled with ZK proving through Galois, allow for a broadly scalable, cost efficient, and low latency IBC implementation that is feasibly scalable across every existing blockchain, virtual machine and runtime. The implementation offers modular crosschain interoperability without the need for trusted intermediaries.  

article-image

Kraken’s chief security officer Nick Percoco said the exchange turned the tables on a North Korean hacker

article-image

Or is it approximately the least cypherpunk thing we could do?

article-image

Over 20% of SOL-USD swap volume goes through SolFi

article-image

CEO Vlad Tenev calls expected clarity on listing crypto asset securities “a big opportunity”

article-image

Big Tech pulled US indexes back into the green Thursday, as investors waited for two more Mag 7 first-quarter reports after the bell

article-image

Charts and takeaways from Tuesday’s jobs report and Wednesday’s GDP print, as the economy digests the tariff war