Ben Strack

A federally chartered bank is now offering settlement of US dollars and crypto assets for buy- and sell-side institutions.&nbsp;



Crypto-focused Anchorage Digital unveiled its new settlement network, called Atlas, in a Thursday announcement. Atlas has already settled hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto since its “early access launch” earlier this year, the company said.



Atlas users can access counterparties that include clients of Anchorage Digital and its Singapore subsidiary. On-chain settlement ensures the assets are not commingled and don’t leave on-chain addresses until settlement occurs, according to the bank.



“Atlas participants are not reliant on settlement providers’ books,” a spokesperson told Blockworks. “Our regulatory status and security profile represent a major unlock for institutions, with Atlas advancing a new era for safe and secure settlement across the industry.”&nbsp;



Initial users of the network include venture capital firm CoinFund and the clearinghouse affiliate of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tradfi-launches-crypto-exchange">institution-focused crypto exchange EDX Markets</a>, as well as crypto brokerage firm Nonco.



CoinFund President Chris Perkins said in a statement that the network mitigates counterparty risk while “cultivating deep, liquid and accessible markets.”



“Atlas offers the greatest level of security, paired with the best speed and efficiency,” EDX Clearing CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter added. “These features allow us to minimize delivery risk for time-sensitive transactions.”&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/anchorage-digital">Anchorage Digital</a> became a bank chartered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in January 2021 — a distinction the company’s executives and users of the bank have highlighted in recent months.



Anchorage meets the Securities and Exchange Commission’s definition of a “qualified custodian,” CEO Nathan McCauley has said — a term included in the regulator’s February 2023 <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-30">proposal</a> that would “entrust safekeeping of client assets” to such entities.&nbsp;



Anchorage launched custody and settlement services for registered investment advisers (RIAs) in November and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/block-trading-ria-crypto-access">partnered with crypto wealth platform Onramp Invest</a> in January. McCauley noted at the time that the company wants to be a “regulatory solve” for RIAs with mandates to hold crypto assets with a qualified custodian.&nbsp;



Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital, which held 17,381 BTC as of March 31, added Anchorage as one of its custodians in December. The company’s chief financial officer noted Anchorage’s “well regarded” regulatory status in a statement.



The launch comes after BitGo and Copper partnered in November to expand their off-exchange settlement networks.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitgo-crypto-cold-storage-custodian">BitGo wants to be ‘exchange agnostic’ as a qualified custodian</a>



The combination of BitGo’s Go Network and Copper’s ClearLoop was done to de-risk trading market infrastructure after the collapse of FTX and others.



BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said at the time the companies’ partnership allowed them to settle assets “safely and securely without direct exposure to exchanges.”



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Crypto-focused federal chartered bank intros settlement network

Michael Bodley

Cryptocurrency-focused investment firm CoinFund has bifurcated its in-house legal team, betting on one incoming attorney to drive portfolio company deals and keeping in place the business’ general counsel to oversee more traditional functions.



Maintaining two attorneys at an executive level isn’t exactly commonplace among crypto fund operators — even ones running both liquid and illiquid venture capital strategies.&nbsp;



CoinFund’s recent hire of Dilveer Vahali in the newly created position of head of venture legal represents the firm’s bid to draw a line in the sand between the business needs of both verticals.&nbsp;



Vahali last worked for the Chermin Group, a private investment firm that counts crypto companies on its funded list, and before that spent time as a partner at Kirkland &amp; Ellis LLP, where he worked with private equity firms and merger and acquisition initiatives.&nbsp;



It appears, though, that <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinfund">CoinFund</a> General Counsel Stewart Eichner, who also holds the title of chief compliance officer, is set to continue to play a role in operations across CoinFund’s business lines.&nbsp;


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="480" height="480" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=300&amp;h=300" alt="" class="wp-image-63739" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=480 480w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=150 150w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=257 257w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=261 261w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=219 219w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dilveer Vahali, courtesy CoinFund</figcaption></figure></div>


Vahali at CoinFund has been tasked with “being the deal guy,” he told Blockworks, intending to blend his experience from the competitive world of closing large scale private equity transactions with a crypto-native approach. Private equity investing has a more established set of norms around legal needs and compliance, he said, including differentiating between in-house and external counsels.&nbsp;



“In traditional private equity, you have the legal folks, the general counsel, the folks who are managing the legal processes,” he said. “In crypto, and because CoinFund is evolving so quickly, it was kind of to fill this hole with somebody who can take deal execution back from the business team and oversee our portfolio companies and be a sounding board when they have questions.”



CoinFund, which operates venture capital funds and a liquid hedge fund that invests in tokens, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/investment-firms-dominate-week">recently raised $158 million for a new venture fund</a>, Seed Fund IV, capping off a steady year in which the firm appeared to have avoided a number of the missteps of its competitors through choppy markets and whipsawing venture valuation.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Portfolio companies looking for legal help</h2>



This year, the firm&#8217;s executives, including President Chris Perkins, have also engaged in discussions concerning the US regulatory landscape, advocating for stablecoin legislation and other key initiatives.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinfund-president-crypto-regulation">‘Safe harbor’ proposal resurfaces in CoinFund president’s call for crypto laws</a>



Vahali said his role combines legal needs with business functions, with the aim being to provide portfolio companies with the means and know-how to quickly close on new business opportunities. It’s also intended for the attorney to be available as a legal sounding board for companies, often operators too nascent and without the capital to justify shelling out on their own legal expertise.&nbsp;



“It’s even less of us telling [portfolio company founders] what to do,” he said. “A lot of the companies we invest in are early stage, so just having a lawyer that they can talk to, it’s like, ‘Hey, I got a call the other day about credit card processing in the United States from a foreign business.’ They are like, ‘Do you know folks who can do that?…What’s the process?’”



Managing Partner David Pakman, CoinFund’s head of venture investments, pushed for the creation of the firm’s venture legal role, citing increased deal flow, in part, for the new position.



CoinFund has invested in more than 100 crypto companies, many of them early-stage, including <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/defi-sector-raises-50m">backing in June the $10 million seed round of Neutron</a>, a <a href="https://blockworks.co/category/defi">DeFi</a> blockchain protocol.&nbsp;



With crypto markets continuing to bank on a continuing recovery this year, Vahali said he’s noticed an uptick in merger and acquisition activity as of late.&nbsp;



“What I can tell you from my vantage point is I have seen activity pick up, and I’ve seen more founders coming to us, more potential deals coming in,” he said. “I still think it’s not where it was in 2021, when we were going gangbusters, [which then] flushed out a lot of folks who maybe weren’t in crypto for the right reasons.”



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CoinFund taps ‘deal guy’ as first head of venture legal

James Cirrone

Crypto firms raised over $359 million in fresh funding rounds this week.&nbsp;



Among the big draws: Web3 venture capital firm CoinFund, pulled in $158 million from institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals.



CoinFund is an avid investor in startups, recently <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/defi-sector-raises-50m">helping to kick in $10 million to blockchain network Neutron</a>. The firm also contributed to the pre-seed rounds for Dfinity and Cryptoys in 2017 and 2021, respectively.



The nine-figure cash injection will allow <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinfund">CoinFund</a> to continue contributing to pre-seed and seed stage investments across the Web3 ecosystem.&nbsp;



CoinFund, founded in 2015, has a staff of close to 30 people and has more than 100 investments across six investment vehicles. Over the last 18 months, the firm raised over $550 million using venture and liquid investment strategies, according to a statement.&nbsp;



Other investment firms brought in fresh capital this week. PSE Trading, a digital asset fund based in Hong Kong, <a href="https://blockchainwire.io/press-release/hong-kong-cryptocurrency-asset-fund-pse-trading-secures-its-first-8-figure-funding-round">raised</a> $10 million, an affiliated representative told Blockworks. Cipholio Ventures was a key investor in the firm.



Meanwhile, Polychain Capital, a mainstay in the crypto investing world, reportedly garnered $200 million this week for a fourth crypto venture capital fund, according to <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/07/18/crypto-vc-polychain-200-million-staff-shakeup/">Fortune</a>.&nbsp;



Blockworks reached out to Polychain to confirm but didn’t receive an immediate response.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A focus on metaverse and zero-knowledge proofs</h2>



Elsewhere, Futureverse’s $54 million Series A round showed there’s perhaps still an appetite for virtual worlds among venture capital.&nbsp;



Futureverse had just two named investors: 10T Holdings and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ripple">Ripple</a>, the latter of which recently scored a partial victory in its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/judge-rules-ripple-xrp-not-security">years-long legal fight with the SEC</a>.



Futureverse is an amalgamation of 11 different firms and is now squarely focused on metaverse applications. One key component: Artificial intelligence (AI) content generation tools designed to enhance the music, objects, characters and animations that comprise metaverse experiences.



Futureverse is particularly known for its mobile soccer game, AI League, which is licensed with FIFA. In the past year, Futureverse released an AI-powered boxing game featuring the likeness of fighting legend Muhammad Ali.



Meanwhile, zero-knowledge proof startup RISC Zero secured $40 million in a Series A round led by Blockchain Capital. Participants included Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX and Maven 11, among others.&nbsp;



In August 2022, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/funding-wrap-the-web3-startups-funded-this-past-week">RISC Zero got its start by closing a $12 million seed round</a> led by Bain Capital Crypto.



With the latest funding, the firm plans to bring its Bonsai computing platform to market. Bonsai aims to provide parallel zero-knowledge proof technology for developers in any language and on any chain, according to a press release.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other notable fundraises</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Cosmic Wire, a Web3 tech firm, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cosmic-wire-a-leading-technology-company-in-web3-and-blockchain-solutions-has-successfully-raised-30-million-in-its-series-seed-round-301880427.html">raised</a> $30 million to develop decentralized apps. Groups tied to two rival networks led the seed round: the Solana Foundation and Polygon.&nbsp;</li>



<li>P0x Labs, the team building the Manta Network, <a href="https://twitter.com/MantaNetwork/status/1681650870570881025">wrapped up</a> a $25 million Series A and reached a $500 million valuation in the process. Polychain Capital was a lead investor.</li>



<li>Binance Labs <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/ecosystem/binance-labs-invests-in-radiant-to-support--its-mission-to-lead-the-next-era-of-defi-lending-1438479277678345894">invested</a> $10 million in a DeFi lending protocol called Radiant.</li>



<li>Ethena, a startup developing an Ethereum-based stablecoin, <a href="https://twitter.com/ethena_labs/status/1681592637537816578">raised</a> $6 million from Dragonfly Capital and others. Former BitMEX co-founder and ex-CEO Arthur Hayes also participated.</li>
</ul>



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Crypto funding: Investment firms dominate $359M week

Trading over-the-counter (OTC) options on-chain represents a key next step in finance after the collapse of various centralized heavyweights in the segment, according to Galaxy Digital executives.



The crypto-focused firm is now able to trade such options tied to digital assets with Galaxy, the company told Blockworks. Galaxy completed its first trade with crypto investment firm CoinFund.



OTC options are derivatives contracts that trade outside of a formal exchange. The buyer and seller can create their own terms — including strike price and expiration dates — for the private transaction.&nbsp;



Trading them on-chain alleviates credit risk typically associated with traditional OTC options trades, while also protecting privacy, according to Jason Urban, Galaxy’s global head of trading.



“You’re essentially using smart contracts to manage the collateral, ensuring that even if a counterparty defaults, the other party on the trade can get the money they’re owed,” Urban told Blockworks. 



“Previously, margining had to be done off-chain, so a typical OTC option in crypto looked a lot like an OTC option within another asset class.”



Onchain &#8220;trustless&#8221; settlement means that each party must submit their side of the settlement before anything is released to either entity, added Lini Gao, Galaxy’s vice president of institutional sales and structuring.



“Counterparties must be compliant to a pre-defined set of rules surrounding margin requirements throughout the life of the trade,” Gao said.&nbsp;



Investor demand for on-chain solutions that afford more transparency and less credit risk has picked up following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and other centralized entities in recent months, Urban noted.&nbsp;



To execute, margin and settle the trade, Galaxy used <a href="https://www.aevo.xyz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aevo</a>, an on-chain options trading platform developed by Ribbon Finance.&nbsp;



The DeFi derivatives platform <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ribbon-finance-to-tap-ethereum-interest-with-options-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">introduced Aevo</a> last September. Its mainnet went <a href="https://aevo.mirror.xyz/klKSjpY0UV-GmdWVrW-9x6JRkxvtl-4OwkTthZLcDpA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">live</a> last month — initially allowing users to trade ETH options.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Day 1 of Aevo Exchange: &#8211; $700k+ notional volume &#8211; $400k+ open interest &#8211; Put/Call ratio 0.81 (compared to 0.4 on Deribit) Aevo traders are bearsish? 🐻&mdash; Aevo (@aevoxyz) <a href="https://twitter.com/aevoxyz/status/1644630957314670592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Aevo’s OTC exchange launched Monday, allowing users to trade altcoin options on-chain across weekly, biweekly and monthly maturities.



CoinFund decided to use the platform to benefit from &#8220;advantageous margin requirements and on-chain payoff enforcement, as well as being able to select a precise strike price,&#8221; according to Ribbon Finance.



The OTC options trade comes a little more than a year after Galaxy made an <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/goldman-sachs-makes-milestone-crypto-trade-with-galaxy-digital" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OTC crypto transaction with banking giant Goldman Sachs</a> via a bitcoin non-deliverable option.&nbsp;



Galaxy, which says it works with roughly 960 counterparties, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/galaxy-regulatory-headache-not-going-away" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posted a net income of $134 million</a> during the first quarter.



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Galaxy: On-chain OTC Options Trade Key to Finance Evolution

The president of Web3 investment firm CoinFund is the latest to urge lawmakers to pass crypto laws that encourage sector growth, noting that potential legislation around stablecoins&nbsp; — which he said could come first — presents a big opportunity.&nbsp;



In a white paper published Thursday, Chris Perkins, a member of the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee, also highlighted a years-old proposal from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce designed to spur crypto entrepreneurs to more freely build decentralized networks.



Legislation must be the bedrock for digital financial policy, Perkins added in the white paper.&nbsp; He told Blockworks in an email that in his support for nuanced regulations for the sector, the goal is not to be combative.&nbsp;



“At a time when regulation seems unclear at best to industry practitioners, we hope to lend our expertise to help drive clarity and the principles-based outcomes that are imperative to catalyze responsible innovation,” Perkins explained.&nbsp;



The industry-wide call for better rules has become more frequent, as regulators with eyes on the space have not shied away from enforcement.&nbsp;



The CoinFund president was appointed to the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee in January. The <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/About/AdvisoryCommittees/GMAC'">group</a> was created in 1998 to advise the commission on matters impacting the global competitiveness of US markets and firms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Support for SEC commissioner’s proposal</h2>



Perkins is also calling for lawmakers to prioritize sandboxes and safe harbor programs, echoing a similar <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-statement-token-safe-harbor-proposal-2.0">proposal</a> from Peirce.



Peirce’s so-called “token safe harbor proposal” looks to give network developers a three-year grace period during which they could participate in or develop a decentralized network — all while exempted from the registration provisions of federal securities laws.



“Experimentation, exploration and, at times, failure are important components of innovation,” Perkins told Blockworks. “Entrepreneurs should be encouraged to innovate thoughtfully without fear of regulatory reprisal. Sandboxes allow this to happen.”



Peirce first suggested the proposal in February 2020 before publishing an updated version on internet hosting service GitHub in April 2021.&nbsp;



The update was made just days before Gary Gensler was sworn in as chair of the SEC — “the perfect time for the commission to consider afresh how our rules can be modified to accommodate this new technology in a responsible manner,” she said in a statement at the time.



The status of the proposal is unclear. A spokesperson for the commissioner did not immediately return a request for comment.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What legislation could come first?</h2>



While regulators have ramped up what many industry participants call “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-regulation-policy-law">regulation by enforcement</a>” in recent months, lawmakers of both parties have said <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-legislation-wont-be-sexy">crypto laws remain a near-term focus</a>.&nbsp;



Legislation should be based on core principles such as client asset protections, disclosures, cost-efficiency and privacy, Perkins asserts in the white paper — adding it should be clear and predictable and rather straightforward to comply with.&nbsp;&nbsp;



While centralized intermediaries should be regulated, decentralized technologies should not, he added.



As for what crypto legislation could come first, Perkins told Blockworks regulation around stablecoins might not be far off. A <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA21/20230419/115753/BILLS-118pih-Toproviderequirementsforpaymentstablecoinissuersresearchonadigitaldollarandforotherpurposes.pdf">draft bill</a> was released last week, though lawmakers are still working through disagreements.&nbsp;



A day after the House Financial Services Committee met for an <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gensler-house-financial-services-committee">oversight hearing with Gensler</a>, the new House Subcommittee on Digital Assets convened Wednesday.



Subcommittee Chair Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., called the ongoing <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/house-grapples-with-stablecoins">“turf war” between the CFTC and SEC</a> unhelpful and unsustainable.



Perkins said it should not matter which regulator has jurisdiction as long as “the same principles are advanced with processes that are nuanced and evolve with technology.” He called the Wednesday meeting “a positive step forward.”



“At a time when adversaries are working to displace the dollar, stablecoins can further solidify the US dollar as the global reserve currency, while delivering utility, reducing costs, mitigating risk and driving demand for government debt,” he said. “I remain hopeful that our policymakers will recognize this opportunity.”



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‘Safe Harbor’ Proposal Resurfaces in CoinFund President’s Call for Crypto Laws

Bessie Liu

<div id="highlights-block_62fd2c39e7a3d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“Our goal with this fund is to assemble a portfolio with a mix,” Pakman said</li>
 <li>Layer-1s, DeFi, NFTs, gaming and Web3 infrastructures are just a handful of promising investment areas, according to Pakman</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Cryptocurrency investment firm CoinFund has raised $300 million for its latest fund: a venture capital-style vehicle that plans to focus on early-stage Web3-oriented startups.



Though CoinFund has been investing in seed-stage Web3 startups since 2015, Managing Partner <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpakman/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Pakman</a> told Blockworks the latest fund aims to back companies thereafter. 



“Seed funding makes bets on teams and a thesis, and the venture fund is making investments in companies that are showing some traction — where there’s evidence that things are working and we think there may be big outcomes,” Pakman said. “Our strategy is to invest in both some of our existing portfolio companies, and also new companies that we missed, or we never had the chance to meet the team. Our goal with this fund is to assemble a portfolio with a mix.”



As a digital assets generalist, CoinFund doesn&#8217;t have its sights focused on a specific area of Web3, but Pakman said the team has identified promising sectors.



“Layer-1s, DeFi [decentralized finance], <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFTs</a> [non-fungible tokens], gaming, Web3 infrastructures — such as stablecoins and payments, asset management and exchanges and on-ramp crypto wallets — are all showing promise today,” he said.



As the ecosystem matures, Pakman believes new areas to invest in will emerge. Rather than building centralized computing architectures, developers could focus on building networks and protocols where users and developers can share ownership of the infrastructure — and its growing cadre of tangential applications.&nbsp;



“The job of this venture fund would be to determine the teams that want to build big things that are intersecting with adoption,” Pakman said.&nbsp;



Even so, Pakman said being thematically accurate as an investor is not enough.&nbsp;



“You have to be right about the timing of adoption,” he said. “If you bet on cloud computing and AI [artificial intelligence] in 1998, you would not have been successful, but if you bet on cloud computing in 2008, you would be very successful.”



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CoinFund on the Lookout for Promising Web3 Companies After $300M Raise

Jack Kubinec

<div id="highlights-block_62acd57cc3cf4" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Executives remain mostly shielded from crypto&#8217;s job squeeze</li>
 <li>Deep-pocketed traditional and decentralized finance firms announce job openings as struggling crypto firms make cuts</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Decentralized trading platform Uniswap Labs brought on Stacy Cunningham, former president of the New York Stock Exchange, as an adviser this week. The company hopes Cunningham’s experience in the top echelons of traditional finance will bring insight to the protocol.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Excited to bring my years (decades?!) of exchange experience to <a href="https://twitter.com/haydenzadams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@haydenzadams</a> and the <a href="https://twitter.com/Uniswap?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Uniswap</a> team to advance their mission of democratizing new markets. <a href="https://t.co/eS4X10sH9E">https://t.co/eS4X10sH9E</a>&mdash; Stacey Cunningham (@stacey_cunning) <a href="https://twitter.com/stacey_cunning/status/1537129387585331200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



CoinFund appointed Margaret Gabriel as the firm’s head of talent. Gabriel will lead CoinFund’s talent acquisition program and will advise the firm’s portfolio companies on new hires. Gabriel previously worked in recruitment roles at Gemini and Google.&nbsp;



Crypto payment service BitPay made Allison Raley its chief compliance officer. The hire comes as Congress <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/congress-mulling-stablecoin-regulation-after-terra-crash/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weighs</a> crypto regulation amid widespread decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity issues. After receiving her law degree from Baylor University, Raley previously worked in digital asset compliance for an Arkansas law firm.



Kraken Product Manager Pierre Rochard has informed the company of his retirement. Rochard, who was with the exchange for almost three years, <a href="https://twitter.com/pierre_rochard/status/1537084282778357762?s=20&amp;t=-CMwToXnLDuP4dkmhV6fFQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">insisted</a> on Twitter that his departure will allow him “to spend more time with family” and is not related to dysfunctional company culture recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/technology/kraken-crypto-culture.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> by The New York Times.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">No 😂. Huge fan of Jesse, Kraken, and the culture there, an excellent team of builders I enjoyed working with. I’ll miss them a lot. I’m stepping aside to spend more time with family and enable a new product leader to take bitcoin and Lightning at Kraken to the next level.&mdash; Pierre Rochard (@pierre_rochard) <a href="https://twitter.com/pierre_rochard/status/1537084282778357762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/job-security-a-growing-concern-as-crypto-companies-continue-layoffs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Layoffs</a> abounded in the crypto industry last week — with <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-cutting-5-of-workforce-amid-digital-asset-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crypto.com</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/cryptocurrency-lender-blockfi-set-to-cut-staff-by-a-fifth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BlockFi</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-cut-workforce-ceo-wary-of-potential-recession/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-joins-growing-list-of-crypto-exchanges-cutting-staff-amid-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini</a>, among others, announcing staff cuts — but several of the space’s largest funds have so far avoided downsizing and are publicizing new job openings. 



Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that the trading platform is looking to hire 2,000 new employees, and Kraken <a href="https://blog.kraken.com/post/14372/kraken-announces-global-hiring-push-and-commitment-to-crypto-first-culture/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a> in a blog post that the company is hoping to fill 500 positions by the end of 2022. FTX, OpenSea, Everstake, Polygon and Ripple all also indicated they are looking to bring on new employees.



Traditional finance firms are opening their doors to some of crypto’s recently fired. Deloitte has listed 144 crypto-adjacent job openings, while CashApp and Jack Dorsey’s Block are also looking to fill dozens of crypto positions, according to research from CryptoJobsList.com.&nbsp;



Layoffs are expected to continue as the market slides, but firms with the resources to weather the crypto winter will benefit from an expanding pool of available labor.



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Latest in Crypto Hiring: Firms Fill High-profile Roles as Layoffs Continue

<div id="highlights-block_62a39bb7f56e7" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>BKCoin makes three hires, including poaching a former Coinbase executive</li>
 <li>Crypto-focused RIA taps ex-Celsius Network pro as chief operating officer</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Market-neutral crypto hedge fund firm BKCoin Capital hired Paul Magahis as president, Adriano Caloiaro as chief technology officer and Leanna Haakons as director of business development and investor relations.



Magahis is set to join the investment committee and oversee BKCoin’s corporate strategy, fundraising and operations. He most recently worked as Coinbase’s head of capital strategy, and before that was the global co-head of capital introduction at StoneX Group.



Caloiaro joins from enterprise talent acquisition software provider Greenhouse Software, while Haakons previously co-founded financial marketing and consulting firm Black Hawk Financial in 2014.&nbsp;



Crypto-focused registered investment advisor Khelp Financial appointed Steve Goeke as chief operating officer and Paul Lang as head of portfolio construction and risk.



Goeke was working at Truist Securities as a director in the firm’s capital markets group and helped corporate clients manage interest rate, foreign exchange and commodity markets risk. He has also held roles in derivatives, foreign exchange and credit at Regions Capital Markets and JPMorgan.&nbsp;



Lang joins from Celsius Network, where he focused on coin allocation and risk-managed strategies. Before that, he worked as a macro-focused portfolio manager at UBS.



Ethereum scaling platform Polygon has hired Bhumika Srivastava as its new global head of human relations.&nbsp;



The new executive was formerly the head of human relations at Airbnb. Srivastava’s other previous experiences with major Web2 brands, such as Snapdeal, Adobe and Yahoo, will be crucial in supporting Polygon’s growth, the company said in a statement.



In an interview with Blockworks, Sanket Shah, Polygon’s head of strategy said the company will continue hiring.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We are not letting the bearish landscape deter us from fostering growth. It makes sense to continue growing our teams in a sustainable manner, for both the short and long term, so we can build a Web3 platform that is ready for the future.” </blockquote>



Ryu Games named Rick Ellis as chief product officer, as the hire came alongside the company’s <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ryu-games-announces-flame-steam-172800474.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beta launch</a> of Flame, a new Web3 games store and marketplace seeking to better serve the PC gaming market with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies.



Ellis, who founded video game digital distribution service Steam, will tap his experience in console, PC and mobile gaming development to drive the growth of Web3 in gaming, the company said in a statement.



Investment firm CoinFund has hired Margaret Gabriel as head of talent, a role in which she will work to find talent for CoinFund itself but also for its portfolio companies to help them strategically invest in and grow their own teams. Gabriel is an alumna of Google and Gemini.



In case you missed it, Grayscale Investments <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/grayscale-investments-hires-ex-us-solicitor-general/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hired former US Solicitor General</a> Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. as a senior legal strategist. The hire comes as the crypto-focused asset manager is trying to convert its beleaguered bitcoin trust to an ETF, a proposal the SEC is expected to rule on next month.



Before working as solicitor general from 2011 to 2016, Verrilli served as deputy counsel to President Barack Obama and was an associate deputy attorney general in the US Department of Justice.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto drawdown’s impact on hiring?</h3>



Despite crypto companies such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-latest-crypto-firm-to-cut-costs-amid-market-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-joins-growing-list-of-crypto-exchanges-cutting-staff-amid-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini</a> revealing plans last week to slow hiring or make cuts, other firms continue to expand.



Crypto exchange Binance, for example, is currently hiring more than 500 employees globally across departments, a spokesperson told Blockworks, adding cooler markets offer the best opportunity to invest in or acquire great projects for less money.&nbsp;



“Our business strategy was to position Binance for sustained growth over the next decade through multiple market downturns or even a prolonged multi-year declining market,” the spokesperson said.&nbsp;



FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried <a href="https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1533946713366568962" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> Monday that the crypto exchange would “keep pushing forward” on its hiring efforts, despite the downturn. 



“More will be joining than leaving, though — as always — we&#8217;ll make sure to add people at a sustainable rate,” he said.



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Latest in Crypto Hiring: Hedge Fund Makes Hires, FTX Adds While Rivals Cut

<div id="highlights-block_6285148568e31" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Grellet and Gustave will target investments in DeFi, CeFi, Web3 infrastructure, layer-1 and layer-2 scalability and the creator economy</li>
 <li>Grellet is set to continue relationship with CoinFund in an advisory role</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Former executives at CoinFund and Aave have joined a venture capitalist firm seeking to expand its investments in Web3.&nbsp;



Vanessa Grellet, who joined blockchain-focused investment firm <a href="https://www.coinfund.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinFund</a> in May 2021, is now a managing partner at <a href="https://aglaeventures.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aglaé Ventures</a>. Grellet will continue her relationship with CoinFund as an adviser.



She joined Aglaé Ventures with Jordan Lazaro Gustave, who was a founding member of FlamingoDAO and previously served as chief operating officer of liquidity protocol Aave.



The venture capital firm, which has bases in Paris, New York and San Francisco, invests in asset-light activities and growing tech companies at all stages. These include marketplaces, software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, content platforms, developer and application tools, and digital-native brands.



Aglaé has invested in Airbnb, Lyft, Netflix, Slack and Spotify. Its investments range from 100,000 euros to 100 million euros. The company is backed by Agache (formerly Groupe Arnault), the controlling shareholder of luxury goods giant ​​Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (<a href="https://www.lvmh.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LVMH</a>).



“It’s been a very successful VC in Web2, but they were seeing a lot of things coming in Web3 and wanted to hire someone who is a specialist to manage that portion of their investments,” Grellet told Blockworks.



Grellet and Gustave will target investments in four sectors: decentralized and centralized finance, web3 infrastructure, layer-1 and layer-2 scalability, and the creator economy.



“We’ll both have a lot of operational experience to help the founders and get them from zero to one,” Grellet said.&nbsp;



Grellet was hired last year “to cement CoinFund as one of the most hands-on partners to early-stage teams building blockchain technology products,” according to a company statement at the time.



CoinFund President Christopher Perkins told Blockworks that Grellet will continue to work with the company in an advisory role. No one person will replace Grellet in her former role as head of portfolio growth, as CoinFund is restructuring the team.



The investment firm is “in build mode,” Perkins added, noting that it is seeking to bolster its post-investment management strategy by hiring across marketing and communications, talent acquisition and technical support.



Before CoinFund, Grellet spent four years as an executive director at ConsenSys, where she focused on driving adoption for Ethereum, strategic initiatives, alliances and channels. While there, she worked with LVMH teams on their <a href="https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/lvmh-microsoft-consensys-announce-aura-to-power-luxury-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AURA project</a>, which aimed to serve the luxury industry with product tracking and tracing services based on Ethereum blockchain technology.



Grellet has also worked at PwC and as a corporate strategy executive at the New York Stock Exchange.



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Former Execs at CoinFund, Aave Join Aglaé Ventures

<div id="highlights-block_627a8bb968baa" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The fund is the largest joint commitment made toward any blockchain ecosystem, according to the company</li>
 <li>The Flow blockchain has more than 7,000 developers </li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Dapper Labs, the Web3 platform powering blockchain-based trading card platform NBA Top Shot, unveiled a $725 million ecosystem fund in a bid to spur community growth.&nbsp;



The fund is the largest joint commitment made toward any blockchain ecosystem, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Participants include venture capital firm a16z, Coatue, CoinFund, Greenfield One, Liberty City Ventures, Digital Currency Group and Union Square Ventures.



&#8220;As [Web3] accelerates and sophisticated app developers search for the best platforms, Flow is perhaps the best decentralized blockchain built for the scale, security, and ease of use most modern startups need to succeed,&#8221; CoinFund Managing Partner David Pakman said in a statement.&nbsp;



The fund will offer existing and future developers support to build applications on Flow blockchain through investments and FLOW token grants. It will focus on support for gaming, infrastructure, decentralized finance, content and creators, and the capital may also be used for team expansion, user acquisition and general operating expenses.&nbsp;



A spokesperson for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.&nbsp;



Originally developed by Dapper Labs, Flow is a blockchain built for consumers that has had daily transactions triple since September 2021, according to the company.



Flow has more than 7,000 developers building on the blockchain. The protocol has roughly 1,000 active projects and 175,000 monthly active users. The Web3 platform powers <a href="https://nbatopshot.com/?c=BS_HP&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwmuiTBhDoARIsAPiv6L-FFjSIRpXDXLPG42G8C9B1eDZzbN5KHBcYDl_wgMVfAhiAYc7uxJgaAs_HEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBA Top Shot</a>, which allows users to own, sell and trade NFTs of NBA and WNBA plays and players, as well as <a href="https://nflallday.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFL All Day</a>, which offers licensed NFL video NFTs (non-fungible tokens).



FLOW has a market capitalization of roughly $1.5 billion, according to Blockworks data. The price was up 8.2% to trade at $3.999 in the last 24 hours as of midday Tuesday.&nbsp;



Dapper Labs <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/dapper-labs-closes-250m-round-bit2me-ico-raises-23-4m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">closed a $250 million round</a> in September, which the company said would be used to support additional brand-driven sports-, entertainment- and music-based products. Coatue and a16z had invested then, as well.



The investment is the latest in a string of digital asset investments for a16z, which recently launched <a href="https://a16z.com/2022/04/21/announcing-a16z-crypto-research/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a crypto research lab</a>. The firm was <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-does-binances-investment-in-twitter-mean-for-the-social-networks-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one of 18 investors</a> backing Elon Musk’s $44 billion bid to purchase Twitter, pledging $400 million. It also <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/a16z-leads-25m-raise-for-nft-focused-cocreate-protocol/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">led a $25 million seed round</a> to fund the launch of the NFT-focused Co:Create protocol.



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Flow Raises $725M To Fund Blockchain’s Growth

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_623c63ccf5d5f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Other participants in the raise include 1confirmation, IDEO CoLab, Blockchain Capital, Wintermute and Figment</li>
 <li>The team currently has around 20 full-time employees, with the hope of expanding to over 50 by year-end</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Phi Labs, a contributor to an incentivized smart contract built on Cosmos, announced a $21 million seed round on Thursday.&nbsp;



The raise, led by investment firms CoinFund and Hashed, will go towards staff expansion, product development and building on Phi Lab’s protocol Archway. The team currently has around 20 full-time employees, with the hope of hitting over 50 by year-end.&nbsp;



Other participants in the round include 1confirmation, IDEO CoLab, Figment, Blockchain Capital, Wintermute, Chorus One, stake.fish, Lemniscap, Cosmostation and Hypersphere Ventures.



<a href="https://docs.archway.io/docs/overview/about/">Archway</a> is “one of the first smart contracting chains where any [decentralized app] developer can build on top of, and then access all the other assets throughout the Cosmos ecosystem,” Phi Labs Chief Executive Griffin Anderson told Blockworks.&nbsp;



Archway, Anderson said, rewards developers via its protocol by sharing a portion of transaction fees and inflationary rewards generated on the Cosmos network.&nbsp;



“[Smart contract platforms] all been kind of ideating on the trilemma around scalability, decentralization and security,” Billy Dishman, Principal at CoinFund, said. “And what is largely ignored is the idea of ideating and improving tokenomics on blockchains.”



“There are three main constituents within a blockchain. You have the validators, the users and the developers, and so far, no one [has] prioritized the developers.” Archway is expected to launch sometime this year. The protocol’s tokens, according to <a href="https://docs.archway.io/docs/overview/faq">Archway’s website</a>, will not be offered in certain countries including the US, China, Zimbabwe, Albania and Venezuela.



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Phi Labs Secures $21M Seed, Led by CoinFund and Hashed

<div id="highlights-block_614b75900e98a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Pakman has been investing in crypto since 2017 and was an early-investor in Coinbase prior to their IPO, according to a press release</li>
 <li>At Venrock, Pakman helped to lead Series A funding rounds for non-fungible token projects like Rarible and Dapper Labs</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Long-time venture capitalist David Pakman has reportedly left Venrock to be managing partner at blockchain investment firm CoinFund, Axios first <a href="https://www.axios.com/david-pakman-leaves-venrock-coinfund-crypto-56c7b273-c9c1-48a1-a745-937d85d64383.html?utm_campaign=organic&amp;utm_medium=socialshare&amp;utm_source=twitter">reported</a> on Wednesday.&nbsp;&nbsp;



During his over a decade-long span at Venrock, Pakman led Series A and Series B funding rounds in Dollar Shave Club and sat on the board until the company was acquired for roughly $1 billion.&nbsp;



His soon-to-be role as managing partner is not Pakman’s first step into crypto investing; CoinFund and Venrock have been collaborating on joint deals since 2018 with projects such as Flow, RARI and 3Box, according to a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210922005297/en/CoinFund-Appoints-Top-Venture-Capitalist-David-Pakman-as-Managing-Partner">press release</a>.



“David led Venrock’s efforts in crypto and had the insight to partner with CoinFund early on. Together they have built an impressive portfolio of high potential blockchain and crypto companies,” said Bryan Roberts, Partner at Venrock, in a statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Although his early venture days were focused on more traditional tech investments, via Venrock the VC has led Series A rounds for non-fungible token (NFT) projects like Rarible and Dapper Labs.



Pakman will continue to hold his seat on many Venrock boards including Dapper Labs, which is set to hit a $7.6 billion valuation following a funding <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/dapper-labs-announces-250m-in-funding-from-coatue-a16z-gv-bond-gic-and-more-814831922.html">announcement</a> of $250 million on Wednesday.&nbsp;



In a blog post, Pakman detailed why he chose to shift full-time to focus on the asset class. He added the new job will give him “a chance to really build a firm, not just an investment portfolio.”



“Over its brief 13+ year lifespan, crypto has not only facilitated significant tech innovations but has proven to be the single best performing investment asset,” Pakman, who was an early investor in Coinbase, wrote. “If you are a professional investor tasked with finding the best returns in the market and you ignored crypto over the past decade, you missed the best asset class returns in eight of the last ten years and cumulatively overall.”



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



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<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

VC David Pakman Leaves Venrock for Blockchain Investment Firm CoinFund

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_60edf0127ec1b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The recent funding will help ClayStack “redefine the current staking ecosystem by building a robust platform that is secure and open for all,” the company said</li>
 <li>As there is a widespread DeFi boom, the gap between staking and DeFi is growing bigger and ClayStack hopes to bridge the gap via liquid staking, the company said in a blog post</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>


<div id="highlights-block_60edf0247ec1c" class="highlights">
 
</div>



Crypto staking platform ClayStack announced it has raised $5.2 million in a seed funding round co-led by CoinFund and ParaFi Capital, the company announced in a release Tuesday.&nbsp;



ClayStack is a staking protocol that provides users with the ability to avoid lockup periods by staking their digital assets in the form of liquid staking derivative tokens on supported blockchains. Users can then use those tokens to trade, lend or farm for additional rewards, ClayStack said.&nbsp;



The round also received participation from <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-expands-borrowing-using-bitcoin-as-collateral/">Coinbase</a> Ventures, Spartan Group, HyperSphere, Defiance Capital, Hashed, Solana Foundation, The LAO, Genblock Capital, Ledger Prime, Animoca Brands, Republic Labs and more. ClayStack said in a statement the raise will help it “redefine the current staking ecosystem by building a robust platform that is secure and open for all.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



&#8220;Staking market cap is over one-third of the overall crypto market cap, but participation amongst users is still very low,” Mohak Agarwal, Founder and CEO of ClayStack said in an email to Blockworks. “ClayStack bridges the gap between staking and DeFi, allowing users to reap all the benefits of staking without sacrificing liquidity.&#8221;



The staking industry has made headlines recently as major businesses estimate multi-billion dollar growth over the next few years, while others have announced <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/celsius-to-launch-eth2-staking-pool-gives-users-more-ethereum-for-their-ethereum/">new staking ventures</a>.&nbsp;



Earlier this month, senior analysts at JPMorgan Chase wrote in a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilymason/2021/07/01/jpmorgan-says-ethereum-upgrades-could-jumpstart-40-billion-staking-industry/?sh=3c1228991512">report</a> that the staking industry has a total revenue of $9 billion currently but estimates that staking revenue can grow to $40 billion by 2025 through Ethereum upgrades.&nbsp;



“Liquid staking is becoming increasingly important in a multi-chain world,” said Santiago R. Santos, general partner at ParaFi Capital. As there is a widespread DeFi boom, the gap between staking and DeFi is growing bigger and ClayStack hopes to bridge the gap via liquid staking, the company said in a blog <a href="https://blog.claystack.com/claystack-raises-5-2m-in-seed-round-co-led-by-coinfund-parafi-5e710c323e6a">post</a>.&nbsp;



“The merging of DeFi and staking is a paradigm shift in cryptocurrency and this investment round will enable us to innovate from a position of strength as we head into our alpha launch,” said ClayStack Founder and CEO, Mohak Agarwal. The company’s alpha release, or first phase of the product, is set for Q3, it said.&nbsp;



In the future, ClayStack wants to build a platform that allows users to “make the most of their staked assets irrespective of the ecosystem that they are in,” the post said.&nbsp;



“Claystack is emblematic of the new wave of innovation that doesn’t force users to choose between staking and participation in the DeFi ecosystem,” Vanessa Grellet, head of portfolio growth at CoinFund said in an email to Blockworks. “Users have the flexibility to engage in both which we believe will spur on advancements and growth in both areas.”



Additional investors in the seed round also include Meltem Demirors (Coinshares), Larry Cermak (The Block), Robert Leshner (founder, Compound), Stani Kulechov (founder, Aave), Kain Warwick (founder, Synthetix), Sandeep Naiwal (co-founder, Polygon), Stefan George (co-founder, Gnosis), Illia Polosukhin (founder, Near Protocol), Tegan Kline (The Graph), Tarun Chitra (founder, Gauntlet Network), Raj Gokal (co-founder, Solana), and Partners of True Ventures.