Macauley Peterson

Ethereum has a new scaling solution reaching public mainnet, going live Friday. ZkSync’s EVM-compatible zero-knowledge proof-based rollup is open to the public from 10:00 am ET.



The zkEVM, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matter-labs-rebrands-zkevm">rebranded to zkSync Era</a> last month, has been open to developers-only <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/zksync-sharpens-role-ethereum-200m-funding">since October 2022</a>. But now the proverbial training wheels are coming off and the public will have their first chance to interact with dapps on the platform.



ZkSync Era was previously known as zkSync 2.0, and its 1.0 cousin, launched by developer Matter Labs in December 2020, remains live as zkSync Lite.



A rival zkEVM from Polygon was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polygon-zkevm-beta-live-on-ethereum">announced in mid-February</a> and its equivalent offering, which the team calls “Mainnet Beta,” is expected to go live on Monday, March 27.



So, the zkSync folks can lay claim to being “the world’s first zkEVM mainnet,” if only by a weekend.



Matter Labs’ co-founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski told Blockworks the timing is coincidental, and Era’s alpha launch milestone is arriving right on schedule, following the completion of a second public <a href="http://code4rena.com/contests/2023-03-zksync-era-system-contracts-contest">security contest</a> via Code4rena.



“Now we feel completely safe to launch,” Gluchowski said, stressing that the testing of the product has been extensive.



The developers spent $3.8 million on testing and auditing, according to a statement shared with Blockworks, including seven independent security audits — <a href="https://blog.openzeppelin.com/zksync-layer-1-audit/">one</a> with leading auditor OpenZeppelin — and an open-ended bug bounty program <a href="https://immunefi.com/bounty/zksyncera/">with Immunefi</a>.



“You really need this layered approach to security,” Gluchowski said, adding, “Now we feel comfortable, but I mean it’s still Alpha — people have to understand it’s still brand new technology.”



He pointed to the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/euler-bounty-defi-flash-loan-attack">recent exploit of Euler Finance</a>, whose smart contracts were audited by a reputable firm and were live for the better part of a year, as an example of how audits alone aren’t enough.



The combination of external and internal audits, public security contests and bug bounties and a developer gated release, Gluchowki thinks should be industry standard practice.



The zkSync Era code is also fully <a href="https://github.com/matter-labs/zksync-era">open-source</a>, including the prover, which the team <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/zksync-sharpens-role-ethereum-200m-funding">sees as a competitive differentiator</a>.



“We open-sourced everything the moment we opened the network to developers — as we promised — under a permissive MIT Apache 2 License,” Gluchowski said, explaining the rationale is that they “believe it’s fundamental to crypto have the code open-source and forkable, because that’s tied to the ethos and values of Ethereum.”



Another key feature is native <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-are-smart-contract-wallets">account abstraction</a>, which will allow Era users to pay transaction fees in any token or even let dapp developers pay users’ fees.



<h2>Looking forward: Decentralization</h2>



There remain guardrails in place, such as a delay period for withdrawals, initially set to 24 hours, but which will be reduced gradually, Gluchowski said.



“In the initial phase, we will be still running the sequencer [and] we have the right to upgrade the contracts — it’s not yet fully decentralized,” he said.



The plan is to follow a similar approach to that of zkSync Lite, which has a <a href="https://blog.matter-labs.io/security-council-2-0-2337a555f17a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">security council</a> that supervises protocol upgrades.



“We can’t guarantee that there are no problems, we encourage people to experiment slowly,” Gluchowski said.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

ZkSync’s zkEVM ‘Era’ Opens to the Public

<div id="highlights-block_629fb10800a8f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>No user funds were lost or stolen before the loophole was discovered</li>
 <li>Up to $200 million worth of Aurora users’ funds could have been hacked if this bug wasn’t fixed</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



It was almost the next market-moving DeFi hack.&nbsp;



Aurora, an Ethereum Virtual machine built on the NEAR Protocol, recently paid a $6 million reward to a so-called white hat hacker for identifying a key bug. 



The hacker, known as pwning.eth, uncovered in April a critical vulnerability in Aurora’s system, which could have jeopardized up to $200 million of funds. Virtual machines power smart contracts, or transactions executed in code on the blockchain without intermediaries, on Ethereum. Aurora paid the bounty through the Immunefi platform. 



It marks one of the largest-ever known bounty payouts in DeFi (decentralized finance) history. Last month, crypto bridge Wormhole — which connects different blockchains — <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/148085/wormhole-announces-10-million-bug-bounty-payout" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paid</a> $10 million to an ethical security hacker that also discovered a bug through Immunefi’s platform.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Such a vulnerability should have been discovered at an earlier stage of the [defense] pipeline and we have already started improving our methods to achieve that in the future,” Frank Braun, Aurora’s head of security, said in a statement Tuesday. </blockquote>



Added Braun: “However this event ultimately proves that our security mechanisms work.”



The bug was initially flagged via Immunefi — crucially, before any funds were stolen. <a href="https://immunefi.com/bounty/aurora/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aurora&#8217;s bounty program</a> with Immunefi was launched in April 2022, with rewards ranging from $1,000 to $6 million, depending on severity. 



Jonah Michaels, a spokesperson for Immunefi, told Blockworks that at “a time of distrust in the markets, it’s important more than ever for Web3 projects to show that they take security seriously.”



On Immunefi’s platform, security researchers review code and disclose vulnerabilities. Through its programs with DeFi projects, Immunefi said it paid over $40 million in bounties to friendly hackers — claiming to have prevented over $20 billion in potential damages.



Aurora’s goal is to provide application developers the means to operate on Ethereum-compatible platforms under the governance of the decentralized Aurora DAO. Aurora’s scaling solution is currently responsible for $373 million of NEAR’s $786 million in total value locked, <a href="https://defillama.com/chain/Aurora?currency=USD" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to data provider DefiLlama</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

$6M Bounty Paid to White Hat Hacker Likely Averts Sizable DeFi Hack

Michael Bodley

<div id="highlights-block_a7a4bb5f1e5f523a41031b947c7b872c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company raised about $3 million at a valuation of about $30 million from a number of venture firms</li>
 <li>The startup has also partnered with a number of well-known gaming guilds, which it plans to tap in a bid to grow its market share</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Blockchain-based gaming platform <a href="https://docs.openblox.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenBlox</a> has raised its seed round as the company looks to ride a wave of interest in play-to-earn gaming in preparation of its first game launch later this year.



OpenBlox raised about $3 million at a valuation of about $30 million and plans to earmark the funds for product and business development, game design and additional staffers. The round was led by venture capital firm Shima Capital, a recently launched San Francisco firm helmed by veteran venture capitalist Yida Gao. Shima, after this story was published, reduced their contribution by an unspecified amount. 



Venture firms including 3Commas Capital, 100&#215;100 Venture Capital, Digital Strategies and MC Ventures were also set to participate in the seed round.



MC Ventures withdrew their commitment after publication, as did Digital Strategies. Representatives for the firms did not respond to a request for comment. 



OpenBlox, which employs ethereum virtual machine (EVM) technology in an effort to create a bridge between blockchains, also has an NFT marketplace in the works — and in the meantime has been partnering with a number of prominent gaming guilds.



The team plans to roll out three games — players can deploy blockchain applications, including NFT (non-fungible tokens), across the trio of metaverses. The gaming platform intends to create a Web3-powered community, as opposed to minting digital collectibles on a one-off basis — an approach that may deliver immediate profits, but one that rarely drives sustained user engagement.



It&#8217;s planning its first experience, dubbed RunBlox, to be released publicly in May on the Avalanche blockchain — along with an in-game token, $RUX. To play the game, users are required to hold a RunBlox shoes NFT, which will be partially distributed via an airdrop. 



Its digital universe is based on a collection of 7,998 genesis blox NFTs that can breed via in-game mechanics, similar to blockbuster play-to-earn giant Axie Infinity.



The fundraise comes as a growing number of top-tier traditional game-makers — including Ubisoft — are looking to employ blockchain elements.



Those blue-chip, so-called AAA developers have the leg up on game design and gameplay, industry participants say, but <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ubisoft-nft-efforts-are-off-to-a-rocky-start/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have faced a tough sell</a> from gamers wary of NFTs because of environmental concerns.



After starting with just Ethereum, the team has pivoted onto the Arbitrum blockchain, a side-chain, as it works to expand its decentralized finance (DeFi) dealings.



The startup plans to introduce an in-game token, which perhaps could convey governance features down the line. The longer-term plan is to create a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that would be controlled by game players.



Gao, who has previously backed other play-to-earn Web3 startups, said the team has “deep experience” in both traditional video games and as crypto natives. OpenBlox is also working with a number of top-tier developers and graphic designers, which helps, he said.



The challenge is to bridge avid traditional video gamers — accustomed to stunning graphics and engaging gameplay — with legions of crypto natives who may be less choosy on the gameplay front, but more particular when it comes to the blockchain technology in play and the potential to make money as a consumer in exchange for their time and loyalty.



“You want to basically have these new types of ways to play games, where the ownership is in the hands of the players, not the developers, and you&#8217;re able to bring in other users and bring in other counterparts to the space,” Gao said. “So, instead of having all the graphic designers and the people making the games in the studios control everything, you can bring in others.”



Elle Sia, a Web3-focused investment director at OpenBlox backer Digital Strategies, said the game&#8217;s graphics are significantly sharper than your average crypto-native game.&nbsp;



And the team, according to Sia, has been taking pains to ensure the gameplay is fun and engaging.



“It needs to be fun,” Sia said. “Otherwise, no one&#8217;s going to play it. Otherwise, it becomes a bit of a Ponzi, so far as you need new players to come in.”



The startup will also look to lean heavily on its partnerships with gaming guilds — including Real Deal Guilds (RDG), Ancient8, Good Games Guild and BreederDAO — to drum up interest in the metaverse venture and gain players worldwide.&nbsp;



Dr X, the pseudonymous OpenBlox founder, said in a statement that the startup’s incoming investors “bring a large network of stakeholders” to the venture.



Updated Dec. 14, 3:15 pm ET: Shima Capital reduced the size of its commitment after this story was published, and Digital Strategies, as well as MC Ventures, rescinded their capital pledges.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Blockchain Gaming Startup Raises Round on Heels of Surging Play-to-earn Demand

<div id="highlights-block_6234c65660322" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Sushi has fallen out of the top 10 decentralized exchanges by volume, according to Coingecko</li>
 <li>Aave’s total value locked peaked at nearly $20 billion in October 2021</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



As DeFi projects have lost their luster and trading volumes have tanked, two new blue-chip protocols are trying to once again catch the eye of big-money investors.&nbsp;



A new product from the DAO team at Sushi has launched its beta on the Polygon proof-of-stake blockchain. A new set of money Legos for the DeFi space, the project, dubbed Trident, is being billed as a “production framework for building and deploying AMMs.”



Aave V3, meanwhile, has launched on six different chains, enabling cross-chain transactions, among a host of new features.



The two protocols, well-regarded DeFi (decentralized finance) projects that originated from 2020’s “DeFi summer,” have a combined total value locked of around $16 billion — even though their DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) governance tokens have tanked.



SUSHI is down around 88% from its <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/sushi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">March 2021 peak</a> of $23.05, while AAVE has fallen 76% since a <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/aave" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">May 2021 peak</a> of $631.26, per Coingecko.



As the hype around so-called <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi-2-0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeFi 2.0</a> upstart projects such as OlympusDAO and Wonderland has faded in recent months, the product launches may signal a shift back to industry stalwarts.



<h3>A refreshed Sushi</h3>



The community of developers and Sushi adherents have been through a rough patch since a management shakeup last year, which saw <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sushiswap-swaps-out-co-founder-0xmaki/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sushi’s co-founder depart</a> in September and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/update-cto-resigns-as-sushiswap-struggles-arca-submits-restructuring-proposal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">its chief technology officer resign</a> in December.



That inevitably led to delays in the progress toward Trident, but the DAO team announced the beta version rollout in <a href="https://sushichef.medium.com/launching-trident-phase-1-4e483fad0ae4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the group&#8217;s blog</a> Wednesday.



This system can be used for “creating any [automated market-maker] anyone would ever need,” according to the blog. Unlike the prior version, Trident allows anyone to create a liquidity pool, much like <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=Uniswap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uniswap</a> does. Unlike Uniswap, the pools can have an imbalance of tokens rather than a 50-50 split — a feature of another rival decentralized exchange, <a href="https://balancer.fi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Balancer</a>.



The full feature set is expected to be made available following the completion of security audits, and Trident will also eventually be pushed out to other chains, such as Ethereum’s mainnet.



<h3>Aave adds more Ethereum-compatible chains</h3>



Aave <a href="https://twitter.com/AaveAave/status/1504137636105043971" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unveiled</a> its third-generation app this week. Aave’s DAO community approved deployments on Polygon, plus Ethereum layer-2s Arbitrum, Optimism, and other layer-1 networks compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine — Fantom, Avalanche and Harmony. Deployment to Ethereum’s mainnet is still in the works.



Among the goals of V3 are “greater capital efficiencies, increased security, and cross-chain functionality,” according to <a href="https://aave.mirror.xyz/2TnHYHQRnNhSG56Y4CcssulFArSVqrFbmAdYfU7Kxp0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the announcement</a>.



​​“This is a huge milestone for one of the most popular liquidity protocols in DeFi and furthers our mission to bring DeFi to the next hundreds of millions of people,” Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said in a statement.



A standout is the “Portals” feature, which allows DAO-approved bridging protocols to facilitate cross-chain transactions, so that assets within Aave can readily flow between disparate blockchains without a DeFi user having to withdraw, bridge and redeposit assets in separate transactions.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;The cross-chain portal will enable users to port their own liquidity from one network to another, at their discretion. It will allow each iteration of the protocol on the various networks to scale quite quickly with the depth of capitalization,&#8221; Nicolo Stewen, Aave&#8217;s Director of Strategy, told Blockworks.</blockquote>



The app’s “High Efficiency Mode” allows borrowers to obtain greater buying power when using similar assets, such as stablecoins, as collateral.



“Isolation Mode” addresses one of the culprits behind many <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/flash-loan-exploit-whips-cream-finance-for-130-million/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">high-value exploits</a> — most recently the <a href="https://twitter.com/shegenerates/status/1503852338917908488" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$11 million loss</a> on Agave, an Aave fork on the Gnosis Ethereum sidechain — having to do with the listing of new collateral assets that prove to be unsafe. By walling off certain categories of assets, V3 limits risk.



On the security front, Aave&#8217;s V3 code has been <a href="https://github.com/aave/aave-v3-core/tree/master/audits" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">audited by multiple firms</a>, such as Sigma Prime, Trail of Bits, Open Zeppelin, ABDK and PeckShield, and has undergone verification by Certora.



Its open-source code is released under a business license similar to that of Uniswap V3.



As with the predominant V2, Aave V3 will integrate with popular DeFi apps and dashboards, including 1Inch, Debank, DeFisaver, Instadapp, Paraswap, Zapper and Zerion.



“Incredibly excited for what this means for the future of the Aave Protocol and the Aave Community as a whole, both in terms of its scalability and its flexibility as the space continues to evolve,” Stewen <a href="https://twitter.com/coconidodev/status/1504173409743343620" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>.



This story was updated on March 21 at 3:15 a.m. ET with comments from Nicolo Stewen



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Can New Launches from Aave and Sushi Usher in DeFi’s Comeback?

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_6226535075d81" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company will use the capital to grow the team and its products, including its Ethereum Virtual Machine application</li>
 <li>Espresso plans to create bridges between Ethereum and other major chains so the line between layer-1 and layer-2 can be “blurred,&#8221; its co-founder and CEO told Blockworks</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A scaling and privacy solution for Web3 applications, Espresso Systems, is making its debut to the public with a $32 million funding round.



“Scaling and privacy solutions are both evolving at a rapid pace, and we are excited to contribute to the progress,” Ben Fisch, co-founder and CEO at Espresso Systems, said to Blockworks.&nbsp;



The investment was led by <a href="https://greylock.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greylock Partners</a> and Electric Capital with participation from Sequoia Capital, Blockchain Capital and Slow Ventures. Other groups backing Espresso Systems include Polychain Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, Paxos and Terraform Labs.



Espresso is developing layer-1 blockchain infrastructure that will provide low-fee transactions through its integration of a proof-of-stake consensus protocol with a zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup mechanism, which can use ZK proofs to bundle transactions and lower resources to process them.



ZK-proof technology is among the leading candidates to scale the Ethereum blockchain through solutions such as StarkWare and zkSync. Espresso intends to keep interoperability at the core of its plans, for example, by creating bridges between Ethereum and other major chains so the line between layer-1 and layer-2 can be “blurred” and benefit from its scaling and privacy properties in the future, Fisch said.&nbsp;



The company will use the funding to grow the team and its products. Its first product to be released is an Ethereum Virtual Machine application, known as Configurable Asset Privacy for Ethereum (CAPE). It would enable creators of digital assets, such as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, to add a privacy-mode switch to their assets so transactions can be seen by select parties, Fisch said. 



“For example, a stablecoin provider could offer their users the option to hide their stablecoin transactions from public view in a way that still enables the provider to meet their reporting and risk management needs,” Fisch noted.



In general, scaling has already been a necessity for many Web3 applications as transaction demand has driven up prices on networks, Fisch said. But as traffic migrates to more scalable platforms that interoperate with ecosystems, such as Ethereum, fees for Web3 applications should drop, too, he added.&nbsp;



Separately, Electric Capital, one of the co-leads for Espresso’s funding round, raised a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/electric-capital-raises-1-billion-to-launch-crypto-venture-token-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1 billion fund</a> last week to invest in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized infrastructure and accessibility into Web3. This investment is symbolic of the venture capital firms’ commitment to the last point, as decentralized infrastructure ramps up across the crypto ecosystem. 



“Existing solutions make tradeoffs when it comes to decentralization, and we are excited to push the industry forward with an approach that achieves both low-fees as well as the properties of decentralization this industry is founded upon,” Fisch said.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Espresso Systems Launches to Public Amid a $32M Raise

<div id="highlights-block_620fa964ea3d9" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>On Friday, Ethereum-focused multichain network SKALE set up a $100 million grant program to fund the future of blockchain-based gaming</li>
 <li>Large funds announced this week include a $205 million ecosystem fund for The Graph and Sequoia Capital’s new crypto sub-fund for up to $600 million</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



This week was busy, yet again, for the crypto funding space as a number of multi-million-dollar investments and mega funds were shared with the public.



On Friday, Ethereum-focused multichain network SKALE set up a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ethereum-multi-chain-network-earmarks-100m-to-fuel-blockchain-gaming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$100 million grant program</a> to fund the future of blockchain-based gaming. This launch is the latest step for the blockchain gaming space, which has grown exponentially over the past 12 months and is drawing attention from big investors and funds.



Meanwhile, Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of Binance, completed a strategic investment in a multichain liquidity protocol, Symbiosis Finance.



The funding will be used to support the company through its Mainnet launch and add support for more Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) and non-EVM networks, as well as integration with different wallets, services and dApps.



“The idea is simple; we strive to learn from the market leaders, adopt their best practices and this is the way we can create something in demand,” Nick Avramov, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Symbiosis Finance, said in a <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/ecosystem/binance-labs-makes-strategic-investment-in-symbiosis-finance-421499824684903475" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>.



Significant new funds entered the space, including a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/investors-bolster-the-graph-with-205m-ecosystem-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$205 million ecosystem fund</a> by six investors to help invest in projects building on The Graph protocol, an indexing layer for Web3 and blockchain data.



Sequoia Capital is also launching a new <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sequoia-capital-is-raising-up-to-600m-in-new-sub-fund-to-focus-on-tokens/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$500 million to $600 million</a> sub-fund, focusing primarily on liquid tokens and digital assets, a spokesperson confirmed with Blockworks on Thursday.



On a smaller scale, an alternative investment platform, Yieldstreet, announced its <a href="https://www.yieldstreet.com/offering/EaLf3g/pantera-early-stage-token-fund-i/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first crypto fund</a> through a partnership with Pantera Capital. The firm expects to raise about $20 million for the fund with minimum investments of $25,000, a spokesperson told Blockworks.



From Protocol Labs, the open-source decentralized storage network Filecoin and IPFS launched a $38 million fund focused on improving the internet and renewable energy throughout the US with Nelnet Renewable Energy Services.



The strategic investment will finance solar energy projects and aims to contribute more energy to the grid than is consumed by Filecoin’s network. Thus, enabling the “responsible growth” of Filecoin without taking from the domestic power grid, it said.&nbsp;



“Protocol Labs is committed to driving the next generation of the internet, Web3, toward net-zero emissions,” Head of Filecoin Green at Protocol Labs Alan Ransil said in a statement. “By investing in solar development with Nelnet, we are both building new generation capacity in this vital public infrastructure system and helping to push the renewable energy transition forward.”



Other notable capital raises this week include:&nbsp;



<ul><li>Animoca Brands and Brinc partnered to launch a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/animoca-brands-and-brinc-to-invest-up-to-30m-in-play-to-earn-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$30 million</a> guild accelerator program to grow the play-to-earn ecosystem</li><li>Crypto wallet Rainbow’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/15/web3-mobile-wallet-startup-rainbow-raises-18m-series-a-from-alexis-ohanians-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$18 million Series A</a> led by Alexis Ohanian’s venture firm, Seven Seven Six</li><li>Fluence Labs <a href="https://twitter.com/fluence_project/status/1494423913471766533?s=20&amp;t=50dLcJ5qL4491Mjga3FhuA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$9 million</a> round led by MultiCoin Capital</li><li>DeFi lending protocol Minterest’s <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/defi-lending-protocol-minterest-closes-successful-5-52m-sale-of-mnt-token-301481699.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$5.52 million</a> token sale</li><li>An open marketplace for Solana NFTs, Hyperspace’s $4.5 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital and Pantera Capital</li><li>Solana-powered metaverse game MixMob’s <a href="https://smartliquidity.info/2022/02/18/mixmob-raises-7-million-in-latest-seed-funding-round/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$7 million</a> raise</li></ul>



Check back next week for more funding news.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
 
Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research&#8217;s Daily Debrief</a>.
 
Can&#8217;t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/blockworks_news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us on Telegram</a> and follow us on <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMPyTxgswn6_dAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google News</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">