Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_62e227aa59264" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Gemini will act as the custodian of the three &#8220;long-only&#8221; funds which will pour money into ether, bitcoin and filecoin</li>
 <li>Holon&#8217;s filecoin fund is the first ASIC registered retail managed investment scheme for digital assets outside of BTC and ETH</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Digital asset venture capital firm and fund manager Holon said Thursday it has become the first unlisted retail bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and filecoin (FIL) funds following a partnership with the Gemini exchange.



The funds will utilize a traditional investment vehicle known locally as a retail <a href="https://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/managed-funds/managed-investment-schemes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">managed investment scheme</a> and invest directly into BTC, ETH and FIL, according to a statement. Managed investment schemes involve multiple investors contributing to receive a share of interest and are typically run by a fund manager.



The country&#8217;s securities regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Comission, oversees company and financial services as well as funds such as Holon&#8217;s in order to enforce law and protect consumers.



Australia is fast becoming a hub of regulated crypto investment schemes. Earlier this year, the country witnessed the launch of its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/first-spot-crypto-etfs-in-australia-underwhelm-traders-amid-market-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first spot bitcoin and ether ETFs</a> — the 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) and the ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETF (EETH).



While trading activity through those investment vehicles has been slow out the gate, Australia&#8217;s approach leads the way in terms of the possibility of regulated funds involving crypto. The US, by comparison, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/grayscale-sues-sec-over-rejection-of-proposed-spot-bitcoin-etf/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">still lags behind</a> in an approval of a spot ETF, though it has approved a futures-based crypto ETF.



The funds — which are to feature a $5,000 minimum (or $2,000 with a $200 per month savings plan) — will provide daily unit pricing, daily redemption and same-day cash settlement and asset purchase, per the statement.



The funds are long-only, with no gearing and no trading, Holon said.



While bitcoin and ether are well-established cryptos, novices are less likely to be familiar with Filecoin&#8217;s native token FIL. The fund manager has dubbed Filcoin as the &#8220;future of data storage,&#8221; which allows users building atop its infrastructure to disassociate themselves from a &#8220;handful of companies&#8221; entrusted with the world&#8217;s data.



Its complementary protocol IPFS has seen adoption in DeFi and Web3, but use of IPFS <a href="https://docs.filecoin.io/about-filecoin/ipfs-and-filecoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">does not require</a> Filecoin.



<h3>Gemini providing custody</h3>



The Holon Filecoin Fund is the first ASIC registered retail managed investment scheme for digital assets outside of BTC and ETH, Holon said.



Holon is hoping to ride the coattails of previous <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/3iq-latest-crypto-etf-fund-manager-to-join-australian-market/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fund managers</a>&#8216; success and will leverage Gemini, via a partnership, to provide custody solutions for all three funds. Under New York&#8217;s banking laws, Gemini is recognized as a fiduciary and qualified custodian.



“Our partnership with Holon is a great example of Gemini’s commitment to increasing the accessibility of crypto across the globe,&#8221; said Alex Philips, senior principal of Business Development Asia Pacific at Gemini. &#8220;As interest in cryptocurrencies surge, we will continue to build strategic partnerships that enable investors to safely engage with the digital economy through Gemini’s institutional grade custody.&#8221;



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Australia Gets First Unlisted Crypto Fund Safeguarded by Gemini

Jacquelyn Melinek

<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.



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