Crypto Investments Weekly – Dec. 3–9

Top investment deals across the crypto sector over the last week (Dec. 3–9, 2022):

Uniswap-based DeFi protocol Panoptic raises $4.5 million

Panoptic, a Uniswap-based decentralized finance protocol for trading perpetual options, raised $4.5 million in a seed funding round. Gumi Cryptos Capital led the round, with Uniswap Labs Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Jane Street, Avalanche Foundation’s Blizzard fund and others participating, Panoptic announced Monday. The funding was secured via an equity plus token warrant arrangement, Panoptic co-founder and COO Jesper Kristensen told The Block.

Panoptic was established in July by Kristensen, a former head of research at Advanced Blockchain AG, and Guillaume Lambert, a professor of applied physics at Cornell University. The duo aims to revolutionize decentralized crypto options trading the way Uniswap has for decentralized crypto spot trading.

Binance in talks to acquire Indonesian crypto exchange

Crypto major Binance is in negotiations to acquire the Indonesian crypto exchange Tokocrypto, according to sources familiar with the matter. Pang Xue Kai, Tokocrypto’s CEO, will step down from his position after the deal is finalized, the sources added. They added that Tokocrypto will likely see layoffs following the takeover.

Goldman Sachs sees opportunities for crypto investment after the FTX crash

Investment bank Goldman Sachs plans to spend “tens of millions of dollars” to buy or invest in crypto firms whose valuations declined after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, Reuters reported. “We do see some really interesting opportunities, priced much more sensibly,” said the bank’s digital asset head Mathew McDermott. According to a Reuters report, Goldman Sachs is doing due diligence on several different crypto firms.

DeFi derivatives protocol Perennial raises $12 million, launches mainnet

Perennial, a decentralized finance protocol for trading derivatives, raised $12 million in a seed funding round. Polychain Capital and Variant co-led the round, with Archetype, Coinbase Ventures, Scalar Capital, Robot Ventures and others participating, Perennial said. The project has launched its mainnet.

Perennial was co-founded by Kevin Britz and Arjun Rao. Before Perennial, the duo also co-founded Astro Wallet in 2017, which was acquired by Coinbase in 2019. Both are still working for Coinbase in an advisory capacity, Britz said.

Game maker The Mirror raises $2.3 million in Founders Fund-led round

The Mirror, a game development platform that lets indie developers build virtual worlds, raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Founders Found, the Silicon Valley venture fund that has backed Stripe, Airbnb and Lyft.

Founded in Miami by CEO Jared McCluskey, the startup currently has a team of 15 people. Additional participants in the round included Konvoy Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Florida Funders and Palm Tree Crew.

Crypto exchange Zipmex to get $100 million venture capital buyout

Embattled Asian crypto exchange Zipmex Asia Pte. is poised to be acquired by a VC fund for about $100 million in digital coins and cash, one of the first rescues in Asia since a wave of defaults ripped through the sector. V Ventures, a subsidiary of Thoresen Thai Agencies Pcl, is offering $30 million in cash and the remainder in crypto tokens, said a person familiar with the matter. The fund is set to acquire about 90% in Zipmex. 

The crypto received from the deal will be used to gradually unlock Zipmex customers’ frozen wallets by early April, according to the court hearing, after withdrawals were suspended.

a16z leads $6.9 million investment in decentralized video platform Shibuya

Shibuya, a decentralized video platform co-founded by Emily Yang of pplpleasr fame, has raised $6.9 million in seed funding. Crypto investment firms a16z and Variant led the round, with additional participation from Joe Tsai, GMJP, Kevin Durant and Paris Hilton, among others. 

Shibuya will use the funding to bring in new creators and intellectual property onto the platform, as well as to grow its engineering team and overall platform.

Bitcoin miner 360 Mining raises $2.25 million as it scales natural gas production

Bitcoin miner 360 Mining raised $2.25 million in a new funding round and plans to deploy the funds to increase natural gas production and mining capacity. The company’s plans were revealed by Bitcoin mining software company Luxor, which said it is participating in the funding around, along with BT Growth Capital.

360 Mining previously raised $6 million in a seed round in October 2021. The company is ramping up production at a time when some of the largest Bitcoin miners are struggling to pay the bills.

Blockstream seeks to raise funds at 70% lower valuation

Crypto infrastructure firm Blockstream is looking to raise funds at a valuation that may be under $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.

This would be a significant cut in valuation for the firm, which raised a $210 million Series B at $3.2 billion in 2021. The firm had acquired Israeli bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Spondoolies in 2021.

Blockstream, which was founded in 2014, was planning to branch out a business line making specialized mining chips known as ASICs.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust discount hit a record high of over 47%

Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the world’s largest bitcoin fund, reached a record-high discount rate of above 47% relative to the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Bearish sentiment surrounding the trust deepened over fears that crypto trading firm Genesis Global Trading, with the same owner, could file for bankruptcy.

Spartan Group and Infinity Ventures Crypto back NFT exchange NF3

NF3, a one-stop-shop for NFT trading, has raised $1.65 million in a seed round co-led by Infinity Ventures Crypto and Spartan Group. Other backers include DWF Labs, Saison Capital and prominent angel investors including Bitmex founder Arthur Hayes, LeadBlock Partner’s David Chreng and Neil Gomes, EMEA head for fintech at Softbank, according to a company news release. 

NF3 was co-founded by Poorvi Sachar and Bored Ape Yacht Members Skittlewood and 0xStarmowa, both of whom are choosing to keep their identities private.

GameStop to drop crypto investment efforts

Gaming retailer GameStop says it will no longer focus on cryptocurrencies, after amounting $94.7 million in net losses in Q3 and laying off staff from its digital assets department. The gaming company has minimized its exposure to cryptocurrency focuses but is seemingly still pushing ahead with plans related to NFT and blockchain technology.

Digital collectibles firm Forum3 raises $10 million in seed funding

Digital collectibles company Forum3, the firm that helped power Starbucks’ recent Web3 loyalty program, raised $10 million in seed funding. Venture firm Decasonic led the round, with additional participation from Bloccelerate, Liberty City Ventures, Arca, Polygon Ventures and Valor Siren Ventures.

German VC Picus Capital commits to Web3 with new investment arm

German venture capital firm Picus Capital, known for backing startups such as Nested and Omni, launched a dedicated Web3 and crypto investment arm called picus.xyz. Picus Capital already backs Web3 companies such as Spice, Stride and Arch.