Cryptocurrency Projects Secure Significant Investments Amid Bull Market

According to Blockworks, developers working with Bitcoin and Ethereum have recently attracted substantial investments. Bitcoin mining companies have seen a notable increase in funding interest, while projects focused on scaling Ethereum have also secured considerable support. This comes as the Ethereum network prepares for its anticipated Dencun upgrade next year. Babylon raised $18 million in a Series A led by Polychain and Hack VC, focusing on a unique protocol that allows Bitcoin to be used for staking in proof-of-stake networks. This offers a secure way for bitcoin holders to earn yields without needing third-party trust or bridging to other chains. MAP Protocol, a layer-2 chain built on Bitcoin, announced a strategic investment from Waterdrip Capital. MAP is a Bitcoin layer-2 solution that aims to enhance cross-chain interoperability, enabling seamless interaction between Bitcoin and other public blockchain networks. Meanwhile, Bitcoin investment firm Swan Bitcoin revealed plans to raise an additional $150 million as it builds out an institutional offering. On the Ethereum side, Paradigm led a $9 million seed round in on-chain data platform Shadow. The engineering company streamlines on-chain data access by enabling efficient retrieval from contracts and transactions, and optimizing indexing. Ten announced a $7.5 million raise for its encryption-focused layer-2, while another startup named Versatus closed a $2.3 million seed round for its “stateless” Ethereum rollup. Lending and borrowing app Curvance closed a $3.6 million seed round this week, primarily raising funds from a group of DeFi and DAO actors, including Offchain Labs and Wormhole. The platform’s co-founder Chris Carapola said Curvance capped investment in the token sale at $250,000 per party and hopes to soon turn governance over to a DAO. By capping token sale investments, Carapola suggested Curvance was trying to prevent major voting inequality within the DAO. Curvance raised its seed round at a $56 million valuation and its private round at a $75 million valuation.