Utila, Synnax, Sahara, TON Foundation, UXLINK, and TEN are among the startups securing funding in the first half of March.
VC Roundup: AI-blockchain solutions winning investors’ hearts OpenAI’s Mira Murati is ‘not sure’ where Sora’s training data comes from During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mira Murati offered vague responses when asked about the underlying data source for OpenAI’s Sora model.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankruptcy narrative revealed in new court documents A Google document attached to the U.S. government sentencing memorandum reveals “random probably bad ideas” that Sam Bankman-Fried had to repair his public image.
Crypto Biz: Bitcoin’s institutional flow looms, Coinbase’s debt round, and more This week’s Crypto Biz covers the buzz surrounding Bitcoin, the outlook for Ether ETFs, Ubisoft as an XPLA validator, Coinbase’s challenges and global banks taking on blockchain.
Why Qatar’s $500B Bitcoin investment is highly unlikely Bitcoin enthusiasts have suggested the Qatar Investment Authority is considering adding Bitcoin to its portfolio, but the odds of a multibillion-dollar purchase are low.
Lazarus Group moves $12M from HTX, HECO hacks to Tornado Cash Despite U.S. sanctions, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has resumed laundering stolen crypto funds through Tornado Cash.
Crypto gains reached $37.6B in 2023 — Chainalysis Crypto realized gains remained consistent throughout 2023, with only two consecutive months of loss in August and September.
Binance says it trained investigators in Nigeria under government cooperation The relationship between Binance and the Nigerian government has drastically changed in recent months, according to a recent blog post from the crypto exchange.
Arbitrum DAO removes proposal to fund Tornado Cash devs’ legal bills An Arbitrum spokesperson confirmed that the proposal to fund Tornado Cash developers’ legal defense had been deleted at the author’s request.
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF now holds more BTC than MicroStrategy According to data from BitMEX, BlackRock’s IBIT now has nearly 198,000 BTC, outpacing MicroStrategy’s holdings.
Grayscale, Coinbase sit down with SEC over spot Ether ETF Grayscale and Coinbase met with the SEC on March 6 to address concerns about the conversion of Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust into a spot ETF.
DeFi TVL reaches $100B as Bitcoin pumps sentiment The global total value locked in DeFi protocols reached $100.1 billion on March 9. These figures, however, still fall short of the $189 billion record set in November 2021.
Wyoming passes law granting DAOs legal status The new regulation enables decentralized autonomous organizations to establish contracts with third parties, open bank accounts, pay taxes and provide liability protection to its members.
Crypto Biz: MicroStrategy doubles down on Bitcoin, Ether ETFs delayed, and more This week’s Crypto Biz covers MicroStrategy’s debt issuance to buy Bitcoin, the SEC’s delay on Ether ETFs, Fantom’s request for Multichain’s liquidation and more.
Coinbase stock jumps 60% in 2024, recovers listing price COIN stock has rebounded to surpass the $250 mark for the first time in two years. Over the past 12 months, Coinbase shares have climbed more than 300%.
Fact check: The myths surrounding Bitcoin ETFs Dive into the differences between buying Bitcoin in a peer-to-peer transaction on an exchange and investing in Bitcoin ETFs.
Arbitrum DAO votes on $1M fund for Tornado Cash devs' legal defense The Arbitrum community is voting on a proposal to fund a “robust legal defense” for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.
Core Scientific seals $100M deal with CoreWeave as miners diversify cash streams Core Scientific has leased a former Hewlett Packard data center in Austin, Texas, to host CoreWeave’s infrastructure, delivering up to 16 MW of capacity for HPC expansion.
Fintech Revolut integrates with MetaMask for in-app crypto purchases After reviewing some of its crypto services over the past months, London fintech firm Revolut announces direct purchases through MetaMask.
Seamless Protocol introduces Integrated Liquidity Market on Lido Seamless’ first Integrated Liquidity Market will enable stakers on Lido to automatically use a borrowing strategy and compound positions on wstETH.
WSJ faces defamation lawsuit tied to Tether-Bitfinex article Over a year after alleging fraud and money laundering associated with Tether and Bitfinex, The Wall Street Journal has removed any mention of Christopher Harborne and his business from the article.
VC Roundup: Are VCs returning to crypto? February suggests renewed confidence In February, a diverse group of crypto startups announced recent funding raises, signaling that investor interest in crypto may be on the rise again.
Judge grants SEC’s deadline extension on Ripple case The Securities and Exchange Commission has requested an extension to the deadline to file remedies-related discovery documents submitted by Ripple.
Crypto Biz: Blockchain B2B trending, Telegram’s new ad platform, and more This week’s Crypto Biz examines concerns over chip shortages and sustainability issues for crypto miners, Telegram’s new ad platform, Kraken’s expansion into institutional investors, and more.
Coinbase introduces embedded, smart wallets for developers The crypto exchange is expanding its wallet-as-a-service offerings, addressing developers’ pain points when building Web3 applications.
Biotech, AI and climate tech are booming sectors for startups — Web Summit Qatar Cointelegraph’s team is at Web Summit Qatar, covering key predictions for 2024 in venture capital, technology and beyond.
Bitcoin miner reserves held steady in February, despite $40B flows to exchanges Bitcoin miners’ holdings remained stable in February at around 1.82 million BTC despite miners’ sales ahead of the halving.
SBF sentencing: Letters highlight efforts to recover FTX funds The FTX collapse and initial efforts to recover funds are described in new letters attached to Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing submission.
Ripple’s XRPL taps Axelar for RWA, cross-chain communication The partnership between Ripple and Axelar is part of a strategic move into tokenizing real-world assets.
Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF records lowest outflows since conversion Grayscale’s GBTC posted $44.2 million in withdrawals on Feb. 23, marking its lowest daily volume since transitioning to an ETF.