Tel Aviv, Israel, March 2, 2022 — AdaSwap, an ecosystem builder that will establish one of the first decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols on the Cardano network, has announced today that it has raised $2.6 million in a funding round led by iAngels. Shima Capital, Pluto Digital, GBV Capital, Stardust Capital, Efficient Frontier, Finova Capital, Banter Capital and Coti also participated in the round. Notable angel investors who participated include the actress and producer Gal Gadot, and producer Jaron Varsano. 

AdaSwap will use the funding to deliver on its goal of building the best decentralized exchange (DEX) on Cardano, one of the most popular blockchain projects for decentralized application developers. The AdaSwap DEX will go hand-in-hand with other protocols coming out of AdaSwap like its first-of-a-kind exclusive nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace that will be home to curated collections and famous artists in the space. Cardano’s native token, ADA, is currently ranked as the sixth most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap but is still in its early stages as a DeFi ecosystem, meaning users must rely on centralized exchanges to buy, sell and swap ADA tokens.

AdaSwap is creating a native, gamified Cardano DEX that will allow users to seamlessly swap Cardano-based tokens. Its plans also include the creation of a Cardano-native NFT marketplace and DeFi capabilities such as staking in addition to fixed, long-term, high-yield liquidity pools. With these applications, DEX users will be able to stake tokens, buy and sell NFTs, and earn interest on their Cardano tokens. To build a better financial ecosystem, AdaSwap will take the focus away from higher liquidity locks to what really matters — users. 

“We invested in Adaswap because we believe in the team, its mission and its tech roadmap. The future of finance is digital and projects such as AdaSwap will facilitate financial freedom and democratization for the masses. We’re excited to join this journey and look forward to a future of innovation with the Adaswap team,” said a representative of iAngels.

“We are delighted to be an early supporter of AdaSwap. We believe the team will be able to adapt and build a leading DEX native to Cardano to increase DeFi usage,” said a representative of GBV Capital.

The key to AdaSwap’s ambition is its native cryptocurrency token, ASW, which will help power various functions in the Cardano ecosystem. ASW is a Cardano-native token and interchangeable with all other Cardano-based tokens. Tokenholders will be able to swap these tokens freely on AdaSwap DEX, leveraging arbitrage opportunities in real-time while benefiting from its free financial model where no transaction fees are charged on ASW-based transactions. 

“This is one of our first and greatest accomplishments toward building a new financial ecosystem that will have a great impact on our world. The AdaSwap team is really excited to move forward with our project backed by the best investors from both technical and commercial backgrounds. We would like to thank all our partners and advisors for supporting us to this point and we can not wait to show the world what we have done,” said Itay Levy, co-founder of AdaSwap. 

“This is an exciting investment opportunity for us in the crypto space,” said Gal Gadot and Jaron Varsano.

With a first-mover advantage on Cardano, AdaSwap will create a micro-ecosystem that will allow others to develop and use the Cardano blockchain, helping realize its game-changing potential. 

“Although Cardano has been a top-ten protocol by market cap for many years, there is still massive upside in its ecosystem that only recently launched composable smart contracts for developers. We at Shima Capital believe Aaron and the AdaSwap team are well-positioned to create core building blocks of the ADA ecosystem, starting with a native DEX that can handle trades, swaps and bridges. We are excited to support AdaSwap on its journey to tap into the massive liquidity currently locked in the Cardano protocol,” said Yida Gao, general partner of Shima Capital.

About AdaSwap

AdaSwap is an ecosystem builder aiming to create the first DEX on the Cardano network. The AdaSwap DEX will make it easy to swap cryptocurrency tokens; create, buy and sell NFTs; launch new projects and stake funds in liquidity pools to earn fees on the Cardano blockchain.