Cryptocurrency and blockchain companies continue to attract many eyeballs in recent months. Although it seemed as if the industry was subject to another bear market recently, that sentiment has evaporated. The following companies have secured significant capital to expand the broader ecosystem for mainstream adoption.
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The Bear Market Is Over
Whereas the cryptocurrency market prices went through a 50% correction earlier this year, the momentum now seems to resume its bullish trend. Prices of assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum recover slowly, fueling more demand for cryptocurrencies. In addition, external companies, such as PayPal, now offer support for cryptocurrencies outside of the US, making it easier to gain exposure. All of these developments are great, but they wouldn’t be possible without the right infrastructure.
Speaking of infrastructure, several companies and projects are securing significant amounts of funding. A healthy sign for the broader industry, as there are still many areas for improvement. Whether it is decentralized finance, Web3 advertising, non-fungible tokens, or otherwise, numerous opportunities remain abound. Investors and VCs pay close attention to these proceedings, culminating in multiple recent successful funding rounds.
As global interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) increases, there is a massive opportunity for service providers. For example, ENVOY Network, a project building various products and services to accelerate the mainstream adoption of NFTs, raised $2.5 million in funding. Moreover, the team can build NFT-oriented solutions for businesses and individual users alike. Some features to look forward to are transaction discounts, staking and farming, governance voting benefits.
DeFi Remains A Popular Industry
The concept of decentralized finance brings economic equality to every citizen on the planet. However, the current generation of solutions primarily caters to existing cryptocurrency users. There is much room for improvement in that regard. It is essential to bridge the gap to traditional finance and the needs of the many.
Scallop, a project positioning itself as a DeFi neobank, closes the gap between fiat and crypto in the retail banking segment. With $2.5 million in strategic funding secured, the project can focus on its B2C approach. Bringing digital assets to the real world is a massive step forward. The mainstream adoption of decentralized finance solutions may require the use of a “one-for-all” banking-like solution.
OpenSwap, a DeFi project that focuses on being cross-chain compatible and boost liquidity for traders, secured $1.5 million in its latest funding round. As the OpenSwap team is rolling out new technological upgrades, the funding will help fuel that process. The concept of interchain swaps and hybrid smart routing are just two examples of what this protocol brings to the table.
For the first digital asset merchant bank Greengage, the £2.5 million in funding from IOVLabs will prove beneficial. The funds will help the team expand operations, build new technologies, and much more. As the company is still waiting on its Gibraltar banking license, there is time to focus on some other crucial aspects of becoming a digital asset merchant bank. The Greengage project connects traditional fiat currency banking with digital asset and cryptocurrency trading.
The Web 3 Focus Is Tangible
Beyond DeFi, there is a strong focus on Web 3, or the next evolution of the internet. Removing the centralized data silos from the equation is a daunting task. However, several service providers aim to decentralize all aspects of the internet and empower the users.
ReSource Finance, a decentralized credit protocol to provide under-collateralized credit to Web 3 businesses, is a good example. The team raised $1.7 million in funding to boost customer acquisition and improve its reputation-based lines of credit for SMEs. Providing credit without intermediaries is a popular concept but becomes a bit trickier when real-world businesses are involved. Even so, the ReSource team will bring the best lines of credit to Web 3 businesses globally.
Parami, a Web3 advertising platform, sealed a funding round to the tune of $$3 million a few days ago. The money goes to building privacy protocols on blockchains and grant users more control over their data and identity. The team also intends to fund privacy-preserving blockchains.
Closing Thoughts
The significant amounts of funding going around in this industry confirm the bear market is over. Projects building next-generation infrastructure for mainstream purposes attract attention and have tremendous potential. Whether they will all succeed is a different matter. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are still relatively new industries where success is never a guarantee.