Institutional Herald: Amber Group raised $300 million and Aztec raised $100 million

Institutional Herald: Amber Group raised $300 million and Aztec raised $100 million

The cryptocurrency industry is attracting a growing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure and the increasing attention that companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. ForkLog reviews the most important events of recent weeks.

Amber Group raised $300 million from Fenbushi Capital and other investors
Cryptocurrency platform Amber Group raised $300 million in a Series C funding round. It was led by Fenbushi Capital US.

According to the announcement, funding was also provided by "other cryptocurrency investors and family offices." The platform did not disclose their names, nor did it disclose its valuation.

Amber Group added that prior to FTX's collapse, it had planned to make a Series B+ round and keep its valuation at $3 billion. However, after the collapse of the Sam Bankman-Fried structures, the platform went straight to Series C.

According to Bloomberg, most of the funding raised is for payments to customers. One of them is allegedly the co-founder and CEO of cryptolanding platform Vauld, Darshan Bathija. The media previously reported that Amber Group owes him about $130 million.

The company said it plans to cut back on secondary areas and focus "on its core business and customers."

Aztec has raised $100 million from a16z and other investors
London-based startup Aztec Network closed a $100 million Series B funding round.

It was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz with participation from A_Capital, King River Capital, HashKey Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Variant, SV Angel and Alumni Ventures.

Aztec will use the funding to expand its team from 40 to 80 people and develop an encrypted architecture for blockchain use without disclosing user identifying information.

Dogami, a Web3 game about virtual dogs, has raised $7 million
The team behind the Web3 game about "adopting" and raising virtual dogs Dogami has raised $7 million in an expanded seed funding round.

It was led by European venture capital firm XAnge, with participation from Bpifrance, Blockchain Founders Fund and Wagram Capital.

Founded in mid-2021, the project allows users to buy NFT 3D dogs. The startup has also released a mobile game, DOGA House, for Dogami NFT owners. According to the team, the average age of the project's players is 30 years old.

Polychain invested $7 million in bitcoin wallet developer
Self-storage bitcoin tools developer Foundation Devices has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital.

Other participants include Greenfield Capital and Lightning Ventures, as well as existing startup investors Third Prime, Warburg Serres, Unpopular Ventures and Bolt.

Foundation Devices' flagship products are the Passport hardware wallet, which uses a camera and QR codes for security purposes, and the Envoy mobile app. The app provides the ability to customize and interact with the device.

The startup will use the funding to expand its team of engineers and designers and create new offerings with a focus on programming services.

Axelar's crosschain protocol has launched a $60 million startup program
The Axelar blockchain interoperability network team has launched a $60 million startup funding program, with more than 10 investors backing the initiative, including Blockchange, Dragonfly Capital, Divergence Ventures and others.

The Axelar Ecosystem Startup Funding Program is designed for developers of Web3 products that "can compete" with centralized projects. Among other things, applicants for funding must protect digital sovereignty, security and privacy.

"The Axelar Ecosystem Startup Funding Program will connect investors who share this vision with a stream of new developers creating cross-network, decentralized applications that use Axelar as their infrastructure," the startup specified.

-Digital euro payments will be handled by private banks

-NFT auction sales at Christie's are down 96% from last year

-EthereumPoW cryptocurrency rate is down 95% from its all-time high

-New Bitmain mining devices sold out in 27 seconds

-Binance will forcibly remove users' inactive API keys

-FTT token rises 17% after Sam Bankman-Fried is released on bail