Investor Interest in Crypto Startups is Low in 2023, Credefi Finance Integrates with XRP Ledger

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• Crypto startups have raised $2.1 billion year-to-date, or nearly 80% less than last year, according to data presented by AltIndex.com. After raising more than $20 billion in funding rounds in 2021 and 2022, and even though the market significantly recovered from the 2022 crypto winter, investors’ interest in crypto startups remains low, the report said. That said, “even with investors pulling back from the market, crypto startups have raised impressive amount of money in funding rounds over the years.” According to Crunchbase data, crypto-related companies have raised nearly $30 billion so far, and two-thirds of that value came from deals in 2021 and 2022. Statistics show US companies raised nearly half the total funding value, or $14.1 billion, European companies raised $7.5 billion, and Asian crypto startups raised $4.8 billion in funding rounds so far.
• Private biotech democratized research funding model BioCrowd announced the launch of its platform to improve funding for early-stage drug discovery and scientific research by leveraging AI and Web3 technologies (with its own BIO token and NFTs) to enable the formation of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) designed to democratize and accelerate the R&D landscape. According to the press release,  its DeSci (decentralized science) marketplace and virtual accelerator connects researchers and investors, empowering scientists working on treatments for diseases and ailments without known or viable treatment. BioCrowd has been appointed a Genesis Block Founding Member of NSF-backed National DigiFoundry (NDF), which is a direct implementation of the US President Joe Biden Administration’s Executive Order ‘Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets’. National DigiFoundry, which received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), officially launched on October 25 and is a digital innovation sandbox program that offers a controlled environment where innovators can collaborate, build value, and mitigate risk by normalizing broadly diverse inputs using a DAO, it said.

• The hybrid fin-tech solution Credefi Finance announced an integration with the open-source, public, decentralized Layer 1 blockchain XRP Ledger (XRPL), aiming to enhance the decentralized finance (DeFi) space by offering real-world lending products. Per the press release, the first product to be released in this range allows users to make short-term bridge liquidity loans to a portfolio of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe looking to fund their fixed costs efficiently. This integration “allows Credefi Finance to enrich the DeFi space with its sophisticated financial products and services that enable seamless, secure, and innovative DeFi experiences for all users,” it added.

• Bybit announced the launch of Discount Buy, a new structured financial product designed to help users accumulate crypto holdings during periods of low market volatility. According to the press release, the product operates similarly to a knockout option, with a cap on the price level that works in the holder’s favor. Unlike knockout options, Discount Buy will not expire worthless. Users have the option to purchase the desired cryptocurrency at a price lower than the market price at the time of order placement, it said and added: “Discount Buy is ideal for users who believe the current asset price is low and want to accumulate the asset at an even better price. This product is particularly favorable when the market is stable.”

• Financial crime and risk management solution Feedzai and payments giant Mastercard are combining technologies to increase crypto fraud protection for hundreds of millions of consumers. Per the press release, addressing the need to implement effective AML solutions, the two companies will collaborate to integrate Mastercard’s crypto intelligence solution Ciphertrace Armada into Feedzai’s RiskOps platform. RiskOps analyzes transaction data totaling over $1.7 trillion annually and offers a comprehensive suite of AI-based solutions designed to stop fraud and financial crime at the source. This allows banks to be alerted in nanoseconds when a transaction appears fraudulent, it said.

• AR glasses maker Rokid secured an additional strategic investment from HK-listed gaming giant NetDragon, bringing its Series C total to $112 million. The press release said that this financing aims to scale Rokid’s lightweight AR glasses as an affordable spatial computing platform for immersive metaverse experiences. NetDragon specializes in scaling multiple platforms in both the gaming and education sectors, while Rokid is in the position to offer full-stack technology solutions that include hardware, software, and operating systems. “This investment and five-year partnership agreement will accelerate the creation of next-generation interactive user experiences that will form the backbone of tomorrow’s metaverse,” the companies said.