Nym Technologies has raised $300 million to advance internet privacy.
The money will support the NYM Innovation Fund, with grants for developers looking to build on top of its decentralised infrastructure.
It comes from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, Greenfield One, Huobi Incubator, Tioga Capital, Eden Block, NGC Ventures, HashKey Capital, Figment, Fenbushi Capital, Tayssir Capital, KR1, Lemniscap, and new backers OKX Blockdream Ventures.
Nym’s native token NYM launched on major crypto exchanges, including OKX and Huobi, recently.
Its platform uses mixnets, network protocols that hide individuals’ metadata footprints to protect applications, coins and wallets against mass surveillance.
Tails software, which was used by Edward Snowden to leak NSA secrets, is among the first to win a grant. University researcher Carmela Troncoso has also won a grant for her privacy-enhanced COVID contract tracing system.
Crypto news publication Decrypt raises $10m
A media company demystifying crypto and the decentralised web has raised $10 million in funding and spun out of blockchain accelerator ConsenSys Mesh.
The funding values Decrypt and its production arm Decrypt Studios, a Web3 studio specialising in metaverse activations, at $50m.
The infusion of capital comes from more than 15 investors, including venture capital firms, DAOs, Web3 organisations and angels.
Decrypt was co-founded by Time magazine veteran Josh Quittner, Ilan Hazan and Ryan Bubinski during the ‘crypto winter’ of 2018. It was launched inside the ConsenSys Mesh incubator program with the aim of helping the world understand crypto and Web3 and has since grown to five million average monthly unique visitors and 25 full-time employees.
“The first three years of Decrypt were foundational, and ConsenSys Mesh gave us all the support we needed to grow without the pressures that often come from being investor-backed,” said Quittner.
“With the addition of Dan, Jeff, and Alanna, along with a global roster of powerhouse reporters, Decrypt took a huge leap in credibility and mindshare. These early successes vaulted us into the top three crypto publications in traffic and reputation.
“Today, we’re pleased to announce we’re ready to take the next step into our independence. Our deepest thanks and gratitude to Joe Lubin, Michael Kriak, and the team at Mesh who helped to ensure the success of this venture into a publication on the vanguard of crypto press.”
A syndicate of some two dozen investors comprised the $10m fundraise and included Hack.VC, Hashkey Capital, Canvas Ventures, Protocol Labs, SK Group, as well as four DAOs (Global Coin Research DAO, Own.fund, Honey DAO, and Orange DAO) and a number of strategic individuals.
Decrypt will also invest heavily in PubDAO, the decentralised newswire Decrypt co-launched in October with other partners and advisors that is being used as a way to source stories, press releases and other crypto work in a truly Web3-native way.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Regulator the US Securities and Exchange Commission is to hire 20 additional people for its unit responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats. It will take the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit’s total staff to 50.
Brian Armstrong, chief executive of crypto exchange Coinbase, predicts a billion people will use crypto within a decade – up from 200m currently.
The Diversity of French Cinema (DCF) has announced the launch of KlapCoin – a cryptocurrency built on the Tezos blockchain to help enable investments in filmstrips to fund the development of audiovisual works.
Wall Street trading firm Jane Street has borrowed $25m worth of USD coin (USDC) from blockchain investment firm BlockTower Capital to enter the world of decentralised finance. It intends to increase this to $50m.
During the first four months of 2022, $1.6 billion of crypto assets were lost to exploits, hacks and scams, according to CertiK. The total for 2021 was $1.3bn, and in 2020 $550m.
Videogame company Square Enix is selling IP including the rights to Tomb Raider as well as game studios to Embracer Group – for a total of $300m – in order to focus on blockchain.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the more than 19,200 coins is at $1.72 trillion, a 1.1% decrease in the last 24 hours.
Market leader Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto – dropped slightly to $38,285 at the time of writing (7am UK). BTC is down slightly in a week.
Ethereum, the second most valuable crypto coin – created as a decentralised network for smart contracts on the blockchain – fell 1% towards $2,800. ETH is 1% down over the course of a week.
Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by popular crypto exchange Binance to assist its aim in becoming the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Its BNB token lost 1% to $387, leaving it 1% down over seven days.
The XRP token of Ripple, a payment settlement asset exchange and remittance system, acts as a bridge for transfers between other currencies. XRP dropped 1% towards 61 cents, which leaves it 7% down over seven days.
Terra, described as a programmable money for the internet, fell slightly to $84. Its payment token LUNA is 5% lower than its price a week ago.
Solana is a blockchain built to make decentralised finance accessible on a larger scale – and capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second. Its SOL token lost 2% to $86 – enough to see it drop below XRP and Terra in the market cap valuation table – and is down 11% compared with a week ago.
Cardano is an open source network facilitating dApps which considers itself to be an updated version of Ethereum. Its ADA token, designed to allow owners to participate in the operation of the network, lost 1% towards 78c. It is 6% down over the course of a week.
Meme coin DOGE was created as a satire on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies but is now a major player in the space. DOGE fell 1% to below 13c, leaving it 8% down in a week.
Avalanche, a lightning-quick verifiable platform for institutions, enterprises and governments, came out of nowhere months ago to break into the top 10 currencies. Its AVAX token fell 2% to $60 and is 14% down in a week.
Polkadot was founded by the Swiss-based Web3 Foundation as an open-source project to develop a decentralised web. Its DOT token, which aims to securely connect blockchains, remained around $15.10 and is 11% lower than its price a week ago.
To see how the valuations of the main coins have changed in recent times – and for round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments – click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.