During the week of May 19 to May 25, blockchain startups collectively raised over $258 million, with decentralized social protocol Farcaster leading the way with a $150 million Series A round.

According to recent data, four startups raised $179.2 million in Series A rounds in the last seven days, while 12 startups secured $24.1 million through other funding rounds.

Crypto Fundraising Breakdown

Here’s a summary of the week’s crypto venture capital activity:

  • Five startups gained $21.3 million from seed rounds.
  • Two startups locked in $20 million combined from strategic rounds.
  • Another two startups earned $9 million from private rounds.
  • One startup raised $5 million from a public sale round.

Farcaster Achieves Unicorn Status

Ethereum-based decentralized social media protocol Farcaster secured $150 million in a Series A funding round led by venture firm Paradigm. The round also saw significant contributions from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Standard Crypto, among others. This funding elevated Farcaster’s valuation to $1 billion.

“The protocol will use the fresh capital to increase daily active users and enhance developer tools,” stated co-founder Dan Romero.

Plume Network Raises $10M for L2 Blockchain

Plume Network, a modular Layer 2 (L2) network designed to facilitate the on-chain integration of real-world assets (RWAs), announced a successful $10 million seed funding round led by Haun Ventures. Galaxy Ventures, Superscrypt, A Capital, SV Angel, and Portal Ventures also joined the round. Angel investors like Anthony Ramirez from Wormhole Labs and Andrew Kang from Mechanism participated as well.

Plume CEO Chris Yin mentioned that the funds will advance the company’s mission of simplifying the process of bringing assets like real estate and art onto blockchain platforms.

Blockless Secures $8M for Decentralized Infrastructure Expansion

Blockless, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project, raised $8 million across two early funding rounds. The initial $3 million pre-seed round was led by NGC Ventures, followed by a $5 million seed round co-led by M31 Capital and Frachtis. Additional investors included No Limit Holdings, MH Ventures, Interop Ventures, and Plassa Capital.

Co-founder Butian Li noted that the funds will support the launch of a test network in the coming weeks, with a main network and native BLESS token set for release in Q3 2024.

Pencils Protocol and IVX Secure Seed Funding

Pencils Protocol, an auction platform and yield aggregator on the Scroll network, raised $2.1 million in a seed round led by OKX Ventures, Animoca Brands, and Galxe.

Meanwhile, IVX secured $1.2 million in a seed round backed by Animoca Ventures and other investors. IVX is developing a native options protocol on Berachain Polaris EVM, offering zero-day to expiry (0DTE) options for crypto assets, allowing users high leverage exposure without liquidation risk.

Cysic and RunesFi Announce New Funding Rounds

Cysic, a zero-knowledge (ZK) hardware acceleration company, raised $12 million in a pre-A funding round led by HashKey Capital and OKX Ventures. The funding will accelerate the generation of ZK proofs, making them faster and more cost-efficient.

Finally, RunesFi, an infrastructure hub for Bitcoin, raised $400,000 in a funding round led by Cogitent Ventures. Using the Runes Protocol, RunesFi aims to enhance Bitcoin’s decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities with features like a decentralized exchange (DEX) and infrastructure products to support efficient transactions and lower costs.

For more updates on the latest in cryptocurrency and blockchain investments, continue exploring Global Crypto News.

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